JOHN MORGAN Star-Tribune staff writer | Posted: Sunday, May 8, 2005 12:00 am
A black bear chased an Idaho man up a tree May 1 in the Bridger-Teton National Forest, trapping the man for four hours while the bear circled below, reports the Jackson Hole News and Guide.
Todd Leishman of Rexburg, Idaho, was looking for antlers mid-afternoon when he spotted the bear curiously watching him from across a small clearing.
Teton County Sheriff Bob Zimmer said Leishman told him he slowly backed away from the bear, but it started to follow him. He quickly climbed a nearby tree, which the bear circled a few times before leaving. When he tried to climb down, the potential man-eater returned and started to climb the tree toward him.
"Leishman said the bear was within a few feet of him within the tree" and was staring at him intently, Zimmer said. Leishman said he did not have any bear pepper spray with him.
After the bear left a second time, Leishman stayed in the tree, using his cell phone to call his friend hiking nearby and was able to organize a search and rescue.
The bear was not found in the area.
Bad buddies bust boxes with bats
Bat-wielding hooligans, bent on destruction and mayhem, unleashed a brutal vendetta against 60 mailboxes and innocent newspaper boxes sometime late in the evening May 1 in and around Newcastle in Weston County.
"This is getting out of hand," resident Charles McCrillis told the Newcastle News Letter Journal. "This is the third time in 28 months that this has happened."
McCrillis says the repeated vandalism is starting to add up.
"Each time this happens, it costs me $25 for a new mailbox," he said.
Weston County Sheriff Bill Ware is hoping an eyewitness can help police make a break in the case.
"It appeared most of the damage had been done by a baseball bat," Ware said.
Destroying mailboxes is a felony offense.
'Rain Man' returns to Wyoming
Kim Peek, the mega savant who inspired the award-winning movie "Rain Man," starring Dustin Hoffman, will speak at the Business Leadership Network and Access 2 ABILITY at 2:15 p.m. Tuesday at Lyman Middle School in Evanston.
Tell him your birthday, and Peek can recite the day of the week you were born, the day of the week your birthday falls on this year, and the day of the week that you will hit 65, retirement age.
"Learning to recognize and to respect others and treating them like you want them to treat you will bring the peace and joy we all hope for. Let's care, share - be our best," Peek said in a 2003 Casper visit.
Peek and his father Fran will also be guest speakers at a Wednesday luncheon at the Evanston Elks Lodge at noon, according to the Uinta County Herald. Tickets are $10.
Magazine features UW student climber
Outside magazine recently featured University of Wyoming graduate geology student Sarah Garlick in its April issue in a story called "Babes on Belay."
Garlick and her girlfriends Janet Bergman, Sheyna Button and Anne Skidmore spend last summer rock climbing in Indian Creek, Utah, in Yosemite National Park, Calif., and in Peru.
"The first time I went climbing, I knew that it was what I wanted to be doing, and I became obsessed with it and knew it was all I wanted to do," Garlick told the Laramie Boomerang.
Big Piney man in trouble for tattoo
A Big Piney man faces misdemeanor charges after the mother of a minor went to police to protest a tattoo he had reportedly given her daughter without the mother's knowledge or consent.
The tattoo was of a marijuana leaf, according to the Sublette Examiner.
Guadalupe Baeza, 23, pleaded guilty to five misdemeanor charges, including tattooing a minor without parental consent, furnishing alcohol to a minor, possession of a controlled substance in plant form, driving under the influence and failure to maintain proof of liability insurance coverage. A felony charge of immoral acts with a minor was dismissed.
Police blotter
This guy's face is red: Gillette police responded to a report early April 28 of a man driving around town with his face covered in blood. When police found the man, he said two men had assaulted him while he was looking for his girlfriend, writes the Gillette News-Record. After further questioning, the man admitted to staging the assault and covering himself with fake blood in an attempt to win back his girlfriend. The couple had been split for about two years. Police told the man to stay away from her.
Car totaled; passengers and bird OK: Park County sheriff's deputies responded to a single-vehicle accident April 18 near Road 21, but no one was near the overturned vehicle. Officials contacted the registered owner of the vehicle, a 16-year-old Cody girl who said she lost control when she swerved to miss a bird, reports the Powell Tribune. The girl and her passenger were not injured when the car went off the roadway and rolled, so they left the scene. She was cited for failure to report an accident and for driving too fast for conditions.
Assistant state editor John Morgan can be reached at (307) 266-0614 or john.morgan@casperstartribune.net.