It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Wednesday, October 29th. 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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A rumor that Ukrainian President Zelensky is buying the 916,000-acre Pathfinder Ranch in Wyoming spread like wildfire Monday. Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports that the rumors aren’t true. However, an offer made by someone on the almost 80 million dollar ranch.
“Some guy on X, some with some strange name, made a post claiming that
that a company with ties to Zelensky was buying the Path Finder ranches. He didn't attribute any of that information to anybody…it pointed you to a website that looked exactly like the swan Land Company, but the address was.us instead of.com…The real Swan Land Company is the.com…I'm told by the real estate company that was an American cattle rancher. So it's going back into cattle ranching.”
The Pathfinder Ranch is massive; larger than the state of Rhode Island, and bigger than New York City and Los Angeles combined.
Read the full story HERE.
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With the federal government shutdown going into a month, the federal government’s suspension of SNAP benefits has blue states suing the Trump administration. But Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that in Wyoming, the Freedom Caucus and State Rep. Trey Sherwood, a self-described “grassroots Democrat” of Laramie, have responded by quoting the same Bible verse.
“They're both quoting the Gospel of Matthew, where Jesus calls for people to go out and serve the needy, saying he's represented in the needy. And the reason they're doing that is, I mean, perhaps in part, because there's not a lot the Wyoming Legislature can do in its political function right now without going into a special session, they can't set up special funding. The governor said he was exploring options, but the state can't just transfer the SNAP program into its own control out of its own coffers. So right now, lawmakers are seeing their function as rallying their communities, serving others themselves, galvanizing that support.”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced early Tuesday that federal Supplemental Nutrition Program Assistance or SNAP benefits, also known as food stamps, won’t be distributed starting Nov. 1 as scheduled because of the federal government’s weekslong shutdown.
Read the full story HERE.
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After an eight-year investigation, 10 people have been busted, accused of faking Wyoming residency to get hunting tags in a Sweetwater County scam. Outdoors Reporter Mark Heinz reports that the Wyoming Game and Fish Department announced the violations on Monday.
“What it boiled down to, is people, multiple individuals, were lying about their Wyoming residency to get resident hunting tags versus non resident hunting tags, which there's a significant price difference. The resident tags are far less expensive. And so they had been running the scam for a while, and they finally wrapped up…Looks like these people all took plea agreements, but yeah, some pretty serious charges against multiple individuals coming out of this.”
A spokesperson from Game and Fish tells Cowboy State Daily that this is more common than people think because Wyoming is a bucket list destination for hunters from across the country and the world.
Read the full story HERE.
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A man who was convicted of conspiracy to commit two murders at age 19, is not getting his sentences overturned. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports the Wyoming Supreme Court wasn’t swayed by science Christopher Hicks claimed shows that a 3-life-term sentence for someone so young is “cruel and unusual” punishment.
“The science has… scientific discoveries over the past 19 years or so, 18 years have shown us that 19 year olds brains are very similar to that of juveniles. And we have, we have court decisions saying you can't put juveniles away for, let's say, three consecutive life sentences, like he got, and so he's saying, If my brain's the same as juveniles, then shouldn't I get another chance to argue sentencing that I shouldn't have these life sentences heaped upon me? And the High Court said these questions of science are better put to lawmakers who can change the law. We're just going to interpret it in its context, and that means you don't get a new sentencing hearing.”
The idea is not unprecedented. Cases have been tried and won in Illinois, Massachusetts, and Washington state in recent years based on emerging neuroscience and similar constitutional arguments.
Read the full story HERE.
I’ll be back with more news, after this….
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Cheyenne residents are debating the level of a joint effort between police and sheriff’s office SWAT response Monday to a man barricaded in a building armed with a knife. Cowboy State Daily’s Jackson Walker reports some residents call it extreme while others say they’re glad.
“A business owner who saw the SWAT team response told Cowboy State daily he wanted no part in that action and wanted to stay as far away as possible. A neighbor along that road, however, said they were glad to see such a strong police presence because it means that their community is being kept safe.”
Authorities say that once the SWAT team was called to the scene, the barricaded suspect surrendered and was taken into custody without incident.
Read the full story HERE.
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The only elementary school in Bar Nunn is one of two Natrona County schools set to be closed, meaning kids would be bused to Casper. Cowboy State Daily’s Dale Killingbeck reports that more than 30 parents, teachers, and students packed into the school board meeting on Monday night and appealed to the board to not close the elementary school and the Woods Learning Center.
“Both of those schools are kind of community schools. One in Casper is is an alternative program that has like pods for classrooms, where they have kindergarten and first grade together second and in third, they have kids that are mentors to the younger kids, and people that spoke at the meeting were very passionate about how this worked for their children. They were alumnus of the of the school that spoke saying that it helped them prepare them for high school. One was a Fulbright scholar that said he would never have achieved what he did unless he had gone to that school. So some very passionate remarks about the woods Learning Center in Casper.”
A final decision on the schools will be made at the board's Nov. 10 meeting. The school board projects that these closures would save the district $1 point 7 million dollars.
Read the full story HERE.
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Two people seen in surveillance video near the Capitol about the time an explosive device was left there last week have been identified as “subjects of interest” and referred to prosecutors, DCI confirmed on Tuesday. Cowboy State Daily’s Jackson Walker reports the agency has made contact with these two individuals but no arrests have been made.
“Two subjects of interest in the case of the explosive left at the Wyoming capitol building last week have been contacted by investigators from the Division of Criminal Investigation or DCI. Now, as part of this investigation, DCI has referred these two individuals to prosecutors for potential,...while these two individuals are still considered subjects of interest rather than suspects, they could be facing charges associated with carrying explosives, bringing them to a public place, and using an explosive to threaten someone or cause them bodily harm.”
If convicted, the crime is a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000 dollars.
Read the full story HERE.
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A wildlife filmmaker set up his cameras shortly after a bull elk died near Togwotee Pass to see what he could capture. Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports, videographer Jake Davis of Jackson captured a once-in-a-lifetime scene of the circle of life in the wild.
“This was earlier this year, during the depths of winter, and he saw a bull elk that was in really bad shape. Apparently, he thinks that it might have escaped an initial attack by wolves because it had a lot of wounds to its hind quarters…the elk was was dead, and this carcass was laying there…So he set up cameras around the spot and caught all kinds of cool footage…the wolves did eventually show up and but there were also foxes, ravens, golden eagles, coyote or two, just all kinds of critters were coming in to get their share of this.”
Davis tells Cowboy State Daily that one of the wolves actually picked up and moved a camera and he did recover it, with bite marks and all. The camera was unharmed.
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.
