It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming, for Monday, December 23rd. I’m Wendy Corr, bringing you headlines from the Cowboy State Daily newsroom.
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Vast stretches of harsh desert near Rock Springs are among the few places in the world where mustangs with curly coats can be found.
The Salt Wells Creek herd is only one of two in Wyoming known to have horses with distinctive curly manes, tails and winter coats. Outdoors reporter Mark Heinz spoke to wild horse advocates who say the entire Salt Wells herd, thought to include several hundred horses, is set to be rounded up next summer.
“They're south of Rawlins, and apparently it's only one of a couple places where people have seen this occurrence of these horses that have curly mains, curly coats, curly tails. Apparently, they're really hardy during the winter. They're big and they're mellow… the BLM is planning on pulling out that entire herd out of the salt wells Creek area… I did talk to the BLM, and they said, you know, we're not trying to eliminate these horses. You know, we want to get them out there. We want to put them up for adoption.”
Roughly 500 of the White Mountain mustangs were rounded up this past summer. That reduced the herd to roughly 300 horses, and drew protestors to Rock Springs.
Read the full story HERE.
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As the final week of 2024 approaches, there’s a definite change coming that might start soon enough to carry a taste of winter weather across the Cowboy State on Christmas Day - a change from the mostly mild temperatures the region’s been experiencing recently.
But don’t hold your breath waiting for a Norman Rockwell white Christmas, reports Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi.
“If your definition of a white Christmas is snow covering the ground, then if you don't have snow already, you're not going to have snow by Christmas. There's just nothing in the way of that happening. But if your definition is snow falling on Christmas, that could happen. There is a winter system that's going to be moving from west to east on Christmas days that could be Scattered snow showers. Emphasis on the scattered part of that throughout the day Wednesday.”
The scattered snow showers on Christmas Day will be the harbinger of a winter weather system that will ring in the new year. Meteorologist Don Day said the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day will begin to look more like winter.
Read the full story HERE.
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The zebra remains a threatened species in the ecosystem of Wyoming high school sports, with athletic directors scrambling throughout football season to field officiating crews. This led to fewer Friday night games, while school officials absorbed higher costs for bringing in referees from out of town.
Now those costs and a continued referee shortage is carrying over into the winter basketball and wrestling seasons, reports Cowboy State Daily’s David Madison.
“It's not news to anyone that it's a tough job being a referee, especially when parents are in the stands and emotions are running high, and the Wyoming and Wyoming high school athletics has continually faced a shortage of referees… Wyoming is addressing this problem. There is training available through the University of Wyoming…. They're recruiting wrestlers, you know, former high school wrestlers who might want to give back to the sport. And so it's not completely dire, but it's getting more expensive.”
There are escalating costs associated with hiring out-of-town basketball officials. Mileage reimbursement can reach up to 72 cents per mile, and those and other added costs can drastically increase a ref’s usual fee.
Read the full story HERE.
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There’s a reason Gordon Ramsay’s famous beef Wellington costs $119 dollars and change per person. It’s a complex dish to make that marries high-quality ingredients in a visually stunning way.
But with a few smart changes, it doesn’t really have to be such a chore, and can even be fun, as Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean discovered when she and a small group of people gathered at Cheyenne’s Railspur restaurant to learn this fancy holiday classic from Juan Coronado, the restaurant’s co-owner and head chef.
“In the original, they use chicken mousse … and mushroom duxelle. It's delicious, but it's like a separate dish all in and of itself, just to make that part of it. So instead of that, he used par prosciutto de Parma and duck cells, so you get that same umami blast, but without having to make a completely separate dish… And rather than make his own puff pastry, he you know, you just buy it prepared.”
Jean’s article lines out the steps she and her fellow culinary students followed in order to make beef Wellington shine. She said she’s freezing hers and will thaw it in time to bake it up for Christmas Dinner.
Read the full story HERE.
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Wyoming is at the center of an epic national race to turn on production of rare earth metals, needed for just about everything related to modern-day life — even as China races to shut off the export of these strategic minerals.
That makes Friday’s announcement that Wyoming Rare (USA) has found a home for a pilot plant with Western Research Institute in Laramie for its Halleck Creek project all the more important. Business reporter Renee Jean has the story.
“Normally, it takes about 10 years to stand up a new mine and so. But we need this like yesterday, because China is already starting to turn things off. So every step that we can take to advance this and move it forward faster, you know, so that it doesn't take 10 years. We need rares for just about everything, cell phones, computers, medical scanners, lasers, nuclear weapons, you name it.”
Based on the company’s exploration, the Halleck Creek site near Wheatland has the potential to be one of the world’s richest deposits of rare earths.
Read the full story HERE.
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The Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office already considers themselves half-bionic, utilizing tasers, body and dash cameras and other technology that are integrated together. Now the department is testing out virtual reality cop-training.
Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that the department is doing a temporary test-run of a virtual reality headset by a company called Axon, for a virtual training that’s more immersive than projection screen simulators.
“The spokesperson for Sweetwater County Sheriff's Office, Jason Mower, actually called me like, you won't believe what we're demoing. … it's a headset, and you've got your little toy gun that goes with it, you know, which Mower calls a Pew, pew like, and you've got your Pew, pew… it's a 360 degree universe, and you can look down and you can see your feet, and you can, you know, walk up a hill, or someone can sneak up behind you while you're trying to de escalate a situation, Just like in real life.”
A representative of Axon pointed to some offset of the products’ cost, saying that unlike working with a VR taser, a trainee working with a real-life taser could burn through $1,000 worth of taser probes by practicing on 40 different targets.
Read the full story HERE.
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49-year-old Scott Haynes still uses his commercial driver’s license to haul heavy equipment, gravel and other loads for a “roustabout” trucking company during the summer months.
But this winter the Newcastle resident is focusing on what he really loves — being the author and illustrator for his “Roadie the Ranch Dog” children’s books.
Cowboy State Daily’s Dale Killingbeck spoke with Haynes, who recently published his seventh Roadie book. He is enjoying greater success as more young readers discover the colorful orange cartoon ranch dog and his misadventures in ranch life.
“It's really not so much a reading book for kids, it's more of a illustration book, and that's what he wanted to do. He said, when he was a kid, he he didn't read real well, and so he really liked comic books. And so he's made these, these books more for kids that that maybe struggle with reading, but but attracts them to books.”
The latest book, which was put together last winter and published this summer, is titled “Roadie the Ranch Dog, The Greatest Ranch Dog to Ever Ranch Dog.”
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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One man found his calling as a Wyoming biker pastor. But that came after a storied past of drug use, partying and loan shark enforcing. Cowboy State Daily’s Jen Kocher sat down with 69-year-old Don Ohlin also known as “Velcro” to find out more about his ministry and how he helps recently released inmates get back on their feet.
“He has such a heart for helping the people who society more or less discouraged… getting out when you've been in prison is very hard to restart your life... So when they come out, he's there for them… And that's his whole deal. He wants to give people hope… he's given away four of his vehicles… I mean he's just the kindest person… he appealed to me, and I always want to highlight people who are making a difference in their communities.”
Ohlin runs his biker church out of his home and livestreams services and bible studies on social media.
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! Thanks for tuning in - I’m Wendy Corr, for Cowboy State Daily.
