It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming, for Wednesday, November 20th. 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.
After a judge struck down Wyoming’s two abortion bans on Monday, the state plans to appeal the decision to the Wyoming Supreme Court.
Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that the announcement by Gov. Mark Gordon followed a Monday order by Teton County District Court Judge Melissa Owens, in which Owens cited a section of the Wyoming Constitution promising people the right to make their own health care decisions, and she made an official finding that abortion is health care.
“Governor Gordon announced early Tuesday morning that Wyoming is looking to appeal Judge Owens’ decision. So they're going to tell the Wyoming Supreme Court, oh, there's something wrong with her decision or her reasoning, and we want you to send this back down for a trial or a change, and so we haven't, obviously haven't seen that argument yet. But this is far from over.”
Gordon vowed to press on in defending the state’s abortion bans.
Read the full story HERE.
Wyoming IDs may get a complete redesign in the near future that would include a special designation identifying people who aren’t U.S. citizens on the state-issued cards.
Cowboy State Daily’s Leo Wolfson reports that this upcoming session, the Wyoming Legislature will consider a bill adding a line to ID cards reading, “Not a United States citizen,” as well as colors indicating the citizenship status of the cardholder.
“The proposal that was passed by the Transportation Committee on last but the proposal that was passed by the Transportation Committee last Friday will give a much larger label To these citizens and their status as not being able to vote in Wyoming elections. That's one of the primary reasons Secretary of State Chuck gray is supporting the bill, as he believes it will increase election security and make it extremely clear for election workers and election judges that someone with one of these IDs absolutely is not allowed to vote.”
Non-U.S. citizen status is already noted on Wyoming ID cards with “NR” listed on the licenses. People who aren’t American citizens cannot vote in Wyoming elections. People are also prohibited from holding two different state IDs at the same time.
Read the full story HERE.
Wyoming ranchers don’t like federally mandated electronic cattle ID tags and might soon join other states in insisting that they stick to branding and other traditional means of tracking cattle.
The Wyoming Livestock Board passed resolutions against the switch to electronic IDs in response to ranchers’ disagreement with it. That’s according to outdoors reporter Mark Heinz.
“They're saying it's… to streamline… cattle trading, as well as disease detection, like, if there's an outbreak of brucellosis or something… they can track that down and pinpoint it and contain it a lot quicker. It's gotten some pushback from a lot of people in Wyoming. They say it's going to be too expensive. They don't like the fact that it's mandated. They say, you know, you can suggest it, but we don't like being told that we have to do this.”
Some ranchers previously told Cowboy State Daily that they’re also leery of information being electronically scanned and filed, which they see as an invasion of their privacy.
Read the full story HERE.
Wyoming hospitals rank 43rd in the nation for hospital safety and quality. That’s according to a national report card released by the Leapfrog Group, which collects and aggregates data on hospital safety and quality to help patients learn more about their local health care providers.
However, Cowboy State Daily’s Dale Killingbeck reports that although the group only gave one Wyoming hospital an “A” grade in its annual fall Hospital Safety Grades report - St. John’s Health in Jackson - that report doesn’t necessarily give an accurate picture of medical care in the Cowboy State.
“What I was told by the Hospital Association Vice President was that Leapfrog… kind of penalizes hospitals that don't participate in a voluntary survey that leapfrog asked for, and so the hospitals that don't do that already received like a little penalty in some of the quality areas… I looked at some of the other scores, like CMS scores grading, and once, one hospital that got a D in Rock Springs actually got a four star rating from CMS.”
CMS, or Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, is one of a number of agencies that hospitals are required to report to. Others are The Joint Commission, OSHA, and state and local fire inspectors, just to name a few.
Read the full story HERE.
Although most of the attention from a Jackson District Court judge’s Monday decision to shut down Wyoming’s abortion bans was centered on the removal of an overarching ban, also nixed was a first-in-the-nation ban on the prescription of chemical abortion drugs.
Cowboy State Daily’s Leo Wolfson reports that while the overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022 paved a road for states to enact measures completely restricting abortion access, Wyoming was the first state in the country to impose a ban on abortion medication the next year.
“That ban was quickly challenged in court, along with a more wide, sweeping ban on most abortions that year and on Monday, a Teton county judge overturned both those bans… State Representative Rachel Rodriguez Williams, chairman of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, believes judge Melissa Owens decision and description of some of the abortion medication shows that she is an activist judge.”
Pro-life legislators may try to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot asserting that abortion is not a form of health care in Wyoming, which was at the heart of Owens’ ruling.
Read the full story HERE.
As grizzly bears continue to repopulate Montana’s northern prairies, wildlife managers use a variety of methods to push them away from ranches and other potential trouble spots, including shouting at the bears over drone speakers.
Outdoors reporter Mark Heinz was told that “human-related sounds” such as talking or even yelling at the bears over drone speakers has proven effective.
“The guy I talked to said it's most effective if they can get a speaker system rigged up and actually, like, yell at the bears… he said, just just flying the propellers at him doesn't seem to do much… He said, It's like anything else. You don't want to overuse it… Grizzies are, in fact, incredibly intelligent animals, and they'll figure out that thing's not going to hurt me. I'm just going to stay here and keep eating out of this grain bin.”
Drones have proven useful in grizzly management, and not just for shooing grizzlies away from people’s homes or farmers’ grain bins. Using drones also allows wildlife managers to track bears’ locations without risking direct contact with the grizzlies.
Read the full story HERE.
Accused of stabbing his mother then chattering happily about his hallucinations Monday, a Cody man could face up to 10 and a half years in prison, if convicted.
39-year-old Robert Rednour was arrested Monday morning after he called dispatch saying he’d “accidentally” stabbed his mother. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that when Park County Sheriff’s deputies arrived on the scene, Rednour’s mother was covered in blood, with a two-inch stab wound to her abdomen.
“It's this tense situation where … they're approaching the garage demanding he comes out with his hands up, which he does, and then he's placed in the patrol vehicle for investigative detention. ”
When he was interviewed, Rednour said he was upset with his mother because she told him she was selling the house and he had to move out. Rednour claimed his mother had been aggravating him for days by making weird noises, hiding around corners or in the couch cushions.
Read the full story HERE.
When anyone wants to emulate the premise of the Pixar animated film “Up,” there’s a strong likelihood they’ll end up talking to Cowboy State Daily meteorologist Don Day.
That includes the world’s biggest YouTuber, Mr. Beast, who uploaded a 15-second video Monday, in which he sends a T-Mobile store into the sky with helium balloons. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that Don Day’s weather information was crucial in planning the stunt.
“He had to find a day when there would be optimal conditions to do this cluster balloon project, where there wouldn't be a lot of wind for a 10 to 12 hour stretch. And cluster balloons can be very sensitive to those sort of things. So that was Don's involvement, because he knows weather and he knows balloons, and he's done dozens of balloon projects on huge scales and small scale.”
Day’s unique career niche has taken him across the country and around the world. He helps professional balloonists find the best days to go up and stay safe when the going gets tough.
And in case you’re wondering, it took 550 helium balloons to lift the store off the ground, and 619 to float away with Mr. Beast along for the ride.
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.
