Cowboy State Daily's The Roundup

Cowboy State Daily
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The Roundup is a gathering of voices, opinions and perspectives from interesting people in the Cowboy State of Wyoming.

  1. 18h ago

    Cowboy State Daily Radio News: Tuesday, October 6, 2026

    It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming for Tuesday, October 6th.  I'm Mac Watson.   This newscast is brought to you by Casper Medical Imaging & Outpatient Radiology – Working to improve breast cancer screening rates across Natrona County and the state. If you're due for your mammogram, don't put it off any longer. Self-schedule your screening mammogram at casper medical imaging dot net. – An abandoned saloon east of Casper has become the center of a dispute over profane anti-Trump and GOP messages, private property and a school bus stop where rural kids are picked up and dropped off each day. Cowboy State Daily's Kolby Fedore reports that now, the sheriff is investigating. "The Lazy Eight sits in Natrona County, but that bus stop takes kids to Glenrock schools. So every day, parents are confronted with this messaging that includes explicit language that they don't want their children to see. I spoke with a man on Monday afternoon who claims to be the owner. He declined to give his identity, just describing himself as a mysterious Wyoming person. He was painting over some of the letters on Monday, saying that he has a right to express himself. I spoke with one parent who does the drop-offs Monday through Friday, and she said part of the. Frustration is that this person who lives behind the bar will come out and yell at the kids to get off his property, and this was corroborated by the director of Natrona County Planning and Development." For months, the weathered Lazy 8 along U.S. Highway 20/26 has been splashed with messages attacking President Donald Trump and the Wyoming Republican Party, some in letters large enough to be read by passing motorists. One message painted across a metal door was more direct: "KILL THE RICH."  Read the Full story HERE. – After nearly 50 years of operating in Hulett, Bearlodge Forest Products has announced it will shut down after Oct. 31. Cowboy State Daily's Renee Jean reports that state Sen. Ogden Driskill says, "This is an absolute blow" to a community with deep ties to Wyoming's timber industry. "They didn't pinpoint any one thing. They said it's kind of the accumulation of many things. You have inflation. The inputs are costing more. Fuel costs more. They're not able to get as much money for pallets as they used to. So you know the value of their product has gone down. But the other big key issue that the lumber industry faces in Wyoming, you know, half of the land is owned by the federal government, and they have been cutting the amount of timber they will allow to flow out of the forest. Well, that's really put a hurt on these companies. They can't get enough wood to support their production." The closure is a jolt to the community, whose identity and economy have long been tied to timber and agriculture. Mayor Brian Kennah estimated the closure leaves about 5% of Hulett's 349 people looking for work.  Read the full story HERE. – A 50-seat SkyWest flight from Denver collided with a mule deer while landing in Sheridan last week. Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports that no passengers were hurt and the plane wasn't damaged, but the deer was killed.  "The deer, from the sounds of it, was hit hard. The airport director said that they had to clean him off the runway. It is extremely rare, and the airport director said he hadn't heard of such a collision at that airport, and also that Skywest sent people to inspect the plane for like seven to eight hours, and they didn't find any damage." Sheridan County Airport Director Robert Gill tells Cowboy State Daily that deer might clear the fence once or twice a year. But operations staffers check the wildlife fence once a month, and the landing area throughout the day. Read the full story HERE. – A group of 50-year buddies on a horseback ride through rugged Wyoming backcountry became immediate emergency responders when one was thrown from his horse and lay motionless in the dirt. Cowboy State Daily's Kolby Fedore reports that fortunately, one of those friends is a combat-veteran Navy doctor. "Luckily, his friend John Williams, who is a physician and a retired combat medic, was there and was able to quickly respond and pull him out of the triple degree heat until first responders could arrive. Jim Klutz, who was also riding with these men, said it was truly impressive to see his friend Williams spring into action right away, be able to sit with the man and take care of him until Cody Regional Medical Team and first responders arrived and were able to load him into a helicopter where he was transported to Billings." The men hadn't been thrown together by chance for a trail ride. Their friendship goes back more than half a century to their school days at St. Mark's School of Texas in Dallas. Read the full story HERE.   I'll have more news from Cowboy State Daily right after this.     Cowboy State Daily News continues now….  – A planned Black Hills Energy gas-fired power plant north of Cheyenne is still years away from construction, but its potential neighbors aren't waiting to voice their opposition of it. Cowboy State Daily's Emma Jane Jackson reports that one resident says of the proposal, "There's just nothing good about it." "Invitations were sent to over 900 residents in this area, and the meeting is to organize a bit more pushback after the residents still don't feel like their questions were answered after meeting with Black Hills Energy in June. I spoke with one of the landowners, Robert Kissel, who said that he doesn't want this because it's going to not only disturb the quiet and the wildlife that he enjoys in his property, but also he's worried about it damaging his property value. And he said, "quote It's very disturbing, and we've got a real active group here getting organized." Black Hills Energy bought a 935-acre tract on Horse Creek Road earlier this year for a natural gas power plant with onsite battery storage. The project is still in the early planning stages, and neighbors say they don't know how big it will be, where its water will come from or what it means for their rural subdivisions.  Read the full story HERE. – South Dakota's Custer State Park will auction off at least 600 bison next month, a 38% increase from last year because of drought conditions on the range. Cowboy State Daily's Kate Meadows reports that a state parks spokesperson says "Ultimately, the purpose of the auction is herd management." "So, park managers look at the grassland, how well it's growing, how much there is, how green it is, how much water there is, and consider then how many bison can they sustain through the winter. So this year the estimate is about 900, and with a herd of about 1500, now they're selling off 600 so that they can bring them back to that 900. So it's really a formula. It's bison math, so to speak, and it's more than normal because of the drought conditions." Custer State Park covers about 71,000 acres in the southern Black Hills and is home to one of the largest publicly owned bison herds in the world.  Read the full story HERE. – A Rock Springs teen accused of shooting two men at a bonfire last year agreed to boot camp while pleading no contest Thursday. Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports that Addisyn Rain Marie Fisher could get a deal of 5-7 years in prison, which can be cut to about a year if she completes Wyoming's "boot camp" program. "Addisyn Fisher was charged last February with aggravated assault. Two counts on claims that she shot one young man through the hand and another in the jaw area as they were fighting her boyfriend. And this was after a pretty dramatic truck chase that unfolded just beforehand, and she signed a plea agreement last week saying that she would accept a five to seven prison, five to seven year prison term, but with a recommendation for boot camp and that's a big caveat." Fisher's sentencing will happen at a date not yet set. The teen, who was 16 when charged as an adult last year, pleaded no contest Thursday in Sweetwater County District Court. Read the full story HERE.  – A bull moose called 'The Beast' is huge enough to have a shot at dethroning Grand Teton celebrity bulls such as Hoback and Shoshone. But Outdoors Reporter Mark Heinz reports that few see him because he lives on private property in southwest Wyoming, far away from wildlife paparazzi — and hunters. The landowners weren't aware that this huge bull was there. This photographer, likes to come to Wyoming and watch wildlife. He gained enough trust from these landowners. They allowed him onto, and he said he was just cruising the property one day, and he sees this monstrous set of antlers, and he thought, 'Am I just seeing things because that's what I want to see, or is that real?' And then the moose stood up and like, 'yeah, it's real.' The cool twist about this story is that they're letting this moose be seen and letting people be aware of it, the landowners don't want a bunch of looky loos up there just for their own peace and quiet but they don't want mobs of people coming and you know harassing this moose." Wildlife photographer Tanner Dunn of Utah tells Cowboy State Daily that "this bull, The Beast, might be about the size of Hoback. Maybe a tad smaller." 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.

  2. 1d ago

    Cowboy State Daily Radio News: Monday, October 5, 2026

    It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming for Monday, October 5th.  I'm Mac Watson.   This newscast is brought to you by Casper Medical Imaging & Outpatient Radiology – Working to improve breast cancer screening rates across Natrona County and the state. If you're due for your mammogram, don't put it off any longer. Self-schedule your screening mammogram at casper medical imaging dot net. – A 16-year-old Diamondville boy died Thursday in a firearm-related hunting accident. One day earlier, his grandfather survived a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Cowboy State Daily's Emma Jane Jackson reports Ashely Stiles suffered two family tragedies in 48 hours. "I spoke to the mom, Ashley Stiles, and she said that this is the second tragedy that her family has been through in two days. The day before, her son was killed in the hunting accident. Her father survived a self-inflicted gunshot wound, but she said that he has many surgeries and a long road ahead of him. I also spoke to a longtime family friend, Dani Whittaker, who launched a Facebook group after Austin's death to fundraise for his burial and anything else the family needs." The Lincoln County Sheriff's Office released a statement saying, "The accident investigation is ongoing and there will be no further information released at this time." Read the full story HERE. – Landowners across Wyoming and the West say they are encountering a new breed of "entitled trespassers" who think gates and No Trespassing signs don't apply to them. Cowboy State Daily's Kate Meadows reports that one rancher says people believe if they have a good reason for being there, they have a right to be there. "One Montana rancher named Shawn Bilquist literally took matters into his own hands when he found a trespasser on his property. He moved hay bales around the vehicle that was not supposed to be there and left it there. So it's the message of, 'dude, figure this out.' When that trespasser returned to his vehicle, he was visibly upset. Billquist said and wanted to pick a fight. These trespassers are just entitled. They seem to run the gamut, age-wise, from you know the Millennials to the older hunters who, frankly, you know don't always know how to use their GPS system." Wyoming law generally makes it criminal trespass to enter or remain on another person's land knowing you aren't authorized to do so, or after being told to leave. And when it comes to hunting, fishing, trapping or collecting antlers, state law specifically prohibits entering, traveling through or returning across private property without permission. Read the full story HERE. – Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland was on assignment Saturday as she went down to Denver to run a 31-mile race called the Loco Strikes Back Taco Bell 50K. The ultramarathon requires runners to eat menu items from 10 different Taco Bell locations during the run and Clair tells us how she did. "The Taco Bell 50K Ultra Marathon is a race in which runners have to eat at Taco Bell 10 times within 31 miles. There's milestones like you have to have consumed the Chalupa Supreme or Crunchwrap Supreme by Taco Bell number four, and either a Burrito Supreme or Nachos Bell Grande by Taco Bell number eight. If you throw up, you are disqualified. And so I went down to run it and was doing great until somewhere around mile 14-15, and then that Chalupa started barking. I did end up disqualified, but it was, to be honest, a beautiful run around Denver." Before the Chalupa did her in, Clair says she had been to five Taco Bells and ate four tacos, including two soft tacos, one Chalupa Supreme, and one bag of Cinnamon Twists. Read the full story HERE. – Wyoming gravediggers battle 5 feet of frost, 20-below funerals and the occasional coffin that isn't where it's supposed to be. Cowboy State Daily's Kolby Fedore spoke with one gravedigger who says, this job isn't for everybody. "Loni Wilson has been working at the Green Hill Cemetery in Laramie for about 12 years. She got her degree in graphic design, but it turns out she would rather dig graves. But the hardest part of her job is in the winter when she needs to dig a hole and the ground is frozen four or five feet deep. So they actually put a defroster over the spot and they have to leave it sometimes overnight to thaw the ground so that they can go in with an excavator and dig the hole. And then she takes a 12 foot long shovel and makes sure that the corners and the edges are perfect." Wilson tells Cowboy State Daily that the busiest part of her job is the grass. "It never stops growing." Read the Full story HERE. – I'll have more news from Cowboy State Daily right after this.     Cowboy State Daily News continues now….  – Turning a 1,500-pound cow into a freezer full of steaks, roasts and hamburgers is more complicated than it might sound. But Cowboy State Daily's Kate Meadows reports  if you're fed up with pricey grocery-store beef, here's what you can expect if you go straight to a Wyoming ranch. "You don't just go to someone and say, 'I want a cow,' and the rancher says, 'Okay, I'll have it for you tomorrow.' There's a whole process in raising the cow and feeding it what the consumer wants it to be fed, and then the butchering and the processing, and up to the preparation of the cuts, and then the selling. This is not the route to go if you're just looking to save a buck. This is the way you go if you are able to support local ranchers and want to know where your meat comes from." Before ordering an entire beef, however, there is one piece of equipment every aspiring direct-from-the-ranch shopper ought to own. A very large freezer. In other words, the little freezer over the refrigerator probably isn't going to cut it. Read the full story HERE. – DNA taken from five fingerprint cards nearly a half-century old finally solved the murder of 16-year-old Corina Contreraz, who was killed in Billings, Montana, in 1978. Cowboy State Daily's Jen Kocher reports new technology made it possible to solve this old cold case. "They had five separate fingerprint booking cards to deal with. Suzanne Ryan, who extracted the DNA, was able to do that on the first card. What's exciting here also is they had nothing to go on to get his DNA because he had died in 1990. He was cremated. They were able to use forensic genetic genealogy to pinpoint the killer down to Angelo Stall Smith, so they had that going. So they were, you know, fairly confident that he was the murderer. However, to definitively tie it and say yes, he's definitely the one, they needed something substantive, which was the DNA." Angelo James Stallsmith, a man with a long criminal history, was arrested numerous times, mostly for thefts, but there was no indication he had ever committed a violent crime. Read the full story HERE. – The Oregon Trail has been called the nation's longest graveyard. Cowboy State Daily's Renee Jean reports that cadaver dogs are helping Wyoming historians search for Oregon Trail graves that time, weather, and development have nearly erased.  "The guys I talked to about this said the dogs can actually find places where human bodies were buried, even if the bones are gone, because those compounds have leached into the soil. It's not that they necessarily have these dogs out there randomly looking for grave sites. It's one more piece of evidence in the chain of evidence to kind of lock down. and then those are marked with GPS coordinates. They're not making it publicly available online or anything where the general public could go and maybe loot some of these sites, for example. But they are available to like land developers, archeologists, and people who have a good reason to want to know about them." Some people who perished along the Oregon Trail, looking for a better life, were buried with care, marked with a tree, and sweetbriar or boards cut from wagons or piles of stones and inscriptions. But many of those markers did not survive. Read the full story HERE. – A notorious bull elk in Estes Park known as Smash rammed a Colorado reporter's car recently as part of his autumn-rut ritual of chasing golf carts and vehicles. Outdoors Reporter Mark Heinz reports that one wildlife biologist says that bull elk are "perpetually angry" this time of year. "There's been a viral video of him taking out the windows on somebody's car, and then I talked to a reporter from the Fort Collins newspaper. who you know he goes to Estes Park every year to kind of get a cool little feature about the elk and what they're doing and the bugling and you know great breathtaking photos and videos. And he was trying to get a video of Smash through the passenger window of his car, and sure enough, Smash charged his car and slammed into it, but he said luckily all he got was some scratches on his car." Despite all his shenanigans and the body shop bills he's doubtlessly racked up, Smash is safe from any consequences. Colorado Parks and Wildlife has no plans to remove him, Kara Van Hoose, CPW's northeast region spokeswoman, tells Cowboy State Daily. 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.

  3. 4d ago

    Cowboy State Daily Radio News: Friday, October 2, 2026

    It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming for Friday, October 2nd.  I'm Mac Watson.   This newscast is brought to you by Casper Medical Imaging & Outpatient Radiology – Working to improve breast cancer screening rates across Natrona County and the state. If you're due for your mammogram, don't put it off any longer. Self-schedule your screening mammogram at casper medical imaging dot net. – Major League Baseball's commissioner sent a letter to officials in Jackson on Thursday saying they have dropped the idea of staging a game in Grand Teton National Park. Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports the letter from Robert Manfred Jr, the Commissioner of Baseball, addressed to Teton County Commission Chair Mark Newcomb, Jackson Mayor Arne Jorgensen, and Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce president Rick Howe, saying "It's become clear the community does not want us to continue." "The community was emphatic with lawmakers, county commissioners, other local officials. 'Railing' is not too strong a word, and so yeah, the commissioner of baseball on Thursday wrote an open letter to the heads of the chamber of commerce, or the head of the chamber of commerce, the Jackson mayor, the chair of the county commission, saying, "We can tell you don't want this, so we're not doing it. He said though he emphasized this was in the very very baby stages. 'Naturally, we were going to get community input.' I guess news coverage just gave them that community input a lot earlier than they planned." Manfred emphasized that the scouting operation was in the vein not only of the Field of Dreams games in Iowa, but other off-site venues, including the Little League World Series in Pennsylvania, Fort Bragg military base game in North Carolina, and Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee, among others.  Read the full story HERE. – California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law Wednesday that adds environmental reviews that will slow progress on a planned coal terminal at the Port of Oakland. Cowboy State Daily's Emma Jane Jackson reports Gov. Mark Gordon says Wyoming's considering "all options" in response, including a legal fight. "The bill was sponsored by an environmental group called Earth Justice, and they're citing a study that found that air pollution was worse along the route of an existing coal port in California, and they don't want to bring that kind of pollution to Oakland. Travis Deti, executive director of the Wyoming Mining Association, told Cowboy State Daily, "It's disappointing, but I don't think it's unexpected.'" Newsom says the reviews are necessary to protect the environment and California residents, while Wyoming industry insiders say it's a stall tactic to slow — or stymie altogether — any chances of coal ever moving through the port. Read the full story HERE. – When a thief stole packages from her mother's porch in Cheyenne on Wednesday, Lindsey Carter posted a video of the crime. Cowboy State Daily's Kolby Fedore reports that within hours, a suspect was arrested.  "Lindsey Carter learned on Wednesday afternoon that someone had stolen her mom's package off their doorstep. They reviewed the ring camera and quickly she. Posted it online, asking Cheyenne residents to help her figure out who the woman taking the packages was. Collectively, residents studied the woman's walk, her hair, her tattoos, and even an SUV parked in the background. Carter was then able to gather that information and give that to police officers, who then were able to identify and arrest Erica White hours later.  The 37-year-old Cheyenne resident was booked into the Laramie County Detention center early Thursday morning. She is now facing three counts of misdemeanor theft." For Carter, it was the end of a whirlwind amateur investigation that began with stolen packages worth about $40, then she quickly recruited a sizable chunk of Cheyenne's online community as her detective squad. Read the full story HERE. – Wyoming ranchers say they aren't surprised that a month after President Trump increased beef imports to bring down high U.S. prices, that hasn't happened. Cowboy State Daily's Kate Meadows reports that one Crook County rancher says, "It does no good to say, 'I told you so.'" "The beef that is coming into our country is actually lean beef trim, which is not the type of beef that you just go and buy at your grocery store. It's used to fatten up burgers or fast food chains. So this is meat that is going to be sold directly to the big meat packers, and so it's really the meat packers who are going to win out. That's why we haven't seen a drop in price at the grocery store when we go to buy ground beef. Karen Clark with the Wyoming Farm Bureau said they're not surprised. She referenced a study that the National Farm Bureau did that tracked beef prices across the country for the past two months, and they have seen no change, no change in price from before the imports went into effect, to after, and they actually asked for Trump's order to be repealed." Trump announced in August that the United States would allow up to 300,000 metric tons — about 661 million pounds — of lean beef trimmings to enter the country over a 90-day period without the usual out-of-quota tariffs beginning Sept. 1. Read the Full story HERE. – I'll have more news from Cowboy State Daily right after this.     Cowboy State Daily News continues now….  – Colorado's wolf population has leveled off at 45, half of them pups. Cowboy State Daily's Mark Heinz reports that with no new wolves coming because states won't send them and Canada is no longer an option, the state says it will be more selective about killing wolves that attack cattle. "I talked to one person from an environmental group, and of course, they are happy about that. They're saying, you know, with the wolves facing the challenges, they are taking that additional pressure of some of their members being shot for attacking cattle. Taking that pressure off will help. But I also talked to a rancher who said we feel betrayed because CBW from the get go has basically had an agreement with us that they would not let wolves get away with attacking our cattle. So now we feel like they're changing their policy because it's inconvenient for them, and we don't like that." The yearly survival rate for adult wolves dropped from the typical level of 75% to 61%, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife. The decline might be due to a combination of disease and wolves being killed, mostly for attacking cattle. Read the full story HERE. – Federal agents say that a Casper man suspected of trafficking drugs took exit after exit on I-25, trying to evade being arrested. Cowboy State Daily's Kolby Fedore reports that at one point, he started eating the drugs as agents closed in on him.. "DCI agents had been watching Robert Lawrence Johnson since April when he made what they believed was a drug run in June from Colorado to Wyoming. He zig-zagged his way along I-25, making several U-turns and loops in what investigators are calling a 'burn run'. A confidential source told DCI that the network was bringing in up to 174 pounds of methamphetamine and 1000s of fentanyl pills at a time. Johnson is in custody. He has formally been charged with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. He now faces up to 40 years in prison and up to a $5 million fine." Johnson is the first defendant publicly tied to the investigation in a newly filed federal case, but Ryan Cox, Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation Central Enforcement Team commander, tells Cowboy State Daily they have identified other suspects and seized additional drugs during the ongoing operation. Read the full story HERE. – Legislators are hoping for success this time as they advance a bill to bring foreign-licensed doctors to Wyoming, to ease a severe shortage. Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports that the bill has died in two different legislative sessions, both times in the Majority Floor Leader Scott Heiner's drawer. "It cleared the Senate one year and a House committee another year, and then both times stalled out in Representative Heiner's drawer. Sometimes there's a variety of reasons for that. It doesn't always signal animosity for the bill, but representatives in the Labor Health Committee on Thursday were like, "We got to get our arms around this doctor shortage. They were talking other things too, like bolstering the residency program, giving incentives for new doctors to stay here, but they pretty much just did a slight cleanup of the bill and then chose to adopt it as a committee, which gives it an edge going into the lawmaking session." The doctor shortage is projected to reach 124,000 nationally by 2034, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. Read the full story HERE. – Registered EVs and hybrids have grown tenfold in Wyoming since 2024 in a state that once turned down federal charger money. Cowboy State Daily's Emma Jane Jackson reports that one Cheyenne mom says she bought her daughter a Tesla because it "drives itself." "The Wyoming Department of Transportation told us that there are almost 2,500 all-electric vehicles registered in Wyoming, and more than 5,800 hybrids. Eric Secrist of Laramie bought his first Tesla in 2024, and he ended up turning it into a career, finding that he could drive Uber in his Tesla, and without the cost of gas or other maintenance, he was able to make as much as he was at his full-time job. Ron Downey, who just retired from the Ken Garff dealership in Cheyenne, said that he actually liked driving EVs around for test drives. They were a really nice ride, but he's not sure they're going to be taking over the roads in Wyoming. He said they're great for just going around town on a nice day, but when it's cold, you're going a long distance. You're running the heat and the defroster. It can really drain the ba

  4. 5d ago

    Cowboy State Daily Video News: Thursday, October 1, 2026

    It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming for Thursday, October 1st.  I'm Mac Watson. – A Cody photographer heading to Yellowstone found three dead grizzly cubs on the North Fork Highway on Tuesday morning. Cowboy State Daily's Mark Heinz reports that Timothy O'Leary says the bears were struck along a curve and the driver probably didn't see the bears until it was too late. "I talked to a local photographer who found one of the carcasses, and then called in Game and Fish, and with the assistance of a Game and Fish person and some dogs. They found two other carcasses. Apparently, we can surmise it's probably triplets. They are probably a set of triplets that got hit and killed. No, no sign of the mother bear in both the photographer who was on the scene and Game and Fish confirmed that they didn't. They didn't find any sign of the mother or any indication that she had been hit, so I guess it's just a sad situation where a mama bear lost three of her cubs in one vehicle strike." The cubs were hit just past the Shoshone National Forest boundary on US Highway 14/16/20, the North Fork Highway. Read the full story HERE. – A proposed partial ban of license plate readers is a first step at regulating the devices, but may already fall short, a researcher told Wyoming lawmakers Tuesday. Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports that the expert said devices also can now track faces, cellphones and radio frequencies. "Matthew Cavadon, a researcher at the Cato Institute, was saying, "Hey, great first effort at a partial ban on license plate readers here in Wyoming, but this definition is a little lacking because, hey, guess what? They're lifting radio frequency data, and there's tech that is capable of facial recognition now. And and you know, lawmakers didn't really run with that one on Tuesday, but they do have another meeting where they're supposed to vet this bill in November." Cato criminal justice project director Matthew Cavedon's remarks unfolded during a meeting of the  Select Committee on Blockchain, Financial Technology and Digital Innovation Technology held Tuesday in Laramie. The Cato Institute is a nonprofit group focused on advancing liberty-oriented causes, its website says.  Read the full story HERE. – A 6-year-old horse named Evie has taken up with a herd of bison in Yellowstone since July. Cowboy State Daily's Andrew Rossi reports the Park Service wants her out before winter, but the horse has resisted all attempts to wrangle her.  "The owner wants the horse back, and the National Park Service wants the horse out. So they're trying to figure out how to do that. But a domesticated horse might come up to its owner or for some feed. A wild horse isn't going to, so they're going to have to get creative to figure out the most successful way to get this horse out of the park before it starts snowing. Because wild horses can survive in the snow, but this horse came from the southwest U.S. so there's now no way there's no way of knowing if this horse has what it takes to survive a Yellowstone winter." Yellowstone National Park tells Cowboy State Daily that park officials are aware of the loose horse and are working with the owner to recover it." For now, Evie is just fine with hanging out with her new bison friends.  Read the Full story HERE. – Power demands by data centers, energy and manufacturers have spawned multiple proposed Wyoming law changes, spread to three legislative committees and filled hours of testimony. Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports that some lawmakers vow to make power utilities compete with independent suppliers by 2027. "The Corporations Committee is dealing with this idea that we need to strap more energy providers either onto the grid or alongside it. And now the blockchain committee spent like four hours on that also Tuesday. So it's one of these things where this need to strap big energy suppliers either onto the grid or alongside it is just dominating at least three legislative committees and hours and hours of testimony and probably lots of work behind the scenes." The Joint Minerals, Business and Economic Development Committee narrowly killed a bill in August that would have let independent power suppliers sell electricity to any one customer using no less than 25 megawatts. That would introduce competition into the power-supply world, which now comprises tightly regulated monopolies.  Read the full story HERE.  – I'll have more news from Cowboy State Daily right after this.     Cowboy State Daily News continues now….  – Wildlife officials this week killed 14 black bears that were reportedly being fed on a property near Bozeman, Montana. Outdoors Reporter Mark Heinz reports that one local resident says bear activity in and near Bozeman is off the charts this year. "Apparently on a property near Bozeman, there somebody was allegedly deliberately feeding bears, and it got so bad that the Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks had to step in, and they euthanized 14 black bears across all from cubs all the way up to adults. They were able to trap and save one cub that they're trying to get placed with the zoo, and that was the 15th bear on that property." Because the case is still under investigation and charges could be pending, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks declined to reveal the exact location of the property or names of the owners. Feeding wildlife is generally forbidden under Montana statutes. Penalties can include fines up to $1,000 and/or six months in jail and a loss of hunting and fishing privileges.  Read the full story HERE. – Branden Burbank still doesn't know why the driver of the blue GMC pickup tried to run him down while tearing up the Cheyenne Country Club golf course Monday. Cowboy State Daily's Greg Johnson reports the assistant golf pro told Cowboy State Daily he has no idea what set the guy off. "He said the guy wasn't playing on the course, so we all know how frustrating golf can be. But apparently that wasn't what set him off. He'd never seen him before. But apparently that wasn't what set him off. But one thing that the golf course said was that it was pretty apparent to him that this guy wanted to cause some damage. He, for some reason, wanted to cause some damage to the course. He was doing that, and then when he saw someone was seeing him do it and had his phone, decided, okay, I better get out of here, and then took off." Burbank tells Cowboy State Daily that he noticed 49-year-old Denver resident Gust Martinez Jr. hopped the curb and made a hard right onto the golf course, then put his car in his path, because people were on the course at that time. Burbank added "Then when he saw me, he revved up at me and made a run for me." That's when Burbank said he called 911. Read the full story HERE. – Powell's annual city auction includes a hodgepodge of old firearms and suppressors accumulated over the years. Cowboy State Daily's Kolby Fedore reports that one national expert on police evidence said in California he'd advise against selling the weapons, but in Wyoming, "it's what they do." "Powell City Administrator Zach Thorington says that the proceeds of this sale will go to the general fund. They've put 11 guns, one dart gun, and several silencers up for auction on Wednesday. Police Chief Jim Rhea stressed that these guns were not seized or forfeited. They've come across them over the years for safekeeping, and eventually they get so many that the department has to figure out what to do with them. So the question has always been: Do they sell them or do they destroy them?" Among the more memorable firearms was a .32-caliber tranquilizer gun. Read the full story HERE. – As Chinese EVs head to Canada and President Trump signals openness to domestic production, Wyoming EV owners and industry insiders are mixed on whether they could get traction in the Cowboy State. Cowboy State Daily's Emma Jane Jackson spoke with one Tesla owner who said flatly, "It'd have to be a better ride." "For TJ Doan, a self-proclaimed Tesla fanboy in Cheyenne, it would not only have to be a better ride, but a cheaper price and with better self-driving. But for most Americans, it's just a matter of different laws. Right now, under Biden era regulation, Chinese automakers aren't allowed to manufacture or sell passenger cars in the U.S. Mike Yin, a state rep from Jackson, said that these cars are able to be produced faster. The technology develops quicker, and they're cheaper to buy. It's something he said he's brought up to American manufacturers because he's worried that America is not going to be competitive as the Chinese EV industry continues to grow." Chinese electric vehicles aren't available in the United States yet but they are headed to Canada, and President Donald Trump has said he'd be fine with Chinese automakers building them in the U.S.  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.

  5. 6d ago

    Cowboy State Daily Video News: Wednesday, September 30, 2026

    It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming for Wednesday, September 30th.  I'm Mac Watson. – Billionaire Joe Ricketts has filed a permit application for a 94,141-square-foot resort called The Confluence at his ranch near Bondurant, reviving an idea he abandoned in 2024. Cowboy State Daily's Renee Jean reports that the new resort would be 59% smaller than his previous Homestead Resort. "I did get an email from Ricketts and his team, and what he said is that the project is really meant to showcase Sublette County and its recreational opportunities and its natural resources. It'll also bring some jobs to the community – about 50 long-term jobs and then hundreds of construction jobs to build it. He did mention that the project, which is called 'The Confluence,' will be developed in accordance with the Sublette County's regulations." According to the application's project description, the resort would have a 325-foot by 215-foot footprint, with three levels of heated space totaling 47,302 square feet. It includes guest accommodations, dining, spa/wellness and support areas, and an additional 46,839-square-foot underground parking garage. Read the full story HERE.  – A Colorado man is accused of driving across a Cheyenne golf course, through a fence and then leading police on a slow-speed chase through town. Cowboy State Daily's Kolby Fedore reports that one witness said, "He was just chilling back, sitting back in his truck in his seat," as the chase never got over 20MPH. "The driver identified as 48-year-old Gust Martinez was reportedly driving at a slow rate of speed, beginning on the Cheyenne Country Club golf course. It ended in downtown Cheyenne, and when police arrested him, he was a felon in possession of a firearm. Police report that Martinez did not go peacefully. Trying to get him out of the vehicle was a bit of a fight. He resisted and fought with officers until they were able to bring him into custody. He was booked into the Laramie County Detention Center on Monday. He is now facing 10 charges, including some serious felonies. One of which is felony property destruction, eluding being a felon in possession of a firearm and reckless endangering." Police said Martinez drove south on Randall Avenue during the pursuit and was reckless despite the low speeds, at times driving on the wrong side of the road and running red lights. Read the full story HERE.  – Alpine Mayor Eric Green says he knew he would get pushback over the temporary roundabout demonstration in the community but didn't anticipate the intense wave of vitriol. Cowboy State Daily's Andrew Rossi reports that the mayor says, "I never thought people would show so much negativity towards roundabouts." "A lot of the feedback to the roundabout has been very negative. A lot of people don't like the idea, but the town, but city officials are moving forward because they see this as a net positive. They want the speed limit lowered on Highway 89 going through Alpine, and to do that, they need something like a roundabout to increase traffic friction. And so far, what they're seeing is vehicles are slowing down; that the roundabout works. So that'll help their case in the future if they seek the millions of dollars necessary to build a permanent roundabout at that spot. So it's a little bit of pain for a lot of gain potentially down the line." A temporary roundabout at the intersection of Greys River Road and U.S. Highway 89 will remain open until Oct. 14, when crews remove the plastic bollards and pavement markings, and traffic returns to normal. By the end of the demonstration, city officials will have plenty of information on the effectiveness of a roundabout for the growing community. Read the full story HERE. – Grizzly recovery advocates are hoping that a bear spotted near Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, means its territory is expanding. Outdoors Reporter Mark Heinz reports this is the third time this year one has been spotted in the area.  "I talked to one grizzly bear advocate that said, yeah, you know, it does give I think in her words a glimmer of hope that that the bears could be moving back into that area from the really the really tiny isolated subpopulations like in the in the the cabinet yak wilderness might be pushing out a little bit and finding some new territory. But the other thing you have to consider is like everywhere else in the West right now, the bears are showing up in weird places because of the huckleberry crop. The huckleberry crop is really bad because it's been so dry and we had such a dry summer." Grizzly advocates have long argued the sheer number of bears doesn't matter nearly as much as vast, interconnected habitat when it comes to full recovery of grizzlies in the Lower 48 states. But the re-establishment of a significant population of grizzlies in Idaho, particularly remote central Idaho, is key to their recovery, so say advocates. Read the full story HERE. – I'll have more news from Cowboy State Daily right after this.     Cowboy State Daily News continues now….  – A legislative committee didn't advance a bill by Laramie Sen. Chris Rothfuss on Tuesday that would bar Wyoming governmental agencies from using AI to make decisions without humans. Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports that Rothfuss says people are "expecting the robot overlords to come and get us." "He was being a little hyperbolic, but his point was when he goes out and talks to the public about what matters to them from a policy standpoint, they're concerned about an AI takeover. National headlines have AI hacking into government systems in Australia, the United States, other systems going rogue, escaping their sandboxes, and so he's he had proposed this bill so that any Wyoming government agency, all the way from the governor to special districts, could not make consequential decisions without some kind of human involvement. And Senator Tara Nethercott was asking, 'okay, but when is an AI completely rogue? I mean, wouldn't we, in any agency, have a human to point to at some point?'" If the bill became law, it would require Wyoming governmental agencies at every level, from state to special district, to incorporate meaningful human oversight when using AI for key decisions on people's lawful rights, benefits or obligations. Read the full story HERE. – Vocal critics of data centers in Cheyenne told the City Council on Monday that many "have totally, completely given up on you." Cowboy State Daily's Emma Jane Jackson reports then council members argued among themselves before approving another 1,260-acre annexation for a data center. "A lot of the other residents who don't live near this site also spoke up to tell council they feel like they're moving way too fast with the number of data centers that are coming to Cheyenne, and one of the councilmen, Lawrence Wolfe, actually agreed with them, and he told his colleagues that he feels like they're moving ahead way too fast and with not enough of a plan. Tom's another councilman, Tom Seagrave, fired back saying that Wolf has only been there for 10 months and he hasn't tried to fix any of the problems that he was calling out. Ultimately, the council approved the Cox Ranch annexation with an eight to two vote." This was the third and final reading for this annexation. There's no word yet on which company is going to be building this data center, but another data center development is already in the near future, as the council is going to take a final vote on that project on October 12th. Read the full story HERE. – An Evanston man says he's tired of people trashing the rock memorial he made for his late dad and stealing the cross and flag he puts there. Cowboy State Daily's Kolby Fedore reports that last week, Liam Foy discovered someone took the rocks and made a fire pit with them. "Liam visits the site a handful of times a year, and on his last visit last week, he said that a flag that he had placed in some stones was gone. He says this is the third time that this has happened this year. Once before, he already had to remove a couch that someone had dumped by the memorial site. Unfortunately, BLM says this is a recurring problem. There have been reports of dumping for a while now, and volunteers usually go out and pick the areas up. But catching people doing it has been difficult. Foy's message is simple. He just wants people to leave other people's things alone." Several times a year Liam drives out to the memorial to remember his dad: Father's Day, his father's birthday, the anniversary of his death, and sometimes just because he wants to be there. Read the full story HERE. – A Utah man's side-by-side — and prosthetic leg — were rescued from thick mud in Palisades Reservoir on Monday by Alpine firefighters. Cowboy State Daily's Andrew Rossi reports that the Alpine Fire Chief Mike Vogt says the stranded man sent his coordinates to him and his team, but getting him and his leg out wasn't easy. "A guy is visiting from Utah. He drives out the Palisades Reservoir. His side by side gets stuck in the mud. Now vehicles getting stuck in the mud at Palisades Reservoir, that happens all the time. What made this call unique is that when he stepped out to try to get the side-by-side, or at least examine the situation, his prosthetic leg got stuck in the mud, like two feet of mud. So he was stranded on top of his side with one leg, which is why the Alpine Fire District responded and got him out." Vogt tells Cowboy State Daily that he's glad he'd taken the call. A good towing company could recover the vehicle, but this was a rescue. 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

  6. Sep 29

    Cowboy State Daily Radio News: Tuesday, September 29, 2026

    It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming for Tuesday, September 29th.  I'm Mac Watson. – Teton County officials asked developers of a non-luxury neighborhood to pay $3.5 million to help with nearby road construction. Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports that after some objections about paying the unprecedented "tax" on a largely philanthropic project, the developers now say they'll compromise.  "There was a lot of chatter in September about paying it all up front, and they were like, 'Whoa, you know, why are we going to do this union of government and private sector, and we still kind of have our project in approval mode, in consideration mode,' and so they they really bristled and said that having to pay that amount up front would make the project unviable, but then on Monday the developers came around and proposed a compromise where they would end up paying the full 3.5 million to help the community build other roads outside the neighborhood that the county says are linked to its impacts, its impacts on traffic, and in exchange, those payouts would be connected to phases of approval." The commissioners are slated to consider the project approval on October 6. Read the full story HERE. – Dramatic dashcam video has emerged which shows a semi crashing into a Rawlins bridge on I-80 in July. Cowboy State Daily's Kolby Fedore reports that a safety engineer said had the truck not hit the median cable barrier, the result would have been disastrous.  "Nearly three months after a semi-truck demolished one of the beams in a Rawlins bridge, the Wyoming Highway Patrol has yet to release what caused the accident and who was driving the truck. The city of Rawlins closed the Higley Bridge immediately after the wreck, and now three months later, it remains closed. WYDOT's going to have to address the Spruce Street Bridge in Rawlins as well as Exit 214 in Cheyenne before they can start accepting bids for the newest bridge breakdown." The crash happened the morning of July 20 near Exit 214. The Wyoming Highway Patrol reported the semi was westbound when it drifted off the pavement and entered the median.The truck struck the median cable barrier and eastbound guardrail before crashing into the concrete bridge supports, destroying it.  Read the full story HERE. – In the middle of a nearly six-hour standoff with Gillette police last week, a pair of alleged drunk brothers got a little hungry and ordered food from DoorDash. Cowboy State Daily's Greg Johnson reports that one retired cop says, "What drunks will do has never ceased to impress me." "Two guys reportedly really intoxicated, been firing a weapon. out of the back door of the house, which caused six neighbors to call 911 within a five minute period. What wasn't in the affidavit was what was ordered in DoorDash. We don't know. We can only guess what a drunk person at two a.m. in Gillette would order from DoorDash. The standoff lasted almost six hours, and most of it appears in the affidavit that most of it was just just kind of waiting. They were waiting for a search warrant for a judge, because that's what they need. They were able to apprehend these guys without too much trouble." Frank Groth, a Gillette resident and retired career law enforcement officer tells Cowboy State Daily that to have a DoorDasher show up in the middle of police waiting out potentially armed suspects "is a new one on me." He added that he's seen times when someone in a standoff will demand food be sent in, but not someone ordering it themselves. Read the full story HERE. – After a brutal summer where three people were killed on Teton Pass, RV and truck drivers are now required to take a course before driving the road. Cowboy State Daily's Kolby Fedore reports that the Wyoming Trucking Association says it's not just a truck problem, and everyone should take it. "So the word 'test' is really a misnomer because for this certificate, all you need to do is watch two videos. They're about two minutes each, and then you need to go through a checklist, just checking off that you have performed all of these things on your vehicle, including checking your brakes ahead of descending the pass. Brandon Guymon is now the safety manager for a landscaping trucking business in Idaho, and he's saying that he thinks it's a step in the right direction, but he has serious doubts about whether this five-minute certificate process is going to make a difference or not. He said, unfortunately, people can cruise through it without even really watching the video, and that there's no way to enforce people to actually absorb what is in said video." The Wyoming Department of Transportation's new WY22 Safe Pass program requires drivers of RVs, vehicles towing any trailer and vehicles weighing or rated for 10,000 pounds or more to complete an online safety course and self-certification before traveling Wyoming Highway 22 over Teton Pass. The certification is free, good for one year, and takes about five minutes to complete.  Read the full story HERE. – I'll have more news from Cowboy State Daily right after this.     Cowboy State Daily News continues now….  – While some might regard road hunters as the lazy bums of the outdoors world, seeking wildlife from a climate-controlled cab has its place, advocates said. But, Outdoors Reporter Mark Heinz reports that one avid hunter, Buzz Hettick of Laramie tells Cowboy State Daily,  "We all get old." "I talked to a few outdoorsmen, and it kind of has a bad reputation for a lot of people. It's kind of the lazy, sloppy way to get out of hunting, but also a couple things is a lot of time for elderly hunters or for you know disabled veterans those types of people it's a great option to just hunt from your truck along the road. You can't unless you have a specific disability permit. You cannot shoot from your truck. You have to make it clear in order to be legal. You have to step out of the vehicle and off the road to take your shot." There's also "hybrid hunting," in which hunters cruise roads trying to spot animals at great distances and then get out and hunt on foot. Read the full story HERE. – A 63-year-old Nevada man was tracked down with Flock cameras after allegedly blasting a Jackson tour bus driver in the face with bear spray. Cowboy State Daily's Greg Johnson reports the suspect says he was acting in self-defense, while the victim says he was road raging. "Once the tour bus did park, all the passengers got off. They went into Dairy Queen. The bus driver also gets out and walks to the restaurant, but he stays outside. He's opening up the compartment underneath the bus, you know, the storage compartment, said he's getting some water. While he's there getting it out, he reports he heard this vehicle coming towards him. He looks up, and this guy is driving the truck right next to him. Says that the window's open. The guy's kind of hanging out and points something out the window at him, and he gets hit full in the face with bear spray. The evidence seems to corroborate the bus driver's version of events. Police report in their affidavit, they say that they found a lot of bear spray residue on and around the storage compartment on the bus where he said he was." John Frances Harrington was arrested on suspicion of aggravated assault and battery, which is a felony. He had his initial appearance in Teton County Circuit Court on Friday, and is free on a $2,500 bond ahead of an Oct. 9 preliminary hearing. Read the full story HERE.  – Shoshoni Mayor Joel Highsmith is blaming AI for Google and Apple Maps telling travelers on Monday that the entire town is closed down. Cowboy State Daily's Jackie Dorothy reports that the messaging caused drivers to end up on isolated dirt roads which can be impassable for large trailers and campers. "The police chief of Shoshone actually found out that Google and Apple were misdirecting these people down the remote back roads because they called him and they were complaining. They wanted him to fix it so they wouldn't be going to Monita or to Castle Garden, and that they knew that Shoshone was definitely still open for business. That's the funny part about it is that when you look on Google Maps and you try to route yourself through Shoshone, Google, Apple, all of those navigational tools. They'll redirect you around the town, and you do not want to be redirected around Shoshone. There is really no alternative because you can't get a hold of Google or Apple." WYDOT said the detour on U.S. Highway 20/26 traffic on Shoshoni's east end was so a contractor can replace the Bighorn Divide and Wyoming Railroad crossing. The work is expected to be finished later this week. But in the meantime, traffic is being diverted, not stopped, when they come to Shoshoni.  Read the full story HERE.  – Since 1938, Snow King has been one of Jackson Hole's most recognizable ski destinations. Cowboy State Daily's Renee Jean reports that now after nearly 90 years, the Snow King Resort Hotel has changed it's name to hotel has changed it's name to "Trailborn Jackson Hole." "They've added a cafe where you can get kind of grab-and-go types of things, coffee, cocktails, depending on the time of day. And it's open now directly to the swimming pool, so you don't even have to leave the pool area. That's a nice perk if you've got kids with you. That pool is still open to the public. You can buy a day pass, go in and use the pool. They've also added something they call the alley oop. I think it's kind of like a little family club room." The landmark hotel at the base of Jackson's "Town Hill" was once a scrapbook of community life. It was where local high school sports banquets took place, where state association conferences parked their trucks, and where generations of skiers clomped through the lobby in wet boots.  Read the full story HERE. — And that's today's news. Get your f

  7. Sep 28

    Cowboy State Daily Radio News: Monday, September 28, 2026

    It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming for Monday, September 28th.  I'm Mac Watson. – Major League Baseball's idea of building a baseball park in Grand Teton National Park will backfire, local residents said Sunday. Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports that MLB has approached the Trump administration about hosting a game in the national park but locals say the idea is "abhorrent." "Senator Mike Gierau was the person that called the Major League Baseball idea abhorrence, saying baseball and national parks should not mix. The Washington Post had reported that it was MLB's idea, but administration officials were scouting Grand Teton National Park, and that one of the sites that they were looking at was less than pristine. Already, it was already a disturbed area. Rob Wallace, former Assistant Secretary of the Interior, said that they're probably not going to get through all the legal hurdles that are in place to protect national parks." State Sen. Mike Gierau, of Jackson, tells Cowboy State Daily that he confirmed the administration's visit with a park official. Gierau said he is an ardent fan of both national parks and baseball, but added, "When it comes to epically bad marketing ideas in the American experience, I put it next to New Coke." Read the full story HERE. – When a mountain lion attacked his dog, Adam Borkhus of Cody kicked it in the face and the lion turned on him. Outdoors Reporter Mark Hein reports that Borkhus says he didn't feel safe using a firearm or bear spray. So he did the next best thing which resulted in a 20-second ground battle — and excruciating rabies shots later. "He's not a small guy. He described himself as six three and somewhere around 320 pounds. him and Diesel were headed up to South Fork, so he stopped and and let Diesel out of the jeep, you know, so Diesel could you know do his thing, and he said he he heard his dog starting to yelp, and then so so we went around the front of his jeep and and found a mountain lion on top of it. He didn't feel safe using either the gun or the bear spray, so he just walked over and kicked the mountain line in the face, and it came at him. And he said it hit him in the chest and knocked me on my ass." Wyoming Game and Fish investigated the encounter and in a release said, "Based on the investigation, this is most likely a case of a surprise encounter with a mountain lion that led to aggressive-defensive behavior by the mountain lion." Read the full story HERE. – Pardoned mechanic Matt Geouge has built a device that blocks vehicles from spying on their drivers, because in 2018 his fiancée realized investigators were following her. Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports that now he is bracing for steep opposition from manufacturers as he unveils his new product. "Now that he's kind of leaving the diesel delete world behind, which burned him so hard, his new venture is to invent a device that stops your car from tracking you, spying on you. He said that the distinctive feature of this device is that it has an on-off switch. Let's say you're having a private business conversation, or you just don't feel like being tracked and your data shared that day. You can flip it off." Geouge had started a small-time diesel operation in his mother's garage in Hendersonville, North Carolina, his senior year of high school. As emissions systems on diesel trucks grew more constraining throughout the early 2000s, Geouge started writing "delete" software tunes that let trucks disobey the systems and regain their horsepower. Read the full story HERE. – Wyoming Highway Patrol's new chief Col. KC Ramsey will inherit 47 trooper vacancies, dispatch openings, and an overtime crunch. Cowboy State Daily's Kolby Fedore reports that the new chief says his main priority is the number 208 – referring to the agency's authorized trooper force.  "Ramsey took over as the active colonel and administrator last week, but he is officially beginning as the new chief October 1st. He is inheriting a huge budget shortfall and staffing problem, but it coincides with a biennial budget reset. Ramsey knows that he needs to fill these vacancies quickly. right now they have 40% of their dispatch missing and 43 trooper vacancies. So a big part of recruitment is going to be increased pay, as well as a $2,000 starting bonus." Ramsey tells Cowboy State Daily the biggest trooper shortages are in Casper and Gillette in District 2, and Rock Springs and Evanston in District 3. Read the full story HERE. – I'll have more news from Cowboy State Daily right after this.     Cowboy State Daily News continues now….  – A 1,551-pound pumpkin led the way in getting dropped from a 200-foot crane in Worland on Saturday afternoon to the delight of a cheering crowd. Cowboy State Daily's Andrew Rossi reports that more than five tons of pumpkins exploded at the annual Wyoming Pumpkin Drop. "You have to admire the mindset of people who bring their pumpkins to the Wyoming state way off and pumpkins drop because in the morning they're bringing their best pumpkins up the scale. They might reach personal best – four, five-hundred pounds. The largest one this year was 1,551 pounds. So these great achievements, you spend months cultivating these seeds and these plants to get the best possible pumpkin you can, and then an hour later they're watching it go 200 feet in the air and drop onto dryers and swimming pools or a giant University of Hawaii logo, and they they're gleeful about it. They pull the cord to drop their pumpkins, and that's just the atmosphere that's cultivated at the weigh off. You show your best work, and then you watch your best work plummet and then blow up in the smithereens." Hundreds of people were at the Washakie County Fairgrounds on Saturday, enjoying food trucks and inflatable bounce houses when the weigh-off got underway. Read the full story HERE. – The wildlife world is grieving the loss of Yellowstone photographer Sylvia Borgonovo who captured some of the most famous images of Yellowstone's oldest known living wolf. Cowboy State Daily's Mark Heinz reports that she was a stalwart advocate for wolves, grizzlies, and other wildlife. "She was completely self-taught as a photographer. She just started doing it and then reading whatever she could find, and just got really good at it over the years, so of course that's a sad loss for everybody. She'll be known for those images of 1090F. She was definitely one of one of the photographers of Grizzly 399, and then also she'll be known for her wildlife advocacy. " Sylvia died Sept. 15 after a brief battle with small-cell lung cancer in a non-smoker that had metastasized into her spine. She was 65 and would have turned 66 on Oct. 7. Read the full story HERE.  – After 14 months without a buyer, a Bondurant ranch played a high-stakes game of real estate poker by putting the property up for a no-reserve auction. Cowboy State Daily's Renee Jean reports the resulting panic prompted a buyer to make a preemptive $15 million offer the ranch couldn't refuse. "It's not too common to auction properties in Jackson Hole, you just have so many wealthy property owners there who you know they don't have to be in a hurry to have a fire sale, right? This property's been listed for 14 months. The buyer wants to move on. So he got an auction, and in 36 days, he has an offer that he finds acceptable. It's a lot of money that they're trading around there, and so they kind of take their time." Mario Vargas, CEO of DeCaro Auctions International, says it's unusual to auction luxury property in Jackson Hole, but it's even rarer to sell such properties before the bidding has even begun. Buyers don't want to pay too much for a property. Sellers want to avoid low-ball offers.  Read the full story HERE.  – Crazy Horse Memorial, about 40 miles from the Wyoming border, is larger than Mount Rushmore and after nearly 80 years of blasting, drilling, carving and hauling untold tons of granite off a Black Hills mountainside, still isn't finished. Cowboy State Daily's Kate Meadows reports it's definitely worth a visit. "Polish carver Korchak Zilkowski was the original carver of the monument. He and his wife Ruth had 10 children, and one their grandchild, their grandson Caleb Zilkowski, is the head carver today. Now the methods that he uses are quite a bit different than the methods that his grandfather used back in the 1940s, 1950s. Whitney Rencountre is the executive director of the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation, and he told me you can think of the monument in thirds, and so if you divide it into thirds. You know, we finish this 1/3, the kind of where the horse's head is, and that part of the horse's body. That could take another 10 to 15 years." The Crazy Horse Monument is larger than most people expect. The carving itself is larger than nearby Mount Rushmore, with the American Indian's head outsizing the 60-foot-tall heads of its presidential neighbors. 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.

  8. Sep 25

    Cowboy State Daily Radio News: Friday, September 25, 2026

    It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming for Friday, September 25th.  I'm Mac Watson. – Cheyenne police said Thursday that they're recommending criminal charges for a dozen teens ages 13-17 involved in a brawl at a Cheyenne Central High School football game earlier this month. Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports that one witness described the scene as "total chaos." "They described girls, one girl being restrained by a police officer, while the other girl kept charging that situation repeatedly, a parent got involved. Other bystander spectators formed like a human wall to prevent other teens from rushing into the fray. Meanwhile, two boys are up on a hill in a fight. One had the other in a chokehold, reportedly, and a football player's dad went up there to handle that situation because they were near a precipice at the bottom of which is a concrete pad for a fireplace." Police announced Thursday that they're recommending charges against 12 teenagers aged 13 through 17, on allegations including battery, assault of a police officer, trespassing, breach of peace, and interference. Read the full story HERE. – On Day 3 of a Cheyenne man's trial for allegedly starving his son almost to death last year, Darrick Mittlestadt testified Thursday that the 13-year-old's severe condition was his wife's fault. Cowboy State Daily's Kerry Drake was in the courtroom and witnessed Middlestadt admit that he was deceived by his wife, Angela. "At one point in the trial, Derek Middlestad said that if he had known about the condition of his child and that he had been near death and starving, that he would have immediately taken him to the get medical help and mental health care help too, but he claimed that he did not know what the condition of his child was because he had been misled and deceived and lied to by his his wife Angela, who has already pleaded guilty to this crime." Both the prosecution and defense rested their cases Thursday morning, with Laramie County District Judge Peter Froelicher expected to give the jury his instructions, then the 10-man, four-woman panel will hear closing arguments.  Read the full story HERE. – A city worker caught doing an epically bad curb-painting job in Laramie's downtown district has locals saying they're "embarrassed," and the city apologizing for botching the job. Cowboy State Daily's Greg Johnson reports that one local resident says, "The employee obviously doesn't give a (crap)." "This is in downtown Laramie, a very historic downtown. The people I talked to pointed out that hate. While it's it's fun to kind of make fun of just how bad it is, we're not happy with the fact that not only was it done wrong in the first place, when they tried to fix it, they tried to fix it by painting over the overspray with gray paint, figuring it would match the cement, and it didn't, and it looked even worse. And the city admitted, 'Hey, that that was terrible too.' And so they went back and they pressure washed the areas where the overspray was to finally get it right. So basically, they had to do it three times. So the taxpayers were paying three times to do that single job, and some of the people in Laramie aren't very happy about it." The city issued a public acknowledgement of the bad work and an apology Thursday morning. Read the full story HERE. – Visitors in Yellowstone are worried about what's wrong with "the spinning bison" which is circling endlessly in a pond. Cowboy State Daily's Andrew Rossi spoke to a  wildlife photographer who said the bull has "either injuries from a fight, near total blindness, neurological damage, or all the above." "The most likely explanation, just based on probability of occurrence, is that this bison got injured while running with another male. As everything that all the signs that it's showing suggests that it might be some kind of physical, if not a neurological, injury that's altering its behavior. It's not in a good way, and unfortunately, people are going to see this bison struggle because the whole idea is to let Yellowstone be Yellowstone. The whole premise behind the National Park Service is let these sites exist as they exist. So it's a hands-off approach. It's a sad thing to watch, but it's a natural phenomenon playing out, and that's in the best interest of Yellowstone as a whole. Which is why the rangers probably aren't going to do anything. They might not even humanely euthanize it because once you intercede, in one instance, you set a precedent, and then people start expecting that sort of thing." For most visitors, the hard part will be watching this slow decline. The bison continues to struggle with a serious impairment, but one that isn't necessarily killing it quickly. Read the full story HERE. – I'll have more news from Cowboy State Daily right after this.     Cowboy State Daily News continues now….  – A Sheridan man says his elk hunt was ruined when a helicopter appeared above him in the Bighorn Mountains and dumped huge plumes of water on top of him. Cowboy State Daily's Mark Heinz reports that the Forest Service said it was a training flight and the crew probably didn't know he was there. "He kept hearing a helicopter. And then eventually, he said about 5: 30 in the evening, here comes a helicopter, one of the big ones, one of the big water carrying airships, came over, came fairly close to him, and just dumped a bunch of water out of its belly. I mean, close enough to where he could feel the mist coming off of it, and of course, there's no fire anywhere, anywhere near there. And he said the thing circled away and then came back and got even closer to him and dumped a bunch of water. Though he didn't get hit by the mainstream of water, but he got misted. He said he could feel the rush of air from it. And he said during that time he was waving and trying, 'Hey, I'm down here!' and apparently the chopper pilot didn't see him." Russel Rogers tells Cowboy State Daily even though the helicopter almost soaked him with water and the hunting wasn't all that great, it was a nice quiet day in the mountains. Read the full story HERE. – New uniforms make it clear that many National Park Service rangers are real cops — with "police federal officer" printed on their ballistic vests. Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports that reaction to the new uniforms is mixed. "Not every park ranger is a cop, but a lot of park rangers are law enforcement officers. Regardless of whether you're there to give instructions or arrest people, you wear the green and gray uniform and the flat rimmed hat, right? And so they're saying you know maybe it's time to distinguish which ones are law enforcers so that there's no question about that. So I talked to two longtime, former rangers, who one of them, Greg Jackson of NPS Ranger News, he was saying, 'yeah, this is great. Now you can tell which ones are law enforcers.' Another one, Tara Ross. She agreed with that premise. Like yes, it is good to have that distinction, but she was philosophically concerned with another part of the uniform change, and that is that officers can forsake the flat room cap and choose a ball cap." The National Park Service was created in 1916. Until about 1950 the service treated all park rangers like law enforcement officers. Read the full story HERE.  – Casper residents are angry with obnoxious and unauthorized door-to-door magazine sellers who won't take "no" for an answer. Cowboy State Daily's Kolby Fedore reports the city says there are no authorized active permits for solicitors. "One man named Matthew Lamott describes an incident where two men came up to his door selling magazines, and they were explaining this was for points. And the more magazines they sold, the more likely that they would become a winner. Lamotte said, 'No, thank you.' And one of the young men seen on a ring camera continues to try to sell him other products. Eventually, Lamotte has to shut the door in his face. Homeowner Karen Jones said her concern is more for the elderly population. She said her parents have these kinds of encounters, and they're often manipulated into giving money under the guise that they're going to charities or they'll be getting some subscriptions, and then those are never fulfilled." Casper Police Department spokesperson Rebecka Ladd says the department is gathering information on reported activity of door-to-door salespeople making the rounds around the city. She advises people to be cautious of high-pressure pitches and demands for immediate payment. Read the full story HERE.  – A daredevil oil field worker who died at Saratoga's Hobo Hot Springs while on a back-to-nature road trip is being remembered by family and friends as a legend. Cowboy State Daily's Kolby Fedore reports that Cary Garmann was known for practicing naked yoga and standing on his motorcycle seat at 80 mph. "Garmann decided to stop at the Hobo Hot Springs on his way back home. He had called a friend who was going to meet him there. Unfortunately, that was his last contact with his wife before authorities called to tell her that he had passed away. A witness who was there that day says that when she got to the hot springs, she found him in the water, unresponsive, and she was the one who was performing mouth-to-mouth before the sheriffs arrived. When they got there, they pronounced him dead at the scene. His wife, Darlene Garmann, of 32 years has a great sense of humor. She laughed through the tears, and when asked if her husband died doing something that he loved, she said, 'Yes. He loved hot water.'" Darlene tells Cowboy State Daily she wasn't with her husband on the trip. He left wanting time to himself, drawn to nature and adventure. Read the full story HERE. — And that's today's news. 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