It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Monday, September 1st. I’m Wendy Corr, bringing you headlines from the Cowboy State Daily newsroom… Brought to you by Wyoming Interventional and Vascular Associates. WIVA offers the best solution for treating tired, aching and swollen legs, at Wyoming's only IAC-accredited vein facility. With virtually no downtime and minimal risks, if you’re ready for relief, see what WIVA can do for you. Schedule a consultation at Casper Medial Imaging dot net, forward slash WIVA.
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Weitzel’s Wings, aka Double Dub’s, has just made history - for the fourth year in a row, the Laramie-based Buffalo wing truck has won the Festival Favorite title at the 2025 National Buffalo Wing Festival in Buffalo, New York.
Trent Weitzel’s famous chicken wings received national attention by being the favorite college nosh for superstar NFL quarterback Josh Allen when he attended the University of Wyoming.
Cowboy State Daily’s Anna Jackson, who followed Double Dub’s to the wing fest, says winning the fan favorite prize is like being a four-time Super Bowl champ.
“The way that is determined is people who come into the festival get a ticket, and for every ticket, they get a wing. And so it's really how many wings the Double Dubs guys gave out… People come from all over the country. They had people from 47 states… There were more than a dozen wing spots to try… You can partake in activities. There's a bobbing for wings contest, in a kiddie pool of buffalo cheese sauce… it's a little bit of a sensory overload. But… There are so many people in Wyoming jerseys… they have this kinship with Wyoming because of Josh Allen.”
Aside from Cowboys gear, Jackson said the favorite uniform of attendees chomping on the 34 tons of wings offered at the festival, were Buffalo Bills jerseys - and styrofoam chicken wing-shaped hats.
Read the full story HERE.
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A Utah judge this month awarded nearly $1 billion in damages to a Rock Springs family after finding against a Salt Lake City hospital for botching the mother and baby’s labor care nearly six years ago.
5-year-old Azaylee is nonverbal and delayed mentally by three years. Her mother, Anyssa Zancanella, told Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland that Utah Third Judicial District Judge Patrick Corum ordered the damages after four years of litigation, and after finding Steward Healthcare liable in the case.
“She went to this hospital where she hadn't been seen before… she didn't have a doctor patient relationship there, and the there were these new nurses that weren't really trained in all the necessary practices. And… the filing by Anyssa Zancanella’s lawyer, says that the nurse that had the experience basically ditched the case because she had gotten into a tiff with Zancanella's mom about how to handle things… The Court arguments say that they were blasting her with Pitocin, and this baby's heart rate was haywire… and that, after 36 hours labor, they took her for C section, but it's too late, and there was, there was brain damage.”
It's uncertain whether the family will receive all of the $951 million that was ordered by Judge Corum.
Read the full story HERE.
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The Dallas Police Department is making a big deal in its efforts to recruit new officers by adding cowboy hats to its uniform.
Hats off to those urban cops, but they’re a little late to the party. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that cowboy hats never went out of style in Wyoming. In fact, they’re an expected perk of the job.
“The Dallas Police Department was making a big deal about adding cowboy hats to their official sanctioned uniform, and they were spinning it as a way of recruiting, trying to get people interested in becoming a Dallas police officer, and that was seemed like kind of an anathema to a lot of Wyoming law enforcement officers, because cowboy hats, that's just part of the routine. It's been part of the sanctioned uniform for many agencies for decades.”
Texas is the latest state to tap into the potential of cowboy hats for law enforcement officers. Deputies with the Boulder and Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Offices in Colorado got permission to wear cowboy hats on the job for the first time in decades just last year.
Read the full story HERE.
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Small ski resort owners in Wyoming are fighting to keep skiing affordable as major mountains push daily lift tickets to record highs. Deer Valley Resort in Utah and Colorado resorts Vail and Beaver Creek will charge $329 for peak single-day lift tickets this season. If you consider that back in 1972, a day at Vail cost $9, that represents a 3,600% increase over a couple generations of skiers.
Cowboy State Daily’s David Madison spoke with the co-owner of the Meadowlark Ski Area and Lodge between Ten Sleep and Buffalo in the Bighorn Mountains, who channeled the collective reaction of many skiers.
“She was appalled to hear that $300 is the new norm, but I think it's probably a business opportunity for them. I mean, studies show that if you ski four times a year, you're likely going to carry that habit through your life. And I certainly can't shake the habit. I sometimes question my life choices as I've planned so many things around skiing, but man, I certainly can't afford $300 a day, and it kind of takes the fun out of it too.”
Wyoming is a great place to be a budget conscious skier. Madison reports that at Antelope Butte in the Bighorns, kids age 18 and under get free passes; and Meadowlark keeps their passes at $70 per day - and their cheeseburgers around $10.
Read the full story HERE.
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Optimism still reigns in the outlook and words of a 43-year-old mother of five in Powell and her oldest son, whose devastating accident capped a bad three months that turned their family’s world upside down.
Cindy Anzurez told Cowboy State Daily’s Dale Killingbeck that the trouble began when their property flooded on Memorial Day weekend in 2024. Then on July 4, the family’s possessions burned up in a garage fire. Less than a month later, on Aug. 1st, Anzurez’s then 13-year-old son Gonzalo was paralyzed from the shoulders down in a life-changing car accident.
“He's home, he's back in school. It's been a year, but they have faced a lot of hardships. They had to move to a new place. The dad in the home left the family because of the tragedy, couldn't handle it. So they're just dealing with a lot, but… I talked to both of them, and they're just looking at life with a glass half full, you know, and I think it says a lot to all of us… life throws us hardships, but they're facing it the best they can, and they're appreciative of the family, the community around them that has stepped in and helped out.”
Despite having every right to be mad at God and life for being dealt an unfair hand, Anzurez said she and the family have been “blessed” by the people of Powell, who haven’t abandoned them.
Read the full story HERE.
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It doesn’t take long for a passerby on Wyoming Highway 120 to realize that something strange and wonderful is happening in the tiny town of Meeteetse.
Cars are parked every which way along the highway, which doubles as a main street, and people are wearing goofy grins as they casually stroll up and down the wooden boardwalks, a free ice cream cone in hand.
Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports that giving away free ice cream at the Meeteetse Mercantile has helped create a surprising amount of foot traffic on the boardwalk and energy, as people explore places like the Meeteetse Chocolatier, Vic Payne’s art gallery, and the newly opened Meeteetse Meat Company.
“I stumbled into the Mercantile, which is an artisans co-op that just started in May, and they are the ones that were responsible for the free ice cream… people will go in for the free ice cream, they'll learn that it's a free will donation… and they're going to wander around town… This did kind of come out of their strategic planning, you know, utilizing the spots in the downtown, not letting them rot and go to waste.”
But many of the items Meeteetse is focused on right now is strategic “doing” - building on what’s already there, enhancing existing businesses, and creating new sustainable businesses, to grow what the town can offer.
Read the full story HERE.
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People might think bringing their dogs to grizzly country makes them safer because their loyal, dutiful companions will put themselves between danger and their owners.
The reality is, having your dog along for protection frequently makes things worse. Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports that a new study shows dogs can harass and enrage bears, then run away while their owners get mauled.
“Tom Smith, he's worked for decades in bear research all over North America with polar bears, black bears and brown bears, or grizzly bears, and so he knows his stuff, and they did this deep dive into dog, people and bear encounters across a huge range of locations… if you let your dog run loose, or you think your dog's going to help warn you of grizzly bears or protect you of a grizzly bear, they could make matters worse, because the dog could run off, get into a tussle with the bear, get scared and Run back to you, and then you have your dog with an angry bear right on its heels running back to you.”
When considering whether to take their dogs into bear country, Smith said people need to realize the ancient rivalry between bears and wolves, from which dogs are descended.
Read the full story HERE.
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On a prominent hill in Star Valley, a 1,500-square-foot American flag flies from a 130-foot-tall flagpole. When the massive flag needs to be replaced, a 78-year-old ranch owner named Darcel Hulse insists on doing the work himself.
Hulse, the owner of the Salt River Ranch, first raised the massive 50-foot-by-30-foot flag on its towering flagpole last September. He told Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi that he went big because he wanted to make a big statement.
“They've gotten a lot of attention internationally because of this massive flag that they have on their property. So when a storm blew in and broke the ropes that keep that flag up, no one was going to go up there and do it other than the ourselves. And he's 78 years old, but he's not spooked by heights, so he got a crane, the got hoisted up by the crane, and he did that rope work himself.”
The massive flag on the Salt River Ranch has become a point of pride for Hulse, his family, the Star Valley community, and thousands of people appreciating it from afar. Hulse said he is committed to doing whatever it takes to ensure his flag is there to stay.
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.
