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 14th.
Laramie County Sheriff Brian Kozak told Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland that the billboard touts the whole state of Wyoming as a law-and-order state, and that people in the Cowboy State value law enforcement.
“The sign the Laramie County Sheriff's Department put up in downtown Denver says ‘Work in Wyoming, where breaking the law is still illegal, and cops are still funded.’ And so that's a little bit of a barb to the city of Denver last month, slashing its law enforcement budget by $8.4 million to contend with what they're calling the migrant crisis and influx of migrants due to a combination of factors among them.”
Kozak said the goal isn’t just to get warm bodies into uniforms - the hope is to get a high enough number of applications from which to choose exceptional candidates.
“So they're down 8 patrol positions and they have 17 detention positions yet to fill. And so that's after the hiring spree of last year, 72 people. I also talked to Sheridan police chief Travis Koltiska, who said they're down like eight positions. It's a recurring theme across the state. But Kozak is the one that decided to go ahead and advertise in downtown Denver.”
Kozak said that his overtime costs from last year were over a million dollars, so the way he sees it, if he can get those positions filled, he can actually save money in the long run.
A 16-year-old boy led Campbell County Sheriff’s deputies on a high-speed chase for more than 13 minutes Friday evening, rocketing up to 142 mph in a newly acquired black Cadillac.
Cowboy State Daily’s Jimmy Orr explained that the story isn’t just in the high speed chase - the story is the fact that the teenager and his 15 year old passenger survived the joyride.
“We spoke to Vince Bodiford, who's a former professional racecar driver, runs a site called The Weekend Drive. And as he points out, you know, the tires of a vehicle have to be rated to be able to go that fast. And if not, you can only go that fast for so long until something's gonna blow. And so had there been a problem with the tires at 142 miles an hour, it would have absolutely, as he said, destroyed the car. And so what he did was, as Vince said, was incredibly stupid. And he's really quite lucky to have been able to not have an accident going at that speed.”
The teenage driver was still in jail as of press time Monday.
Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean was in Thermopolis for a public meeting about the new concessionaire who will be taking over the attractions at Hot Springs State Park.
“The top concern I heard today was people are worried that the Park’s not going to remain affordable. They've gone and they've looked at what Wyoming LLC is doing in other states. It's very expensive. It's like $120 a pop. That's not something anyone here wants to spend to go to the State Park in their backyard. I think currently, the fees, maybe 15 bucks a day or something like that… Big Horn district manager Jordan Brooks told Cowboy State daily that affordability is his is a top if not the very top concern as they're working out the details of their contract with Wyoming LLC.”
Hot Springs State Park has long laid claim to being the world’s largest mineral hot springs, and it is Wyoming’s most popular state park.
Torrington resident Jackie Van Mark spent most of her life growing up around politics. Her father worked in the administrations of four former Presidents, in addition to serving in the Wyoming House of Representatives.
Van Mark is taking on state Rep. Scott Smith in his bid for reelection to a second term for House District 5 in the Wyoming Legislature, representing southern and western Goshen County. Politics reporter Leo Wolfson says this is the same seat her father Jack represented from 1961-1965.
“He was also a Republican. And Van Mark is a Republican trying to take on Representative Scott Smith, from Lingle in the Republican primary. Van Mark said that … her biggest inspiration is that the legislature needs to become more civil. Some people will say that they don't care how the sausage is made. But she thinks it's very important how the sausage is made… Of course, she is a believer in compromise and striking middle ground on issues, but she still believes in Wyoming's traditional energy sectors and wants to continue to support those.”
Van Mark’s opponent, Representative Scott Smith of Lingle, is a member of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus. He pointed out that Van Mark was a vocal supporter of Liz Cheney in her 2022 re-election campaign, and questioned whether van Mark really represents the majority of Goshen County voters.
Judging by chatter and photos across social media, Wyoming’s grizzlies have been plenty active this spring.
And elk, deer, moose and other critters that died over the winter are at the top of the grizzly menu – and one photographer this weekend was surprised and pleased when she didn’t have to look too far to get some amazing pictures of a feasting grizzly, according to outdoors reporter Mark Heinz.
“She lives in Pinedale and she wanted to go to Yellowstone and photograph grizzlies. She didn't get hardly out of town and she spotted a grizzly right into the Hoback River, munching on a big game carcass, apparently a winter kill carcass, which, that in and of itself isn't unusual. That's what grizzlies are doing this time of year … they came out of hibernation and they're chowing down. And a big source of food for grizzlies this time of year is big game carcasses, just animals that have died over the winter that they've found.”
Grizzlies will sometimes tussle with each other, wolves or other predators and scavengers to see who gets the choicest parts of carcasses that are released as the snow and ice melts each spring.
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.
