Wendy Corr:
Well, hey there folks, welcome to The Roundup. We're a Cowboy State Daily podcast, and we focus on interesting people in the Cowboy State. But today, because it's the last podcast of the year, we are focusing on interesting stories and the interesting people who tell them.
So for today's special episode of The Roundup, we're going to talk to the Cowboy State Daily reporters who have brought you the most interesting stories of the year.
All right, folks, our first guest, our first featured reporter, is actually a features reporter. Her name is Jackie Dorothy. She has been a journalist in the state of Wyoming for many, many years. She and I have known each other. Oh my gosh, Jackie, how many years ago did we meet? Way more than we want to admit to.
But Jackie is a fantastic writer, and she's also a fantastic features writer, and she really loves good historical stories. So Jackie's based in Thermopolis. But of course, her stories cover the whole state. Jackie, where was the story that we're going to talk about today? The best story, your most interesting story, that you feel you've written this year. Tell us about this story. Where was it based?
Jackie Dorothy:
It was based in the Big Horn mountains, not far from where we actually met, which is really a nice coincidence. It's nice because we met back in the day when we were traveling around Yellowstone. And this story takes part just a few miles from that, and it started in the 1930s.
So I was looking for Ghost Stories, haunted Wyoming, and I came across this tale that was told from 1951. This young man, he's 16 years old, a really good hunter, and he got lost in the bighorn mountains.
He was with a group of guys, and he knew all the rules, stay still, build a fire, don't keep walking. Well, he disobeyed those. He had been sent from his father to go three miles back to their camp to bring back the truck. They weren't even that far from the road, and as he's walking, what happened is this fog rolled in.
He got disoriented. He didn't know which way he was going. He didn't recognize the crossings over the streams and nixing. He knows he's lost and he's panicking, and he does everything wrong, just like I said earlier. He did not stop. He kept walking and walking.
And suddenly the fog cleared, and he looked up, and there was a boy in a red flannel shirt. This boy looked at him and pointed the opposite direction. And he shouted at the kid, like, Hey, hello, I'm here. And the fog rolled back in, and the kid disappeared.
And so our young man from 1951, he decided to take that advice, switch directions, and went the direction that this boy had pointed. And within a short while, he started to recognize where he was, and he got to the camp.
Wendy Corr:
That story gives me absolute chills. So, okay, all right. So, so tell me how this ties in, then to a bigger ghost story.
Jackie Dorothy:
Well, I was doing research, and I just knew there was something about this story that just grabbed me. And so as I was going through the old archives, I admit I had been reading for about two hours, and I was ready to give up.
And I was like, Okay, I got the story! Here's a boy, a hunter. He got lost, and then I came across the story of Dylan McKinnon, about 19 years before, in the 1930s. The 17 year old boy was out hunting by himself, another experienced woodsman. He knew the area, same circumstances happened.
And it was actually even worse, a blizzard came in, but it first started with fog. This fog came in and engulfed all of these hunters. And it wasn't just Dylan who was missing. There was hunters and so many lost that day on the bighorn mountains.
Same river, by the way, same area as our 1951 hunter. The difference is, and it's tragic. It gives me goosebumps. It's been years, but Dylan died, and he had, they found his body, and it was a happenstance. There was all these search parties hopeful that they would find him, but they stumbled upon his body, and it looked like he had just gotten tired, laid down, built himself a fire. It went out, and he just fell asleep and died.
Wendy Corr:
But what was he wearing?
Jackie Dorothy:
Yeah. He was wearing a red flannel shirt.
Wendy Corr:
There you go. Oh my gosh, Jackie, that's a fantastic story. Thank you for sharing that with us, and thank you for all the great stories that you tell us over the year.
Jackie Dorothy:
I'm looking forward to seeing what else we can dig up. And this is a reminder to myself, keep reading, keep pursuing those stories, because they are out there.
Wendy Corr:
Yes, they are. Thanks, Jackie.
Jackie Dorothy:
Thank you. Wendy.
Wendy Corr:
All right, our next special guest, our next featured reporter, is a features reporter, once again, this is Andrew Rossi, and Andrew is based in Cody. But Andrew, I mean Andrew and I go way back. We both have our roots at the Big Horn Radio Network. In fact, Andrew took over for me at the Big Horn Radio Network, and then here we both are at Cowboy State Daily. And what a gift he's been.
Andrew Rossi:
Yeah, Wendy, I like the joke that my career is just professionally following you wherever you go at this point, because that's, that's what the trend has been.
Wendy Corr:
Isn't that crazy??
Andrew Rossi:
I don't know, but I am not complaining.
Wendy Corr:
I'm not either. We are so glad to have you with us at Cowboy State Daily. Andrew, you had some really, really big stories, I mean, important stories that you told this year. So I'm gonna let you tell us what your best stories were for 2024.
Andrew Rossi:
Well, a lot come to mind, and I won't go on at length, but I'm proud of everything that I put out in Cowboy State Daily, and I'm happy that Cowboy State Daily keeps the bar so high. So that makes sure that all of us are working to the best of our ability to get the news out there.
In terms of the best stories of 2024, I'm really proud of the coverage that I did with Clair and Pat Maio of the Sheridan cop shooting, that was obviously a tragic situation that turned into a multi day standoff at a home in Sheridan.
We were on the scene, providing information in real time, getting interviews and providing a wide breadth of coverage that I'm really proud to have been a part of that, and the fact that I was trusted to cover that is something that I'm also very proud of.
A lot of stories were fun. I was really happy with my mammoths in Yellowstone story, which was exploring whether genetically resurrected mammoths could survive in modern day Yellowstone National Park, and whether they'll end up there, and we could be seeing them before the end of the decade, at least alive, not necessarily in Yellowstone. So that was a fun one to write and research.
When Black Diamond pool erupted in Yellowstone National Park in July, that was a big deal, and we had some of the breaking coverage of that event. We were talking to people who witnessed it that day, and then talking to the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory the next day to get all that information.
And you don't see something like that happen in Yellowstone every year, every 10 years, let alone every day. So the fact that we had video and audio and just good information about what happened and what that was, it was a really cool thing to be a part of.
But I feel like I've kind of hit my peak in one respect, because while it's certainly nowhere near the top of my list of stories, I'm most proud of the story about the cat that went missing in Yellowstone and then found its Way back to its home in California. It blew up like nothing I've ever written has, and I doubt ever will again.
So I feel like my peak at Cowboy State Daily, no matter how much, how hard I try, and I try very hard every day, but my peak is that darn Yellowstone cat.
Wendy Corr:
I think that's fantastic, and I agree. I don't know how you top that one, but, but Andrew, thank you for all you've done this year, and we look forward to more wonderful stories in 2025.
Andrew Rossi:
As do I. So thank you, Wendy, thank you listeners. Here's to 2024 and here's to 2025.
Wendy Corr:
All right, we are headed on to our next featured reporter, and our next featured reporter is our politics reporter, Leo Wolfson.
Leo was, I think Leo, weren't you the first full time hire for Cowboy State Daily? When we got to Cowboy State Daily 2.0 I think it was. But we are so blessed to have Leo because he's been writing Wyoming stories for many years, when he was here in Cody, doing the Cody Enterprise.
But on top of that, now at Cowboy State Daily, he has really gotten to know the people that he covers, and that gives him, I think, an edge over anybody else who's covering the legislature and legislative issues.
And so Leo, I'm so proud to work with you. I'm so proud to work with you and just the work that you do. What were your top stories this year? When you stop and think about and look back at 2024, what topics or what stories really jump out at you?
Leo Wolfson:
Well, thank you, Wendy. I'm proud to work with you as well. I think your video and podcasts and radio products really are kind of separating us from the pack in some great new age ways, and the amount of work that you're putting out is just as impressive. So thank you for that.
So one of the big stories that was the topic of discussion at the legislature this year was DEI at the University of Wyoming, and this was a really big one, I think, for people to watch on the sidelines, on either side of the topic.
The University of Wyoming opened up a office of diversity, equity, inclusion, in 2018 and this has kind of been under the radar for a few years, but the DEI stuff has really gained a lot of attention on a national level, particularly in the last two or three years, I would say.
And it finally came under the specter of the legislature. This spring, they passed a part of the budget, basically stripping the University of Wyoming DEI office of its funding, and basically ordering the university to stop all DEI related program programming. The governor ended up coming a little bit short of that, and he said that they could continue these type of programs, but he did cut out the funding for the office, for that office to exist.
So the ultimate question that was really interesting was the ball was kind of in UW court, how they wanted to move forward with this? They technically kind of had the jurisdiction to kind of continue this, if they wanted to continue this with their own source of funding, and see how they could do it.
But the optics, the political optics, is the big player at stage here, because they get a huge amount of their funding from the state every year. The legislature dictates how much funding they can get each year from them. But UW is on a block grant, which basically, basically means they can decide their individual budget. The legislature doesn't create UW’s budget or even really have an individual say in it, but they have a huge influence in it.
And really, what was really so interesting to watch was how UW was going to basically react to what the legislature did and what their next move on the chessboard was because of how much stake that the legislature has and say in their future.
And basically they ended up giving the legislature what it wanted. They ended up shutting down the office of DEI, much to the chagrin of many students who testified and tried to keep tried to influence the university to keep this office.
I was there at the Board of Trustees meeting that was held about three weeks after the legislature adjourned, and in that room, it may not have been representative Wyoming as a whole, but in that room, by far, the people who testified wanted the school to keep this office, but I think the trustees saw the writing on the wall, and they saw kind of where things were going with this, and they certainly don't want to have more of an antagonistic relationship With legislature than they maybe already have.
So that was basically what happened to the DEI program at UW. And I think it's a testament really to what's happening on a national level. A lot of these programs are really coming under the radar.
You know, at the end of the day, I think we have to be realistic that university settings tend to be more progressive, more liberal than the average community, just as a whole.
I mean, you look at so many schools around the nation, and it's just it's kind of unspoken, not to say every single school in the country, but that is kind of, kind of the culture of most universities, and I think it's coming under the radar, particularly in the state funded, state funded instances. It's really fascinating to watch.
Obviously, the presidential election, we saw President Elect Donald Trump voted in office again. And I think that's kind of, you know, where the country was kind of headed in response to President Joe Biden's administration that was very much in support of these dei type programs and trying to kind of push progressive ideals in some new ways. So it's just, it was really kind of just a comment on the larger national narrative.
Wendy Corr:
It's so interesting that you chose that story as kind of the one that stood out for you for 2024 when you had so many, but you're right. It's because it's a harbinger. It's a It's bellwether of what's happening and an indication of what's happening on a national level.
And you keep your finger on the heartbeat there of what's happening nationwide as well as as well as locally, and we are glad for that. Leo, anything else?
Leo Wolfson:
So thank you for that, Wendy. And I think the other thing that really caught me by attention this year was another big story, was the Freedom Caucus taking over the Wyoming House, taking over a majority of seats in the Wyoming House.
And that kind of plugs into what we just talked about as well, kind of this right word, more conservative move in Wyoming. And people might kind of chuckle at that, saying, you know, but Wyoming is already the reddest state in the country, like, how much more to the right can it go?
And to that, I would say that in some ways, it certainly is, but in some ways it's not passing the most conservative legislation in the country. I think I see certain states that are still kind of doing things a little bit before Wyoming. And I'm not saying that's right or wrong, but that is kind of where the state's at.
But this move with the Freedom Caucus was really significant in a number of different ways. A lot of incumbent, long time legislators lost their seats, and the Freedom Caucus was really just a fledgling group just a few years ago, they only had like five or six members, prior to 2020 they were kind of obscure, oddball group. That's how they were kind of seen at the time, and now they have become a lot more mainstream.
They have the controlling votes in the House. They also have all the leadership positions, all of them in the house as well, and that's going to be huge to see how that plays out.
The Senate had kind of stayed a little bit more traditional. The Senate didn't really change much as a result of the election, and seeing how those two groups work together in the dynamic there is going to be fascinating to watch.
Whether there's going to be a clear dividend between the two, or whether the Senate really is just kind of, you know that the house, an extension of the house, is yet to be seen. We just don't know. And there's signs of both, signs of both, that could play out.
So very interesting stuff, but yeah, once again, a testament to what's going on nationally, and it's the only house that's been taken over by a Freedom Caucus. There's a state Freedom Caucus network that set up these Freedom Caucus groups in about a dozen or so states.
But they have never had this much power in any single house in the country till Wyoming gave it that power in the August Republican primary, and that was backed up in the general election. So it's going to be really interesting to see how it plays out.
It's going to be significant for Wyoming's future. I think when they write the history books, you know, I, you know, I'm a little bit of a political obsessive, and I know the regular, the everyday person is not, you know, looking at it the attention that I'm giving it usually. But I think when they look at the history books 20 or 30 years down the road, and they do these kind of, these, you know, retrospective type pieces, I think they're going to look at 2024, as the year that the Freedom Caucus took the majority in the House.
Now what they do with that power remains to be seen, and how significant or not that will be up to them, and how what they do with it and how the people like it.
Wendy Corr:
That is very, very true, and I think that that's a great, great insight there. Leo, thank you for what you offer to Cowboy State Daily, and what you offer to our readers and to the state, and we're so glad to have you and have your insights and what you bring to the table. So thank you.
Leo Wolfson:
Thank you, Wendy. I appreciate it.
Wendy Corr:
All right. 2025 is going to be great.
Leo Wolfson:
Let's hope it is.
Wendy Corr:
All right. Thanks, Leo.
So our next featured reporter today is Jen Kocher, and Jen has been with Cowboy State Daily for several years now, and although she's not a full time reporter, she's got a lot of irons in the fire. Jen is one of our most just talented investigative reporters, and missing persons cases are where her heart truly lies.
And so Jen, I have to ask you, when you look back at 2024, you had a couple of really big stories that got a lot of of attention and a lot of acclaim, but you also had some stories that were very close to your heart.
Jen Kocher
Yeah, my biggest story by far was the new evidence found in the DB Cooper hijacking case. And that was humongous. I mean, that went international. It was big news, and for us to break it out of Wyoming was pretty special.
And our connection to, or the DB Cooper connection to Wyoming, of course, is that the hijack the real DB Cooper, potentially Richard McCoy's daughter lives in southwestern Wyoming, and which and I was able to go meet her and spend time with her through the course of reporting this story.
So it was real. It was a real, special one. I was thrilled to be a part of it, big news, and who knows where that's going to go. And. And then, of course, by missing people's stories, I just you know how I am.
Wendy Corr:
I do know how you are. I love how you are, because you have such a passion for this. Not everybody does. And so for you, there needs to be people like you who are there to shine the light and not forget these people who disappeared off the face of the earth.
Jen Kocher:
Yeah, in some cases, they just seemingly have disappeared. Well, in this past year, I was able to provide an update in the Chance Engelbert missing person case, and that one is, a lot of people, I hear from readers all the time. Are there any updates? Because he was a young cowboy.
I think he was someone to get my ages messed up. I think it was 2324 when he went missing while visiting his wife's family in Gering, Nebraska. And it was over the Fourth of July weekend, he just disappeared. Nobody has seen a trace of him.
So I was able to report this year that there was new updates. They the family brought in a volunteer private investigator. And there's quite a few people out there. When you get into this world, these people are doing this for free. They're private investigators who just really care about this stuff, and they know that the families can't possibly afford to hire somebody to do the amount of hours it requires.
And of course, the police, you know, in most cases, they're trying very hard, but they just don't have the budgets either. So these private investigative investigators can provide some really vital feet on the ground. And in this case, the private investigator, Ryan was able to uncover new information about two witnesses that were seen that night and also a vehicle.
And he and I stay in touch all the time. I'm waiting for any new update to see where those go. Those two new tips go. And again, he's still working that really hard, and he has a full time job also so but that's what it takes. It takes a volunteer.
Wendy Corr:
It does, yes.
Jen Kocher:
And speaking of volunteers, there's a volunteer over here in Gillette, Stacy Kester, and she has put in really good work on the Irene Gakwa missing person case. And Irene, that is coming up in February, she'll have been missing for four years, and so that's a heartbreaking one.
Of course, she's the Kenyan nursing student who just disappeared after moving here with her boyfriend. Her boyfriend is currently serving in prison for Financial Crimes against her, so when she disappeared, he basically drained her bank account and changed her banking password and deleted an email.
So he pleaded guilty to those so he is serving three to six years, and he is up for probation in March. So I'm expecting there will be some news on that one in the coming year.
Wendy Corr:
There will be more cases to discover and more.
Jen Kocher:
Yeah, and another one that was really near and dear to my heart, which was a very unexpected one, I have one thing - I think the reason I love reporting is the people I meet through the course of doing these stories, and some of whom have become really close friends.
And so one of those people is a former private investigator, and he's always sending me, you know, he used to work in the missing, he's a retired Sheriff, sheriff's deputy, and he also just got hooked on Missing Person cases. And he's since retired, sort of - but he has, he is always sending me people to look into and one of those was a little girl who died.
Her body was found in 1965, Denise Clinton, and she was kidnapped as a nine year old girl from Nebraska and brought to - her body was located outside of Devils Tower. On a private ranch outside the Devil's Tower and her her captors and murderer has never been brought to justice.
But this year, her body was discovered by two cowboys who are working on that private ranch. And this year her - the Sisters of the slain girl were able, one of them was able to come out to Wyoming and meet with the daughters of the cowboy who found the girl.
And that was such a neat story for those two families who have you know, 60 years later, and they have both lived with their own different types of trauma, but they were able to meet on this land where her body was found, and not just put a headstone in a memorial for her, but also have you know their own celebration of life as it were.
So they were all able to talk about what it meant for them and to see all these strangers come together, and they've since become good friends through the course of this terrible tragedy.
But I guess that's what I like, too. You know, you can find the real compelling, heart warming stories in these terrible tragedies, and that's what makes humans interesting and resilient in general.
Wendy Corr:
Well, I'm so glad that you're there to shine a light on these things. Jen, thank you for what you've contributed in 2024 and we look forward to more wonderful and interesting and investigative stories in 2025.
Jen Kocher:
Thanks, Wendy.
Wendy Corr:
Okay, folks, our next featured reporter is our outdoors reporter, Mark Heinz. And Mark is a he's a veteran reporter. He's been from Idaho, all over Wyoming. You've been to several other states, Montana. I mean, you started in Montana. So Mark knows, knows his beats.
And Mark had several great, great stories this year. Mark, what was your number one story this year? Do you think for you, what was the top one?
Mark Heinz:
Well, there's no question in terms of what was the biggest story. It was that incident with the wolf in Daniel and all the fallout from that. You know, for those who, I guess -
If anybody's been under a rock and haven't heard, there was a man in up there in the Daniel area was accused of running down and crippling a wolf with his snowmobile and then capturing it, duct taping it, duct taping its mouth shut, taking it to his home, and then taking it to the bar in Daniel and showing it off, and then finally killing it.
And of course, as you can imagine, that caused people, not only all over Wyoming, all over the country, all over the world, people just came unglued over that. Nothing sets people off like cruelty to animals and and this one set people off.
And we're still there's still repercussions to that. That happened like right at the beginning of the year, in February. It's still reverberating the the Wyoming Legislature, when it convenes in January, has at least one bill coming before that stems directly from that incident, in the allegations that were made and policy changes that some people would like to see.
So as far as the biggest story that was it - now, as far as my personal favorite story, you know, I would have to see, you know, it's man, if you're asking me to choose one, that's like, that's like, you know, Jimmy Orr would get this, that's like asking me to choose my favorite Black Sabbath song. I mean, there were so many cool, fun stories and interesting stories.
You know, I really, I'm still really fond of the Haunted Civic Center story. We did that, Reilly and I went in there, and we had the full range of people. We had a skeptic with us who doesn't believe in ghosts. We had ghost hunters who do believe in ghosts. Everybody got along fabulously. Everybody was just enjoying the place in the atmosphere.
And I love that building. I moved to Laramie in 2013, it's one of the first buildings I ever went into, and I've been in love with it ever since. So that was a real treat to be taken around in every little nook and cranny of that building.
And is there ghosts in here? And that that that was super fun. I really loved that story. So that one really sticks out to me too. Are there any, any idea that that that stick out to you, Wendy?
Wendy Corr:
I'm still stuck on the “Squallets” from last year!
Mark Heinz:
Yeah, the squallets - I did a couple follow ups on the squallet this year, this past year, but that's more of a 2023 story. And for the uninitiated, the Squallet, is a it's a wallet that's made out of a squirrel. I came across a meme on Facebook. I thought, this has to be fake. I looked it up. It wasn't fake. It's a real thing.
I tracked down the people who make these things, and oddly enough, they have friends in Wyoming, and that's Wyoming is kind of the place where the whole idea was, was, you know, kind of initiated. That's where they got, you know, it's conversation with their friends in Wyoming. Hey, you guys, should you guys should start making these things and make a business out of it?
And they've gone on to be hugely successful. And those were the updates this year. They've made it a successful business, and they came and they did an elk hunt in Wyoming this year. The squallet people did.
Wendy Corr:
So, squallets bring people together.
Mark Heinz:
Yeah, of course. You know 399, that was a big deal. You know, you know her with her cub, and then her getting hit by the car and and killed. I mean, of course, that broke a lot of people's hearts. Yeah, that was another big one, you know.
And I just wow, Wendy, again, I'm kind of, I'm kind of drawing a blank. Any story again, the, you know, I really liked the Broken Bandit story too, when we went out to that animal shelter and that lady.
Wendy Corr:
Yeah, yeah. She's got an alligator out there!
Mark Heinz:
And she's got these weird animals from they're devastatingly cute. They're like, these weird raccoon, like, animals with these long, pointy snouts. And I got to go in the enclosure with them, and they like, grab you with their little hands. And they're just, they're so cool and, you know, and, of course, raccoons, I mean, as much as we might want to shake our fists at raccoons, they're cute, you know. And that was a fun story, too.
So just, you know, I think it was a, you know, it was a well rounded year for me. I got to, you know, cover, you know, a really serious matter, like the Daniel Wolf, that was, like, a really serious, hard hitting, very emotional story.
I got to do goofy stories, you know? Yeah, I just did the one on loudeners, people that literally put devices on their guns to make them louder. Uh, another one, the raccoons mistaking the Teslas for dumpsters. That was another one. So, you know, I got to do my me and my usual fun, goofy stories.
You know, the story I just did on on the band, because I'm really into music. You know, the band that the Tremors, the Tremors, they started in Casper ended up on the West Coast, might or might not have inspired a young Kurt Cobain. I love those kind of stories too. Just the history and, you know, in the music.
And another one, Wendy, you know, the more I talk, the more I think. But another one that absolutely, I got to give a shout out to one of the funnest damn stories I've ever done, one of the most fun I've ever had, and actually get paid for it, Mac Sabbath.
Because I am a huge, huge Black Sabbath fan. Have been since I was a teenager. Never got to see them in concert. I came close a couple times. Never got to see them in concert. But you know, Mac Sabbath was a cool second place.
And what that is, is people who dress up as McDonald land characters, Ronald McDonald, Hamburglar, you know, Mayor McCheese, and they play Black Sabbath songs, but they changed the lyrics to be about French fries and hamburgers and things like that. And I, I really enjoyed myself that night. That was, I was hoarse from screaming by the time I was I walked out of the theater.
So yeah, thanks for thanks for sharing the memories with me of 2020.
Wendy Corr:
Absolutely. Thanks Mark!
All right, our next featured reporter is an amazing, amazing reporter for business, but she's got an energy background. And heck, Renee Jean is a scientist. This all contributes to all of the really in depth reporting that she does, but she does some great fun stories too.
So Renee Jean, what this year, 2024, there was so many things to report on and so many varied things that you did report on. What stood out to you? From the work that you did in 2024 what stood out to you?
Renée Jean:
So of course, I'm going to mention the Fish Creek fire that threatened Brooks Lake Lodge and the stories we wrote about that. And you know, the elk fire threatening the bighorn communities over, you know, close to a million acres burned in Wyoming, 800 and some 800,000 and some change.
So that was a big deal. And getting to go up there and cover that was amazing. I was thankful that I got to do that.
The Postal Service downsizing Wyoming's mail service, that's really hit a chord with a lot of people, and I'm glad that I was able to cover that and, you know, kind of bring forward some of the things that are going on with rural deliveries in Wyoming, like medication sitting too long and unrefrigerated warehouses with UPS.
I think I had a lot of fun with the Trump tariffs and the effect on consumers. And now, Hey, you don't need to buy up all the toilet paper.
But the story that I'm really going to mention where I had a lot of fun is this story in Esterbrook, every year for Father's Day, it's bring your horse to church for Sunday in Esterbrook. It's just such a fun thing that this little community does, lots of people come out to it, and, you know, it just, I really touched a chord with some people. I was told that some people cried when they read it.
So I feel like it did. You know, I should mention that story. It was, it wouldn't. It was great fun to get to do that. One too.
Wendy Corr:
Renee, you've gotten to travel the state, and we're so glad that you do. Thank you for what you contributed in 2024 and we are looking forward to 2025!
Renée Jean
All right. Merry Christmas and Happy New Years, everybody!
Wendy Corr:
Absolutely.
All right, our next featured reporter is a features reporter, but he also has a unique beat. Dale Killingbeck is the only one of our reporters that's actually assigned an area, and so he's got the Casper beat, but Dale excels at writing history stories and features.
Dale, you had great series that you've been able to research and present. Tell us about your favorite your favorite stories from this year.
Dale Killingbeck
Yeah, well, I guess, you know, it didn't start out to be like a series, but it just turned out that, you know, in digging into Wyoming history, I came across all these really important events, and that happened in history of Wyoming, and they all occurred with Converse County sheriffs.
There was a sheriff that chased members of the Hole in the Wall Gang that ended up getting shot. There was another Sheriff that encountered a killer in a hotel in Douglas in the 1920s that arrested him. And then there was a third sheriff. We've been shot a couple of them other times that ended up capturing these mass teen mass murders in the 1950s in Wyoming.
So all of that together just really struck me that, you know, it was they were all Converse county sheriffs, and they were all in these huge stories nationally, across, you know, across the nation, let me see that. And they were all sheriffs that that that were involved in stories that were important nationally.
Wendy Corr:
Those are great stories. And we're so glad that you are telling them. Dale, you've been with us for a year now, and we're so glad that you have contributed so much to Cowboy State Daily.
Dale Killingbeck:
Hey, it's really been a lot of fun, a lot of joy, and I'm looking forward to the new year.
Wendy Corr:
Us too. Thanks, Dale.
All right, so our next featured reporter is our crime and courts reporter. I tell you, folks, I have never seen someone get so excited about legalese as when Clair McFarland gets going on a Supreme Court case, and she's just so knowledgeable.
And Clair's, of course, based in Riverton, and she's got just years of history. Makes you sound older, but you know, she is very, very experienced in what her beat is, and she loves it a lot. So Clair, tell us a little bit about what's your favorite story for 2024.
Clair McFarland:
It's not hard at all because it's also my favorite story of my entire career, and that was a feature I wrote about the former Wind River tribal court judge Terry Smith and her amazing recovery from drug addiction and how her life is back together. And she's now taking her experience to help others recover from drug addiction.
And the reason this one is so important to me is because when I was a baby reporter working at the local paper news outlet, Terry Smith, being busted for drug delivery, for oxycodone delivery, cocaine delivery while she was a tribal court judge, was my breakout story.
And so you know, at the time, brand new gung ho, new to crime. I just because it was a big story for me. I just covered every teeny, tiny aspect of her case. And I think, you know, even though she was a judge and there's more scrutiny and there's more sunshine with that, I'm sure it wasn't easy to to be that person where every single time someone coughs in the courtroom, I was there covering it.
And she, you know, she, she went to prison, she she did her time, she dealt with me and and at the end, you know, she came through saying she was grateful for all of it, grateful for me, grateful for the DCI agents that investigated her, grateful for the chance to turn her life around.
She really just, she grabbed accountability by the horns, you know, and that blew me away, but also the fact that after all of this, I'm gonna hold it together. After all of my just intense coverage of this woman's downfall, she was willing to sit down, have coffee with me and tell me about her recovery so that I could write a feature about her.
That's how gracious she was, is. She was willing to circle back to the crime reporter to tell her recovery story.
Wendy Corr:
That is absolutely, I don't have any words for that. That's so touching and moving, but it comes down to the meaningfulness of what we do and, what we do as reporters, taking the story, but then doing what you did, and come back around and say, this is the whole story. It's not just the crime, it's the person, it's the human being. And you covered that so well.
Clair, thank you. Thank you. That's a great story. Thanks for sharing that with us. Thanks for all you do for Cowboy State Daily. And 2024 was a major year, and 2025 is going to be great too. Thanks a lot, Clair.
And that's it. That is our best-of edition of Cowboy State Daily News, as our final episode of the Roundup for the year. It has been my genuine pleasure to be your host and to bring you these stories every week. Folks, have a very happy new year. We'll see you in 2025.
