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

ONE MAN IS DEAD AND A CASPER POLICE OFFICER REMAINS IN CRITICAL CONDITION AFTER SUNDAY'S SHOOTING NEAR FAIRDALE PARK.

CASPER POLICE CHIEF KEITH MCPHEETERS SAYS THE OFFICER WAS SHOT AT LEAST FIVE TIMES AND RECEIVED MULTIPLE BLOOD TRANSFUSIONS THROUGHOUT THE NIGHT. DUE TO THE SERIOUSNESS OF THE OFFICER'S CONDITION AND THE ONGOING MEDICAL TREATMENT, POLICE HAVE NOT YET RELEASED THE OFFICER'S NAME.

KILLED IN THE SHOOTING WAS 38-YEAR-OLD DAVID P. WOLOSIN. HE EXCHANGED GUNFIRE WITH TWO OFFICERS BEFORE HIS DEATH.

WITNESSES SAID WOLOSIN WAS IN A WHITE SEDAN DRIVING TWO CHILDREN AROUND A DIRT LOT BEFORE POLICE ARRIVED AND THE SHOOTING ENSUED. THE CAUSE OF THE SHOOTING WAS NOT APPARENT, AND IT IS NOT KNOWN WHICH SIDE FIRED FIRST.

THE WYOMING DIVISION OF CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION IS HANDLING THE CASE, AND NEIGHBORING LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES HAVE BEEN HELPING THE CASPER POLICE DEPARTMENT FIELD CALLS FOR SERVICE.
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POLICE WERE ABLE TO STOP A 19-YEAR-OLD MAN FROM JUMPING OFF THE TOP OF THE CHEYENNE REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER PARKING STRUCTURE SUNDAY MORNING.

OFFICER KEVIN MALATESTA SAYS POLICE WERE CALLED TO THE HOSPITAL AROUND 9:30 A.M.

"WE DEPLOYED OUR CRISIS NEGOTIATIONS UNIT AND AFTER ABOUT AN HOUR-AND-A-HALF OF NEGOTIATING THE SUSPECT BACKED AWAY FROM THE LEDGE AND SURRENDERED TO OFFICERS ON SCENE," SAID MALATESTA.

MALATESTA SAY THE MAN IS RECEIVING MENTAL HEALTH ASSISTANCE.
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WHILE AREAS OF WYOMING RECEIVED ABOVE-AVERAGE SNOWFALL THIS PAST WINTER AND SPRING, FORECASTERS ARE NOT EXPECTING A REPEAT OF LAST YEAR'S FLOODING THAT OCCURRED DURING THE ANNUAL SPRING AND SUMMER MELT.

HYDROLOGIST JIM FAHEY IN RIVERTON SAYS THE MAIN DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LAST YEAR AND THIS YEAR IS THAT MOST OF THE SNOW COLLECTED HIGH UP IN THE MOUNTAINS WHEREAS IN 2017 A LOT OF SNOW PILED UP AT LOWER ELEVATIONS AS WELL.

FLOODING LAST YEAR CAUSED MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN DAMAGE IN FREMONT, PARK AND WASHAKIE COUNTIES AND THE WIND RIVER RESERVATION.

STILL, SOME AREAS COULD SEE HIGH WATER THIS YEAR. FAHEY SAYS THREE POTENTIAL WORRY SPOTS FOR FLOODING THIS YEAR ARE THE BIG WIND RIVER, THE SOUTH FORK OF THE SHOSHONE AND THE WEST SIDE OF THE BIGHORN MOUNTAINS.

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WHEN IT COMES TO GASOLINE PRICES IN WYOMING, IT'S BEEN STEADY AS SHE GOES.

INDUSTRY ANALYST PATRICK DEHAAN OF GASBUDDY DOT COM SAYS THERE HASN'T BEEN MUCH MOVEMENT.

IN FACT, DESPITE VERY HEALTHY OIL PRICES, NATIONALLY THINGS ARE FAIRLY MODERATE...

BUT AS MENTIONED, OIL IS NOW OVER $70 A BARREL AND THAT IS GOOD NEWS FOR THE WYOMING ECONOMY.
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THE 4.1 MILLION PEOPLE WHO VISITED YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK LAST YEAR SPENT A HALF-BILLION DOLLARS IN COMMUNITIES NEAR THE PARK.
A NEW NATIONAL PARK SERVICE REPORT SAID YELLOWSTONE TOURISTS SPENT NEARLY $500 MILLION IN NEARBY COMMUNITIES, WHICH SUPPORTED NEARLY 7,400 JOBS WITH A CUMULATIVE BENEFIT TO THE AREA ECONOMY OF NEARLY $630 MILLION.

THE PEER-REVIEWED REPORT WAS CONDUCTED BY ECONOMISTS CATHERINE CULLINANE THOMAS OF THE U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY AND LYNNE KOONTZ OF THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE.

NATIONWIDE, 330 MILLION PARK VISITORS DIRECTLY SPENT $18.2 BILLION WITHIN 60 MILES OF A NATIONAL PARK.

THAT SUPPORTED 306,000 JOBS, WITH 256,900 OF THOSE IN GATEWAY COMMUNITIES.

THE CUMULATIVE BENEFIT TO THE U.S. ECONOMY WAS $35.8 BILLION.

OF THAT TOTAL, THE LODGING SECTOR GENERATED $5.5 BILLION TO GATEWAY COMMUNITIES AND SUPPORTED 49,000 JOBS.

THE RESTAURANT SECTOR CAME IN SECOND WITH $3.7 BILLION TO GATEWAY COMMUNITIES AND SUPPORTED NEARLY 61,000 JOBS.

THE REPORT'S AUTHORS CREATED AN INTERACTIVE TOOL ON THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE WEBSITE THAT SHOWS VISITOR SPENDING, JOBS, LABOR INCOME, VALUE ADDED, AND OUTPUT EFFECTS BY SECTOR FOR NATIONAL, STATE, AND LOCAL ECONOMIES.