It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming, for Wednesday July 3rd. I’m Wendy Corr, bringing you headlines from the Cowboy State Daily newsroom - presented by Cheyenne Frontier Days, which kicks off July 19th. From sun-up to sun-down, there will be something for everyone! Check it out at C-F-D RODEO DOT COM!
While Wyoming residents were going about their day-to-day lives in 2019, public officials and economic developers began working behind the scenes to bring a large Facebook data center to the Cowboy State.
Fast-forward five years to Tuesday morning, when Project Cosmo - $800 million, 715,000-square-foot Meta data center in south Cheyenne - was officially announced. Cowboy State Daily’s Leo Wolfson attended the press conference.
“The mood was pretty jovial. I think this is universally a pretty good thing for Cheyenne… it would be hard to argue for most people to say otherwise… You know, it's going to provide 100 jobs in Cheyenne, up to 1000 construction jobs at peak production… And it symbolizes how the town of Cheyenne is really developing into a hub for data centers in the country.”
Not everyone’s a fan, however. A number of neighbors to the future data center expressed concerns about the noise and traffic the facility will cause in their neighborhood - and construction isn’t expected to be complete until 2027.
Read the full story HERE.
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An area in northern Yellowstone National Park appears to be having a grizzly bear baby boom.
Outdoors reporter Mark Heinz spoke to several experienced wildlife photographers, who have counted an unprecedented number of new cubs this year.
“I had talked to a gentleman who had gotten some really good good crisp video of that White Bison calf that was born in Yellowstone a while back. We got to talking and found out that he's part of this group that's been going to watch the grizzly bears in Yellowstone now since the 80s… He said generally, four or five, maybe six is what they usually see - they saw 18 this year.”
Experts say a relatively mild winter might have had something to do with the bumper crop of cubs.
Read the full story HERE.
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Virginia-based energy giant AES Corp. says its $233.4 million Settler wind farm near Glenrock could bring 200 jobs at the peak of construction and produce enough electricity to power 44,000 homes.
Cowboy State Daily’s Pat Maio reports that AES intends to exit its coal generation businesses by the end of next year and instead refocus on alternative forms of energy.
“AES, which is a really big energy company on the East Coast, which is going through some chain transformational changes with the company… it's literally going to remake the entire company into an alternative energy company, dumping all the coal assets.”
The project will be constructed entirely on private land leases within the southwestern part of Converse County, about 13 miles south of I-25 near Glenrock.
Read the full story HERE.
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A federal jury ruled Tuesday that Wyoming’s prison system did not create an unlawfully hostile work environment for the state’s first Black female warden, who claimed corruption within her ranks.
According to crime and courts reporter Clair McFarland, the jury ruled in favor of the Wyoming Department of Corrections, and against Ruby Ziegler’s claims of discrimination and retaliation - claims that a district court judge had decided earlier this year were worth a jury trial.
“It's not the judge saying, ‘oh, you know, none of this is true.’ It's the judge saying, 'what you have pled here doesn't line up in these areas with the federal law you're trying to invoke.’ So he threw out two thirds of the suit before the trial, the only account that remained was the hostile workplace claim. And the jury sided with DOC on that one.”
Ziegler started working for the department of corrections in 2006 and rose to the rank of Wyoming Honor Farm Warden in 2016. She became the agency’s first African American female warden, but was fired in 2019.
Read the full story HERE.
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In the spirit of America’s 248th birthday, fireworks will fill the skies in all corners of Wyoming, and elsewhere between, after dusk on Thursday, the Fourth of July.
Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi has compiled an extensive list of where and when to catch the shows in your part of Wyoming.
“There are fireworks shows all over the state of Wyoming. And even if that particular community doesn't have one, there's probably one right down the street. Now that might be an hour or two down the street, but they're sure to be spectacular fireworks displays there on July 3, July 4, July 5, and July 6. So if you really want to get your fix, there's somewhere this week where you can see firework shows every day of the week, pretty much.”
If we missed a show, please let us know! You can email us at News@CowboyStateDaily.com.
Read the full story HERE.
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Representatives for the mining company Rare Element Resources say they have postponed the July opening of their novel rare earth minerals demonstration plant being built in Upton by at least two months.
Energy reporter Pat Maio says there are a number of factors at play, but rising costs are the major culprit.
“The cost has gone up 21% because of inflation, construction delays. I mean, the delays don't concern me as much as the cost, you know, the delays seem like they're more engineering and design, fine tuning things, you know, to make a better project… So you know, they're asking for approval from the Department of Energy for a total project cost now around, I think it's $53.6 million, up from $44 million. So it's a good chunk of change.”
The original startup date for the demonstration plant, which is designed to counter China’s dominance in the sector, had been set for later this month.
Read the full story HERE.
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A push to eliminate electronic ballot counting machines in favor of hand counts in Wyoming’s elections is spreading across the state, and it has the full support of Secretary of State Chuck Gray.
Cowboy State Daily’s Leo Wolfson reports that Wyoming Voter Initiatives, the same group that recently turned in 44,000 signatures to get a property tax initiative on the 2026 ballot, is now working on a new effort to have all ballots hand counted.
“the push behind the supporters of the hand counting of ballots is primarily people who don't trust electronic voting machines. And they believe this is a more trustable form of counting votes in Wyoming. They believe there's no questions, no doubts about whether the machines are skewing votes, or they're being influenced by outside actors. So this will basically, in their mind, create a very predictable and trustable system that's based off of members of their own community.”
The goal is to get the initiative on the 2026 ballots and implemented for the 2028 elections.
Read the full story HERE.
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A Gillette woman told her friends that her ex-boyfriend kidnapped her, so they retaliated by holding the ex-boyfriend and another man at gunpoint, pistol-whipped them and stole money.
Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that the four alleged attackers are now themselves facing felony kidnapping and burglary charges.
“So in Wyoming, if you confine someone against their will, the charge is kidnapping. So it's interesting that while they were told that this woman was kidnapped - and they were going to avenge that and teach the guy a lesson, allegedly - because they reportedly told these people to lie on the floor and held them at gunpoint, they themselves were charged with kidnapping in the end.”
Three of the accused face a potential maximum of 95 years in prison and thousands of dollars in fines. The other is charged with conspiracy.
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.
