It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Friday, October 17th. 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."
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Authorities are saying they’re one step closer to identifying the human remains discovered October 10th near a national park site in rural western Nebraska as those of missing Moorcroft man Chance Englebert. Cowboy State Daily’s Jen Kocher reports Englebert’s family was able to identify several unnamed items found near the remains as belonging to him.
“The Scotts Bluff county attorney's office put out a statement today saying that they can't positively identify that it is Chance Engelbert, however, there were items found near his body that the family have identified as his. The next step is…the remains will be sent to the Douglas County Coroner's Office in Omaha, and with the help of forensic scientists and forensic pathologists, they will then do the next steps in determining whether or not it is actually Chance Engelbert, and that will be done through DNA and dental records. And they'll also be determining the cause of death, whether or not it was accidental, or if there was foul play.
According to a release, the Douglas County Coroner’s Office in Omaha is assisting Gering Police in Nebraska with the forensic examination of the remains, including a forensic pathologist and scientists from the University of Nebraska.
Read the full story HERE.
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U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman on Wednesday announced she's urging the federal government to delist transgender treatments from Affordable Care Act coverage. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that Representative Hageman joined 35 of her GOP colleagues in Congress in signing the letter that was sent to the head of the IRS.
“There they made some very strongly worded statements in their push to the Treasury Secretary, saying things like, we're seeing this rise in mental illness. There's been recent mass shootings by transgender people. Charlie Kirk's alleged killer was associated with a trans person, and so they were pointing to what they're calling a mental health crisis.”
Sarah Burlingame, the leader of Wyoming’s top LGBTQ advocacy group, told Cowboy State Daily that the letter weaponizes mass shootings and Kirk’s killing for political ends, and thrusts divisive language onto Wyomingites as a whole.
Read the full story HERE.
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A recent ruling that says Wyoming’s Rocky Mountain Power customers owe the utility $23.5 million didn’t sit well with both the Wyoming Industrial Electric Consumers and the Wyoming Public Service Commission. Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports both entities are appealing the ruling but there will be strict parameters.
“It's just another chance for a bite at the apple to finally get these arguments unpacked and argued in court, but they're going to be restricted to only the arguments that were on the table at the time the case was decided. They're not going to be able to introduce any new evidence here. The court's going to look at it and decide whether there were any mistakes made on the part of the judge, or if, for some reason, new information, you know, does affect the case, the likely outcome there is a case goes back to the court for new consideration.”
As far as the more than 23 million dollars owed to Rocky Mountain Power, no party will say how and when that amount would be paid to the utility.
Read the full story HERE.
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Green River leaders are “ecstatic” that the westbound interstate tunnel that was closed by a deadly 26-vehicle pileup in February is scheduled to reopen by late November. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports the town is ready for the tunnel to re-open so the town can get their main street back.
“For a few days after the devastating collision in the tunnel, Valentine's Day, they had traffic going through Green River while they set up the eastbound tunnel for two-way traffic. And that's tough on the town, and they're going to have that happen again for a week, probably in November, when the westbound tunnel reopens to westbound traffic, they're going to have Eastbound traffic going through the town while they pull that two way division out of the eastbound tunnel. But they're ready for it, and they're still, even though it's going to be rough for patch there, they're ecstatic to have their tunnels back.
Three people died in the fiery Feb. 14 crash that prompted a $16 million rebuild.
Read the full story HERE.
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I’ll be back with more news, right after this
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A new home in Casper is ready for an iconic, 21-foot Tumble Inn Cowboy statue that stood for years in Powder River. But Cowboy State Daily’s Dale Killingbeck reports, the debut will be a bit delayed.
“I talked to both the person that's doing the restoring of the neon lights and the man that's basically in charge of all the restoration, and they just said, Life has happened to them and they haven't been able to complete the project. But it looks like for sure, it will be done next year, and possibly by Memorial Day.”
The one-of-a-kind neon statue will reside in downtown Casper outside the Yellowstone Garage and Bull Horn Brewery at the corner of West Yellowstone Highway and South Elm Street.
Read the full story HERE.
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Orion Schlesinger pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiring to ambush and kill his video gaming friend Dakota Farley the night of Feb. 1-2 in Big Piney. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that Schlessinger’s partner in the crime, Rowan Littauer, who's accused of firing the fatal shot with a bow, is still on track for trial.
“When Ryan Schlesinger pleaded guilty in court, the prosecutor furnished, what they call the factual basis. It's kind of like a confession, but in this case, it was just a list of things that underpin the charges to which he pled, to which Schlesinger pled guilty, and among those was something new that wasn't in the evidentiary affidavit, he said that after the killing, Schlesinger and his co defendant, Rowan Littauer, were in a selfie that lit Our shot in which Schlesinger bore a toothy grin.”
Court documents say that Schlesinger and Littauer walked more than a mile in the frigid night in February of this year to Farley’s Big Piney home — and that Littauer shot Farley twice with a compound bow and arrow, killing him.
Read the full story HERE.
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Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon slammed federal energy permitting delays, which he calls “ridiculous” on Thursday at a Montana governors’ summit. Cowboy State Daily’s David Madison reports the conference was attended by many like-minded politicians who want to ramp up energy production sooner rather than later.
“Governor Gordon was on stage with Governor Gianforte from Montana, two other governors, and they all had some strong opinions about federal regulation, about federal regulation when it comes to developing energy resources in their states and territories. Governor Gordon was narrowing in on more coal and urging coal companies to bid more in these leases that are coming available.”
Governor Gordon also said that it's time to innovate, not regulate, energy.
Read the full story HERE.
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A PIT Maneuver is a word associated with law enforcement to stop a moving vehicle or end a chase. But as Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports, the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office is using decommissioned vans to teach their deputies how to stop someone who is trying to elude the law.
“PIT is an acronym for a precision immobilization technique. It's also known as tactical vehicle intervention. The Carbon County Sheriff's Office just acquired a fleet of new police pursuit vehicles that are specially designed for this technique, so they're able to do pit maneuvers without damaging the vehicle, at least extensively damaging the vehicle that does the maneuver, and that's what's needed if you're going to pull this off.”
Carbon County Sheriff Alex Bakken tells Cowboy State Daily that vehicle pursuits are “a reality” in Carbon County, with I-80 and Highways 130, 287, and 789 criss-crossing the county, perps are going to attempt to dodge law enforcement by putting the pedal to the metal.
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 watching - I’m Mac Watson, for Cowboy State Daily.
