It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Tuesday, September 23rd. 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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An Oregon pilot who hit a federal employee with his vehicle in Yellowstone National Park last year was sentenced to two years in prison and fined 10 grand on Monday. Cowboy State Daily’s Jackson Walker reports that David Tyler Regnier was facing a maximum of 20 years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines. But his attorney argued that his conduct did not constitute aggravated assault.
“Apparently, Regniere was on a lot of medication, including a new blood pressure medication that gave him some pretty adverse effects. He was saying that he experienced some high blood pressure, some tightness in his chest, and all of those factors combined made it a pretty stressful experience for him.”
Regnier was convicted of a felony for going the wrong way on a park road to bypass waiting traffic before driving into a flagman working for a road crew who commanded him to stop and turn around.
Read the full story HERE.
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Bottlenecked traffic nearly three miles away from the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, wasn’t enough to stop a Wyoming state lawmaker from paying his respects to the late Charlie Kirk. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports Wyoming state Representative Scott Smith decided to walk the almost three miles. On crutches, in 100 plus degree temperatures.
“he said he felt led, and there were all these obstacles, but he still felt like he needed to go, and once he was there, he said he felt this urgency to shun evil and pursue good as a nation… Smith is a Christian, and you know, Kirk's death was a lightning rod moment, not for all, but for many Christians. I've found in interviews with people across Wyoming and so Smith was inspired by the man's life and death and felt led to go and learn something from that.”
Smith and his wife Charissa said they drove to Denver, then flew to Arizona early Saturday and set out for Kirk’s funeral hours before sunrise on Sunday to get into the memorial.
Read the full story HERE.
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A lightning strike killed two elk hunters who went missing Sept. 11 in southern Colorado and were found dead on Thursday.
Outdoors reporter Mark Heinz spoke with the coroner who investigated the incident that killed Andrew Porter of Asheville, North Carolina, and Ian Stasko of Salt Lake City, Utah. He said the two 25-year-olds were found fully clothed and didn’t show any outward signs of trauma.
“He said, usually with lightning strikes, it's obvious you have entry and or exit points where the bolt or or the electricity went through the body. That wasn't the case with these two young men… he surmised probably what happened is a bolt struck a tree that they were standing next to, travel down through the tree and went into the ground, and then ground conductivity is what gave them a fatal jolt.”
Meteorologist Don Day pointed out that lightning should be taken seriously by anyone who recreates in the outdoors. He says lightning does not follow many rules, and everyone should have deep respect for its dangers and its unpredictability.
Read the full story HERE.
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The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating a ruptured natural gas pipeline that exploded into dramatic flames Sunday, stopping a Union Pacific Railroad train carrying hazardous materials in its tracks west of Cheyenne.
Cowboy State Daily’s Justin George reports that while no one was harmed in the explosion that could be seen from up to 60 miles away, the surrounding terrain experienced significant damage.
“Firefighters have said that there was no hazardous materials that have spilled out and there wasn't any sort of major mishap that could have happened, clearly. So I think that this was something, you know, catastrophe for possibly averted. We're still trying to find out more details. It's very difficult to say… what caused the the rupture, and we don't know the damage to the train, but we do know that the railroad repaired the tracks… and service has resumed on those tracks.”
Aerial images showed cars on the train heavily damaged or charred. The ruptured pipeline is owned by Kinder Morgan, an energy infrastructure company.
Read the full story HERE.
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I’ll be back with more news, right after this.
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Hundreds of people in cowboy hats spent hundreds of thousands of dollars during the 44th Buffalo Bull Art Show and Sale in Cody this past weekend. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports there were plenty of intense bidding wars, high-priced pieces, and surprises.
“93 of the 103 pieces that were in the show sold during the live auction, and then the next morning, the excitement was palpable…well over a million dollars that'll be distributed between the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, the Cody Country Chamber of Commerce, and the artists themselves.”
Between Friday night's live auction and Saturday morning's Quick Draw auction, the Buffalo Bill Art Show and Sale brought in more than $1.102 million. The amount will get even higher once additional sales from the two silent auctions and other sales are tallied into the total.
Read the full story HERE.
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Wyoming is still the flagship for a water-efficient data center under development in Evanston, even though the company building it has recently inked a deal to build more of its innovative data centers near Dallas, Texas. Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports that founder Trenton Thornock wants to bring opportunities and jobs back to his home state.
“So Prometheus Hyper Scale…was founded by a sixth generation Wyomingite, Trenton Thornock. And Trenton, you know, has grown up in the Evanston area…He had a pretty high caliber career in the financial sector. He put together large projects. So I guess when he retired, he was looking for something to do, and he wanted to bring jobs to Wyoming. Opportunities to Wyoming.”
As a sixth-generation Wyomingite, Thornock says his focus is still on Uinta County and interest in the Evanston data center has been spiking. He’s already had two prospective tenants ask for letters of intent.
Read the full story HERE.
–Wyoming officials are contemplating talks with Tesla about a potential self-driving vehicle pilot program within the state’s government fleet. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that officials are also talking about making laws around liability and function pertaining to autonomous vehicles.
“It's very embryonic at this point. The Governor's liaison to the blockchain committee was like, Look, we're starting some very early talks with Tesla about even if they want to do a pilot program here in Wyoming, it could lend some efficiencies to the government fleet, but we also have failed in the last four years to pass legislation around liability and definitions. So that's something that they want to lock in too, as they have these talks.”
David Pope, one of Gov. Mark Gordon’s liaisons to the Select Committee on Blockchain, Financial Technology and Digital Innovation, delivered a presentation Monday about what he called the need for state laws around autonomous vehicles.
Read the full story HERE.
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Pete Simpson Jr. learned early that sometimes the most powerful thing someone can do on stage is say nothing. Cowboy State Daily’s David Madison reports that Simpson is celebrating a 29-year run as Blue Man No. 9, the most prolific performer in Blue Man Group history.
“Pete graduated, I think sometime in the late 80s, went on to Denver for graduate school and then heard about this new phenomenon happening in experimental theater called the Blue Man Group…and now Pete is talking about his experience. He spent 29 years with Blue Man Group, really a dream job, as he described it, and now he's venturing on to even more experimental theater.”
Simpson tells Cowboy State Daily that he will still stay in the theater world, but not performing. He will still be teaching at NYU and Harvard.
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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.
