santa claus is coming to town. See Stepping out.
Jackson, Wyoming
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
One dollar
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Park’s hunt under attack
after the blast
Disgust for roadside shooting sparked debate. By Mike Koshmrl
PRICE CHAMBERS / NEWS&GUIDE
Storage units neighboring AmeriGas continue to smolder Friday morning after a propane explosion on Thursday burned down the storage facility and propane distribution center and threatened Bell Fitness next door.
More AMERIGAS Coverage inside The human toll
Inquest continues
Officials have set a date to release findings in last week’s AmeriGas propane truck explosion behind Smith’s Food and Drug, 25A.
No lives were lost Thursday, but the AmeriGas propane explosion touched many and destroyed some businesses and vehicles, 26A.
Planning for disaster
Teton County School District made plans and did drills just in case an industrial neighbor had a dangerous accident, 29A.
Feel hot? Don’t blame CO2 Valley geologist Peter Ward’s theory is that holes in the ozone layer are the culprit in global warming. By Mike Koshmrl From a home office nestled into the northern slopes of East Gros Ventre Butte, Peter Ward is trying to convince the world that thousands of climate change scientists are looking in the wrong direction. A retiree who spent a career with the U.S. Geological
Survey, Ward has passionately sought for years to understand the relationship between the transmission of radiation, the ozone layer and the temperature of the planet. Now almost a decade into a quest for knowledge and the campaign to spread the word, Ward is forthcoming about the lack of progress he’s made. “I’m putting myself out there,” Ward said last week. “I have approached many of the senior scientists in the field for information and for discussion. Most of them are so convinced that they know what’s going on that they’re not even willing to discuss it.”
Sportsmen advocates and others are challenging Grand Teton National Park to change its regulations after a coordinated elk drive last week led to a roadside firing line in plain sight. The Nov. 19 incident, which resulted in six citations, was preventable and was the product of novice hunters who have few places to go far from roads, said Bob Wharff, executive director of Wyoming Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife. “I don’t like to say that we need to hide it from the public,” Wharff said of the park’s hunt. “But the reality is we do need to be sensitive to the fact that some people come to the park not knowing there’s a hunt.” A guide before turning professional advocate, Wharff urged park managers to start screening hunters for proficiency, consider allowing volunteer guides and do away with some of their “funky” rules. “They’ve taken what is more of a bureaucratic approach,” he said. “You can have seven bullets, and you can only take one shot at a running elk. “To me, I never shoot at running elk unless I have one that’s been hit,” Wharff said. “That’s the thing that bothers me. They’re thinking like bureaucrats rather than thinking about the application and what they’re trying to do.” The elk drive and barrage of bullets See hunt on 20A
See global warming on 22A
Housing agency resolves thorny village case Occupancy of workforce unit prompted gripes. By Michael Polhamus Two Jacksonites are moving into free-market homes after one of them ended an 18-month stint in workforce housing that was not without
some problems. Foremost among those was uncertainty over how exactly the rules apply to workforce and other subsidized housing, which resulted in anonymous complaints to Teton County Housing Authority administrators. The two residents, Klaus Baer and Rush Jenkins, say they hope additional clarification of, or education
Inside © 2014 Teton Media Works
3A Teens tackle international issues 8A Planners like tall Marriott 10A Hospital employees to get raise
about, Housing Authority regulations might help other homeowners avoid what they experienced. Nevertheless, both men had kind words to say about the Housing Authority and its efforts to help Jackson Hole’s workers live in the community. “I’m really grateful for the opportunity I had with the Housing Authority because without it I don’t
know what my path would have been to get into housing in the valley,” Baer said. The house, he said, was “a stepping stone” to buying free-market housing in Jackson Hole. Baer’s house, in a Teton Village neighborhood called the Homesteads, is not an affordable house but, rather,
11A Backers infuse Town Hill with cash 14A Boaters split on Snake plan 16A Chronic wasting moves west
See housing on 21A
22A Music shop finds harmony 34A Judge says Blue can get gun 35A Blotter