It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming, for Thursday, October 24th. I’m Wendy Corr, bringing you headlines from the Cowboy State Daily newsroom - brought to you by 4 Wyoming Pack. 4 Wyoming Pack says, “This November, Wyoming will vote to allow residential homes to be taxed at a lower, fairer rate, even the playing field, and give families a much-needed break.” 4 Wyoming Pack wants you to Vote Yes on Amendment A.
--
The long reign of the “Queen of the Tetons” came to an end late Tuesday, when Grizzly 399 was struck and killed by a vehicle south of Jackson – leaving her fanbase shocked and heartbroken.
Outdoors reporter Mark Heinz, who has followed and reported on the exploits of the world’s most famous bear, spoke to several wildlife photographers who were devastated by the news.
“The people I've talked to are folks that have been following, you know, 399, for years, in some cases, decades… the folks that were out there taking photos and video of her and, you know, broadcasting that to the world and making her the celebrity that she was. I mean, arguably Wyoming's most famous resident. I mean, we've got a lot of famous folks from Wyoming, but I don't know if even any of the people could hold a hold a candle to the fame of grizzly 399.”
Lincoln County Sheriff Captain Brian Andrews said the collision happened at around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday night, and was ruled an accident with no tickets issued. He said the driver of the Subaru that hit the bear didn't see 399 until it was too late.
Read the full story HERE.
The death of grizzly 399 has also hit hard the wildlife officials who have for years observed and looked out for her and other animals in Grand Teton National Park.
Cowboy State Daily’s Greg Johnson reports that Game and Fish biologists, as well as the Superintendent of Grand Teton National Park, feel the famous bear’s loss.
“The bear biologist with Grand Teton Park, who's been there since 2011 said that, you know, they were pretty devastated by it that, but they also are know that they said that the bear that 399 is leaving a real legacy of just kind of awareness and of people just seeing the wildlife, because she was so, so upfront about bringing her cubs down around roads and within view of people. And ultimately, you know, a lot of people are going to say that's what led to her demise too.”
Read the full story HERE.
Grizzly 399 wowed the world in 2020 during the pandemic by emerging from her den with four cubs. The bear that would be her final cub was born in spring of 2023. The cub wasn’t found with 399 at the scene of the crash in Lincoln County, but Heinz spoke with wildlife officials, who say the one-and-a-half-year-old cub should be able to make it on its own.
“Grizzly cubs normally separate from their mothers during that second summer. So for this cub, would be next the summer of 2025 but according to at least what Game and Fish is telling me, they're cautiously optimistic that, given the Cubs size, relative health, looking pretty darn fat, that it has as good a chance as it can possibly have of surviving on its own.”
Recent sightings indicate that the cub is in great health.
Read the full story HERE.
--
A 55-year-old Douglas woman was sentenced Wednesday to between 14 and 23 years in prison for abusing her elderly mother and fatally injuring her.
Converse County District Court Judge Scott Peasley handed the sentence down to Edwina Leman after watching about an hour’s worth of videos her son had taken in their home that showed Leman berating, taunting and being rough with her mother Mary Davis.
Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland was in the courtroom, and said the videos were difficult to watch.
“Just taunting her, calling her names, you know, calling her a hussy, saying that she wouldn't share with the family or communicate with the family, because she'd been a hussy… The defender and prosecutor both acknowledged that that was difficult to sit through, and ultimately she got a pretty tough prison sentence.”
Leman’s husband, John, who has filed for divorce, testified on behalf of the victim. He said he has forgiven Leman but doesn’t condone what she did.
Read the full story HERE.
--
Wyoming is one of at least 10 Western states where people eating McDonald’s Quarter Pounders have been infected with E. coli food poisoning.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports Wyoming so far has four people who have become sickened by the bacteria as of Wednesday morning. Cowboy State Daily’s Leo Wolfson reports that the 22 McDonald’s outlets in Wyoming have pulled the Quarter Pounder from the menus.
“The people who have contacted the bacteria in Wyoming live in Natrona and Sweetwater counties… it has now been found in a total of 10 states, with 49 total cases and one death.”
Neighboring Colorado has had the most cases with 26. Cases have also been reported in Utah, Montana, Nebraska, Oregon, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa and Wisconsin.
Read the full story HERE.
--
Wyomingites who want to taste one of the best whiskeys in the United States don’t have to travel very far.
That’s because Wyoming Whiskey, made in Kirby and distributed across the Cowboy State, has hit the No. 2 spot in USA Today’s annual roundup of the best craft whiskeys in the country. Business reporter Renee Jean says that’s pretty good for a company whose first batch of whiskey didn’t exactly make the best impression when it was released in 2012.
“This is a company that's really come a long way since their first batch, which, a lot of people have commented on my stories about Wyoming whiskey was apparently pretty awful, but these days, it's really one of the best whiskeys around. It's a little Wyoming company in Kirby that uses Wyoming grains, and the water even comes from a limestone aquifer…that's some of the best water in the world for making whiskey right here in Wyoming.”
One of the only big changes the company has made to the local operation is to hire Wyoming Whiskey’s first full-time master blender. Brendan Cook has moved from Canada to Kirby, where he’s implementing a year-round sampling procedure and daily cask monitoring.
Read the full story HERE.
--
Wyoming ranchers and farmers say they feel targeted by new federal dietary guidelines that say Americans should eat less beef and drink less whole milk.
Cowboy State Daily’s Jackie Dorothy reports that those recommendations have Wyoming’s agriculture industry asking what science is being followed to come to conclude that beef, especially, is bad for health and leads to obesity.
“Ranchers and farmers are fighting back. They're saying yes, in moderation, red meat is good for you. There is no proof that it causes obesity or heart attacks or any of that. They want to know, where is the scientific facts? Where are you getting the ideas, and who are these people that is on this 20 person committee?”
The Wyoming Stock Growers Association will host its convention in Casper later this year, and Executive Vice President Jim Magagna is anticipating that the committee’s recommended guidelines will be on the agenda.
Read the full story HERE.
--
A Casper man who killed his granddaughter’s alleged molester four years ago is suing a health care provider over his toe being amputated in prison.
56-year-old Olinza Headd filed a federal lawsuit Friday against Corizon Health Care, also called YesCare, and several doctors who have worked for it. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that the incident happened at the Wyoming Medium Correctional Institution in Torrington.
“Soon after he was sent to prison, he lost his toe. His toe was amputated. Uh, he alleges it's because the health care provider that is no longer working for the prison, but was at the time, um, put the wrong cells on a wound… The lack of dressing led to his toe being amputated, and he is claiming that's cruel and unusual punishment.”
YesCare is no longer the health care provider for the Wyoming Department of Corrections as of June 30.
Read the full story HERE.
--
Nobody in Wyoming can get a McDonald’s Quarter Pounder because of an E. coli outbreak that’s hit at least 10 Western states.
But just across the border in Rapid City, South Dakota, they’re still serving up the popular menu item - and customers can also take a selfie with a bronze sculpture of the world’s largest burger.
Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi spoke to Drew Bott, president of Bott Monument in Riverton, who created the pedestal that the 23,000-pound bronze Quarter Pounder with cheese.
“The thing that Bott found most amusing about the process is that they wanted a specific Latin phrase inscribed on it, and that Latin phrase was collidum at delicious sucosum. And I took Latin in high school so, and I know I'm massacring that, so I apologize to my professors, but point being that is the approximate Latin translation of … hot and deliciously juicy. Now I know enough about Latin to know there is no direct Latin translation for deliciously juicy and hot … and bot knew that at the time that he was inscribing it, but that's what they wanted.”
Incidentally, the granite pedestal holding up the sculpture weighs as much as 92,000 real Quarter Pounders.
Read the full story HERE.
--
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.
