It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming, for Wednesday, February 19th. I’m Wendy Corr, bringing you headlines from the Cowboy State Daily newsroom - Brought to you by the Wyoming Senior Olympics! Experience the excitement of the Winter Games, February 20–22 in Pinedale, and support the SAFE Initiative. For event details and the full schedule, visit wyoming senior olympics dot com.
–
Authorities Tuesday released the names of the three men who died Friday in a devastating Green River tunnel collision involving 26 vehicles.
They were 20-year-old Christopher Johnson of Rawlins; 22-year-old Quentin Romero of Rawlins; and 30-year-old Harmanjeet Singh of Nova Scotia.
Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that Romero was also a member of the Wyoming National Guard.
“On the same day the Wyoming Highway Patrol and the coroner released their identities, the Wyoming National Guard put out a memorial and announced the service for him. and the two Rawlins men, their obituaries were out. I could not find an obituary for Singh as of publication time. But he was from Canada.”
Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County treated 18 injuries from the crash, and one woman remained hospitalized as of Monday evening.
Wyoming Highway Patrol is working with crash reconstructions and off-scene investigations. Col. Tim Cameron thanked the public for its patience while the agency compiles a crash narrative and cause that is as accurate as possible.
Read the full story HERE.
The push to eliminate Wyoming’s gun-free zones gained momentum Tuesday when a bill that would allow concealed carry in schools, the state Capitol building and elsewhere unanimously passed the Senate Judiciary Committee and is headed to the Senate Floor.
Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports that Tuesday’s testimony regarding House Bill 172 included input from nationally-known gun rights author John Lott, whose work has been quoted and, according to him, misquoted by state lawmakers and members of the public for years in the divisive debate over conceal carry.
“We're hearing a lot of impassioned testimony, both for it and against it. One notable thing that happened today is, if anybody's ever heard of the book, ‘More Guns, Less Crime,’ it's fairly well known. It's written by John Lott… he actually appeared via zoom before the Senate Judiciary Committee and was saying, you know, I'm here to defend my reputation, because a lot of people have been slamming me during during the testimony. But like everybody else, he was given two minutes, a hard two minutes. I mean, they cut the guy off mid sentence… the bill did advance. It's gone from a Senate committee, it passed the house, then it came into a Senate committee. Passed the Senate committee, so it's moved to the Senate floor. So that's one more step toward it hitting Governor Gordon's desk.”
The committee agreed to an Amendment to HB 172, stating that 18-year-old students still enrolled in public schools would not be allowed to carry concealed firearms into their schools.
Read the full story HERE.
–
Illegal immigration fears have run high during the 2025 Wyoming Legislature and on Tuesday that continued when the Senate Transportation, Highways and Military Affairs Committee advanced a bill that would ban illegal immigrants from driving in Wyoming.
If passed into law, House Bill 116 would specify that driver’s licenses issued by other states to illegal immigrants are invalid in Wyoming. That’s according to politics reporter Leo Wolfson.
“This is kind of an interesting piece of legislation, because these people are already not allowed to get licenses in the state of Wyoming. But what this bill does is it makes it so that Wyoming does not recognize the licenses issued by other states that are given to these individuals in those 19 other states… So it basically bans illegal immigrants from driving Wyoming under any circumstance… It's part of kind of a larger overarching effort that the Wyoming Legislature has made to address illegal immigration, which was a cornerstone of President Donald Trump's 2024 presidential campaign.”
The committee advanced the bill on a 4-1 vote, with only Republican state Sen. Ed Cooper of Ten Sleep voting against it.
–
The father of two little girls and stepfather of another two who lost his entire family in a tragic murder-suicide in Byron is just living from one breath to the next.
That’s what Cliff Harshman told Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland in an exclusive interview last week. His wife, Tranyelle, had been struggling with depression and other emotional issues - but he said he had no idea her pain had become so severe that she would choose to end her life and the lives of all four of her daughters.
“He asked God to help him forgive her the day that she died and told her goodbye. And even though it was so tragic, he did notice kind of a glimmer and a symmetry in her organs going to save five people, when she had shot five people, including herself… when it really hit him, Friday at coffee… he wept and it really hit then there, there is a symmetry in that, however tragic… he agreed to meet with me at a coffee shop in Powell, and he had just come from the house that morning, so he'd gone to the house, and the things that had been bloodied were taken out, which he said, you know that that was kind of law enforcement and the cleaning crews to remove those things, but at the same time, there was very little left that smelled like them. There was clean laundry, but he had to find some once or twice worn jammies and sweaters so that he could experience that scent one last time.”
Harshman said he hopes that by telling Tranyelle’s story, it will shine a light on the seriousness of postpartum depression, and inspire people to look after one another and show kindness to people who are struggling.
Read the full story HERE.
–
Louis DeJoy announced Monday that he plans to step down as postmaster general, and that it’s time for the USPS Board of Governors to seek his successor.
The announcement follows months of controversy over the U.S. Postal Service’s rollout of Delivering for America, which would speed mail service in more populous areas of the country at the expense of rural mail delivery, which would become much slower.
Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports that the development was met as “good news” from Wyoming public officials, who have criticized the idea of moving all of Wyoming’s major mail processing capabilities to other states.
“Representative Harriet Hageman says it's not time to relax, that just because DeJoy is resigning doesn't mean Delivering for America is dead. Wyoming could still lose all of its large mail processing capabilities. She has introduced some legislation to try to maintain at least one regional processing and distribution center in the cowboy state as well as, you know, better, more transparent currency on announcements about major plans.”
DeJoy was defiant in the letter he sent Monday to the Postal Service Board of Governors. He appears to still be giving himself an “A” grade as head of the U.S. Postal Service, saying that he had worked “tirelessly” to lead the Postal Service’s 640,000 men and women in accomplishing, quote, “an extraordinary transformation.”
Read the full story HERE.
–
During discussion in the Wyoming House on the proposed repeal of the state’s budget reserve account Tuesday, Republican state Rep. Landon Brown of Cheyenne decided he had finally had it with some of his fellow House members.
After being on the losing end of more than a few bills and amendments this session, Brown vented his frustration that members are not debating bills enough. Cowboy State Daily’s Leo Wolfson reports that Brown feels some are taking, quote, “marching orders” on how to vote from Wyoming Freedom Caucus leadership.
“He doesn't believe there's enough explaining what's going on with these bills. He was particularly frustrated that he didn't feel like he was getting an answer on why he should support the bill that was banning the budget reserve account… Brown wasn't really getting specific answers, or so he felt, and he just kind of chastised his fellow members. He even said he had to leave the chamber after kind of issuing his first reprimand, and he was so mad that he considered sticking his face in the snow. I don't think he actually did that, but then he came back, and he seemed slightly more measured, but he kind of continued his same complaints.”
Many of the votes in the House this session have been extremely predictable, with members of the Freedom Caucus and those who share their ideology voting in a consistent lockstep. Brown is not a member of this contingency.
Read the full story HERE.
–
A Wyoming Highway Patrol trooper faced his worst nightmare last week — responding to a crash involving his own family.
Trooper Parker Smith lived that nightmare on the morning of Feb 12 when responding to a vehicle crash in Goshen County involving the severe injury of a small child. The child, 2-year-old Christian, was Smith’s own son.
Cowboy State Daily’s Greg Johnson reports that Aby Smith was driving the family minivan when it was broadsided by a Goshen County snowplow while heading eastbound on Highway 85 through Torrington.
“In Wyoming, where it's pretty rural, and everybody knows everybody, … that happens. And in this case, the trooper rolled up to the scene and found out pretty quickly that it was his wife and two young kids in their minivan… officer Frank Gore, who lives in Gillette, told Zak Sonntag…it's what everybody dreads… everybody's just pulling… for this kid to pull through.”
Christian was flown to Scottsbluff, Nebraska, and then on to Children’s Hospital of Colorado, where he is being treated for a collapsed lung, fractured ribs, jaw and skull, among other injuries. He’s on a ventilator. Smith’s wife and other child were not seriously hurt.
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 did you know, we’re also a podcast? Search for us on iTunes, Spotify, and all other major platforms. And remember 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.
