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 Thursday, June 6th.
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The town of Thermopolis on Tuesday cleared a police sergeant of wrongdoing and returned him from administrative duty to full duty, more than a year after the sergeant broke into a suspect’s home and triggered a fatal shootout.
Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that although Sgt. Mike Mascorro broke into the Thermopolis home of Buck Laramore without a warrant April 28, 2023, the town of Thermopolis elevated Mascorro back to full duty Wednesday.
“The illegal entry opinion from the special prosecutor that oversaw this case sparked quite a bit of public debate and protests in the town of Thermopolis. Essentially, its mayor and attorney said, we disagree with the special prosecutor's opinion on this case, and we disagree that he entered illegally. We think he had exigent circumstances that justified him breaking into that home.”
Wyoming’s Peace Officers and Standards Training, or POST, had investigated Mascorro before the shooting and cleared him of wrongdoing in other controversial incidents. After investigating again following last April’s shooting, POST did not revoke Sgt. Mascorro’s certification.
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A rare white bison calf was born late Tuesday in Yellowstone National Park. Wildlife photographer Erin Braaten told outdoors reporter Mark Heinz that she was there at just the right time to practically witness the calf’s birth in Yellowstone’s famed and wildlife-rich Lamar Valley.
“I talked to the lady. She and her family, they come from Kalispell, Montana, they're one of those Yellowstone regulars, they come two or three times a year. On the road, she saw something that was off color, and lo and behold, it was a White Bison calf that had just been born. So she got some good photos that she sent to us.”
Braaten said she has Native American heritage, and the birth of a white Bison calf has profound meaning - it’s a symbol of hope.
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The High Country Suites in Pinedale — known to locals as the Haliburton Hotel — was sold to billionaire Joe Ricketts last month, just after his purchase of White Pines Ski Resort.
Ricketts, who founded the stock trading firm Ameritrade and owns the Chicago Cubs, has drawn criticism from locals, according to Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean.
“He's pushing a controversial 230,000 square foot resort in the Hoback valley near Bondurant. The resort has drawn criticism from residents of the valley, he's been buying up property in the valley - every time someone sells he buys it up, kind of buying out his neighbors. Many of his neighbors still recall his proposal to rename Bondurant to Little Jackson Hole some years back, so he didn't make any friends with that particular proposal.”
Plans for the hotel are unclear at this point. Timing of the sale suggests the hotel purchase could eventually be linked with Ricketts’ plans for the 363-acre White Pine Ski & Summer Resort.
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The Campbell County School District is considering a new rule that targets students who switch schools for athletic participation with potentially the toughest policy in Wyoming. The proposal would require any student who switches schools to sit out a year of varsity sports competition before playing for their new school.
As Cowboy State Daily’s Leo Wolfson reports, in certain sports, a single player can make a monumental difference in determining a team’s success.
“It's important to note that even a single player can sometimes directly influence and have a significant effect on the success of their sports team… So this can be kind of a big deal for a single team season… even when a few of these people leave a school district, it can be a big effect on how the school does as a whole during the school year or even a school season.”
The transfer portal has been a huge game-changer for college sports as the NCAA has eased restrictions on student athletes transferring schools. Recruiting and transferring to stack sports teams has also been an emotional debate at the high school level.
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The world’s largest animal-rights organization is suing the public airport that serves Rock Springs, Wyoming, saying the airport discriminated against it by not allowing an advertisement equating leather carry-on bags with animal cruelty.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, sued the Southwest Wyoming Regional Airport and its director on Tuesday, according to Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland.
“PETA is saying a few things. It's saying that it tried to have this cow cruelty ad posted in the airport there in Rock Springs, and that the airport rejected that effort, that the airport did so on the basis of viewpoint discrimination - that it was because of PETA’s viewpoint that it was rejected, is the allegation. And then it's also alleging that the terminal at the public airport is some degree of public forum, which makes viewpoint discrimination unconstitutional.”
PETA is asking the federal court to make the airport run PETA’s ad on the same terms offered to other advertisers at the airport.
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Among grizzlies, twin cubs are somewhat common, triplets are rare and quadruplets rarer still. That’s why a Yellowstone tour guide on Wednesday was so surprised to see a grizzly with quintuplets — five cubs. The guide reached out to outdoors reporter Mark Heinz.
“We got a video this afternoon from a tour guide of a Mama Grizzly in the northern part of the park with five cubs… I don't know if there's been a documented instance of a grizzly with five cubs. But regardless, it's still pretty awesome to see a Mama Grizzly in Yellowstone with five healthy cubs running around - so it’s shaping up to be an interesting year.”
Wyoming’s beloved Grizzly 399 wowed the world in 2020 when she emerged from her den in Grand Teton National Park with a litter of four cubs. She raised all four to the age of independence, about 2 years old.
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. I’m Wendy Corr, for Cowboy State Daily.
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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.
