It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming, for Thanksgiving Day, November 28th. 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 handful of Republican Wyoming lawmakers are looking to revive a bill that would ban sanctuary cities and counties in the state.
The effort picked up steam after Immigration, Customs and Enforcement said Tuesday that the Teton County Sheriff’s Office has let 103 illegal immigrants who were in the local jail slip away before ICE could get them in the past 21 months. But Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that the sanctuary city label doesn’t apply in this case.
“According to the Jackson mayor and the Teton county commission chairman, neither of those subdivisions is considered sanctuary. They both said, No, we're not sanctuary. We're not passing regulations to restrict officials from working with ice. So the people in Jackson and Teton county are not sure if this bill would even apply to them.”
New Wyoming Freedom Caucus Chair Rep. Rachel Rodriguez-Williams said she and others aligned with the group are committed to pro-security immigration efforts in Wyoming.
Read the full story HERE.
A bill that would take away the tax-exempt status of nonprofit organizations that support terrorists in America is quickly moving through Congress with Rep. Harriet Hageman’s support.
If the bill passes into law, it would allow the U.S. Treasury secretary to label a group as terrorist supporting if it’s determined to have provided material support or resources to a terrorist group within the past three years. Cowboy State Daily’s Leo Wolfson has the story.
“Some people who are concerned about this bill is way too broad of powers. Hageman told me on Monday, she's not concerned about that, and she thinks it's very clear what is and what is not considered a terrorist organization. Other groups like the Wyoming Democratic Party expressed concern about this bill and urged their followers on Facebook to call Hageman and vote against it. She still voted to support it. Last week, the bill passed the House and now is moving to the Senate.”
The IRS defines a terrorist organization as a group that is designated or identified as supporting or engaging in terrorist activity.
Read the full story HERE.
Residents in Sheridan and Casper don’t need to look any further than out their front windows to catch the Thanksgiving spirit. Both cities have huge populations of urban wild turkeys.
At least for now, the turkeys in both cities are safe from coming off the streets and on to dinner tables, although for the Sheridan wild turkeys, that might eventually change. Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports that the idea of urban wild turkey hunting is being floated there.
“Casper and Sheridan are both known for having a lot of urban turkeys… they had like, a special archery season in town for deer in Sheridan. They're trying to kick around the idea of maybe doing the same thing with turkeys, but they're not sure yet… They don't want to get rid of the turkeys altogether, but they're just so many are starting to pile into town, and they're starting to get complaints about them.”
Read the full story HERE.
Eating wild turkey for Thanksgiving is an option Wyoming residents and their visitors can easily enjoy with an over-the-counter license - outside of urban areas.
But Cowboy State Daily’s Jackie Dorothy points out that you shouldn’t expect preparing that succulent bird to be as easy as thawing out a frozen Butterball.
“When you have a wild turkey, we are talking it's game meat, so you can't just pop it in the oven and expect it to taste the same as the one you get from the supermarket. You are going to have to marinate it overnight for two days at max, is what they're suggesting…the recommendation I've seen is put it in a crock pot, boil the meat off, that way you're not dealing with the bones… the hunter I spoke to, John Bass, he has been. Turkeys for 30 years, and this is the way he said, that is the best way to cook your wild turkey.”
Bass said it’s important to prepare this wild bird differently from the domestic turkey you catch in the local grocery store. It will take a couple of days of marinating, but he said it’s well worth the extra effort to tenderize the wild meat.
Read the full story HERE.
Since they live right up against a mountain on the edge of Estes Park, Colorado, Chris and Jim Fisherkeller are used to having wildlife around, but a huge black bear’s visit to their front porch at 3 a.m. one morning rattled them.
And Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports that a few days later, that same bear tried to chomp one of the nine Ring cameras the couple has set up around their property to capture wildlife videos.
“They got footage of three mountain lions hanging out. They got footage, hysterical footage of an Elks bull elk sneezing on one of their cameras. And they also got footage of a huge black bear just putting its mouth over the camera like it's trying to eat it. They couldn't figure out why. But then they put two and two together, and they realized the husband had been walking around changing batteries, and he had the stuff in his pocket, and he realized that same pocket, it had dog treats in it… The bear had smelled the the residue from the dog treats on the camera, and that's what made him try to eat the camera.”
Despite a couple of close encounters with bears, Fisherkeller said she isn’t afraid of them, just cautiously respectful. She is glad that unlike Wyoming, Colorado doesn’t have grizzlies.
Read the full story HERE.
A man from Ethete pleaded guilty Tuesday to stabbing a woman to death on the Wind River Indian Reservation.
Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that 37-year-old Kevin Joseph Mendibles changed his plea Tuesday before U.S. District Court Judge Kelly Rankin in Casper, in the Feb. 25 death of Inez Whiteman.
“He was accused of first degree murder for killing Inez Whiteman and that and her death was nine days after he pleaded guilty to abusing a different woman. So he pleaded guilty, and he said to be sentenced early next year, probably to life in prison.”
Mendibles was charged federally because the federal courts system handles felony-level crimes involving tribal members that happen on the Wind River Indian Reservation.
Read the full story HERE.
Horse racing has been growing at a galloping pace in Wyoming, and next summer the sport will take another giant leap.
Thunder Plains Park, a new mile-long, 80-foot wide, flat horse track will open in Cheyenne next summer. Cowboy State Daily’s Leo Wolfson reports that it’s the first new track built in Wyoming since the 1980s, and the state’s first mile-long track. The Wyoming Gaming Commission gave approval for the track at its meeting last week.
“I spoke to Ryan Clements, the co founder of the cowboy racing group that's kind of starting and leading the project, and he said it's a very exciting opportunity to have a new racetrack come to Wyoming… generally across the board, horse racing is not a big profitable industry, and these tracks usually rely on off track betting and gambling to kind of actually bring in the real money and the real proceeds.”
Thunder Plains will host its first race day on Aug. 1, 2025, and 16 total race days next summer.
Read the full story HERE.
The problem with gobs of gooey post-Thanksgiving grease is that once it enters drainpipes, it doesn’t stay gooey for long.
That grease can set up in sink drains and sewer pipes, turning the day after Thanksgiving into what plumbers around Wyoming have dubbed “Brown Friday,” according to Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz.
“people, they cook, they end up with copious amounts of grease at the end of the cooking process, they don't know what to do with it, so they just tip the pan up and pour it down the drain. And they said it might look all liquidy and nice going in, but what happens is it goes down into the pipes, basically turns into cement blocks. Everything up next day, people have pipes exploding, drains not working… so the lesson is, you know, unless you want to write, you know, big plumbing bill, put your grease in a jar or something, get rid of it. Don't pour it down the drain, because that's what will make your Friday a brown Friday.”
“Brown Friday” is widely recognized by plumbers across the country as their busiest day of the year, and it can be a bane to many homeowners.
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 on this Thanksgiving day - I’m Wendy Corr, for Cowboy State Daily.
