Friday, Mar 31, 2023 9:01 PMUpdated Friday, Mar. 31, 2023 9:13 PM
Ronald J. Morosko of Elizabeth, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to 90 days in jail for criminally negligent homicide and careless hunting in the 2021 shooting death of bowhunter Gregory Gabrisch. (Montezuma County Detention Center)
Montezuma County Detention Center
Ronald Morosko, a black powder hunter convicted of criminally negligent homicide and careless hunting in the 2021 shooting death of bowhunter Gregory Gabrisch, was sentenced Friday in Montezuma County Combined Courts in Cortez.
Chief Judge Todd Plewe handed down a 90-day jail sentence, plus 12 months’ state-supervised probation for the criminally negligent homicide conviction.
Published:Mar. 30, 2023 at 2:38 PM PDT|Updated:Mar. 31, 2023 at 7:24 AM PDT
LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) – A Sterling man has been fined and must pay liquidated damages for hunting violations.
Jason Harms, 39, was convicted on nine counts related to the illegal hunting of geese that occurred on Feb. 26 in Johnson County.
Harms was fined $1,700 and assessed $3,900 in liquidated damages. His hunting permits have been revoked for two years.
The discovery of several dead geese near sanitation ponds south of Sterling led to the arrest. Sheriff’s officers were notified by a group of hunters, who discovered numerous dead…
Elk brave the cold weather off of U.S. Highway 40 east of Steamboat Springs on Dec. 22, 2022. Elk and other big game have struggled this winter and have migrated further westward, forcing Colorado Parks and Wildlife to consider limiting hunting licenses for the 2023 hunting season. John F. Russell/Steamboat Pilot & Today
As the intense winter weather continues, thousands of big game wildlife in Northwest Colorado have been forced to migrate farther west than ever before.
If the area populations continue to thin without return, Colorado Parks and Wildlife may decrease hunting license permits for the 2023 season.
The mortality rates of big game are the highest the area has seen since the mid-1980s, according to CPW, and what started as a catastrophic winter for younger animals has begun to affect the adult antelope, deers and elk as well.
Many times since the black summer fires came, and finally passed, I have thought about the enormity of what happened on vast areas of country, killing 3 billion animals and trillions of invertebrates. I thought, what can one human being say to this unimaginable loss, when I know in my heart that the human world did not do enough to prevent this disaster? A disaster brought on by the global warming emergency. A disaster that created colossal, unprecedented pyro-convective firestorms.
Do we even have the right to speak? Who should be speaking about this?
Many times since the black summer fires came, and finally passed, I have thought about the enormity of what happened on vast areas of country, killing 3 billion animals and trillions of invertebrates. I thought, what can one human being say to this unimaginable loss, when I know in my heart that the human world did not do enough to prevent this disaster? A disaster brought on by the global warming emergency. A disaster that created colossal, unprecedented pyro-convective firestorms.
Do we even have the right to speak? Who should be speaking about this?
Of course, we should all speak. We should all say something of how we feel about what happened. But who should take the lead in expressing the thoughts of the entire continent? Where is the leadership of this country in this global emergency? Where are the world leaders? Where are those who have allowed the global warming disasters of unprecedented and unimaginable scale, which are now occurring with more frequency across the planet? We need the head of state to lead the nation in grieving and seeking forgiveness. To speak honestly about what a loss of this magnitude means, and what we will do to ensure it never happens again.
I feel that I need to seek the forgiveness of all these animals that died. We need to speak to the ancestral creators of this continent. Australians must recognise the magnitude and scale of what happened here. Australians must own up to their neglect in caring for country – the ancestral homelands of all those creatures who perished.
A dehydrated and injured koala in November 2019. Photograph: Saeed Khan/AFP/Getty Images
It troubles me that I am not able to find the right way to deal with the magnitude of this loss. I have seen reports that the ashes from these fires became a massive plume of smoke circling our planet for months. I have read that the fires temporarily depleted the ozone layer by up to 5%; and that ozone recovery may become slower with increasingly greater and more frequent fires. Surely this loss is a warning.
The rightful sovereign caretakers, guardians, law managers of country since time immemorial all carry the weight of this loss. We feel diminished knowing that we were unable to protect our traditional lands. Our sadness haunts country like a sickness. In 2020 the Gamilaroi scholar Amy Thunig tweeted: “Seeing people start to ask ‘what is going on in Australia?’ Ongoing colonisation, that’s what’s going on. This land was nurtured in reciprocal relationships with First Nations peoples for some 120,000+ years. THIS is the result of 200 odd years of extractive invasion.”
I am humbled and sad of heart to be writing this eulogy. Although its focus is on the animals and living creatures who died, I acknowledge the deep and tragic loss of human life in this catastrophe too. Many families and communities carry their grief and loss to this day.
–
Today –
We honour, and express our sorrow for, each and every one of the 3 billion animals and all living creatures whose lives were tragically lost in the fires that burnt approximately 30,000 sq km of our country.
We honour, and are sorry for, the further loss of the smaller animals, the 240 trillion insects, beetles, butterflies, moths, spiders, yabbies and other invertebrates estimated to have died while unable to escape the fires that engulfed their rightful world, their ancient and natural homeland.
We honour, and say thank you to, the thousands of brave firefighters and community members who worked so desperately hard over soul-destroying weeks and months to save our bushlands and forests, and the lives of people and living creatures in these places.
We honour, and say thank you to, the many people who rescued badly burnt and injured animals, and painstakingly nursed and healed these animals with care and compassion before returning them to the bush.
–
A wallaby in burnt-out bush in Kangaroo Valley, NSW, in January 2020. Photograph: Jessica Hromas/The Guardian
In the Aboriginal world, we deeply understand that all animals that belong to this land are our close relatives. We understand the importance of our close inter-connectivity with everything in our world. This is the ancient wisdom that we must follow. If we care for our country, the country will care for us.
I once wrote a libretto for Dirtsong, a musical performance by the Black Arm Band. It used the voices of elders expressing what country was all about. Their words included:
It comes from where we bin start off … Coming up from ancient song for making country good – looking good all of the time. Singing it up, singing it up, looking after it well … Watching my country, watching story … Listen for the heartbeat. The heartbeat now – with the pulse of the land, Bringing it up. … Bring the country back.
Australia, already broken by this relationship with the traditional owners of country, became more broken while witnessing the unfathomable scale of this firestorm tragedy. A tragedy that took away the fresh breath of the natural world. A tragedy that took away the sound of this country’s natural music. A tragedy that took away its peacefulness and powerful ability to calm our spirit. A tragedy that silenced the sounds of its life, like the rustle of animals moving through the bush. A tragedy that silenced the songs and voices of the vast multitude of animals, our company, our relatives, that belong in the bushlands and forests.
An echidna after the fires. Photograph: WWF-Australia/Reuters
In this silence, we hear the voice of our conscience. We do not look after the country well enough, the land on which we live. We do not look after the health of our planet that we depend upon to survive.
We will never forget what happened, and we will never forget that 3 billion animals and the trillions of other living creatures that died through no fault of their own.
We cannot be guided by an ethos of neglect, brokenness of heart, misery of spirit that will lead us into a future world devoid of joy.
The world’s combined humanity must sing the planet up with careful songs, songs of responsibility and respect.
This is an edited version of a speech to be delivered by proxy at the Black Summer Vigilon Sunday from 2pm at Camperdown Memorial Park in Sydney, weather permitting. It will be streamed online
A yearling moose beside her mother in Grand Lake. This photograph was taken days before the yearling moose was followed by a car on March 24. This frightened the animal, causing her to run, then get hit by another car. She was euthanized due to her injuries. Diane Spargo/Courtesy Photo
Part of the joy of living in Grand County is being able to live amongst wildlife. Community members stepping outside or glancing out their window might spot a fox jumping in the snow, or a moose peacefully meandering through a meadow.
In Grand Lake, residents grew fond of a mother and baby moose who called the area home. The pair could be seen nestling in the snow, or sometimes wandering down the road. Residents respected the animals and gave them their distance – until an incident on Friday, March 24.
Grand Lake resident Diane Spargo had enjoyed the presence of these moose in the neighborhood. When she spotted the peaceful pair, she often snapped photos of them from a safe distance. On March 24 around 4:15 p.m., she saw the yearling near her home.
“I was in my living room and saw her coming through the snow by our deck. I snapped a couple of quick pictures, then went to put on my shoes,” Spargo told Sky-Hi News. “By the time I got outside, she was gone.”
Spargo was concerned by the yearling’s quick departure.
“She’s been around our neighborhood – her and her mother – for months. We loved watching her and everyone fell in love with her,” she said. “… I went to look for her to make sure she was OK.”
She stopped to talk to her neighbor, who told her that the yearling was scared by a car following her down the road. The car pushed the moose down US Highway 34 towards County Road 4.
This type of behavior can be dangerous for both the animal and unsuspecting drivers.
Spargo’s neighbor told her that he saw the yearling “high stepping it” and that she looked pretty startled because he had “never seen a moose go that fast on pavement before.”
Eyewitnesses in the neighborhood say that a small, gray two-wheel drive car was driving behind the moose by about 20 yards. Despite the moose’s stress, the car didn’t stop following the her.
No residents Spargo spoke to recognized the car chasing the moose. Since it was spring break, there is a possibility driver could have been a visitor.
The yearling was also particularly vulnerable to cars that day because her mother was gone.
“You can see she’s just a baby and I felt so bad. Her mama had just left her,” Spargo said. “It’s that time they leave their baby, their yearling, and go have their new ones.”
The yearling possibly missed her mother, because she became more friendly in the neighborhood that week, going near pet dogs. Spargo added that she had never seen the yearling get that far away from the neighborhood until this incident, so she must have been especially frightened.
The yearling’s venture away from her home ended in an accident, and around 8 p.m. on March 24, it was hit by a car on Highway 34 at mile post 9. Spargo heard through Facebook that the car left the scene. The yearling, badly injured, struggled to get away from the road and into the snow.
As soon as it was light out the next morning, Spargo went out to the scene.
“This poor little thing is suffering and it laid there all night. That makes me as mad as the guy that chased it,” Spargo said.
She stayed with the yearling and contacted Colorado Highway Patrol for help. The Sheriff’s Office and Parks and Wildlife officers responded to the scene.
“I didn’t stay around because it was breaking my heart, because she tried to get up a couple times,” said Spargo.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, the moose had to be put down by Colorado Parks and Wildlife on March 25 because of her injuries. Grand Lake residents still don’t know who hit the moose, or who initially followed the moose, causing it to run towards mile post 9.
In Colorado, it is a misdemeanor to harass wildlife, including from or with a motor vehicle. This is punishable by $200 fine and an assessment of 10 hunting license suspension points.
In some states, it is also illegal to hit an animal and drive away from the scene. While this isn’t illegal in Colorado, if the animal is still alive and by the road, the best course of action is to contact Colorado Parks and Wildlife or Colorado State Patrol. Officials can then put the animal out of its suffering.
“The whole thing has been hard. First, for someone chasing it and then for no one reporting it being hit until I was able to find her the next morning,” Spargo wrote to Sky-Hi News. “There is no reason she should have had to spend the night on the side of the road, frightened and in pain.”
Spargo added that she hopes people can become more aware of how to live with wildlife to minimize stress, injury, or even death.
“First of all, don’t chase them and for Lord’s sake if you hit an animal, say something,” Spargo said.
The mother moose and yearling as a car waits for them to cross the road a week before the yearling was killed. Drivers waited for 20 minutes for the pair to safely cross. Diane Spargo/Courtesy Photo
Live and Let Live
It’s good to remember that humans are in wild animals’ territory, not the other way around. Colorado Parks and Wildlife has also shared how human can coexist peacefully with wildlife.
– Do not approach or touch wild animals.
– Do not feed wild animals. In Colorado, feeding big game animals is illegal because it puts wildlife health and safety at risk. Those in violation are subject to fines, and even worse, could cause the animal to become sick and die.
– Enjoy wildlife from a safe distance.
– Keep your dog on a leash and on trails.
– Keep your distance, if an animal changes its behavior, stops eating or seems nervous at your presence, it’s time to back away.
– If you find a wild animal that appears sick or injured, leave it alone. Call the local Colorado Parks and Wildlife office and talk to a trained wildlife officer for guidance.
Grand County residents can report sick or injured animals by calling the Parks and Wildlife Hot Springs Office at 970-725-6200. For after-hours emergencies, call Colorado State Patrol’s Kremmling office at 970-824-6501.
Every month or so, during its regular review of bills Auburn must pay to its contractors, City Council gets an unusually gruesome claim.
It is from John Cramer Trapping Services, the company that City Hall pays to “dispose” of pesky critters caught inside people’s houses.
A recent invoice, for instance, indicated the trapper had caught several squirrels, a handful of raccoons and an unspecified number of cats discovered loitering in city residences. Total bill for the month-long billing period: about $400.
Never mind that Auburn city law explicitly calls for homeowners to pay for their own critter elimination. This year, City Clerk Paul Norman, who oversees the city’s animal control services, estimates City Hall will write checks worth more than $6,000 for animal trapping.
Vermont House representatives make a move to ban trapping in the Green Mountain State.
More than two dozen Vermont representatives are sponsoring a bill that would outlaw the trapping of furbearing animals with only a couple of exceptions.
House Bill 191would “prohibit the trapping of furbearing animals unless the person trapping is authorized to trap in order to defend property or agricultural crops or…
Eliezer Yudkowsky, a decision theorist at the Machine Intelligence Research Institute with more than two decades of experience studyingAI safetysaid Musk and other understated the “seriousness of the situation.”
Yudkowsky said that he would take the moratorium further, implementing a halt ofAI productionthat is “indefinite and worldwide.”
Yudkowsky’s suggestions appeared in an op-ed in which he warned that “literally everyone on Earth will die” if tech companies don’t put an end to AI building.
Donald Trump became America’s first former president to be charged with acrime.
According tomultiplereports, a New York grand jury indicted Trump on Thursday (March 30). The former president has been under investigation for hush money paid to Stormy Daniels during his 2016 presidential campaign.
Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen admitted he paid Daniels $130,000 to keep quiet about her alleged affair with the ex-president. Daniels, an adult film star, allegedly had sex with Trump in 2006.
Daniels received money for her silence in the months leading up to the 2016 presidential election. Reports about the payment emerged in 2018.
The exact charge or charges against Trump haven’t been disclosed. Manhattan District Attorney…
Exposing the Big Game 