K2 Radio News: Flash Briefing For January 8th, 2018 – Morning

A REPORT BY A GEORGIA WOMAN WHO CLAIMED A FORMER CASPER DOCTOR RAPED HER WILL NOT BE SUBMITTED AS EVIDENCE DURING HIS SEXUAL ASSAULT TRIAL LATER THIS MONTH.

PAUL HARNETTY, AN OBSTETRIAN/GYNECLOLOGIST, IS CHARGED WITH EIGHT COUNTS OF SECOND-DEGREE SEXUAL ASSAULT AND TWO COUNTS OF THIRD-DEGREE SEXUAL ASSAULT.

FINAL PREPARATIONS HAVE BEEN MADE FOR HIS TRIAL, WHICH IS SCHEDULED TO BEGIN IN TWO WEEKS.

BUT IN NOVEMBER, A WOMAN FROM GEORGIA CONTACTED A CASPER POLICE DEPARTMENT DETECTIVE AND SAID HARNETTY SEXUALLY ASSAULTED HER IN DECEMBER 2011.

NEITHER THE STATE NOR THE POLICE DEPARTMENT KNEW OF THIS, ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY MIKE SCHAFER SAID DURING A HEARING FRIDAY BEFORE NATRONA COUNTY DISTRICT COURT JUDGE THOMAS SULLINS.

THE NATRONA COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE IMMEDIATELY NOTIFIED HARNETTY'S ATTORNEYS OF THE REPORT.

THIS KIND OF INFORMATION ABOUT EVIDENCES OF OTHER CRIMES, WRONGS OR ACTS THAT ILLUSTRATE PRIOR BAD CONDUCT BY A DEFENDANT WAS SUPPOSED TO HAVE BEEN FILED EARLIER LAST YEAR.

SULLINS AGREED THAT THIS INFORMATION SHOULD NOT BE SUBMITTED AT THE TRIAL.

HOWEVER, SCHAFER SAID HIS OFFICE RESERVES THE RIGHT TO OFFER IT DURING THE TRIAL TO REBUT CLAIMS BY HARNETTY THAT HE WAS A CONSCIENTIOUS AND REPUTABLE PHYSICIAN IN WYOMING AND GEORGIA.
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LOVELL, WYO. (AP) - WYOMING AUTHORITIES HAVE ARRESTED A 48-YEAR-OLD MAN AFTER POLICE SAY THEY FOUND A WOMAN DEAD IN HER APARTMENT.

THE LOVELL POLICE DEPARTMENT SAYS THE BODY OF 49-YEAR-OLD CAROL JEAN BARNES, OF COWLEY, WAS FOUND THURSDAY IN LOVELL.

POLICE SAY A SUSPECT WAS LOCATED IN MILLS AND ARRESTED WITHOUT INCIDENT.

AUTHORITIES SAY THE SUSPECT AND THE VICTIM HAD BEEN INVOLVED IN A RELATIONSHIP PREVIOUSLY.

FORMAL CHARGES ARE STILL PENDING AGAINST THE SUSPECT.

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COAL COMPANIES IN THE UNITED STATES BOOSTED PRODUCTION OF THE FUEL IN 2017 TO REVERSE A TWO-YEAR DECLINE.

THE U.S. ENERGY INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION SAID THURSDAY THAT COMPANIES MINED 771 MILLION TONS OF COAL THROUGH DEC. 30, A 6 PERCENT INCREASE VERSUS 2016.

WYOMING, THE LARGEST COAL STATE, SAW PRODUCTION RISE 8 PERCENT. NEIGHBORING MONTANA HAD A 5 PERCENT INCREASE.

AMONG OTHER COAL STATES, PRODUCTION ROSE 13 PERCENT IN WEST VIRGINIA, 8 PERCENT IN PENNSYLVANIA AND 10 PERCENT IN ILLINOIS. KENTUCKY'S PRODUCTION WAS RELATIVELY FLAT.

DESPITE THE INCREASES, COAL'S LONG-TERM PROSPECTS REMAIN SHAKY. NATURAL GAS AND RENEWABLES SUCH AS WIND AND SOLAR HAVE SEVERELY ERODED COAL'S ONCE-DOMINANT ROLE IN U.S. ELECTRICITY GENERATION.

IN THE LAST WEEK OF 2017, THE GOVERNMENT SAYS COAL PRODUCTION FELL 32 PERCENT VERSUS THE PREVIOUS WEEK.

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A 32-YEAR-OLD CHEYENNE FUGITIVE IS BEHIND BARS AFTER LEADING AUTHORITIES ON A HIGH-SPEED CHASE THROUGH CHEYENNE EARLY FRIDAY MORNING.

CHEYENNE POLICE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN OFFICER KEVIN MALATESTA SAYS IT ALL STARTED AROUND 6 A.M. WHEN OFFICERS AND U.S. MARSHALS ATTEMPTED TO ARREST DANIEL GUTIERREZ ON A FEDERAL WARRANT FOR PROBATION VIOLATION AND HE SPED AWAY FROM HIS HOME.

"A PURSUIT ENSUED, LASTED ABOUT 25 MINUTES WINDING AROUND DOWNTOWN AND THE SOUTH SIDE OF CHEYENNE. IN THAT PURSUIT SPEEDS REACHED UP TO 80 MPH AND DURING THAT TIME GUTIERREZ DROVE INTO THE ONCOMING LANE OF TRAFFIC SEVERAL TIMES."

THE PURSUIT ENDED NEAR APRICOT STREET AND PINE AVENUE WHERE A SEMI WITH A TRAILER PULLED ACROSS THE ROADWAY, BLOCKING GUTIERREZ'S PATH.

"THERE WERE NO INJURIES, NO PROPERTY DAMAGE AS A RESULT OF IT. HOWEVER, WE SHOULD NOTE THAT WHILE OFFICERS WERE ARRESTING HIM, HE DID MAKE STATEMENTS THAT HE WOULD HAVE BEEN SHOOTING AT OFFICERS IF HE HAD BEEN ARMED."

IN ADDITION TO THE FEDERAL WARRANT, GUTIERREZ WAS ARRESTED FOR RECKLESS DRIVING, FLEEING/ELUDING, POSSESSION OF METHAMPHETAMINE AND MULTIPLE TRAFFIC OFFENSES.
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CHEYENNE, WYO. (AP) - A "LEGACY" AIRCRAFT FLEW INTO CHEYENNE FOR THE FIRST TIME.

A MODERNIZED C-130H HERCULES AIRCRAFT, CONSIDERED LEGACY AIRPLANES IN THE AIR NATIONAL GUARD, LANDED SATURDAY AT THE WYOMING AIR NATIONAL GUARD'S 153RD AIRLIFT WING.

THE AIRCRAFT IS THE U.S. AIR FORCE'S ONLY C-130H OUTFITTED WITH ALL THE UPGRADES IT HAS, SUCH AS A ROLLS-ROYCE T56 3.5 ENGINE THAT IMPROVES AIRCRAFT PERFORMANCE, FUEL EFFICIENCY AND RELIABILITY.

WYOMING AIR NATIONAL GUARD COMMANDER COL. PAUL LYMAN SAYS THE SUCCESSFUL MODIFICATION OF THE LEGACY MODEL DEMONSTRATES AN ABILITY TO EXTEND THE LIFE AND USEFULNESS OF THE DECADES-OLD AIRCRAFT BY 30-40 YEARS.

THE MODIFIED AIRCRAFT FLEW INTO CHEYENNE FROM KILN, MISSISSIPPI, FOR MINOR MAINTENANCE AND A WASH BEFORE HEADING SOUTH TO FLORIDA FOR TWO YEARS OF TESTING.