It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming, for Monday, January 6th. I’m Reilly Strand, in for Wendy Corr, bringing you headlines from the Cowboy State Daily newsroom brought to you by Visit Casper. Visit Casper invites you to come enjoy the Casper International Film Festival, January 31-February 2, 2025, hosted at Frontier Brewing Co. downtown. A broad range of films from local and international filmmakers will be shown, including the premiere of Pacifica, a Dutch feature filmed last year in Wyoming. Learn more and get your tickets at visitcasper.com.
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A Saturday avalanche on Togwotee Pass killed one skier. On Sunday, the Teton County Coroner confirmed the skier was 36-year-old Kenneth Goff of Lander, Wyoming. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that Goff was one of four skiers who triggered the avalanche as they were ascending a skin track.
“In most of Wyoming, the storm rolled in on Saturday… It was just before noon that the 911…satellite text went out. And the search and rescue tried [a] helicopter that didn’t work, tried [a] snowmobile that didn’t work, got people on skis out to the site, and they were there just before 4 p.m. So, I mean, the weather was really limiting the response here. ”
Rescuers said the four-hour delay is a cautionary statement about adventuring in harsh weather.
Read the full story HERE.
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It’s been nearly eight months since 17-year-old Lene’a Brown was shot and killed by her ex-boyfriend, Eavan Castaner, in a Casper park. Though, that time does little to alleviate the fear, pain and grief felt by the ones who love her. Cowboy State Daily’s Dale Killingbeck spoke with her parents, who said Lene’a wasn’t the only one who died that day.
“They told me that [it] wasn't only Lene’a that died that day last May… but it was them as well. He said he’s lost interest in his hobbies and things like that, and that’s perfectly understandable…They’re just learning how to cope with this tremendous loss in their life.”
Her father said he plans to talk about his daughter at Castaner’s sentencing.
Read the full story HERE.
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Jim Bob and Marlie Schell have traded their home in Hoback Junction for a sailboat. The family will not only sail around the world over the next decade, but they’re homeschooling their son on the high seas. Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean spoke with the family, who said sea life is awesome, but it doesn’t come without challenges.
“They started this in… September or so. So they haven't been at it super long, but so far, they're really glad that they did this. They don't have any regrets. There has been a learning curve, figuring out how to do things that make the most sense in a small, enclosed space. They started out in the Caribbean because there are lots of other families who are in the Caribbean doing kind of the same thing, so they're all kind of learning from each other.”
For others interested in the sailing lifestyle, the couple says many moments are amazing, but it’s important to realize it won’t always be as glamorous as social media suggests.
Read the full story HERE.
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Mercy Vanaman purchased a quaint 1930s home in Hayward, California, three years ago, but during recent renovations in the attic, she found something native to Cheyenne— a metal box full of home videos. Cowboy State Daily’s Jackie Dorothy reports the box was labeled with the names of Preston and Pat Mitchell, along with a Cheyenne address.
“What I really liked about this story is how Wyoming itself came together to try to identify the Mitchells and who these home videos belong to, and the fact that the American Heritage Center is actually interested in them is a pretty cool thing. It shows that our history is not just about the pioneers from the 1800s, but from those in the 1950s and 60s as well.”
If Vanaman is unable to locate a close family member, she plans to donate the films back to Wyoming, and the American Heritage Center would be happy to take them.
Read the full story HERE.
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A woman named Terri Smith went from being a tribal court judge, to a prison inmate, to an outspoken addiction recovery mentor who was reinstated Thursday to practice law in Wyoming. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that Smith hopes this victory can send a message to others with addictions that they too can get their lives back.
“Terri Smith is a Northern Arapaho tribal member who was really celebrated during her meteoric rise… In 2018, she became chief tribal court judge… During that whole time, she was hiding an opiate addiction, and she turned to trading and selling pills… and the FBI and DCI caught her… News outlets covered all of this… She's so accountable about everything she did that I think that's helped in her recovery journey now. She jumped through all the hoops, and she put in a lot of leg work to be reinstated to practice law.”
In the long term, Smith is considering working as a public defender who can also counsel her clients to take their first steps towards recovery.
Read the full story HERE.
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The Facebook group Oregon Roadkill Recovery gives real time updates about roadkill that people can pick up to eat. It’s also legal to pick up roadkill for food in Wyoming. Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports that while there’s no Wyoming Facebook group, there is the 511 app. It doubles as a roadkill reporting app, but also a way to get permission from Game and Fish to keep a carcass for food.
“Picking up roadkill to eat is a thing… Some people might seem squeamish about that, but this guy I talked to, who's done it before, he said, first of all, the deer we recovered, they heard it get hit. They were there like five minutes after the animal [was] killed. So they knew it was clean… The idea people might get in their head of just, oh, you find a roadkill animal, and you pick it up and go eat it. That's probably not a good idea… You don't know how fresh it is. You don't know if it died of poison or something crazy like that.”
Before you pick up an unfortunate roadside critter, Heinz said he wants to stress that getting proper tags and reporting the roadkill on the 511 app is necessary.
Read the full story HERE.
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The super volcano percolating underneath Yellowstone National Park isn’t going to erupt anytime soon, and a new study from the United States Geological Survey has proven it’s less likely than ever. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that while many news outlets saw the research as a sign that Yellowstone is active, scientists say the research should be less nerve wracking and more reassuring.
“They used new information and new technology to map out Yellowstone's magma chambers… What it showed is that most of the magma in Yellowstone is hard. It's solid. It's not liquid, and liquid magma is what causes eruption. … There is liquid magma down there… But it's… certainly not in any quantity that would make volcanologists believe that an eruption is imminent, tomorrow, next year… or anytime in this century or millennia.”
Experts say Yellowstone National Park's abundant geothermal and hydrothermal activity makes it one of the most studied volcanoes on the planet.
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. Thanks for tuning in - I’m Reilly Strand, for Cowboy State Daily.
