2017 Year in Review

A knock in the dark
The town of Glenrock turned into a state of emergency in June as Christopher Eads and Santana Keener led police through a crime spree.
Eads and Keener had allegedly stolen several vehicles including a police SUV and broke into a resident's home while evading officers.
During their spree, Glenrock issued an alert for all residents to stay in their homes.
While allegedly stealing their final vehicle for the evening, Eads ditched Keener and sped off toward Casper where a several hour standoff took place on F Street.
After both Eads and Keener were arrested, it was later found that Keener allegedly had 18 grams of heroin in her possession during a cavity search.
Keener entered a guilty plea to conspiracy to distribute heroin or methamphetamine, discharging a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking crime and aiding and abetting a carjacking in December. Her sentencing trial is scheduled for  Feb. 22, 2018.
Eads entered a guilty plea to conspiracy to distribute heroin and methamphetamine, using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime, discharging a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime, assault on a federal officer and two counts of carjacking. His sentencing trial is scheduled for Feb. 22, 2018.

Bleeding purple
In July, Mary Kay Kindt suddenly passed away. The community mourned Mary Kay’s death by adorning purple flags all around Glenrock.
Mary Kay devoted her life to the community of Glenrock and everyone in it. She worked as the director of the chamber of commerce and single-handedly ran all social events going on around Glenrock.
When anyone needed to know anything about what’s going on in town, the first person they sought out was Mary Kay.
A celebration of life ceremony showed the GHS football field filled to the brim with members of the community as they talked and prayed for Mary Kay.

Town hall thwarts fraud
In October, treasurer Kelly Lewis received an email appearing to be from Glenrock Mayor Doug Frank.
The email requested Lewis to transfer $12,000 for the purpose of bills and claims. Lewis spoke with town clerk Tammy Taylor and they agreed this seemed incredibly out of the ordinary.
Frank said he didn’t send any email and not to respond to anything else they received.
It turned out to be a scammer spoofing an email address to steal money from the town.
It was later found out that an unidentified man from Muskegon, Michigan, attempted to steal the funds. The Glenrock Police Department handed the investigation over to the Muskegon sheriff’s office.

Out of the fire
In November, Xander Black returned from Denver hospitals after a garage fire left 15 percent of his body burned.
In late October, Xander went into the garage at his home in Rolling Hills when he saw a smoke and smoldering seeping out of a box. Xander grabbed a water bottle in an attempt to extinguish the flames and as he approached the box a nearby gas canister ignited, setting him on fire.
After hearing the explosion from the gas Xander’s mother, Erin, ran to the garage and helped to extinguish her son.
Xander was eventually life lighted to Swedish Medical Center in Casper where he stayed for several days undergoing surgeries to repair the burns to his body.
Visitors from Glenrock came to the hospital to show support to the Black family and for that Xander and Erin are eternally grateful.

Anti-social media
During August, several members of town council and employees at town hall brought up issues they were having with repetitive bashing on social media.
Councilman Dennis Flynn’s wife Wendy Brush began posting statuses on Facebook naming members of council and employees that, she believed, weren’t taking the best interests of Glenrock to heart.
Jaime Reid, the town clerk at the time, gave a speech detailing the issues she had with Brush’s posts during a council meeting. In the weeks that followed, Public Works Director Randy Rumpler spoke out as well as mayor Doug Frank.
The mention of Brush’s posts in council meetings subsided after the article’s debut.

Looking up to the eclipse
Glenrock saw hundreds of visitors running around town trying to find a view to see the breathtaking 2 and a half minutes of the Aug. 21 solar eclipse.
Thousands traveled to Wyoming to see the solar spectacle before their very eyes.
People poured into Douglas, Glenrock, Esterbrook, Fort Fetterman, Glendo or pretty much anywhere in Converse and Platte counties.
The Converse County airport was overwhelmed with more than 114 planes and bumper-to-bumper traffic on I-25.
Town park and the library featured an influx of people looking up at the sky, anxiously waiting the moment they have prepared for all year.
Platte River RV & Campground saw more than 700 people.
Folks visited from around the country including several from Europe and Australia to see the eclipse.