It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming, for Thursday, January 30th. 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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President Donald Trump announced earlier this week that mystery drones spotted over New Jersey late last year were not from enemy sources, but had been authorized by the Federal Aviation Administration.
But the president’s assurance with respect to New Jersey drones was not enough to diminish multiple Wyoming sheriffs’ concerns over sightings in their own counties.
Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that several Wyoming sheriffs have received reports of mysterious drone activity in recent weeks, with some sightings over energy infrastructure, like power plants and oil and gas fields.
“I called every sheriff in Wyoming, and of the ones that talked to us, which was most of them, eight, have mysterious drone sightings… in three of these cases, they were flying over power plants, oil, gas fields, coal mines, that kind of thing. And so in some of these energy rich counties, the sheriffs are like, what are they doing? You know, Casey Lear said he reached out to energy companies working in his area, and no one has come forward as saying that they've deployed the drones. So that's rather mysterious.”
Law enforcement agents have confirmed the sightings, but so far no one has come forward and admitted to operating any of the drones.
Read the full story HERE.
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Legislators are trying to piece together an intricate puzzle in order to provide more property tax relief for homeowners, without upsetting local apple carts.
A significant change was made to Senate File 69 on Tuesday, one of the major property tax bills moving through the Capitol. Cowboy State Daily’s Leo Wolfson reports that that single change would cost a dozen counties in Wyoming each more than $1 million per year.
“If passed a law as currently written would give a 50% property tax reduction, the part of the bill that was going to give a backfill to local governments and schools was removed, so there's now no backfill option for local schools and governments. This is a big deal for both these groups, local schools receive 64% of the total property tax revenue in the state, and then local governments receive the other portion. And for certain communities, this is literally talking about millions of dollars.”
The push for property tax cuts comes in response to the large tax increases seen after the COVID-19 pandemic. After 2022, the growth in these rates returned to historical norms, but many have argued that local governments have not increased their services as a result of the increased revenues, which have outpaced the rate of inflation.
Read the full story HERE.
Declaring open season on mountain lions would give Wyoming’s mule deer a much-needed break – but some hunters argue that would lead to a slaughter of the big cats.
House Bill 286 would lift most of the current restrictions hunting for mountain lions, which prey on Wyoming’s mule deer. But outdoors reporter Mark Heinz spoke to some who oppose the bill, saying it sacrifices one species for the sake of another.
“Mike Schmid, he just joined the legislature this year, but he's been long time involved in Wyoming wildlife issues, and he would like to see the hunting for mountain lions in Wyoming, really, the regulations… almost completely removed… if a folk was out, say, a hunter was out with a elk license inside Mountain Lion, as a licensed Hunter, they'd be able to shoot that mountain lion, even though they didn't specifically have a mountain lion tag… he argues that this is needed to help Wyoming's mule deer bounce back… Pushback is coming from some lion hunters themselves… they worry that would actually just decimate the lion population so severely that… we're destroying one species trying to save another.”
Mountain lions are classified as a trophy game species under Wyoming Game and Fish Department hunting regulations. They currently may be hunted only with a license and during specific seasons.
Read the full story HERE.
A magnitude 3.9 earthquake was recorded in Yellowstone National Park around 6 p.m. Tuesday.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, at least 33 people within 30 miles of the earthquake reported feeling it. And while it’s Yellowstone's first “big” earthquake of the year, Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that scientists aren’t worried about it.
“Magnitude three earthquakes and magnitude four earthquakes, those are not unheard of in Yellowstone National Park. Park geologists expect an average of usually around five to 10 of those a year. So getting a rumbling like this, it is the largest earthquake that's been recorded in the park since 2023, so there's something to say about that, but it's shallow, which means it didn't happen very far beneath the surface. Nothing to do with volcanics… So it's not a sign of anything, really. It's just a routine earthquake. Yellowstone being Yellowstone.”
Around 1,173 earthquakes were recorded in Yellowstone in 2024. That was on the lower end for the region, which usually averages 1,500 to 2,500 quakes annually.
Read the full story HERE.
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A California man pretended to be a bitcoin billionaire and racked up nearly $212,000 in resort, bar and car dealership bills in Wyoming’s richest county last year.
Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that 30-year-old Kevin Segal pleaded not guilty this month to 14 felonies and three misdemeanors.
“He's accused of cheating resorts and, you know, other residential businesses out of just 1000s, like there was one where it was supposedly a $25,000 bill left unpaid, and was having the gal that does grocery delivery service, deliver all his groceries, and allegedly not paying her. And then, you know, would have send a guy to pick up a drone, to buy a drone for me. I'll pay him later. Send the guy to drive my truck back to my home, I'll pay him later. And It's alleged that he never paid any of these people later.”
If convicted and sentenced consecutively on all 17 charges, Segal could face up to 141.5 years in prison and several thousand dollars in fines.
Read the full story HERE.
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Parents are one step closer to being able to choose private education, and get public money to pay for it, in Wyoming.
House Bill 199, also known as the “Wyoming Freedom Scholarship Act,” offers $7,000 per child per year and is applicable for all income classes.
The final version of this universal school choice bill that would give public money for parents to seek private education for their children passed by the House by a 39-21 vote Wednesday, according to politics reporter Leo Wolfson.
“There already is a school choice program that was passed during the 2024 legislature, but it's really only eligible for low income families, and it's pretty restrictive… This bill that's being sponsored by Representative Ocean Andrew of Laramie, a Republican… dedicates 11 million more dollars to the program, and most importantly, it makes it universal, so that all income earners can participate equally in the program.”
Rep. Steve Harshman of Casper, warned that the bill isn’t constitutional because it provides public welfare to all income classes and takes away from public education funding.
Read the full story HERE.
A 15-year-old Casper boy who reportedly told friends “I hope I killed one” after shooting at two homes with people inside, pleaded guilty Wednesday in Natrona County District Court.
Marquis Hayman, who was charged as an adult, pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated assault and battery as part of a plea agreement. Cowboy State Daily’s Dale Killingbeck has been following this story.
“The young man that was arrested in Casper last August for shooting a 10 millimeter pistol into two different residences on two different nights, pleaded guilty in Natrona County District Court today to those felonies… Those charges, assault and battery, both carry a 10 year prison sentence. But the deal is that he would serve any sentence he gets concurrently.”
According to the agreement, the prosecution would not object to an assignment to the state’s boot camp for young offenders as part of the sentence.
Read the full story HERE.
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At nearly $5 billion a year, tourism is Wyoming’s second-leading economic driver. Even so, the state’s tourism industry says it’s just scratching the surface of Cowboy State tourism’s true potential.
Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean spoke to several small business owners at this week’s Governor’s Conference on Tourism, who say they’ve got big plans for the coming tourist season.
“The theme that runs through them all is they've all got big dreams, big hopes, you know, that they're going to try to make come true in 2025 ...Workforce is always the big pinch point. You can't build capacity if you don't have the people. And everybody struggles with that across the state. So, you know, there are efforts underway to try to grow more bandwidth.”
At $4.9 billion dollars in tourism spending last year, the industry is a huge economic driver. That’s true not just for the popular icons like Yellowstone National Park and Devils Tower, but for many small towns and communities throughout the state.
Read the full story HERE.
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.
