It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming, for Tuesday, March 4th. I’m Wendy Corr, bringing you headlines from the Cowboy State Daily newsroom - Brought to you by the Cowboy State Daily Morning Show With Jake! From 6 to 10 a.m., Monday through Friday, host Jake Nichols brings you news, weather, sports AND in-depth interviews with news-makers from across Wyoming - presented with Jake’s unique humor and lively commentary. Just click on the Cowboy State Daily homepage and join the live broadcast!
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The number 2 and 3 trona players in the world are coming together in Wyoming to create a global juggernaut.
London-based WE Soda has announced the $1.425 billion acquisition of Genesis Alkali’s two trona mines in southwest Wyoming. It’s a move that puts all of WE Soda’s U.S. operations under a single entity, with a combined capacity of 10.5 million tons per year. Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports that that makes it the largest natural soda ash producer in the world - and positions it well to take on China and other international competitors in the trona sector.
“they're based in London, but… They have trona mines in Turkey, and they have purchased two Wyoming trona mines owned by Genesis alkali… it does make them the world's largest trona producer. We've put the number two and the number three trona producers together, and that's going to create just a juggernaut, really… The acquisition included a port in Oregon, which I think that's kind of a juicy asset, okay, we've had some trouble getting new ports built… they already have existing logistics networks with some areas that we sort of hadn't been serving, like South America. So it's a pretty good acquisition.”
WE Soda spokeswoman Liz Brimmer told Cowboy State Daily that the news is fantastic for Wyoming, and positions the Cowboy State to be a leader in the trona industry for decades.
Read the full story HERE.
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A last-ditch budget compromise from the Wyoming House of Representatives was rejected by Senate leadership on Monday, paving the way for what will become a mad dash to cram pieces of the rejected supplemental budget into other bills before the Legislature adjourns Thursday.
Cowboy State Daily’s Leo Wolfson reports that leadership from both chambers met Monday morning to consider a proposal brought forward by the House, which would return to the original supplemental budget approved by the Joint Appropriations Committee - along with six amendments that both sides agreed to in their respective versions of the budget. But the Senate rejected it.
“Representative John Bear said they were concerned about spending. I spoke to members of the Senate leadership later in the day… they basically explained they just didn't see a purpose to try to hammer out a an agreement when they already felt like the budget was pretty small and they felt like the parts of it that needed to get passed could be put into other bills… There's certainly people out there who disagree with that conclusion. I spoke to… Holly crutch. She's the executive director of the University of Wyoming School of energy resources, and she had requested $2 million to continue construction on a project that will be working to find alternative uses for coal in Wyoming… Now that money is totally gone and has no idea where they're going to get it from, but she has no hopes that it's going to get put into any other bill this legislative session. That is what we're seeing with a number of other bills.”
Senate President Bo Biteman confirmed to Cowboy State Daily there’s still no budget on the table of any kind, and one won’t be one created over the last four days of the 2025 legislative session.
Read the full story HERE.
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Prayers and support are pouring in from all over the state for a local firefighter who was left at least temporarily paralyzed when a massive stone fireplace chase collapsed on him and a colleague responding to a house fire late Friday.
Dylan Schilt was continuing to recover Monday at the UCHealth Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland, Colorado, his father, Mike Schilt, told Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz.
“The house fire wasn't really a fire as such. It was just a lot of smoke in the place. They couldn't tell where it was coming from, so a couple firefighters went inside, and I guess inside the great room with high ceilings, there was what they call a fireplace Chase, which is just a stone structure built off the chimney of a fireplace. And unfortunately that that collapsed on these two guys when they were inside… the one who got the worst of it was Dylan Schilt and Laramie native, one of six siblings that grew up here in Laramie… He is at least temporarily paralyzed. His back was broken when all this, all this rock stonework, came down on top of him. I talked to his father today. As near as they can tell, the spinal cord itself is not damaged, but there's a lot of damage to the spine, and so they're kind of keeping their their fingers crossed.”
The collapse that injured Dylan and the other firefighter serves as a stark reminder of how dangerous their profession is. The family has received calls and messages of concern from Gov. Mark Gordon, the mayor of Laramie and countless other officials and Wyoming residents.
Read the full story HERE.
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The only survivor of a Casper-area drunk-driving crash that killed three people in 2022 still replays the scene in her head every day.
The driver, Steven Spearman of Casper, was sentenced to between 18 and 20 years in prison. The lone survivor of the crash, Tahayla Kohtala, told Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland that although people keep telling Kohtala she should be grateful to have survived, she said it haunts her.
“It sounded like one of the hardest parts was when she went to the families of those who died, and it was supposed to be okay tell us what happened. You know, describe it for us. And all that she really wanted to say was, I'm sorry. That's all that wanted to come out of her was, I'm so sorry that I was the one that lived, and I know you were looking for someone else.”
Since the crash, she’s had two knee surgeries to repair two knee ligaments and her meniscus, and she’s preparing to get a third. Kohtala has been in counseling for three years, which she said is helping. Telling her story over and over again helps too — not as perfect healing, but in a way of making the story sound so familiar, she doesn’t react strongly to it every time she tells it.
Read the full story HERE.
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Wyoming’s congressional delegation is welcoming President Donald Trump’s Saturday executive order designating English as the nation’s official language.
Cowboy State Daily’s Sean Barry spoke to all three members of the delegation, who said this is something that should have been done years ago.
“I know that US Senator John Barrasso, the Senate Republican whip from Wyoming talked about how it is really best for newcomers in this country to advance their own opportunities, and it really provides a way for them to integrate well into American society and be successful. US Senator Cynthia Lummis and US rep Harriet Hageman… agreed with the decision as well. Some people do not agree with it, obviously. They think there's no real need for it… it does not require agencies to do anything differently than what they do now. That means they can still produce papers and other other materials in Spanish. It means they can provide services in Spanish, but it allows them to run the agencies as they see fit. So I think we're in a wait and see mode on what the practical effects of that are.”
English is already the official language in Wyoming, under a law that was passed in 1996.
Read the full story HERE.
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Wyoming homeschool families say they are “thrilled” and “celebrating” being set free from an annual requirement that they submit their curricula to local school districts.
Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon signed the Homeschool Freedom Act into law at the end of last week. It will take effect July 1st.
Cowboy State Daily’s Dale Killingbeck reports that the law makes Wyoming the first state in the nation to accomplish complete homeschool freedom, legislatively.
“The homeschool legal defense senior council told me that Wyoming is the first state to have homeschoolers with total freedom through the legislative process. Every other state, 11 other states got it through their Supreme Court precedents, but Wyoming is the first one by legislation. And he told me that he's going to argue using Wyoming’s passage of this homeschool bill, he's going to use that as a main argument when he goes to Tennessee and they're presenting a bill there, similar to Wyoming's.”
Under the new law, parents who remove students from a public school to homeschool would still be required to contact the local district and inform officials of their decision. However, there now is no curriculum contact requirement, and no further contact required after that initial notification.
Read the full story HERE.
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A Gillette man who tried to get a job as a detention officer at the Campbell County jail is now incarcerated in the jail where he’d hoped to work. That’s because during a pre-employment polygraph, he confessed to molesting children.
Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that Bradley Hudson is charged with 25 felony-level sex charges.
“Court documents describe this sort of certified polygraph evaluators giving a polygraph test and asking some kind of subtle questions about, like sexual conduct or past crimes, like, Do you ever do this? And you know, the court documents indicate that the guy kind of unleashed a litany of confessions, starting from, I mean, there's age 10, age 13, age 1516, age 18, bouts of alleged sexual activity with kids… Campbell County UnderSheriff Quentin Reynolds was like, We were shocked Clair… I'm sure that being a law enforcement agent does make one cynical to where you are possibly seeing evidence of crimes when you're out and about in your in your normal life… but in this case, whether they were or were not fishing for an arrest, they sure got one.”
12 of the charges are punishable by up to 15 years in prison and $10,000 in fines each, and 13 are punishable by up to 10 years in prison and $10,000 in fines each.
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Sammie Cyrus, a wrestler from Dubois High School, reached a new pinnacle in his career this past weekend, capping his prep career as State champion.
Cyrus, who lost his legs at the age of eight, won the Class 2A 106-pound division at the 2025 Wyoming State Wrestling Championship in Casper. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi spoke to the double amputee before his championship rounds.
“He said that one of the most rewarding parts of wrestling is getting your hand raised at the end of that six minutes, that you've won the match when he was at the Wyoming State wrestling championship in Casper this past week, and he didn't even have to wait the six minutes. He finished all of his rounds that no round went later than halfway through round two, he pins all of his opponents, one technical pin, three full pins, and he earned that title. So the fact that he's, you know, he's hasn't had either of his legs below the knee since he was eight years old, and there are a lot of times where he just wasn't sure where he could compete athletically. He found wrestling. He gave it everything he had. He fell in love with it, and now he's got a state championship under his belt.”
Cyrus said he’d like to study and pursue a career in graphic design while continuing to improve and train for collegiate wrestling. At some point, he hopes to help others benefit from the unique mindset he’s developed overcoming his disability to become a state champion.
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, or listen to us on your favorite podcast app. 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.
