From Wyoming News Exchange

FORT LARAMIE – One man is dead following a single-vehicle accident last week evening east of Fort Laramie.

The victim has been identified as Terry Molgard, 61, of Guernsey. According to a release from the Wyoming Highway Patrol, Molgard was driving west on U.S. Hwy. 26. Tuesday, Dec. 5, when the 1991 Lincoln Town Car he was driving left the roadway for an unknown reason.

According to the release, Molgard apparently attempted to steer his vehicle back onto the highway and over-corrected. The car traveled across both traffic lanes, where it struck an embankment and overturned. 

Troopers were dispatched to the scene at 11:15 p.m. after the accident was discovered. WHP Public Information Officer Sgt. Kyle McKay in Cheyenne said the exact time the accident occurred was not known.

Molgard was reportedly not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident and was partially ejected from the vehicle. Officials are waiting for toxicology reports to determine if alcohol was a possible contributing factor in the accident, which could take several weeks, McKay said.

Molegard is the 119th person to die so far this year on Wyoming highways, according to the release. That compares to 111 deaths last year, 139 in 2015, and 146 in 2014.

Cheyenne woman arrested, charged for throwing baby in ditch

CHEYENNE – A Cheyenne woman is under arrest after allegedly throwing her 2-month-old baby into a ditch early Saturday.

Lillian Jeffrey, 31, was arrested after Cheyenne Police Department officers determined Jeffrey had thrown her daughter into a ditch, “causing serious injuries,” according to a news release.

The child was flown from Cheyenne Regional Medical Center to a hospital in Denver. Kevin Malatesta, CPD public information officer, said he couldn’t elaborate much further about the trauma.

“The injuries are pretty severe,” he said.

Officers responded to a call around 1:15 a.m. Saturday to investigate suspicious circumstances at Love’s Travel Stop, 3305 W. College Drive. Officers contacted a woman, later identified as Jeffrey, in the driver’s seat of a car and noted the windows were down and she was acting erratically. Additionally, Malatesta said she was making nonsensical statements.

“The windows were down and the door was open, it was the middle of a cold, windy night,” he said.

“All those things put together are pretty out of the ordinary,” Malatesta said.

Officers noted there were two child car seats in the vehicle, but only one child, a 4-year-old boy, was inside.  Officers then located the baby in a ditch a short distance from the vehicle Jeffrey was in. It was yet to be determined at press time how long the baby was exposed to weather outside of the vehicle.

Former resident Miah Green to perform at the Nobel Peace Prize concert

ROCK SPRINGS — Miah Green may be young, but she has talent beyond her years. On Monday, Dec. 11, she will have the opportunity of a lifetime to show off that talent and demonstrate how hard work pays off.

The 11-year-old who was born in Rock Springs is traveling to Oslo, Norway, to perform with Le PeTiT CiRqUe at the Nobel Peace Prize concert in Telenor Arena. Miah is the daughter of Dawn Grotta and Jeremiah Green. Her father and the rest of her family live in Rock Springs and Superior, while Miah has been living in Utah with her mom. 

Plans shape up for 150th anniversary of key Fort bridger Treaty of 1868

RIVERTON — A landmark treaty marks its sesquicentennial next summer, and plans are well under way to commemorate it locally.

On July 3, 1868, a band of Eastern Shoshone and Shoshone-Bannock chiefs and head-men gathered in Utah with “undersigned commissioners” of the United States to sign the Fort Bridger Treaty of 1868.

They affirmed numerous agreements, outlining plans for continuous peace, reservation boundaries, storage and delivery of goods, construction of schools and agency buildings, and farming privileges.

Tribal members today are organizing the sesquicentennial treaty re-enactment and 150-year celebration in Fort Bridger. The two-day event is intended to honor treaty signers Chief Washakie, Waunypitz, Toopsepowot Narkok, Taboonsheya, Bazeel, Pantoshega and Ninny-Bitse from the Shoshone side and Taggee, Taytoba, Weratzewonagen, Coo-shagan, Pansookamotse and Awi-teetse from the Shoshone-Bannock side.

The Eastern Shoshone chief and head-men posed for a photo after signing the treaty. Morning Star Care Center in Fort Washakie recently donated a copy of that photo to the Shoshone Indian Historical Society who is spearheading local planning efforts.

The photo will be displayed at the Fort Bridger Museum.

Historical society members have held several meetings on the reservation to attract interest and participation, and actors have been called to participate in the re-enactment.

Society secretary Caroline Mills said the Shoshone tribe are hosting dances such as the Big Horse dance and giveaway dance. The re-enactment itself will take about two hours and be dictated in both Eastern Shoshone and Shoshone-Bannock.

The two-day celebration is scheduled for July 2 – 3.