It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Monday, September 22nd. 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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Laramie County fire crews have cleared the scene of a spectacular incident that authorities are calling a “significant and dangerous” caused by a natural gas rupture west of Cheyenne in the early hours of Sunday.
Cowboy State Daily’s Jimmy Orr explains that Laramie County Fire District No. 10 was dispatched at 1:08 a.m. on reports of explosions and flames visible from the incident.
“In the middle of the night, there was a natural gas pipeline rupture, and there was a train carrying hazardous materials that was close to where that rupture was, and it was a spectacular fire. You could see it 60 miles away. They were able to stop the train before it got to that location and self evacuate…Fire crews, hazmat teams, came out and were able to extinguish the fire.”
Fortunately, there were no injuries reported. What caused the explosion is unknown and the case has been turned over to Union Pacific Railroad investigators.
Read the full story HERE.
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An asphalt tank caught fire at the Sinclair Oil Refinery in Sinclair on Saturday, putting thick plumes of dramatic black smoke into the air that were seen for miles, Cowboy State Daily’s Justin George reports it looked a lot worse than people feared.
“People have woke up and saw these thick, dark, black plumes of smoke coming from the Sinclair oil refinery. And the first thing on everyone's mind is the refineries on fire…It was an asphalt tank on the refinery grounds that had caught fire, and fortunately, carbon county firefighters and other volunteers were out there and were able to put that out really quickly, and it didn't spread. There was no concern that it was going to spread the refinery or get to town.”
A Sinclair spokesperson said that emergency personnel responded to the tank fire, followed its response plan and extinguished the fire. Also, all personnel were accounted for and there were no injuries.
Read the full story HERE.
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Florida’s first black bear hunt since 2015 is set to open in December, and activists are buying up bear tags in hopes of saving the bruins.
Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports that anti-hunting groups are encouraging people to enter the lottery-style drawing for 187 bear tags in Florida. The Sierra Club of Florida launched its "Bag a Tag, Save a Bear" campaign this month urging supporters to buy up all the tags.
“They purchase the hunting tags, and so that hunters who are intent on killing the bears can't get them. That's their way of saving the bears…I happen to know someone who's an avid hunter, who lives in Wyoming, who was a federal wildlife agent in Florida, and he's seen this firsthand…He said it wasn't very effective. It didn't make much difference.
The tags cost $100 for residents and $300 for non-residents.
Read the full story HERE.
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I’ll be back with more news, right after this.
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Many churches across Wyoming saw an increase in attendance after Charlie Kirk was shot and killed September 10th, while speaking to students at Utah Valley University.
Cowboy State Daily’s Clair reports that while some pastors just touched on the tragedy, there were also church sermons that heavily focused on Kirk’s murder.
“You can tell a lot about society's level of tragedy by what the churches are experiencing…a little Evangelical Church in Jackson did a whole sermon like, okay, based on Revelation 15, here's what he is seeing right now on the other side of heaven. And so, some of them were very overt like that, where some of them are like, normal sermon is happening.”
A memorial for Kirk took place yesterday in Glendale, Arizona at State Farm Stadium with the president attending.
Read the full story HERE.
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Crypto kiosks have been popping up across Wyoming and the country, but with this new form of currency also comes scams to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars in Wyoming alone. In fact, Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports that AARP is getting involved to warn people about the potential of getting scammed.
“What's happening here is scam artists are seeing a new and better platform to push their victims to because banks got wise, gift card shops got wise and started warning their customers, hey, you're getting taken here…what the AARP is looking for here isn't necessarily a ban on kiosks so much as let's interject some of that delay that causes people to think and to get a little less emotional about whatever fake crisis this con artist has created.”
The FBI has estimated more than $9.3 billion was stolen nationwide in various types of cryptocurrency frauds in 2024 alone.
Read the full story HERE.
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A Rock Springs family and community are devastated as they struggle to comprehend the loss of a son, nephew, friend, fellow student and athlete whose life ended way too early.
Cowboy State Daily’s Dale Killingbeck reports that Bridger Healy, 12, was an outgoing pre-teen who played football, loved his family and, leaves a strong legacy even though his family had only moved to the area from Utah three years ago.
“He left a legacy in the community, in that, you know, people remembered him, and he affected people's hearts, people that knew him, you know, they just spoke of his kindness. The school principal talked about, you know, somebody that was known and was known to be kind, you know, and somebody that was helpful. And so you don't hear that a lot about 12 year olds, but that was what was spoken about him.”
Bridger’s Aunt says her nephew was “a friend to everyone.”
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Michael and Juia Schellers are self-proclaimed “garlicologists” who are the owners of Garlic Fete, their homegrown garlic business that produces upward of 12,000 bulbs, or 5,000 pounds, of garlic per year. Cowboy State Daily’s Jackson Walker reports the garlic from Scheller’s humble 3-acre farm is rather potent.
“They claim is four times stronger than anything you could find in the grocery store…It's primarily used for cooking purposes, although they didn't mention that some individuals with arthritis enjoy using their freeze dried garlic. Now this garlic is ready to eat right out of the bag. It requires zero preparation, and these individuals don't have to bother with unscrewing a jar, chopping up vegetables, things like that. They can just enjoy the garlic ready to go.”
Despite the pungent odor of garlic that permeates their home, Michael says their friends aren’t bothered by it.
Read the full story HERE.
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The old joke asks: Why is it so windy in Wyoming? And the punchline is: Because Nebraska sucks and Utah blows.
But is there any scientific truth to this? Cowboy State Daily reports that not only is there some meteorological truth to it, it’s grounded in science.
“The thing with wind is that air likes to move from high pressure to low pressure. So if there is a high pressure system in Utah and a low pressure system in Nebraska, then the air wants to move between those two spots. And Wyoming lies right in between those two states. So that's the corridor that the wind takes to move from high to low pressure, and those systems can develop, especially during the winter time, when Wyoming is at its windiest.”
Mount Coffin, in Lincoln County, is one of the most consistently windy places in the Cowboy State. A gust of 120 mph was recorded at the mountain top in February.
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.
