It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming, for Tuesday, June 25th. I’m Wendy Corr, bringing you headlines from the Cowboy State Daily newsroom - Presented by Cheyenne Frontier Days - starting July 19th, from sun-up to sun-down - there’s something for everyone! Check it out at C-F-D RODEO DOT COM!
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An influential seven-member industrial siting group in Wyoming plans an early July meeting to sort out a legal mess that could determine the future of the $500 million Rail Tie wind farm development in Albany County.
The dust-up over the future of Rail Tie is the result of the Fish Creek Preserve Homeowners Association, which had filed a lawsuit to halt the development, according to energy reporter Pat Maio.
“This homeowners group in southeastern … Albany County is fighting tooth and nail to stop this wind farm development from happening. Because they say it's gonna … devalue their homes, the pricing of their homes, and then secondly, it'll ruin the view scape of what they see now.”
The 504-megawatt Rail Tie project, which is located to the southeast of Laramie, is expected to benefit Albany County by generating $130 million in new tax revenues.
Read the full story HERE.
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As quite possibly the last offspring of the world’s most famous bear, Wyoming’s Grizzly 399, her huge cub named Spirit faces an uncertain future when he takes off on his own, probably next May.
Of Grizzly 399’s 18 known cubs, 10 have died. But wildlife photographers told outdoors reporter Mark Heinz that Spirit has a better chance to survive, because 399 isn't taking him around settled areas.
“One of 399, one of her litter of quads that she had in 2020, ended up getting killed by wildlife agents in 2022 right after separating for mom, because he was getting into some populated areas and getting into stuff and displaying aggressive behavior toward humans. Probably won't be the case with this cub, because he's been raised mostly in the wild.”
Despite her advanced age - she’s 28, which is pretty old for a grizzly - bear experts say that 399 will likely live long enough to finish raising Spirit.
Read the full story HERE.
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A 53-year-old northeast Wyoming man told police he stole dozens of packages from a Gillette United Parcel Service facility just for “the rush” he gets by taking things - and thought nobody would notice because so many packages go through the warehouse.
Rozet resident Larry Munday began his string of thefts right around Christmas, according to Cowboy State Daily’s Greg Johnson.
“Apparently he is one of two people on the night cleaning crew. And so he had access to the area with nobody else around… He was caught because people were reporting that they weren't getting their packages. And then investigation went from there and they put up some surveillance cameras and caught him on the camera.”
Munday will face felony theft charges for allegedly stealing 168 packages from UPS worth more than $3,800 in a span of about 10 days.
Read the full story HERE.
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On Monday morning, the U.S. Supreme Court announced it will hear a case determining the constitutionality of Tennessee's ban on transgender surgeries for kids.
Political reporter Leo Wolfson said the case is being closely watched here in the Cowboy State.
“The reason this will affect Wyoming is because Wyoming recently passed its own law that's extremely similar, banning transgender care for minors. They did that during the most recent legislative session, and that law goes into effect next Monday.”
If the high court upholds the Tennessee ban it would be difficult to overturn the Wyoming law, but if it rules it unconstitutional, Wyoming’s may be nullified.
Read the full story HERE.
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On-again, off-again efforts to rename Devils Tower to Bear Lodge are on again with a federal naming committee pushing for the change.
Renaming the nation's first national monument has been a divisive issue, according to Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi. He says Wyomingites who have spent decades living their lives within sight of the massive monolith of rock feel their concerns are being overlooked in the debate.
“I reached out to Senator Cynthia Lummis about it, and she stated her opposition, but she also noted that the only way the President could change the name is to invoke the Antiquities Act, and the Antiquities Act is null and void in Wyoming without an act of Congress. So nobody can unilaterally rename Devils Tower, which might take the teeth out of this threat or out of this recommendation.”
President Theodore Roosevelt designated Devils Tower as the first national monument in 1906. The name came from the diaries of geologist and mapmaker Henry Newton, who designated the massive pillar of rock while exploring the Black Hills with the U.S. Army in 1875.
Read the full story HERE.
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Guy Fieri dropped in on several spots in Cody and Buffalo as part of his "All-American Road Trip" last summer. From a chuckwagon and a Lebanese restaurant in Cody, to the TA Ranch and a pizza place in Buffalo, Fieri highlighted the freshly prepared local cuisine in northern Wyoming.
But according to Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean, Fieri stepped outside his usual routine when it came to a unique food preservation business at the base of the Bighorn Mountains.
“He went to EternaFresh which is in the basement of Bomber Mountain Civic Center in Buffalo, and EternaFresh is all about freeze dried foods. These are things that will last until 2047. Okay, I have a bag of their green beans. And this says that these freeze dried goodies will last until 11/20/47. So probably after I'm dead, you could still eat these, you know, and they would still be just as fresh as they are in the package. But what Guy Fieri wanted to know was can you prepare a meal with these things?”
It turns out you can, and viewers can see the entire episode when it airs on the Food Network later this summer. The first episode featuring Wyoming food joints aired this past Friday, June 21, but if you missed that, not to worry. It’s airing again at 11 a.m. Friday on the Food Network.
Read the full story HERE.
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A black bear followed a man up a tree and attacked him Saturday afternoon in northern Sheridan County in what the Wyoming Game and Fish Department describes as a rare scenario.
The bear had two young cubs-of-the-year with her and attacked the man after a surprise close encounter in the North Fork of West Pass Creek, according to outdoors reporter Mark Heinz.
“Game and Fish, they looked at the case and they investigated it and they said, well, it was a surprise encounter at close range, Mama was just trying to defend her cubs. She's not a threat to the public so they're just going to leave those bears alone.”
Most of Sheridan County is prime black bear habitat, according to the agency. There were numerous conflicts with black bears in the area last summer, and while in most of those incidents, Game and Fish wardens hazed the bears away or trapped and relocated them, in two instances the bears had to be killed.
Read the full story HERE.
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A Torrington woman is being sought by authorities in connection to a statewide fentanyl and meth trafficking ring that was busted in March.
The Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation alleges that 25-year-old Charvel Martinez conspired to traffic fentanyl and meth to Casper. That’s according to Cowboy State Daily’s Dale Killingbeck.
“There was a warrant issued out of Casper Circuit Court on Friday for a woman that allegedly was involved in kind of a major drug trafficking operation that was busted by Wyoming DCI Casper police and Evansville police in March… DCI continues to investigate, there was thousands of fentanyl pills, pounds of meth, those kinds of things involved in this.”
Martinez faces two counts of conspiracy to deliver a controlled substance, one for methamphetamine and another for fentanyl.
Read the full story HERE.
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A Cheyenne 18-year-old will avoid going to trial on an attempted first-degree murder charge after a local judge accepted a plea deal with prosecutors.
Leandro Dominguez was originally charged with attempted first-degree murder in the shooting of 32-year-old James Gulley in February, which according to Cowboy State Daily’s Leo Wolfson, was set off by Gulley’s killing of Dominguez’s brother.
“As a result of Dominguez’s brother approaching the car with a lead pipe that resulted in the man in the car, Mr. Gulley, basically shooting and killing Dominguez’s brother. Dominguez came back to the scene and that's when he shot Mr. Gulley in the foot. It was charged as a attempted first degree murder. That was the charge that was basically wiped away in court on Monday.”
The two remaining charges against Dominguez carry up to 10 years in prison and $10,000 in fines each.
Read the full story HERE.
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Summer is the season in Wyoming where you see all types of people in the great outdoors. Including people who have no idea what they’re doing - like a person who would transport their canoe by strapping to the roof of their Subaru crossways. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi showed the photo to several outdoors experts, who couldn’t keep from laughing.
“I spoke to a lot of people who work with canoes who sell canoes and do outdoor stuff. They've never seen that before. And they weren't particularly surprised because anything is possible when it comes to tourist season. But it's a talk about the gas mileage, the risk of safety, the fact that it whitens the vehicle by several fee, but just across the top, it's like a less whimsical rip off of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.”
Read the full story HERE.
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And that’s today’s news. Get your free digital subscription to Wyoming's only statewide newspaper by hitting the Daily Newsletter button on Cowboy State Daily Dot Com - and you can watch this newscast every day by clicking Subscribe on our YouTube channel.
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.
