It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming, for Monday, August 26th. I’m Wendy Corr, bringing you headlines from the Cowboy State Daily newsroom - brought to you by ServeWyoming - Wyoming's center for volunteerism and AmeriCorps service for the last 30 years! For volunteer opportunities, visit ServeWyoming dot org"
While progress is being reported on efforts to fight the 175,000-acre House Draw Fire burning in Johnson County, Wyoming, another huge wildfire nearby continues to grow at a frightening rate.
The Remington Fire that started in northern Wyoming then ran north into Montana exploded Friday from about 18,000 acres to nearly 130,000. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that the fire’s explosive growth caught firefighters off guard.
“It went from being kind of the the ugly stepchild where, you know, wasn't getting aerial resources on Thursday, Sheridan firefighters were Sheridan county firefighters were just doing the best they could and making burn lines. And then now we're seeing that it just plumed into southern Montana.”
McFarland spoke to a number of ranchers and other landowners who are doing everything they can to halt the spread of the fire.
“Construction crews are bringing their dozers out and gouging out those lines. And we're seeing any one that has a weed sprayer on his truck is loading it up with water and going out to help… So you see this Wyoming culture of just being mechanical, of knowing how to drive big rigs, of happening to have a sprayer on your truck is is really coming to bear here, and in the best sort of way.”
Read the full story HERE.
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The devastating effects of the House Draw Fire near Buffalo has caused losses of not only livestock, but also the land that sheep and cattle graze on. Cowboy State Daily’s Pat Maio went to Johnson County to talk to ranchers and Basque sheepherders whose livelihoods have been impacted by the blaze.
“It's going to be a real, real issue for some of the sheep people here... They had to cut fencing, which means you have to destroy it… to let the sheep escape the fire down in that area, it just blew my mind when I saw the devastating impact of the fire down there… the big concern is that, you know, the prairie land has gotten burned up. There's nowhere for the sheep to go back to eat. And you know, where do you know there you have to have winter feed for these animals, and it's not, not going to be there.”
Federal Emergency Management Agency’s District 8 headquarters in Denver authorized the use of federal money last week to help with firefighting costs for the House Draw Fire.
Read the full story HERE.
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Another fire miles away from the House Draw and Remington fires is threatening one of Wyoming’s most iconic properties. Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports that there’s an all-out effort on to protect the Brooks Lake Lodge on the western edge of the Shoshone National Forest from the Fish Creek Fire.
“They put a sprinkler system, actually, around all of the historic buildings there that's going to be turned on if the fire comes that way, to keep the humidity high in the area and try to wet the area down and keep fire from ever even taking foot in that area. I'm told that the firefighters will stay on the scene as long as possible to fight the fire. They've also set things up, though, so that hopefully the buildings can stand on their own. If you know, the fire becomes too intense and they can't stay there.”
Hot shot crews are on the scene, clearing trees from the sides of the roadway the entire 5 miles to Brooks Lake Lodge. That will ensure access to the lodge, either in or out.
Read the full story HERE.
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Renee Yeargain was 24 when she disappeared from her Torrington home in August 2004.
At the time, she was living with her four children and fiancé, Josh Minter, with whom she shared her youngest child. The couple planned to marry, but Yeargain vanished 12 days before the wedding day.
Cowboy State Daily’s Jen Kocher revisited the two-decade-old case. She spoke with Jess Oaks, the journalist who knew Renee - and who has never stopped looking for her.
“They worked together and they bonded as young mothers working at a supper club… when she saw her face in the newspaper that she had gone missing. It just tore her apart. And she has literally dedicated her 20 years, and I mean, she's done a lot of work, she's done her own research, her own investigation, she shares everything with police, and she's really pushed for answers for Renee and her family.”
Yeargain is one of 96 missing people listed on DCI’s missing persons database, which has cases dating back to 1974.
Read the full story HERE.
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Wyoming’s archery hunting season is off to a blazing start, literally, with temperatures across the Cowboy State soaring, along with the spread of huge wildfires in some areas of northeast Wyoming.
Even so, “the days are numbered” for sweltering weather, and some of the high country could see snow soon, reports Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz.
“I talked to Don Day, who's our meteorologist of Cowboy State daily, and also a very avid archery elk Hunter. And he said that, you know, sometimes as soon as perhaps as soon as this comingweek, in places like the bighorns and the higher parts of the Yellowstone Plateau, they can start seeing some snow in the high country. So as the elk archery season starts to kick off towards September, things should be, things should be going pretty well, going the right direction in terms of the temperature, cooling off a little bit.”
Archery season for antelope opened Aug. 15 in most hunt areas, while many archery elk and deer seasons are set open on Sept. 1.
Read the full story HERE.
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State Game and Fish agents are preparing for the grim task of counting wildlife carcasses killed by raging wildfires in northern Wyoming that have burned more than 350,000 acres so far.
Game and Fish personnel were going into burned areas “where safe to do so” to search for carcasses and to kill any suffering deer, elk or antelope they might encounter, reports Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz.
“We got an anecdotal report from a rancher… who said he did see some antelope, including some adults that were actually on fire, as well as some antelope that had already died from the fire…Folks that I've talked to are saying, don't expect mass death out of it in the hunting areas that are that are going to be affected.”
With much of the worst fire areas still inaccessible, wildlife officials said it might take a while before they could tally up the dead and get a good picture of the fires’ effects on wild animal populations.
Read the full story HERE.
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Sometimes the best defense is a strong offense.
That’s the tact Kroger is taking with a lawsuit it’s filed against the Federal Trade Commission, to block the federal antitrust regulator’s in-house proceedings against Kroger’s planned $25 billion merger with Albertsons.
Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports that Kroger’s suit against the FTC rests on a Supreme Court decision in June that says the Securities and Exchange Commission can't rely on in-house courts to resolve enforcement disputes - like fraud.
“Defendants are entitled to trial by jury of their peers. That's what this decision lays out. What Kroger is saying here is that the same principle should apply to their merger. They shouldn't have to go through an in house FTC tribunal and face a court battle that's just giving it the FTC two bites up the apple instead of one, and should be seen as unconstitutional.”
The lawsuit comes days ahead of a hearing of the FTC’s own lawsuit, that seeks to block the merger on the grounds that it will inhibit competition and raise prices on consumers already weary of high grocery prices and thin pocketbooks.
Read the full story HERE.
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The Riverton Volunteer Fire Department has disavowed a retired member accused of sexually attacking women who were either stranded or walking after offering them rides in his truck.
53-year-old Charlie Lawrence faces one count of second-degree sexual assault and another of third-degree sexual assault. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland points out that in reports in the local newspaper about the incident, Lawrence was described as a Riverton firefighter. She’s been told that is not the case.
“They noted that they called him a firefighter, a Riverton firefighter. Now the Riverton volunteer fire department’s clapped back, saying, hey, now he retired in 2020 so that was three years before the earliest of these allegations that are now charged, you know, and just this statement like we background check people, we will fire anyone that's found to be involved in any sort of criminal conduct.”
Lawrence’s case is ongoing in the Fremont County District Court. If convicted on both charges, he could face up to 35 years in prison.
Read the full story HERE.
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It's been a perilous year for growing humongous pumpkins in Wyoming.
The Cowboy State's small but passionate giant pumpkin-growing community is still carefully cultivating their ginormous gourds, but there've been some unexpected challenges in 2024.
Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi spoke to Wyoming’s “Pumpkin King,” Worland’s Jay Richard, about the difficulties he faced this season.
“Apparently, everything's a little bit delayed in terms of growth in Wyoming this year, just according to records everyone's keeping. So pumpkins are a consequence of that. But of course, when you say it's a bad year for pumpkins, that means that they're just getting over 1000 pounds now, as opposed to being close to 2000 pounds in a couple of months. So the growers don't think that that's likely hasn't been the best year for them, but they're still growing pumpkins.”
Richard keeps working on his pumpkin crop, despite the difficulties. But he knows other Wyoming pumpkin growers are also struggling this year.
Read the full story HERE.
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And Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean has been on the trail of notorious outlaw Butch Cassidy.
In a series of articles, Jean has been exploring Cassidy’s connections to Wyoming - from the Hole in the Wall to Brown’s Hole, Cassidy’s trail has led from one end of the state to another.
“Butch Cassidy only passed through the hole in the wall every now and then - the place that he would go back to again and again and again was Brown's Hole. And Brown's hole is very interesting because it sits at the junction of three states, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming. That was a fact that was not lost on these outlaws. They knew that if they were in Brown's hole, they were just a quick ride over the border away from whatever law enforcement was after them.”
Read the full stories HERE and HERE.
You can follow the trail of Butch Cassidy by going to our website, Cowboy State Daily dot com, and finding both of Renee’s stories - and more! And while you’re there, you can get your own free digital subscription to Wyoming’s only statewide newspaper by hitting the “Daily Newsletter button.
I’m Wendy Corr, for Cowboy State Daily.
