It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Tuesday, August 5th. I’m Wendy Corr, bringing you headlines from the Cowboy State Daily newsroom - Brought to you by the Converse County Tourism Promotion Board! Discover Douglas and Glenrock in beautiful Wyoming, where rich history, outdoor adventure, and welcoming communities await. Feel the Energy of Converse County at www.ConverseCountyTourism.com.
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Wyoming’s few remaining lumber mills have been struggling, but a shift in federal and state timber policy might herald a new era for the industry here.
Gov. Mark Gordon on Friday signed an executive order calling for an increase of active forest management in Wyoming. Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports that the order mirrors President Donald Trump’s March 1 executive order for “immediate expansion of American timber production.”
“That kind of clears the path for the more aggressive forestry management, which, just my understanding, it's going to result in more logging. And… there's really three big timber companies in Wyoming, and they told me that really, what they're looking forward to is hoping that this gives them more leeway and more of an affordable option to get in there and clear out dead timber first, because there's just loads and loads of dead timber everywhere.”
Most of those trees were killed in previous pine beetle epidemics - and while all that dead timber is a fire hazard, industry experts say it might hold at least some value.
Read the full story HERE.
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Multiple agencies haven’t given up searching for a Minnesota hiker missing for nearly a week in Wyoming’s rugged Cloud Peak Wilderness.
Grant Gardner was in northern Wyoming for a planned three-day hike around the Misty Moon Lake area in the Bighorn Mountains. Cowboy State Daily’s Greg Johnson reports that his goal was to summit the 13,166-foot Cloud Peak, the highest in the Bighorn Mountains. And he did that, according to a July 29 text message Gardner sent to his wife.
“He texted his wife from the top of Cloud Peak, saying, ‘Hey, I made it.’ He also texted her that it was pretty taxing and more strenuous than he thought it was going to be. But that was the last anybody's heard of him. Said he was going to go down and camp… They brought in helicopters, they brought in some kind of radar device. They have electronic tracking stuff. They had dogs. They've really been going out looking for the guy… They did find his vehicle at the parking area where he was to begin what he had planned to do. So you know, he didn't come down and get in his vehicle and drive off.”
Although Gardner remains missing after many days and nights, Bighorn County Sheriff Ken Blackburn said the search for him will continue, and he’s asking anyone who may have had contact with Gardner to call law enforcement.
Read the full story HERE.
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Peabody Energy's Powder River Basin mining operations were the standout success story for the coal giant during the first half of 2025, more than doubling profits - while the company's overall business struggled.
Cowboy State Daily’s David Madison reports that the company's net income plummeted 95% in the first half of 2025 to just $12 million, amid collapsing international coal prices.
“It's a complicated picture, but there is some optimism around what's happening in Wyoming's Powder River Basin...one of the sources I spoke to called it a trifecta of tax breaks. You've got increased leasing and you have a reduction on the amount of royalties paid. So there's all of these incentives that are really helping Powder River Basin coal sell. Now the other picture here that's developing is some challenges, some headwinds for the coal industry, as represented through the overall losses from Peabody.”
The idea that Wyoming coal stands as a key and reliable source of electricity generation is something the Trump administration continues to promote.
Read the full story HERE.
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The nursing home where a 66-year-old woman died of an opioid overdose in late November denied wrongdoing, and asked a judge to throw out a wrongful death suit.
The Legacy Living and Rehabilitation Center in Gillette has garnered headlines in recent months for the Nov. 29 death of Rhonda Parker from an opioid overdose — and for a January incident, where a memory care patient died after she wandered into the cold unsupervised. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that Parker’s daughter, Christina Jones, sued the nursing home and licensed practical nurse Emily Ware, alleging they caused Parker’s wrongful death.
“Legacy submitted a filing on Friday, basically denying wrongdoing and saying there could be other things mitigating any liability in this case… like, there could have been intervening actions, there could have been pre existing medical conditions. Maybe they didn't follow every rule. When you are suing the government… you kind of just bring that in addition to all your other denials of wrongdoing.”
Jones’ complaint seeks more than $51,000 in damages. She is seeking a jury trial and all compensation allowed by law.
Read the full story HERE.
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Two people were killed in motorcycle crashes in Wyoming late last week, contributing to a particularly deadly summer on the state’s roads, which are experiencing more motorcycle traffic as thousands of riders travel to from the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.
Since July 19, three people have been killed and two others injured in motorcycle crashes in the Cowboy State, according to Cowboy State Daily’s Justin George.
“July was a particularly deadly month when it comes to vehicle accidents in Wyoming… But then you have, you know, three motorcycle accidents or crashes that occurred since July 19, including two last late last week, one on Thursday and one on Friday, and commonalities in those were that the riders were all older than 66 years old. Now I'm not going to make any assumptions from that… Highway Patrol is just pointing all this out, because Sturgis is going on right now. It began on Saturday, and it continues until the 10th, and there are just a lot more motorcycles that are out there on the road, so people just need to be more aware of that.”
There have been 65 fatal vehicle crashes — resulting in 72 deaths — in Wyoming this year, including 17 fatal crashes in July. Last year, the state recorded 102 total fatal crashes but just five in July.
Read the full story HERE.
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A University of Wyoming professor is developing what could be groundbreaking technology to protect nuclear reactors from earthquake damage.
Ankit Saxena recently received a $200,000 federal grant to develop a system to help absorb the disruption that can be caused by earthquakes. Cowboy State Daily’s David Madison reports that the research is developing as site preparation is already underway on TerraPower’s Natrium reactor in Kemmerer, and wheels are in motion for a micronuclear power boom in the United States.
“It's not as if he's developing technology directly for Kemmerer, but it is in this world where seismic activity happens and you want to have a nuclear reactor. What this research is doing is creating these kind of vibration absorbers that you can bury underground or position around the reactor, be it a full blown natrium reactor, like the one in Kemmerer, or a micro reactor, or small modular reactor. All of those could possibly benefit from this science that he's developing. And really it boils down to making internal particles absorb the vibration before they travel on and reach the reactor.”
The National Science Foundation is backing Saxena’s research because it sees potential in seismic damping technology. This puts UW at the forefront of efforts that set out to make nuclear reactors earthquake proof.
Read the full story HERE.
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The University of Wyoming has become the latest higher education institution to lend its branding to a school-sponsored liquor. UW Athletics has announced it will launch a new Cowboy-themed craft bourbon called “Pretty Good Horse,” in partnership with the state of Wyoming.
Producing the booze will be Casper-based Backwards Distilling, which told Cowboy State Daily’s Jackson Walker that it inked a five-year contract with the university to produce the spirit.
“Normally universities sort of shy away from association with alcohol, but what we're actually finding is that the University of Wyoming is becoming one of many schools now that is putting out a branded alcohol. So in this specific partnership, they're partnering with a Wyoming based distillery to create a bourbon called “Pretty Good Horse,” which is a reference to the fight song of the University of Wyoming. And they're not alone in doing ventures like these. We've seen these other really big powerhouse athletic schools, such as Ohio State, Notre Dame, University of Tennessee, schools like that, also putting out their own kind of branded alcohol content.”
Its initial batch will produce 1,800 bottles and will be available in liquor stores across Wyoming with a shipping option for fans and school alumni nationwide.
Read the full story HERE.
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Colorado Parks and Wildlife got a call from an alarmed resident in Colorado Springs in July, reporting bears lurking in the storm drains under a suburban street.
And while that big male black bear was coaxed out through a manhole, an agency spokesperson told outdoors reporter Mark Heinz that this sort of incident is becoming common in the city.
“They have a lot of bears in Colorado Springs, especially on the west side of the city that butts up against the mountains… but they actually had one get into the storm drain system somehow, and was wandering around and ended up underneath a suburban neighborhood, and somebody gave Colorado Parks and Wildlife a panicked call and said, There's bears down there… they got a key to a manhole from the city public's work department and opened the manhole, and the bear… he just saw the opening and climbed up the ladder and clambered out… He climbed a tree… And I guess after sunset sometime, he just clambered down and wandered off back into the hills by himself.”
CPW agents say they have plenty of experience handling incidents in Colorado Springs, but finding a bear in the storm drains was a new twist.
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.
