It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Friday, the 4th of July. I’m Wendy Corr, bringing you headlines from the Cowboy State Daily newsroom - Brought to you by Cheyenne Frontier Days. Ten days of rodeo thrills, Xtreme Bulls, live concerts, carnival rides, western heritage, and unforgettable cowboy spirit in Cheyenne, Wyoming! Don’t miss the 129th Daddy of ‘Em all July 18-27th.
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Wyoming truckers who say they were dreading a federal regulation to put speed limiting devices on their trucks are praising President Donald Trump's reversal of the Biden-era agenda preparing them to go into effect.
One Cheyenne-based trucking company owner told Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland that the devices — called speed governors — are often to blame for more hazardous road conditions.
“So Biden's DOT in 2022 was like, Look, we're going to move toward governing these heavy trucks… And so there was lots of chatter about what they're going to govern at and the Trump administration late last week was like, No, we're we're not doing federally mandated governors. And in talking to truckers around Wyoming, they're like those bottlenecks that happen on the interstate when one trucker is trying to pass another trucker and the one on the left is going 70 and the one on the right is going 68 that's from a governor from a major company that, for insurance reasons, has a governor limiting the speed.”
Governors introduce other hazards by making truckers who are limited both in the speed they can go, and the number of hours they can drive in a stretch by law, feel rushed — and likelier to undertake other shortcuts.
Read the full story HERE.
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A partnership between OpenAI and Oracle could lead to the construction of another large data center in Wyoming.
OpenAI, the parent company of ChatGPT, announced Tuesday it plans to rent 4.5 gigawatts of data center power — enough to provide power to 750,000 homes — from Oracle. Cowboy State Daily’s Matthew Christian reports that sites in Wyoming, Michigan, Texas and Wisconsin are among the potential data center sites.
“Data centers use a tremendous amount of power, and most of them use a tremendous amount of water as well. Luckily, Black Hills energy, which is the power company for Cheyenne, has power available, and they have some special rates. They're actually a national leader in working with data centers as far as water goes, Daniel Singh, State Representative, said there's a possibility they could bring water from the ocean, desalinate it and… use it for their cooling systems.”
Cheyenne is also popular with data center developers because of its proximity to I-80, and a parallel fiber optics line.
Read the full story HERE.
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President Donald Trump and the signature legislation of congressional Republicans made it across the finish line Thursday, as GOP leaders made the Fourth of July deadline they set for completing the multi trillion-dollar tax and spending package.
Cowboy State Daily’s Greg Johnson reports that Thursday’s vote in a raucous House was 218-214 in favor of the version the Senate passed two days ago with Vice President J.D. Vance breaking a 50-50 tie.
“It passed by a higher margin, by more votes on Thursday than it did when it first passed out of the house. The first time to go to the Senate, it only passed by one vote, then the Senate made a bunch of changes to it, which a lot of people thought, hey, you know, the Senate's made so many changes to it, it's going to cause some problems in the house… and they basically said, it's fine, we'll take it, and they pass it, and they pick up four more votes on it too… Now the focus is… What does it mean for all kinds of things in government, for agencies, there's a lot of things about energy that Wyoming wants to keep an eye on.”
Due to all the drafting and redrafting, it is not entirely clear how much of the Republican agenda was lost to Democrats’ successful parliamentary challenges. But Republicans have sounded upbeat. The centerpiece of their bill — preserving tax cuts — was never threatened. Nor were most major spending provisions.
Read the full story HERE.
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Neighbors of a proposed cellphone tower site in the Ranchettes area north of Cheyenne are accusing Laramie County commissioners of choosing special interests over people, after the commission approved plans to build a 150-foot cell tower there.
Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports that the approval came after several strenuous objections from neighbors, who raised health and safety issues, citing recent statements by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
“This coverage map that they showed during the meeting shows that coverage is pretty good inside of homes, but it's not very good outside of homes, and it's not very good inside of your car. And so people try to make 911 calls from that area, you know, that could be problematic, but some of the residents there are concerned about cell phone towers. Are there health effects from that? RFK Jr has said that there are. I think when I looked at the studies out there on this, really, it's inconclusive. The American Cancer Society, for example, has taken no position either way, on whether cell phone towers cause cancer.”
Kennedy has suggested that cellphones can produce electromagnetic radiation that can do neurological damage to children who are around them all day, as well as cause cellular damage or even cancer. His critics, meanwhile, have pointed out that so far there’s been no widespread increase in the rate of brain tumors, despite the widespread use of cellphones.
Read the full story HERE.
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When a Cheyenne restaurant owner posted a PG-rated gay joke on his roadside sign, Wyoming’s top LGBTQ advocacy group decided to run with the joke and call for more.
The “Drive Thru” letter-board sign at Espi’s Restaurant reads, “What Does The Gay Cowboy Say To His Horse.” Then a gap precedes the punchline of, “HAAAY.”
Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that in response, LGBTQ group Wyoming Equality decided to run with the joke and call for more.
“From a news vantage, it begs the question, is society to a point where it can put gay jokes on billboards and reader boards? And, you know, not being gay myself, I started asking around, and I talked to Sarah Burlingame, who leads the top LGBTQ advocacy organization in the state, and I'm thinking, Gosh, I wonder, Is she going to find it offensive?... her organization… posted the photo I sent when requesting comments, and they invited more PG rated dad caliber gay jokes onto their Facebook page, and they crack some themselves… and I talked to Dan Zwonitzer, a long time Republican lawmaker, former now, but openly gay, married, raising a family. He was actually working on his ranch when I talked to him, and he was like, yeah, that joke's a staple in our family because we work with Haaaay.”
Espi’s owner Todd Espinoza said Cowboy State Daily’s inquiry was the first time he’s been questioned about the joke, adding that most people just laugh or compliment it.
He said he hasn’t heard any negative response at all.
Read the full story HERE.
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The Casper Police Department believes there may be an arsonist in the city after a series of fires were touched off over a 12-hour period Wednesday evening and early Thursday morning.
Cowboy State Daily’s Dale Killingbeck reports that between 8 p.m. Wednesday and 8 a.m. Thursday, the Casper Fire Department and other first responders were called to five locations with fires.
“I found one place… in an alley behind a fire extinguisher business, and I was told by one of the employees that when he came to work, the grass was smoking all around a gas meter. So instead of pulling out their fire extinguishers, because they fill them every day, they called the fire department and 911, then the fire department showed up, and the detective showed up and took photos, and they said that they were told that … the fire department and the police were investigating a series of … suspected arsons across the city.”
No injuries have been reported as a result of the fires, but one incident did result in significant property damage. The department is asking anyone with surveillance video of the fire locations to contact them.
Read the full story HERE.
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Dozens of public fireworks displays are scheduled throughout Wyoming to celebrate Independence Day in 2025.
And Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi points out that if there isn’t a public show in your community, you shouldn’t have to go far for a picturesque view of pyrotechnics.
“If you got up high enough, you could probably see multiple fireworks displays from multiple places on the evening of July 4. But most places have either public fireworks displays or they have spots designated where people can set off their own fireworks. I know Worland and Glenrock don't have public displays, but they encourage people to bring their own fireworks and set them off at designated areas… but you're not far from fireworks on Fourth of July, and that's one of the Great Patriotic things about Wyoming.”
Many city and county fire departments remind Wyomingites that most types of fireworks are prohibited within the city limits of most communities and strictly banned on all state and federal lands.
Read the full story HERE.
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And In what’s become an Independence Day tradition, Cowboy State Daily outdoors writer Mark Heinz - for the fourth year in a row - decided to break out his chainsaw for what could be the most patriotic version of “The Star Spangled Banner” ever played… on a power tool.
“Have a close friend, actually, soon to be family member, Veronica, who also happens to be a experienced professional videographer. And so instead of just suiting it on a cheesy cell phone I had, we went outside of Riverton here and we shot it professionally. I love the results.”
Read the full story HERE.
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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 guests are Zak Pullen and Casey Rislov, the Casper-based illustrator and author of a series of popular children’s books. You can find the link on our website, on our YouTube channel, 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.
