Good morning, and welcome to Cowboy State Daily Radio News for Friday, April 5, 2024!
Despite public outrage about an alleged killing and tormenting of a wolf in Sublette County, Wyoming animal cruelty laws don’t apply to predators; a $2.5 billion dollar coal-to-ammonia plant is planned for Kemmerer; and the Casper police officer who shot a suspected Sheridan cop-killer in February is back to work.
We’ll take a look at these stories and more today from Wyoming’s largest news organization. I’m Wendy Corr, for Cowboy State Daily.
A man who allegedly tormented a wolf in Sublette County has sparked widespread outrage and calls for stiff charges in the case, but Wyoming’s animal cruelty laws don’t extend to wolves.
Those statutes apply only to domestic animals such as livestock and pets - and a “predatory animal,” such as a wolf in Sublette County, is explicitly excluded, according to outdoors reporter Mark Heinz.
“animal cruelty laws really don't extend a wildlife and they especially don't extend to what would be considered a predatory animal, which, in that part of Wyoming and Sublette county there, that's wolves are classified as a predatory animal in that part of the state… you can get up to two years in jail and a $5,000 fine for a felony animal cruelty violation. But again, it does not apply to wildlife in general, and a predatory animal in particular”
Some have suggested that Game and Fish had treated the case too lightly, but the agency stated that it had applied the relevant charge and penalty.
A new project would make Kemmerer the home to a $2.5 billion coal-to-ammonia plant.
Energy Reporter Pat Maio says the joint venture backers — which includes Glenrock Energy of Casper and a Cheyenne-based unit of a Canadian energy company — have proposed building the factory in Kemmerer to turn coal into ammonia, which is a key ingredient in fertilizer, and has other industrial uses.
“This particular partnership is looking at export markets to like Japan and South Korea, because you can also use it to mix in with your coal fired plant, for instance, to burn a cleaner fuel, you know, thus, less pollutants and things of that sort.”
The Kemmerer Decarbonization Works project would be built adjacent to the Kemmerer Coal Mine, which last year produced nearly 2.5 million tons of coal.
The Casper police officer who shot and killed a man suspected of gunning down Sheridan Police Sgt. Nevada Krinkee following a prolonged standoff in February is back at work in a modified capacity.
The department this week identified Officer Michael Chand as the officer who finally ended the standoff in Sheridan between law enforcement and 46 year old William Lowery, according to Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland.
“they chose to publicly identify Officer Michael Shaw and as the CASPER police officer who shot Lowry after the standoff and they all announced that while Shawn was on a period of administrative leave, he is now back at work in a modified capacity. And the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation is still investigating this shooting.”
Lowery had reportedly shot Sheridan Police Sgt. Nevada Krinkee on February 13th, then fled to the home of a woman whom he did not know, where he engaged in a roughly two-day armed standoff with police.
I’ll be back with more news, right after this.
A 560-acre tract of pristine state trust land in Sheridan County will remain open to the public after a 3-1 vote by the State Board of Land Commissioners to deny a proposed land swap.
The owner of a local ranch had wanted to trade about 628 acres of his ranch along with some cash to the state for the state trust land sitting at the base of the Bighorn Mountains about 10 miles away. But Cowboy State Daily’s Leo Wolfson reports that most of the general public opposed the transfer.
“the thing with this whole issue was that the state land was pretty much undeniably more valid and more desirable than Matthews ranch land is closer to the mountains it offered better hunting and fishing opportunities. And there was really a perception that for many in Sheridan, that this was a bad deal, and that some things in life just aren't for sale.”
The rejection will not block the private landowner from proposing a different land exchange, but they would have to completely restart the exchange process that has been underway since 2019.
And a scammer posing as a used car dealership in Gillette, Wyoming, has roped in at least three potential victims over the last few weeks.
The most recent scam happened Tuesday, according to Cowboy State Daily’s Ellen Fike, when a South Carolina woman reported to the Gillette Police Department that she was nearly taken for $56,700 while attempting to buy a vehicle online through a website that imitated Wild West Auto in Gillette.
“UnderSheriff Quinton Reynolds out of Campbell County did not know how she figured out it was a scam. She had initiated a wire transfer of about $56,000. To said scammer, but she figured it out in time and she called her bank and had them cancel the transfer before it went through.”
This is the third fraudulent sale from the scammer posing as Wild West Auto in less than a month, although the Gillette Police Department says the local business isn’t involved.
And that’s today’s news. Get your free digital subscription to Wyoming’s only statewide newspaper by hitting the subscribe button on CowboyStateDaily dot com
I’m Wendy Corr, for Cowboy State Daily.
The following radio stations are airing Cowboy State Daily Radio on weekday mornings, afternoons and evenings. More radio stations will be added soon.
KYDT 103.1 FM – Sundance
KBFS 1450 AM — Sundance
KYCN 1340 AM / 92.7 FM — Wheatland
KZEW 101.7 FM — Wheatland
KANT 104.1 FM — Guernsey
KZQL 105.5 FM — Casper
KMXW 92.5 FM — Casper
KBDY 102.1 FM — Saratoga
KTGA 99.3 FM — Saratoga
KJAX 93.5 FM — Jackson
KZWY 106.3 FM — Sheridan
KROE 930 AM / 103.9 FM — Sheridan
KWYO 1410 AM / 106.9 FM — Sheridan
KYOY 92.3 FM Hillsdale-Cheyenne / 106.9 FM Cheyenne
KRAE 1480 AM — Cheyenne
KDLY 97.5 FM — Lander
KOVE 1330 AM — Lander
KZMQ 100.3/102.3 FM — Cody, Powell, Medicine Wheel, Greybull, Basin, Meeteetse
KKLX 96.1 FM — Worland, Thermopolis, Ten Sleep, Greybull
KCGL 104.1 FM — Cody, Powell, Basin, Lovell, Clark, Red Lodge, MT
KTAG 97.9 FM — Cody, Powell, Basin
KCWB 92.1 FM — Cody, Powell, Basin
KVGL 105.7 FM — Worland, Thermopolis, Basin, Ten Sleep
KODI 1400 AM / 96.7 FM — Cody, Powell, Lovell, Basin, Clark, Red Lodge
KWOR 1340 AM / 104.7 FM — Worland, Thermopolis, Ten Sleep
KREO 93.5 FM — Sweetwater and Sublette Counties
KGOS 1490 AM — Goshen County
KERM 98.3 FM — Goshen County
Check with individual radio stations for airtime of the newscasts.
