It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Thursday, October 16th. Bringing you headlines from the Cowboy State Daily news center, I’m Mac Watson. “Brought to you by the Wyoming Business Council. Wyoming youth are our future, but they're leaving the state at ALMOST TWICE the national average. What would bring them back home? Share your bold ideas with the Wyoming Business Council at wbc dot P U B forward slash story."
–
The recent discovery of a human skull in a cave in Carbon County has reopened a mystery for a woman who wonders if the find could be linked to her aunt, who has been missing for 107 years. Cowboy State Daily’s Scott Schwebke reports a family member contacted Cowboy State Daily and related her story.
“So after that story published…we got an email from a woman who wondered if it might be her long lost aunt who disappeared or hasn't been seen since like 1918…she was a 16 year old girl, lived on a ranch near Gillette and eloped. Lied about her age to get married to, since she was 18, to get married to a guy who was a who was a sheep rancher, and they went to Utah and got married…allegedly, she decided she didn't want to be married, and she just either went somewhere else or came back.
Sherri Boatman of Mills, also tells Cowboy State Daily that in her research she discovered that in the 1920 census, the former husband of her aunt listed himself as a widow. The Carbon County Coroner’s Office plans to consult with anthropological experts to find out more information.
Read the full story HERE.
–
The case of a Uinta County man accused of using an artificial intelligence application to remake a photo of a teenage girl he knows into child pornography resurrects some lawmakers’ concerns about AI deception. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that the issue isn’t so cut and dry.
“So lot of moving pieces here, because in 2002 you had the US Supreme Court say, look, virtual child pornography is is protected under the First Amendment. And then you have the explosion of AI and deep fakes and really realistic. We're not talking about cartoons anymore, and we're sometimes talking about the faces of real people depicted in child pornography. Well, that's what's alleged to have happened in you in a county where you have a man who had a mostly benign photo of a teenage girl, and he is accused of using generative technology to turn it into child pornography. Now he's facing multiple felonies, but lawmakers in the meantime are like, you know, we've rejected efforts to legislate in this space in the past, maybe we should have a look at it again.”
The case of Matthew John McDowell, who turns 47 this year, rose Tuesday to the felony-level Uinta County District Court. McDowell faces four counts of child pornography possession and each punishable by between seven and 12 years in prison and up to $10,000 in fines.
Read the full story HERE.
–
A Laramie County Sheriff’s Office detective report exposes graphic details about the “abhorrent” conditions more 100 hoarded animals were kept in, according to court documents filed in Cheyenne Circuit Court. Cowboy State Daily’s Jackson Walker reports the animal’s owner, Michael Ohern, who is accused of hoarding over 100 animals kept them in deplorable conditions at his Cheyenne-area home.
“Officers were saying things such as, there were feces all over the house. There were dead animals littering the place. It was covered with mice and insects, and that when they went into this residence, they had to cover themselves in protective equipment, wearing body suits and respirators in order to keep themselves safe… there were 22 dead animals found on the property, one of which was an unknown animal that actually turned out to be the carcasses of four house cats that had fused together.”
The Laramie County Sheriff’s Office recommended 22 counts of felony aggravated cruelty to animals against him for each of the 22 animals the agency said it found dead inside the house. Ohern made a virtual appearance in Cheyenne Circuit Court on Wednesday, during which the judge set his bond at $100,000.
Read the full story HERE.
–Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis introduced a bill Tuesday to end the prosecution of diesel “delete” mechanics, free them from prison, and delete all related penalties from their records. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports Senator Lummis has already asked for a presidential pardon for Cheyenne Diesel "delete" mechanic Troy Lake.
“She wrote a letter to the president a few weeks ago saying, ‘This man has been rescuing vehicles that have to conquer the Wyoming winter, and he was sent to prison for several months.’ So she did that, and so now we're just, you know, I think she's waiting on word from the president, but then, in the meantime, she went ahead and raised the issue again with some legislation that dropped Tuesday that is ‘ambitious,’ as one delete lawyer put it. It would basically try to nullify whole portions of the Clean Air Act, free every delete mechanic from jail or prison and expunge their records, including civil cases.
If her bill does become law, the “Diesel Truck Liberation Act” would signify a victory for diesel truck drivers and other diesel fleet holders — such as fire trucks, ambulances, and school buses — who have removed or tampered with the mandatory emissions systems on those vehicles.
Read the full story HERE.
–
I’ll be back with more news, right after this.
Gov. Mark Gordon has announced the Cowboy State Agricultural Initiative is appointing a 13-member working group "committed to preserving Wyoming's agricultural heritage for current and future generations." Cowboy State Daily’s David Madison reports that sheep farming, in particular, could benefit from this initiative.
“It's a huge industry producing wool and lamb in Wyoming, and it's getting harder and harder to do that. I spoke to members of the working group that are part of that initiative, several of them have some connection to the sheep industry. And so through the sheep industry, we, you know, we really discussed all the different challenges out there, passing a ranch or farm on to the next generation can be difficult these days because margins are tight, and the next generation coming up might know how to run the baler and manage a line of fence and move some cows, but maybe they don't understand how To finance, how to ensure, how to really do the kind of the legalese and financial paperwork that is required to run an operation.”
The group includes executive branch advisors, state legislators, a county commissioner, agricultural association representatives, University of Wyoming officials and business leaders.
Read the full story HERE.
–
The fallout from Radiant Nuclear pullout from Wyoming to build in Tennessee continues. But as Jackson Walker reports, Representative Bill Allemand says his fiery opposition to accepting nuclear waste storage in Wyoming has tarnished some political relationships.
“In September, State Representative Bill Alleman came in and testified at a meeting of the Bar Nunn town council, which is sort of out of character for state representatives to do in these situations, because these are local issues that aren't necessarily a part of their jurisdiction…Mayor Peter Boyer told me that this interaction rubbed him the wrong way, and that he's still pretty upset with allemand, even though the fate of the nuclear project has already been decided.”
The Mayor of Bar Nunn tells Cowboy State Daily that he doesn’t want to work with Bill Allemand anymore, unless he absolutely has to.
Read the full story HERE.
–
Wyoming Outdoorsmen are warning about the dangers of hunting as the accidental shooting deaths of two Idaho hunters in the past week highlights the dangers of unsafe hunting. 21-year-old Kaylanee Orr, of Blackfoot, Idaho, died Friday from a gunshot wound to the chest while on a hunting trip in a remote area of Fremont County, Idaho. Then on Sunday morning, California resident Nathan Thomas Kaas, 48, died from blood loss after suffering a gunshot wound to the leg in rural Clark County, Idaho.
Outdoors Reporter Mark Heinz, who is currently away from his laptop out hunting, says as some hunting areas across Wyoming become more crowded every season, the potential for accidental injuries or deaths from other hunters increases.
Read the full story HERE.
–
When the University of Wyoming football team takes the field Oct. 25 for the 117th Border War against Colorado State University, there’ll be a noticeable color contrast. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports the usual color scheme of brown and gold will be replaced to reflect an important Wyoming industry.
“So in the spirit of Wyoming's coal industry, the University of Wyoming Athletics Department partnered with the Wyoming mining association to design a to design a black and white uniform that's going to be debuted during the border war on October 25 and it's a pretty stark contrast from what most people expect to see the UW cowboys wearing, but it's to honor the coal miners and the families who have supported that industry, which has supported Wyoming basically since its inception. So it's going to be a pretty jarring contrast, but to quote Cowboy State Daily columnist Sally Ann Schumer, anything that helps us beat the sheep, is fine with UW.”
The alternative uniform is part of a one-game-only partnership between the University of Wyoming and the Wyoming Mining Association. And Go Pokes!
Read the full story HERE.
—
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 watching - I’m Mac Watson, for Cowboy State Daily.
