It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming, for Wednesday, January 29th. 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 bill that would block Wyoming’s government from compelling employees to use a coworker’s preferred pronouns cleared its first committee vote with unanimous approval, and now heads to the state Senate floor.
If it becomes law, Senate File 77 would forbid the state and all its subdivisions — such as towns, counties, and schools — from compelling or requiring government employees to call their coworkers by “preferred pronouns.” That’s according to Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland.
“On the one hand, Senator Crump was like, Well, what if I'm calling a guy ‘she’ to haze him all the time? Can the state not fire me for bullying him?... nd so an attorney from Alliance Defending Freedom, which practices in this area, a ton, said, No, this bill is just the right not to be compelled to say certain things. There's just they cannot force your speech. There's still remedies for bullying, according to him.”
The bill passed on a 5-0 vote. It must survive three readings in the state Senate and House of Representatives, and the governor’s desk to become law.
Read the full story HERE.
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Freedom Caucus members in the Wyoming House are leading an effort to stop political candidates from running for office in general elections by switching parties after losing primary races.
On Tuesday, the House passed first reading of a bill that would move the date to file as an independent candidate in Wyoming to well before the primary. Cowboy State Daily’s Leo Wolfon reports that this would eliminate the ability for people to run after losing primary elections.
“The whole aim of this bill basically, is to target people who were running their campaigns based off the results of primary elections that they didn't like… Currently, people can announce a independent campaign after the primary election for about 10 days… So this is kind of the latest step in a trend of hardline conservatives like Haroldson who do not like people making political registration decisions based off of candidates they do or don't like in elections.”
The bill sponsor, state Rep. Jeremy Haroldson of Wheatland, said he’s had county elections staff complain to him about the 70-day rule, which gives the clerks a short window to print ballots for Wyoming residents voting from overseas.
Read the full story HERE.
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There’s agreement across the board that the torture of a wolf in Daniel last year goes against everything Wyoming hunters stand for.
House Bill 275 was written in response to that incident, and is advancing through the Wyoming Legislature. But Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports that whether it should be legal to chase and run down wolves and other predators with vehicles remains a hotly debated point.
“There are still a lot of people from a lot of different quarters and points of view in Wyoming, who are saying that unless they put something in this bill that makes it illegal to run animals over with the vehicle, it's not going to have the intended effect… the committee didn't delve into that part of it, but they did forward the bill, but definitely as this thing moves on into the house floor and then probably the Senate floor. Look for that debate to continue.”
The vote to forward House Bill 275 to the floor was unanimous.
Read the full story HERE.
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A Wyoming House committee advanced a proposal Tuesday to triple the state’s contribution to the $182 million rebuild of crumbling LaPrele Dam.
The 115-year-old dam near Douglas is close to failing. Cowboy State Daily’s Leo Wolfson reports that Democrat Representative Mike Yin of Jackson proposed increasing the state’s contribution to the project to $90 million dollars, saying he sees fixing the failing dam as a state level emergency that transcends jurisdictions.
“He's in Teton County, and he believes it's really this could have a statewide effect, if something horrible would have happened with the dam where it broke. Senator Mike Guru, who's the co sponsor of the bill, another Democrat from Jackson, agrees, and he pointed out that a huge flood could wipe out some of the i 25 corridor in Central Wyoming, and as a result, it would have a serious effect on the entire state.”
The House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday unanimously passed the proposal.
Read the full story HERE.
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The mysterious drones that befuddled New Jersey residents last fall have been identified by the Trump administration.
Trump’s press secretary Tuesday said the drones were approved by the FAA and were a combination of research, hobbyist and other aircraft.
However, Cowboy State Dailys’ Clair McFarland reports that similar unidentified drones in Niobrara County, Wyoming, are still making appearances.
“Trump's statement addressed the ones flying over New Jersey like these are FAA approved, some research, some are the hobbyists, whatever, still very vague from the government on high, but the Sheriff of Niobrara County was like, well, we're still seeing grid pattern drone flights here repeatedly and still don't have answers for that… Sheriff Starkey said that he's meeting with a drone expert Wednesday for more answers about what could be going on. But right now, he has no idea.”
The Wyoming Office of Homeland Security has established a website to collect drone sighting tips, and as a resource to help people identify what they’re seeing.
Read the full story HERE.
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Wyoming’s farmers and ranchers face a host of challenges every year that threaten to drive them out of business. That’s helped prompt many to also pursue alternative revenue streams, and among the most popular has been agritourism - activities such as pumpkin patches, corn mazes and hay rides.
But opening the doors to agritourism also opens the doors to significant liability if someone is hurt while at their operation. Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports that the Wyoming Legislature is considering a bill that would extend tourism liability coverage for these attractions.
“Farms and ranches are not, you know, danger free zones. In fact, OSHA lists farming and ranching as one of the most dangerous occupations in America, and so when you open the door to have tourists coming in who maybe you don't know anything about how to act around cattle, or they don't know anything about, you know, this big farm equipment, there are some inherent risks there, and so Wyoming does have a recreation Safety Act extended to other tourism venues to kind of lift some of the liability off of them… So you know, this just kind of cleans that up and clarifies that agritourism is under the recreation Safety Act.”
Senate File 108 unanimously passed the Senate Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resources Committee Tuesday morning.
Read the full story HERE.
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On Tuesday, Gov. Mark Gordon expressed “grave concerns” about the Joint Appropriations Committee of the Wyoming Legislature’s recent move to reject his $130 million recovery request made in the supplemental budget for wildfire relief, and instead provide $100 million in loans for Wyoming residents.
Cowboy State Daily’s Leo Wolfson reports that Gordon believes Wyoming residents who had property damaged during the historic 2024 wildfire season should be eligible for immediate and permanent relief on behalf of the state.
“That loan program will come with a 2% interest rate for all participants, the supporters of the loan program on the Appropriations Committee said that they do believe there should be a little bit of personal responsibility by landowners in this situation, and they also said they questioned whether Wyoming would even be constitutionally allowed to provide grants and for this type of need.”
Gordon did indicate he would be open to a split program with a portion of money going toward grants, and another portion for loans.
Read the full story HERE.
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Are a cow’s gassy emissions and burps equal to a bison’s? Western Justice, a nonprofit that says it’s dedicated to "empowering the future of the Western lifestyle," claims that the 31.7 million beef and 9.4 million dairy cattle in the United States today are comparable to the millions of buffalo living in the West during the 1800s.
But Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that the biology doesn’t necessarily support their argument.
“It's a complicated answer of why cattle produce more methane than bison. Based on everything that I've compiled, and the people I talked to, it boils down to cattle tend to live longer and they get round the clock care. Unlike bison, bison populations can fluctuate. Diet has been proven to be a pretty big part of it, what the animals are eating… But then, on top of that, for reasons I don't fully understand… while cattle just seem to emit methane, bison… actually pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and into the ground in a way that cattles don’t.”
If cattle emissions are as urgent as many suggest, it’s not one that Wyoming ranchers are being forced to confront. Jim Magagna, executive vice president of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association, said it’s not a pressing issue in the Cowboy State.
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! And don’t forget to drop in on the Cowboy State Daily morning show with Jake Nichols, Monday through Friday from 6 to 10 a.m.!
Thanks for tuning in - I’m Wendy Corr, for Cowboy State Daily.
