ARIZONA

Alert created for missing Native Americans

PHOENIX — Arizona’s governor on May 13 signed legislation to create an alert system for Native Americans who have gone missing in the state, a measure that won unanimous approval from lawmakers in the wake of the disappearance and death of a San Carlos Apache teen.

With Gov. Katie Hobbs’ signature, Arizona becomes the latest state to join a movement that began in 2022 in Washington state to use alert systems to quickly share information about cases involving Native Americans.

Colorado, California and other states have adopted their own versions of such systems.

Arizona’s “turquoise alert” legislation is also referred to as “Emily’s Law” to honor Emily Pike, whose remains were found Feb. 14 more than 100 miles from a group home she left in Mesa, Arizona, in late January. Pike’s death spurred a resurgence of activism aimed at bringing more awareness to the disproportionate number of disappearances and violent deaths that have gripped Native American communities for decades, and prompted lawmakers to amend the bill to recognize her.

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The Federal Communications Commission voted last year to establish a new national alert code for delivering messages to the public via television, radio and wireless phones about missing and endangered persons cases.

The commission reported that in 2023, more than 188,000 people who fall outside of the criteria for Amber Alerts went missing, noting that the new code will be particularly beneficial to Native American, Alaska Native and Black communities. Those groups constitute 40% of missing people in the U.S. despite each making up much smaller percentages of the overall population, according to the commission.

WYOMING

Voter registration law challenged

The Equality State Policy Center filed a lawsuit on May 11 challenging Wyoming House Bill 156, a law passed earlier this year that imposes proof-of-citizenship and proof-of-residency requirements on Wyoming voters.

The lawsuit argues that the legislation violates both state and federal law, and threatens to deprive legitimate Wyoming voters of their right and freedom to vote.

The new law makes several changes to the ways elections are carried out in Wyoming. It requires voters to be Wyoming residents for no less than 30 days before an election, requires proof of residency and U.S. citizenship to register to vote, and requires county clerks to deny registration if there is “any indication” that the person is not a United States citizen.

ESPC Executive Director Jenny DeSarro said in a news release that there’s no evidence of non-citizens voting in Wyoming.

Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray and Republican state lawmakers aligned with the hardline Freedom Caucus pushed for the election measure, which Gov. Mark Gordon allowed to become law without his signature.

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Gordon said that while he agrees with allowing only U.S. citizens and Wyoming residents to vote in the state, he had significant legal concerns and expected litigation.

The governor also took issue with the requirement for county clerks to deny registration if there is “any indication” that the applicant is not an American citizen in their registration, calling this addition “far-reaching.”

Vowing to fight the lawsuit, Gray said in a statement that the court challenge “shows how far the radical Left is willing to go to try to stop election integrity.”

The law goes into effect on July 1 and will first apply to the 2026 primary election.

MONTANA

Citations say guardsmen took antlers

BILLINGS — Three Montana Army National Guard members face trespassing charges after authorities said they landed a Black Hawk helicopter in a mountain pasture on a private ranch to take several elk antlers before flying away.

A witness saw the May 4 landing and the person who owns the property reported it to officials, who tracked down the three guard members, Sweet Grass County Sheriff Alan Ronneberg said on May 15.

The guardsmen had been on a training flight from the city of Billings to Helena, the state capital, said Major Ryan Finnegan with the Montana National Guard. The helicopter landed briefly in the pasture located in the foothills of the Crazy Mountains, where the crew members picked up two individual antlers and an old elk skull with antlers still attached, the sheriff said.

Elk antlers — which grow and drop off male animals annually — are highly prized and can be sold by the pound.

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The antlers and skull taken by the guardsmen were worth a combined $300 to $400, according to Ronneberg. They were later turned over to a state game warden.

An attorney for one of the guardsmen, Michael Vincent Bray of East Helena, Montana, said that Bray and the others had served their country honorably for many years and were “innocent until proven guilty.”

They face charges of criminal misdemeanor trespass, which comes with a $185 fine, said Greg Lemon with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

Taking antlers from state-owned land is legal in Montana for people with an $8 state conservation license, Lemon said.

UTAH

NHL team gets permanent name

After a mammoth undertaking of buying an NHL team, moving players, coaches and a full staff more than 600 miles and getting it all together in a matter of months before the puck dropped on a new season, it is perhaps a fitting identity that owners Ryan and Ashley Smith chose after rounds and rounds of fan voting.

They unveiled Utah Mammoth as the franchise’s permanent, full-time name on May 7, with a profiled logo of the ice age creature featuring nods to the shape of the state, its mountain range and the same light blue, black and white color scheme that quickly became synonymous with the team in its first season in Salt Lake City.

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Team owner Ryan Smith said at a news conference celebrating the branding effort’s competition that more than 850,000 votes were cast over the past 13 months.

Mammoth replaces the 2024-25 placeholder name Utah Hockey Club, which was also one of the three finalists. Yeti was taken out of consideration when the cooler company bearing that name could not come to a copyright agreement with Utah ownership, and Wasatch — a reference to the state’s mountain range — was quickly replaced as an option by Outlaws.

Mammoth fossils have been found throughout Utah, including a complete skeleton in Huntington Canyon in 1988. The team said “Tusks Up” will be its rallying cry.

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