It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming, for Thursday, May 8th. 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.
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A Florida man is alive after being gored by a bison in Yellowstone National Park over the weekend.
At about 3:15 Sunday in the Lake Village area of the park, a bison wounded a 47-year-old man from Cape Coral, Florida, after he approached it too closely. Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports that this is the first human injured by wildlife in the Park this year so far.
“It's maybe kind of dark humor among Wyomingites, everybody wonders when the first bison attack of the season is going to be. That happened today… according to what we know, somebody got too close to a bison, got into their personal space and was subsequently got gored. We don't really know the nature of the injuries… The is a 47 year old man from Florida who suffered minor injuries and was treated on site… how these things typically unfold is somebody got too close to the animal, got in their personal space, and the animal said, No, I don't like that, and reacted accordingly. So it can't be said enough times, give animals space, especially big ones like bison, that will mess you up badly in a very short period, if you're not careful.”
Officials are investigating the incident.
Read the full story HERE.
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A Casper woman shot and killed by police April 28 may have lured officers to her house and provoked the shooting.
In a Wednesday update about the incident, the Casper Police Department said Jody Cobia was killed in the early morning hours after police responded to a 911 call reporting an active burglary. But Cowboy State Daily’s Dale Killingbeck reports that when they arrived, officers were met at the door by Cobia dressed as the reported burglar and holding a weapon.
“Before they can even make contact, they were met at the door by a woman with a weapon and a big dog by her side, and that the woman started shouting at them, and then raised the weapon, and then she was shot by officers. So the release from the department is just saying they're trying to bring clarity to the situation. And the call was about a burglar, but there was no burglar.”
Court records show that Cobia had been served divorce papers April 14 and that her children had been removed from the residence.
Read the full story HERE.
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The Gillette Police Department, family and friends of a Gillette woman missing for more than three weeks are asking for the public’s help in locating her.
32-year-old Kelsey Johnson was last seen by a friend April 14 getting picked up by a man in an older model Dodge pickup at a trailer home in Gillette. Cowboy State Daily’s Jen Kocher spoke to Johnson’s best friend, Joslyn Wickard, who believes her friend may be in the Greeley or Denver area in Colorado.
“They’re best friends, really close, always in contact, and she was concerned when she hadn't heard from Kelsey in a couple weeks… their friends got together and realized nobody had talked to her for three weeks. So that's when it got serious, and she was reported missing… officially, she was last seen on April 14, but according to Jocelyn, it's somebody using Kelsey phone, or it might have been Kelsey reached out from Denver on on text messaging, saying they needed $20 To sleep in a thrift store in downtown Denver, she thought, and that was on April 23.”
Wickard told Cowboy State Daily that she’s very concerned for her friend’s safety because she’s not known to go off the radar for so long without contacting family or one of her friends.
Read the full story HERE.
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Wyoming has a shot not only at becoming one of the nation’s leading uranium suppliers, but it may yet capture some, or even all, of the manufacturing processes associated with turning uranium ore into nuclear fuel rods.
That’s called a “value chain” in industry lingo, and Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports that it’s worth multiple millions, if not billions, of dollars, if Wyoming is successful.
“There's multiple steps in manufacturing processes. Each one of those steps is called a value. It's like a chain and a link, right? And each of those links has a value that's worth millions of dollars. And so often we are mining our resource and then sending it somewhere else, where all of that value happens, all of that economic development happens somewhere else, far away from Wyoming. But with nuclear power, we have a shot at, you know, capturing more of that chain than we normally do… I was talking with Uranium Energy Corporation today about that. As they see it, there are two states that are really taking the lead in nuclear power, and they are Wyoming and Texas… If we pulled it off, if we had the whole enchilada, it would be worth multiple billions of dollars in state tax revenues.”
Uranium Energy Corporation’s Executive Vice President told Cowboy State Daily that as he sees it, conditions in Wyoming are right, both politically and commercially, to at least explore the possibility of bringing nuclear fuel manufacturing to the state.
Read the full story HERE.
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The Casper City Council took its first step Tuesday to get out of the massage therapy regulation business, voting unanimously to repeal language associated with it in its ordinance that regulates businesses affecting public health.
Cowboy State Daily’s Dale Killingbeck reports that removing massage therapy from the ordinance covering public health follows consultation with massage therapists in town.
“The ordinance that they have in place, which has been there since 2020 isn't getting the job done. I talked to a massage therapist, and she said that… it was just too cumbersome for her to… comply with everything. And I'm being told that massage businesses that are not really legitimate are still… able to fake the requirements… that they need, you know, to pass muster. So the city says it's more of a job for the state.”
Tuesday’s action was the first reading of the proposed change. Three readings are required to repeal the language and oversight of massage therapists.
Read the full story HERE.
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A Democratic congressman from Colorado grilled Wyoming’s U.S. House representative Monday over whether renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America should be a lawmaking priority.
Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that, at Monday’s U.S. House Committee on Rules meeting, Northwest Colorado’s Democratic U.S. House Rep. Joe Neguse sparred verbally with Rep. Harriet Hageman, over just how necessary it is to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
“Representative Neguse was really pulling on the current controversy around Harriet Hageman town halls, right, where protesters have come and made a ruckus, and then she shut down the virtual for a while… And he was like, Okay, how many of these attendees are really wanting us to rename this gulf? Is this really important? Is this really what we're going to spend our time on? And she was like, well, it's bigger than that. It's about pride in America. It's about energy exports. It's about showing a commitment to fulfilling Donald Trump's agenda. And so that was the back and forth. But at some point throughout that, the Democratic congressman from Colorado says, I'd like to come present in your state and see how your people feel.”
On Wednesday, the leader of the Wyoming Democratic Party invited him to do so. In a Wednesday post to X, Party Chairman Joe Barbuto tagged Neguse, saying he’d gladly set up the events.
Read the full story HERE.
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Over the last 18 months, reintroduced wolves in Colorado have trekked across vast swaths of that state, including one female who logged 1,230 miles between January and April.
Outdoors reporter Mark Heinz spoke to a research associate with the Northern Rockies Conservation Cooperative, who said the female wolf’s travels are impressive — and she might not be finished.
“Colorado Parks and Wildlife, every month they put out a new map of wolf activity in the state, and there's been a lot more down south, kind of the southern part of Colorado, going all the way across the state. And it's, turns out, it's due a lot of it to one wolf. One female wolf is apparently logged over 1200 miles in her wanderings across Colorado. And they don't know whether - she's one of those wolves from British Columbia - whether she's homesick and trying to figure out a way to get back, or if she's just out looking for new territory and possibly a mate, because wolves are known to wander great distances.”
Wolves will be safe if they cross state lines into Utah, New Mexico or Arizona. Those states have cut deals with Colorado to trap and return the wolves. But if any wolves cross into Wyoming, they’re not protected here and may be shot on sight.
Read the full story HERE.
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For the first time in many years, Wyoming is poised to have a nice day on Mother’s Day.
The National Weather Service is forecasting partly sunny skies and temperatures in the high 70s and low 80s throughout Mother’s Day weekend. That’s the nicest the weather’s been on Mother’s Day for the last few years, according to Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi.
“It's actually going to be nice on Mother's Day weekend in Wyoming. And that's not always a given, and it's not really even the norm or most of the time for Wyoming… The important thing though is that Cowboy State Daily meteorologist Don Day always says that we have to get past Mother's Day to be done with winter weather. Now, based on his assessment, it doesn't look like we're going to be getting any persistent winter weather post Mother's Day.”
There was widespread snow in Wyoming over the last week. Day can’t say if that’ll be the last snow this season, but the prognosis is positive.
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.
