It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming, for Thursday, March 20th. 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 conversation!
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In what could be described as a raucous scene, Wyoming’s congressional representative, Harriet Hageman, was met with jeers and vocal opposition at a town hall meeting at the Laramie Civic Center on Wednesday night.
Cowboy State Daily’s Leo Wolfson was in attendance at the gathering of over 500 people.
“I'd say about at least three fourths of the audience was opposed to her and her policies, and they let her hear about it… Many people were screaming and yelling at her, booing her, jeering her, yelling profanities at her, but she took it in stride to for the most part, answered a lot of questions that were asked of her throughout the evening. The audience certainly didn't like almost all of her answers that she gave… spoke to some of the event organizers, and they were pretty disappointed how the evening went. Both David Wilhelms and Klaus Halbsgut, the chairman of the Albany County Democratic Party, had hopes that there could be a civic discourse and opportunities for her to be able to answer questions, and they don't really feel like that happened very well… But also they did say that they felt like Hageman definitely kind of egged the audience on at least a little bit at times. They feel like… some of her answers were condescending at times, and not really answering with the questions were even being asked… it was probably one of the craziest events, if not the craziest I've ever covered in Wyoming, since I've lived here.”
Hageman will be holding another town hall in Cheyenne on Friday.
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A tow truck operator recovering vehicles from a Tuesday night crash near Wamsutter along Interstate-80 was struck by a pickup and had to be life-flighted from the scene.
Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland spoke to witnesses, who said that icy road conditions may have contributed to the crash.
“The tow truck operator was helping clean up from two… two commercial trucks that were involved in a crash the night before, they had let them sit due to weather, and the morning came, this tow truck operator was there, and according to an eyewitness, an orangish colored pickup truck came speeding down the hill and spun out of control and crashed into something off the road. The Witness couldn't tell what, but Wyoming Highway Patrol later came back around and said that the pickup struck the tow truck operator, and that the operator was lifeflighted from the scene.”
As of publication time, the tow truck driver was still in the hospital.
Read the full story HERE.
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Wyoming Highway Patrol Trooper Parker Smith lived through one of his worst nightmares on the morning of Feb. 12 when responding to a vehicle crash to discover it involved his wife Aby, 4-year-old son PJ and 2-year-old Christian, who were broadsided by a snowplow while riding in their family minivan.
Aby and PJ were treated for minor injuries, but Christian was nearly killed and remains hospitalized at the Children’s Hospital of Colorado, where he’s being treated for a collapsed lung, and fractured ribs, jaw and skull.
Cowboy State Daily’s Zak Sonntag reports that five weeks after the accident, Christian is showing hopeful signs of improvement.
“This kid got really, really hurt, and I mean, his head was gashed. The entire left side of his body was paralyzed. It looked it looked pretty dire. So any any improvement is a good improvement. And so far, the main points of improvement include he is moving his left side body. And that's a huge thing… small improvements are big, big milestones for someone as badly injured as little Christian.”
Christian was recently moved from intensive care into rehab, where he’s undergoing around five hours of physical therapy daily, learning again how to eat, drink and talk.
Read the full story HERE.
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A Toyota Tundra pickup that lost control just as it exited the westbound tunnel outside Green River last month sparked the 26-vehicle, triple-fatal pileup that followed.
That’s what the National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary report revealed on Wednesday. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland describes the crash, as outlined in the report.
“It's preliminary, but it says that a Toyota Tundra was leaving the tunnel and lost control. There may have been slush or ice. It had snowed earlier that day, and then it kind of spun out of control, and then as other vehicles tried to avoid it, this huge pile up happened… two people in the Dodge died, and one person in a commercial truck died, but the person in the Toyota did not.”
All aspects of the crash remain under investigation while the NTSB determines the probable cause, with the intent of issuing safety recommendations to prevent similar events.
Read the full story HERE.
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How much oil and gas remains in the geologic reservoirs that produced much of Wyoming’s historic oil production?
The U.S. Geological Survey recently took its best shot at answering that question, finding there are technically recoverable resources of 47 million barrels of oil and 876 billion cubic feet of gas.
The USGS geologist who prepared the report, told Cowboy State Daily’s David Madison how his team arrived at its findings.
“Ever since the oil embargo of the 1970s the USGS has prepared what's called an oil and gas assessment, and they take all of the geological data for very specific zones underground. And we have about 100 plus years of data out of the Paleozoic layer in the geologic strata, because that is where the bulk, historically, of the oil has come from from Wyoming oil wells. And the most recent guess and calculation, that is by the USGS, is that there's about 47 million barrels left in that very specific type of reserve, which is found in the Powder River and Big Horn and… Wind River basins. The geologists I spoke to made it clear that this is not a total assessment of what is under the ground when it comes to oil and gas in Wyoming, and the Wyoming and the Petroleum Association of Wyoming is very bullish that there's a whole lot more down there.”
Enhanced Oil Recovery methods, such as using pressurized CO2 to extract additional oil from known reserves, could ultimately increase the number of barrels.
Read the full story HERE.
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With the nomination of former Wyoming Game and Fish Director Brian Nesvik as the new chief of the federal Fish and Wildlife Service pending before Congress, some environmental groups are pushing to derail his appointment.
Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz spoke to both supporters of Nesvik’s nomination - who say his leadership skills make him an excellent choice to lead the federal agency - but also to detractors, who say that several controversial wildlife issues cropped up under Nesvik’s watch.
“They view Wyoming's elk feed grounds as a disaster for, you know, disease vector and things such as that. And of course, we have the whole debacle with the wolf and Daniel and some other things. But I did talk, I actually talked to a retired Fish and Wildlife Service Warden who said that… he was very impressed with him in his leadership skills, and said… Brian Nesvik seems to be a good fit for the job.”
Nesvik began his career with Game and Fish in 1995 and was appointed as director by Gov. Mark Gordon in 2019. He retired from Game and Fish in September of 2024.
Read the full story HERE.
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The Carbon County Coroner has identified the woman killed Saturday in a commercial truck crash outside Rawlins.
70-year-old Mary Couch of Lineville, Alabama, died of blunt force trauma in Saturday’s crash on Interstate-80. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that she has been in contact with loved ones who say they are devastated at the loss.
“After I wrote about the driver of a Freightliner truck that crashed into another Freightliner truck on Saturday outside Rawlins… the co-driver who died, her son emailed me wanting me to know that she had recently bonded with her granddaughter and her family was devastated… Mary Couch, the co-driver, was romantic partners with the driver… they were partners, both in the truck and in life. And he was taken to care with serious injuries, and she died on scene.”
Meanwhile, the man accused of causing the deadly crash, 47-year-old Borys Bakhtiarov, was released from jail Tuesday when a $20,000 cash-only bond was posted. Bakhtiarov, who did not speak English, is charged with one count of homicide by vehicle, which is punishable by up to one year in jail and $2,000 in fines. Through an interpreter, he pleaded not guilty Monday in Rawlins Circuit Court.
Read the full story HERE.
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With less than two weeks to go, the 2025 Stop Sign Snow Challenge is as close as it can get.
The stop sign near Wind River Lake on Togwotee Pass is almost buried to the bottom of the red hexagon as of Wednesday. A lot of snow will be needed to bury it completely, but Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that there could be enough snow on the horizon before the annual contest ends at midnight April 1.
“So it's really going to come down to the wire this year, because based on how the sign looks as of Wednesday, it needs about 12 to 16 or 18 inches to be fully covered. Now there's snow on the horizon, and before the end of March, when the contest ends, there could be enough snow to completely bury it. The problem is… even if there are 18 inches of snow in the forecast for Togwotee pass between now and the end of March, there's a five day period where the sun's going to be out and it's going to warm up, and that snow won't melt, but it will compact, so it might take more inches than what's necessary to cover it.”
The Wind River Outdoor Co. has sponsored the Stop Sign Snow Challenge since 2017. There are prizes — T–shirts and engraved Yeti mugs — ready for the winners. But first, there has to be a winner.
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. Thanks for tuning in - I’m Wendy Corr, for Cowboy State Daily.
