It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming, for Friday, January 17th. I’m 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 through February 2. A broad range of films from local and international filmmakers will be shown. Learn more and get your tickets at visitcasper.com.
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A Wyoming legislative bill called the “What Is A Woman Act” survived a rigorous debate in the House of Representatives on Thursday.
The act, House Bill 32, cleared its first vote in the Wyoming House of Representatives on Thursday. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that the debate brought questions of whether it violates the separation of powers principle.
“This bill, okay, so it wants to define any term referencing males or females, whether it's boy, girl, man, woman, mother, father, according to biological sex. That's a, b. It wants to tell the courts to give a friendlier interpretation of sex separation laws, or some would say anti transgender laws then. So it wants the courts to just back off a little and not hold those those sex separation laws, to such a high standard… Representative Ken Chestek… recently retired law professor… was saying courts don't like it when you tell them which constitutional standard to use those things are either set in the language of the Constitution or courts kind of ascertain them themselves. ”
If it became law, the bill would define male and female according to biological sex across Wyoming’s law books. It would also defend sex-based separations of government-run facilities like prisons and bathrooms in public buildings.
Read the full story HERE.
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Randy Kane was sound asleep in the wee hours Nov. 23, 2023, when, without warning, a team of federal agents, armed and in full gear, showed up at the door of his home in Big Horn, a small community in Sheridan County.
The search was based upon accusations that, as a convicted felon, he was in illegal possession of numerous firearms. But Kane told Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz that he and his girlfriend were baffled because, as they understood it, Kane’s firearms rights had been restored by the state of Wyoming.
“Wyoming has this in statutes where, if you are a non violent felon, and you fulfilled your obligation to the state… the state will restore your rights, including your firearms rights. And this gentleman had to his understanding, including a letter from the governor's office, had his firearms rights restored. But apparently there's a gap between that and the Federal understanding. The feds still think that, okay, you're felon, you can't possess firearms.”
Kane said he was never arrested or served with any charges. His lawyer recently told him that he’s out of any legal peril. But the couple said that they still haven’t gotten any of their seized guns back.
Read the full story HERE.
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An investigation at a Gillette assisted living center is underway after an 88-year-old female patient from the memory care wing was found dead in an outside courtyard at the facility.
Three employees at the Legacy Living and Rehabilitation Center connected to the incident remain suspended, according to Cowboy State Daily’s Jen Kocher.
“All we know at this point that the woman is deceased. She was found outside, and obviously it was cold temperatures, but the cause of death is undetermined at this point. And I did speak to the coroner, Paul wallam, and he promised to release his results as soon as the police investigation is complete.”
The National Weather Service for Gillette reports the temperatures Jan. 10 were between 10 and 35 degrees, with 2 inches of snow having fallen the day prior.
Read the full story HERE.
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State Sen. Larry Hicks of Baggs apologized Thursday for calling out the abortion voting record of a fellow legislator two days earlier.
Hicks had tried to block Sen. Eric Barlow of Gillette from becoming chair of the Senate Labor, Health and Social Services Committee on the first day of the 68th Legislature on Tuesday, because Hicks saw as Barlow not having a strong enough stance opposing abortion.
Cowboy State Daily’s Leo Wolfson reports that Hicks addressed Barlow, and said that he believed that on at least one or two circumstances, he may have misrepresented Barlow’s voting record.
“It wasn't necessarily a full, you know, deep, complete apology. There was some caveats to it. For one that he said that he he stands by his beliefs and what he was asserting there, but he he also acknowledged that he believes Barlow has become much more pro life than he was in the past, and he acknowledges and respects that.”
Hicks’ attempt to block Barlow as chair of the Labor and Health committee was resoundingly defeated on a 28-3 vote.
Read the full story HERE.
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A bill that will prohibit the transfer of property near critical infrastructure to foreign adversaries is moving out of committee with a unanimous vote from Senate Appropriations.
Senate File 76 directs the Wyoming Office of Homeland Security to review and investigate property transfers near critical infrastructure to ensure that none are transferred to prohibited foreign parties.
But Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports that with more than a million real estate transactions happening in Wyoming each year, the task is likely to require more personnel than what the bill has outlined, to sort out the details pertaining to this proposed rule.
“Wyoming has a lot of foreign investors who are good partners and who are creating jobs in the state… And then you know, beneficial owners are not identified in Wyoming in all cases. So that would be an additional hurdle… how would you even know that this company is a foreign adversary, if you don't know who the beneficial owners really are… Where is the critical infrastructure in Wyoming? And then, you know, how can we track all of the real estate transactions in those zones?”
Wyoming Office of Homeland Security Director Lynn Budd told lawmakers she agrees that the matter is a national security issue, but added it is also important to protect and support not only Wyomingites, but people in other states that Wyoming serves.
Read the full story HERE.
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A 59-year-old Casper man who investigators say is linked to more than 1,000 images and videos of child pornography - as well as drug possession - pleaded not guilty in Natrona County District Court on Thursday.
Mark Chanez is facing nine felony charges in the case, according to Cowboy State Daily’s Dale Killingbeck.
“He's the gentleman that told investigators initially that he was saving the images to turn over to Facebook, and then he told police that he was saving the images and was going to report it to the CASPER Police Department, which they found that he never did.”
While executing the search warrant on Chanez, agents also found controlled substances in his living room. Chanez admitted the drugs belonged to him.
Read the full story HERE.
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There was some unexpected debate on Thursday in the Wyoming House over a bill that would require proof of United States citizenship to register to vote in Wyoming.
The House refused to consider an amendment that state Rep. Mike Yin, a Democrat from Jackson, tried adding to the bill on Thursday. His amendment would make it much more expansive by requiring proof of U.S. citizenship from all people attempting to vote in Wyoming.
Cowboy State Daily’s Leo Wolfson reports that Rep. John Bear of Gillette, who proposed the original bill, said Yin’s amendment wasn’t relevant, as his bill applies to new voter registrants.
“The Freedom Caucus have been very adamant about tightening Wyoming's voter laws and really trying to make them as elections as secure as possible in the state. So it was surprising that Ian, a Democrat, kind of on the other side of the political spectrum from the Freedom Caucus, would propose this. It was rejected by the House, who ruled that it was not relevant to the bill and not a amendment that could even be considered.”
Bear argued it wasn’t relevant as his bill applies to new voter registrants. Although he said he agreed with the sentiment of Yin’s amendment, Bear still didn’t view his bill as the right place for the requirement.
Read the full story HERE.
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The calm before a subzero storm is about over for much of Wyoming, with the next several days expected to hammer the Cowboy State with a surge of subzero temperatures, snow squalls and dangerously low wind chills.
And Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that nobody in Wyoming is avoiding this one.
“The weather that's arriving this morning and is going to sweep across Wyoming by this evening is going to be in three distinct phases that people need to be aware of. The first phase is wind and light fluffy snow and a drop in temperature that's going to extend throughout Friday, and it's going to make traveling hazardous, because all of that wet snow that's melted on the highways is going to freeze immediately and then be covered by another layer of snow. The second phase is going to be the sub zero surge. That's when we're talking about highs, daytime highs, in the teens and single digits and wind chills, pushing that to 30 below zero, if not lower in some places. Then the third phase is what cowboys state daily meteorologist Don day calls a classic Chinook, which is when the temperature rapidly rises, but in the Rocky Mountain region, that means there's going to be a huge amount of wind.”
The National Weather Service forecasts say Wyoming can expect to see low temperatures ranging anywhere from minus 4 in some areas to as cold as minus 17, or perhaps colder.
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.
