It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming, for Thursday, December 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.
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Albertsons on Wednesday announced that it’s terminating a $25 billion merger with Kroger, and plans to file suit, seeking billions in compensation.
The merger collapse comes one day after a state judge in Washington and a federal judge in Oregon temporarily blocked the deal, in a suit filed by the Federal Trade Commission, and several states - including Wyoming.
Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports that both companies threw accusations at each other Wednesday, after the deal’s failure.
“Albertsons says Kroger was self serving and willfully insufficient in trying to secure the merger. Kroger is saying that they they were not that it's Albertson's fault and that they interfered with the merger process. Albertsons has actually filed suit against Kroger, seeking billions in compensation for lost time, loss of share value, multiple millions spent. It's ugly.”
At stake between the companies is a $600 million termination fee, which Albertsons said is due immediately, but that Kroger says Albertsons is certainly not entitled to.
Read the full story HERE.
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The University of Wyoming is cautiously eyeing the future of its athletics department under a quickly changing college sports landscape.
UW is requesting a one-time payment of $1.5 million from the Wyoming Legislature in its supplemental budget request to help support the school’s athletics department moving forward.
Cowboy State Daily’s Leo Wolfson reports that the request comes as a result of a $2.7 billion settlement the NCAA made in October with thousands of current and former Division I students who are seeking compensation tied to their athletics services and commercial use of their names, images and likenesses.
“UW is going to have to try to find ways to raise money, to try to pay the bills it needs to pay, and be able to get in the the athletes it wants to get in to its teams, whether that comes down to raising money for NIL or other other benefits, and … the fact that it's seeking out money from the Wyoming Legislature shows that the legislature is probably going to play some kind of role in this if They want the UW athletics program to remain competitive.”
UW President Ed Seidel said the Mountain West Conference, of which UW is a member, has been holding emergency meetings at an increasing frequency to deal with the dramatically changing athletics landscape.
Read the full story HERE.
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A top bear biologist, along with a coalition of environmental organizations, filed a petition Wednesday with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to completely revamp the agency’s grizzly management policy throughout Wyoming, Montana and Idaho.
Wildlife biologist Chris Servheen told outdoors reporter Mark Heinz that the current management policy is flawed, and has left the Lower 48 with relatively isolated island populations of grizzlies.
“He's actually the one who drew up the plan, the 1993 plan, which has guided grizzly bear management since. And he said, You know what, that plan is flawed… we've got the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem Grizzlies here, and then up here, we've got the northern Continental Divide Grizzlies. And from his point of view, and and a point of view of of a lot of people, there should be, you know, continual, interconnected grizzly bear habitat running all the way from Canada all the way down to the southern end of Yellowstone Park.”
Although Servheen now opposes the idea of delisting grizzlies, there are many who favor the concept, including Wyoming’s congressional delegation. They argue that the grizzly population has grown well past the numbers needed for recovery, and that conflicts with humans will only increase as the bears keep pushing out of core habitat and into settled areas.
Read the full story HERE.
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A jury took two hours to convict a 44-year-old Casper man who blurted out “I killed somebody” in a prior court hearing of second-degree murder Wednesday.
James Mavigliano was found guilty of beating and strangling a man at a local motel. Cowboy State Daily’s Dale Killingbeck was in court for the verdict.
“A seven man and five woman. Jury in Natrona County District Court today spent two hours deliberating and came back with a second degree murder verdict…he took the verdict standing up… he appeared very calm as the clerk read the verdict in court. And I talked. I was able to speak to the victim's brother, and he said that he believed that justice was served.”
Second-degree murder carries a potential 20 years to life prison, while the possession of a controlled substance charge carries a penalty of up to 12 months in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Read the full story HERE.
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A Wyoming Bitcoin company will receive $4.1 million in the fallout of its 20-month lawsuit against a Chinese-owned cryptocurrency mine that was ordered shut down and sold in May.
Cowboy State Daily’s Leo Wolfson reports that a conglomerate of Chinese cryptocurrency companies in October had forced out Bison Bitcoin from participating in the crypto blockchain mine that was set up just over a mile away from F.E. Warren Air Force Base, and across the street from a Microsoft facility in Cheyenne.
“At the end of the day, this kind of transcends those topics beyond cryptocurrency and really shows that the American government is going to be looking at facilities like the one that popped up in Cheyenne very closely in the future. But at the same time, a lot of these American companies are going to be kind of probably trying to find workarounds to be able to kind of still work with the international people that they want to while also simultaneously not putting American security at risk.”
Sean Murphy, a representative of Bison Blockchain, said the settlement reaches beyond the cryptocurrency industry, and speaks to the high-tension economic and national security relationship between America and China, on topics of rare earth minerals, tariffs and spying.
Read the full story HERE.
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There are concerns that the historical value of one of Cody’s iconic restaurants might be worth less than the value of the land it’s occupied for nearly a century.
Cassie’s Supper Club — most recently Cassie’s Steakhouse — has been a Cody staple for nearly a century. It’s now closed after a recent change in ownership, and Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that after the recent demolition of other historic structures in the community, some are concerned about the restaurant’s future.
“Historic structures occupy prime real estate in a lot of places, not just in the United States, but around the world. Cassie sits along Yellowstone Avenue, which is US highway 14, which is the primary corridor to the east entrance of Yellowstone National Park. So a future owner of this historic restaurant might decide that the real estate is more valuable than the historic value. And the thing in Cody is, there is no protection for historic structures. All you need is permission to demolish the structure.”
The restaurant was named after its owner, Cassie Waters, a colorful character who opened several businesses in Cody. Her entrepreneurship extended to at least one house of ill repute in downtown Cody, which might explain why she built her restaurant outside city limits (and reputedly offered the same services there during its early years).
Read the full story HERE.
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Wyoming’s cities and towns could get more say about the gambling that happens in their communities if a bill advanced by the Joint Appropriations Committee on Tuesday passes in the upcoming legislative session.
Cowboy State Daily’s Leo Wolfson reports that the bill would allow city and town governments to have a say on whether simulcasting permits for historic horse racing machines are allowed in their communities.
“Currently, counties have full say over this, whether it happens within the municipal jurisdiction or not, and this would kind of at least provide some balance to the dynamic, although counties would still have the ultimate say in approving or disapproving these facilities.”
Legal gaming attached to horse racing has exploded in Wyoming in recent years, and is now a $2 billion industry.
Read the full story HERE.
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A speeding truck driver from Illinois is accused of deliberately sideswiping a man’s pickup and disabling it on the highway west of Gillette.
The Campbell County Attorney’s Office has charged the tractor-trailer driver, 32-year-old Alexander Tuttle, with aggravated assault, which is a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that the victim and eyewitness statements, plus the evidence on scene, led investigators to implicate Tuttle as the person at fault.
“the witness characterized it like Tuttle was just trying to get around everyone and trying to go faster than everyone, and then rammed into the guy in the truck that was in the right lane and got wedged onto the sidewalk. And we also know, based on the troopers report, that the debris indicated the initial impact happened in that right hand lane. So whereas Tuttle is saying, No, he veered in the left hand lane, smashed me. The Trooper said, Well, looking at the debris, looks like the initial impact happened in the right hand lane.”
Tuttle’s case rose to Campbell County District Court on Monday. His arraignment is set for Dec. 17.
Read the full story HERE.
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Eagle nests can be jaw-droppingly huge, big enough for several people to sit in, and they don’t get that big overnight.
One popular photo shows a Park Service ranger sitting in an eagle’s nest, which is big enough for several more rangers to join him. Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports that such super-sized nests are hardly unheard of.
“I talked to a couple of raptor experts here in Wyoming, and yes, eagle nests really do get that huge. They get 1000 pounds, a ton they can be. There was one that just recently finally blew over in Montana that was over 18 feet tall. So they get gigantic. But the reason is, is sometimes it takes generations of eagles to build those things. The one in Montana I mentioned that just blew over, they did some carbon dating, some of the sticks in that were 400 years old.”
Although both common types of eagles in Wyoming build gigantic nests, the materials and locations they choose vary. Golden eagles are more likely to build nests in places such as cliff faces, while bald eagles prefer to nest in trees. Golden eagles frequently use sagebrush, while bald eagles typically use stick or pine boughs - and sometimes even deer antlers.
Read the full story HERE.
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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.
