It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming! I’m Wendy Corr, bringing you headlines from the Cowboy State Daily newsroom, for Tuesday, May 7th.
Sometime this summer, there will be a silver anniversary celebration of sorts for Wyoming’s coal-rich Powder River Basin.
Despite all the gloom and doom of coal industry projections that call for falling production from the Cowboy State, America’s coal heartland is expected to hit an astonishing 9 billion tons of coal produced in the last 25 years since 1998.
It’s a silver lining for a region that has been bleeding red ink of late, according to energy reporter Pat Maio.
“That's done a lot for the state of Wyoming. It's built our communities, it's built our schools, it's built a lot. And but it's kind of a milestone mark, a fun little factoid, as opposed to all this negative stuff that's been happening.”
There is pressure to produce less coal coming from the federal government, which last month announced rules that could force coal-fired power plants to close over the next 10 years.
Florida passing a first-of-its-kind law banning the sale of lab-grown meat last week is a great template for Wyoming to do the same.
That’s what Senate President and multi-generational cattle rancher Ogden Driskill told Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi, saying that while Wyoming has not taken any legislative action on lab-grown meat, now that Florida has taken the lead with an all-encompassing bill, there’s a path for other states to follow.
“Florida Governor Ron DeSantis passed a bill that bans the manufacture and distribution of lab grown meat products in the state of Florida. So I talked to Ogden Driskill about it. And he said he'd be enormously supportive of a similar bill in Wyoming. It's not that there's a market for lab grown meat in Wyoming. And it's unlikely that there will ever be one because Wyoming beef is such high quality. It's more about the fact that it's better to proactively react to it now than reactively later.”
Billionaires like Bill Gates and Richard Branson, along with giant food conglomerates Tyson Foods and Cargill Inc., are investing in the development of lab-grown meat products. But even ardent proponents admit that these meatier futures are still a long way off.
Wyoming’s largest school district is considering a library book procurement policy for controversial sexually themed materials that, if passed, would likely be the strictest in the state.
Laramie County School District No. 1 in Cheyenne is discussing a policy that would prevent new books containing “sexually explicit content” of any kind from entering elementary schools and discourage them from being included in junior and high school libraries. That’s according to Cowboy State Daily’s Leo Wolfson.
“What this policy would do is make it so that district librarians would be prohibited from buying any book for the school district that has any sexually explicit content in it for the elementary school level, and then they'd be highly discouraged from purchasing any books like this that has any sexually explicit content for the middle and high school levels. Sexually explicit is given a very wide definition in the school district policy. So basically, any book that has a sex scene, this would apply to.”
One of the lead organizers of Wyoming Family Alliance for Freedom is opposed to the proposed policy, which she said amounts to a book ban.
I’ll be back with more news, right after this.
A Montana man who shot and killed a 300-pound female grizzly in central Montana while he was shed hunting last week can be a cautionary tale for Wyomingites who are out in force now gathering shed antlers.
Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that experienced shed hunters see it as another sign of the growing threat to people in grizzly country.
“A retired wildlife biologist that I spoke to said that female grizzlies are certainly more protective during this time of year, but a lot of times, they're not charging to attack. They're charging in kind of what he didn't like to call, but most people call, bluff charges. They're doing that defensively, just to try to turn people away. So the thing is, it really depends on the response of the person in that moment. If they have a gun, they're going to shoot it, if bear spray, they're going to spray it, but a sense of awareness. When you're out in those regions, you are in grizzly territory … as my contact said, we're not living in New Jersey, this is grizzly country, and you have to assume those risks when you head out there.”
The man was not hurt in the encounter, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is investigating the incident.
In the small town of Torrington, about 80 miles northeast of Cheyenne, there’s a little slice of Paris. It’s a bakery called The Bread Doctor, which draws regular customers from as far away as Billings, Montana, and beyond.
But it’s the story behind the delicious bread that is the most unique feature of this small town pastry shop owned and operated by a local doctor, according to business reporter Renee Jean.
“I have been to Paris. I've had the pastries in Paris, the bread in Paris. And it's amazing. And this bakery is like that. Not all of us can ever get a chance to go to a country, different country like that just for bread. And you don't have to because here is Edzan Fluckiger’s wonderful bakery in the small town of Torrington. But I think this is a story that's about so much more than just a bakery. This is kind of his retirement gig. It's a second career for him. But the reason he wanted to make this bakery was for his daughter, his daughter was born with Down syndrome. And as she was growing up, he was thinking, you know, there just aren't a lot of opportunities for children who've been born with Down syndrome. And as he was thinking about what is her future going to look like? And then he started to think about his retirement and what is that going to look like? And he realized that if he started a bakery, he could, you know, do a cool thing for both of them.”
The Bread Doctor’s delectable pastries, baked goods and lunch specials are available three days a week, Thursday through Saturday - when Dr. Flukinger isn’t busy with his primary career, delivering babies.
And that’s today’s news. Get your free digital subscription to Wyoming’s only statewide newspaper by hitting the subscribe button on cowboystatedaily.com. And don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel! I’m Wendy Corr, for Cowboy State Daily.
Radio Stations
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.
