It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Friday, October 31th. 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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The state’s revenues and forecasts report was given to legislators on Thursday. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland says the report shows that the state's investments not only outpaced, but dominated projections by hundreds of millions of dollars. Even beating the state’s bread-and-butter money maker: energy.
“The 1.86 billion in investment earnings is an extraordinary watermark, the analyst told me on Thursday. And even though it's like all this unexpected, unforecast revenue from investments that Wyoming now has because of the way our laws dictate those streams. A lot of it is flowing into the secondary reserve accounts, at least one of which is supposed to grow to several times the size of the actual investment account, to be a cushion for leaner years. So just because we have this, this $1.86 billion flush, doesn't mean we get to spend $1.86 billion right now.”
The Consensus Revenue Estimating Group or CREG Co-Chair, Don Richards told the committee, that this was the first year ever that investments earnings on the (Permanent Wyoming Mineral Trust Fund) exceeded sales and use taxes deposited into the general fund.
Read the full story HERE.
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Fireworks were blasted off after every touchdown the Hot Springs High School football team scored in last week’s regular season finale. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that the problem with the touchdown celebrations was that no one told local military veterans who were at the game and for some, it triggered PTSD symptoms.
“Nobody's saying that the Bobcats can't celebrate their touchdown and their victories, especially when they're making a playoff run. The concerns that were raised from local veterans is the fact that one they weren't able to anticipate these mortar rounds and fireworks because they weren't informed, and usually, like during the fourth of July, when they know those things are going off, they can take measures to prepare, whether that's leaving town or anything else. So that's the first thing. But the second thing is that the mortar rounds and fireworks were being shot in city limits. Usually, fireworks are shot from a distance, and speaking to the commander of the VFW Post down Thermop, he said that when the mortar rounds went off, it wasn't just the noise, it was the fact that doors and windows were shaking, and it was not unlike being in a combat zone. And he's been deployed to Afghanistan and Syria, so he's had those experiences.”
The celebratory fireworks were fired off after each touchdown the Bobcats scored. The Bobcats beat Pinedale 21-12 in the season-ending game. The plan is to do it again Friday night in the first round of the playoffs against Burns in Thermopolis.
Read the full story HERE.
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Sen. John Barrasso on Thursday said SNAP benefits cannot legally continue because of the government shutdown. Cowboy State Daily’s Sean Barry in DC reports that New York Senator Chuck Schumer sternly disagreed, so is there an end in sight for the government shutdown?
“We're further away now because SNAP is on the table. I think that Republicans ambushed the Democrats by threatening SNAP, but the Democrats still have not blinked on that. They've basically in the case of the states, they've sued, and on the floor of the United States Senate, they have said, No, it is perfectly legal for Trump to continue food stamp payments during a shutdown. Again. John Barrasso from Wyoming saying, ‘No, it's illegal.’ I asked his office for more on that, and they emailed me a document from the USDA that did, in fact, say it is illegal. But here it never gets all that clear, because the Democrats are saying that, ‘Sure that's what they're saying now.’ But just weeks ago, the USDA had something on their website that supposedly said the opposite, and they yanked it off their website so they could use this.”
Currently, this is considered the longest full government shutdown in U.S. history, but it hasn’t reached the 35-day stoppage that happened in 2018-19.
Read the full story HERE.
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The U.S. Senate cleared the way Wednesday for wildlife agents to kill nearly 500,000 barred owls to save spotted owls in the Pacific Northwest. Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports that this particular species is also moving in on another owl’s territory here in Wyoming.
“What the situation is is there's at least a perception that barred owls are moving in, that they're naturally a species from the Eastern US. What they've been moving westward and claiming territory, and there's a perception, at least, that they have arrived in the Pacific Northwest…And another kind of interesting stitch to all of this, most of Wyoming really isn't great habitat for either of these owl species, because they tend to, you know, nest in really deep old growth forest. However, in the Grand Teton area, we have some habitat that meets that description. It's been occupied for a while by I guess you could call a native species a great gray owl, but in the past couple years, they've seen barred owls showing up there, and so there is some concern that the barred owls might start competing with the great gray owls for habitat in the Grand Teton area.”
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services Barred Owl Management Strategy comes with a roughly $1 billion price tag, and would involve wildlife agents shooting barred owls, but not in the Cowboy State.
Read the full story HERE.
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I’ll be back with more news, after this….
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After escaping reportedly horrific hoarding conditions, more than 100 Cheyenne animals are finding new homes. Cowboy State Daily’s Jackson Walker reports one dog who’s been adopted out to a forever home is thriving.
“Zero's owner told me that he selected Zero because, unlike all the other dogs at the shelter, zero can't seem to be bothered by anything while the other dogs were clamoring in their cages for attention. Zero was just laying on the floor, and he said this chill, relaxed attitude has persisted even into this new environment for zero, he is relaxed. He's at ease. He's having fun with the family, and everyone says they're having a great time all around.”
The animals, including dogs, cats, birds, and bunnies, were surrendered to the Cheyenne Animal Shelter on October 22nd by their former owner Michael Ohern, who is accused of hoarding the animals in “abhorrent” conditions in his Cheyenne home.
Read the full story HERE.
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Remember to turn your clocks back an hour this Saturday night into Sunday morning as daylight saving time ends. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that several states, including Wyoming, have passed trigger bills that will make daylight saving time permanent, provided enough neighboring states do the same.
“Wyoming's passed a trigger bill that will adopt permanent daylight saving time when three other neighboring states do the same, and so far, only two have done so that there's a growing coalition of people who are advocating, who are advocating for permanent Standard Time, which means at some point in the future we fall back, and we never spring forward, and we just stick With standard time for the entire year. Now that's gaining more supports throughout the nation, because everyone wants to do away with the time changes. Is the question of which time do we stick with permanent standard time would mean earlier mornings in summer and in winter, but it means later evenings at the same time. So as Cowboy State daily meteorologist Don Day put it it is kind of a pick your own poison situation.”
Arizona and Hawaii are the only states on permanent standard time, meaning they don't bother to fall back or spring forward. Meanwhile, the national momentum has recently favored permanent DST.
Read the full story HERE.
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One of the two men who broke into a Casper home two years ago has to keep serving his 22-to-25-year prison term, so says the Wyoming Supreme Court on Tuesday. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland tells us about the crazy circumstances that led to Joel Wilson being put in jail.
“Back in 2023 I wrote this story about this pistol, this pregnant woman that had these home invaders, and she grabbed a pistol and she scared him off, and the husband's like fighting with one of them. Just, just a wild story…after a lengthy time in the judicial system, one of the defendants, Joel Wilson, had his appeal denied on Tuesday…the evidence indicates that these two guys, burglarized the wrong house. Then they mentioned burglar as someone else, and they end up in this house, and they end up fighting with a deputy and being held at gunpoint by the deputy's pregnant wife.”
Wilson appealed to the Wyoming Supreme Court after his Feb. 28 sentencing, arguing that his trial jury didn’t have enough evidence to convict him of aggravated burglary and robbery. The Wyoming Supreme Court concluded that the judge came to the correct verdict at his trial.
Read the full story HERE.
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After nearly losing his life last year, Glen Chavez has a new “you-only-live-once” philosophy. Cowboy State Daily’s Zak Sonntag reports that led the Cheyenne L.A. Dodgers super-fan to make a sudden dream World Series trip this week — to watch them lose twice.
“His fandom took on a new quality in 2024 after he suffered a cardiac arrest and surviving that gave him a sense of a new lease on life. And he said, I'm going to start really pursuing the experiences that bring me value, and that includes going to see the Dodgers live. And he's willing to do things like drop everything at the hat and jump on a plane to go see the Dodgers play the Toronto Blue Jays in the World Series, as he did this week. Unfortunately, the Dodgers did not deliver on Chavez's behalf. They got their butts kicked, and it really made him upset. It was funny to hear him describe this. He says, What do you do when the Dodgers get their butts kicked? You go to Disneyland. I'm mad at them, and I am not going to their game tonight.”
Chavez’s fandom is so great, he’s even named his Husky dog Dodger.
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.
