It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming, for Tuesday, October 22nd. 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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A registered sex offender from Nebraska authorities suspected of abducting a 13-year-old girl was arrested near Rawlins on Sunday, after leading Wyoming Highway Patrol troopers on a short chase.
Cowboy State Daily’s Greg Johnson reports that the girl was reported missing in at about 7:30 a.m. Sunday, and by 11:50 a.m. had been found with her suspected kidnapper, 33-year-old Sean Carlos Payne of Omaha, Nebraska.
“He's accused of taking her from her home in Meade County, South Dakota, at about 7:30am On Sunday, by 11:50am just a little over four hours later, he was caught by Wyoming highway patrol near Rollins. He had tried to flee them. They got his car stopped and arrested the man, 32 year old man out of Omaha, Nebraska, and recovered the girl. She was unharmed.”
Payne was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping, reckless driving and eluding, as well as on other outstanding warrants out of Nebraska.
Read the full story HERE.
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Even vacant land with a stunning view near Jackson comes with a stunning price tag.
Today’s average price tag for single-family lots valley-wide is a whopping $5.57 million.
Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports that in the town of Jackson, nice lots with a Teton view backed by national forest land averages $1.13 million, for just a 0.17-acre lot.
“Devon and David Viehman, they do the Viehman group report every quarter… when they first came to Jackson in 1992 they did a little shopping around for land to build a home… they looked at a property for a mere $70,000 it was a one and a half acre property with beautiful Teton views… that same property today, it's worth $2 million and ironically, it's still vacant.”
Part of what’s enabling this shift is technology, which is allowing people of means to work remotely. That means they can select the communities where they live for the amenities.
Read the full story HERE.
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Laramie County Commissioner Chair Brian Lovett sees future population growth in Cheyenne as not an issue of if, but when. As part of this growth, Lovett believes it’s inevitable that the county government will have to grow with it someday.
Cowboy State Daily’s Leo Wolfson reports that this summer, Laramie County bought the Wyoming Financial Center in downtown Cheyenne for $5.5 million.
“Considering population growth occurring in the county, the $5.5 million building is about 160 feet tall, and is the tallest building in Wyoming by a few feet. The nine story building is currently housing various different businesses, and the county plans to lease it out, at least for the short term.”
Lovett said he envisions potentially moving county services like the clerk’s and treasurer’s office over to the Financial Center someday to allow more space for courtrooms in the main existing building.
Read the full story HERE.
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Wyoming is finally getting into its expected fall cycle after months of sustained warmth and dryness. Last week’s storm system that brought rain and snow to much of the state was “the dam break” everyone’s been looking for.
Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that Wyoming is now riding a roller coaster rebound of temperature and precipitation.
“Cowboy State daily meteorologist Don Day said that we're on this roller coaster of weather. So every few days, we get a cold system that moves in and brings rain and snow, particularly to the high elevations at this point, and then that system moves on, it gets warm and it gets drier. So that's the system that we're in at the beginning of this week, it'll be a different story by the midweek.”
Halloween could signal the end of this season's roller coaster rebounds. Day thinks kids will once again hide their costumes under winter coats when trick-or-treating.
Read the full story HERE.
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Former Wyoming Congresswoman Liz Cheney continues to campaign this week side-by-side with Vice President Kamala Harris - and for as much as Republicans try to minimize and downplay her efforts to undermine former President Donald Trump, they can’t help but take a shot at her when given the chance.
Cowboy State Daily’s Justin George reports that on Sunday, Trump’s running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance, lit into Cheney, calling the lifelong Republican “a resentful, petty, small person.”
“believes that she's motivated basically by her anger towards Wyoming voters who voted her out and replaced her with Representative Hageman in 2022 you know, he said that her actions show that, you know, they're motivated by her sort of anger, and not for a love of the country.”
Cheney represented Wyoming in Congress from 2017-2023 and rose to the third highest Republican position in the House. She became a party pariah in 2021, when she voted to impeach Trump over his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Read the full story HERE.
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U.S. Sen. John Barrasso had a busy day Sunday, starting off in Casper before flying to Pittsburgh to join former President Trump at the Steelers game.
Barrasso told Cowboy State Daily’s Jimmy Orr that he flew out to Pennsylvania to do some campaigning for David McCormick, the Republican challenger to three-term Democratic incumbent Bob Casey - then he joined Trump in a suite where the former president was a guest at the football game.
“He had a great day campaigning with President Trump in Pittsburgh… I think the reason for the senators optimism is the national polls have shifted… And so with two weeks to go before the election, those who support President Trump, which is overwhelmingly the Wyoming voters. Nobody voted more percentage wise, for President Trump than Wyoming in 2016 and in 2020 than Wyoming. And so if you're a supporter of President Trump, you're feeling pretty good right now, and Senator John Barrasso is.”
The senator, who is running unopposed for Senate Republican whip, said he will continue to go on the road helping in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan, Montana and Arizona.
Read the full story HERE.
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State Rep. Karlee Provenza of Laramie is a liberal who’s not afraid to share those views, a rare trait in the deeply red state of Wyoming.
As the democrat runs for a third term in the Wyoming Legislature, this year against Republican challenger Paul Crouch, Provenza told politics reporter Leo Wolfson there needs to be more honesty in politics, and she takes pride in not sugarcoating her words.
“Provenza is very outspoken in her beliefs, and she does not back down from saying how she feels about many issues, even if it's not one of the most popular views by a long shot in the room… Crouch is a relative newcomer to Wyoming. He moved to Wyoming in january 2023 from Ohio. He wants to bring more transparency to the budgeting process in Wyoming, and generally, more transparency to lawmaking in general.”
The race over District 45 pits two opponents with clear political differences, and promises to be one of the few intriguing contests in a general election in which many races were sewn up in August’s primary election.
Read the full story HERE.
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A juvenile male is in serious but stable condition at Banner Wyoming Medical Center in Casper after a shooting at a party early Saturday morning on the northeast side of the city.
It’s the latest in a series of violent assaults and killings of and by young people in Casper this year, according to Cowboy State Daily’s Dale Killingbeck.
“I talked to one of the one of the youth workers at the YMCA who's been involved with teen violence in Casper. And he said, you know, this is just shows the real need for organizations in the in the city to get on the street and start, you know, trying to affect change in the youth culture here in Casper.”
The City Council remains focused on trying to bring organizations together in the city that work with youth to try and get a handle on the violence and youth suicides that are happening in the region.
Read the full story HERE.
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A blowout crowd of 500 or so people gathered Saturday at the Parkman Bar & Grill to celebrate the precipitation that fell last week on the fire-ravaged Bighorn Mountains.
Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean says the “Let it Rain” concert with Tris and David Munsick’s band was billed as a thank you from the community to the firefighters battling the Elk Fire, as well as a chance to cut loose and dance for rain.
“Parkman bar planned this Let it rain concert, which is kind of a cold name, burger concert, all things considered, and it drew like 500 people to this little, tiny bar in the middle of nowhere. Everyone who was anyone was there… the Munsicks, Ian Munsick has made a national name for himself with his Wyoming centric lyrics. His brother and his dad did the concert, and they're really all very talented in that family… They just wanted to come out and show their gratitude for all the work the firefighters have done.”
The fire has burned more than 96,200 acres since it was started by lightning on Sept. 27 and has raced across the eastern face of the Bighorns, threatening the towns of Parkman and Dayton in the north to Story and Big Horn in the south.
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.
