Cowboy State Daily's The Roundup

It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming for Thursday, May 14th.  I'm Mac Watson. – Wyoming's largest livestock marketing company sold 9,000 head of cattle in a special drought sale on Wednesday when it typically sells 400-700 head a week. Cowboy State Daily's Kate Meadows reports that the owner of Torrington Livestock Markets says ranchers are "droughted out." "Lander Nicodemus is a co-owner of the Torrington Livestock Markets, and he said that this is really a historic year for drought. The ranchers are selling off parts of their herds because they can't feed their cattle. There's no grass. The grass isn't growing, and with the conditions as dry as they are, they're really in a tight spot, and don't have any choice but to sell so that the cattle can either go to a feed lot early or go to somewhere else where there is pasture." May is normally a slow season at Torrington Livestock Markets, Wyoming's largest livestock marketing company. But on Wednesday, a special drought sale pushed 6,500 head through the barn while showing another 2,500 head through its Cattle Country video auction platform. Read the full story HERE. – Secretary of State Chuck Gray is asking Fremont County commissioners to take "immediate" steps to eliminate a race-based county voting district. Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports Gray also sent a similar letter to Gov. Mark Gordon about Wyoming's lone race-based state House district. "The planners of these districts were really emphasizing we got to concentrate a lot of Native Americans here because of the case law that reigned at that time. The Supreme Court did a little bit of a twist here last month, making it harder to justify race- based districts. And, you know, and so Secretary of State Chuck Gray went super bold in a letter and said these race-based districts are not allowed. They're unconstitutional." Racial factors went into drawing the state Legislature's House District 33 in 2021. At that time, the relevant case law indicated a need to create a mostly Native American House district in the area of the Wind River Indian Reservation. Read the full story HERE. – A huge wind and solar project near Chugwater to generate 450 megawatts of wind and solar power was unanimously approved Wednesday by Platte County planners. Cowboy State Daily's Kate Meadows reports many residents showed up to express their opinions about the project. "The chug water energy project in Platte County got a thumbs up on Wednesday, when the Platte County Planning and Zoning Commission voted to move the project forward. This is a major wind and solar project. It will cover up over 49,000 acres, and it will generate a combined 450 megawatts of electricity. Many landowners are in support of it. People also oppose it. Residents don't like their viewshed being messed with. They worry about contamination with, you know, solar panels and groundwater. But overall, the project did pass, and that's going to be a huge step for this energy company. NextEra in Wyoming." Paul Norfleet, a sheep rancher who recently moved to Chugwater, who is in favor of the project, says NextEra's Chugwater Energy Project would allow his ranch to make some money. He added that revenue would go toward regenerating the land.  Read the full story HERE. – Wyoming's congressional delegation is firmly behind the Trump administration's move to rescind the 2001 federal Roadless Rule. But Cowboy State Daily's Mark Heinz reports that one bear expert says doing away with the rule could have negative effects on grizzly bears. "They did gather and had a brief press conference. Among them was Chris Servheen. He's from this area. He's from Missoula, Montana, but for more than for 35 years, he was like the Fish and Wildlife Service's head grizzly guy for this entire area. In addition to fragmenting habitat, he also argues that you start punching more roads into remote areas that just will probably up the number of Grizzlies getting killed, either people just illegally shooting them from roads, or perhaps even getting struck by vehicles. That could very well undermine the entire case for even delisting the bear." The Roadless Rule protects roughly 59 million acres nationally, including about 4 million acres in Wyoming. Read the full story HERE. – I'll be back with more news from Cowboy State Daily right after this.   Cowboy State Daily news continues now… – The Jackson woman who gained notoriety for passing out campaign donation checks on the state House floor is running for governor. Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports that Rebecca Bextel is running for the Wyoming Constitution Party's nomination to become governor, the party chair confirmed. "It's an interesting strategy. There's always theories, accusations, finger pointing, like Democrats are infiltrating the primary election. Democratic candidates are winning when Republicans split the vote. Bextel's tagline is that she has an insurance policy against Eric Barlow she considers the most moderate candidate. She believes the other conservative Republicans will split the vote, and if they do, she would like to be on the general election ballot to take on Barlow as the Constitution nominee." If Bextel wins the nomination, she'll face the winners of the Republican and Democratic primary elections, as well as the Libertarian Party nominee in the Nov. 2 general election. Read the full story HERE. – An argument over riding a bike too fast in a Cheyenne park escalated to a 70-year-old man allegedly punching a 12-year-old boy in the face on Monday. Cowboy State Daily's Kolby Fedore reports that Glenn Patterson told police the boy called him a gay slur, then they both ended up with black eyes. "Patterson was accompanying his granddaughter at a park in Cheyenne when a 12-year-old boy zipped by on his bicycle. Patterson said he was going way too fast, and he confronted the boy. The boy responded with a homophobic slur. Witnesses, including his own granddaughter, say that Patterson grabbed the biker by his helmet, lifting him off the bike, and then the boy struck Patterson in his eye, resulting in a black eye that police documented, and then Patterson responded by punching the boy in the face. So, the 12-year old also sustained a black eye." Patterson was formally charged with felony child abuse, according to the Laramie County Detention Center. Under Wyoming law, the charge carries a potential penalty of up to 10 years in prison.  Read the full story HERE. – Wyoming state Rep. Bill Allemand, who was charged late last year with drunk driving, doesn't have to undergo court-ordered random alcohol testing while he's in Washington, D.C. Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports that a Buffalo-based magistrate made the decision. "He's out on bond, but he's supposed to do random alcohol testing. He got permission to forego that alcohol testing for about five days in early June so that he could go to Washington, DC. He told me that the White House invited him and other lawmakers that they're going to talk with Cabinet members about policy things and what Wyoming needs." Allemand has agreed to submit to breath testing before leaving and immediately upon return, the motion says. Read the full story HERE. – Bob Beck, the longtime voice and leader of Wyoming Public Radio, is returning on Saturday for the University of Wyoming to give him its highest accolade — an honorary doctoral degree. Cowboy State Daily's Executive Editor Jimmy Orr reports that Beck says he was surprised by the honor. "There's a few people who have lasted decades in the media, Joan Barron for 50 plus years, and she's a columnist for us. Kerry Drake has been around for 40 plus years. And then there's Bob Beck, who was the voice of Wyoming public radio for 34 years. Everybody knows Bob. Everybody likes Bob. Really smart guy, gregarious person, a gentleman, and he just lent himself to an award like this because he was so well respected."  Beck, who led Wyoming Public Radio's media news team at the University of Wyoming for 34 years, retired in 2022 to move to Syracuse, New York.  Read the full story HERE.     And that's today's news. Get your free digital subscription to Wyoming's only statewide newspaper by hitting the Daily Newsletter button on Cowboy State Daily Dot Com - and you can watch this newscast every day by clicking Subscribe on our YouTube channel, or listen to us on your favorite podcast app.  Thanks for watching - I'm Mac Watson, for Cowboy State Daily.  

It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming for Wednesday, May 13th.  I'm Mac Watson. – After hearing the testimony Tuesday of a woman currently facing a defamation lawsuit by U.S. House candidate Reid Rasner, the Wyoming Joint Judiciary Committee voted to draft a bill to deter frivolous lawsuits that intimidate people into silence. Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports that Michelle St. Louis is being sued by Rasner for defamation after making online comments about him. "The bill is tricky, right? Wyoming and its and its federal courts have processes for dismissing meritless suits already. So what this attempts to do, there's two ways to do it. You could introduce a new evidentiary challenge process, kind of a back and forth, and that was a lot of people were leaning toward that. Another way that lawmakers have tried and failed to do it in the past is to just give immunity to people acting within their rights." St. Louis has told Cowboy State Daily that she believes this case is an attack on her religious faith because Rasner's complaint both alleges and laments that St. Louis had said Rasner "has blasphemed the name of God" due to his sexual orientation. Read the full story HERE. – Wyoming's already hot nuclear sector just went global, with Taiwan and Wyoming signing an agreement on modular nuclear reactors to serve the island's surging, AI-driven demand. Cowboy State Daily's Renee Jean reports that Wyoming mining expert Travis Deti says "This deal bodes well for Wyoming." "Taiwan, for one thing, has banned practically, all but banned, nuclear on its island, but they are looking at needing six-and-a-half times more energy in the next three years thanks to the AI craze that has gripped our globe. We're going to develop some kind of test model for them, and maybe we end up manufacturing components for it as well. So it's a big opportunity for us to grow some manufacturing in Wyoming." President Lai Ching-te, in his translated remarks, said Taiwan and Wyoming have been collaborating for quite some time, and that the new agreements between Wyoming and Taiwan entities build on previous memorandums of understanding, including one signed last year on quantum computing between Wyoming Energy Authority and Taiwan Association of Quantum Computing and Information Technology. Read the full story HERE. – Longtime Cheyenne performer Michael DeGreve, who sang at The Hitching Post six nights a week for 30 years, died Monday in Oregon. Cowboy State Daily's Zak Sonntag reports that the singer had been battling prostate cancer, according to his wife. "Michael DeGreve's career, from a Hollywood hippie to a Wyoming native, effectively, is such a fascinating arc. I mean, here is somebody who grew up in northern Los Angeles and was an immense talent on the basketball court. He might have gone on to the NBA, and then he fell in love with rock-and- roll, and he started playing more guitar. It's funny how he ended up in Wyoming. He came here on a gig he was planning on staying for two weeks and then packing back up his Volkswagen van and going to the next gig, but he fell in love with the place, and he told me, 'Wyoming just has a vibe, and the Hitching Post had this amazing chemistry.'" Though his career began in the rowdy orbit of rock-and-roll icons, like Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin, DeGreve came to feel most at home at Cheyenne's Hitching Post Inn, where his request-driven sets and skill for story telling helped turn a hotel lobby into the capital city's preeminent social hot spot. Read the full story HERE. – A Trump proposal to lower tariffs on beef imports to lower the price of beef for consumers has Wyoming cattle ranchers concerned. Cowboy State Daily's Kate Meadows reports that U.S. Sen. Lummis said any tariff change shouldn't undercut ranchers. "Cattle ranchers are pushing back and saying, you know, if you allow all these imports to come into the US, it's going to cheapen our product, and we have the best beef ever. When you have these imports coming in, it's meat trimming, like, trimming from the beef that gets mixed in with the US beef to make things like, like hamburger patties. So you're not going to see any difference at, like, a steak house, or, you know, buying steak at Walmart. There's going to be no cost difference, even if these tariffs do get lowered." Beef prices have steadily climbed since 2021, driven largely by shrinking cattle numbers and strong consumer demand. Ground beef prices are up 40% from five years ago. Read the full story HERE. – I'll be back with more news from Cowboy State Daily right after this.   Cowboy State Daily news continues now… – The Park County GOP condemned the actions of former Sen. RJ Kost, who is running for office again, for placing a newspaper ad telling people how to change their party affiliation. Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports they said his ad "undermines the principles of a constitutional republic." "I talked to the Park County Republican Party chair, Vince Vanata, and he was like, 'This is not so he saw the ad which tells you how to change your party, very much as a call to Democrats to cross over.' He didn't say that specifically, that's how Vanata says he sees it like these Democrats are going to come and sway the Republican primary? RJ Kost, on the other hand, said, 'No, this is a lot of this is about capturing independence and giving people a voice,' since the primary election is so decisive in Wyoming and in Park County in particular." The letter enters an ongoing controversy over whether Democrats are, or should, be registering as Republicans to influence the Republican primary election. Both parties' primary elections in Wyoming are set for Aug. 18. Read the full story HERE. – A black bear caused a stir in Cheyenne early Tuesday when it was spotted wandering around the east side of town. Outdoors Reporter Mark Heinz reports that the bear took shelter on a hayloft in a resident's barn. "The alerts went off at about 530 on Tuesday morning, and police and game of fish went out, started looking for him, and I guess they found him around seven in a residence barn out, kind of on the eastern outskirts of Cheyenne. The bear's day ended well. He got taken back out to the snowy mountains and set free again in the wild. And the Game and Fish says that they're not really black bears aren't all that common out in those open areas like Cheyenne." Barn owner Karolyn Middleton tells Cowboy State Daily that she didn't know the bear was on her property until a Cheyenne police officer came to her door and told her the bear was discovered hiding in her barn. Read the full story HERE.  – "I was going to marry you but now I'm going to kill you" were the words a man allegedly told a woman before allegedly pushing her out of a moving vehicle in Utah. Cowboy State Daily's Kolby Fedore reports that he was later arrested by the Wyoming Highway Patrol. "A woman with two black eyes was banging on the glass at a McDonald's in Utah. She told police when they arrived, that she had been thrown from a moving vehicle. Law enforcement put out a Be-On-The-Lookout call and Wyoming Highway Patrol troopers found Enrique Ballesteros, headed east on I-80 near Rawlins. Ballesteros was arrested for theft. He could face other charges in other states for allegations of domestic abuse." Ballesteros made his initial appearance in Carbon County Circuit Court on Tuesday afternoon. He will have a preliminary hearing in 10 days to decide if the case has enough evidence to move it to a higher court. If convicted, he could face up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Read the full story HERE. – A coyote pushed its luck too far with a mountain lion in the Red Desert and ended up becoming a meal. Cowboy State Daily's Mark Heinz reports that most of the time, run-ins between the two end with both walking away unharmed.  "There are some instances where mountain lions will actually actively hunt coyotes. Or another thing that can happen is a mountain lion will kill an elk or whatever, deer, and they'll have their kill, and the coyote will come in there and try to snatch a bite and gets you close to the mountain lion and gets taken out, and then it becomes kind of like a secondary meal for the mountain lion. So it does happen again. It's rare, but not unheard of." Mountain lions are usually associated with rugged mountains and thick forests. But they can succeed in open country, such as the Red Desert, especially when wolves aren't around, said Elbroch, director of the mountain lion program for Panthera, a wild feline conservation organization. Read the full story HERE. – And that's today's news. Get your free digital subscription to Wyoming's only statewide newspaper by hitting the Daily Newsletter button on Cowboy State Daily Dot Com - and you can watch this newscast every day by clicking Subscribe on our YouTube channel, or listen to us on your favorite podcast app.  Thanks for watching - I'm Mac Watson, for Cowboy State Daily.  

It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming for Tuesday, May 12th.  I'm Mac Watson. – A surge of as many as 70 proposed data centers converging on Cheyenne has prompted one councilman to propose a 12-month moratorium on new construction. However, Cowboy State Daily's Renee Jean reports that Mayor Patrick Collins says,"an outright moratorium or a ban, that's not our way."  "This moratorium, which has been proposed by Councilman Mark Moody, it would be a 12-month moratorium. It wouldn't apply to any data center that's already under construction. There's two major ones that it would affect. Microsoft has proposed tripling its size in Cheyenne. And then there's the one on the Cox ranch. We don't know who the operator is there, but that one's been put on hold until September, giving the council some time, you know, to have additional information about that development." The moratorium idea follows a grassroots petition seeking 7,000 signatures to halt new data center construction amid questions about power and water use.  Read the full story HERE. – Wyoming's new education funding model is leaving many schools short of money for sports and activities. Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports that lawmakers are urging schools against "hacking and whacking" programs while they fix it. "What's happening is a reevaluation of how activities are funded has made it so that activities are actually seeing a shortfall. So sports, speech and debates, stuff like that. So the Wyoming high school activities Association on Friday put out a presser saying, Okay, think about limiting stuff. And so lawmakers in response are saying, 'okay, okay, hold on.'  House Speaker Chip Neiman said, 'Yeah, but this also might be a good time to find some of these efficiencies that we that we could but aren't using.'" As a whole, Wyoming K-12 school districts are receiving an extra $114.1 million in the coming school year, says a report by the Legislative Service Office. That's an 8.6% increase from the prior school year to a total of $1.95 billion, or $22,626 allocated per kid. Read the full story HERE. – The Trump administration has moved to open more National Park Service land to hunting. But Outdoors Reporter Mark Heinz reports that doesn't mean fluorescent orange hunting vests and rifle shots will light up Yellowstone National Park this fall. "It doesn't sound like we're looking at any big changes in Yellowstone and Grand Teton. There already is some limited, what they call elk control hunting in on one end of Grand Teton Park. in Yellowstone itself. Forget about it. I was told that would take an act of Congress. An executive order can't change that. They would actually have to change the law. Congress would have to say, 'Okay, you can hunt in Yellowstone,' and nobody's holding their breath, waiting for that to happen." The move calls upon the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and other agencies under the Interior Department to "identify and remove unnecessary regulatory or administrative barriers to hunting and fishing on Department-managed lands and waters." Read the full story HERE. – Riverton police say a woman accused of lighting a man on fire claimed she acted in self-defense. Cowboy State Daily's Kolby Fedore reports that a witness told police the woman became angry when the wheelchair-bound man wouldn't give her money for meth. "Ozshnee Gray was arrested on Thursday after confessing to police that she lit a man on fire. According to an affidavit, Gray poured an entire bottle of vodka on his head and lit a lighter when police arrived, his eyebrows, his hair and his face were visibly burned. When investigators pressed for why she didn't just leave, she couldn't really come up with an answer. She said that he didn't ask her to leave." Gray made her first court appearance Friday and is being held in the Fremont County Detention Center on a $20,000 cash-only bond. Read the full story HERE. – I'll be back with more news from Cowboy State Daily right after this.   Cowboy State Daily news continues now… – The Wyoming AG's Office filed a brief Monday defending the What is a Woman Act in the case of a transgender woman seeking a birth certificate change from "male" to "female." Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports that a judge last year ruled that birth certificates should "record the 'facts of birth.'" "The transgender person, whom we call KR in the case, caption calls KR, is asking the Wyoming Supreme Court, 'Hey, this is discrimination. You gotta make the Wyoming Department of Health change my birth certificate to say female.' On Monday, the Wyoming Attorney General's Office, speaking for the Department of Health, fired back, saying, 'No, the Wyoming or the What is a Woman Act is constitutional. And not only do we not have to change your birth certificate, we can't change your birth certificate.'" Enacted in 2025, the What is a Woman Act requires Wyoming agencies that collect sex-based data on people to do so according to each included person's biological sex at birth. Read the full story HERE.  – A plan to build Wyoming's first subscription-based solar project is on hold, but isn't dead, so says Lower Valley Energy's CEO. Cowboy State Daily's Kate Meadows reports that the co-op is now focusing on communicating with customers while pursuing a piece of state-owned land near a garbage dump. "Lower Valley Energy CEO, Bear Prairie, says that the project is not dead. It's just moving in a different direction than initially planned, due largely to public input. So the project initially was going to be built out on private leased land of seven acres near a gravel pit. Now they're looking at state-leased land, about 14 acres near a garbage dump located south of Thane, Wyoming in Lincoln County." Co-op members would be invited to buy shares of the solar farm and then receive credit on their bills for the amount of electricity that their panel produces. The project could power anywhere from 200 to 500 homes. Read the full story HERE. – The family of a Lander convenience store clerk credits strangers for saving the woman's life after she was stabbed several times by a suspected burglar. Cowboy State Daily's Kolby Fedore reports that the victim's daughter says the family is beyond grateful. "Aiko Miller credits the two men for saving her mother, Dale Medford's life. She says one man used a vehicle to scare away the attacker, the other quickly started administering aid. Now neither of them is being publicly named at this time because they are key witnesses in this ongoing investigation. Back in April, Dale Medford was working as a clerk at the Loaf 'N Jug in Lander, when Lorenzo Hopper showed up and jumped over the counter, stole a bottle of alcohol and left. A couple hours later, he returned, and he violently attacked the clerk with a knife. Medford is home now and she's expected to make a full recovery." In her only public statement since the attack, Medford acknowledged the community's concern for her well-being in a Facebook post saying, .  "I appreciate you all." Read the full story HERE. – A Sheridan-area rancher is on a special quest for "Big Wonderful Wyoming" mudflaps. Cowboy State Daily's Mark Heinz reports that Pepper Fipps, the cow boss on the Rafter Star Ranch, wants only one kind of flaps for his ranch trucks.   "They were quite the thing back in the day, but they've become a lot more rare. It's mostly because a lot have a lot of trucks have gone from the old school, heavy steel bumpers to more composite bumpers, or even bumpers that are molded right into the frame, and that makes it really difficult, if not impossible, to drill those bumper bumpers to mount mud flaps. He wants those, specifically wants those. He says, 'I want to  display some pride in my state, in our cowboy heritage.' So he wants those mud flaps."  The mud flaps feature an outline of the state and the iconic Steamboat bucking bronco logo, and "Big Wonderful Wyoming" in big, bold letters. Read the full story HERE. – And that's today's news. Get your free digital subscription to Wyoming's only statewide newspaper by hitting the Daily Newsletter button on Cowboy State Daily Dot Com - and you can watch this newscast every day by clicking Subscribe on our YouTube channel, or listen to us on your favorite podcast app.  Thanks for watching - I'm Mac Watson, for Cowboy State Daily.  

It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming for Monday, May 11th.  I'm Mac Watson. – The proposed 5,600-worker man camp south of Cheyenne would be larger than 84 Wyoming towns. Cowboy State Daily's Kate Meadows reports that notices were mailed to more than 200 landowners describing it as a "secured, temporary workforce housing campus" supporting "large-scale infrastructure projects." "If you talk to people with Laramie County who are thinking about this, they're planning for it. They're seeing that all these workers are coming, and we need a place to put them. And in the words of one person I talked to, 'we need housing yesterday.' You talk to the city and Mayor Collins told me it's maybe not that urgent, but the people certainly are coming. They're trying to move forward with this proposed plan. Now the the camp where this place would be is in County area, not city limits, but the right now, they're trying to figure out how, you know, how can the county and the city work together so that maybe this property could be on city water and sewer but still not be annexed, necessarily?" Notices were mailed March 25 to more than 200 landowners within a mile of the proposed man camp site. Some residents have reacted with alarm to the size and potential impacts of such a large man camp, including increased crime. Read the full story HERE. – New leads could help crack the 25-year-old murder of a Casper man who was beaten, run over and left to die in a Wyoming roller-skating rink parking lot. Cowboy State Daily's Jen Kocher reports that the man's sister says "Danny's death destroyed our family and somebody knows something." "Danny Moser was 27 when he was savagely beaten outside of a roller skating rink in Mills, right outside of Casper.  Authorities say somebody has come forward with new information that they find promising. Danny's family has been devastated by his murder and the lack of answers, and you can't understate the generational trauma this family has suffered as a result of not having answers. And the family's optimistic that finally, this might be the break this case needed." Ryan Cox, commander at the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation who also oversees the agency's cold case team tells Cowboy State Daily that  despite the years that have passed since he was killed, Danny's case is an open and active investigation. Read the full story HERE. – Wyoming U.S. Attorney Darin Smith is set for a U.S. Senate confirmation vote Monday as a controversy heats up over allegations he prejudiced a grand jury. Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports that eight defendants are now challenging to dismiss their cases, including one for first-degree murder. "They're saying that Darin Smith, the top federal prosecutor for Wyoming, was calling defendants murderers, talking about the cases being slam dunks, saying they did what they're accused of. The prosecutor's office, on Friday, fired back, saying, 'Okay, some of this was ill advised. Some of this commentary was ill advised. But it's not so severe that it prejudiced these grand jury proceedings and sacrificed these cases.'" President Donald Trump nominated Smith, whose official confirmation vote is set for Monday in the U.S. Senate. Read the full story HERE. – After winter essentially didn't come to Wyoming, and drought and rising temperatures persist across the region, there are concerns the 2026 fire season could be like 1988 all over again. Outdoors Reporter Mark Heinz reports that the Greater Yellowstone Fire Action Network says "it's spooky." "A lot of people are starting to say that a lot of the conditions that led up to that we're seeing again, and particularly after this winter. The pine beetles go through and kill a bunch of trees, and you get a bunch of trees that are still standing up, but they're all dead and on and, you know, dry as a bone.  The pine beetle epidemic peaked around the 2010's and then went down, but the last couple years is kind of going back up again. So you kind of have this perfect storm of all these beetle-killed trees everywhere, and a winter that really wasn't a winter. A lot of people are kind of gritting their teeth." Back in the fall of 1988 was when Yellowstone National Park and the surrounding area went up in flames. More than a third of the park — 793,880 acres, became a hellscape and in some nearby communities, the pall was so thick it was difficult to see across the street. Read the full story HERE. – I'll be back with more news from Cowboy State Daily right after this.   Cowboy State Daily news continues now… – A paleontologist said Heather Zamora's discovery of a small dinosaur skeleton near Alpine, Wyoming, is one of the best fossils he's ever seen. Cowboy State Daily's Andrew Rossi reports that what makes the fossil discovery so exciting is that every bone is articulated. "Oryctodromeus is actually the state dinosaur of Idaho, and most of the specimens that have been found of this particular animal have come not far from the Wyoming/Idaho State Line. So this specimen, it's possible that it's not in Wyoming. It was found near Alpine but that's kind of a nebulous area. But if it is in Wyoming, it would be the first specimen of this particular dinosaur ever found in the state, and one of the best ever found period, because the entire block contains parts of the arms, the back, hips, legs and part of the tail that are all are that are all articulated, which means they're in life position as they would have been when this 100 million, 100 million year old animal was alive." The dinosaur's name in Greek means "running digger," because it's one of the first dinosaurs that shows evidence of digging and living in burrows. Read the full story HERE.  – Wyoming's Kindness Ranch is rescuing 70 dogs and cats from a Colorado research lab this week — one of its largest rescues. Cowboy State Daily's Jen Kocher reports that the director believes this is the first of many closures as he's hearing it's no longer financially feasible to use beagles and cats. "With the shutdown of some of the country's largest Beagle breeding facilities, on top of public outcry against using dogs and cats in animal testing, John Raymer is hearing that they're likely phasing out this type of testing in the coming years. And they called him when they were decided to shut it down, and said, 'Hey, can you want to come get these 70 animals?' John saw this as an enormous win, that he was called, and that the effectiveness of his relationships, that he's formed, that he's the guy they call now." The sanctuary has also taken test beagles from China that would have otherwise been filtered into the illegal Chinese meat trade, and in one case rescued 10 shell-shocked refugee dogs from the war-torn West Bank.  Read the full story HERE. –– A day after two brothers were mauled by a grizzly in Yellowstone, a dimwitted tourist was spotted five feet from a bear taking video on his phone. Cowboy State Daily's Mark Heinz reports that retired biologist Gary Gaston said the scene was "so absurd" he had to leave. "This was not a grizzly, this was a black bear, but same old story. People were crowding it, and then one guy in particular basically walked right up to it, trying to get cell phone video. But he said at one point, this guy leaned over the hood of a car and was almost like he said, could have been five feet away from this bear. So the bad behavior continues." Retired biologist Gary Gaston tells Cowboy State Daily that the mob gawking at the black bear at Lamar Canyon on Tuesday might have mistakenly thought that black bears aren't that dangerous. Read the full story HERE. – A rescued miniature donkey named Miguel has become one of Wyoming's most in-demand wedding bartenders by wandering through cocktail hours with beer strapped to his sides. Cowboy State Daily's Kolby Fedore reports that the beer burro business owner, Alexis von Gontard, says "It's a great conversation starter." "Wyoming, preschool teacher von Gontard and Sheridan started rescuing donkeys across the country, and now one of them, named Miguel, is quickly becoming the state's most in demand bartender. She's capitalizing on a business that's growing in popularity. One of Van Gontard's friends was getting married, and asked if they could borrow her donkey. And that's when she got the idea to start a business, and now, for $400 an hour, you can have a donkey carrying baskets of cold beer at your party." Beer burros like Miguel are becoming increasingly popular around the Cowboy State.  Read the full story HERE. – And that's today's news. Get your free digital subscription to Wyoming's only statewide newspaper by hitting the Daily Newsletter button on Cowboy State Daily Dot Com - and you can watch this newscast every day by clicking Subscribe on our YouTube channel, or listen to us on your favorite podcast app.  Thanks for watching - I'm Mac Watson, for Cowboy State Daily.

It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming for Friday, May 8th.  I'm Mac Watson. – The Wyoming Freedom Caucus is criticizing Sen. Tara Nethercott for calling for "lawfare" in a speech to attorneys. But Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports that Nethercott says she used the word not to disparage  conservative policies, but "to defend the rule of law." "Lawfare' is a charged word, and it conjures up working out some orchestrated litigation that's supposed to slow someone down or harm them. And so, she said that. She said, 'We need lawyers to do lawfare to protect the rule of law.' I'm paraphrasing, but when I listened to the full recording, they were talking about launching legal challenges. They weren't talking about shutting down conservative values. They were talking about what they considered to be unsavory campaigns and political tactics." Lawfare is a colloquial word that neither Black's Law Dictionary nor Merriam-Webster define. The Cambridge Dictionary calls it "the use of legal action to cause problems for an opponent." Read the full story HERE. – The two brothers attacked by a grizzly in Yellowstone on Tuesday are recovering after multiple surgeries at a hospital in Idaho. Cowboy State Daily's Andrew Rossi reports that a family member says they were both seriously injured, but "doing well and recovering from the horrific attack." "The family isn't releasing much information because they want the victims to recover peacefully and without interruption. But from what we were told by one member of the family, they're doing well considering the extent of the injuries they sustained the older brother. The older brother got the worst of it. He sustained serious injuries to his right arm and face and other parts of his body, and he managed to call 911, when the grizzly was done with him and moved on to his younger brother. The younger brother had a serious injury to his left hand and some swelling on his face from undisclosed injuries, but as of Thursday, both of them were able to stand." The aunt of the two brothers, ages 14 and 28, tells Cowboy State Daily that they've undergone multiple surgeries for extensive injuries inflicted by at least one grizzly on the Mystic Falls Trail near Old Faithful. Read the full story HERE. – Tourism spending overall is up in Thermopolis, but short-term rental owners say the Star Plunge closure has gutted their bookings for a second summer. Cowboy State Daily's Renee Jean reports that a potential visitor says they know Starplunge is closed, so they're just not going to Thermop. "If you look at Airbnb stats for Thermopolis, that slice is down considerably during the summer months. So in July, it was down 15%, bookings were down. And then in August, they were down 20%.  I talked with one of the Airbnb owners. He said he has visited with some of his regulars who haven't been showing up the last two years, and they told him, 'Hey, you know, for us, the main attraction is the star plunge. If it's closed, we're not going to go.'" Thermopolis Airbnb owner Dale Clark tells Cowboy State Daily that by May in years past, he would have had more than 1,300 views, but this year he's only had 230, and very few of which have converted into bookings.  Read the full story HERE. – Reid Rasner is attacking U.S. House opponent Chuck Gray in an ad that calls him "China Chuck" and features Chinese string music and a gong. Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports that Gray says he's proud to be the Wyoming secretary of state who "fought both China and North Korea." "What Gray has done is approach the legislature in kind of 'untie my hands, please' posture like, 'Hey, we probably have Chinese bad actors registered in this state. Can you please give my office some more teeth?' And then, of course, a couple years ago, he teamed up with the feds to dissolve some North Korean companies. He said that companies can be dissolved, but only under a narrow set of circumstances, a limited set of circumstances, and that he's been begging the legislature to do something about the issue that Reed Rasner now laments." Casper businessman Reid Rasner is one of 10 Republican candidates seeking the GOP nomination for the U.S. House in Wyoming's Aug. 18 primary election. He's attacked one of his nine opponents, Secretary of State Chuck Gray, repeatedly. Read the full story HERE. – I'll be back with more news from Cowboy State Daily right after this.   Cowboy State Daily news continues now… – To nab trespassers hunting shed antlers on a ranch in Hot Springs County, Game and Fish put tracking devices in antlers and planted them around the ranch. Outdoors Reporter Mark Heinz reports that the first tracking device was picked up by a local 7-year-old boy, which got his father a ticket. "There's a ranch in Hot Springs County that's been having chronic problems with people. They have it's intermixed between private and state property up there, and they've had chronic problems with people going up to shed hunt antlers and just being rude and trespassing all over their land to do this. I didn't realize the Game and Fish does this, but they do put tracking devices in certain antlers and plant them, kind of like a sting. They plant them on private property. People will come along, pick up the antlers, the Game and Fish can track it and say, 'boom,' you're nailed for trespassing while shed hunting." Miles Galovich, the dad who was cited, tells Cowboy State Daily that from his perspective, it was an innocent mistake. But he also has some questions about where the tracking devices were placed, making him wonder if "entrapment" was involved. Read the full story HERE.  – A life-sized protest sheep in Jackson's Town Square is a statement about "wool cruelty" in Wyoming. Cowboy State Daily's Kate Meadows reports that a lifelong sheep rancher says if it's cruel to shear sheep, then "it's cruel for us humans to get haircuts." "Wyoming is the top producer of wool in the country. That's why PETA is targeting Wyoming for this, this sheep statue. It's in the Jackson town square, which is a very public place that Amanda Brody, with PETA told me, is surrounded by shops that sell products that contain wool. So she said that, you know this area, this place is ideal for their message to be in a, you know, central location with a lot of shoppers who she hopes will be, more conscious about what they're buying after they see this statue." The traveling exhibit — created by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) — appeared Tuesday and will remain in the middle of Jackson through May 18.  Read the full story HERE. –– A Rawlins man living in a house full of knives with misogynistic messages scrawled on his front door told police that the woman who claims he assaulted her hit herself in the face. Cowboy State Daily's Kolby Fedore reports that the 46-year-old man will make his first court appearance Friday. "On May 4, a woman flagged down a vehicle from the side of the road, claiming that she had been assaulted by her stepfather. When police arrived to Jeremiah Hall's residence, they found a red marker on the porch and a sign on the door that said, danger. Women, stay out. Kill her, beware, and other scribblings that law enforcement couldn't make out. Hall says they had an argument over dinner, and wouldn't let him eat in peace and he asked her to leave. And then Hall says that she began hitting herself until she started bleeding.  She claims she went downstairs and when she came back upstairs, Hall assaulted her, and she claims that she believes she had a seizure, and when she came to Hall, was striking her in the face, the chest, the arms." Hall was arrested on Thursday and is being held in the Carbon County Detention Center on the 10 charges. If he is found guilty, he could get 44.5 years in prison. Read the full story HERE. – A bride who fell off a snowmobile during a wedding photography shoot near Smoot, Wyoming has made "America's Funniest Home Videos." Cowboy State Daily's Andrew Rossi reports the clip, which shows the bride falling head over heels into the snow, was included in Episode 6 of the series' 36th season. "It appears on America's Funniest Home Videos as part of their 'Matrimonial Mayhem, Pranksters and Snow Snafus' episode that aired November 2025 didn't qualify as one of the finalists for that episode, so they didn't get $20,000 for submitting it, but they got a free T shirt out of it and a lot of laughs. The whole thing was staged near Smoot. It was a snowmobile wedding shoot near Smoot in April 2025 so everyone went out there on their own snowmobiles. A couple was already married, but they were expert snowmobilers, and they agreed to get in their wedding attire again to go out there and do the shoot, just to give an interesting photo assemblage of having a wedding in the snow. And then they were riding around. They attempted to do a wheelie, and then the bride fell head over heels, off the snowmobile into the snow." Patricia Veronda Naumoff, a wedding planner and "adventure officiant" in Teton County, planned a snowmobile wedding shoot for a magazine in April 2025. Photographer Abbey Morales was enlisted for the photography. Read the full story HERE. – And that's today's news. Get your free digital subscription to Wyoming's only statewide newspaper by hitting the Daily Newsletter button on Cowboy State Daily Dot Com - and you can watch this newscast every day by clicking Subscribe on our YouTube channel, or listen to us on your favorite podcast app.  Thanks for watching - I'm Mac Watson, for Cowboy State Daily.  

It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming for Thursday, May 7th.  I'm Mac Watson. – Bridger Pipeline says it already has commitments for around 400,000 barrels per day of crude oil. Cowboy State Daily's Renee Jean reports the company says it's almost enough to green-light construction of the 650-mile pipeline. "President Trump just signed the cross border permit to this pipeline last week. They already have 89% of the commitments they need to move forward with this pipeline. They said they would build this pipeline if they got the 450,000 so that's 89% of what they said they needed. It's going to use some of the infrastructure that abandoned Keystone XL used. Environmental groups are already signaling that if they say any evidence that this is not being considered as extensively as they think it should be, that they will see us in court." The pipeline must still clear a federal environmental impact statement, as well as gather a multitude of state and local permits, even as an emerging coalition of opponents have already signaled they're ready to fight the pipeline in court. Read the full story HERE. – The US Department of Justice says that it's investigating America's meatpacking industry, something many Wyoming ranchers say is overdue. Cowboy State Daily's Kate Meadows reports that ranchers are welcoming the investigation. "The US Department of Justice confirmed this week that it is investigating antitrust concerns within the meat packing industry, there are four major meat packing companies that control 85% of the beef market, and that, according to Representative Harriet Hageman, is squeezing cattle producers from all sides. Mark Isley, who is the former president of the National cattleman's Beef Association, said that the cattlemen have been requesting an investigation for a long time. He said, 'If there's monkey business, let's find out what it is and who's behind it.' People are welcoming this investigation, and they're excited for an announcement from the DOJ, which they say they hope comes soon." The investigation comes as cattle producers continue grappling with rising operating costs, shrinking processing options and concerns that a handful of giant corporations wield too much control over the nation's beef supply. Read the full story HERE. – A lithium-ion battery caught fire at a Daniel couple's home as they were waking up on Tuesday. Cowboy State Daily's Renee Jean reports that James Morey says the battery shot flames a foot high. "These cheaper lithium batteries are more likely to have a chain reaction start, and once one of those little cells gives way, it excites all the other ones, and then the reaction just takes off and goes, these batteries can reach temperatures of 1800 degrees. Water is not a good idea for trying to put these fires out. It won't stop the reaction. It won't even really slow it down." Morey, a volunteer firefighter, smothered the battery with a towel and tossed it outside onto a concrete pad well away from the house, while his girlfriend called 911. Read the full story HERE. – The Wyoming Republican Party can't use its autonomy rights as a shield when sued if it "sat on" them for 40 years, an attorney suing the party argues. Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports that GOP Chair Bryan Miller says the party's rights have been violated for decades. "So while being sued, they're saying, well, well, well, we have these rights. And the attorney suing them filed an argument here recently where she said, if you had these rights for 40 years, why are you just now using them as a defense when we've, I guess, dwelt in the uncertainty, and ponied up our money to to challenge you. And Chair Bryan Miller told me, 'Well, we only just recently found out about the case, though, and so we haven't been sitting on our rights.'" A group of Hot Springs County Republican Party leaders sued the Wyoming Republican Party, its Dispute Resolution Committee and a few of its officials last year, alleging that the party violated state law by giving voting power to outgoing officials who weren't precinct delegates chosen by a vote of the people. Read the full story HERE. – I'll be back with more news from Cowboy State Daily right after this.   Cowboy State Daily news continues now… –– Just a day after two hikers were mauled by a grizzly in Yellowstone, tourists yelled back at rangers warning them to get away from grizzlies and wolves on Tuesday. Outdoors Reports Mark Heinz reports that a Park Service biologist says tourists just weren't heeding the rangers warnings to back up. "The Yellowstone bear biologist was speaking to the interagency grizzly committee today in Bozeman, and he remarked that at that scene, at that scene by the river, where the wolves and Grizzlies were gathered around the carcass, people kept crowding them, and they'd they'd set up 100 yard perimeter, because that's the rule. And he said, When Park personnel, when we started, you know, trying to push them back, they started yelling at us to leave. When you can't think people's behavior can get any worse. It does."  The wolves and bears had been acting aggressively toward each other, getting into clashes over who got first dibs on the bison carcass that was in the river. Read the full story HERE. – BWXT has lined up its first customer for the $500 million TRISO nuclear fuel plant it's building in Gillette. Cowboy State Daily's Renee Jean reports that a company official says once you have a licensed nuclear facility, it's a very powerful asset. "It's really good news for Gillette on the economic front, because, you know, it's just going to bolster that project. That project still in the contract negotiation space with BWXT. Wyoming did contribute $100 million grant to the project. The company is going to put in another $400 million we're talking about a half a billion dollar manufacturing plant getting set up in Wyoming and Gillette. It'll be one of the few industries where we're vertically integrating that production that we do in Wyoming." The timeline for the new project in Gillette calls for breaking ground sometime in 2028, and for the plant to be operational sometime in 2030 or 2031. Read the full story HERE. – A Lander 18-year-old charged with attempted murder in the stabbing of a Loaf N' Jug clerk two weeks ago wants to apologize "face to face." Cowboy State Daily's Kolby Fedore reports that the defendant wrote a letter to the judge stating he's not a violent person. "Following his preliminary hearing on April 30, 18 year old Lorenzo Hopper wrote a letter to the judge asking if he could apologize to the victim face to face. He also, in the letter, apologized for his relatives actions during the preliminary hearing that was only hours before he wrote the letter. Also in the letter to the judge, Hopper says that he's not a violent person or a thief, though his actions show otherwise.  If convicted for attempted murder in the first degree, Hopper faces life in prison after the preliminary hearing, his case was bound over to District Court." The apology comes two weeks after police say Hopper stabbed the clerk three times in the back with a stolen knife. Read the full story HERE.  – The first week of May in southeast Wyoming has been snowier than at any time during this past winter, which has been over for weeks. Cowboy State Daily's Andrew Rossi reports that meteorologist Don Day says the wet weather was "a nice, big event." "Totals are still being calculated, but based on numbers coming in from southern Wyoming and northern Colorado, the last two days have been the most snow and precipitation that these regions have received in a 24 hour period all winter. Cheyenne reported over an inch of water. Cowboy city daily meteorologist Don Day said it was 'a million dollar storm' in terms of the benefits that it would bring. And it does have a lot of benefits, but conversely, it just shows how pathetic the winter was. And those are his words, not mine, because this is the typical storm that you would expect for the beginning of May."  The much-needed moisture wasn't enough to break the ongoing drought, but Day adds that anything is welcome after "the winter that wasn't." Read the full story HERE. – And that's today's news. Get your free digital subscription to Wyoming's only statewide newspaper by hitting the Daily Newsletter button on Cowboy State Daily Dot Com - and you can watch this newscast every day by clicking Subscribe on our YouTube channel, or listen to us on your favorite podcast app.  Thanks for watching - I'm Mac Watson, for Cowboy State Daily.  

It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming for Wednesday, May 6th.  I'm Mac Watson. – Hiker Craig Lerman was the first to find one of two victims of a grizzly bear attack near Old Faithful in Yellowstone on Monday after he stumbled on a bloody hat. Cowboy State Daily's Andrew Rossi reports that two victims were airlifted out of the park. "We still don't have a lot of information in terms of what actually happened based on what was observed at the scene, and apparently, what Craig said was the conclusion of people at the scene. It was probably a mother grizzly defending her cub. Just these people were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Craig stayed with one of the victims for as long as he could. He called 911 on his own phone because the victim had actually managed to call 911, on his own phone, but it was covered with blood after the attack, and he stayed with that victim until the Rangers arrived, and then both he and the other victim were life flighted from the spot where they were attacked to the eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center where they're receiving treatment." As of Tuesday afternoon, there's been no update from the Idaho Regional Medical Center on the status of the two victims. Read the full story HERE. – Donald Trump is a common theme in a recent blast of mass mailers from U.S. House candidates Chuck Gray, Reid Rasner and Steve Friess. Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports that the mailers all invoke Trump numerous times and describe how their values line up with the president's. "These mass mailers are all pretty focused on President Donald Trump. It's no surprise for Wyoming, we outstripped the nation in voting for Trump three elections in a row, and we landed at about 72% in Trump's favor in the 2024 general election. So to call it Trump countries is certainly accurate, and we're seeing that play out in this campaign season." Of the 10 contenders for the GOP nomination, at least three have dispatched mass mailers. Casper-based Army veteran Kevin Christensen told Cowboy State Daily he's put out mailers, but in localized batches and not as a statewide effort.  Christensen's mailer, uniquely, doesn't mention Trump. Read the full story HERE. – Wyoming coal is getting an unexpected lift as rising electricity demand, driven in part by data centers. Cowboy State Daily's Kate Meadows reports that is forcing utilities to keep coal-fired power plants online longer than planned.  "This will benefit the coal industry in Wyoming, and especially in the Powder River Basin, because it creates an increase in production of coal. And the Powder River Basin is Wyoming's largest coal mine. Kyle Wentland, the deputy director of the Wyoming Energy Authority, says, right now, demand is outstripping supply. The Wyoming Energy Authority released a study in February on Wyoming coal. And according to that study, 40% of the annual US coal production comes from Wyoming." Industry insiders tell Cowboy State Daily that the new energy demand is putting Wyoming's signature coal industry back into the conversation and is a good thing for the coal industry. Read the full story HERE.  – The Powell City Council on Monday condemned Councilman Troy Bray's comment suggesting Wyoming start "hanging judges" in response to a judge halting an abortion ban. Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports that Mayor John Wetzel says it hasn't been "the greatest look for the town of Powell." "Troy Bray had written, 'the only way Wyoming is going to have freedom is to start hanging bad judges.' And so that's not a direct threat on a judge, but it is a suggestion toward violence. And so, you know, in the case of that being protected speech, the city council wants to be careful not to retaliate. And so what they chose to do was to send a message to the public. And so the bringer of the resolution, Steve Lensegrav, emphasized that when he was speaking about it at the council meeting Monday. And also the mayor emphasized that in a Tuesday interview." The council voted in favor of a resolution to "condemn and reject any and all statements which threaten or support political violence, including threats toward judges in our courts." Read the full story HERE. – I'll be back with more news from Cowboy State Daily right after this.   Cowboy State Daily news continues now… – The heavy, wet snow that blanketed southeast Wyoming brought an inch of water to a parched part of the state Tuesday, the most in 24 hours since August. Cowboy State Daily's Executive Editor Jimmy Orr reports that according to meteorologist Don Day, this is a million-dollar storm, and it's not done yet. "Southeast Wyoming needed this storm badly. It's an exceptional drought stage. It's been snowing for the last 24 hours, 36 hours, and by the time it's all over Cheyenne, Laramie County will be getting more than an inch of water. And it is so dry in Laramie County to be able to get this is exceptional." With the precipitation anticipated overnight, Day says Cheyenne and Laramie will get well over an inch of water by Wednesday morning. That's more than either community saw in either of the months of March and April. Read the full story HERE. – A new study has traced $39 million in foreign funding behind anti-data center campaigns across the U.S. Cowboy State Daily's Renee Jean reports that local and national leaders are concerned about it.  "I talked with numerous people. Representative Harriet Hageman's office is watching this. I talked with Cheyenne attorney Matt Mikayla. He is watching this, you know, I talked with Americans for Prosperity, James Halverson, he has seen it in action when he was in South Dakota. These kinds of campaigns that Chinese operatives would engage in to spread disinformation around through American advocacy groups. And so, you know, this is not an isolated thing. This is part of the new trend. This is part of the Information Age." Betsey Hale, the CEO of Cheyenne Leads, tells Cowboy State Daily that "No one has complained about data centers until about the last month and a half." Read the full story HERE. –– Skid marks at the scene of a devastating crash shows a pickup with a camper trying to stop before plowing into a semitrailer on U.S. Highway 85 near Lusk over the weekend. Cowboy State Daily's Kolbe Fedore reports a 10-year-old girl napping above the truck's cab were among those killed. "Wyoming Highway Patrol reports that there was a horrific accident in Niobrara County on May 1, leaving three people dead. Two were adults. One was a 10-year-old girl. There were also two people injured. Wyoming Highway Patrol Public Information Officer Aaron Brown said the 10 year old victim had been sleeping in the camper that was being pulled by the truck. She was unrestrained and was ejected from the camper into the semi. Investigators are still working to determine why the pickup did not slow sooner before impact. Also possible. Mechanical issues involving the semi trucks, transmission are being examined as a contributing factor." The crash, detailed by the Wyoming Highway Patrol in a Tuesday report, happened at about 11:21 p.m. on Friday at mile marker 159 on U.S. 85, about 9 miles north of Lusk, that's according to authorities. Read the full story HERE. – Yellowstone superintendent Cam Sholly is calling a new $100-a-day per-person entry fee for non-U.S. resident visitors to Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks "fantastic." Cowboy State Daily's Andrew Rossi reports that the new entry fee means the parks get more money to help offset the impact from mobs of tourists. "When asked about how the new $100 per person per day fee for non residents of the United States would impact the park, Cam Shelley was very open just about the fact that he thinks that's a fantastic idea, if only because it'll bring more money into the park for the park to address critical infrastructure issues, basic maintenance, and he believes that US citizens shouldn't be paying the same as non residents for use of their national park." Sholly went on to say that the park retains 80% of what they collect in entrance fees. The more they collect, the more money the park can invest in the staffing and infrastructure in the parks.  Read the full story HERE. – And that's today's news. Get your free digital subscription to Wyoming's only statewide newspaper by hitting the Daily Newsletter button on Cowboy State Daily Dot Com - and you can watch this newscast every day by clicking Subscribe on our YouTube channel, or listen to us on your favorite podcast app.  Thanks for watching - I'm Mac Watson, for Cowboy State Daily.  

It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming for Tuesday, May 5th.  I'm Mac Watson. – Expecting up to 8 inches of snow, southeast and other parts of Wyoming will finally get a little bit of a late winter Tuesday and Wednesday. Cowboy State Daily's Andrew Rossi reports that meteorologists are saying snow will turn to freezing slush and that could be a problem. "It's actually a combination of two different weather systems that are going to collide somewhere over Southeast Wyoming, northern Colorado, and Western Nebraska, which is going to lead to wet, heavy snow. Enough to impair travel on I-80 and I-25 and it's going to be around one to two inches of water equivalent of snow, which could be upwards of one to two feet of snow in the mountains. This is going to be a statewide system in terms of temperature. We're going to see temperatures drop 30 degrees, some places closer to 40 degrees in just six hours or so. And there's going to be scattered snow, rain and thunderstorms throughout the state, but the bulk of it is going to be in the southeast corner." Up to 8 inches of heavy, wet snow could fall during that duration, accompanied by a huge drop in temperatures. Read the full story HERE. –– With dozens of Cheyenne-Area data centers in various stages of discussion, some residents want to hit the brakes. Cowboy State Daily's Renee Jean reports a petition is circulating, calling for a data center moratorium. "When you total the whole thing, it's like 70 of them all coming toward Cheyenne. It's like Cheyenne has become this data center magnet, right? And there's, you know, people who are saying, 'Wait, it's too many. It's too fast.'  Senator Case is saying maybe a moratorium is not such a bad idea. We could use a little more time to figure out how we handle this at a state level too. You know, do we want to have the industrial siding commission look at cumulative impact?" The Cheyenne petition comes as other Mountain West counties and more than a dozen states weigh enacting temporary moratoriums on new data centers, reflecting a much wider national debate. Read the full story HERE. – Wyoming's political registration data isn't seeing huge changes yet, despite a push from some politicos to register Republican to participate in the generally more decisive GOP primary election. Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports that all Wyoming parties have shrunk in registered membership from January to May, but one party stands out. "Since January, from January to May, the registration numbers in the Wyoming Democratic Party have shrunk by more than 500 but all the other parties have also shrunk, and so these shrinking to different degrees have given the Republican Party more of a percentage of the whole. The Democratic Party lost the most in terms of percentage of the whole. Most people I talked with Monday said it doesn't sound like crossover voting. Doesn't sound like a big push to go from Democrat to Republican, but it's still early. The Wyoming Democratic Party told me the half of the people they lost from January to May either died or moved away. The other half, we don't know. Could be different." All parties saw steady decreases in the four months since, as voter registration dropped by 1,404 total. But the GOP gained in dominance in terms of percentage of the whole, up to 77.4%, while the Democratic Party lost the most percentage-wise, down to 11.4%. Read the full story HERE. – With the Wyoming Highway Patrol short 36 troopers and overtime restricted, local law enforcement can be left to pick up the slack to fill gaps. Cowboy State Daily's Kolby Fedore reports that one WHP dispatcher says more people are asking, "They're not here yet. Where are they?"  "Wyoming Highway Patrol is facing a significant trooper shortage, with 36 unfilled trooper positions. The problem is they're over budget by about two-and-a-half-million dollars, so there is a hiring freeze until October, and no overtime for the troopers they do have. Local agencies like sheriff's offices are having to step it up. The problem is that pulls them away from the dirt roads and the local communities where they're needed. A Platte County sheriff's officer says that they are also understaffed, so this means longer wait times and troopers having to cover greater distances." Staff and budget shortages at the Wyoming Highway Patrol are stretching troopers thin across nearly 7,000 miles of state highways, slowing response times and straining local and county agencies to make up for the gaps in service. Read the full story HERE. – I'll be back with more news from Cowboy State Daily right after this.   Cowboy State Daily news continues now… – A contractor filed a lawsuit Monday claiming the more than $100 million award to fix a catastrophic 2019 failure of the Wyoming-Nebraska tunnel system was done illegally "in secret." Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports that it also claims there was no competitive bidding process for the work. "Drill Tech Drilling actually is suing the Goshen Irrigation District and the Gering-Fort Laramie Irrigation District in Nebraska. Now those are the ones that run that giant tunnel system that had the collapse back in 2019 that was catastrophic. And so the theory behind the lawsuit is that at least one of the districts okayed a sort of behind closed doors, quiet hiring process, rather than the public bidding process required by law four, very significant. This is, like a $100 million dollar plus project. One of the claims is just asking a court to tell the districts, 'Hey, this was illegal.' The other claims are accusing it of things that would have a little more teeth, like violating the public records public meetings act, and this case is ongoing." The lawsuit asks the court to intervene in what Drill Tech calls an unlawful bidding process that cut it out of the opportunity to win a job on the massive tunnel repair. Read the full story HERE.  – Wyoming's lone Representative, Harriet Hageman, was one of three Republicans to vote against the 2026 Farm Bill, saying "special interests" have added "too much bloat" to the legislation. Cowboy State Daily's Kate Meadows reports that the Wyoming Farm Bureau praised the new bill for looking out for rural ag producers. "The bill is supposed to help rural communities. It's supposed to go toward fixing rural infrastructure. It supports wildfire risk reduction by calling for the reducing of forest fuels. And it also helps with what Hagaman introduced is the Grazing Act. It directs the US Forest Service to implement strategies that allow livestock grazing in order to reduce vegetation, and that's an act that Hageman authored to help grazers on national grasslands." The bill now moves out of the House to the Senate Agriculture Committee. Read the full story HERE. – Wyoming ranchers are cheering a bill that targets labeling of plant-based and lab-grown proteins being passed off as farm- or ranch-raised meat. Cowboy State Daily's Kate Meadows reports that Rep. Harriet Hageman says it's an effort to "prevent mad scientists from masquerading as meat producers." "The Act is about making clear whether protein that you buy at the store is from an actual animal or whether it was made in a lab or plant based. consumers have been confused because of lack of transparency, of labeling when they buy their meat at the store. So this bill would effectively clear that up and help people to know what they really are buying. The bill, entitled the "Fair and Accurate Ingredient Representation on Labels (FAIR) Act, calls for those types of products to be clearly labeled as "lab-grown" or "imitation" and was introduced by Missouri Republican Rep. Mark Alford.  Read the full story HERE. – A video showing a grizzly bear being chased by a pair of coyotes seemed so unlikely, even those watching weren't sure they believed it. Outdoors Reporter Mark Heinz reports that this bear got too close to their den of pups, which motivated them to be aggressive with a predator that could have torn them apart. "It looks like a young grizzly, maybe just recently separated from his mom, was out, wandering about, doing his thing. Apparently, got too close for comfort to these coyotes. These coyotes just go after him, and the bear initially tries to chase one of the coyotes back with him. Both the coyotes come at him, and he just turns tail and runs. And it's funny, because the coyotes together, you know, don't add up to a 10th of what this grizzly is." None of the animals made contact with each other during the brief, dramatic encounter at Blacktail Ponds in Yellowstone National Park. Read the full story HERE. – And that's today's news. Get your free digital subscription to Wyoming's only statewide newspaper by hitting the Daily Newsletter button on Cowboy State Daily Dot Com - and you can watch this newscast every day by clicking Subscribe on our YouTube channel, or listen to us on your favorite podcast app.  Thanks for watching - I'm Mac Watson, for Cowboy State Daily.

It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming for Monday, May 4th.  I'm Mac Watson. – Multiple Wyoming lawmakers and a Cheyenne-based car dealer voiced concern Friday over a federal requirement for mandatory "kill switches" in 2027 model vehicles. Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports that one dealer calls it "Big Brother," while a state legislator says it's "draconian." "Representative Daniel Singh has been outspoken on this for a while, and he's called it satire, not policy. He was not alone, however, Representative Landon Brown, who chairs the Transportation Committee, voiced milder but similar versions of that same alarm and consternation. And Representative Mike Yin, a Democrat, told me it's the state's business if the state wants to hand down some kind of mandate like this, not the federal government. And he said, 'I don't know why the federal government's always trying always trying to tell us what to do.'" The requirement passed in the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, but it's about to become a reality as 2027 model year vehicles trickle into the market starting this year. Read the full story HERE. – Father Chad Ripperger is one of the Roman Catholic Church's most experienced and well-known exorcists. Cowboy State Daily's Zak Sonntag reports that originally from Casper, Ripperger speaks with a mechanic's calm about the discipline he never asked for — fighting demons. "He wanted to be a priest and an academic and really focus on Catholic academics. He was asked by the church to focus on exorcism. And this was at a time when the church was globally focusing on expanding exorcism institutionally, and that started in 1999 and it's just been building and building ever since." Father Ripperger tells Cowboy State Daily that he's gained visibility in recent years after successive popes have directed dioceses to expand the use of exorcism in response to what Ripperger says is a rise in diabolic influence. Read the full story HERE. – A California man who was killed by elephants while on safari in Africa was a frequent hunter in Wyoming and close friends with a Douglas outfitter. Cowboy State Daily's Mark Heinz reports that Dax McCarty says the media portrayal of his friend, California vineyard owner Ernie Dosio, is wrong.  "He said, you know that those menial portrayals of him is just a rich guy that was over there killing things just for thrills, you know? He said, 'That's wrong. That's a misconception. That's not who this guy was.' And then I also talked to a couple Wyoming residents who have actually been on safari hunts in Africa and they said, Yeah, it's no joke over there, you have to have your stuff wound up tight. You have to have your head on a swivel." McCarty tells Cowboy State Daily that according to what he was told by Dosio's family, Dosio died almost instantly when he was gored by a female elephant, on April 17 in the central African country of Gabon. Read the full story HERE. – The maker of an AI-powered robot chef that will cook for you wants to move its manufacturing from China to Cheyenne. Cowboy State Daily's Renee Jean reports that Foodease CEO Kishore Kodru says once you load the robot with ingredients, it will drop them into the pan, stir and cook according to an app-driven recipe. "A lot of people conflate this or confusing this with a crock pot. It's not a crock pot, because with a crock pot, you dump all the ingredients in at once, and they all cook for the same amount of time. This is putting each ingredient in as needed. What Kishore would like to do, if he could get enough interest in this product, he'd like to move the manufacturer. To America. So that's kind of how that played out. It's not that this is a Chinese company locating in America. They'd like to move it to Cheyenne Wyoming instead." Kodru is normally a real estate developer and business owner in Cheyenne, but has lately become one of Foodease's primary beta testers.   Read the full story HERE. – I'll be back with more news from Cowboy State Daily right after this.   Cowboy State Daily news continues now… – A woman sex-trafficked by a Satanic cult still haunts — and motivates — former Converse County Undersheriff Justin Scott. Cowboy State Daily's Jen Kocher reports that although Scott was forced to medically retire from law enforcement, he's found a new mission to rescue human trafficking victims in Wyoming. "He started his nonprofit to basically dispel the misnomers about human trafficking and educate the community about what human trafficking is and what it looks like in Wyoming. And from there, he joined forces with another leading advocate of anti human trafficking, leader in the state. Terry Markham is the executive director and co-founder of uprising and Sheridan, and it is an anti human trafficking nonprofit that focuses on educating and training students, the community, law enforcement and other organizations and individuals." Scott tells Cowboy State Daily there's enough demand in Wyoming to support building the first human trafficking safe house in Wyoming and his group is raising money to build a facility that would provide resources along with housing to help trafficking victims transition back into productive lives. Read the full story HERE. –– Hyattville carpenter Kirk Odegaard builds basic, Old West coffins and caskets for those who want a Western funeral. Cowboy State Daily's Andrew Rossi reports that Odegaard says the service he provides is the way of the West. "One day his neighbor walked in and made a particularly humbling request. He wanted Kirk to build a casket for his wife, who was not dead, but had some terminal conditions. She knew she was going to die, and they had already discussed they wanted a dust-to-dust burial. Simple coffin, no vaults, nothing fancy, just a pine box to be placed in that would eventually return to the earth. And now Kirk, inspired by that particular story, wants to offer the same thing to other Wyomingites who might want to end their lives in that old west tradition." For $750, Odegaard will make anyone a high-quality, Old West casket or coffin. A basic wooden box that's appropriate for any funeral, whether it's a friend's, family member's, or your own. Read the full story HERE. – Novelty signs that say things like "trespassers will be shot, survivors will be shot again" are good for laughs in gun-friendly Wyoming. But Cowboy State Daily's Mark Heinz reports that legal authorities say prosecutors could use the sign to allege the shooter had a predisposition to violence. "I reached out to some fire, to some firearm self defense experts, and also a couple legal eagles. If you have a sign like that, and you actually have to use your firearm for self defense is that setting you up for a creative prosecutor, if they decide to try to prosecute it as an unjustified shooting, is going to go, 'Aha! He had a sign showing that he was just waiting for someone that he could shoot.' They still don't think it's a good idea. One guy who actually has those types of signs. He says, 'I put those in around my house or my bar for novelty, for joke, haha, purposes. I wouldn't put him out on my fences, because, as he put it, it would open me up for liability.'" Ryan Semerad, a trial attorney at Fuller & Semerad in Casper, tells Cowboy State Daily that a judge or jury in a post-shooting case will scrutinize the defensive shooter's conduct leading up to and during the incident, but probably won't be concerned with a supposedly threatening sign as an indication someone is just itching to shoot someone. Read the full story HERE.  – A new study shows that when salmon are given cocaine, they swim farther and faster. Cowboy State Daily's Andrew Rossi reports that researchers say there was no risk to humans in conducting the experiment as "you would need to eat thousands" of these cocaine-addled fish to feel the impact of the drug. "It's obvious the illicit drugs are going to have an impact on animals once those chemicals get into their systems. The question that these scientists are trying to answer is how it affected the behavior of these young salmon. And what they determined is that these salmon, yes, they swam first, faster, but they also swam farther. They went further into this natural lake in Sweden. And what we can take away from that is that it's actually detrimental to their overall well being, because that's energy they're expending to get places that's due to a chemical change in their brains. It's not something they would do naturally, and that's energy that they could be using to survive gather food, and it might lead them to places where there's less food and more predators." Jack Brand, a professor and biologist with the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, was the lead author of the new paper who told Cowboy State Daily that the new study was inspired by a desire to understand how illicit drugs impact natural ecosystems. Read the full story HERE. – And that's today's news. Get your free digital subscription to Wyoming's only statewide newspaper by hitting the Daily Newsletter button on Cowboy State Daily Dot Com - and you can watch this newscast every day by clicking Subscribe on our YouTube channel, or listen to us on your favorite podcast app.  Thanks for watching - I'm Mac Watson, for Cowboy State Daily.

It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming for Friday, May 1st.  I'm Mac Watson. – The suspect in a Thursday morning shooting in a central Cheyenne neighborhood was in custody by early afternoon, so say detectives. Cowboy State Daily's Greg Johnson reports that police say Adrian Maggos also was once accused of attacking a man with brass knuckles. "The Cheyenne Police Department is reporting that, apparently, Maggos and this other person had a verbal argument that escalated and ended up with Magnus allegedly shooting him. We don't know where he was shot or his condition, although the injuries that he suffered were life threatening. And in a later update, we learned that he had reached out to the police in some way to inform them he wanted to turn himself in. He returned to the spot where the shooting happened, and that's where police and the US Marshal agent met him and took him into custody." Cheyenne PD tells Cowboy State Daily that the 27-year old Maggos faces an attempted first-degree murder charge. Read the full story HERE. – A judge on Thursday dismissed the defamation case of two legislators against the campaign arm of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus. Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports that in the judges ruling, he said "You can say pretty ludicrous stuff" in politics. "Judge Kaste on Thursday dismissed a defamation suit to Rock Springs lawmakers had filed against the WY Freedom PAC, which is the campaign arm of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus. Now the lawmakers were, you know, bothered by mailers sent out targeting them in the 2024 election, saying things like representative Wiley voted against keeping Trump on the ballot. There was no vote to keep Trump off the ballot at any point in the Wyoming Legislature. So the judge on Thursday, Judge Cassidy, he said, 'Yeah, some people say ludicrous things in politics, but the First Amendment is so protective you can say ludicrous things.'"  Reacting to the ruling, Rep. John Bear of Gillette, tells Cowboy State Daily on Thursday, "I'm super excited that the First Amendment still exists in Wyoming." Read the full story HERE. – A Kemmerer couple faces multiple child endangerment charges, accused of having their four kids living in a home "covered in filth." Cowboy State Daily's Greg Johnson reports that authorities described the inside of the trailer as "disgusting." "When they opened the door to go in, he said it was just overwhelming – just hit him and he had trouble opening the door. He said there was just garbage and food and rotting food all over the place. Described all kinds of surfaces, you know, couches, chairs, tables, everything was covered with stuff."  Samanta Dunn-Warren and Jeremyha Warren had their first court appearances on Wednesday and both have been charged with four counts of endangering a child, which is a misdemeanor. If convicted, they could face up to four years in prison. Read the full story HERE. – Some are concerned that gunfire from Wyoming's new $19.5 million shooting complex near Cody will drive eagles away from prime hunting and nesting grounds. Outdoors Reporter Mark Heinz reports that experts are saying that the presence of humans in their hunting territory will drive them away, not the gunshots. "The consensus with the biologists I spoke with is that's probably going to go away, because the Eagles, they're just not going to tolerate that much human presence and that much noise. The rabbit population is down, and for Golden Eagles, that's one of their main prey sources. And so it's nobody's saying that this is gonna, like cause mass Eagle death, or that they shouldn't build the complex, and just saying it's something we should be mindful of."  Raptor researcher Chuck Preston tells Cowboy State Daily that he doesn't oppose the shooting complex being built, but it should be kept in mind that the project will come at a cost to raptors. Read the full story HERE. – I'll be back with more news from Cowboy State Daily right after this.   Cowboy State Daily news continues now… – A Wednesday U.S. Supreme Court ruling declaring Louisiana's race-based congressional district unconstitutional could shake up Wyoming. Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports that Fremont County has a race-based legislative district and a race-based commission district. "This is all ringing bells in my head, because back in 2021 I called I covered our legislative redistricting. I remember Senator Cale Case emphasizing, at the time, the Wind River Reservation district needs to have a majority of Native American voters in it. We really need to work for this. Well, he was trying to honor the case law that was in place at the time, and so he told me that Thursday. He was like, 'Yep, we were doing our best to honor that case law, and things might look a little different in five years when we redistrict again.'" Ruling 6-3, the high court didn't overturn the Voting Rights Act's Section 2 or the framework earlier decisions have given to it, but the majority "updated" that framework in a way that makes it harder for a state to justify racial discrimination when drawing legislative districts. Read the full story HERE. –– High fertilizer costs and severe drought is leaving Wyoming's farmers and ranchers making tough choices. Cowboy State Daily's Kate Meadows reports that one farmer says  "It's kind of the perfect storm for agriculture." "Fertilizer costs have skyrocketed over the past couple of months because of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, and that, coupled with this severe drought that Wyoming is creating what one farmer called a perfect storm for Wyoming farmers and ranchers. So these farmers and ranchers are having to think about how to do things differently in this particularly tough year." A recent survey by the American Farm Bureau Federation shows that 70% of respondents reported they can't afford all the fertilizer they need for this year's operations. Read the full story HERE. – When a 15-month-old Glenrock boy started having seizures and was choking, the family called for help. Cowboy State Daily's Dale Killingbeck reports they were lucky local cop and firefighter Shane Pierce lives next door.  "When he gets to the other house, his neighbors are coming out, one of the neighbors is coming out to get him, and so he goes into the house, and he finds that there's this 15 month old boy that has gone into a seizure, isn't breathing. He turns him upside down, gives him some taps on the back, and this boy vomits things that were stopping him from breathing, and he starts to breathe again. Because of what the grandmother and the officer did, there was no brain damage. There was no organ damage or loss involved. And the officer was honored at the Glen Rock City Council meeting this week for what he did." Glenrock Police Officer Shane Pierce said he serves as the school resource officer as well as a patrolman on the day shift. Read the full story HERE.  – Everyone hated Pepper McKay, so when he turned up dead, Sheriff Walt Longmire had a lot of suspects to rule out in his latest "Longmire" mystery, "The Brothers McKay." Cowboy State Daily's Renee Jean reports that Wyoming author Craig Johnson's 22nd "Longmire" novel is dives into unresolved questions about Dostoevsky's 993-page mystery, which Johnson first read when he was just 13 or so years old. "It's a mystery novel. It's a little like those Russian Matryoshka Dolls, the nesting dolls, you know, you open one and oh, there's another one, and there's another and another. And so the mysteries are going to be kind of like that, because those Dostoevsky novels were also like that."  The book is set to be released on May 26th. Read the full story HERE. – And that's today's news. Get your free digital subscription to Wyoming's only statewide newspaper by hitting the Daily Newsletter button on Cowboy State Daily Dot Com - and you can watch this newscast every day by clicking Subscribe on our YouTube channel, or listen to us on your favorite podcast app.  Thanks for watching - I'm Mac Watson, for Cowboy State Daily.  

It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming for Thursday, April 30th.  I'm Mac Watson. – The horse that made international headlines after he was rescued after seven months in the Wind River Mountains has made a complete recovery.  Cowboy State Daily's Andrew Rossi reports that the owner of Mouse the horse says he's made it from walking death back to full condition. "His owner said even his muscle mass that he lost during his long survival journey in the mountains has recovered thanks to this incredible supplement he got from extreme equine supplements, a family company out of Oregon. The story of this horse went worldwide. A lot of people connected with it. They were happy that he was found and he was rescued, and now he's made a full recovery, and he'll be back in the mountains where he got lost later this summer." Mouse got lost during a backcountry packing trip in July 2025. The horse simply walked away from the rest of the group near Moon Lake Union Pass in the middle of the night. Read the full story HERE. – Two breaks in the 100-year-old Rawlins city water system this week leaves residents in a familiar spot — on notice they may lose water. Cowboy State Daily's Kate Meadows reports that the former mayor estimates the cost to fix the system at between $50 - $60 million, which is money the city doesn't have. "The former mayor of Rawlins said that water line breaks happen more often in Rollins than in any other place that he's been. So this speaks to a water system, a water infrastructure that is over 100 years old in the Rawline area and the city simply doesn't have the money to fix the whole thing. So over the years, they've just been making small fix after small fix as emergencies come up. City leaders are aware that people want answers,so they are relying on the state and on grant monies to help with these necessary fixes. But even those grant monies aren't enough."  Although there has been a lot of public scrutiny on Rawlins' water situation since catastrophic failure in 2022, current mayor, Jacquelin Wells, tells Cowboy State Daily that water line breaks are common in communities. Read the full story HERE. – The Casper City Council on Tuesday agreed to move toward a 180-day moratorium on gambling expansion in the city. Cowboy State Daily's Dale Killingbeck reports that City councilman Kyle Gamroth said constituents have reached out to him about "over-saturation of that industry in our community." "The discussion kind of brought up some of the concerns that people have been bringing to council. They've heard from constituents that there seems to be an increase in the number of gaming opportunities in the city. And so the city manager talked about how that can affect the city in different ways, in zoning, etc, in new opportunities from other businesses outside of gaming to come into certain areas. So they're talking about establishing districts, possibly for that."  During the conversation at least three council members spoke of concerns about the number of gambling opportunities expanding in the community. Read the full story HERE. – A legislator says that as Wyoming's data center industry continues to boom, who gets the money generated by them is something the state needs to figure out. Cowboy State Daily's Kate Meadows reports that one lawmaker wants answers. "Senator Cale Case of Lander spoke with Jake Nichols on the Cowboy State Daily Show Wednesday, and asked, 'Are we getting enough taxes from these data centers, and where do these taxes go?' Case is helping with legislation to possibly change the sales tax structure for data centers so that the taxes that data centers pay on the electricity would be distributed to communities throughout Wyoming rather than stay in the communities like Cheyenne, where the data centers are located." Case spoke from Milwaukee, where he's attending a U.S. Department of Energy conference focused on protecting the nation's electrical grid from cyber threats. Read the full story HERE. – I'll be back with more news from Cowboy State Daily right after this.   Cowboy State Daily news continues now… – Scientists for the first time have determined how much water Old Faithful spews when it erupts. Cowboy State Daily's Andrew Rossi reports that new research shows an average of 7,300 gallons of liquid water, along with steam, are forced out of Yellowstone National Park's most famous geyser. "What they did was they measured the water flowing out of one of the out channels of Old Faithful after 45 eruptions in April 2025 and then they used high they use high speed thermal cameras to record the eruptions and then get an idea of how much steam was erupted, which gave them an idea of how much liquid water was needed to produce that steam. What they can do with this data is use that, not only to monitor other geysers, they can see how old faithful changes over time. So there's a lot of potential applications beyond just the purely scientific ones. This is a way that scientists provide information to the park service so they can best manage the resources." Old Faithful's average discharge is 27.9 cubic meters for every eruption. That's enough to fill 140 standard bathtubs.  Read the full story HERE. –– Gillette police report that a mother whose baby was born with meth in its system admitted using the drug the day she gave birth. Cowboy State Daily's Greg Johnson reports that the woman also tested positive for meth while breastfeeding. "They take a piece of the umbilical cord and they tested it. And it did test positive for having meth in the system, and they came back, and then they so, so they immediately contact DFS, who send someone to her house, and they take a test of the woman of the mother, and she tests positive for for meth, even though she tells police she hasn't used since the day she gave birth."  Bryaira White Eagle has a preliminary hearing scheduled for Friday on allegations she used meth while pregnant, then continued to use the drug and breastfeed her newborn for five days after the infant's birth. Read the full story HERE. – The Wyoming Business Council is again making a case for survival as it prepares to meet Thursday with the Wyoming Joint Appropriations Committee. Cowboy State Daily's Kate Meadows reports that this comes after months of scrutiny from lawmakers. "Wyoming Business Council CEO, Josh Jarrell was on the Cowboy State Daily Show with Jake Nichols Wednesday, and said that the upheaval over the agency and efforts to eliminate it have been eye opening. He said though that he that the Business Council is making strides, and he is very excited to meet with the joint appropriations committee on Thursday to talk about how to move forward and to really evaluate the council's loans and grants." Dorrell added that the upheaval over the agency and efforts to eliminate it have been eye-opening and is forcing the Business Council to scrutinize itself. Read the full story HERE.  – Fiber-optic installation season is happening across Wyoming as companies install digital infrastructure. Cowboy State Daily's Kolby Fedore reports that construction is legal with permission from cities, towns, and counties. "Wyoming residents are noticing holes on front lawns, mounds of dirt. In fact, one resident named Tim Carubie came home after a work trip in Nebraska to find that his lawn was torn up and his sprinkler system was broken. It turns out, this is perfectly legal. The fiber optics companies and cable companies are doing this through utility easements. And for the city of Casper, these are doled out by the city's engineering division. Bob Casados is an engineer for a fiber-optics internet provider called Bluepeak. He says the company is taking a lot of heat for damage that they haven't done. He says people are calling and asking them to make repairs, but he urges people to find out who is doing construction on their lawns and to get a hold of them directly." Providers such as Bluepeak, Spectrum, Lumen, and Visionary Communications are all authorized to install high-speed data lines that increasingly are threading through residential neighborhoods. Read the full story HERE. – And that's today's news. Get your free digital subscription to Wyoming's only statewide newspaper by hitting the Daily Newsletter button on Cowboy State Daily Dot Com - and you can watch this newscast every day by clicking Subscribe on our YouTube channel, or listen to us on your favorite podcast app.  Thanks for watching - I'm Mac Watson, for Cowboy State Daily.  

It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming for Wednesday, April 29th.  I'm Mac Watson. – A Powell City councilman is suggesting on Facebook that Wyoming start "hanging bad judges" after a judge blocked the state's most recent abortion ban. Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports that multiple retired state judges and one retired Wyoming Supreme Court justice are outraged.  "I talked to retired Wyoming Supreme Court justices, retired judges. Wyoming Supreme Court Justice Bill Hill said that this man is an idiot. The retired Chief Justice Kate Fox sought to remind everyone that people work in courts are real people taking care of their families and handling the issues. One said there's no faster way to get rid of your freedom than to attack or eliminate the judiciary. Powell Mayor John Wetzel said that he stands with the rule of law and didn't support the statement." Since the landmark case of Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, Wyoming state judges have blocked all four of the Legislature's attempts to ban abortion, citing a section of the Wyoming Constitution that promises health care autonomy for competent adults. Read the full story HERE. – A driver caught towing a boat on I-25 near Wheatland at 104 mph got a ticket, but didn't go to jail. Cowboy State Daily's Kolby Fedore reports that the Wyoming highway patrol says there's no set threshold that triggers automatic jail for speeders, but towing a boat in triple digits could kill you. "He was ticketed. But Highway Patrol notes that he was lucky. This could have been catastrophic if he had blown a tire. Steve Stadelmaier, of Glendo, Wyoming, is a sales manager at Belmont Boats. He recently towed a boat over 1,200 miles from Texas to Glendo Wyoming, and he says that towing a boat over 100 miles per hour is just asking for trouble. Most tires, by the way, aren't rated to go over 80 miles per hour." The Wyoming Highway Patrol adds that the traffic stop likely added about 20 minutes to the trip and resulted in a $180 fine. Read the full story HERE. – A federal court has ruled that firearms parts without serial numbers could be protected under the Second Amendment. Cowboy State Daily's Mark Heinz reports that the decision is good news for Wyomingites who build or customize their own guns. "The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Second Amendment, in other words, your right to bear arms, extends to those parts. And basically, with the 10th Circuit Court, what they did was just affirm that a state can't, because what Colorado tried to do is they tried to pass a ban on any firearms parts that didn't have serial numbers on them." In June 2023, Colorado enacted a law prohibiting the purchase, sale, transfer, and possession of un-serialized firearms, firearm frames or receivers, and the like, according to 10th Circuit Court documents. Read the full story HERE. – In a sharply-worded letter to Cheyenne attorney George Powers, the Wyoming Attorney General's office says Sec. of State Chuck Gray doesn't have to release the legal advice he may have received before handing sensitive voter data to the federal government. Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports that Powers is pushing Gray what legal advice, if any, prompted him to hand voters' information to the federal government. "George Powers has long asserted that Gray waived attorney client privilege and that his communications with the AGs office should be public record because Gray has gone public about relying on the AG and has claimed that the AG approved the release of the unredacted voter rolls. The AGs office fired back on Monday, telling powers that his reading of the law is wrong, and then the cases rather support the notion that Gray retains his attorney client privilege." Last year, Gray gave the U.S. Department of Justice voter registration records for Wyomingites that include birth dates, driver's license numbers, or the last four digits of Social Security numbers, public records indicate. Read the full story HERE. – I'll be back with more news from Cowboy State Daily right after this.   Cowboy State Daily news continues now… – A former manager of a Rock Springs hotel accused of embezzling nearly $200,000 through fake guests and cash deals for long-term stays has been arrested. Cowboy State Daily's Greg Johnson reports that Melissa Fran Hutchison was bound over to felony court on Friday. "When the former owner of the hotel saw what was going on, the affidavit says he went in and he kicked all these guests out and fired Miss Hutchinson. According to law enforcement, she was also making up fake guests. She was using the same names, the same addresses, and some remote addresses, addresses from Alaska, things like that. They kept showing up over and over again." Hutchinson's April 20th arrest came nearly a month after a warrant was issued for her on allegations that she adjusted legitimate invoices at the Comfort Inn & Suites Hotel from 2023 through the beginning of 2025, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed in her case. Read the full story HERE. – Wyoming had another month of below-average moisture in April, which worsened the abnormally dry to exceptional drought situations across the state. Cowboy State Daily's Andrew Rossi reports that Meteorologist Don Day says he's more "gun-shy" about forecasts than at any other point in his career.  "April wasn't as dry as March was, but it was pretty close. If it weren't for this last week of winter weather that we had, it would have been pretty dismal across the state. But Cowboy State daily meteorologist Don Day, even he says that he's not optimistic, and his stance is, if you want to ask him what the weather is going to be like today, ask him 10 days from now, because at this point, the models have promised so much and delivered so little from what the reality actually has been so we could get more moisture as we get in the May and June, it could get even drier as it stands." According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, the entire state of Wyoming is abnormally dry, at best. Read the full story HERE. –– Flaming Gorge Reservoir is being drawn down up to 1 million acre-feet to supply water to thirsty downstream states. Outdoors Reporter Mark Heinz reports that the possibility has some worried that Wyoming's Fontenelle Reservoir, upstream from Flaming Gorge, is next. "I did double check with the Bureau of Reclamation, and they said at this time, there's no plans to draw down from Fontanelle. And the reason that question came up is because Fontenelle is the next reservoir upstream from Flaming Gorge. So if they're pulling a bunch of water out of Flaming Gorge is Fontenelle next as of now? No, but again, this is part of that broader story of what's going on with the Colorado River. And it's really not looking good this year." According to the Bureau of Reclamation, Flaming Gorge Reservoir will be drawn down between 660,000 and up to 1 millionacre-feet between now and April 2027.   Read the full story HERE. – Dozens of angry Cheyenne residents spoke out Monday against a 1,200-acre annexation and possible data center before the City Council tabled the decision. Cowboy State Daily's Kate Meadows reports that one woman says the landowner's motive looks like a huge money grab. "Dozens of residents expressed concern over this proposed annexation and the potential data center that could come as a result. Common concerns again were the use of water with these data centers, the use of electricity. One man expressed concern about light pollution caused by these data centers. Another woman asked about potential long term health effects of having a data center in the vicinity of her neighborhood." The council unanimously agreed to postpone the annexation decision until its September 14 meeting. Read the full story HERE.  – And that's today's news. Get your free digital subscription to Wyoming's only statewide newspaper by hitting the Daily Newsletter button on Cowboy State Daily Dot Com - and you can watch this newscast every day by clicking Subscribe on our YouTube channel, or listen to us on your favorite podcast app.  Thanks for watching - I'm Mac Watson, for Cowboy State Daily.