It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming, for Friday, December 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.
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An explosive Continuing Resolution proposal from President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk, which would have kept the government running, failed the House vote Thursday night 235-174 - that includes 38 Republicans in the majority that voted against it.
Cowboy State Daily’s Leo Wolfson reports that Congress will have until the end of Friday night to avoid a government shutdown before funding lapses.
“US Representative Harriet Hageman did vote in support of it. She said she spoke to Trump about it personally, and she thought it was a good deal for Wyoming farmers and allows the government to kind of continue as is, by extending the debt ceiling… we have a fair, a rather large amount of federal employees that live here in the state, most of these employees would be furloughed in the event that a government shutdown happened, we saw this exact thing take place between late 2018 and early 2019 in Trump's first term, and that was the longest shutdown in US history, of 35 days.”
A bipartisan compromise had been reached between Democrats and Republicans before Musk and Trump torpedoed it. Musk spent most of the day Thursday trashing the measure on social media and threatening the political future of any Republican who dared to support it.
Read the full story HERE.
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Delaying the demolition of the 115-year-old LaPrele Dam near Douglas beyond April 1 would be a recipe for disaster. That’s what state engineers told Wyoming officials Thursday, noting that the dam is actively failing.
Wyoming State Engineer Brandon Gebhart issued an order to breach the dam Nov. 1, according to outdoors reporter Mark Heinz. He said that he made that decision because there are no other options.
“One lady who's a legislator... she just came as a private citizen, as a rancher in Douglas, she said, Look, you know, we've depended on this dam for generations, for, you know, for irrigation, for flood control. Is there any way we can extend the life of this dam? … And the engineers who who are present… they told the committee, look, it's just, it's, it's beyond gone. We, we've gotta get rid of this thing. We gotta do it soon, or it's gonna fail.”
The dam was built in 1909, intended to have a 50-year lifespan. Engineers say it was evident that the dam had reached the end of its “useful life” in 2019.
Read the full story HERE.
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There’s something familiar missing by the railroad tracks between Cheyenne and Laramie, near the Wyoming-Colorado state line, after an old Union Pacific water tower that had been there for about 80 years was demolished without warning.
Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that for decades, the 50-foot-tall structure towered over the railroad station near Harriman, Wyoming, and many locals are upset that it’s gone.
“ the general consensus of the people in the region that I spoke to is that the Union Pacific wanted to do this quickly and quietly. … Not a lot of people knew it was happening. It just one day there was a track hoe tearing it down. …So even if the public had known, if there had been an outcry, if they had wanted to preserve it, which many people would have, and there could have been a national effort to preserve this thing, they probably wouldn't have been successful, because the Union Pacific made up its mind that this historic water tower was more of a liability than an asset. They moved in and they tore it down, which is entirely within their right to do.”
Tanks of this size were commonplace along Union Pacific rail lines during the heyday of steam locomotives. Perched on a 20-foot-tall base, the Harriman Tower towered over the landscape, making it a local landmark and a destination for train aficionados.
Read the full story HERE.
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If Secretary of State Chuck Gray gets his way, ballot drop boxes will be no more in Wyoming after the upcoming legislative session.
Cowboy State Daily’s Leo Wolfson reports that during a press conference held at the Wyoming Capitol on Thursday, Gray said he will push for legislation banning the boxes.
“Going off about ballot drop boxes is not a new thing for gray. He made this actually one of his hallmark priorities of his 2022, Secretary of State campaign, but he's never really had the chance to really wholeheartedly address the issue. Now, with a Freedom Caucus majority in the House, he may actually have that chance to get this bill across the finish line.”
Since Gray isn’t a member of the Legislature anymore, he’ll have to rely on legislators to help shepherd through his priorities for 2025, many of which focus on election security.
Read the full story HERE.
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A Saratoga man who was given a 7-foot-long tally of citations after his tailgate whipped off during a truck chase, was sentenced last week to six months in jail.
28-year-old Aiden Swanson was originally charged in Rawlins Circuit Court last month with a dozen criminal charges. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that the charges stem from a Nov. 10 truck chase through rough ranchland terrain that ended with Swanson fleeing on foot and being caught alongside his dog.
“A lot of these citations were like minor like, driving with tags expired, you know. So you have a lot of the little stuff on there. Even though I believe the drug offense was originally charged as a felony, it did get pled down to a misdemeanor… he was wanted on the domestic charge… the sheriff's deputy was, was waiting outside his home… And then it sparks this chase through like at least two ranches and into the forest. And then the, you know, the the tailgate whips off, and gas cans are flying out and other garbage, and the truck eventually rolls in a ditch, and the man and his dog escape into the forest, but only briefly. They were both taken into custody at the end.”
Rawlins Circuit Court Judge Susan Stipe sentenced Swanson to 180 days in jail, with credit for 34 days served, leaving him with 146 days to serve out.
Read the full story HERE.
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The U.S. Department of Energy is making moves to implement policy under the President Joe Biden administration before President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in next month.
On Tuesday, the agency released a report calling for fewer liquified natural gas, or LNG exports, sparking cries of outrage from Trump supporters in government and the gas industry. Cowboy State Daily’s David Madison reports that the new DOE research has been called an attempt at sabotage of the incoming administration’s energy ambitions.
“As soon as this report came out, it was met with quick opposition from energy producing states like Wyoming, with Senator Barrasso really taking the lead, offering some aggressive criticisms, accusing the Biden administration of bitterly trying to scuttle the Trump energy agenda on their way out the door, and in the political reporting around this, it also just mentioned that the Trump administration will have the opportunity to totally ignore this report.”
Supporters of increased LNG exports point out that the industry has become a key player in economic growth, supporting more than 270,000 jobs nationally and contributing to the U.S. gross domestic product.
Read the full story HERE.
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State legislators will have another shot at a radical plan to eliminate residential property taxes for most Wyoming homeowners when they reconvene next month, as one of the most talked-about bills during the 2024 legislative session is making a comeback.
State Rep. Steve Harshman of Casper told politics reporter Leo Wolfson that he’s bringing back his proposal to cut property taxes for most Wyomingites - in return for increasing the state sales tax rate.
“It would have completely eliminated property taxes for about 97% of Wyoming residents, while increasing the state sales tax rate by 2%. Harshman hasn't exactly decided what the final language of the new version of the bill would be, so we can't say yet that it's going to be exactly that, but the general concept, he said, is going To be the same.”
When introduced earlier this year, Harshman said that a sales tax spreads the burden more evenly, including collecting from people who rent and out-of-state visitors.
Read the full story HERE.
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Now let’s go to Cowboy State Daily’s chief videographer, Reilly Strand, for our last story of the day.
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In a stroke of bad luck, a Virginia man was struck and killed by a black bear that tumbled out of a tree after another hunter shot it earlier this month. While it may seem like a rare tragedy, a veteran predator hunter in Wyoming said this is a realistic danger to watch out for. Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports that rather than bears, falling mountain lions could be a greater threat in the cowboy state.
“Now, you can't tree bears in Wyoming, but you can tree mountain lions, which you know, if one of those fell out of a tree and hit you in the head, that would probably be enough to kill you too. And one guy said, I don't see how that happened. The other guy said, ….. that is something you have to be mindful of. It can happen. He said he's had mountain lions hit his dogs before. Fortunately, none of the dogs were killed in any of those incidents. ….I guess bottom line is…. it might sound crazy that a bear fell out of a tree and killed a guy, but it is possible. It can happen if you do that type of hunting, keep your distance.”
The hunter also said that in his experience, it’s always best to avoid the downhill side of the tree.
Read the full story HERE.
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And that’s today’s news! For a deeper dive into the people and issues that affect Wyoming, check out The Roundup, conversations with the most interesting people in the Cowboy State. A new episode drops tomorrow, when I have a conversation with John Scanlon of Pinedale, who was a producer on the new movie Bonhoeffer. You can find the link on our website, on our YouTube channel, and wherever you get your podcasts. And of course, you'll find it in our FREE daily email newsletter!
Thanks for tuning in - I’m Wendy Corr, for Cowboy State Daily.
