It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Friday, November 14th. I’m Mac Watson. This newscast is “Brought to you by the University of Wyoming Center on Aging. Did you know that 1 in 3 Wyoming adults have pre-diabetes, and most don’t realize it? Are you tough enough to know your numbers? Take the quiz at: Find Out WY dot org."
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A massive power outage left most of northeast Wyoming in the dark Thursday, along with areas in Montana and South Dakota. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that nearly 93,000 customers were without power at one point.
“It's been in the 10s of 1000s all afternoon. And Dubois is dark. Douglas was dark in the late afternoon, up to northeast Wyoming into South Dakota. Western South Dakota was having outages.”
The cause of the widespread outage is believed to be a pair of 500-kilovolt power lines that tripped near Medicine Bow, Wyoming, according to a statement from the Western Area Power Administration.
Read the full story HERE.
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Detectives have interviewed multiple people in connection with a Wednesday night gun buy gone bad in northwest Cheyenne that left one person dead. Cowboy State Daily’s Scott Schwebke reports police are still gathering details.
“An 18 year old male was shot, he was found dead by police, and apparently he had gone there with his friend to purchase a gun from a 16 year old. And an altercation ensued, and then there was a shooting. And the thing is, the gun deal was obviously legal, because a 16 year old and 18 year olds aren't allowed to possess firearms according to federal law...several people were interviewed by detectives, and apparently the 16 year old this this point, was not under arrest, but charges are being submitted to the district attorney's office.”
According to one witness at least seven people were detained, put into police cruisers, and taken away.
Read the full story HERE.
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The Wyoming Supreme Court on Wednesday paused a judge’s order requiring school upgrades like more computers and school counselors, and better teacher pay. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that the pause gives lawmakers more leeway in the 2026 budget session.
“The Wyoming Supreme Court on Wednesday went ahead and paused that order that was kind of over lawmakers that they were facing as they made their funding decisions, and so that gives them a little more leeway going into the 2026 budget session. But, you know, a lot of them told me on Thursday, ‘Well, we were going to do what we were going to do, and we were going to hope that it shook out well with the court.’”
Some legislators who serve on the Select School Finance Recalibration Committee responded to the news Thursday with relief, and some with dismay. But some voiced indifference, saying they were revamping the state’s education plan either way.
Read the full story HERE.
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The town of Burns has locked up its compost dump site after an influx of what officials claim are Cheyenne businesses dumping there to avoid paying their local fees. Cowboy State Daily’s Jackson Walker reports the town has options on how to remedy the situation.
“Burns, Mayor Joel Nicholson told Cowboy State Daily his town is considering a number of solutions to this issue, such as placing a key card reader at the site…Another potential solution that city leaders are considering is having a 24/7, official available to verify whether people dumping at the site are from burns or not.”
The compost site is still free for town residents, but now they have to get a key from the town hall.
Read the full story HERE.
I’ll be back with more news from Cowboy State Daily, after this….
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Wyoming and six other Colorado River basin states missed a key deadline to agree on water use, but talks continue. Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports lawmakers and state agencies have until February before the federal government may impose its own plan.
“So the states might have been given a little bit of a reprieve to take, get a few more weeks to talk among themselves and our state engineer and our state attorney, who were kind of the lead guys for Wyoming and all of this, they said, ‘Yeah, we're, we're still trying to continue to talk and hash this out.’ And I talked to someone from the Nature Conservancy, you know, who said pretty much the same thing that we're, you know, we're all concerned about this. We don't want Wyoming to end up short of water, but we want something that can be negotiated rather than litigated or decreed by the Department of Interior.”
The main point of friction is between the Upper Basin states and Lower Basin states. The Upper Basin includes Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and New Mexico. The Lower Basin includes Arizona, Nevada and California.
Read the full story HERE.
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Affordable and workforce housing remain challenges for Wyoming, Gov. Mark Gordon said Thursday during a Laramie business conference. Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports that the governor also said the energy sector is a wild card that could bring new opportunities, if the state is willing to wrestle with change.
“Wyoming has a lot to give on the energy front. And so can we use that to be a game changer in Wyoming? Can we use that to bring manufacturing? Can we use that to, bring in data centers, diversify the economy, then we're not as dependent on the energy market, even though energy is what builds it so. But of course, the big thing that we will fight when we try that is the club of No, the governor called it Club No. That's, you know, people who are like, ‘I don't want these people who come from other states. They don't have Wyoming values.’”
The governor also added that he had a plan to attract more people to the Cowboy State by focusing on providing competitive pay for state employees, business-ready communities, low taxes, streamlining permits, a trained workforce, and economic development targeting good-paying jobs.
Read the full story HERE.
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After a five-year hiatus, pig wrestling is set for a return at the Teton County Fair in 2026,. But Cowboy State Daily’s Jackson Walker reports that now county commissioners are reconsidering the event after activists have raised concerns that the tradition could be cruel to the animals.
“They say that such a tradition is outdated and antiquated and needs to be replaced by other members of the community. Argue, however, that pig wrestling has deep ties to the area and mirrors other state traditions such as rodeo, which involves animals as well…members of the county commission say that they're working to find a compromise that helps everybody get along, and they have until November 19 to decide whether or not to approve a contract for pig wrestling at next year's fair.”
Bringing the event to the 2026 fair would cost the county an estimated $5,500, according to a report.
Read the full story HERE.
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Wyoming will have its “last hurrah” of warm temperatures going into this weekend. But Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that Wyoming meteorologists say the second half of November will be much colder and snowier.
“The first half of November has been warmer and drier than the 30 year average. There's no denying that, but the changes are already on the horizon, and as Cowboy State daily meteorologist Don Day said, our luck is about to run out. And so what that means is enjoy it while you can. As we get to this weekend, temperatures are going to start dropping. We're going to see snow in the higher elevations on Friday night, or as early as Friday night, and from there, Don compared it to stepping down a ladder. As you take each step, you're getting lower and lower, but we're not going to go back up until we get into the spring and summer. Winter is right around the corner. The signs are already there, and the latter half of November is not going to look like the former.”
The disparity in weather between the western and eastern halves of the United States is due to a high-pressure ridge in the upper atmosphere. The ridge is so strong that it insulates Wyoming from the wintry weather elsewhere.
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.
