It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming, for Tuesday, November 12th. 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 takes you deeper into the stories that matter - and keeps up with the news, weather and sports in your part of Wyoming. Just tune into Cowboy State Daily Dot Com and join the conversation.
A split vote among the University of Wyoming women’s volleyball team players was considered, but ultimately it was the choice of school leaders to forfeit matches against a California team with a transgender player.
That’s what a UW spokesman told Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland on Monday, after she had submitted a written request for the records surrounding the controversy.
“What I got back was a roughly 100 page file of emails and text messages that just show kind of pressure from every quarter. I mean, there's media outlets demanding answers. There's an overwhelming push from fans and alumni saying you gotta cancel. You gotta cancel. There were only, I think, three that were that didn't agree with the move to cancel, and there were about 30 that wanted to see the or later praised that cancelation.”
UW now has forfeited two games against San Jose State University (one scheduled for this Thursday), following court filings and public statements announcing that the California team’s outside hitter is transgender.
Read the full story HERE.
Weston County elections officials are investigating how more than 1,100 votes were not counted in a state House race on Election Day.
The miscount reported state Rep. Chip Neiman of Hulett receiving just 15% of the votes cast for him in the House District 1 race, even though he was running unopposed.
Cowboy State Daily’s Leo Wolfson reports that it raises serious questions about how the county counts its ballots, drawing concern and criticism from locals residents, as well as Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray.
“This involved two relatively inconsequential races, but the midst the counts were absolutely incorrect. It occurred as a result of Weston county clerk Becky Hadlock using incorrect in air filled ballots accidentally in the voting machines for the election… that caused State Representative chip Nyman to receive far fewer votes than he actually received in the election… Secretary of State Chuck gray found it very concerning. He even called the county sheriff on the county clerk that night trying to get a hold of her see what was going on the election.”
Gray said his office has been in contact with the Wyoming Attorney General’s office about Hadlock’s actions, seeking a possible investigation.
Read the full story HERE.
After years of the status of grizzlies in Wyoming and the rest of the Lower 48 being hotly debated, President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House could tilt the scales toward federal protections for the bears being lifted.
Wyoming resident Rob Wallace, who oversaw the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service during Trump’s first term, told outdoors reporter Mark Heinz that grizzly delisting could be on the horizon as Trump returns for a second term.
“We have a new presidential administration coming in more conservative, one relative to the topic of possibly getting Grizzlies delisted… Getting Trump, another conservative president, back into office, could kind of tip the scales more toward delisting… the federal Fish and Wildlife Service is expected to release their statement January, what they think about the delisting in light of the states pushing for it.”
In January, FWS is expected to release its response to calls from Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon and other officials in western states, who are calling for grizzlies to be delisted.
Read the full story HERE.
There’s an old saying in politics: Never answer the question that is asked of you, answer the question that you wish had been asked of you.
Wyoming’s senior U.S. Sen. John Barrasso took it a step further when he appeared on Meet the Press on Sunday by answering the question before anyone had a chance to ask anything.
“What you saw, there really was an earthquake election, the BIGGEST COMEBACK politically in the history of our country. They used to call Bill Clinton the comeback kid. Donald Trump is the comeback king. He has come back from two impeachments, from being dragged through the courts, from getting shot, and he won with over 300 electoral votes, a majority of the people winning all these demographic areas. And you know, he brought us four new Republican senators. We now have 53 Republican senators. What that proves is America, the people of this country voted. They want to get this country back on track.”
Barrasso continued by saying Trump’s first job will be to address the economy and the border, and then reversing so many policies that President Biden had put in place, mentioning energy.
He said he also hoped Trump could have his cabinet installed and ready to go by inauguration.
Read the full story HERE.
One of Worland’s notable personalities, knighted by Japan for his role in helping procure reparations for Japanese American families interned during World War II, has died.
Grant Ujifusa died Nov. 6 in the hospital of his retirement community of pulmonary fibrosis at the age of 82. Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports that Ujifusa was an active member of the Worland High School Class of 1960, and played a behind-the-scenes role in getting then-President Ronald Reagan to reverse course on vetoing legislation that would provide both an apology and $20,000 to each survivor of World War II-era American internment camps for people of Japanese heritage.
“The story's not really been widely told in Wyoming, but he helped convince President Ronald Reagan to change his mind about reparations for Japanese Americans who were interned during World War Two and forced to, like, give up all their property and go live at these internment camps, one of which is at Heart Mountain in Wyoming.”
Ujifusa’s son Steven said Worland was always a place his father treasured, and that he credited for his success in life.
Read the full story HERE.
When Wyoming’s archery hunting seasons opened in late August and early September, the weather was ridiculously hot, scraping triple digits in some places.
The unusually warm weather held through much of October, with the first small blast of winter coming late that month. And early November brought the season’s first real cold snap, which outdoors reporter Mark Heinz says is making a difference for hunters.
“I talked to a guy who lives in Bondurant, but him and his family, they hunt the Wyoming range a lot. And he said that, yeah, when it was like a switch went on when that cold weather and snow hit the elk, and the deer finally ended up moving, and they, I think he said they filled at least four, possibly five elk tags in a couple days.”
Weather forecasts indicate that the cold weather is here to stay for a while, and the coming continued cold should bode well for hunters who haven’t gotten anything yet.
Read the full story HERE.
After two oilfield workers who were burned when their equipment allegedly blew up in their faces sued, two Wyoming energy companies involved with the worksite argue the workers are more at fault for causing their own injuries.
Eric Vollmar of Wyoming and Andrew Simpkins of Texas on June 10 sued energy company Anschutz Exploration Corp. and natural gas company Certarus Ltd.. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that both explosions happened within six weeks of each other in December 2023 and January of this year in Carbon County. “This lawsuit has been ongoing since June, but Anschutz and another company, the natural gas company, they responded to the lawsuit complaint here recently, and they both said, Uh, no, we don't accept fault for these explosions… it is very, very common in lawsuit answers by civil defendants for them to say it is literally anyone else.”
This case is set for a pretrial conference Dec. 2nd.
Read the full story HERE.
Cody resident Jim Talich and two of his sons had traveled to Indiana to watch their other son, Luke, play on the Notre Dame football team in their game against Florida State on Saturday.
Luke, a sophomore, plays safety for the No. 8-ranked Fighting Irish. Jim just happened to have his phone out and recording when the ball was snapped. It was during that fleeting moment, he told Cowboy State Daily’s Leo Wolfson, that he captured Luke making an interception and returning it 79 yards for a touchdown on national television.
“Talich is just a sophomore, but yet he's already earning playing time on the Notre Dame squad... And it was also a great moment for his family, his father, Jim Talich, who was in the stands, as was his brother, Nick Talich, who was also a football player at the University of Wyoming, and their younger brother was there with them as well… Luke Talich had scholarship opportunities to play at other schools, but he specifically chose to play at Notre Dame, as it was kind of his lifelong dream, and then he ended up getting awarded a scholarship after he went there.”
When asked about Luke’s touchdown after the game, Notre Dame football coach Marcus Freeman called it a “huge play” and said the Wyoming native is a “vital” and “important” player on the team, with a bright future.
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.
