It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Monday, December 8th. I’m Mac Watson.
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Move over Jackson — two national business publications are claiming a place called Sleepy Hollow (allegedly near Laramie) is Wyoming’s richest small town. Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports that not only the town does not exist, but this is an example of how artificial intelligence can sometimes not be 100 percent accurate.
“I've seen articles about Wilson being the most expensive ski town, Hoback being the most expensive place to live. These places are not towns. They are census designated areas. They are a cluster of streets that are near town, but they're not towns, Sleepy Hollow, in this case, is a little suburb, kind of off of Gillette, southeast corner of Gillette, but it's not a town. It's not near Laramie, like realtor dot com was telling us. But if you're looking for know the a Sleepy Hollow near Laramie in the mountains, you'll be looking for a long time.”
Sleepy Hollow, Wyoming, according to Realtor.com, is Wyoming’s wealthiest small town. It has a population of 1,812 people with what Realtor.com says is a median household income of $119,451 and a median home price of $399,800.
Read the full story HERE.
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So far this year, 71 grizzlies have died in and near Yellowstone, compared to a record of 72 in 2024. Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports that experts are saying it’s not surprising, it’s actually a good thing.
“Every bear that is known to have died or been killed, or every grizzly that carcass that is discovered in the Greater Yellowstone Area gets tallied on this report from the USGS…he total mortalities are the total number of carcasses or bear remains that turned up in 2025 was 73 however, 71 of those mortalities occurred in 2025…Last year had very similar numbers. You go back much further than that, number start dropping down into the 60s, and people will the consensus seems to be that a lot of it has to do with the fact there's just more bears.”
The most common causes of death remain the same. Some include roughly 30 grizzlies killed for attacking livestock, at least eight struck by vehicles and seven killed by other bears. Twelve of the bear deaths remain “under investigation,” with no official cause yet listed.
Read the full story HERE.
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Wyoming rancher Doug Samuelson expected to hear lions while camped out in Mozambique but was crushed to hear poaching had wiped them out. Cowboy State Daily’s David Madison reports that Samuelson and his coalition has pulled off the largest international relocation of lions ever attempted.
“He met a guy named Ivan Carter, and they dreamed up this notion of bringing back lions to landscapes that could clearly support wild lions, but didn't have any because of poaching. And so he convinced Ivan Carter, who runs a Wildlife Foundation in South Africa…They believe it's really the first time this has ever happened, that this size of translocation from one country to another just hasn't been done.”
Samuelson and his team flew the lions from South Africa to Mozambique, which is over a thousand miles, where the lion population has been devastated by civil war and poaching.
Read the full story HERE.
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Alta, Wyoming’s Jaelin Kauf is one of the world’s most decorated freestyle skiers and currently the “athlete to beat” in the upcoming 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Italy. Cowboy State Daily’s Zak Sonntag reports that Jaelin started thinking about Olympic gold as a child.
“She was raised in Alta Wyoming, and this is a really unique, interesting community. It's almost like this little ski republic of its own, because it's on the western edge of Wyoming, but it gets most of its resources and access through Teton County, Idaho and the city of Driggs, Idaho. So it's like right on this border, and it's sort of unto itself, almost, but it's right at the base of grand Targhee resort, and it has incredible ski terrain. And both of her parents are themselves professional skiers, so they wanted to live there, and that's where she was raised. And it's the type of place where the schools would take the kids out of session every Monday in the winter to go up skiing on the hill. And so it's a really unique community.”
After winning silver in 2022 Jaelin is aiming for the gold medal in the winter Olympics in February.
Read the full story HERE.
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I’ll be back with more news from Cowboy State Daily, after this….
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After 35 years as a dispatcher with the Wyoming Highway Patrol, Chris McGuire is retiring. Cowboy State Daily’s Jen Kocher reports that she’s handled everything from domestic disputes to blizzards and everything in between.
“Chris didn't set out to become a dispatcher, but at the time, she was working for a hospital, cleaning rooms, and she absolutely hated it…so she saw a job for dispatcher, and so she took the job, and it didn't go well. Initially, it's high stress. She didn't know what she was doing, and she got a call that almost set her she got a call that almost made her quit. And the call was that a woman called and said, there are kids all over the road, and you can imagine how terrifying that was for her.”
During one treacherous Wyoming snowstorm, Chris tells Cowboy State Daily, she worked 37 hours straight.
Read the full story HERE.
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There have been only two major eruptions of Yellowstone’s Steamboat Geyser in 2025, and it's been more than 200 days since its last eruption. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that scientists have no idea when it will erupt again as it has stopped exhibiting one of its only predictable behaviors.
“What scientists are concluding is that Steamboat has had another active period that lasted for several years, and now it's winding down. It could erupt tomorrow. It could erupt next month. It could erupt sometime within the next 50 years, as it has gone up to 50 years without a major eruption. Now how likely it's that? Not very likely. The normal behavior of Steamboat is that it erupts frequently for a few for a few years, for a short period, and then it goes back to a period where eruptions occur once every few months, or once every few years.”
The last major eruption of Steamboat Geyser, which sent water 300 feet into the air, occurred on April 14.
Read the full story HERE.
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Brush Creek Ranch's new Chef Nicholas Pissare brought two Michelin Keys to a resort in Colorado, that state’s only such property. Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports that if he can do the same here, that would expand Wyoming’s Michelin footprint somewhere else besides Jackson Hole.
“Michelin Keys are a little different than stars. Michelin keys are for resorts that have dining establishments, but you can't just eat there. You can't make a reservation and eat there…And so they came up with these MICHELIN keys to kind of recognize those places that have outstanding food. And so, you know, this guy has already done it once. He's very que sera sera about whether he'll do it again.”
Pissare tells Cowboy State Daily that Brush Creek’s leadership has been curious about Michelin Keys, and what the process is, but are not fixated on that as a goal.
Read the full story HERE.
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Marty Simonich has driven his white 2001 Subaru Legacy sedan nearly 1 million miles. Cowboy State Daily’s David Madison reports that Marty has driven through snowstorms, across the Bonneville Salt Flats at 120 mph, into at least four deer and through Jackson Hole, where the odometer turned 777,777.
“He's excited to share his story. He doesn't know what's going to happen. He's got a digital readout, and it's going to hit 99999, and what's next? He doesn't know if it's going to just go to zeros, if it's going to be all exclamation points or like a congratulations. And Subaru doesn't know. I mean, at least the folks we spoke to at the corporate office, they tried to reach out to the guys in Japan to ask this question, what's going to happen?”
Marty tells Cowboy State Daily that he has a 150-mile round-trip commute from his home to his job, but he’s also taken many road trips in his Subaru.
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.
