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.

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    Cowboy State Daily Video News: Friday, October 3, 2025

    It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Friday, October 3rd. I’m Mac Watson, bringing you headlines from the Cowboy State Daily newsroom… “Brought to you by the Wyoming Business Council. Wyoming youth are our future, but they're leaving the state at ALMOST TWICE the national average. What would bring them back home? Share your bold ideas with the Wyoming Business Council at wbc dot P U B backslash story." – Two mountain bikers, who were deep into the backcountry of Idaho said they came upon a woman, who was alone, hungry, and said she had been looking to find her way out and back to safety for almost three days. Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports, the woman is lucky to be alive. “What had happened is apparently, some point during her ordeal, she'd lost her shoes, so she'd wrapped her her like her sweatshirt and her shirt around her feet to protect her feet. And he said they spent the better part of a couple hours with her before, you know, they're able to make contact in a a search and rescue helicopter arrived. But, you know, they said they they question her, but they they weren't trying to be rude or really pry. Oddly enough, she didn't seem to really want to talk much about the word he said is, she seemed embarrassed about how she ended up at that situation. They gathered that she had been out there for she was nearing the end of her third day. She's already spent two days and two nights out there, and was coming to the end of the third day, which would have led into the third night. And the the gentleman described the conditions that week had been getting pretty darn cold at night, like down to the 20s, but getting up into the 60s, even 60s or even 70s during the days and then no precipitation. And that's probably what saved her, because I double checked that with the search and rescue guy here in Wyoming, and he said, yes, if people it's surprising how cold of temperatures people can survive if they're dry, if they're wet, that's a whole load ball game, because then the hyperthermia sets in, and that kills a lot of people in the back country. So probably what it boils. Down to is this woman's saving grace was the fact that she was able to stay dry the entire time.  One of the cyclists, Shelton Robinson of Pocatello, Idaho, said it was random luck that he and his companion happened to find Heather Wayment at about 3:30 p.m. on Sept. 18. Read the full story HERE. – The junior senator from Wyoming, Cynthia Lummis, has written a letter to President Donald Trump. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that Senator Lummis is urging the president to pardon a Wyoming diesel “delete” mechanic who was just released from prison and living in Cheyenne.   “In the early 2000s 2010 era, those early emission systems are pretty clunky and could cause problems in your truck. And so guys were just like, well, I can make this run better. I can save your fleet. Let's delete them. And also, pretty soon after the EPA started pursuing criminal charges against guys that were doing that and the people that are embroiled in those cases, describe it as sort of like an unexpected thing, like, whoa. Why am I not just getting a stern letter or a seasoned desist or a civil penalty? Why am I now going to be a convicted felon? And so that was Troy Lake family man, 65 years old, 64 when convicted, is now a felon for doing these deletes. And Senator Lummis, in her letter, said this is unequal prosecution. This looks political.” Lake, was been released early from the Colorado-based federal prison that held him for seven months. He is now on home confinement with an ankle monitor. Read the full story HERE. –  The BLM announced its intent to amend the Rock Springs RMP and opening a 30-day comment period on Wednesday. Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports that after years of being drafted, then declared finished, then put on hold, the Bureau of Land Management’s controversial plan for managing millions of acres in central Wyoming is again open for public comment. “It was seemingly settled last December, but then we had a change in presidential administrations, and things kind of changed. They decided they were going to put it on hold, and now the latest is they're going to go ahead and the BLM has put it up for revision in public comment, there was a 30-day comment period that began today. …What folks are saying is that this leans more toward what a lot of people in Wyoming have said they want all along, just more, I guess, less restrictive on things such as energy development or cattle grazing or motorized access. A lot of people for years have said that the BLMs for full preferred alternative was just too restrictive and wanted to create what was essentially wilderness areas across much of that 3.6 million acres that centered around the BLM office in Rock Springs. So it's just the next, the next step in a process that maybe, after all these years, could finally be starting to wind up. So we'll see.”  Wyoming state Sen. Larry Hicks tells Cowboy State Daily that there’s reason to hope it will get done right this time, and the matter will finally be settled. However, some environmental groups criticized the move to revise the plan yet again, saying it should remain as it is when the BLM finalized in December 2024. Read the full story HERE. – Wyoming weather is never boring. Friday temperatures will be scorching, but then a shift starts on Saturday. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports parts of Wyoming will see snow for the first time this season. “So the winter weather that's coming into Wyoming, it's going to mostly stay at the higher elevations. But whereas in September, we were talking about elevations above 9000 feet. Now we're talking about as low as 8000 and in some forecasts, even as low as 6000 feet, and that's rain transitioning the snow. Because the air is cold enough that snow can begin to form. The Beartooth highway is closing at noon today, in anticipation of the weekend weather that's coming. Cowboy State daily meteorologist Don Day has already called for a longer, colder, snowier winter that's going to start sooner, and there's still the indication that we're going to start dipping into more of that winter weather as we get further into October. They do anticipate reopening, but it's a sign that there is a big seasonal shift that's happening this weekend. So we're going to get close to or record breaking high temperatures for October 3, on Friday, and then as we get into Saturday and Sunday, we're going to see drops of between 20 to 35 degrees in just two days.” Laramie and Cheyenne could break their record highs for Friday with temperatures near or at 80, while Lusk is expecting to hit 83 . By Sunday, it could be 30 degrees cooler or more. Read the full story HERE. – I’ll be back with more news, right after this. –  The State Board of Land Commissioners approved two 50-year lease extensions for operating wind farms in Carbon County, but not before Secretary of State Chuck Gray and State Treasurer Curt Meier sparred over the merits of wind energy. Cowboy State Daily’s Steve Bohnel reports that each project had been operating under a 25-year lease before the board voted 3-2 Thursday to extend both of them. “One of the people that was opposed was Secretary of State Chuck Ray. He's been well known for opposing wind energy for a while now, he said that extending these leases and using these forms of energy is not a smart move for Wyoming in general. The State Treasurer Kurt Meyer, disagreed with him, saying that, you know, this source of energy is just one of many that Wyoming needs to do to remain competitive with China. He mentioned that China's built many wind farms this year, over one gigawatt alone this year, and he said that neglecting to extend these leases would be a mistake, but that didn't sway Mr. Gray, who continues to call this form of energy woke wind, something that President Donald Trump is a phrase that's used. He's used himself. I actually caught up with Governor Mark Gordon, who ended up being the tie breaking vote…Because he told me, even if they didn't decide to approve the lease extensions, the wind farms will still operate, they just wouldn't be on state land or under state control. And what that means, essentially, is that they wouldn't be able to gain revenue from those wind farms for education, something that he thinks is within the board of land commissioners’ responsibility as from a fiduciary standpoint.” Meier, Gov. Mark Gordon, and State Auditor Kristi Racines voted yes. Gray and Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder were the dissenting votes. Read the full story HERE –   The U.S. Bureau of Land Management is announcing that next week over three and half thousand acres of federal coal reserves in the Powder River Basin across Campbell and Converse counties will be auctioned off. Cowboy State Daily’s Jackson Walker reports that this the first major Wyoming coal lease sale in a decade. “The Bureau's expecting that there's going to be up to 365 million tons of coal available in that area that one lucky company is going to get the opportunity to claim…one local advocacy group told me, however, that they're concerned that this project is going to open up the area to a myriad of negative effects. These include pollution in the water, in the air, possibly harming the wildlife and, of course, presenting a major disruption to the people who live in the area. One coal expert, however, told me they feel that this issue is going to completely turn around the state of Wyoming's economy. It's going to completely improve a lot of different aspects of our energy economy and help us continue to stay competitive in a landscape that continues to demand more and more of our energy producers as we see cryptocurrency and AI rising in prominence.

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    Cowboy State Daily Video News: Wednesday, October 1, 2025

    It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Wednesday, October 1st. I’m Mac Watson, bringing you headlines from the Cowboy State Daily newsroom… Brought to you by Wyoming Interventional and Vascular Associates. WIVA offers the best solution for treating tired, aching and swollen legs, at Wyoming's only IAC-accredited vein facility. With virtually no downtime and minimal risks, if you’re ready for relief, see what WIVA can do for you. Schedule a consultation at Casper Medical Imaging dot net, forward slash WIVA. – Wyoming’s congressional delegation is blaming Senate Democrats for the federal government shutdown that took effect at midnight. Cowboy State Daily’s Sean Barry reports from DC that one Wyoming Senator had some harsh words for Democrats. “US Senator John Barrasso calling it idiocy on the part of the Democrats not cooperate with the Republicans…The Wyoming congressional delegation is essentially saying that the Democrats in the Senate, led by Chuck Schumer of New York, they're saying this is an act of retribution against the one Big Beautiful Bill act, because in the one Big Beautiful Bill act, where huge spending cuts were made, the Democrats had no voice. They were shut out of the process that was a strictly party line process in the Senate, whereas now with the shutdown, the Democrats had leverage. Republicans needed the Democrats vote to avoid a shutdown, and the Democrats said, we're not doing it.” Back in Wyoming, Governor Mark Gordon and Secretary of State Chuck Gray issued statements supporting the federal lawmakers.  Read the full story HERE. –  As Wyoming’s House Freedom Caucus continues to act as one of the most vocal proponents of property tax cuts on behalf of what it sees as a weary tax base, Cowboy State Daily’s Jackson Walker reports that one Sheridan County official said on Tuesday that relatively few people are using these programs. “On one side, we've got the House Freedom Caucus and people that are fighting to cut out waste, fraud and abuse from the government. But on the other side, we have these smaller local jurisdictions that are trying to hang on to their limited budgets as property tax revenue continues to decrease. Now today, I was looking for solutions, and I came across property tax relief services. These are actual services provided by county governments to provide relief to the people who need it the most that find that they're struggling with paying these taxes. Now what I found, however, is that not a lot of people are taking advantage of these programs, and that's because some of the way that they're structured requires interest payments to be made on these taxes that are deferred, and what I found is that that kind of represents a prohibitive cost to some people.” After rallying to pass a 25 percent cut earlier this year, the Freedom Caucus is now aiming for additional relief, as high as 50 percent. Read the full story HERE. –  Wyoming has again earned the dubious distinction from a safety watchdog group as the nation’s deadliest state for big rig crashes.  Cowboy State Daily’s Scott Schwebke reports that Truck Safety Coalition is blaming extreme and unpredictable weather, including high winds, sudden snowstorms and low visibility, particularly along the Interstate 80 corridor, for the high propensity of the deadly crashes. “The Wyoming Trucking Association pointed out to me today, they think the study is flawed because it's based on per capita which Wyoming has the smallest population in the US and the most truck traffic, so you're going to have truck crashes, but there's other places that have far more of them than Wyoming. So they think, they think the results are somewhat skewed, but they do admit there is a problem…So you know, this organization uses Wyoming as like a benchmark, but the Trucking Association believes, you know, that's, that's, that's kind of flawed math.” The Truck Safety Coalition, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy organization, released its annual list of the 12 worst states for truck fatalities Monday based on the most recent data from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration. With Wyoming sitting on top of the list, New Mexico, Mississippi, North Dakota, and Oklahoma round out the top five. Read the full story HERE. –  Justin Lucht was working on the Moss Ranch near Lovell on Monday when he spotted one of the many bighorn sheep that frequent the foothills of the Bighorn Mountains. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi spoke with Lucht and found that the Bighorns may have one of the coolest sheep populations in the state because of a distinctive feature. “So big horn sheep tend to grow symmetrical horns, where the horns sprout out of their head and they curl inward around their eyes. But the thing that's interesting in levels that there have been several big horn sheep spotted that have asymmetrical horns. One grows faster than the other. So instead of having a nice, symmetrical, curved horn set around your head, framing your head, there's one that's a little bit shorter and smaller and less thick, and the other one is massive. And this has been seen in several big horn sheep in this particular population at the foot of the Big Horn mountains near Lovell…You don't see these kind of horns on typical Big Horn rams. They usually just curve and then they curve inward and around the eye area, and these Rams in the big horns, it's not all of them, but a select few have this weird mutation, genetic mutation, where one horn just grows faster and thicker than the other one.” Several rams harvested from this herd have the same unique look, rather than the more symmetrical appearance of the horns of most bighorn rams. Read the story HERE. – Gov. Mark Gordon acknowledged on Tuesday that Wyoming faces a complicated trade-off as the Trump administration moves to expand coal production. Cowboy State Daily’s David Madison reports the governor explained the good and the bad for the state. “Coming off this meeting with Secretary of Interior, Doug Burgum, Governor Gordon, held a virtual press conference this morning. Members of the Wyoming media asked a lot of different interesting questions, and it was really all about what the Trump administration is doing to promote the coal industry, and Wyoming is greatly impacted by that. And so we've reported on this many times. We just yesterday, we had a story. There's been a huge infusion of enthusiasm and money, and Gordon said, look, but here's the facts, revenue is going to go down for states, and emissions are going to go up…However, what Gordon made the argument was, look, we were trying to hit a sweet spot here where, you know, we're not over taxing the coal industry. We're letting them catch up from the Biden years, where they really felt pinched. But at the same time, you know, we are capturing some revenue, and we hope that the volume will go up, that ultimately, you know, it will increase tax revenue for the state of Wyoming. At the same time, yes, we're going to be burning more coal, so more emissions into the atmosphere. However, new customers in Asia are really keen on using clean technologies, like the ones that are being developed here in Wyoming, to bring down emissions, even though you're burning more coal.” The governor also conceded budget challenges are looming for the 2026 Wyoming legislative session as federal royalty rates on coal drop from 12 point five percent to seven percent, an estimated annual hit to the state budget of $50 million dollars. Read the full story HERE. – I’ll be back with more news, right after this. – Five out of the six men involved in a supercar racing incident in Grand Teton National Park this summer were sentenced last week. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that while a YouTube star is still facing prosecution for federal misdemeanor charges, others involved in the high-speed incident have been sentenced.  “Edmond Berseghian, who is still being prosecuted, but the other five that were involved in the drag racing incident in Grand Teton National Park in late July, they were sentenced last week, and so four of them got probation, probation and were banned from the park for two years, and one of them was fined. And all of them… were fined. the fines from, like, what the 700 range to the $1,000 range. That's substantial for misdemeanors. Generally, they were already jailed briefly after the incident, and I don't, I don't see more jail time, so I mean, but two years probation and being banned from the park is also significant.” A status conference is scheduled for Oct. 28th.  Read the full story HERE. –  After a 10-hour search for what officials feared would be finding the body of a 37-year-old Casper man who reportedly fell into the North Platte River had a happier ending Tuesday when the man was found safe and unharmed. Cowboy State Daily’s Dale Killingbeck reports that the search for Dexter Fightingbear started at about 2 a.m. “There'd been a report that two brothers were down by the North Platte River. They had been drinking and smoking marijuana, and somehow they both got into the river, and one of the brothers got out, but the other one did not, and so he alerted authorities that his brother was missing, and there was a few hours search in the early morning hours for this man and this 37 year old, he was not found. They kind of suspended the search until what police said was later on in the morning, when the sun rose up. And we don't know a lot about…how what that search was, except that they had drones. Initially, I went to the scene at 11 o'clock, and I saw some Sheriff a sheriff deputy, and some search and rescue guys with a dog, but I did not see other police along the river at that point, but we know at noon that this gentleman was found.” When asked if there would be any charges fi

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    Cowboy State Daily Video News: Wednesday, September 30, 2025

    It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Tuesday, September 30th. I’m Mac Watson, bringing you headlines from the Cowboy State Daily newsroom… Brought to you by Wyoming Interventional and Vascular Associates. WIVA offers the best solution for treating tired, aching and swollen legs, at Wyoming's only IAC-accredited vein facility. With virtually no downtime and minimal risks, if you’re ready for relief, see what WIVA can do for you. Schedule a consultation at Casper Medical Imaging dot net, forward slash WIVA. – The Department of the Interior announced Monday that it's opening more than 13 million acres of federal land for coal leases and investing $625 million dollars to modernize coal plants and jump-start U.S. mining. Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports this is great news for the coal industry, and for Wyoming specifically. “The Trump administration, from day one, has been talking about coal and doing things to empower coal. The one big, beautiful Bill Act had, you know, things in it related to coal. I just think this is a continuation of the administration's efforts to boost coal…This is a concerted and coordinated effort across departments. Department of Interior is expanding the acres for coal leases. The EPA has announced that it's rolling back regulations that might hamper coal. You know, this money from the Department of Energy. So this is a concerted effort across departments working together to try and kick start the coal industry and keep it going. I think the other thing that's probably pretty significant in all of this, you know, artificial intelligence is going to need a lot of energy. People are basically looking for every molecule of energy that they can find from whatever energy source they can get it from.” Since the Cowboy State produces 40 percent of all the coal in the United States, Wyoming Energy Authority Director Rob Creager hosted several out-of-state legislators last week from states that accept Wyoming coal for tours of mines and power plants to see how Wyoming handles its coal industry. Read the story HERE. –  The county clerk accused of botching portions of the 2024 general election in northeast Wyoming and filing a false post-election audit did not show up Monday for a legislative subcommittee meeting for which she was subpoenaed. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that Secretary of State Chuck Grey repeatedly stated this was more than just a simple error.  “It was a seven and a half hour meeting with no lunch break, and a lot happened. Secretary of State Chuck Gray talked at length about how the real issue, and his view, is that she filed a post election audit with his office that you know, he said is either fraudulent or she didn't do one at all, and and that was the real issue to him, is this system that's supposed to be a check on the veracity of the election results, and somehow she missed, ignored, lied about, or otherwise didn't catch 21 errors…Chuck Gray complained about Governor Mark Gordon, whose declination letter where he declined to pursue a removal of Office Action said that, you know that that declination letter did not cite the post election audit. And Chuck Gray was like, this is the issue. Why did the governor not cite it? And Governor Gordon, in response, His office said, Well, that's because the statute only allows us to act upon a locals concern. And Chuck gray is not a Weston county voter, so we had to confine our analysis to the locals filed complaint.” Weston County Clerk Becky Hadlock could face up to $100 in fines and up to six months in jail for not complying with the subpoena, and if a prosecutor takes up a case against her for failing to appear for the subpoena. Read the story HERE. –  Dozens of outraged residents gathered at the Albany County courthouse on Monday to witness the arraignment of Stuart Schmidt, who is accused of ramming a wild horse with an ATV which lead to it being euthanized. Cowboy State Daily’s Jackson Walker reports that even though this was an arraignment, many people came out to show their support for wild horses and other animals. “Now this was an arraignment hearing, which means there's not any arguments made. All this individual does is come before a judge and say whether they are guilty or not guilty. In this case, he pled not guilty. But regardless of this, even this 15 minute interaction with the judge, there was about 30 community members in attendance, and I spoke to some of the people there who were telling me that they showed up today to show support for animals. These are people that feel strongly that what Schmidt is accused of is a pretty terrible thing, running down an animal with an ATV. They said they don't want to see anything like this happen again. And a lot of the people there were calling for increased penalties…So cruelty to animals here in Wyoming, the maximum penalty that you can receive for that is two years in jail and about a $5,000 fine. But some of community members were calling for fines as high as 15, to $20,000 potentially five years in jail, a lot harsher of a sentence.” Schmidt is accused of charging at the wild horse with an ATV.. He is facing one count of felony cruelty to wildlife and is out of jail on an unsecured bond. Read the full story HERE. –  A ranch manager claims that a Gillette elk hunter who says he shot the bull of a lifetime on public land trespassed across roughly six miles of private land to get there. Outdoors Reporter Mark Heinz reports that Terrance J. Monger was cited by a Wyoming Game and Fish game warden for hunting, trapping, fishing or collecting antlers or horns on private land without permission. “A ranch manager in the same area reached out to us and said, Well, there's more to the story. We are alleging that he trespassed across our property and neighbors property to get there. It's, you know, we have these sections of public land in Wyoming that are what we call land locked. In other words, they are surrounded by private land, and the only way to get to them is through private land. And so that's what this ranch manager said, is that, yeah, these guys shot the bull on public land, but they had to cross our ranch and another ranch to get there so they trespass, and we did check in court records do show that a person with the same name on the same day was cited for trespassing while hunting, which is in hunting trespass is different than criminal trespass. Criminal trespass, a Sheriff's deputy has to investigate that a hunting trust pass a Game and Fish Game Warden can, can, can investigate that, and it's a little bit different charge. It carries a stiffer penalty. And the other thing you have to bear in mind is land for the hunting. Landowners are under no obligation to give any warnings or post their property, it is the hunter's responsibility, 100% all the time to know where they are.” The citation was issued for the alleged violation on Sept. 18 and was filed Monday in circuit court. Read the full story HERE. – A pilot was hurt Saturday when his aerobatic kit plane flipped after striking a dirt berm during an emergency landing in an alfalfa field northeast of the Torrington Municipal Airport shortly after takeoff. Cowboy State Daily’s Scott Schwebke reports that the single-engine plane was en route from an airshow in Spanish Fork, Utah, to its headquarters near Sioux Falls, South Dakota, when the accident happened around 4 p.m. “They stopped at the touring airport to refuel. All four planes refueled. They took off. The lead plane, however, almost immediately after it took off, began descending, losing altitude, probably some kind of an engine problem. The pilot tried to make it back to the airport, but couldn't, ended up in an alfalfa field. Were turned over, and he was injured, had abrasions and cuts, but no broken bones, and he was taken to local Torrington Hospital, where he was later released. And the cause of the investigations that are is being looked at by the National Transportation Safety Board. The pilot, whose name has not been released, had taken off after refueling at Torrington Municipal Airport when his plane encountered a mechanical problem less than four minutes later.” The pilot, whose name has not been released, had taken off after refueling at the Torrington Municipal Airport. His plane encountered a mechanical problem less than four minutes later. Read the full story HERE. – I’ll be back with more news, right after this. – State Rep. Bill Allemand of Casper, told Cowboy State Daily on Monday that neither he nor his family own any land that has been leased to wind energy developers. Now Cowboy State Daily’s Jackson Walker reports that was a response to Bar Nunn Public Works Director Dustin Smart, who claimed Allemand is hypocritically leasing land to wind developers while at the same time showing staunch opposition to public subsidies for nuclear storage projects.  “Now, this is a huge accusation, because Bill Allemand is a very big opponent of nuclear energy developments, and this sort of argument kind of weakens his stance a bit. So I spoke to the representative today, and I asked him about these accusation which he flatly denied. He said that he does not own a single acre of land anywhere in the United States, and he said that his family doesn't own any land in the counties where these wind turbine developments were. He said that the argument that was made against him was using AI, and he argued that this person from bar none wasn't exactly backing up their sources with any evidence. So he feels strongly that that is not the case. And Cowboy State daily did do some digging today. We couldn't find any records directly associated with Bill Allen himself, although what we did find was a land trust that is owned by a cousin of Bill all men's father, which would make him a third cousin. So it's a ve

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    Cowboy State Daily Video News: Monday, September 29, 2025

    It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Monday, September 29th. I’m Mac Watson, bringing you headlines from the Cowboy State Daily newsroom… Brought to you by Wyoming Interventional and Vascular Associates. WIVA offers the best solution for treating tired, aching and swollen legs, at Wyoming's only IAC-accredited vein facility. With virtually no downtime and minimal risks, if you’re ready for relief, see what WIVA can do for you. Schedule a consultation at Casper Medical Imaging dot net, forward slash WIVA. – Why would you pay about 2 mill for a used Gulfstream jet when you can possibly acquire a Fairchild C-119L Flying Boxcar military transport plane for $150? Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that Big Horn County is selling the aircraft, mainly from the World War II and Cold War eras, after the Wyoming Supreme Court gave the go-ahead. “So none of these aircraft are air worthy. They date back to the World War Two, Cold War era, and a lot of them have been used for parts over the years to manage similar planes that are still in the air. Big Horn county managed to get several of them. They're 16 up for auction through a convoluted, convoluted legal thing, but basically, someone who owned the planes wasn't paying their rent, and they didn't pay their rent, so they seized the assets, and now they're auctioning them off. So the thing is, you can buy some of these planes. The starting bids for some of them are as low as $25 and up to upwards of $500 to catch is you can buy it for cheap, but you have to move it or disassemble it on your own.” If you, or someone you know who would be interested in bidding on these aviation treasures, look up the website Public Surplus. Read the story HERE. – When former Casper resident, Sgt. Thomas L. Cotner disappeared without a trace in the Pacific during World War II, his family was left with unanswered questions like: “What happened to the B-17 that Tom and his crew members were flying in after returning from a successful bombing mission. Now, Cowboy State Daily’s David Madison reports that, eight decades later, a man named Justin Taylor has some answers for the Cotner family. “Pacific Wrecks is in a unique position, where it's out and about in the Pacific doing active research. And Justin Taylor was in another part of New Guinea when he heard about this discovery made by a logging crew that was building a road through a really remote and high elevation place in New Britain Island, New Guinea. And so he rushed to the scene. So that was really fortuitous that that he happened to be within reach and could get there within days. And then he's armed with all of these serial numbers for all the B seventeens that saw action in that part of the Pacific Theater. So he was the perfect guy, right place, right time, matched the wreckage, and then started doing these amazing deep dive research projects into each service member.” Sgt. Cotner was deployed to the Pacific and earned recognition for bravery in August of 1942. A month later, he and the other eight members of his B-17 Flying Fortress crew disappeared.  Read the story HERE. –  Wyoming’s executive branch has told the state’s highest court that if it doesn’t reverse a judge’s order expanding the legislature’s public school funding expectations to include a computer for every student and other provisions, it’ll amount to letting schools, not the legislature, determine school funding in Wyoming. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland says the Tuesday filing by the Wyoming Attorney General’s Office in its appeal of the Wyoming Education Association’s school-funding lawsuit is the latest in this three-year saga. “It was way back like February that Judge Perlier said, Okay, you guys need to reassess how you fund education. Needs to be one computing device for each kid. Needs to be elementary school level counselors and fill in the school lunch gaps. And so that case is now on appeal in the Wyoming Supreme Court, with some kind of barbed back and forth between the public school advocates and the Wyoming Attorney General's Office, where Wyoming is saying things like, why do you guys claim to be doing a good job when you're renewing your accreditation, but you claim that you can't do a good job because of our funding when you're suing us.” WEA sued in 2022. A handful of school districts have joined the lawsuit. Read the full story HERE. – After a four-year quest, elk hunter Terrance Monger got what he considers the bull elk of a lifetime — a behemoth of an animal, shot on public land in Wyoming with a general season hunting tag. Outdoors Reporter Mark Heinz reports, the Gillette man says from the first moment he saw the bull in northeast Wyoming’s Hunt Area 129 four seasons ago, he was obsessed. “A bull in a 370 inch class is pretty darn big for Wyoming. the odds against this guy getting this thing in. The icing on the cake is that he chased the same bull for four years before he got it. Every time he went out, it just had a way of circling him or getting into the thick timber. Just evaded it for four years. And he finally, after four years of pursuing the elk, he got it this, this fall, this month in a kind of an early season rifle hunt there.” Monger tells Cowboy State Daily that it was pure tenacity and refusing to give up that helped him bag the animal.  Read the full story HERE. – I’ll be back with more news, right after this. – A man from Star Valley was hiking in the beautiful badlands near Kemmerer,  when he noticed a bone-white streak jutting out an embankment of brown earth. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that dinosaur bones have been found all over Wyoming, but this one is different. “The foot was found in southwest Wyoming, and it was found in an Eocene paleosol. Now, the Eocene is about 50 to 55 million years ago. It's right after the time the dinosaurs got wiped out by the asteroid. But this was not rock. It was a loose soil from that time, and the foot appears to have tumbled into it, because even though it looks like a fossil in situ, still in the rock where it was preserved, it's actually a modern foot, you can still see some of the connective tissue that tumbled into this loose soil that happens to be around 55 million years old. So it's interesting in circumstance, but not interesting in actuality, because it doesn't belong where it is”  Hiker James Sanderson sent an email to the Wyoming State Geological Survey telling them of his find. They responded by telling Sanderson that their specialist is waiting to connect with paleontologists from the Bureau of Land Management and National Park Service, who will be looking at it more closely in the field. Read the full story HERE. – Curt Gowdy State Park is a 35-mile trail system that attracts close to 600,000 visitors per year. And with most being from Colorado, Cowboy State Daily’s David Madison reports that Wyoming legislators want all users to help pay for the trails they're loving, but “greenies” would pay more. “Certain folks in Wyoming use the term “greenie” to identify Coloradans, and it's because of that iconic green and white license plate that shows the outline of the mountains. Well, you see a lot of those license plates in places like Curt Gowdy State Park, which is increasingly popular among mountain bikers…Well, now comes a proposal to charge a trail fee similar to what's charged to snowmobilers and ATV years to help pay their way and make sure that trails are maintained and that it that these places across Wyoming, including this new, amazing mountain bike trail up on to pass that recently was renovated, and sounds like a great downhill, seven full miles. If riders access through a state park, this law, which is just a proposed bill…might slap a $20 per car. If the proposed bill passes, monies collected would be used for signage, policing, and bathroom maintenance. Read the full story HERE.  – Mining has always been a dangerous occupation, especially coal mining. But back in the 1920’s Cowboy State Daily’s Dale Killingbeck reports that even though The Frontier mine blast became the second worst mining disaster in the state and the Sublet, Wyoming explosion the fifth, the number of fatalities could’ve been a lot worse in the 1924 accident. “What's interesting to me is that the men in the first explosion, you know, there was men that survived by just staying inside the mine. They had the thought to stay inside the mine and until the ventilation improved, so they blocked their air passages to not allow gas to get into where they were at, and so because of that, they spent hours in the mine, but they ended up surviving.” After the two tragedies, the State Coal Mine Inspectors of Wyoming report emphasized that no matches or smoking material were allowed in the mine because of coal dust and flammable gas.  Read the full story HERE. – And Robert Redford was an iconic actor who, like many people, fell in love with The West. But as Cowboy State Daily’s Jackie Dorothy reports, Wyoming had a special allure for the Oscar-winning actor and director. “So what Robert Redford did is he immersed himself in the wild west. I think this set him apart from many of the actors of his day, and even today, he visited where the outlaws lived, slept, played. He was right there in the middle of it, and he experienced so many of the different things, from the cold of the night to sitting at the bar where the outlaws congregated…And so what Redford really valued about Wyoming was the outlaw West, and that's what he explored, and he did it in a very real and raw way.” Redford had spent time over the years immersing himself in his breakout roles of both Butch Cassidy and mountain man Jeremiah “Liver-Eating” Johnson. He passed away at 89 on September 16th. Read the full story HERE.

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  5. قبل ٦ أيام

    The Roundup: A Conversation With Mac Watson

    Wendy Corr:  Well, hey there folks, welcome to the Roundup. We are a Cowboy State Daily podcast, and our focus is on interesting people in the Cowboy State. And it's a bittersweet one for me today, this is my final podcast as the regular host of the Roundup.  But I am leaving you all in such great hands, because my guest today is the person that I'm handing the baton to when it comes to broadcast media for Cowboy State Daily. And that is Mac Watson. Yay for Mac Watson!    Mac Watson: Hi. Thank you.    Wendy Corr:  There he is! Now Mac, Mac has such an interesting story, so we're talking about interesting people - he fits right in. And, my goodness, the stories he has to tell. We're going to laugh a lot today.  But before we go to our interview with Mac, I want to make sure that people know about the Wyoming Business Council "Business From the Basement" podcast. The "Business From the Basement" podcast is put on by the Wyoming Business Alliance. The Wyoming Business Alliance wants to promote business and business people - and the networking, the networking that can happen between business people in Wyoming.  So if you are a business person, if you are interested in being a business person, if you want more resources, more connections, more networking, go to the Wyoming Business Alliance "Business From the Basement" podcast. Check it out, and you will thank me. You will thank me for sending you their way.  But don't go there yet, because for the next little while here, we are going to get to know Cowboy State Daily's newest broadcast media director, who is Mac Watson, who comes from a - Mac, your history in the broadcast radio industry is just so colorful, and it's so interesting.  But Mac, you've only been in Wyoming for about three years, but you've had connections to Wyoming for like almost 15 now, right? So tell us about your connections to Wyoming. What brought you to Northwest Wyoming, which is where you are now?   Mac Watson:    So I was living in Phoenix, working in Phoenix at a radio station there, and I happened to start stalking a person who worked at the Attorney General's office.    Wendy Corr: Oh my.   Mac Watson: Yeah, she's a lawyer, which is not a great person to stalk, by the way, unless, you know, you're in jail or whatever and you need representation. But anyway, I started stalking on social media this woman that I just found fascinating, and still do. And we met, we got married, and she is from Cody.  She grew up in Cody, she was born in Casper, then they moved up here to Cody. Her dad worked for Marathon, worked for Husky oil, Marathon. He was a draftsman for years. So she graduated from Cody High School and then went to, you know, college, law school, University of Wyoming, graduate law school, and then worked for the attorney general's office in Wyoming, as well as Arizona.  So I met her when she was in Arizona, and the first time, we'd been dating two weeks. And she said, Hey, I just gotta tell you I'm going back home from my high school reunion. And I knew, because she, you know, we compared exes - always a good thing - but none of our exes really were, you know, did things for her, right?  So she said, I'm going to my class reunion, my 20th class reunion. I said, I'll go. And she was like, what? And I said, Yeah. And I bought a plane ticket that night, not knowing where Cody, Wyoming was. I flew into Bozeman. I was like this all the way until we landed, because there was nothing around. I come from the East Coast.  And when we finally landed, I called her, and I said, I'm here, but I don't know where to meet you. And she goes, meet me by the bear. And I thought they had a live bear in the middle of the airport, because I'm such an East Coast guy. And I go, who the hell keeps a bear in an airport? She goes, it's a statue, dummy. Just meet me by the bear statue.  And she drove me through the park. And I fell in love. Fell in love with Yellowstone. Fell in love with Cody. I've, unfortunately, I've never been east, so I've not been to Gillette or South Dakota, but we have gone all over, you know, central, southern, you know, down to Rock Springs, down to Salt Lake City, Denver. I've been almost everywhere in Wyoming, and fell in love with it, and obviously fell in love with her.  So we'd come up every six months to help my father in law, until we physically moved here in 2021.   Wendy Corr:  That is awesome. And then, of course, you continued your radio career, but that radio career has kept you - I mean, you've taken some really interesting, interesting turns in your career.  So Mac, my understanding from chatting with you, because you and I have gotten to chat a lot in the last week or so, getting us ready to make this transition. But my understanding is that you knew from a young age that radio that's the kind of a dream job you wanted. So tell us about your seven year old, first experience as a seven year old there, figuring out, wait a minute, this is a cool career.   Mac Watson:   So I grew up in outside of Baltimore, Maryland, and my dad grew up on a gentleman's farm near the Pennsylvania line, but he went to school and went to work in the city, every day, and he always had to wear a suit, always had to wear a tie, and he worked in banking.  So one day, and we were on summer break, one day, he says, Hey, you want to go to work with me? And of course, it's a bank. I'm like, No. And he said, Well, I'm going to go to a radio station. I was like, oh, okay, we always listen to the radio in the car. Dad always listened to a certain station. Mom always listened to a certain station.  And we went down, and the bank was right next to another building down in the city, and this is where WFBR was, and WFBR was one of the first stations in America that had what they called shock jocks, and my dad never listened to WFBR because it was too racy or whatever, right? It's too wild.  So we met the general manager, and he was wearing a suit. So I'm like, whatever. We turn the corner and there's the studio behind the glass, and there's a guy standing at it, you know, in front of a microphone, in front of a radio board, and he's standing - and I'll never forget. He was wearing shorts, a Hawaiian shirt, those big, oversized sunglasses and moose antlers, and had his headphones on. And he was doing something, but he was like, and then he took off the headphones, he came out. He's like, Hey, young man, you know, who are you, you know? And I'm like, Who are you? I mean, this guy was not a banker, this guy was not a suit.  And I realized this guy could wear what he wanted. He could say anything he wanted, and he got to play music - because I fell in love with music at age six. I heard my first Rush song at age six, and had been a fan ever since. So music was very important to me as a kid.  So fast forward. I'm just like, blown away, right? So fast forward. So we live in Baltimore, but my mom's from Providence, and every summer we would go up to see my grandmother. My grandmother lives in Providence, and we didn't want to hit the morning traffic or the morning - I know it's Wyoming. Nobody has rush hour here. Yeah, no, we didn't want to hit the rush hour traffic going up 95. So we left really early. So my mom and my sister are in the back and they're asleep. My dad and I are in the front, and we get through New York City, and the morning shows come on. And this is New York right now, the big buildings, and, you know, just a massive amount of people and everything.  And dad is flipping the station, and he comes on Z100, which is in New York, which is a top 40 station, is still a top 40 station. And WHTZ, I'll never forget it. WHT Z, New York, New York. Boom, you know, just this big explosion.  Top of the hour ID, and on comes this guy named Scott Shannon, who invented the morning zoo concept. And Scott's like, you know, coming up, we're gonna do this. We're gonna do this. We're gonna do the wacky, you know, blah, blah, blah. And it's two degrees above a good time in New York City. Boom, you know, he goes into music or whatever.  And I turn to my dad, and I go, what's the temperature? And my dad is driving. He does this, it's 71 Shut up. You know, 12-13, year old boy, you know, I'm like, you can say that? I mean, you know, we would say it in school, you know, and make jokes about stuff like that in school, but adults could say that stuff. Oh, my God.   Wendy Corr:    And on the air too!   Mac Watson:    Yes, it was a very different time. Very different time. Scott Shannon would go to a nightclub, do a couple bumps of coke, do a morning show, and then collapse in the morning and get up and go do it all over again. Very different time in radio. Very, very different time.  So I was always listening to the radio. And so by the time I was 16, I had a medical supply and pharmacy route, and I was always, and this is, this is so - you know, proximity is so important to your career. I could hear DC stations, I could hear Baltimore stations, and I could hear Harrisburg stations. So I heard all this and all these different types of radio stations and radio personalities, right?  But I was always told, you know, I went to a very competitive Catholic, all boys school. You're gonna be a doctor, you're gonna be a lawyer. You're going to be white collar, white collar, white collar. And I just never really was interested in school.  I never did well in school. I didn't really like it. I didn't like, I would be diagnosed with oppositional defiance disorder now. That's what I would be diagnosed with if I were a kid in school today, right? I just didn’t like people telling me what to do. I didn't really, wasn’t interested in anything. You know, Pythagorean theorem - when am I going to use that? You know, all that kind of stuff.  So I figured out how to do the least amount of homework just to barely pass. So I got out of high

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  6. ٢٦ سبتمبر

    Cowboy State Daily Video News: Friday, September 26, 2025

    It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Friday, September 26th. I’m Wendy Corr, bringing you headlines from the Cowboy State Daily newsroom… Brought to you by Wyoming Interventional and Vascular Associates. WIVA offers the best solution for treating tired, aching and swollen legs, at Wyoming's only IAC-accredited vein facility. With virtually no downtime and minimal risks, if you’re ready for relief, see what WIVA can do for you. Schedule a consultation at Casper Medical Imaging dot net, forward slash WIVA. – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is reviewing Obama- and Biden-era rules around a common abortion-inducing drug, after attorneys general of 22 states, including Wyoming, urged the nation’s top health officials to take a closer look at adverse events linked to the drug. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland spoke with the Wyoming Attorney General and reports many petitions like these come across his desk, but this one caught his attention. “Attorney General Keith Kautz told me, look, when I get these, I look and see if this is even in Wyoming's interests and if there's merit to it. This study is from a partisan group, but it claims to have fairly reliable footing, sourcing claims across some 800,000 abortion cases. And what it says is that the adverse events that are associated with this drug are way higher than those listed on the label. Basically saying it's being passed off as less dangerous than it actually is.” U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy and FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary responded to the Republican AGs’ July 31 letter with their own, which surfaced publicly this week. Read the story HERE. – A body believed to be that of a 58-year-old elite endurance athlete and Cheyenne resident, James “Dingo” Dominguez, was found Wednesday.  Cowboy State Daily’s Scott Schewbke reports Dominguez appears to have drowned in July when a specialized rowboat he was in capsized during a major storm on Flathead Lake near Polson, Montana. “He's an elite endurance athlete, a former Marine, member of the Navy, worked for Homeland Security, and so he's also part of an organization called or word bound, which is an organization dedicated to rowing 16,000 miles across three oceans for charity. It's organization in Cheyenne, which is, has a has, like, there's just like three of them. So it's just like a small, probably informal organization, but they plan to row 16,000 miles between, starting in November. They're going to go across portion of the Atlantic in the Gulf of Mexico, and finish up in 2027.” His identical twin brother Jerry Dominguez told Cowboy State Daily on Thursday that the discovery ends a grueling two months for the family.  Read the story HERE. –  For more than a century, those in need of medical care in Sublette County were forced to drive more than 70 miles to get to a hospital. But Cowboy State Daily’s Jackson Walker says that has changed now that Sublette County Health Hospital has opened its doors. “This is a huge impact on people that need regular visits to the doctor. I also spoke to the owner of a cancer awareness nonprofit who told me that this facility specifically is going to mean a lot of really great things for women in the area. They're going to be able to get mammograms, they're going to be able to get the preventative treatment that they need and hopefully prevent some pretty bad health effects down the line. It was the only county in Wyoming not to have a hospital.” Senator John Barrasso and Rep. Harriet Hageman joined Gov. Mark Gordon in Pinedale on Thursday to cut a ribbon to celebrate the grand opening of the hospital. Read the full story HERE. – The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced workers have detected bird flu in commercial turkey flocks in South Dakota in the past month, leading to the killing of more than 400,000 birds. Cowboy State Daily’s Dale Killingbeck reports that the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Protection Service’s website shows eight confirmed flocks of birds in South Dakota and one backyard flock affected by highly pathogenic avian influenza. “From the USDA perspective, yeah, this is a deal that could become a bigger deal. You know, 400,000 turkeys are a lot of turkeys. Here in Wyoming, we don't have any commercial poultry growers, but we do have backyard flocks. And so I talked to a couple of farmers, one in South Dakota on the Pine Pine Ridge Reservation, and another in eastern Wyoming, and both of them have turkeys that they just put out there in free range. The woman who owns the farm in Wyoming said that.” A total of almost 440,000 birds have been culled and other outbreaks during the past month have been detected in North Dakota, Minnesota, Michigan, and Montana. Read the full story HERE. – I’ll be back with more news, right after this. – Laramie County Community College is considering a name change. But a name change would be costly, in the six figure range, but would better represent what the college offers, including various bachelor's degrees. Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean says it would also clear up confusion, because the college isn’t in the town of Laramie, but in the Laramie County city of Cheyenne. “In looking at what contributes to a student from Colorado or Utah coming to Wyoming at L Triple C and what discourages them, that was one of the things they found, is that the name is confusing. The students don't realize that it's actually closer to their home than they think in Colorado, for example, and that's a factor in their decision. Why they might pick a college this is close to home. I can, you know, still maintain contact with my family while going to school. They also don't realize, because of the community in the name, they don't realize there are Bachelor of Science degrees, that there's a residence hall, that there's an orchestra, that there are all these things that are more regional college would offer.” School officials say the process will take about 18 months to decide on the new moniker. Read the full story HERE. – Albany County is seeking $175 thousand dollars from the Wyoming Office of Homeland Security to create an anti-terrorism task force. Cowboy State Daily’s Jackson Walker spoke with Albany County Sheriff Aaron Appelhans on Thursday, who says that the county is seeking special tactical response training, emergency communications equipment, armored personnel protection and other equipment.  “This is largely an initiative to get ahead of these threats, to be preventative, rather than reactionary. Now these funds are going to come from the federal level, and one county commissioner, Pete Gosar, told me that he's concerned that some of these major cuts to the federal budget could impact his ability to receive this grant. Nonetheless, they're still going to go ahead and try to get this terror Task Force off the ground, and hopefully big things are coming soon to Albany County.” County officials won’t give specifics on what potential threats there could be for Albany County. Read the full story HERE.  –  When hunters kill big game animals, there’s a lot left over once the meat has been taken: hide, bones, guts and such. Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports, to combat careless and illegal carcass disposal, Wyoming Game and Fish have installed carcass dumpsters at several locations in the Sheridan/Buffalo area. “Game and Fish is concerned that it can, you know, accelerate the spread of Chronic Wasting Disease, which is that condition that is 100% fatal and infected most deer and elk. So what game and fish has done is they increasingly start to put these carcass dumps dumpsters around so encouraging hunters, rather than just toss your carcass anywhere and everywhere, which is illegal, by the way, you're allowed to leave a carcass at a kill site, but you're not allowed to just take it and throw it hither and yon. You're obligated to take it to a landfill or something, and so game of fish is just trying to make that easier. You know, the old saying that the best way to get people to do something is to make it convenient for them. And so hunters have a place where they can go and dump their carcasses in these dumpsters that are far enough removed” Game and Fish says the response from hunters and citizens has been positive, with the most heavily used dumpsters averaging approximately 7 tons of carcasses during the hunting season. Read the full story HERE. – And Cowboy State Daily’s Mac Watson has our final story for today.   There’s a newly-discovered comet streaking across the night sky, and any Wyomingite with a good pair of binoculars can see it for the next month.  The “SWAN Comet,” as it has been nicknamed, was discovered by an amateur astronomer on Sept. 11. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi says this is an extraordinarily rare event. “This comet was found by an amateur astronomer, and then once they alerted other observatories, they checked out the same spot and they saw the same thing. So it's we don't know that much more about it at this point. But one of the things that is interesting is that this is the third time in human history, as far as we know, that we've detected a comet that is not from our solar system. It's from outside of our solar system, which is where most of our comets come from, which suggests that our solar system moved through an interstellar field of debris and pick some things up. So it's the third time in seven years that we found a comet that didn't originate from our neighborhood.” Max Gilbraith, planetarium coordinator at the University of Wyoming, encourages Wyomingites to find the SWAN Comet while it’s visible. It might be a while before there’s another comet we can see from Earth. Read the full story HERE. – And that’s today’s news! As this is my final newscast fo

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  7. ٢٥ سبتمبر

    Cowboy State Daily Video News: Thursday, September 25, 2025

    It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Thursday, September 25th. I’m Wendy Corr, bringing you headlines from the Cowboy State Daily newsroom… Brought to you by Wyoming Interventional and Vascular Associates. WIVA offers the best solution for treating tired, aching and swollen legs, at Wyoming's only IAC-accredited vein facility. With virtually no downtime and minimal risks, if you’re ready for relief, see what WIVA can do for you. Schedule a consultation at Casper Medical Imaging dot net, forward slash WIVA. – Gov. Mark Gordon on Wednesday said anticipated budget shortages precipitated by a 25% property tax cut are one of several critical issues county and local officials must confront during the coming budget session. Cowboy State Daily’s Jackson Walker reports the governor made the remarks while addressing the 2025 Wyoming Association of County Officers meeting in Rock Springs, a gathering of county officials from across the state. “I spoke to some commissioners who were saying that they're concerned this is going to begin impacting local services such as emergency ambulances, such as trash pickup, such as community events, and they were really worried that, without finding some other source of funding, that this was going to continue to impact them in a really serious way. I spoke to one commissioner from Hot Springs County, Tom Ryan, the chairman, who told me that he was concerned that all these cuts are going to make his county more dependent on state dollars, rather than these local dollars, which he argued is going to have a big effect down the line.” The governor acknowledged having flown into town through a thick fog that morning, which he likened to the coming budget concerns facing Wyoming’s elected officials. Read the full story HERE. – In 2021 when YouTube announced it was censoring anti-vaccine content, Scott Clem had a vague sense of a brewing conspiracy and that something wasn’t right. What the former Wyoming representative said on Facebook at the time, was that YouTube’s new policy was “the end of free speech.”   According to the information available at the time, he was wrong. But on Tuesday, Alphabet, the company overseeing YouTube and Google, took accountability for caving to government pressure. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland spoke to Clem about his hunch. “Back in 2021 Scott Clem, a former Wyoming State Representative, posted that YouTube's new covid and election censorship policies were the end of free speech and cowboy state daily, we were quick to correct him, like no private platforms can do what they want…I circled back to Scott Clem on Wednesday, like, okay, so you intuited that this was a free speech issue when we were around to critique you. What do you have to say today? And he said, Yeah, I kind of thought the government was behind it all along…   Clem told Cowboy State Daily, people should still be vigilant to defend freedom of speech no matter which party is in power. Read the full story HERE. – A nuclear fuel manufacturing company explained Wednesday why it required nondisclosure agreements with Gillette city officials before discussing a proposed facility that could bring more than 200 jobs to Campbell County. Cowboy State Daily’s David Madison reports that the public is concerned about the secrecy surrounding the discussions between the company and the city. “So there's been a controversy in Gillette over whether or not the city and other officials were doing things behind closed doors that the public should know about when it comes to BW XT coming to Gillette. BW XT wants to clear the air around that they're having a public hearing on Tuesday next week, and they want to introduce themselves to the town and really explain their ambitions. They want to build tri so fuel and try so fuel could be the fuel of the future, if you really believe in small nuclear reactors and micro reactors and so the public, they have questions. Here's a chance for them to be answered and to learn more about what could be an opportunity to bring as many as as many as 200 high paying jobs to Gillette.” Joshua Parker, director of business development for BWXT Advanced Technologies, said the company needed confidentiality agreements to protect commercially sensitive information about the size and scope of its proposed TRISO fuel fabrication facility. –  Track inspectors are just one of the many cogs in the safety wheel that keeps railway cars moving across the tracks across Wyoming. But former legislator and retired railroad worker Stan Blake says continuing rail layoffs, coupled with more automation will mean more train accidents in Wyoming - like the one that resulted in a fiery explosion last week between Bosler and Rock River. Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean spoke with Blake, who said he’s concerned about automated systems. “The American Association of railroads says that these automatic track inspectors can do the job and do the job better than people, but a lot of the Union reps in the retired railroad worker I talked to Stan Blake said that's actually not the case. That there are defects that humans notice before they become defects these ATI miss these things until they become a problem where people can see them before, so that people eyeballs on the track are your ounce of prevention before you need 10 pounds of derailment cure, right? What Stan is seeing is more and more they're coming to replace what humans have done, and he doesn't think they're ready for prime time. He's not the only one.” The Association of American Railroads has asked to waive more than 80 railroad safety regulations, all at a time when the industry has dramatically reduced workforce levels by more than 30%. Read the full story HERE. – I’ll be back with more news, right after this. –  On Wednesday, Gov. Mark Gordon told Cowboy State Daily that he remains a proponent of wind energy developments in Wyoming but recognizes constituent concerns. Cowboy State Daily’s Jackson Walker reports that the governor explained the issue is like walking a political tightrope as he and other government leaders try to balance the state’s energy needs with residents’desire to keep Wyoming the way it is.  “While the governor said that he's in favor of energy developments here in Wyoming, he recognizes pushback from locals on issues such as wind developments that can sometimes become an eyesore. Now, he said he's in favor of energy in the state, but specifically mentioned how minerals such as oil and gas are certainly more preferable, sometimes, in some of these cases, to wind. However, he argued that some of these local jurisdictions don't have many other ways to make money on their own, other than leasing some of their land to these wind developments.” The Trump administration has been a vocal opponent of wind turbines, while in Wyoming, a wind farm project voted down in Laramie County earlier this month continues to stir debate. Read the full story HERE.   Colorado’s ongoing wolf reintroduction program is facing new wrinkles, with lingering accusations that wolves from Oregon infected with a parasitic disease were released in the state.   However, Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports that the Colorado Department of Parks and Wildlife claims that Hydatid disease was already present in Colorado.  “I saw the documents from a veterinary forensic veterinary lab in Kansas that tested some stool samples from some wolves that came from Oregon and were and were reintroduced into Colorado that they tested positive for Hydatid disease. And of course, this is, you know, the part of the protocol of the wolf reintroduction program is, when they bring these animals in, they're supposed to put them through a series of treatments and either treat them or vaccinate them for this whole array of disease, including high data disease, which is basically, it's like a tapeworm, parasitic disease. It's really nasty stuff. It can get into an animal system, you know, a canine, cattle, elk. It can even in rare cases, it can even infect humans.” Wolves brought in from Oregon, and later British Columbia, were treated for that and a number of other diseases before being released.   Read the full story HERE. – Jackson photographer Savannah Rose already has a portfolio filled with once-in-a-lifetime shots of Wyoming’s wildlife, but an image she captured this week has already drawn the admiration and envy of wildlife photographers worldwide.Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi spoke with Rose about getting the perfect shot.  “Her goal was to find elk, and she found elk in Grand Teton. She saw this bull acting up. So she got herself in position, hoping to get the shot that she wanted. And as it happened, the elk rose to the crest of the hill where she wanted him to be. She threw herself on the ground to get the angle she wanted. She adjusted her camera settings very quickly, knowing she had seconds to get the shot. She aimed up, had the Grand Teton framed in his antlers perfectly, and got the shot while she was on the ground. And that's the dedication it takes if you want to be a top tier wildlife photographer.  While traversing Grand Teton National Park, Rose captured an incredible image of a “royal” bull elk, standing at the crest of a hill, with the Grand Teton in the background framed by its antlers.” Rose has worked as a professional wildlife photographer since moving to Jackson ten years ago. Read the full story HERE. –  And now, Cowboy State Daily’s Mac Watson brings us our last story for today. —   As fans of CJ Box’s intrepid mystery-solving game warden Joe Pickett count down the days until the release of his 26th Pickett adventure, the Wyoming author dropped a bombshell on Wednesday’s Cowboy State Daily Show with Jake Nichols. Cowboy State Daily’s Greg Jo

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  8. ٢٤ سبتمبر

    Cowboy State Daily Video News: Wednesday, September 24, 2025

    It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Wednesday, September 24th. I’m Wendy Corr, bringing you headlines from the Cowboy State Daily newsroom… Brought to you by Wyoming Interventional and Vascular Associates. WIVA offers the best solution for treating tired, aching and swollen legs, at Wyoming's only IAC-accredited vein facility. With virtually no downtime and minimal risks, if you’re ready for relief, see what WIVA can do for you. Schedule a consultation at Casper Medical Imaging dot net, forward slash WIVA. – The mother of the Byron woman who fatally shot her four daughters and herself in February filed a wrongful death lawsuit Monday in Wyoming’s federal court. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that Rhonda Coplen, mother of Tranyelle Harshman, filed a civil lawsuit against Cody-based Sage Psychiatry Services LLC, and against advanced practice registered nurse Krista Blough on claims that Blough sent Harshman home with ketamine. “Ketamine is a dissociative drug that it can carry risks of hallucinations and other issues, and the lawsuit alleges that the standard of care is to do this in a medically controlled environment, to take this drug and work through your issues while someone is supervising you or you're you're someplace safe. So but of course, Tranyelle Harshman reportedly was taking the drug at home and then shot her four daughters and herself. The toxicology report did find it in her system following her autopsy. So I mean, according to her mother's lawsuit, she believes that this was not the safe or best way to prescribe and to send her with it, and she believes that it's a cause of Daniel's death and the little girl's deaths.” Harshman, 32, shot her four young daughters, called 911, then turned the gun on herself February 10th in her home in Byron. Read the full story HERE. – Concerns about a cross-dressing custodian at Crest Hill Elementary School in Casper came to a head Monday during a meeting of the Natrona County School District 1 Board of Trustees. Cowboy State Daily’s Dale Killingbeck reports there were calls for resignations, a state legislator was escorted from the microphone, and an apology was issued as well. “There was an apology by the board member, but the board chair also called out the state representative who initially spoke to the board…Two weeks ago, and that state rep said that the state rep did not reflect the situation correctly. The State Rep tried to correct that, and police showed up at the table where she sat trying to correct the board chair, and she was escorted away from the table.” Even after Vice Chair Dana Howie apologized and explained her social media post related to an elementary school parent’s concerns about the custodian, Board Chair Kevin Christopherson complained about internet and media misinformation and urged people to avoid them and get “recentered.” Natrona County Schools still contend the custodian isn’t breaking any laws. Read the full story HERE. – Yellowstone National Park is Wyoming’s top tourist destination, but it’s also a mostly pristine habitat for wild animals. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that means visitors will often see nature play out in all its glory and tragedy. Such was the case earlier this month, when several grizzlies battled each other over an elk carcass until one bear used its brute strength to drag it out of a mud hole in Yellowstone, in clear view of visitors.  “It's just one of those incidents that so awesomely reminds everybody that Yellowstone National Park, it's a tourist trap in its own way, but it's also a natural environment. It's where bad things happen for no real reason. In this case, an elk got stuck in a muddy pond, couldn't get itself out. It could have been there for days suffering and slow, agonizing death. The National Park Service made the decision to intervene by euthanizing the elk, and then a bunch of bears saw it as an opportunity, and they became a combative carcass for them, so they were fighting over that as they're trying to get nutrients for the winter.” The scene unfolded at a spot called “No Moose Pond,” in the eastern half of Yellowstone. Park rangers say that there’s no way to save an elk in that situation because it would be dangerous for the people and the animal. Read the full story HERE. – Now that the debate over whether to pass more stringent restrictions on noisy vehicles in Cheyenne is finished, the focus shifts to how to enforce the city’s controversial new ordinance. Cowboy State Daily’s Jackson Walker reports that residents aired their opinions before the Cheyenne City Council on the new ordinance which passed on Monday. How exactly can the police department enforce an excessive sound law? “The ordinance is intended to curb loud vehicles that tear through town at late hours of the night, such as crotch rockets or maybe very large trucks…presumably, police are going to be using some sort of technology to measure the decibels. Although this wasn't included in the ordinance, it will probably be left up to the Cheyenne Police Department, although there was some talk of sound equipped cameras that could come into use in the future.”  Residents argued the ordinance could drive away young residents and could negatively impact car and motorcycle enthusiasts who modify the sound of their engines. Read the full story HERE. – I’ll be back with more news, right after this. – Once the headquarters of the Wyoming Tie and Timber Company, the Triangle C Ranch near Dubois has been a dude ranch for the last 93 years.  The property, which is entirely within the Shoshone National Forest, is now on the market, listing for $4.95 million dollars. And Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports that this is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to own this slice of Wyoming history.  “This is just the latest in kind of a wave of legacy ranches that have come up for sale in Wyoming… There's the Wind River, the upper Wind River’s right out basically your back door. You can go fish for cutthroat trout, brown trout… It's been operated by a pretty famous horseman from Australia, Christopher Cox… and given it really a name for horseback riding. But it's not just suitable for horseback riding. It's really suitable as a base camp of adventure in the Dubois area.”  While there’s no deeded land in the offering, the property includes all the buildings and equipment, as well as the Forest Service leases, making it a turnkey dude ranch opportunity for the right buyer. Read the full story HERE. – Fans of one of Yellowstone National Park’s most popular wolves are mourning her death. The young female, 1479F, was reportedly shot legally by a hunter this month after straying out of the park and into Montana. But the incident has caused controversy. Cowboy State Daily’s Outdoors Reporter, Mark Heinz, says that there is a case to be made for both sides. “I think, a substantive argument to be made about questioning hunting wolves right on, you know, just past the park boundary, because, you know, these folks are saying these wolves are basic. They're so used to being around people and people not being a threat. How fair is that? But on the other side, there's also a good substantive argument that, you know, the state's management policies are the state management policies. You can't expect the state, the states, to adhere to federal policies. How was that fair?” Wolf 1479F was about 2 and a half years old and was reportedly killed by a hunter last week. Requests for confirmation and details of the wolf’s death from Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks and the National Park Service weren’t answered by publication time. Read the full story HERE. – During a meeting of the House Judiciary Committee last Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman discussed with FBI Director Kash Patel recent efforts to make reservations, such as the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming, a priority in the federal fight on drugs and crime. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that the FBI Director said drug cartels are dropping their products from the air onto tribal reservations across the nation, and it’s time for federal authorities to launch counter-drone operations. “Kash Patel testified before a House committee last week, and they mostly grilled him about the Epstein client list, but representative Harriet Hegeman asked him about law enforcement on tribal reservations. Wyoming, of course, has the Wind River a sizable tribal reservation that's had some reported drug trafficking…In a Judiciary Subcommittee, experts testified that cartels have 1000s of drones, and they'll attack their foes with them. I think the counter drone activity that Kash Patel is asking for funding and support for is going to be more like a detection, a disabling sort of airborne tech wars.” Hageman pointed to the recent marshaling of around 100 agents to the Wind River Indian Reservation under interim U.S. Attorney for Wyoming Darin Smith, President Donald Trump’s nominee for the seat. Read the full story HERE. – Two and a half weeks after the University of Wyoming’s marching band had its big moment at Empower Field at Mile High canceled by lightning, the Denver Broncos are extending a new invitation to the band’s seniors.  It won’t, however, involve performing. Cowboy State Daily’s Justin George reports that on Tuesday, the Broncos invited the seniors from the UW Western Thunder Marching Band to attend the Oct. 19 game against the New York Giants as their special guests. “It turned out the Broncos have all their half times booked already, as you would expect, many NFL teams too. So that was not a possibility… the Broncos sent the band director an email that said, you know, one, we are going to invite you back to perform next season. We just do

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