It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming, for Tuesday, November 26th. 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 Colorado-based federal judge declined Monday to remove a transgender player from the upcoming Mountain West Conference women’s volleyball championship playoffs.
U.S. District Court Judge S. Kato Crews issued the 28-page order Monday, in which he also did not reverse the six forfeit losses teams have taken by boycotting matches against that player this season. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland has been covering this story.
“So the lawsuit is still in play, but the judge did hand down a bad omen against the volleyball players… he denied their request for preliminary injunction… he judge says, like, I'm not going to stop the tournament. I'm going to get Blair Fleming out of the league during this case. And so in making that that order, he makes a finding saying, You ladies are not likely to succeed.”
San Jose State University is seeded No. 2 in the Mountain West Conference going into the upcoming tournament with a 12-6 conference record.
Read the full story HERE.
A modern era of “mass Indian removal” is coming to an end. That’s what those fighting to return Native American imagery to sports team branding are arguing.
Cowboy State Daily’s David Madison reports that groups like the Native American Guardians Association believe Montana U.S. Sen. Steve Daines hasn’t gone far enough to restore the former Washington Redskins logo to the NFL franchise.
“It's actually modeled after Black feet chiefs and was initiated by a Blackfeet tribal member who brought it to the Redskins back in the early 70s, Don Blackie Wetzel, and since May, Senator Steve Daines from Montana has been trying to get that story out in an effort to convince the Commanders… to readopt what he considers and what many in Montana consider a culturally valuable symbol that was inspired authentically by Blackfeet tribal members and should be returned to The Commanders.”
Daines also has suggested perhaps a new team name for Washington’s football team: The Washington Warriors, which would honor the fact that Native Amercians serve in the U.S. Armed Forces at a higher rate per capita than any other ethnic group.
Read the full story HERE.
Douglas Harrington became the first Wyoming person to get prison time for participating in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Cowboy State Daily’s Leo Wolfson reports that the 69-year-old Bedford resident was sentenced in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Monday, to 40 months in prison, 24 months of supervised release, and was ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution.
“Harrington first received charges in 2023 and finally, his case is coming to a close. We'll see, though, what happens with his case, even though he was sentenced to prison, President Elect Donald Trump has vowed numerous times to pardon many, if not all, of the January 6 participants who have been facing criminal charges.”
More than 1,561 people have been charged from nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol. During the Jan. 6 riot, Harrington swung a flagpole with a metal ball attached to the end of it at police officers.
Read the full story HERE.
What started as a reluctant promise to his wife 15 years ago has become an annual holiday tradition that sets the mood for the holiday season in northern Wyoming and southern Montana.
Herman Segura was back along Interstate 90 north of Sheridan on Crow Reservation land Saturday, decorating the single, lonely tree that has defiantly grown in the median between interstate lanes.
Cowboy State Daily’s Greg Johnson spoke to the Texas truck driver who has adopted the lone pine tree - with help from some new friends.
“His regular route goes from Dallas all the way up into Calgary and then back. And so he has, for the last 15 years, has taken it upon himself to decorate this tree. And over the years, some locals who have noticed the decorated have put cards on the tree to thank him for it and to offer to help… he loves it, and besides, his wife would probably torture him if he if he ever stopped.”
The tree is on the Crow Reservation, and Segura said he’s had full support from the local tribes. In fact, this year he found a card on the tree that read: “Merry Christmas from the Blackfeet Nation.”
Read the full story HERE.
Recent friction between Wyoming’s only U.S. House representative and the Teton County Sheriff’s Office regarding illegal immigration processes boils down to a liability concern.
Rep. Harriet Hageman told readers of her Sunday newsletter that Immigration Customs and Enforcement, or ICE, conducted a recent operation in Teton County. But Sheriff Matt Carr told Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland on Monday that he hadn’t heard of a recent operation in the county by ICE.
“The Teton county sheriff said I have no idea what she's talking about. You know, usually ICE tells me when they're doing an operation here, they said nothing, and I have worked well with them… But ICE didn't comment, and the representative didn't comment, so we're just left with this ball of confusion.”
The sheriff said he was grateful for the chance to speak out on the controversy, because he’s received numerous emails on the issue since Hageman’s newsletter was sent out.
Read the full story HERE.
A group of local residents are suing the Wyoming State Board of Land Commissioners, claiming their civil rights were violated when they weren’t given a chance to weigh in on a series of Casper Mountain state land leases to mine gravel.
Cowboy State Daily’s Dale Killingbeck reports that the residents, who all own land adjacent to the proposed gravel pit, claim they should have been given an opportunity to comment on gravel mining company Prism Logistics’ plans before the land board approved the leases in June and October 2023.
“They said they were not provided proper notification before the State Land Board acted to approve leases to Prism Logistics, the gravel mining company, and so they're saying that their civil rights were violated. They didn't receive due process. And that's kind of an argument that's kind of giving them another angle at trying to stop any kind of gravel mining at the base of Casper mountain.”
The county board voted Sept. 17 to amend the county’s zoning ordinance removing mining as an allowable use in the mountain residential zone. All the state land leases acquired by Prism Logistics sit in that zone.
Read the full story HERE.
U.S. Sen. John Barrasso wants to increase fossil fuel production and decrease illegal immigration numbers in America.
That’s what Barrasso told Fox News on Sunday - and he will have a significant amount of say in these matters, as he was elected Senate whip earlier this month, the No. 2 leadership position in the Senate. That’s according to politics reporter Leo Wolfson.
“Barrasso said the main reason why he'd support mass deportations of illegal immigrants is because he believes that is an issue that needs to be put under control, and something that American people carry very much about. He believes that President Elect Donald Trump's election was a mandate on immigration, most specifically, it was one of the top issues identified during that election, and polls show that this is an issue that a lot of people gave their support to Trump for. Even after the election.”
Barrasso said he considers curbing illegal immigration and lowering energy prices some of his biggest priorities entering the new Congressional session and Trump presidency.
Read the full story HERE.
It’s the classic Wyoming wildlife photographer’s dilemma — how to share the state’s special places and amazing creatures with the world without those places getting overrun by people and the animals driven away.
Photographer Deb Richardson of Star Valley knows of one such place and is facing that dilemma. She told outdoors reporter Mark Heinz that she fell in love with a spot in the general vicinity of Grand Teton National Park that during November and December draws huge bull moose by the dozen.
“She's gotten some spectacular shots, which, of course, she's a photographer. That's how she makes her living, and she shares it on social media. But it creates that quandary. It's like, how do I get these images out and share this beauty with the world without the world finding out where this place is and coming and over running it?”
On the positive side, Richardson said she hopes some of the people showing up at the moose magnet are the next generation of aspiring photographers; people who will treat the area and moose with respect.
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.
