Daily Smile

Smile 10 2 23

Cowboy State Daily is Wyoming’s largest newspaper with Wyoming’s most experienced journalists. 

<title>Daily Smile: Monday, October 2, 2023 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Now let's all watch a dog celebrating because he got a treat...

Daily Smile: Monday, October 2, 2023

 Now let's all watch a dog celebrating because he got a treat...

Pat maio 600 portrait edited

Pat Maio

Energy

Power lines and turbines 10 30 23

<title>Former Top Colorado Regulator Predicts A Shakeup… | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Raymond Gifford, a former chairman of the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, says a shakeup is coming for Wyoming’s power cooperatives. He's also the lawyer helping electricity co-ops leave Tri-State Generation.

Former Top Colorado Regulator Predicts A Shakeup For Wyoming Power Co-ops

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's general assignment reporter, Clair McFarland.

Clair McFarland

Crime & Courts

Courts

Brian Kozak submitted 9 6 24

<title>Suspected Venezuelan Gang Member In Cheyenne… | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Laramie County Sheriff Brian Kozak told Cowboy State Daily a suspected Venezuelan gang member is one of five undocumented aliens in the county jail. He said he is concerned about reported Colorado gang violence because what happens there winds up in Wyoming eventually.

Suspected Venezuelan Gang Member In Cheyenne Jail, Sheriff Concerned

Alisa Jean Gimlin Lincoln County Courthouse Kemmerer 9 6 24

<title>Afton Woman Accused Of Stealing Blowtorch,… | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A highly intoxicated Afton, Wyoming, woman faces multiple charges after allegedly tried to break into a house, stole a blowtorch and drugs, and bit someone. She’s also accused of trying to seduce a deputy during her arrest.

Afton Woman Accused Of Stealing Blowtorch, Biting People And Trying To Seduce Cop

Zackery Minard and TJ Ott 9 5 24

<title>Gillette Man Who Threw Molester In Car Trunk… | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A Gillette man who beat and threw a 14-year-old girl’s sexual abuser in a car trunk last year was given 9-10 years in prison last week. Meanwhile, the man he kidnapped got 10-14 years for molesting the girl.

Gillette Man Who Threw Molester In Car Trunk Gets 9-10 Years, Molester Gets 10-14

Heinz mark

Mark Heinz

Outdoors

Wildlife

Tank moose 9 3 24

<title>Absolute Tank Of A Moose Turning Heads In… | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Sheridan outdoorswoman Danielle Laumann’s photos of an absolute tank of a young bull moose is turning heads. She said the freakishly huge moose has been hanging out with a couple of other moose.

Absolute Tank Of A Moose Turning Heads In Wyoming’s Bighorn Mountains

Wendy

Wendy Corr

Around Wyoming

<p>A photo circulating on the internet shows a stretch of highway on Interstate 80 between Evanston and Lyman that looks like it stretches all the way up to the sky. </p>
<p>Some online have questioned the authenticity of the image, while those familiar with that stretch of highway say it&#x2019;s the real deal.</p><h2>Legitimate Photo</h2><p>&#x201C;On a clear day, it doesn&#x2019;t look like that,&#x201D; said Stephanie Harsha, public information officer for the Wyoming Department of Transportation. &#x201C;But on a specific day, if (there are) storm clouds, especially those darker clouds but the sun is still out, it can, on occasion, actually look like that.&#x201D;</p>
<p>Cowboy State Daily&#x2019;s Bill Sniffin, who has published a number of books about Wyoming, vouched for it as well.</p>
<p>&#x201C;This is an absolutely legitimate photo,&#x201D; he said, explaining that truckers call it &#x201C;The Sisters&#x201D; because of the twin hills.</p>
<p>&#x201C;This is the big &#x2018;Sister&#x2019; that we&#x2019;re looking at,&#x201D; he said. &#x201C;And it does look like that at the very end. It&#x2019;s almost like a little bit of sunshine cracks through and then it goes up into the fog again.&#x201D;</p>
<p>&#x201C;The truckers know they&#x2019;ve got this huge valley to go down into, and then climb way the hell out,&#x201D; he said. </p>
<p>Sniffin credited WYDOT for creating a third lane because of how steep it is. </p><h2>Dangerous Highway </h2><p>Harsha said the area known as &#x201C;The Sisters&#x201D; is a particularly dangerous stretch of I-80.</p>
<p>&#x201C;I find it funny that it gets out there as the &#x2018;Highway to Heaven&#x2019; when the locals in the wintertime just despise it,&#x201D; said Harsha, who grew up in the area near Green River.</p>
<p>&#x201C;&#x2018;The Sisters&#x2019; are notoriously bad in the winter for snow and ice, and so they&#x2019;re somewhat treacherous in the winter if we get a bad storm,&#x201D; she said. &#x201C;So no one&#x2019;s ever really referred to that section of roadway affectionately anyway.&#x201D;</p>
<p>Sniffin pointed out that the area has some of the largest wind turbines in Wyoming because of the strong, prevailing winds – which adds to the dangerous nature of the highway.</p>
<p>&#x201C;So that&#x2019;s another thing, you&#x2019;re down in the valley out of the wind, and then you&#x2019;re climbing up out of it into the wind,&#x201D; said Sniffin, who drives the route twice a year with his RV.</p>
<p>&#x201C;It&#x2019;s nerve-wracking to be dragging a 40-foot-long, 13-foot-high RV – even though it weighs 34,000 pounds,&#x201D; he said. &#x201C;One of the reasons it&#x2019;s scary is because of all the semis, there&#x2019;s just so many semis on that road.&#x201D;</p><h2>Doesn&#x2019;t Actually Lead to Heaven</h2><p>Neither Sniffin nor Harsha would agree with the nickname for the stretch of road, however.</p>
<p>&#x201C;To disappoint some folks, this section of I-80 does not lead to heaven, only the Bridger Valley,&#x201D; said Harsha. &#x201C;However, some people find the Bridger Valley heavenly, so maybe the title is accurate.&#x201D;</p>

Highway to heaven 10 6 22 scaled

<title>Wyoming’s ‘Highway To Heaven’ Not A Hoax | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Fact or Fiction? Is there a stretch of road on I-80 in Wyoming that looks like it leads to the great beyond? Yes, it's a fact  but only under the right conditions.

Wyoming’s ‘Highway To Heaven’ Not A Hoax

Daily Smile: Monday, October 2, 2023

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