It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming, for Friday, September 20th. 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"
Yellowstone National Park released body camera footage from three National Park Service law enforcement rangers Thursday, showing the July 4 shootout with a concessionaire worker that left one ranger wounded and the worker dead.
28 year old Xanterra concessionaire worker Samson Lucas Fussner was killed by rangers after holding another Xanterra worker against her will for several hours in Yellowstone’s Canyon Village tourist and lodging area. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that the Park Service released a 911 audio recording, along with its body camera footage, on Thursday.
“We don't actually see Lucas Fussner shooting at any officers. None of them had their body cameras on for that portion… a couple of them started after the initial shooting, but kind of during the officer response. So we actually see one of the officers firing his weapon just after. We see a figure that NPS says, or that Yellowstone says, is Fussner appear in an open garage door.”
The Park Service’s Office of Professional Responsibility is conducting an administrative investigation, while the FBI leads the incident investigation.
Read the full story HERE.
On Wednesday, a large crowd of people turned out to speak about the suspension of a Cheyenne pharmacy’s license, but weren’t allowed to comment.
Cowboy State Daily’s Leo Wolfson reports that the denial of any public input resulted in yelling and screaming and law enforcement physically removing one of the supporters of City Drug, Sally Whelan, when she got up to speak in support of the business.
“At a certain point, it appears, Whelan snapped and lost her temper and told the trooper multiple times, don't touch me. Get your hands off me. Some shouting and yelling and screeching ensued with Whelan requesting that she be allowed to go get her belongings in the room. She was not allowed to do so, and continued yelling at the troopers before she finally left the room. I spoke to one person who was there in the meeting, and she found that the whole thing was a little distasteful, as far as kind of the way everything went down.”
City Drug is one of only two independent pharmacies in Cheyenne and has contracts with four of the five hospices in the city. The City Drug suspension is not a final order, and the business will still have a right to a contested case hearing.
Read the full story HERE.
Whenever there’s reports of people shooting grizzlies with handguns in self-defense, a common question, is what guns did they use?
Outdoor reporter Mark Heinz has received numerous emails and messages asking that question, after recent stories about archery hunters in Montana and Idaho shooting grizzlies in self-defense.
“Some hunters that I have talked to that, you know, pack handguns for self defense in the backcountry… The 10 millimeter auto seems to be a very popular caliber that's even growing in popularity, that that's a very popular cartridge for people to have handguns in. Also, you know, the the old school, the old standby is the .44 Magnum, .357 Magnum… or a few years now, they've had the .500 Smith and Wesson, which I've never shot. I don't know if I'd even want to, the thing is a hand cannon, but there are guys, people in Wyoming out there who swear by it, say that's what I carry in bear country.”
Regardless of the choice of handgun, or even the option of bear spray, experts say practice is the key.
Read the full story HERE.
With firefighting crews expecting to achieve 100% containment of a stubborn 35,000-acre wildfire in northern Wyoming and southern Montana, just how devastating it’s been for people living in its path is coming into focus.
Cowboy State Daily’s Greg Johnson reports that fire managers have done an inventory of homes and property in the burn area, and confirmed Thursday evening that five homes and 31 outbuildings were burned by the Short Draw Fire, which started Sept. 11 in northern Campbell County.
“I did connect with someone earlier who… as soon as they lifted the evacuations, they went back and found that their home was totally burned down to the ground.
Described it as just a devastating feeling… they had three kids, one of them is in a wheelchair, and so that kid luckily had his wheelchair with him, but all of his other medical stuff was lost, and they had just put in a wheelchair ramp on their home like just a couple weeks before finished it. But they were also were very thankful to the whole community for turning out for them, and they've set up a GoFundMe, which is linked in our story.”
Along with burning through some rugged terrain with pine, juniper, grass and sagebrush, the Short Draw Fire also ignited a coal seam beneath the ground, which was discovered Monday.
Read the full story HERE.
Though the strange concurrence of a fluke fire alarm and nearby gunshots created a stressful situation for Torrington police and Torrington High School on Thursday afternoon, the local police chief said everyone was fine after the incident.
Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that the gunshots actually came from personnel at a nearby livestock sale barn euthanizing a cow.
“It was kind of a perfect storm, because you have just they're hearing shots, and so normally you just, Okay, well, Someone's shooting. Let's stay inside. But there was also a fire alarm that sounded around that same time, so the kids were wanting to go outside. And so, you know, everyone was concerned, like, where do we put these kids? You know, the shots are that way. Um, come to find out the the nearby sale barn had euthanized a cow and the fire alarm had malfunctioned.”
Lex Madden, co-owner of the Torrington Livestock Market, apologized heartily Thursday, saying no one at the business intended to cause any harm or panic.
Read the full story HERE.
The Beartooth Highway closed earlier this week in anticipation of a snowstorm at the summit, and it’s a good thing it did.
Between Tuesday afternoon and Thursday morning, about 5 inches of snow fell along the 68-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 212, blowing into snowdrifts as high as 4 feet in some places.
But meteorologists have told Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi that other parts of Wyoming could still see temperatures in the 80s through the beginning of October.
“Just because there's snow at the highest elevations of the Beartooth highway, that doesn't mean that Wyoming is destined for snow. The forecast for the next week, going into the first week of fall is pretty seasonal. It's going to be warmer and drier than average on the whole but certainly not any kind of snow in the low elevations.”
Based on current climate and historical analysis, southwest Wyoming could have another two to three weeks before the first snow. Cheyenne typically sees its first snow around Oct. 5th.
Read the full story HERE.
Allowing the Wyoming Capitol and adjacent buildings in Cheyenne to remain a gun-free zone violates people’s, quote, “God-given Second Amendment Rights.” That’s what Secretary of State Chuck Gray said at the Legislature’s joint judiciary committee hearing Thursday.
Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports that the repeal of Wyoming’s gun-free zones is set to again become a hot topic with the Wyoming Legislature when it convenes for its 2025 session.
“The joint judiciary committee heard some testimony today. One of the people to testify was Secretary of State Chuck Gray, who is all for eliminating the gun free zones. He doesn't like them. He doesn't like the fact that his office and the rest of the Capitol Complex is gun free zone. In his mind, that makes it a soft target.”
Gray testified that he’s for allowing law-abiding people carry guns in the Capitol, saying it’s a matter of safety for the public and elected officials.
Read the full story HERE.
Matt Walsh's new movie “Am I Racist?” claims to be a discussion of racism in the United States, but in reality it wages an even broader attack on American groupthink, mainstream media’s gullible streak, and Western culture’s newfound love of victim status.
Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland watched a media release copy of the film Thursday, after Daily Wire contributor Matt Walsh challenged mainstream outlets to review it.
"It asks, am I racist? And he spends a good portion of the movie interviewing anti racist thought experts. And so you know that's it's hard to touch that, because you want to respect racial traumas of the past. You want to respect racial differences. But Walsh, of course, is irreverent, and what he really kind of lampoons is just this more of the anti racist thought pattern of just wallowing in white guilt, being bitter, being miserable, seeing color distinctions all the time. And so that's what he was trying to attack, and I think he did so fairly well without, you know, conflating it with actual racial issues that you know, some of which are still prevalent today.”
McFarland says that as a comedic mockumentary, the movie has merit. It touts an engaging story arc, irreverent social commentary and the ironic improvisational acting that only Matt Walsh’s dry wit can propel.
Read the full story HERE.
Only a house cat from Salinas, California, knows how he survived 60 days on his own and traveled 800 miles from Yellowstone National Park to a shelter about 200 miles from home.
The cat, Rayne Beau, was camping in Yellowstone National Park in June with his owners. But for reasons known only to himself, he got spooked, ran off into the wilderness at their campsite and disappeared.
However, Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that it’s highly unlikely that this is the type of incredible journey that movies are made of.
“It would have to survive coyotes, Grizzlies, mountain lions and all sorts of predators in Yellowstone, and especially since the cat escaped while they were in a campground, and coyotes are known to congregate around campgrounds, it's just it's highly suspect that the cat survived Yellowstone and then made it this 800 Miles. It probably had some help along the way.”
The animal kingdom is full of incredible journeys of great distances, and the mechanisms that make them possible are well-understood. But experts say domestic cats aren’t known for their navigational skills.
Read the full story HERE.
And that’s today’s news! For a deeper dive into the people and issues that affect Wyoming, check out The Roundup, conversations with the most interesting people in the Cowboy State. A new episode drops tomorrow, when I have a conversation with Cowboy State Daily’s Jake Nichols. You can find the link on our website, on our YouTube channel, and wherever you get your podcasts. And of course, you'll find it in our FREE daily email newsletter!
Thanks for tuning in - I’m Wendy Corr, for Cowboy State Daily.
