It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming, for Monday, June 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.
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The Wyoming Democratic Party has a new chairman, and he’s a 32-year-old from Laramie.
Lucas Fralik gives up his seat as the Wyoming Democratic State Central Committee’s committeeman to the Democratic National Committee, to serve as the party chair. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that Fralik fills the seat of outgoing Chairman Joe Barbuto, who announced his departure from the post May 21 after three terms.
“Joe Barbuto chaired that party for eight years, starting in 2017 that includes three terms, two, two year and one, four year. They changed the bylaws so they they doubled their terms, and he stepped down to take a role with a national group that helps state Democratic parties. And so… Lucas Fralik, very energetic young man, only 32 years old, won the vote by a significant margin, and his messaging was kind of just like, get on The ground and help people stand for the underdog… If there's a disaster, if there's a need, find people in need and show up for them, show them what we're about by actually doing what we're about, was his messaging.”
Fralik also previously served as Campbell County and Albany County party chairman. He won the seat by a 52-4 vote during the party leadership’s Sunday meeting in Rock Springs, running against Evansville Mayor Candace Machado.
Read the full story HERE.
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Nearly four years ago, a sick young girl arrived in the Cheyenne Regional Medical Center’s emergency room, where two nurses found that she had a fever, trouble breathing and an abnormal heart rate. Hours later, after an examination by a physician’s assistant, she was discharged without being admitted. Her parents found her dead on the living room couch the next morning.
The 7-year-old girl’s parents filed a lawsuit alleging that she was misdiagnosed and would still be alive had ER nurses and doctors followed hospital procedures. But Cowboy State Daily’s Justin George reports that Cheyenne Regional Medical Center has challenged the lawsuit, claiming it has no liability because the doctors and nurses involved were contractors.
“They had independent contractors that worked as nurses. They had an independent contractor that worked as a physician's assistant, and they had an independent contractor working as a doctor overseeing that physician's assistant. So when the discharge orders were made and the diagnosis was made on this child, Cheyenne Regional Medical Center are saying that that was not dumb, that was not the hospital making it, but under Wyoming State law, it was the independent contractor making it, and they are liable, and not the hospital.”
CRMC’s use of contracted medical staff has come under fire in recent weeks. Doctors who have left or are leaving the hospital say the hospital’s reliance on independent contractors in the roles of doctors, nurses and other health specialists has resulted in degraded care, staffing shortages, long hours and a lack of confidence in leadership.
Read the full story HERE.
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There’s a parasite out there that breeds in open sores and orifices then eats its way through flesh. They squirm visibly under the skin, and their scientific name translates literally as “man-eater.”
And Cowboy State Daily’s Zak Sonntag reports that the New World Screwworm is slowly inching its way closer to Wyoming.
“This is something that nobody has thought about in a long time. They haven't had to. It's been eradicated. It hasn't been found in the US since 1966 and it wasn't until 2022 that it first started becoming a little bit of a problem when it popped up in Central America and later in southern Mexico… after we realized how close it was getting to the border, we've completely shut down cattle imports, which is going to have some big economic implications for both producers and consumers in Wyoming. Now, a lot of people in the industry are saying it's not a matter of if, but when screw worm gets here.
These fly larvae can infect a variety of species, including humans, though they’re most commonly found in cattle. Industry experts say the threat promises to raise consumer prices at a moment when the cost of beef is already at record highs.
Read the full story HERE.
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The Space Weather Prediction Center has issued a Severe geomagnetic storm watch for today. That means there could be a dazzling aurora in the night skies over Wyoming.
Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that a powerful coronal mass ejection erupted from the Sun on the evening of May 30. It was expected to reach Earth by Sunday evening and persist into Monday.
“The Space Weather Prediction Center is monitoring a G4 severe geomagnetic storm now, to give people a sense of scale for that, the last time we had a solar storm that was that intense was last May, when we had some of the best auroras that people have seen in Wyoming in decades. So this storm, they don't think it'll be as intense as the last g4 storm, but it should still manifest as auroras over Wyoming and pretty spectacular colors and ribbons of fire across the sky. The downside is it's raining in Wyoming, and there could be cloud cover across most of the state. So if you can find a spot that isn't covered in clouds, there's a pretty good chance you'll see auroras.”
The last time Wyoming experienced a coronal mass ejection this intense was in May 2024, although the Center said it’s “unlikely” this G4 geomagnetic storm will reach the same intensity.
Read the full story HERE.
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In the film “Top Gun: Maverick,” there’s a memorable scene where Tom Cruise looks over his shoulder in the cockpit and sees inbound missiles hot on his tail. Amid the riveting action, most fans of the film don’t realize the real hero of this moment is magnesium.
Cruise fires deflection flares, which are made from magnesium. Big Blue Technologies, a magnesium processing startup with operations near Cheyenne, told Cowboy State Daily’s David Madison that the magnesium needed to make those flares could, quote, “come from Cheyenne tomorrow.”
“Add Magnesium to the list of valuable minerals Wyoming is producing now. Partnership between Big Blue technologies and Garrison minerals has resulted in a facility out there… at the swan ranch industrial park, it's got a rail link, and the idea is that they're going to mine dolomite and then refine it into magnesium and then make magnesium Metal, which is a very in demand product… like lithium and rare earth elements… magnesium itself is not rare. It's the smelting that is rare, rarely done in the United States… and there's a facility now in Cheyenne, which really puts Wyoming on the magnesium map.”
The CEO of Big Blue Technologies said the company is still in the startup phase, but it’s applying for development grants and courting investors, while looking to satisfy the demand for domestically produced magnesium materials, including metals, aluminum alloys, and those fighter jet deflector flares.
Read the full story HERE.
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For decades, Rawlins native and Las Vegas detective Gill Gillilan hunted for clues to the story behind one of the most famous wild horses in America.
Desert Dust was a Red Desert mustang - the first wild stallion ever captured through the use of airplanes. On the day of his capture in 1945, a professional photographer caught the horse posing in sage and rock, still untamed and wild - and those photos sold more than a million copies worldwide.
Cowboy State Daily’s Jackie Dorothy writes that it was this first photo of Desert Dust that sparked an investigation by the detective into just who this horse, the inspiration for the Rawlins high school mascot, really was.
“People across the world have actually grown up with this picture of desert dust. It was a black and white shot in Wyoming, and it was colorized, but it captured the imagination of people in the 1940s through the 50s, and it hung up in every important building in Wyoming and across the world… people didn't know who desert dust was until a Vegas investigator started answering questions to his daughter… And so he started on a quest that ended up taking over 20 years to discover who this horse really was.”
Gillilan partnered with a Laramie author, Paul Papa, to tell Desert Dust’s story. Papa agreed to write the book, but with one stipulation. He said that the real story was how a Las Vegas investigator uncovered the story of this nearly forgotten stallion that at one time represented all of Wyoming’s wild horses.
Read the full story HERE.
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In the home of real pizza and pasta in Italy, tourists from the American West might take one glance at the menu of a popular chain of restaurants here and find themselves feeling right at home.
Cowboy State Daily’s Anna Jackson reports that for nearly 25 years, the Old Wild West restaurants have been dishing up a very specific European interpretation of America’s Wild West. While she was visiting Milan, she thought she’d stop in and see how the Europeans interpreted American West cuisine.
“I was actually walking one night, and I saw an Old Wild West, and I went and looked in the window, and I was like, What is this place? And then I when I looked online, I realized this is a massive chain. It has 250 plus locations, mostly in Italy, but some in France and Monaco… I think there is… a fascination in parts of Europe with, like, the old wild west, and there was a lot of Native American stuff on the walls and, you know, things like that...
I tried probably the worst example of their food. They do have a lot of steaks and burgers, but I got the Cheyenne chicken just for the name alone. And it was chicken breast with like, chopped up bacon on top. That was it, no sauce, nothing. And then fries. The fries were fantastic.”
Jackson said that, in her opinion, the most glaring omission was there wasn’t a single mention of whiskey on the menu. The saloon owners of the real Wild West would shudder at the thought.
Read the full story HERE.
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Paul and Lynn Montoya are living a luxury, high-seas lifestyle that sounds like something only the wealthy could afford.
The Laramie couple are cruising up and down the coastline of South America, releasing sea turtles in Acapulco, watching dolphins play in El Salvador and eating monster-sized prawns. The Montoyas are on a four-year cruise around the world on the Villa Vie ship Odyssey, and told Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean that they’re not spending any more money than they would have if the couple were still living in Laramie.
“On board this ship, everything's pretty much taken care of. You get your three square meals, you get housekeeping, you get laundry. It's kind of like a little floating hotel on the sea, right? There's entertainment that's included, your port fees, all that kind of stuff is included… They tried tacos in every port, and they were different every time… This is a four year trip, or, well, three and a half year trip around the world, with an adventure in every destination. There's 425 destinations… And the idea that you could do this as a single person for like, $45,000 a year. It's just mind boggling.”
The Montoyas decided to go nomad after hosting world travelers for years, hearing stories about the countries where they live. But should they decide they need to leave the ship for any period of time, the Montoyas can rent their cabin out like an Airbnb or, if they tire of their high seas lifestyle, sell the cabin outright, something they said they’ll evaluate in three years or so.
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.
