It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming, for Friday, November 1st. 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.
One of the big question marks hanging over the TerraPower nuclear plant in Kemmerer has been a commercial-scale source of the fuel the plant will need, high-assay low-enriched uranium, also known as HALEU.
Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports that TerraPower, founded by billionaire Bill Gates, seems to have answered that question with a new agreement it’s signed with a South African Company for an exclusive 10-year supply.
“They've just inked a deal with a South African company called ASP Isotopes… they're using lasers to enrich their uranium right now, the known process is using centrifuges, so this is a completely new and novel approach the company says that could also be used to sort of reinvigorate uranium waste that have been depleted.”
Under the terms of the agreement, ASP’s U.S.-based subsidiary, Quantum Leap Energy, would build the plant at an as-yet undecided location. TerraPower would provide some money to help build it in exchange for an exclusive supply from the new plant.
Read the full story HERE.
A man from Encampment went missing overnight Wednesday while hunting elk in the Medicine Bow National Forest, but was found alive Thursday afternoon.
Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland spoke with the father of James Johnson, who left Wednesday afternoon to hunt in the forest and did not return. He said all he could do was believe that his son would be found - and trust the Carbon County Search and Rescue team, which he described as "one of the best."
“He was elk hunting. They found his truck. And then there was a what was described as a large operation, a helicopter sheriff and search and rescue personnel and several volunteers on the ground throughout Thursday.”
The weather near Encampment hit an overnight low Wednesday of 27 degrees.
Read the full story HERE.
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold is making national headlines after her office inadvertently posted a spreadsheet to its website with a hidden tab with passwords to access voting machines.
Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray told politics reporter Leo Wolfson that the password release is more serious than Griswold has made it out to be, and that he’s not surprised it happened.
“The release of this information had actually been publicly available for months, hidden under a hidden tab in a spreadsheet that was released by the office. Jenna Griswold, the Secretary of State for Colorado, said, although this was obviously very unfortunate, the passwords were only partial and only about one half of the information some we would need to be able to potentially hack into any voting election machines. Still, Gray said this is not surprising behavior from what he considers to be a radical liberal Secretary of State there in Colorado.”
Former Wyoming Secretary of State Max Maxfield said any kind of breach to election equipment should be taken seriously, but added he doesn’t believe the breach in Colorado justifies Griswold’s resignation.
Read the full story HERE.
Oregon is one of the few states left that doesn’t have chronic wasting disease raging through its big game herds, but the state’s good fortunes were threatened when Oregon hunters brought home two infected Wyoming deer carcasses.
Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports that the discovery came after the hunters sent in the animal’s lymph nodes for testing.
“They were in the Cody area, and killed a couple mule deers and took the carcasses back to Oregon, including parts that apparently they should not have taken back. That included the heads of the deer, which apparently still had some flesh or brain matter or other parts of that intact… if a little bit of that had gotten into the soil, it can linger there for years, for decades. And a deer can come along stick its nose in it, and then that deer has CWD, and the next thing you know, you got CWD going all over Oregon.”
All the carcass parts they brought home were incinerated, and the hunters were cited for illegally transporting certain carcass parts into Oregon.
Read the full story HERE.
Barbara Wegener was two days into a head cold and adjusting to a change in her medication when she turned to pull out of a parking lot on Coffeen Avenue in Sheridan late Wednesday morning.
Everything went black, and she woke to the feel of her car’s airbag slamming her body and cold water rushing into her little red passenger car. That’s what Wegener told Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland.
“She said that was just making a turn out of a parking lot. Next thing I know, you know, she described a flash of grass like a grassy bank. Next thing I know, the airbag is hitting me, and my car is filling up with cold water, and so she kind of jumped in the back seat, and then people tried to get her out, so she had to go back to the driver's seat to hit the unlock button for all the doors, and she was she was taken to the hospital.”
The 52-year-old Wegener gave her phone interview from the hospital Thursday. She expects to remain there for the next two to three days.
Read the full story HERE.
A 31-year-old Evansville man faces six counts of child abuse, including allegations that he nearly killed a one-year-old boy in November of 2022.
Before authorities caught up with him, Scott Erskine had fled the state in January 2023 following an investigation into the abuse and near-homicide of the toddler. Cowboy State Daily’s Dale Killingbeck reports that Erskine inflicted significant head trauma, among other injuries, to the little boy who was found unconscious.
“A one year old was found basically almost lifeless, had severe head trauma, trauma to his eyes, and also had part of a broken leg that was recovering, that was healing, so that individual faces some serious charges.”
The child was sent to Denver Children’s Hospital, and a physician there described his injuries as one of the most extreme cases he had ever seen.
Read the full story HERE.
The campaign arm of the Wyoming Realtors Association has spent nearly $550,000 to convince Wyoming voters to pass Amendment A on Tuesday. The measure would create a fourth class of taxation for residential properties.
On Tuesday, voters will decide the fate of Amendment A, and Wyoming Realtors - and their political action committee, 4Wyoming PAC - are pushing hard to pass it, according to Cowboy State Daily’s Leo Wolfson.
“What the amendment would do is create a separate sub class of taxation for residential properties in Wyoming. The amount of money is highly significant in Wyoming elections, and the most money spent by a PAC Since 2018… currently, residential properties taxes are lumped in with commercial and agriculture properties in Wyoming, but this would allow legislators to be able to potentially lower their property taxes.”
The government affairs director for Wyoming Realtors - who is also the treasurer of the 4Wyoming political action committee - said the proposed constitutional amendment is something Realtors have wanted for a very long time.
Read the full story HERE.
In the wake of the international outpouring of emotions after the death of Grizzly 399, a team of filmmakers and biologists held a memorial livestream panel discussion Wednesday, to contemplate the legacy of the world’s most famous bear.
Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi attended the discussion, which was hosted by PBS. He said Grizzly 399’s visibility and accessibility were highlighted as one of her endearing traits.
“One of my favorite, my personal favorite, quotes, was spoken by playwright Ben Johnson at the death of William Shakespeare, where he said ‘he is not of an age, but of all time.’ And I think that that's pretty appropriate for Grizzly 399, she is going to live on forever as the grizzly - for most people, she was the first grizzly that most people saw. She's grizzly that most people could identify, the probably the most famous real bear that's ever existed. And that's going to be the legacy moving forward, there's never going to be another one.”
Many panelists referred to Grizzly 399 as a teacher. She commanded the attention of Grand Teton visitors and, in doing so, gave people a new perspective on the lives and challenges of wild grizzlies in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.
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 the federal judge for the district of Wyoming, Kelly Rankin.
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.
