It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Wednesday, July 30th. I’m Charene Herrera, in for Wendy Corr, bringing you headlines from the Cowboy State Daily newsroom - Brought to you by Cheyenne Frontier Days, who thanks everyone for another record‑breaking year. Mark your calendar for July 17 to 26, 2026 for the 130th Daddy of ’em All, celebrating the Year of the American Indian.
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A man was fatally wounded in an officer-involved shooting Monday evening after police say he fled a traffic stop in Cody. According to the Cody Police Department, the failure to yield prompted officers to chase the male driver through the city and east of it onto State Highway 14.
Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports the man was later identified as 22-year-old Lucas James-Erick Alvesteffer.
“The 22 year old was the subject of a traffic stop for not having proper registration, according to the police department, meaning either no license plate or not the right kind. And he didn't stick around… And an officer involved shooting followed and he was killed. There was one officer who fired, who's been placed on leave. And as is common practice, Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation has been called in to perform an independent investigation to look for justification or culpability in the officer involved”
No officers were injured during the incident. Cody Police Department Lieutenant Juston Wead declined to comment on if Alvesteffer brandished a weapon or was found with one after his death.
Read the full story HERE.
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Cheyenne is about to get its largest data center yet, with pipeline company Tallgrass and Texas-based digital-infrastructure company Crusoe announcing the construction of a 1.8-gigawatt artificial intelligence data center in southeast Wyoming.
Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports that the two companies did not provide a precise location, but Mayor Patrick Collins confirmed that the data center will be in Cheyenne.
“One gigawatt is enough power to power up a million homes… Wyoming only has a population just over, like 587,000 right? So it's like twice the power need of Wyoming for this one data center that's going to scale up to 10 gigawatts. So the scale is just enormous…Communities vie for these big economic development things. But Cheyenne didn't do anything. This company came knocking on their door and it just goes to show the city's kind of reached this critical mass. Enough people know about it. Meta is here. Microsoft is here. Other companies are saying, Wow, they've got everything we need there”
Wyoming’s weather and energy production make the state a great location for data centers. However, if the whole state wants to capitalize on the data center race, Jean reports more communities along Interstate 80 must scale up their power infrastructure.
Read the full story HERE.
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A 17-year-old tourist suffered “significant thermal burns” near the Lone Star Geyser in Yellowstone National Park on Monday.
Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports the teenager was on a hike in the Lone Star Geyser Basin 3 miles southeast of Old Faithful on Monday morning. His foot broke through a thin crust at the edge of the thermal area and plunged into scalding water.
“So one of his feet and one of his ankles was scalded with significant thermal burns from the hot water. He was transported to a hospital for treatment. We don't know much more beyond that. And as to critique many people who have commented, we don't know if this individual was walking off trail at the time. It's possible, but the park hasn't said whether or not he was. We just don't have a lot of information on this specific incident.”
The last incident of a person sustaining serious injuries from a Yellowstone thermal pool was in September 2024. This is the first thermal pool-related injury in the park this year.
Read the full story HERE.
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A proposal to ban watercraft on the upper stretch of the North Platte River’s Miracle Mile section near Casper is drawing fire from some anglers who want to kill the rule before Governor Mark Gordon signs off on it. The “Miracle Mile" is an 8-mile stretch of the North Platte that’s widely regarded as the gold standard for trout fisheries.
Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports that the proposal to ban watercraft on the upper three miles of the Miracle Mile has some anglers up in arms.
“That's not just anglers. That's recreational people floating on their tubes. Anybody, anybody who's doing anything except wading into the river. And as you can imagine, that's got some folks hackles up… People who don't want this [to] happen are arguing that's a gorgeous section of river we always floated it… It's the public's water. You should let the public enjoy it as they see fit. But I guess the other side of it is, is some people were saying, Well, maybe it's becoming so crowded with boats up there. Maybe we should just regulate it to waiting or shore fishing only. So we'll see how this plays out.”
A petition to keep the Miracle Mile open is circulating with about 300 signatures as of press time. It’s not certain when Governor Gordon might decide on the matter.
Read the full story HERE.
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The Casper Police Department continues to investigate why someone left a pressure cooker on a street corner, prompting street closings and a bomb squad response.
Police responded to a call about the suspicious item from a concerned resident in the Paradise Valley subdivision on Monday. Cowboy State Daily’s Dale Killingbeck reports that while it didn’t contain explosives, authorities said it did hold items associated with illegal drug use.
“You know, that harkens back to the Boston Marathon, which used pressure cookers, right? And so the police are saying, you know, they wanted to be extremely careful. And I talked to the woman that initially called it in, and she said that she was out that morning, and her dog was sniffing at this pressure cooker that was sitting at the intersection… And so she took a picture of it and sent it to her husband and said, Hey, should we call this in, you know? And goes, Yeah, I think we should, you know. And so I talked to another neighbor that said, you know, they're glad that it was called in, because you never know with this kind of thing.”
Detective Megan Dovala said pressure cookers are a recognized potential threat involving homemade explosives. The incident is still under investigation.
Read the full story HERE.
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On the same day that Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin formally announced a proposal to repeal an Obama-era rule that declares greenhouse gas emissions to be dangerous, Wyoming lawmakers debated how effective carbon capture is as a tool to promote the burning of Wyoming coal. Ultimately, state lawmakers voted down a draft bill that threatened to gut carbon capture efforts.
Cowboy State Daily’s David Madison reports that the two events mark a big day for the debate over climate change.
“You had… the EPA in DC, Lee Zeldin, calling out the endangerment finding. Now this has kind of been the bedrock since about 2009 of all kinds of regulations around climate. Zeldin referred to it as the holy grail of those who are trying to defend regulations around protecting our climate and reducing CO two so that's unfolding in DC. At the same time in Casper you had legislators debating whether or not to repeal this carbon sequestration mandate… So you have legislators debating whether or not they should continue with this mandate that requires utilities to at least look into using carbon sequestration on coal fired power plants.”
Legislators voted to keep the law as is. Madison reports that means coal fired power plants and utilities will continue to look for ways to sequester carbon. Those who supported that measure believe this will help Wyoming sell more coal.
Read the full story HERE.
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The sudden death of a 21-year-old Casper man has left his family devastated. Braeden Rayner was traveling on I-25 Sunday when the SUV he was in rolled. His cousin, Addyson Rodrick, told Cowboy State Daily that Rayner was ejected from the vehicle and died at the scene.
Cowboy State Daily’s Dale Killingbeck reports that a year ago, Rayner prophetically posted to Facebook how life can end “in the blink of an eye.”
“The 21-year-old Casper man is being missed by his family… He was a passenger in a vehicle… according to his cousin, bringing things back from a work site in Colorado. And the vehicle ended up flipping over, and he was, according to the State Highway Patrol, ejected from the vehicle. So that investigation continues, and there's been a GoFundMe set up by the family to try and help them with funeral expenses… A cousin told me that, you know, he was somebody that was really the life of the party, you know, when he showed up, really an extrovert, and he was definitely loved and is missed by everybody that knew him.”
The preliminary crash investigation shows that driver fatigue contributed to the rollover. Two other passengers and the driver were transported to the hospital, but Wyoming Highway Patrol Trooper Valerie Patmore did not have information on their conditions.
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 Charene Herrera, for Cowboy State Daily.
