It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Monday, November 17th. 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 Natrona County GOP delegate was called out at the state party’s leadership meeting in Torrington on Saturday to explain a refusal to pay more than $30,000 in dues. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that the county chair said it’s partly because of the “punitive” attitude of the state GOP.
“There's a philosophical divide a little bit, with a lot of people out of Natrona feeling like, why are we so hard on county clerks? Why are we so heavy on policing them? Why does it seem like this party is headed in a punitive direction? So this is where it gets tricky, because the party is also a structure of state law. Is a private organization, in one sense, but there's also pieces of state law that dictate, for example, no matter what the Natrona county party does, they still get three delegates at the state convention. They can't be totally disenfranchised because there is a state law providing for their representation at that state convention, and that is because they have a role in filling vacancies in Republican offices.”
Natrona County Republican Party Chair Rob Hendry tells Cowboy State Daily that by the end of the biennium, the Natrona County Republican Party will have reached more than $50,000 in arrears.
Read the full story HERE.
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Ramaco’s Brook Mine project in Wyoming, touted as a rare earth bonanza, is drawing fierce scrutiny from geologists and short-sellers. Cowboy State Daily’s David Madison reports that the company stands by its pitch to investors and says criticisms are a smear campaign in search of a payday.
“For the last several months, we've been looking into this, what is the true value of the brook mine, which is Ramaco Enterprise there, near Ranchester. And there's differing opinions, to say the least, Ramaco stands by its assertions that it is rich in critical minerals like scandium…However, there's differing opinions about how much demand there is for scandium and what the real price will be, and so that's what it really comes down to, is like, how much scandium and other critical minerals really exist at the Brook Mine…a bunch of veteran geologists are scratching their heads saying, Look, from my experience, it just doesn't add up the way Rama Coast says it does. This has played out before in all kinds of mining sectors.”
The emerging market for domestically produced rare earths and critical minerals like scandium is a brave new world for mining companies, investors, and economists trying to make sense of it all.
Read the full story HERE.
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According to some, day drinking is underrated. Cowboy State Daily’s Zak Sonntag reports that even as the power went out last week in part of Wyoming, it didn’t phase the day-drinking “Millbillies” at the Bayou Bar in Mills.
“There's a real sense of community that you get with a place like the bayou bar…in that neighborhood, you just, you really can get any mixture of personalities. On the one hand, there was a moment where I'm sitting there, and I've got to my right, this former roust about roughneck left helmet 14. He's a chain smoker, and he is telling incredibly cringe jokes. And then on my left, I've got a Pilates instructor going on about reformers and telling me how to strengthen my core and in those moments where it just for me, that really captures the promise of day drinking.”
Two high-voltage transmission lines were tripped near Medicine Bow, causing tens of thousands of customers across Wyoming, Montana, and South Dakota to lose power, but that didn’t phase the day drinkers at the Bayou Bar.
Read the full story HERE.
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A World War II airplane that's been converted into a one-of-a-kind motorhome was recently spotted in Wyoming. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi introduces us to Gino Lucci and his creation, the "Fabulous Flamingo."
“So it wasn't exactly a perfect airplane. It had been used during World War Two, and it had gotten caught in a twister in 2008 so when he picked it up in 2015 he just realized that the bottom was corroded. It was twisted, so restoring it back to museum quality just wasn't an option. But he had this dream since he was eight years old. He saw Real People, the TV show, and someone on that show had a motor home that was made out of an old airplane. So he decided, ‘Hey, let's do that.’ So they got a truck chassis, they put this airplane fuselage on top of it, and then they've spent the better part of going on 10 years now, just tweaking at this thing to get it ready and road worthy. And it's still a work in progress.”
The car/plane hybrid is 38 feet long, over 12 feet tall, has a maximum speed of around 70 mph, and gets around 10 miles to the gallon.
Read the full story HERE.
I’ll be back with more news from Cowboy State Daily, after this….
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Chevrolet and GMC ended their legendary square body pickup line in 1987, and their square body Suburban and Blazer line a few years later. But Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports these vehicles are now hot again, and truck nuts around Wyoming want them.
“It's just funny how they were just kind of running the mill vehicles back then, but they become these really kind of cool, high value collectors. They're considered vintage and cool now. So, you know, truck trucks that might have, you know, you might have bought them off of showroom four for a few $1,000 back in the day, people are given on the low end, 27, $30,000 for these things.”
Automotive writer Aaron Turpin in Cheyenne tells Cowboy State Daily that the current fever for Chevy square bodies, as well as their square body Ford counterparts, is rooted in nostalgia. But Turpin adds, square bodies also seem to be popular with teens and young adults as well.
Read the full story HERE.
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Laramie County Sheriff Brian Kozak is offering some helpful advice for criminals — don’t talk on a jail telephone about selling stolen stuff and drugs to raise money to get out of jail on drug charges. Cowboy State Daily’s Greg Johnson reports criminals come up with some convoluted and stupid plans to get bail money.
“The plan was these other people go down to that supplier, get some drugs. They also go out to some some storage unit that he has where he has stashed a bunch of stolen merchandise that he's stolen from around Cheyenne. They fence that stuff. They go down to Denver to get the drugs and and sell it all to get money so that he can get out of jail. So his plan to bond out of jail for selling drugs, for allegedly selling drugs was to sell more drugs and stolen stuff so that he can get out of jail. So this the same business plan that got him in jail. Apparently, he thought it would work to get him out too.”
The sheriff tells Cowboy State Daily that even after being in law enforcement for over 40 years, criminals still do things he hasn’t seen before.
Read the full story HERE.
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Gillette Judge Paul Phillips — aka author James Chandler — has written 8 best-selling legal thrillers inspired by his life experiences. Cowboy State Daily’s Jen Kocher reports that Phillips has just signed a deal with a major Hollywood producer with the goal of turning his book “Misjudged" into a 6 to 8-part docuseries.
“He got a letter one day, and it was from a producer, and he said he didn't know if he should take it seriously, so he sent it to his publisher, and his publisher said, ‘Yes, that's serious. That's a legitimate producer. Email him back immediately.’ So he did, and he has since signed with this producer.”
Being a circuit court judge by day is just one facet of his life, Phillips noted. Along with being an avid outdoorsman and veteran, he’s also a best-selling legal thriller writer who goes by the pen name James Chandler.
Read the full story HERE.
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Larry Bentley was hired to trail 30 quarter horses for 450 miles alone across Wyoming and into Colorado. Cowboy State Daily’s Jackie Dorothy reports that this was no small feat back in the mid-80’s as Bentley took these horses on an Outlaw Trail, where the Hole in the Wall gang used to trail their stolen horses 80 years before.
“When Larry Bentley took on this horse drive in 1984 most horses were being transferred by semi truck. So this was really unique, and that's why it's one of the very last known ones that went through this remote territory. What made his trip really difficult was, not only was he going through areas where there weren't many people, but there was also wild horses that were trying to steal his mares, so he wasn't even able to stop along the route on some of those areas.”
That successful trip, and a lifetime of cowboying, earned Bentley a place in the Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame. He is still in the saddle today as he and his family run a cattle operation in Hot Springs and Fremont Counties.
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.
