It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Tuesday, November 25th. 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."
–
Three hunters with bull elk tags, are claiming that after they helicoptered into an isolated public land area in the Bighorn Mountains and killed bull elk, an adjacent landowner tried to swipe one of their trophy elk heads. Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports there was a confrontation between the hunters and the landowner.
“They were headed back out from camp to go retrieve one of the elk, the elk quarters. And here's this dude, apparently trying to walk off with one of the elk heads. And so they went down and they confronted the guy and found out, at least this guy claimed that it was one of the adjacent landowners, one of the ranchers had come up with trying to steal this elk head. They're not really sure why, but he expressed to them that he didn't want them there.”
The alleged incident is under investigation, so Wyoming Game and Fish can’t comment on it, Sheridan region spokeswoman Christina Schmidt stated in an email response to Cowboy State Daily.
Read the full story HERE.
–
After truckers complained of illegal immigrant counterparts, Wyoming law enforcement and ICE conducted an operation last week targeting truckers bypassing the port of entry near the Colorado border. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that authorities are saying that out of 205 contacts made, 40 truckers are being processed.
“Colorado has laws that limit the extent to which its local law enforcement can work with ice, whereas Wyoming has the opposite, a very ice permissive environment, and several sheriff's agencies that actually have agreements with ice. And so if you are trying to crack down on undocumented truckers, for example, that border between Wyoming and Colorado is probably a pretty right place to do it, and that's what they did.”
Laramie County Sheriff Brian Kozak tells Cowboy State Daily that his office, ICE, and Wyoming Highway Patrol collaborated for three days in Laramie County, specifically targeting commercial drivers who use county roads to avoid the port of entry.
Read the full story HERE.
–
Wyoming ranchers say the closure of Tyson’s Lexington, Nebraska, plant is a distress signal for cattlemen and consumers. Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports that ranchers are saying that fixing things will require rewriting the Meat Inspection Act.
“What they're looking for is the ability to sell across state lines right now, and we've talked about this before, even though state inspections follow the same laws that federal inspections do, even though they have to meet the same kind of criteria, they have to make sure the meat is safe, right? …Even though it's safe to eat in Wyoming, when it’s state inspected, as soon as it crosses the state line. It's illegal. Somehow it's not safe to eat in Montana, even though it was safe in Wyoming.”
Tyson Foods announced that it's closing the Nebraska meat packing plant in January. That is a big distress signal for the industry, Wyoming cattle ranchers say, a red flare for trouble ahead, not just for meat packers but also for cattlemen.
Read the full story HERE.
–
A 23-year-old Evanston man accused of fatally shooting his dad early Saturday morning wrote in a court form that he acted in self-defense. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland says that Ethan Grasse says he didn’t know who was breaking into his room and he didn’t mean to kill anyone.
“He said he didn't know who was trying to get in his room at 4am. He and his dad had been arguing that Friday, and he told police, ‘Dad had been drinking.’ And he also, in a court document, said ‘I didn't know who was trying to get into my room 4am after all of that’…He's charged with second degree murder, which is 20 years to life if you're convicted, but in Wyoming, he has a chance to launch, if he wishes, he has a chance to launch what's called a John's hearing, where he can argue that he acted in self defense.”
According to the circuit court clerk, Grasse appeared Monday morning in Evanston Circuit Court. His preliminary hearing, where he’ll have the chance to argue the state’s assertion of probable cause, is set for Dec. 1st.
Read the full story HERE.
–
I’ll be back with more news from Cowboy State Daily, after this….
–
Trump and congressional allies, like Wyoming Representative Harriet Hageman, are undoing Biden-era land and leasing rules to expand coal, oil and gas in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin. Cowboy State Daily’s David Madison reports that this is unchartered territory and many questions from opponents are being asked.
“The sources I spoke to said we haven't been here before. Congress has not gotten this involved in an approved and moving forward resource management plan. What happens next? What's the first step in this new process? Is there a new process? There's a lot of questions from those watching this space and the coal industry and how public lands are managed.”
Opponents say that un-doing these regulations gut environmental regulations and could leave taxpayers on the hook for huge cleanup costs.
Read the full story HERE.
–
Survival of the fittest produces resilient genetics in nature. But as Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports Lucky 7 Rancher Jim Jensen says he's using the extreme conditions on his Boulder, Wyoming ranch to grow super cows.
“Eight months out of the year, there are freezing temperatures at night, at least, if not during the day, and so you got a four month period where things are golden and there's no freezing temperatures. It's a challenging environment…Having a little bit harder your ability to survive translates everywhere else is better economics for the cattle ranchers, that's one another way that maybe some of these high prices can be solved if you have better genetics.”
Jensen is a fifth-generation rancher, and his family has been raising cattle in Boulder since 1895. They know a thing or two about the area, and they believe it’s earned its stripes when it comes to harsh conditions, particularly in winter.
Read the full story HERE.
–
Leaders in Campbell County and Gillette are at odds about BWXT's plan to bring high-tech nuclear fuels manufacturing to town. Cowboy State Daily’s David Madison reports that Gov. Mark Gordon is considering a $100 million state grant for the project.
“The mayor of Gillette told me, outside of oil and gas and coal, this 100 million dollars would represent one of the largest, if not the largest, single investment in something other than fossil fuels. I guess when its combined, it's perhaps over 500 million really, when you talk about what the company is putting in, all for 200 jobs, all for a head start, shall we say, or a place in the race to build this nuclear future.”
Now, Governor Gordon is assessing the public’s comment and will decide how to spend this money through the Wyoming Energy Authority.
Read the full story HERE.
–
A 120-year-old tortoise named Orville, along with five others, survived a devastating fire at Reptile Gardens in South Dakota on Friday. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that about 80-90 other reptiles, including alligators and other tortoises, were killed.
“The fire marshal believes it was some sort of electrical issue that consumed the whole building, which was an off exhibit storage facility for American alligators and smaller tortoise species. And unfortunately, none of the animals that were in the fire survive, but the iconic animals that most people love, like the giant Aldabra tortoises and Maniac, who's a large salt water crocodile. They were in the Big Sky Dome, which is the central attraction at reptile gardens, and they were totally unaffected by the fire. So a huge loss. Everyone at reptile Gardens is feeling it.”
John Brockelsby, who manages Reptile Gardens' public relations, tells Cowboy State Daily that the fire was reported around 12:40 a.m. on Friday, and the Rockerville Volunteer Fire Department responded to an active fire in a detached agricultural shelter.
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.
