It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming, for Thursday, September 26th. I’m Wendy Corr, bringing you headlines from the Cowboy State Daily newsroom - brought to you by the Cowboy State Daily Morning Show with Jake! Launching October 1st at 6 a.m., Cowboy State Daily’s Jake Nichols is making morning radio cool again. Tune in from wherever you are for the latest news, weather, sports and in-depth conversations that matter to you.
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A Cody man was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of killing someone with his car in a wild road rage incident between Cody and Belfry, Montana.
Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that although the statement doesn’t identify the suspect by name, 47-year-old Michael Gambale is the only booking file on the Park County Sheriff’s log that aligns with the time and location of the arrest of a man suspected of killing a motorcyclist on the highway north of Cody.
“One motorcyclist is dead and another one is in a in a state of in a severe state, in a hospital, was how the sheriff up in Montana put it to me. The charging documents actually say that he tried hitting other motorcyclists, struck one in the leg and drove one, not clear if it's the same runner or different off the road.”
At the time of the incident, Gambale was out of jail on bond for a probation violation, stemming from an incident in which he fired crossbow arrows onto the runway at Cody’s airport.
Read the full story HERE.
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A three-week-long paving project on a main town entrance is clogging the already-congested tourist town of Jackson.
Clair McFarland reports that more than just an inconvenience, the clogged traffic is turning some 5-minute journeys into hour-long jaunts, and impacting the economy of the busy town.
“I had the chance today to talk to Jackson and surrounding town residents about some of the other real world implications. So, I mean, some of them were worried about emergency services, since this is a main corridor into the town. One guy was talking about having to pay his hourly workers just to sit there. So I mean $80 one way for two workers, once you figure in the pay rate at the payroll tax and other extras, and then if they don't get the job done, within their work week, then he's facing overtime too.”
The Jackson Police Department is now helping WYDOT with its “variable message signs” and helping with additional signage, which has helped traffic flow more smoothly.
Read the full story HERE.
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Five members of a Casper family became the first Wyoming family to be featured on the popular game show “Family Feud” on Wednesday.
On the episode featuring Cameron McDaniel, his wife Claire, mother Sandy, and his sisters Brandy and Lauren, the McDaniels beat the opposing family - but Cowboy State Daily’s Dale Killingbeck said the McDaniels fell short in the final round.
“I was talking to Cameron McDaniel, who led the group down there. He said that they initially applied to be on the show a few years ago… they did a zoom interview during covid, and then in February, they went to Atlanta and taped the show… and now it's… broadcast on Wednesday.”
The McDaniels went on to claim the game on the final question with a Wyoming answer to the question, “Name something you see a lot of in beer commercials?”
With two strikes against them and only one answer left on the board, Sandy McDaniel replied, “Horses.”
Read the full story HERE.
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The American dream has reportedly become a nightmare for five hundred or more legal Haitian and Benin immigrants, who had work visas to enter the United States, and who took jobs at a large JBS meat processing plant not far from the Wyoming border in Greeley, Colorado.
Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports that the men and women were packed into squalid living conditions they describe as worse from where they came from, as well as charged extra fees they were forced to pay to a supervisor.
“These are pretty stunning allegations… they were packed into terrible living conditions charged extra fees by a supervisor to you know, help them fill out forms or take them here to and from work and rent for a motel that JBS had actually already paid for… UFCWs President Kim Cordova tells me that… the company knew about the tactics, and that they had turned a blind eye until the press started asking questions.”
The company reports that new human resources leaders have been placed at the Greeley facility, and new recruitment training programs have been implemented, to ensure everyone is aware of company policies.
Read the full story HERE.
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The people of Wyoming got a preview of what a Wyoming House speakership under state Rep. Chip Neiman of Hulett, would look like Wednesday.
Cowboy State Daily’s Leo Wolfson reports that Neiman is running for House Speaker this November. Now the majority floor leader and a prominent member of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, Nieman reiterated multiple times Wednesday that he wants to turn the Legislature in a more conservative direction.
“He plans to push for a Freedom Caucus agenda, and what he says is based off that, is that it's just moving the legislature in a more conservative direction, is kind of one of the big parts about that. But he was pretty vague about as far as concrete details and specific plans and things he'd like to see… He said property taxes are going to be huge, and he's going to definitely support cutting those in the state. When I asked him if he has any plans to backfill some of the lost revenue that would be lost for local schools and governments. He said he's non committal.”
Neiman said he wants to be fair with his leadership and take a collaborative approach.
Read the full story HERE.
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In Montana, 23 grizzlies have died so far this year, while 38 have died in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, which includes Wyoming.
Outdoors reporter Mark Heinz says these numbers are tracked on a website that’s part of a larger purpose for Montana - gearing up for its own grizzly management plan once the bears are delisted from federal protection in the Lower 48.
“The United States Geological service which kind of oversees the grizzly bear population in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem - they've had a mortality report for years… Well, Montana's taking it to the next level… It's a website, what they call a dashboard, and they can go in there and they get a breakdown by, you know, which counties the bears are dying. And then they'll have a cause of death… they're gearing up for the Grizzly Bear delisting because, from their perspective, keeping a close eye on the population and what is killing bears and at what rate and how that is affecting the overall number of bears will be very important to how the state goes that state goes about managing bears.”
The causes of the bears’ deaths have varied, from being killed by hunters in self-defense, killed by wildlife agents for preying on cattle or being struck by vehicles and trains.
Read the full story HERE.
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It’s officially fall in the Cowboy State, but it still feels like summer. Daytime highs are reaching into the 80s and 90s this week, coming close to or breaking record highs for late September.
With the heat and peak fall colors coming at the same time, Wyomingites will want to see their state at its best. But Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that it’s not going to stay in midsummer form for long.
“Cowboy State Daily Meteorologist Don Day … anticipated September being warmer and drier and just kind of benign in terms of weather. So his recommendation is people go out and savor it, especially this weekend… It's going to swing in the other direction soon, and we're going to be wishing that we could savor the simmering temperatures that we have right now. So make the most of it while you got it.”
There will be plenty of peak fall colors to see in October. However, September’s trends suggest this upcoming weekend might be the best of the season for a Wyoming fall experience.
Read the full story HERE.
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Within hours of dispatching a social media and news alert Tuesday seeking a serial flasher in Jackson, police had a suspect in custody.
23-year-old Alvaro Par-Toc is charged with stalking in Jackson Circuit Court, and indecent exposure charges in Jackson Municipal Court, according to Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland.
“Whether we can credit the press or social media, I'm not sure, but after the Jackson Police Department dispatched the statement midday Tuesday, saying they had a serial flasher on the loose. My words, not theirs, but that's the characterization of what they're describing. They I mean, it was within five hours, five or six hours, that they had a source in the police department saying, Yeah, I probably know where this guy lives.”
The case is still ongoing. Police are collecting videos and interviewing witnesses or victims, but point out that Par-Toc is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
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.
