It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming, for Friday, May 2nd. I’m Wendy Corr, bringing you headlines from the Cowboy State Daily newsroom - Brought to you by the Wyoming Community Foundation, who asks you to give back to the place you call home. “5 to thrive” is YOUR opportunity to leave a legacy for generations to come. Support the community nonprofits you care about with a gift through the Wyoming Community Foundation. Visit wycf.org to learn more.
–
As conservatives across the nation have rallied behind President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s efforts to reduce government waste through the federal Department of Government Efficiency program, the Wyoming Freedom Caucus wants to follow that model at the state level.
Cowboy State Daily’s Leo Wolfson reports that, in outlining its goals for the upcoming interim legislative session, the Freedom Caucus says “DOGE-ing Wyoming’s budget” is a top priority to identify unconstitutional and wasteful spending.
“I spoke to Representative John Bear, the chairman emeritus of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, about this, and Bear said one specific thing that he would like to do is looking at state grants… He's concerned about that, and brought up a few situations where that's happened. One example was a AIDS awareness event held in Laramie, where the Department of Health gave a few $1,000 for this event, but the event also featured a drag show and alcohol and Bear thought that was an inappropriate use of state money… Also pointed out that he believes that giving money to any nonprofits is debatably unconstitutional under the Wyoming constitution.”
Although he’s said before that he only wants to prevent an increase in state spending, Bear told Cowboy State Daily on Tuesday he also wants to put state grants under the microscope.
Read the full story HERE.
–
On Tuesday morning, Bobby Watts chased two burglars away from a Riverton business he manages, helped deputies investigate, went to confront one of the suspected burglars on the road, and took some gunshot shrapnel to his upper arm.
Then, he told Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland, he started his normal workday.
“The remote connection to the business alarm waking him, like 320 and he goes and kind of chases down two guys that had broken into the shop and see the getaway vehicle, which the sheriff's office, you know, associates with a female who's still at large, and his his wife, chases the getaway vehicle down to a trailer park, you know, where authorities find it, and gets the license plate number, and then he you know, watts helps, helps deputies with their investigation. They're looking through video, and helps them identify the one guy they caught on the highway. And then later on, someone says, oh, there's a guy with the bucket walking down the road. That's our bucket that probably has all our keys in it. So he goes to confront the guy in the bucket, and he gets there's a there's a he gets shot at through the windshield of his f3 50, and he ducks just in time he gets his arm what he calls cauterized from hot ledge, shrapnel from where the bullet hit the windshield slowed, splintered little lead beads in his hoodie that he didn't get to Keep because investigators took it for part of their investigation, and that was just early morning after that, he had a full day of work.”
The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office later that day identified the suspected burglars as 18-year-old Kenneth Hebah and 32-year-old Kevin Pino. They’re both in custody and charged with felonies.
Read the full story HERE.
–
To save Wyoming wildlife from getting tangled up in fences and dying, it helps to know where the fences are, and what condition they’re in.
That’s what researchers told outdoors reporter Mark Heinz, adding that the 2024 Absaroka Front Fence Inventory in Northwest Wyoming will help to do just that.
“Basically, it's to give everybody, ranchers, conservationists, anybody, a good solid picture of what we're looking at in terms of all the fences that are out there where they're located… unfortunately, you know, quite a few animals do get caught either trying to crawl under fences or jump over them. And so it's good to know exactly where all the fences are located. And you know, kind of superimpose that with the wildlife migration route so that people have a much clearer picture of, hey, we can put in wildlife fencing here, or wildlife friendly fencing here, or hey, here's a five mile section of crappy old fence that nobody's using anymore. We can just go in and tear that out.”
More than 155 miles of fences were mapped and measured. That included 27 miles revealed to be in need of repair or modifications to make them safer for deer, elk, antelope, bighorn sheep and other wildlife. Also, more than 300 miles worth of incorrect listings or locations of fences were removed from databases and maps.
Read the full story HERE.
–
This week, which marked President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office, national polls were released showing the president’s overall job approval ratings have dipped since January and February.
But Wyoming’s U.S. Representative, Harriet Hageman, told Cowboy State Daily’s Sean Barry that the idea that people who voted for Trump are losing confidence in him is, quote, “absolute hogwash.”
“Harriet Hageman said it's absolute hogwash that the public is souring on Trump. And in fact, she told me that she thinks his popularity is even higher now than it was in November. And that's saying a ton because Wyoming had the highest percentage of votes go to Trump in the November election among all states… Senators John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis, they also are not talking about any sagging support among Trump voters. They see him on solid footing as well, perhaps not as adamantly so as Rep Hageman, but they are also saying… there is no trump crisis here. You know, yes, his popularity has dropped a few points. But hey, that happens in presidential terms.”
According to three polls this week, trade wars and inflation have dragged down Trump’s overall approval rating, and he got mixed reviews on immigration-related categories. But Wyoming’s senior Senator, John Barrasso, the second-ranking Republican in the Senate, praised Trump’s first 100 days, citing increased oil and coal production, tough immigration policies and anti-woke initiatives as key accomplishments.
Read the full story HERE.
–
Although it may seem like an outlandish proposal to transport Wyoming coal to Asia via the Gulf Coast, one Jackson resident - and barge transport expert - said that’s not the case at all.
Jim Manley, a marine surveyor, has spent around 40 years operating various barge services along the Mississippi River. Manley told Cowboy State Daily’s Leo Wolfson that if funding can be acquired, a Gulf Coast transport route could be active in as little as 3 to 4 years.
“What Jim Manley was telling me is that basically, through the creation of a few different pieces of infrastructure, combination of railroad connections and some unit terminals to unload the coal into boats barges at these river points Wyoming could easily develop a transportation line from Wyoming to go down to the Gulf Coast and then send off the coal to the Asian markets. Manley also pointed out that there might be easier options than this to achieve its goals… Obviously, it would take money, which is kind of a lot of things in life. That's kind of how it works. But if that's kind of it, and the technology already exists, that's not necessarily an impossible task.”
During a news conference on Wednesday, Gov. Mark Gordon said he met with various leaders in Taiwan and Japan recently who expressed interest in buying Wyoming coal. Getting Wyoming coal to southeast Asia in an expedited manner is the missing link in that puzzle.
Read the full story HERE.
–
With Wyoming leading a new nuclear power revival in the U.S. West, the Cowboy State has emerged as the linchpin of a three-state compact with Utah and Idaho to remake the region’s energy landscape.
At this week’s Built Here Nuclear Energy Summit in Draper, Utah, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said the states need to be “bold” in developing nuclear power. Cowboy State Daily’s David Madison reports that Cox, along with Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon and Idaho Gov. Brad Little, signed an agreement to team up and together shape regional energy policy, including more investment in nuclear power.
“They talked about the investment possibilities, the different technologies that are coming to Utah, companies investing in the state. And it was really just kind of a love fest for the idea of nuclear power from the policy, rah rah of both the governors from Idaho and Utah and Wyoming all being there… Where Idaho comes into this three way partnership is that they have the leading lab that studies this technology, small modular reactors. Wyoming's piece is that, hey, we're actually building one in Kemmerer. It's a different type of technology, but, but in the same space. And then Utah is kind of the political uniter trying to get everyone together and saying, Hey, let's get this going. Let's get a Western nuclear power revolution off the ground.”
The summit included a group of about 20 representatives from energy and technology companies, along with investment groups.
Read the full story HERE.
–
A 40-year-old Upton man is scheduled for a Friday hearing in the U.S. District Court for Wyoming to determine if he should be in jail during his prosecution, accused of trying to detonate a homemade propane bomb on a drilling yard.
Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that the potential penalty quadrupled after David Riggle’s case switched from state to federal.
“He was facing like five years if the state authorities had continued their prosecution in the western county court system. But the Feds picked that case up here recently, and then the Weston county prosecutor asked the judge to drop the state level case… and so he's facing like up to 20 years under the federal scheme.”
Riggle was originally charged in Weston County in December with possessing or making explosives. That’s a state charge punishable by up to five years in prison and $5,000 in fines. The U.S. Attorney’s Office charged Riggle last week with attempting “malicious damage” to a property with fire, a felony punishable by between five and 20 years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines.
Read the full story HERE.
–
Bruno, a huge male grizzly best-known as a frequent suitor of Wyoming’s beloved Grizzly 399, put on a rare show in Grand Teton National Park, as he went ice fishing for trout.
Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz spoke to Neil Simmons, who runs Roam Wild Photo Tours in Grand Teton, who was with some clients late last week when they rounded a corner on the nearby road just in time to witness Bruno’s antics.
“When the Snake River at Oxbow in Grand Teton National Park was still frozen over last week, he walked out on the ice and was like busting through the ice with his paw and grabbing fish, and he falls through the ice at one point. But of course, he doesn't care. He's a bear, you know. But so I talked to the person who took the video, and they said it was really cool. They've been following the bears of Teton for 10 years. Said he'd never seen anything like that.”
Wyoming Game and Fish large carnivore specialist Dan Thompson told Cowboy State Daily that Bruno’s ice fishing venture was rare behavior. However, grizzlies are extremely intelligent and can get creative when it comes to finding a meal.
Read the full story HERE.
–
And that’s today’s news! For a deeper dive into the people and issues that affect Wyoming, check out The Roundup, conversations with the most interesting people in the Cowboy State. This week, my guest is ranch historian Dicksie May, who has so many stories to tell about the historic Albany County ranches! You can find the link on our website, on our YouTubechannel, and wherever you get your podcasts. And of course, you'll find it in our FREE daily email newsletter!
Thanks for tuning in - I’m Wendy Corr, for Cowboy State Daily.
