Jeff Victor, Laramie Reporter

Once hailed as progressive reformer, O’Malley decries ‘anti-cop rhetoric’ of local activists in resignation letter Dave O’Malley resigned from his elected post as Albany County Sheriff this week, more than a month before his originally planned retirement and almost two years before the end of his term. The resignation was made official Monday during a meeting of the Albany County Commission and comes after two years of intense and sustained public scrutiny over the handling of a police-involved killing in 2018. “I fully realize that there is a sector of our community who believes I have made some poor decisions,” O’Malley writes in his resignation letter. “I also understand that there are many who remain supportive of me and our Office. I have enjoyed an exemplary career until recently and much of that is fraught with misconception and misinformation.” On Nov. 4, 2018, Albany County Sheriff’s Deputy Derek Colling shot Robbie Ramirez three times, twice in the back, following a traffic s

Gordon noncommittal on issue of mask mandate, even as state's medical community calls for statewide order Gov. Mark Gordon addresses Wyoming On the morning of the pandemic’s deadliest day in Wyoming so far , Gov. Mark Gordon addressed the public in a televised address , chastising the populace for allowing the disease to spread. Carelessness is endangering both the state’s inhabitants and its economy, he said. But the governor offered no new orders and was noncommittal when asked about the possibility of a mask mandate or other responses, insisting — as he has since the beginning of the pandemic — that residents must take it upon themselves to slow the spread. Gordon himself seemed aware that his pleas for personal responsibility have failed to contain the virus, but said only that “all options are on the table” in response to calls for more stringent action. “We’ve relied on people to be responsible and they’re being irresponsible,” Gordon said. “They think somehow that this is al

Public commenters criticize Councilor Shuster, voice support for expanding bias incident data collection Councilor Bryan Shuster at the Oct. 27 meeting Laramie City Councilor Bryan Shuster drew criticism during a work session last month when he appeared to equate the Nazi flag with the rainbow flag, asking if both should be considered biased. Shuster’s comments came amid a discussion on the council’s bias crime reporting ordinance, first passed more than two decades ago in the wake of the murder of Matthew Shepard. During his comments to the council, Laramie Police Chief Dale Stalder cited a 2018 incident in which someone replaced the American flag in Washington Park with a Nazi flag . That was when Shuster proffered the comments that would later receive unequivocal condemnation from public commenters. “I would like to remind the council that twice that has happened,” Shuster said. “Two different groups have taken down the American flag and ran up something different in its place. We h