If Wyoming had its own Mount Rushmore, our giant statue would have taken a massive beating this year – we lost two of the folks I think would have been placed on that edifice – former U. S. Senator Al Simpson and former Vice President Dick Cheney.
We also lost another icon in Gerry Spence, the famous lawyer. He was truly an original.
Biggest Story
The biggest story last year was a heart-breaking story about a young mother in Byron who killed her four children and herself.
Cowboy State Daily Reporter Clair McFarland’s story about that event was one of the best reported stories I have ever read. It was featured in our reporting on top stories that were published over Christmas Day. Go back and check it out. Here is an excerpt from Clair:
“I drove to Bryon on Feb. 11 to interview residents and deputies about the 32-year-old mother who had shot her four daughters, then herself, in their little snowclad home one day prior.
“The sheriff gave a trauma-laced interview. The next-door neighbors wept. A fellow reporter sent to me an ethereal recording of the mother, Tranyelle Harshman, singing a Chris Stapleton karaoke cover about a year before.
“Over the days that followed, the mother and her last surviving daughter both died. And I called the late mother's husband, Cliff Harshman.
“I think of news reporting, and the honest pursuit of it, as a viewpoint estuary from which the truth ultimately flows. But I still get bull-crapped and led on and sweet-talked and one-lined on just about a daily basis, as everyone assumes his or her best face for me.
“When I talked to Cliff, he didn't have a mask left to wear.
“His world had shattered in public view, in excruciating detail. He yelled at me for not seeking and trying to understand the harrowing mental conditions that had haunted his wife in the days before the shooting. He wept over what he'd lost. He discussed in biting, deliberate syllables what he'd experienced that week.”
Whew, what a story and what a reporter. This is just so sad.
Other Big Stories
Technology is big in Wyoming as data centers are being built and billionaire Charles Hoskinson is investing big-time in a hospital facility in Gillette.
Uranium also expanded with big projects in Kemmerer and Gillette.
The year was a big one for watching Northern Lights with Dave Bell of Pinedale capturing some fabulous photos.
Overall, 2025 weather featured the absence of a white Christmas and an absence of winter, period. Partially due to record winds, record high temperatures occurred all over the state.
For example, the previous record for Christmas in Riverton was 51. This year it was 67.
Thanks to President Donald Trump, this past year 2025 was memorable for so many reasons.
Elections have consequences and recent national elections have had huge effects out here in Wyoming. During the four-year presidency of Joe Biden, we saw a time when climate change, race, and gender issues seemed to affect everything.
Trump has debunked all these issues and improved the country’s present and future outlook in so many ways.
Annual Look Back
This column is my annual look back at the previous year with a focus on the top news stories of the year with a few personal observations thrown in.
In some good media news, a group of Wyoming newspapers scheduled for closure were bought by new owners and will continue publishing, averting a loss of local news. This was good news to thousands of local readers from one end of Wyoming to the other.
Local reporting remains especially vital in a state as geographically vast and sparsely populated as Wyoming. This year also saw Cowboy State Daily hit milestones of 100,000 daily subscribers and 190,000 Facebook followers.
Political News
Last January, I predicted a conservative swing in the state with the rise of the Freedom Caucus but most of my political prognostications were focused on new president Donald Trump and what that might mean for Wyoming.
Biggest news was Cynthia Lummis announcing she will not run for another six-year term as U. S. Senator. She is just finishing her first term.
Will she run for governor?
Most observers had assumed U. S. Rep. Harriet Hageman would run for governor but now she says she will run for senate. This could open the governor race door to Lummis. Will Gov. Mark Gordon also consider running for that U. S. Senate seat?
It would make sense that Lummis would be weary from endless legislating in a hateful atmosphere as she said, “I am a sprinter competing in a marathon.” It must be exhausting. I could see her running for and winning the governor’s chair. Wyoming would be well off if that happened.
These are just a few highlights of one hell of a year in news in Wyoming. Email me your thoughts on what you thought were the top stories.
Bill can be reached at bill@cowboystatedaily.com
