It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Thursday, August 7th. 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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Eight rural communities across Wyoming are without their legacy hometown newspapers after News Media Corp. abruptly closed them without notice Wednesday morning.
Cowboy State Daily’s Greg Johnson spoke to several employees who were notified via phone call and email that their jobs were terminated, effective immediately.
“On Wednesday, they came to work. They're ready to go, most of them, because Wednesday is publication day… They're ready to go to press, and they're told, No, we're shut down… the group publisher told me that it was as much a surprise to him as it was to anybody else. He had no clue that the shutdown was coming, and then it was just going to be that abrupt… And not only was the shutdown effective Wednesday, that was also the last day that they have health insurance, they shut that down for them too… people talk these days about news deserts, big, you know, areas that aren't covered by any news… and for eight of them to just shut down in one day, there's a lot of local news. It's just just not happening.”
Among the shuttered papers is the Pinedale Roundup, which has been the local newspaper for folks in that western Wyoming community for 121 years. Other papers shut down are Wheatland’s Platte County Record-Times, the Guernsey Gazette, the Torrington Telegram, Lusk Herald, Uinta County Herald, Bridger Valley Pioneer and Kemmerer Gazette.
Read the full story HERE.
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The Wyoming Democratic Party is hopeful a newly announced series of town halls in districts considered Republican strongholds will prove to Wyomingites it is not backing down in the face of fierce Republican opposition.
Democrats currently hold a combined eight seats in the state legislature, with two in the Senate and six in the House. Cowboy State Daily’s Jackson Walker reports that State Democratic leaders are now pushing back through a series of listening events scheduled in red districts across Wyoming.
“This is an approach that kind of mirrors a game plan used by Democrats on the federal level such as Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio Cortez. They did their Stop Oligarchy tour across the country this year in red districts across the US… when I asked Democratic Party chairman for the state of Wyoming if he was inspired by this tour that was done on the federal level, he said, No. He said, This is something that we're doing locally. We're only focusing on the state of Wyoming. And he wants to show people that Democrats are here for Wyoming voters. They're caring about the issues that are important to them, and they're ready to turn the tide, given some of the unpopular decisions that Republican lawmakers may have made in recent days.”
Areas scheduled to host these listening sessions include Cheyenne, Casper, Lander and Park County, with more sessions planned.
Read the full story HERE.
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More than 200 Laramie County residents converged on a meeting of the county’s governing board Tuesday to criticize proposed land use rule changes impacting home-based businesses.
Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that nearly four hours of public testimony revealed a chasm between the way the commissioners characterized the new rules and the way meeting attendees characterized them.
“There was a lot of information online circulating like, Oh, this is going to abridge the Wyoming Food Freedom Act and shut everyone's business down, you know, shut down lemonade stands, or require all this onerous permitting. And county officials were really kind of slack jawed… because they were like, We're deregulating. We're actually making a less onerous plan, but it's raising attention now because we didn't thoroughly enforce the old rules.”
The Laramie County Board of Commissioners adopted the controversial new land use regulations, but not until after a unanimous vote to remove a proposed permitting requirement for home-based businesses that had enraged those business owners.
Read the full story HERE.
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For the third time this year, a wolf transplanted to Colorado wandered across the state line into Wyoming and died, though the wolf’s death wasn’t officially announced until nearly two weeks later.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife learned on July 24 that wolf 2304, a female, had died in Wyoming. Outdoors reporter Mark Heinz spoke to residents along the Colorado-Wyoming line who say that wolves crossing into Wyoming and dying are an inevitable consequence of the animals’ natural urge to wander.
“I talked to one person who isn't all that crazy about the wolves being there in Colorado, who said, you know, maybe they're trying to get home. I talked to another person who's very much for the wolf recovery program, who said, you know, this kind of proves the need for… that federal court ruling that could possibly lead to wolves being relisted as an endangered species.”
Wolves remain protected in Colorado and may not be legally hunted there. But in the part of Wyoming along the Colorado state line, wolves are classified as a predatory animal. That means they may be killed on sight at any time, with no hunting license required.
Read the full story HERE.
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About 25,000 Sturgis Motorcycle Rally bikers made a pit stop in tiny Hulett, Wyoming, on Wednesday for the town’s famous Ham and Jam street party. Picnic tables are set out in the shade beside the Ponderosa Café, vendors line the street and the Harleys never seem to stop buzzing.
Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports that it feels a bit like a summer reunion.
“It just feels like, I don't know, a backyard, neighborhood barbecue or something… Strangers sit next to each other and meet each other and talk to each other and tell their whole life story, sometimes even when you're trying to work. And that is, I think the secret sauce to the Ham and Jam is just that camaraderie. It's America coming together. It's really the world, the world comes to Hulett for this.”
Meeting people and making new friends, not to mention being a little adventurous and trying new things, are just a few of the other things people mention when they talk about their attraction to the Wyoming side of the Sturgis Rally in the Black Hills.
Read the full story HERE.
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Across the West, a divisive symbol of prudent government cost-cutting to some, and creeping authoritarianism and tech-enabled elitism to others, is making its way to national parks such as Yellowstone and other federally protected public lands, carrying a message.
The message is delivered via a giant Elon Musk head. Cowboy State Daily’s Justin George reports that a sign on the trailer hauling the gigantic bust reads: “Make America Wait Again. Now With Longer Lines Thanks To DOGE Cuts.”
“They're just going from Park to park. They're staying anonymous. What they're trying to do is protest. Elon, as we all know, headed up DOGE… the protest group, they reached out to Cowboy State Daily after they went to Yellowstone Park and said that they were responsible for this, and they said that they're just doing this strictly to protest the cuts that have happened to the park system… it has gone to Yosemite National Park. It's gone to Arches National Park in Utah. It's gone to Yellowstone, and it's gone to Mount Rainier…it plans to head to other places, and so you may see it if you're traveling around the summer.”
Interior Secretary Doug Burgam has pledged to keep parks “open and accessible” and make sure parks are adequately staffed, but the demonstrators behind the Musk bust don’t believe that to be the case.
Read the full story HERE.
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Saying poor construction of a park bathroom left her with long-lasting injuries, an Afton woman unsuccessfully sued her town government for nearly $3 million in a three-day jury trial last week.
The jury in Lincoln County District Court returned a July 30 verdict saying the town of Afton was not negligent. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that Danelle Lind’s lawsuit dates back to the night of Sept. 10, 2023, when Lind attended a wedding at the Canyon View Park in Afton.
“The bathroom door sits on a threshold that's like three and a half inches above the landing leading to it. And so the allegation was, whoa, this wasn't built to the code that prevailed in the early 80s when it was built. And the town also didn't have outdoor lighting, reportedly… the jury decided otherwise, after hearing not only evidence that the woman was wearing a high heeled wedge shoe, but also that the inside of the bathroom was lit so as she opens the door, the light from the inside of the bathroom spills onto the threshold as she's exiting.”
Lind suffered what she described as a severe leg injury. Her bones snapped in three places and she had to undergo an emergency room procedure.
Read the full story HERE.
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And the American Eagle denim company has sparked fierce debate with its ads featuring popular actress Sydney Sweeney and the tagline, quote, “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans.”
But Dubois-area outdoorsman and hunting guide Cade Cole decided to have some fun with it, according to outdoors reporter Mark Heinz.
“There's been this controversy blowing up all over the place about, you know, Sydney Sweeney, the jeans commercial. Is it too racy, too sexual? Does it imply genetic superiority of blonde haired, blue eyed people?... Wyoming outdoorsman decided to just have some fun with it, and he got this photo of himself with the jean jacket and some ripped up old jeans and holding his dog in one arm in A magnum revolver in the other with the caption on social media, hey, I have good jeans too.”
In the American Eagle ads, Sweeney poses in the company’s denim clothing. In a sultry voice, she talks about how genes pass certain characteristics — such as eye color and personality — down from parents to children.
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.
