It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Wednesday, September 10th. 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 Medical Imaging dot net, forward slash WIVA.
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The father of a 14-year-old boy who was stabbed and killed at the Eastridge Mall in Casper on April 7, 2024, says his son would still be alive if security at the mall and one of its stores hadn’t been so sloppy and ineffective.
That’s what Robert Maher Sr. alleges in a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday against the operator of the mall and Target, citing a lack of security in the store where the murder weapon was stolen and the mall corridors and property. Cowboy State Daily’s Dale Killingbeck reports that none of the mall’s hallway security cameras were operational on the day two other teens fought with Bobby Maher, one holding him down and the other stabbing him twice - that’s according to the lawsuit.
“The suit alleges that cameras in the hallway at the mall were not working at the time of the incident, and there was no not any kind of security response when these teams put on ski masks to take Bobby Maher outside. So it's just saying there's a total lack of security and just controlling the situation at the mall. What's interesting too is that the family is asking anybody in the community with information about mall security incidents or practices to contact them.”
Both of the teens involved in Bobby Maher’s death have been convicted.
Read the full story HERE.
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In day four of the vehicular homicide trial of a Haitian trucker accused of recklessly killing one EMT and severely injuring another with a commercial truck on Interstate 80, the driver took the witness stand Thursday in his own defense.
46-year-old Saviol Saint Jean faces one count of aggravated vehicular homicide, another of aggravated assault, and a third for not moving over for emergency vehicles. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that in his testimony, Saint Jean described the chaotic scene.
“He described working for nine years as a police officer in Haiti, and fearing that he was targeted by armed groups, making the decision with his wife and daughter to come to the United States… The crux of the testimony probably was where he was talking about what he saw as he approached this scene. He's saying, I saw the lights to the right, you know, they were refracting on my window. There's emergency vehicles are often to the right, and so I merged left, and then I tried to brake and it was too late.”
Saint Jean’s trial is scheduled to continue Wednesday.
Read the full story HERE.
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Internet access can be challenging in the tiny town of Parkman, northwest of Sheridan. That’s one of the reasons Parkman Bar and Grill accepts only cash or checks from its customers. But better, more affordable high-speed internet is on the way for communities like Parkman, which falls into one of Wyoming’s many grey areas identified on the FCC’s national broadband map.
Now Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports that Wyoming will get $348 million in federal funding from the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program to ensure that speeds of at least 25 megabytes per second for downloads become available to everyone across the state who wants it.
“This is a federal grant that, you know, multiple providers could apply for… So different companies across the state are looking at a piece of this pie to build out broadband access. It’s 38,000 plus locations that don't currently have the minimum speeds for high speed internet access… I called up the gal that owns the Parkman Bar and Grill in northern Wyoming, because I know that the service there was a little challenging for me when I was there the bar… You know, for her customers, she's marketing herself as a place to unplug so, internet so people can be on their phones, is not part of her marketing message.”
The BEAD program kicked off in 2021 and has since worked its way through two presidential administrations to get where it is now.
Read the full story HERE.
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Wyoming Rep. Harriet Hageman used a congressional hearing Tuesday to detail the 24-year history of the 2001 Clinton administration-era federal roadless rule, arguing that U.S. Forest Service employees correctly predicted it would make forest management “impossible."
Cowboy State Daily’s David Madison reports that her comments came during sharp exchanges over the Trump administration's push to repeal roadless restrictions she says that, among other things, has led to a buildup of dead fuel and historically huge wildfires.
“Tom Schultz, the head of the Forest Service, appeared before the Natural Resources Committee in the US Congress today… Representative Hageman was there with plenty of questions for Chief Schultz… she used her time to frame this, this issue of logging and roadless management, around her…you might call it an originalist interpretation of how the Forest Service was founded and what their original mission was, and says that they've strayed too far from the mission of providing trees to cut and to harvest and to support Wyoming's timber industry.”
Chief Schultz confirmed that the agency has identified high wildfire risk areas and noted that typically, insect and disease rates are higher in roadless areas, since those areas historically have not been managed.
Read the full story HERE.
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Cheyenne is a step closer to a new rule intending to curb loud crotch rockets and other vehicles screaming around the city, even as residents voiced confusion about how it would be enforced.
The council on Monday unanimously passed the second reading of the ordinance, which requires all vehicles driven within city limits to be equipped with a muffler. Cowboy State Daily’s Jackson Walker reports that it specifically prohibits vehicles that bypass or cut out their mufflers to be louder.
“For a long time, it's been an issue that people with very loud crotch rockets and very noisy cars that don't have their mufflers properly installed will tear up the main drag here in Cheyenne and make it very noisy for people that are trying to sleep in the early hours of the morning... this new ordinance would allow them to measure sound much more closely, and would allow officers to have the technology necessary to measure decibels, which is going to help them then enforce these rules.”
Violators would be subject to a fine between $100 and $200 for a first offense, followed by escalating fines and possible jail time for each ensuing offense. The ordinance will be brought up for a third reading and final vote at a later meeting.
Read the full story HERE.
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The Wyoming crime team that fights child sexual exploitation, and the circulation of photos and videos associated with it, is warning people not to open suspicious mail from Canada.
It’s an extortion scheme, reports Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland. She explains that the wording in the mailer claims that the recipient clicked a suspicious internet link that provided the hackers access to their devices, and that illegal images were then planted on them. The messaging uses threats of police involvement, and demands money within 36 hours.
“It's like worst nightmare stuff, right? Someone hacking into your device and planting child porn there, and then the letters claim that someone has done that and say something like, well, we can take care of this if you send us money. And so Natrona County Sheriff's Office reported in conjunction with these guys Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force like, Hey, this is happening in Natrona County and across the state.”
The letters also mention the recipients’ family members by name, and arrives as a mailed letter to a recipient’s home address. Law enforcement in Natrona County have received at least two reports of this scheme since Monday, with additional reports around the state of Wyoming.
Read the full story HERE.
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Searchers using sonar found a man’s body 420 feet down in Jackson Lake in Grand Teton National Park on Sunday.
Although the remains hadn’t been positively identified as of Monday, Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports that they are thought to be those of 43-year-old Wesley Dopkins, who was last seen kayaking on Jackson Lake on June 15, 2024.
“The remains haven't been positively identified, but the Park Service reported that just given the circumstances and the location of the body, they are reasonably certain that … It's that kayaker that went missing all the way back in June of 2024… There's a nonprofit organization that specializes in underwater searches, and they brought in some specialized sonar equipment, and they located the body at a depth of 420 feet in the lake. So very deep down in Jackson lake in Grand Teton National Park, is where the victim’s remains were finally located.”
Dopkins was reported missing by a friend who had set out kayaking with him on the day that Dopkins went missing. The Park Service reports that Dopkins was not wearing a life jacket when he was last seen.
Read the full story HERE.
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Residents of Red Lodge, Montana, were amused Monday to watch as a moose shared an intimate moment with an inanimate object.
A young male moose tried his luck and found a receptive partner for his raging hormones. But Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that the only problem was, the other moose was a life-sized wooden sculpture of a male moose outside the Roosevelt Center.
“I looked up scientific information in terms of how male moose behaved during the rut. And there's no explanation, as far as we know, for the behavior that this moose and Red Lodge was showing. It clearly had an affection for this wooden moose sculpture, even though it was clearly a sculpture of a male moose and male moose don't mount each other during their mating rituals, so who knows what this guy was going for… but it seemed to make sense to the moose, at least at the time.”
Judging by the size of this moose's antlers, it’s clear this male was inexperienced and feeling himself out. But even when they’re this inexperienced, male moose are dangerous and shouldn’t be approached during the rut.
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.
