It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming, for Wednesday, October 16th. 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.
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The volunteer search orchestrated by a missing hiker’s father in Yellowstone National Park hit a devastating obstacle Monday night, when Yellowstone National Park authorities declined to authorize a private helicopter flight to drop experienced climbers on the southwest side of Eagle Peak.
Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that the flight was meant to be one last effort to find 22-year-old Austin King, who vanished Sept. 17 after summitting the park’s highest mountain.
“There's still searchers out there but it's dwindling, because the big thing they wanted to do was on the southwest side of the mountain, and there were some really nasty terrain that was largely unsearched. But they think that Austin King dropped down into there just based on some phone pings, based upon how disoriented he seemed there when he was last heard from… the park would not authorize the private helicopter to drop the rope crew down in there… what Cam Sholly said was, you know, if that helicopter blew up and killed five people, everyone would be asking why Yellowstone did not vet the helicopter and the pilot thoroughly.”
Snow is forecast for the early-morning hours of Thursday in Yellowstone. If the storm brings more than a dusting, it could block search efforts until summer.
Read the full story HERE.
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When a horse dies in the Wyoming backcountry, sometimes the best way to keep it from attracting grizzly bears is using explosives to blow the carcass into tiny pieces.
And Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports that blowing carcasses to bits is a common enough practice that the Forest Service even created a guidebook for doing it properly. Titled “Obliterating Animal Carcasses With Explosives," Heinz says the book is not for the squeamish - but he adds that the reason behind the practice is actually human safety.
“Not to be too gross, but scattered chunks of carcass across a wide area isn't likely to draw on a grizzly that's going to come and sit on that spot and claim the carcass. Because if you look back over the history of bad bear encounters and bear attacks, that's how a lot of them are prompted.”
Heinz reports that it’s so hot and dry right now, the Forest Service can’t explode the carcasses of two horses that slipped and tumbled to their deaths Friday on a remote trail near Cody, out of fear that the blasts would ignite a wildfire.
Read the full story HERE.
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As people across Wyoming and the nation have their focus on the Elk Fire burning in western Sheridan County, the state’s largest active wildfire continues to grow.
But while the Elk Fire is the largest right now, it might not be for long - Cowboy State Daily’s Greg Johnson reports that the Pack Trail Fire is growing at an accelerated rate.
“The Elk fire as of Tuesday, was estimated at just a little, just a hair under, so right at about 92,000 acres. And the pack trail fire now is over 86,000 so each of them are both kind of closing in on 100,000 and it's, it's, it's not a goal, it's not a milestone that firefighters are looking forward to… There's supposed to be some snow coming, some rain, some much colder temperatures. But until that happens, the weather is still hotter than normal, drier than normal. The wind is picking up and it's it's still as volatile as ever for them up there.”
Read the full story HERE.
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A 7-mile ribbon of black, charred ground now stands between the Elk Fire and Bighorn Mountain communities to the east.
Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports that the fire line stretches from Goose Creek all the way down to the Red Grade Road, where the Rocky Mountain Area Complex Incident Management Team is building a “catcher’s mitt” for a fireball.
“Basically, you have this great, big, gigantic fireball coming down south. There are lots of little rivers that cut across the mountains. Any one of those is a funnel for fire to get pushed through in another direction if the wind kicks back up. So what they've done is they've built a big, huge buffer zone… all the way down to red grade road. That's one half of the catcher's mitt, if you will… And then at Red grade Road, they're going to make a turn, and they're getting that area prepped. They've they're taking out trees that used to line the road. They're widening the road. They're cutting dozer lines. They're laying down retardant.”
With the black line now stretching all the way to Red Grade Road, firefighters are ready for any breakout attempts the wind might push.
Read the full story HERE.
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If there’s a billboard one might NOT expect to see in very Republican Wyoming, it would be one endorsing a Democratic candidate for president.
That’s what a billboard along Highway 20 just outside Thermopolis does, displaying a huge blue field promoting Vice President Kamala Harris for president.
But Cowboy State Daily’s Leo Wolfson reports that county Republicans expect the billboard to backfire and help Trump’s campaign.
“The State of Wyoming voted for former President Donald Trump with a larger margin than any other state during his 2020 and 2016 campaigns. I spoke to Kim Bartlett, who's the chairman of the hot springs County Democratic Party that organized the Billboard, and she said It's simply about a group of people, Democrats expressing their viewpoints in Wyoming… Cheryl Aguiar, who's the chairman of the hot springs County Republican Party… pointed out that she got a huge surge of requests for Trump yard signs after the billboard went up.”
Although Wyoming has a few swing and blue-leaning counties, Hot Springs is not one of them. Trump won Hot Springs County in the 2020 election by a margin of 59 percentage points.
Read the full story HERE.
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After construction workers found human remains on private property south of Cheyenne on Monday morning, about 50 investigators are now searching for the rest of the body.
The Laramie County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy told Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland that the searchers are performing a “grid search” – scouring small spatial squares thoroughly before moving on to the next square.
“They haven't told me a ton… They won't say which parts they have found, you know, because sometimes there are markers on the skull where you can tell if it's male or female… what they've said so far is they sent out 50 people like Laramie County, sheriffs, coroners, DCI, to do a grid search this square, then this square very systematic, so that they're not missing anything, to gather as much of these remains as they can.”
Searchers are expected to conclude their effort within the next 48 hours.
Read the full story HERE.
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Natrona County School District’s Board of Trustees Chairman Kevin Christopherson is apologizing for a social media post he made that characterized the local Moms for Liberty group as “moms for tyranny.”
Cowboy State Daily’s Dale Killingbeck reports that the post, made earlier this month, endorsed four people for whom Christopherson supported in the upcoming school board election and called on voters to reject four others, including members of the Moms for Liberty Natrona County chapter.
“Some people obviously knew about the post, but it did come to a head, and he apologized for that social media post…. and one of the board members mentioned that, you know, she wanted to take care of things in house, because … one resident spoke that she sent an email to the board that did have the post, and she got a reply from one of the chairpersons friends, and not from anybody on the board. So she was upset because he apparently shared her private email with a friend.”
Christopherson initially apologized to the two trustees he criticized in his post. He also said the post came from a place of being “passionate when it comes to kids,” and compared himself to former President Donald Trump.
Read the full story HERE.
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Three months ago, Damian McCartney traded his New Orleans chef hat in for one from the Wagon Box Restaurant in Story. Tuesday, he found out he’ll be looking for a new job.
The Wagon Box Inn, Restaurant and Cabins unexpectedly announced that it’s closing for the winter season this year. Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports that not only does the sudden closure impact employees like McCartney, but the locals as well.
“Story residents really rely on this as a place to go out. It's one of the only places around to eat. You know, you have to go into Sheridan. So many other places are not open, but so it and it was unexpected. The employees here told me they didn't see it coming. They thought they were set for the best winter ever.”
The Wagon Box is a historic fixture of the Story community with a restaurant, RV park and campground nestled next to a babbling brook. The owner said he absolutely intends to open again in the spring.
Read the full story HERE.
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And one of the most baffling supernatural phenomena ever reported in Wyoming took place in March of 1959.
A raging blizzard across a Wyoming highway sent three people desperate for shelter into the small town of Chugwater. But Cowboy State Daily’s Jackie Dorothy reports that when they finally found a place out of the storm, they had no idea they were stepping into a different dimension.
“This couple and this airman showed up at this restaurant, ate a meal, paid their bill, and left. That's the whole story. And then you find out he goes back and it's not there. What is the story? What happened? Where is this restaurant? Then I dug into historical context and actually found a newspaper account that went right with their story and match the details so it leaves you wondering what really happened.”
This story of accidental time travel is shrouded in mystery. The people involved did not want their identities revealed and those who would know the true story are now gone.
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! And don’t forget to drop in on the Cowboy State Daily morning show with Jake Nichols, Monday through Friday from 6 to 10 a.m.! Thanks for tuning in - I’m Wendy Corr, for Cowboy State Daily.
