It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Thursday, July 31st. I’m 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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The ambitions of Wyoming’s emerging nuclear industry collided with the concerns of citizens at a Joint Minerals, Business & Economic Development Interim Committee hearing Wednesday.
Committee members discussed proposed legislation that could pave the way for manufacturers to build microreactors. The catch is the Nuclear Regulatory Commission requires manufacturers of microreactors to take back and store the spent fuel on site.
Cowboy State Daily’s David Madison reports that the clash of opinions on the topic at Wednesday’s meeting included raised voices and gavel banging.
“There's a lot of really sad and disturbing stories about past radioactive contamination. We had testimony from a member of the Northern Arapaho community who blames her breast cancer on uranium contamination in her community… And then at the same time, you had professionals who'd come out from the Department of Energy, who have the latest science, who have all the confidence in the world… I started covering this issue in the 1990s and it was a lot of deja vu that a lot has changed, but a lot has stayed the same over the last 30 years, and Wyoming is really at the center of it.”
Any decision on the legislation was tabled for now, and the issue will likely spill over into next year’s legislative session.
Read the full story HERE.
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President Donald Trump on Wednesday nominated a state senator representing Laramie County to serve as the top federal prosecutor for Wyoming.
The selection of state Sen. Darin Smith of Cheyenne was lauded by Republicans statewide. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that, as top federal prosecutor in the state, Smith would be responsible for prosecuting federal crimes statewide, including all crimes that happen within national parks, and nearly all felony-level crimes that happen on the Wind River Indian Reservation.
“Wyoming's entire Republican delegation voiced support, saying he's a great pick. In his interview with me, he promised to be tough on violent crimes, tough on immigration related crimes, tough on any chance to curb a suspicious foreign adversary encroachment into Wyoming. He also said he doesn't want to do what he called frivolous prosecution… having worked in media on the reservation for nearly a decade now, I tried to, I sought to pin him down on whether he will seek better policing transparency on the reservation than we currently have. That's dismal at best. And he said he will seek transparency without sabotaging investigations.”
Smith must get confirmed by the U.S. Senate before he officially becomes U.S. Attorney for Wyoming.
Read the full story HERE.
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A Laramie County fire chief and his wife made their first appearances Wednesday on charges that they allegedly imprisoned and starved their 13-year-old adopted son.
Darrick Mittlestadt and his wife, Angela, posted bond and were released from custody. Cowboy State Daily’s Dale Killingbeck reports that the pair face charges of aggravated child abuse and conspiracy to commit aggravated child abuse, with prosecutors alleging that they blocked the door of their now 13-year-old son’s room and starved him from Sept. 1, 2023, to June 22, 2025.
“The charges state that their adopted 13 year old son was left at a Douglas Youth Facility, had given a wrong name, and then, when he was interviewed by a forensic interviewer in Casper, told them what his real name was, that he was adopted and he was dropped off there by his mother, and he weighed 50 pounds at the time he was dropped off. He's now in a Colorado hospital, and the couple faces those serious charges.”
The human resources officer for Laramie County Fire District No. 1 said Darrick Mittlestadt’s status with the fire district was not something she could discuss.
Read the full story HERE.
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With federal money in limbo, a roughly $30 million wildlife crossing project near Dubois is on hold, but that could change with federal dollars expected to start flowing again soon.
The Dubois-area project is still short by $16 million to $18 million, and Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports that many federal grants went into limbo earlier this year as the administration of President Donald Trump combed through federal budgets.
“We're getting news here over the past couple days that that could end soon, that at least a part of the federal budget that's earmarked for wildlife crossing grants could be freed up again, which would allow folks here, Wyoming Department of Transportation and other partners in this project, to apply for grants to get that last $16 to $18 million in place on this roughly $30 million project, to start getting that wildlife crossing built, which could again potentially save hundreds upon hundreds of mule deer in the Dubois area.”
State officials and wildlife advocates want to build three wildlife underpasses and an overpass along a 25-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 26/287 near Dubois, where hundreds of mule deer are hit every year. They hope that construction can begin in 2027.
Read the full story HERE.
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An elementary school teacher in Cheyenne was jailed Monday on suspicion of touching multiple female students inappropriately during the past school year.
55-year-old Brian Wrhel was booked into the Laramie County Detention Center on Monday. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that that was about a week after the Laramie County Deputy District Attorney charged Wrhel with 16 sex crimes, all felonies.
“One of the things that makes this story striking is, the affidavit says that he was groping, touching girls in class. And I had to read that a couple times - like, in class. And the girls, when they were forensically interviewed, told their interviewer, yeah, I watched him do this to so and so, I watched him do this to so and so he did this to me so and so watched and so the allegation is that this was… a culture of open touching of girls in class.”
Seven of the charges are third-degree sexual abuse of a minor, and carry a maximum penalty of up to 15 years in prison. Nine of the charges are second-degree sexual abuse of a minor, each carrying a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
Read the full story HERE.
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Wildland firefighting crews may get some help fighting a pair of wildfires burning southeast of Ten Sleep on Wednesday and Thursday, when expected thunderstorms sweep through Washakie County.
Although the storms bring a danger of lightning sparking new fires, the cooler temperatures and rain will help the more than 200 firefighters battling the Tower 2 and Vees fires. Firefighting agencies told Cowboy State Daily’s Greg Johnson that those numbers have been growing since the fires were discovered Saturday.
“The tiny town is getting quite a bit of traffic from the command posts. The different fire departments, they're all kind of setting up there, and it's stretching the limits of the town to accommodate them all a little bit, but they're doing it. The largest of the fires is called the Vees fire… They made a lot of progress on Wednesday, upping the containment of that fire from 20% to about 40%... but it's also not near any inhabited places… the Tower Two fire, which is almost contained, which is closer to the town that's only about four miles, four and a half miles away from Ten Sleep. But it also isn't really threatening the town, but they, the mayor says, yeah, we can see the smoke.”
The Tower 2 fire has burned about 220 acres southeast of Ten Sleep, but is now 75% contained. So far it has cost about $160,000 to fight.
Read the full story HERE.
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Cody Police say the man shot by one of their officers Monday evening was wielding a large knife.
22-year-old Lucas James-Erick Alvesteffer of Gillette died Monday evening in an officer-involved shooting, after he pulled a knife on officers following a high speed chase, which began with a routine traffic stop. Clair McFarland reports that Alvesteffer was wanted on warrants for alleged domestic abuse, including assaulting a pregnant woman.
“Claims that he strangled his girl while she was 19 weeks pregnant, and so then he got on bond for that and gets into another instance where he's accused of beating her and taking her phone so she can't call police. So her strategy is okay. He's having me take him to the dentist for an appointment. While he's in that dentist chair, I'm gonna go talk to the cops… and the police kind of converge on the dentist office… and he's gone. The dentist staffers say, Oh, he just ran out.”
The Campbell County Attorney’s Office on Wednesday asked the court to dismiss Alvesteffer’s felony-level case, citing his death.
Read the full story HERE.
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And a 29-year-old Cheyenne man has been arrested for taking a motorized golf cart off-roading - inside the Buffalo Niagara International Airport in New York State.
Kevin Sinning, who authorities say appeared to be intoxicated, decided to take a golf cart onto a moving walkway in the airport’s terminal. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that a video of the incident that’s been viewed millions of times shows an unperturbed Sinning sitting in the golf cart on the moving walkway, which is too narrow to accommodate the cart.
“Not only did he steal this thing and start driving it around the terminal, he drove it into the moving walkway. And it was too wide for the moving walkway, But that didn't deter him. So he destroyed the glass, he destroyed the cart, he destroyed the walkway, and he faces several second and third degree misdemeanors for his conduct that night… lots of people caught him in the act and posted it on Tiktok and social media. So the evidence is pretty irrefutable that he caused a lot of damage with his off roading in the Buffalo International Airport.”
The Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority arrested Sinning, and he faces a litany of charges.
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.
