The Star Valley Independent is a member of the Wyoming News Exchange. These stories come courtesy of the WNE.

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Man charged in brother’s death

DOUGLAS (WNE) — A Douglas man was charged last week with aggravated assault and second degree murder after an investigation for a shooting that occurred Oct. 17 in a Douglas home.

Maxwell Schwartz, 30, was arrested after he allegedly stabbed and shot his 32-year-old brother Joseph Schwartz.

Officers responded to a residence after a 911 call was made where a male, believed to be Joseph, requested help for his “little brother,” presumably Maxwell, according to court documents.
The caller was talking to dispatch when he suddenly began asking “Max” what he was doing. Joseph became louder and yelled, “Max, you just stabbed me.”

The dispatcher attempted to question what was happening when Joseph again spoke with Max: “Give me that” and “Oh my gosh, Max. Are you (expletive) kidding me?” court documents quoted the 911 call transcript.

Upon arrival at the scene, officers reported hearing screaming coming from inside the house. Officers forced their way into the residence and saw a male laying in the hallway with a pool of blood around his head, according to court documents.

Officers also found Maxwell laying on the kitchen floor screaming. While being removed from the residence, Maxwell kicked an officer’s leg and was placed under arrest on a charge unrelated to the shooting, according to court documents.

After securing the property, officers found a spent 9 mm casing near Joseph’s body and a Sig Sauer 9 mm pistol on the kitchen counter, court documents stated. A knife was also found with blood on it.
Aggravated assault, a felony, is punishable with a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and $10,000 fine. Second degree murder, also a felony, carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

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One dies in accident south of Riverton

RIVERTON (WNE) — A woman died and a male passenger was injured Monday afternoon in a one-vehicle rollover south of Riverton.

Their identities weren’t immediately available, but officials said the 34-year-old woman was the driver of a Monte Carlo that was the subject of a drunken driving report just minutes before the crash took place.
The rollover was reported at about 1:30 p.m. Monday on 17 Mile Road.

“They ended up going off the road to the right, overcorrecting and then rolling and hitting a parked pickup truck at a residence,” Wyoming Highway Patrol Lt. Travis Hauser said Tuesday. “There were four or five people working on the truck … but they got out of the way in time.”

He wasn’t sure how fast the Monte Carlo was traveling, but he estimated 50-60 mph.
The vehicle was headed toward Ethete, he said; it went off of the road to the left, hit a culvert and rolled once, coming to rest on its wheels after impacting the truck.

“It moved the pickup probably about 6 inches to a foot backwards,” Hauser said. “They were still finishing the roll when they hit the truck.”

The female subject was ejected during the crash, he continued, and the car “rolled over top of her.” She died at a local hospital, according to the Fremont County Coroner’s Office.

“I think he was not wearing his (seatbelt) either, because at the time when they came to rest he was in the driver’s seat … trying to crawl out the driver’s side window,” Hauser said.

The Monte Carlo was totaled, he said, and he guessed the truck was as well.

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Arch marks fifth quarter in the black

GILLETTE (WNE) — Arch Coal Inc., which owns the Black Thunder and Coal Creek mines in the Powder River Basin, posted a net income of $123.2 million in the third quarter of 2018, the company’s fifth straight profitable quarter.

“Arch turned in another excellent operating performance in the third quarter,” said Chief Executive Officer John W. Eaves in the company’s third-quarter report released Tuesday morning.

He specifically noted “healthy shipment levels” at the company’s PRB mines and successful cost control efforts at its thermal coal mines.

Arch reports it sold 21.5 million tons of coal in the third quarter this year, an increase over the 18.8 million tons sold in the second. That’s a 14 percent spike in volume the company attributes to “the usual seasonal pick-up in summer demand along with accelerated shipments to several customers,” according to the report.

Through three quarters of 2018, Arch’s PRB mines have produced 60 million tons of thermal coal.
Eaves said the outlook for the domestic thermal market “continues to strengthen.” Thanks to “good summer heat” and strengthening natural gas prices, stockpiles at coal-fired power plants are at the lowest level they’ve been at in four years.

Combined with higher production was the cost per ton to produce PRB coal was 90 cents less than in the second quarter, dropping from $10.66 to $9.76, the report states.

In 2018, Arch Coal has committed 77.2 million tons of PRB coal at a price of $12.01 per ton, and it has already committed 39.5 million tons for 2019 at $12.33 per ton.

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Beet harvest a good one, says Wyoming Sugar

WORLAND (WNE) — With a little over 80 percent of their sugar beets harvested, Wyoming Sugar is pleased with the average sugar content and average tons per acre.

“We have a really good crop. Our sugars are holding at just above 19 percent for company average. It looks like we are just under our estimate of 33.5 tons per acre, which given the increase in sugars, that’s a good trade-off,” Wyoming Sugar Company President and CEO Mike Greear said.

During the early harvest, which ran from Sept. 12-30, the beets had an average sugar content of 18.3 percent which caused Wyoming Sugar to expect the beets harvested during the regular harvest to be around or a little over 19 percent and they were right.

The company had a little scare when the temperatures dropped into the teens the second week of October but Mother Nature saved the day bringing in warmer temperatures quickly.

“It looks like we dodged a bullet with that. But we are still watching what we put in the piles closely to make sure there is no spoilage, so far so good,” Greear stated.

Wyoming Sugar hopes to have all the beets harvested by Halloween, Oct. 31, and predicts that they will process them through January 2019.

“With our current slice rate we will be finishing up at the end of January,” Greear said.