It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming, for Friday, October 4th. 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! From 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday, Cowboy State Daily’s Jake Nichols brings to life the latest news, weather, sports and in-depth conversations that matter to you.
--
Four Mountain West Conference teams, including the University of Wyoming, have now canceled scheduled matches against San Jose State University’s women’s volleyball after reports surfaced that the California team has a transgender player in its lineup.
Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that Utah State University was the latest school to cancel its match, announcing its decision in a simple two-sentence statement posted online Wednesday.
“We had Southern Utah University, then we had Boise, then we had Wyoming in an about face, and then we had the other Utah school… I noted the political pressure last time we talked about this. But I also have witnessed one of the UW girls mothers on social media saying that she was proud of her daughter, you know. So perhaps the girls did grow more outspoken on this at some point and contribute to that decision.”
Two other conference teams, including Colorado State University, have signaled they are determined to play as scheduled.
Read the full story HERE.
--
Even though former Republican Wyoming congresswoman Liz Cheney still hasn’t gone full blue politically, she’s starting to get pretty close.
On Thursday, Cheney campaigned on behalf of Democratic Party presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris at the birthplace of the Republican Party in Wisconsin. Cowboy State Daily’s Leo Wolfson reports that Harris has promised to appoint a Republican to her cabinet if elected president, raising speculation that it could be Cheney.
“Although Cheney has stepped away and vocally criticized former President Donald Trump, it was still shocking for some to see someone like Cheney, who has been such a face of conservative republicanism, switch support for a Democrat in the presidential election… Jack Speight, a former Wyoming Republican Party chairman, told me, when I asked him about this today, that we're living in strange times.”
Cheney announced in September that she’s endorsing Harris’ campaign. Her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, followed suit a few days later, well-known for being a deeply conservative Republican during his time in politics.
Read the full story HERE.
--
An unpredictable and dangerous wildfire continues to threaten the towns of Dayton and Parkman in northern Sheridan County near the Wyoming-Montana border.
The Elk Fire burning west and south of both communities grew to nearly 50,000 acres Wednesday, blown “in all directions” by shifting high winds. While the towns remain safe for now, Cowboy State Daily’s Greg Johnson reports that they are both still under an advisory to be ready to evacuate if the fire takes another run at them.
“On Thursday, folks started to get worried, even more worried because they saw huge, a huge plume of smoke coming from it, thinking, Okay, this fire has gone out of control again. However… a lot of that is a controlled burn the fire crews did Thursday afternoon, and what they were doing is they are back burning a big swath of of land near the horseshoe subdivision… so they can control that, and it doesn't burn into there and then threaten areas.”
Now that a U.S. Forest Service incident command team is in charge of managing the coordinated attack on the Elk Fire, local volunteer crews are focused on protecting people and property.
Read the full story HERE.
--
A man who killed a mountain lion with a shovel said the incident terrified him and his dog, which cowered under his RV as the big cat came at them — twice — late at night in a Colorado campsite.
But the dog — a roughly 9-year-old husky named Mr. Miller — was the focus of the mountain lion’s attention - that’s what his owner, Andrew Johnson, told Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz.
“It just came in low and fast, and it seemed to be- as we talked about yesterday - it did seem to be going for the dog, because … mountain lions will see dogs as food. And so he said he smacked it a couple good ones with the shovel, and it ran off. Initially, ran off behind his jeep, but then it came back around the jeep and came back at him. And so he figured at that, at that point, you know, he was out of options. So he proceeded to hit it again and and beat it, you know, beat it to death, killed it. Did what he felt he had to do.”
Looking back, Johnson said he didn’t think he could have done anything differently. As for Mr. Miller, he was initially shaken up by the ordeal, but seems fine now.
Read the full story HERE.
--
The Northern Arapaho Tribe’s executive branch refused to pass a resolution by the tribe’s legislative branch, prompting recent outcry by the tribe's people.
The Northern Arapaho Business Council, which is the six-person executive branch, claims federal rules justify its decision.
Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that several tribal members have cast the move as a betrayal and emphasize that the tribe’s primary and general elections are both approaching.
“A lot of this system of government is based on tradition. The General Council is just a gathering of the people, and the General Counsel actually created the executive branch, the Business Council. They created it in the 40s and so, so it's been the system for years for the Business Council to do what the general counsel says.”
The Northern Arapaho General Council, which is the supreme governing body of the Northern Arapaho tribe, held a legislative meeting in September, in which most of the members there voted to fire the tribe’s in-house attorney immediately. They also voted to fire the Wind River Casino General Manager.
Read the full story HERE.
--
The chairman of the Fremont County Republican Party has been booted from his leadership position.
Scott Harnsberger, a former Fremont County treasurer who was elected chairman of the county Republican Party in 2023, was voted out by a 23-12 margin Tuesday night. Cowboy State Daily’s Leo Wolfson reports that letters to the editor he wrote were among the reasons he was fired by his party.
“This occurred as a result of letters to the editor that Harnsberger wrote in the media criticizing certain Republicans in his county for refusing to participate in debates hosted by the Fremont County's League of Women Voters. These candidates had said they felt that the League of Women Voters is politically biased and would not be fair to candidates like themselves that they consider to be conservative.”
Harnsberger, who also served as the county party chair in the late 1990s, said that while he’s disappointed, he doesn’t regret voicing his opinion.
Read the full story HERE.
--
A lone wolf with no tracking collar has been running around northern Colorado, stirring up another round of controversy over the state’s wolf reintroduction problem.
The official line is that it’s a holdout from the Copper Creek pack, which were recently trapped and placed in captivity by Colorado Parks and Wildlife after numerous cattle were killed by wolves in Grand County. But Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports that there’s speculation that the lone wolf could have come from Wyoming.
“CPW is saying it's the fifth pup. It's a pup that somehow they missed… But of course, you know, there's speculation down there in Colorado that this could actually be a wolf from somewhere else, possibly Wyoming, you know, because at least the reintroduced wolves in Colorado are all wearing collars. And this one, this one is not.”
Whether the wolf is from Wyoming is difficult to confirm or deny. Wyoming Game and Fish doesn’t actively track wolves that far south.
Read the full story HERE.
--
Watching Wile E. Coyote anticipate the crushing weight of a free-falling boulder is always hilarious. Getting smashed by a humongous pumpkin instead, seems right in line with something that could happen to the iconic Looney Toons character.
Wyoming’s “pumpkin king,” Jay Richard, decided that would be the perfect scene for the climax of the 2024 Wyoming State Champion Giant Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Worland on Saturday. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that the annual Pumpkin Drop is the highlight of the weigh-off.
“They take three or four pumpkins, 170 feet up in the air, and they drop them on something. Last year, it was an RV this year, it could be a collection of items, but the I guess, the central item, the main event, will be dropping 1000 pound pumpkin on a figurine of Wiley Coyote. He's even going to have the little umbrella over his head, like you always see when a giant rock is about to smash on his head.”
Pumpkin growers across Wyoming will bring their grandest gourds to Worland for the annual weigh-off, hoping to be named the best of the bunch.
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 true crime author Ron Franscell. 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.
