It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Monday, September 15th. 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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A long court battle may be nearing the finish line for an Oakland, California, developer Phil Tagami, who is ready to talk about what he characterizes as a “last-ditch effort" to delay his controversial bulk marine terminal project as the California Supreme Court decides whether to hear a final appeal.
Cowboy State Daily’s David Madison reports that a win for Tagami would mean opening the West Coast terminal to ship coal to Asian markets, which Wyoming thermal coal producers have been working to secure for more than two decades.
“Phil Tagami didn't get into this to be a coal exporter. He wanted to respond to a need that he saw in the East Bay Area for exporting commodities. Now it just so happens that coal from Wyoming could be one of those commodities that comes through in a large volume, if this thing ever gets off the ground. It's been 10 years of legal fights, and now he really sees maybe light at the end of the tunnel. The California Supreme Court will have until October 1 to decide whether or not they will take up his case.”
Wyoming coal producers and state officials continue to closely monitor Tagami's legal journey, including a ruling earlier this year that upheld a district judge's original decision in favor of the developer.
Read the full story HERE.
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About 100 Wyomingites gathered at the state Capitol on Saturday evening to remember and honor conservative political influencer Charlie Kirk and the victims of a shooting at Evergreen High School in Colorado this week.
Kirk was gunned down while speaking at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, on Wednesday as part of his American Comeback Tour, which invites students to debate social and political issues. Cowboy State Daily’s Jackson Walker was at the vigil.
“A lot of people there were preaching a message of love and faith and peace in a time when there's a lot of struggle and a lot of violence going on in the country. People there showed open emotion… They're wearing shirts representing Charlie Kirk, and they were carrying holstered pistols. And while everyone was gathered around, they broke out into a chorus of Amazing Grace, right as the clouds overhead opened up and rain started coming down.”
Against the backdrop of the Capitol, speakers encouraged those gathered to treat others with respect and compassion and to remain defiant against those who seek to silence their beliefs.
Read the full story HERE.
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A 6,200-cow mega dairy in Carpenter on Wyoming’s eastern plains helps supply Pizza Hut’s cheese maker.
The Burnett Family, who owns and operates the dairy, says its pioneering innovations could change the industry. Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean took a tour of the dairy.
“We always hear about how dairies are closing and struggling, and when I got there, it was this huge operation. And recently opened… they started in 2004 with 600 cattle. And three years ago, they ratcheted up. They doubled in size to 6000 cattle. I was like, holy cow… The milk goes down to Colorado, to a company called Leprino, which makes cheese for Pizza Hut. So if you've had a pizza from Pizza Hut at any point in time, you probably eat some Wyoming cheese.”
Today, the dairy milks around two-thirds of Wyoming’s 9,000-some dairy cattle. That’s 6,200 cows per day — 800 every hour — and 66,400 gallons of milk per day.
Read the full story HERE.
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Poachers kill untold numbers of America's wildlife, costing the country more than a billion dollars a year, and apparently most of them are getting away with it, according to one of the nation’s top hunting and conservation organizations.
Roughly 4% of poaching cases are detected, according to the Boone and Crockett Club. Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports that that means up to 96% of poachers get away with it.
“The reason for that is just the nature of the crime. It's usually taking place way out in the middle of nowhere, where there might not be very many people around. And you know, game agents, be they state or federal game wardens, are just so few and far between. It's just really difficult, not only to catch poachers, but to even establish that the crime was committed in the first place.”
Each year, undetected poaching across the United States costs $302.2 million in lost potential fines, and $1.13 billion in the estimated value of “animal replacement” for the wildlife killed.
Read the full story HERE.
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I’ll be back with more news, right after this.
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Something special has happened in Buffalo, New York over the past several years that’s fostered a sense of kinship between two unexpected places.
Thanks to Josh Allen, many Wyomingites now cheer alongside the Bills Mafia from thousands of miles away in hopes of an elusive Vince Lombardi trophy. Meanwhile, Trent Weitzel has amassed fans who came back en masse once again this year to help the Double Dub’s crew bring home the Festival Favorite trophy for the fourth straight year.
Cowboy State Daily’s Anna Jackson attended the annual National Buffalo Wing Festival in Buffalo, New York over Labor Day weekend, and came away with a real sense of community that she did not expect.
“I did not expect to feel kind of this emotional connection, just from meeting people in Buffalo, who may or may not have Wyoming connections, and then seeing how, like, these two careers have kind of moved in lockstep. Maybe, you know, Josh Allen is a little bit more famous than Trent, but like, you know, they've, they've kind of charted this path together, and they've sort of been on it together.”
Allen’s fame means that he can no longer casually drop into the festival to dole out wings with the Double Dub’s crew, as he did in 2019. But anytime Allen wants wings when the Double Dub’s truck rolls into Buffalo — now a regular occurrence — Weitzel finds a way to get some to the quarterback.
Read the full story HERE.
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Wyoming lawmakers are grasping how to prosecute gambling houses and dealers operating under the regulatory table without criminalizing people who gather in coffee shops and bars for a friendly game.
It’s a difficult balance. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that the Laramie County District Attorney’s Office recently declined to pursue a case of alleged professional gambling in which there was a question of whether those involved had a bona fide social relationship.
“I've been covering a criminal case in Natrona County where the guy was faced with a felony professional gambling charge, and his argument was, Whoa, these statutes are a mess. This is unconstitutionally vague… And so lawmakers are… trying to define bona fide social relationship, and they're also trying to differentiate between, like, professional houses, dealers that take a cut and what they called grandma and her friends playing Texas hold 'em at the coffee shop.”
Ultimately on Thursday during their meeting in Cheyenne, the legislative Select Committee on Gaming voted to advance a bill that would target gambling “houses,” dealers, and game organizers — and that would define “bona fide social relationship.”
Read the full story HERE.
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Memories fade and the old saying goes that time heals all wounds. But the wound and resulting scar inflicted on Casper 52 years ago this month can still be tender for those who lived through it.
Cowboy State Daily’s Dale Killingbeck spoke to best-selling author and former Casper resident Ron Franscell, who in his book, “The Darkest Night,” chronicled the tragedy of the kidnapping and murder of an 11-year-old girl and her sister, who was assaulted and thrown 100 feet off a county bridge, but survived.
“When you dig into this story, it's just one of those stories about darkness. It's about evil. It's about horror and terror… you think about when, when does the hurt stop? … for some people that were here, it still hasn't stopped, and it's been 52 years… Both of them were were tossed off the bridge. One died, one survived, but… people that knew her think that it was because she wasn't able to save her younger sister that she in in a in the later years, went back to that bridge and she fell off again… she died the second time.”
As the 52nd anniversary comes, the lone person still alive responsible for the crimes, Kennedy, is listed as a prisoner at the Wyoming Medium Correctional Institution. He is 79.
Read the full story HERE.
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Back when there was no speed limit in Montana, highways there were known as the “Montanabahn.” Then along came a stubborn cattle hustler from Wyoming named Rudy “Butch” Stanko.
Cowboy State Daily’s David Madison reports that Stanko's lead foot and hard head inadvertently brought the no-speed limit era, in which speed was limited to what was considered “reasonable and prudent,” to an end.
“To Rudy Butch Stanko, reasonable and prudent in his purple Camaro was 121 miles per hour on what he described as a perfect driving conditions day… He's just really moving down the highway between Great Falls and Lewistown, and gets pulled over. It goes all the way to the Supreme Court, and it turns out that the Supreme Court agrees with him, that this reasonable and prudent standard isn't clear enough, and … the Supreme Court justices in Montana direct the legislature to set a speed limit. And this is ironic for Rudy, because he didn't want a speed limit. He just wanted to point out the legal problem with charging him with a speeding ticket.”
So although Butch Stanko hated laws, and was a libertarian to his bones, he actually ended up creating a law that brought down the era of the Montanabahn.
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.
