It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming, for Wednesday, May 14th. 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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An Evanston couple was sentenced to jail on Tuesday on charges of felony child abuse, following the October 2023 death of their 9-month old daughter.
However, 32-year-old Tevin Medina and 24-year-old Bailey Bettinson were not criminally charged for the child’s death. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that the prosecutor conceded a lack of definitive evidence that their filthy home, or the neglect associated with it, killed their baby.
“October 2023, we have this nine month old baby girl who died in her home overnight, and the cops arrived to find the mom doing CPR on her out front of the house in the cool October air, but it's too late. Her body was cold, rigor mortis was starting to set in… but a doctor that the prosecutor, Loretta Callis, was working with said, I cannot sit on a trial stand and say that their negligence caused this baby's death, even though the home was littered with mold, knives, exposed fecal matter, vomit, very disturbing home… And so the prosecutor, instead of going to trial. Struck a plea agreement with each parent.”
The couple was sentenced Tuesday to six months in jail, followed by three years’ probation for child abuse, although they could each face three to six years in prison if they fail probation.
Read the full story HERE.
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A wildlife crossing project along U.S. Highway 26/287 near Dubois, where hundreds of mule deer are killed every year, is still short millions of dollars in hoped-for federal funds.
It could take roughly $16 million in federal grants to meet the project’s estimated $28 million budget, and federal funds are in limbo. However, Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports that state officials are determined to see the project through, regardless.
“There's been $2.7 million raised in private funds. The wildlife fund and the Greater Yellowstone coalition got that much raised through private donors. And then there's probably another 10 million or so in state funds available, but they're still shy about 18 million in federal funds to get this project off the ground, and they're not sure, with everything going on with the federal, government, they're not really sure when those grants are going to be freed up again… but Game and Fish Director Angi Bruce came out with the statement, that we're still determined to get this done. This is the top priority project in Wyoming along these lines.”
There are thousands of vehicle collisions with wildlife in Wyoming every year. Mule deer remain one of the most vulnerable species, as highways cut through many of the routes they use to migrate between summer and winter range. There has also been a toll on bears. Wyoming’s most famous bear, Grizzly 399, was struck and killed by a vehicle south of Jackson in October of 2024.
Read the full story HERE.
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The cliffs of the Wind River Canyon in Central Wyoming soar into the sky on the east side of U.S. Highway 20 and drop off into the Wind River below on the west - Literally.
Spring is the busiest time for big chunks of the mountain to break off, causing rockslides and mudslides across the highway. Cowboy State Daily’s Jackie Dorothy reports that drivers are reminded to be aware of the falling boulders that could come down at any time.
“When you see a rock fall in the canyon, just call the Highway Patrol and they will send out, not only their guys, but they'll also get a hold of WYDOT, who will clean the mess up. Because those rocks, no matter how big, I mean, I've seen ones that were just the size of my fist that have caused damage… WYDOT has actually gone into the canyon, especially in the last 10 years, and they've identified rocks that are going to fall, regardless if they do it or nature does it. So they have sent up actual mountain climbers to excavate these rocks and make them fall. I mean, there's been many times when I was stopped in the canyon watching these giant boulders come tumbling down in a controlled environment. So they are doing things to make the canyon safer.”
WYDOT has hired a consultant to look at any possible redundant route which could be used in the event of an emergency. Department spokesperson Cody Beers says it would only take one really big rockslide to cause an extended closure of that canyon, which could take weeks and probably months to clear out.
Read the full story HERE.
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The man whose remains were found last fall in a field outside Cheyenne has been identified.
59-year-old Roy Moates of Laramie County has been identified as the person whose remains prompted a two-day, 50-person gridwork-pattern search in a private field last October.
Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that, because of the condition of the remains, the Laramie County Coroner has deemed the cause and manner of death “undetermined.” However, her office added that no trauma or foul play are suspected.
“When they say no foul play, what they're saying is, we don't think any criminal activity was afoot. They're not saying that it couldn't have been something unnatural. I don't believe that designator rules out things like animal attacks, heart attacks, a lone bike wreck or a suicide.”
Moates had been missing for five months when a construction crew found a body part while mowing a field off of Terry Ranch Road on Oct. 14.
Read the full story HERE.
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A downward ripple in the price of oil for Wyoming producers caused by a response to President Donald Trump’s tariffs may be leveling out. That’s what leading Wyoming economists are reporting in their most recent analysis of the market.
Cowboy State Daily’s David Madison reports that oil prices have dropped to their lowest levels since 2021.
“There are a number of organizations that keep track of Wyoming's oil industry, including the Wyoming Department of Administration and information. One of their chief economists, we spoke with him, and he was crunching some numbers, and he thinks that… a current depression in the oil price, probably was brought on by the general chill in the economy surrounding tariffs. Now the oil price isn't at a level where it would inspire a lot of new rig development. And in fact, we've seen the number of rigs in Wyoming drop slightly, and the number of jobs in the oil and gas industry drop slightly. However, most recent news is that, you know, there's this deal over tariffs with China, and that in the short term, just as we were putting the story together, there seemed to be an uptick in demand and in price for oil futures.”
On Tuesday, crude oil futures jumped by more than $1 a barrel, apparently boosted by a temporary cut in U.S.-China tariffs and a better-than-expected inflation report.
Read the full story HERE.
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For the majority of Wyoming’s legislative Judiciary Committee, revising the state’s obscenity laws was such a high priority for this year’s bill-drafting season, the committee’s co-chair couldn’t remember which priority placed second after it.
Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that this focus for lawmakers follows years of controversy in multiple counties, over sexually graphic books being made available to kids in both school and public library systems.
“There's a case from the early 70s out of California where the Supreme Court was like, Okay, we have made a test that defines obscenity, and this is a sound legal test… it's obscenity if it doesn't have scientific, political redeeming characteristics to it that carry some other merits… It's a 50 year test, but Wyoming lawmakers keep butting against it. And Wyoming communities keep butting against it when they find things in libraries that are, you know, sexually graphic… lawmakers are like, how do we make a new category that keeps this stuff out of libraries, but isn't inviting lawfare against librarians, isn't butting up against the First Amendment and far exceeding that test at the High Court set.”
The Joint Judiciary Committee is scheduled to take up the obscenity topic for the months-long “interim” period between winter lawmaking sessions, starting May 20 at Eastern Wyoming College in Torrington.
Read the full story HERE.
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Outside the mainstay of country music, Wyoming might at one time have been considered a concert desert.
While the Cowboy State still loves country music as much as ever, it’s also increasingly drawing artists from a wide variety of genres, including electronica, reggae, blues, Americana and more.
Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports that there are 15 concerts booked at Snow King Mountain near Jackson this summer alone, roughly twice as many as last year.
“This summer, we've got some pretty big names, like, anybody who's into alternative music will instantly recognize the name Primus. They're coming to Jackson this summer, and Thievery Corporation, they're kind of a house electronic band, electronic music type band that I'm really into. They're coming, as well as country artists and bluegrass and the things that you'd expect to be played in Wyoming, that's still there, but we're seeing a great expansion, not only in the number of artists, but in the kind of artists.”
Cheyenne Frontier Days has always pulled in major artists, usually in country music. But it’s recently expanded the roster to include other genres, such as hip-hop and rock.
Read the full story HERE.
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That narrow cloud you might see funneling its way to the ground this time of year might not be a tornado. It could be an ordinary scud cloud, which looks a lot like a tornado.
But Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi points out that scud clouds have one major difference from a tornado.
“Scuds don't suck, and that's why they are not tornadoes. But they are still a severe thunderstorm or adjacent to it, so you can still get high winds, heavy rain and hail. Whatever's happening in the thunderstorm can happen in the Scud… Scuds are pieces of a big cloud that have broken off, in a sense, and then dropped lower to the ground, and they make this kind of vertical column shape that looks like it could be a tornado funnel. They even look like they're spinning from the outside, but they're not tornadoes, because… There is no sucking going on inside or outside a Scud. So it can't be a tornado. If a Scud starts sucking things up, then you need to run because it is.”For the record, there’s no explanation why they’re called scuds, but Meteorologist Don Day has a theory - that saying scud is easier than saying ‘pannus fractus cloud.’
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.
