It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Wednesday, December 31th. I’m Mac Watson.
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Wyoming state Rep. Bill Allemand was arrested Sunday afternoon on suspicion of drunk driving. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that the lawmaker is saying he will fight the charge.
“State Representative Bill Allemand told me in a Tuesday interview that he believes he should not have been arrested, and in fact, would not have been arrested had it not been for his insistence upon his rights. He said that he essentially upset the deputy by insisting upon his rights, and that he intends to fight this charge.”
Rep. Allemand tells Cowboy State Daily that the DUI is a “false charge" and he was stopped “by a deputy who did not like me knowing my rights.”
Read the full story HERE.
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Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem made a pit stop in the Bighorn Basin overnight Sunday. Cowboy State Daily’s Jackie Dorothy reports that her Coast Guard jet landed in Worland and Noem spent the night at a ranch near Ten Sleep.
“What we know is that Kristi Noem arrived in Worland to go to a ranch outside of Ten Sleep, Wyoming for some much needed rest and relaxation. The reason she chose the Big Horns is not just for the beauty that it offers or the activities, but for the solitude…Eyewitnesses say she came with her security detail, but that was it, and she left the next day.”
Secretary Noem’s jet landed at the Worland Municipal Airport at 1:30 p.m. Sunday from her home state of South Dakota. She and her Secret Service detail left Monday night at 6:30 p.m.
Read the full story HERE.
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The federal government announced Monday it’s approved $205 million for the first year of Wyoming’s rural health program. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that one Wyoming lawmaker is skeptical of the program.
“Even though the Fed signed off on money for this package that also includes the Bear Care, the catastrophic insurance program that would start with public seed money. It’s my understanding that the legislature still would need to issue spending authorization to the Department of Health for that. And, yeah, the way the Department of Health put it is, it would be stand-alone option to buy catastrophic care insurance, to introduce another product into the marketplace. So Representative John Bear, who also chairs the House Appropriations Committee, he said he's still not sure if the name bear care is meant as a jab at him in some way, but he said, ‘Have you ever seen the government run a business efficiently?’”
Part of the plan has been dubbed “Bear Care” because it would cover catastrophic events like being attacked by a bear.
Read the full story HERE.
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The Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center has logged reports of 32 avalanches in the Tetons since Dec. 19. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that two skiers have survived being caught, including one Sunday in No Name Bowl who avoided getting buried by wearing an airbag pack.
“The photo that was shown of the recovery showed that the skier was wearing basically an air bag on his person, and that's one of the many survival tools that outdoor enthusiasts, or outdoor recreation enthusiasts, are encouraged to keep on their person when they're out and about. The bare minimum is a shovel and a beacon that actually signals people where you are in the event you get caught in an avalanche. But this suit – it uses just the principles of physics to help people rise above, at least in theory, the debris and the snow in an avalanche, so it makes it that much easier for them to recover.”
Of the 32 avalanches reported to the Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center, 20 were natural or triggered by explosives.
Read the full story HERE.
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I’ll be back with more news from Cowboy State Daily right after this.
Cowboy State Daily news continues now…
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The judge overseeing a small claims dispute has dismissed the case in which the ex-boyfriend of state Rep. Nina Webber. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports the judge dismissed the case with prejudice.
“The judge dismissed with President with prejudice, meaning all together, they claim by Representative Nina Webber's ex boyfriend that she owed him $6,000 for an African safari hunting ticket, and the ex-boyfriend, Scott Weber, the last names are spelled differently, but he told me that he's going to appeal. So on the one hand, you have the ex-boyfriend like she concocted this story. We're going to appeal this. And the judge, meanwhile, said no, Representative Weber's story is believable, that she did not intend to go on this trip or have this ticket bought in her name because she was scared of Zimbabwe after the last hippo hunt.”
The crux of the case was whether Nina Webber and Scott Weber had a verbal or other contract, in which he was to buy her more-than $6,000 plane ticket to a Zimbabwe hunting safari, and she was to reimburse him later.
Read the full story HERE.
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Patricia Wyer, founder of Broken Bandit Wildlife Center outside of Cheyenne, has seen many animals come and go at her wildlife rescue center Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports her most heartwarming tale of 2025 is that of a momma raccoon who lost her babies, trashed a pickup in her angst, but then got a second chance.
“Someone in Cheyenne found four raccoon babies in their boat, and so they called a Critter Catcher. That's a person that specializes in capturing small wildlife for people. He came and got the four babies and took them out to Broken Bandit. And they just assumed, well, the mom must have taken off, or be dead or something. Well, it turns out the mom was still alive, was hanging around the property, and she freaked out and ended up tearing the guy's pickup truck pretty badly, I guess, like his windshield wipers and the rubber lining on his windshield. So Critter Catcher came back out again and captured mama and got reunited with her babies. And I guess they spent some time on a broken bandit till the babies got big enough, and then they sent him back loose in the wild.”
Wyer tells Cowboy State Daily she’s had all kinds of critters brought to her facility, including skunks, draft horses, foxes, and a zebra.
Read the full story HERE.
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Jackson Hole buyers often have to choose between grand valley views or seclusion. But Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports that there’s a home on Trader Road that is a rare exception, being secluded with views.
“This is just the coolest home in Jackson Hole, another really cool home just listed for sale at 2540 trader road. You're only going to need 15.9 million for this one…What makes this home a little different from others? There's the buyer who wants to be up on top of the hill, looking down on the world, looking down on creation, kind of thing. And then the other kind of buyers, a little more practical, wants to be in the valley, wants to be able to use their land…but this 2540 trader road is that rare place that kind of gives you the best of both worlds. And that's because it is up on an elevation. So there are places where you can see down look, you know, the big landscape, the Big Valley View from your Windows, but it also is nestled into a little Aspen forest.”
The 7,800-square-foot, four-bedroom, five-bath home was among a wave of homes that were built starting in the late 1990s and was extensively remodeled in 2020.
Read the full story HERE.
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Dick Nelson was 12 when he came to Wyoming Territory in 1887 and spent 45 years watching shootouts as a railroad man. Cowboy State Daily’s Jackie Dorothy reports Nelson also earned a reputation early as having ice in his veins, not even flinching when Texas cowhands shot at him.
“Dick Nelson is a colorful character who kind of flew under the radar. He didn't make the newspapers. He wasn't famous, but he saw everything happening in Wyoming as it became a territory into a state...Nelson grew up in an age when the railroad towns were rough and wild. He witnessed everything from shootings to hangings, and he survived it to be able to share those stories when he was in his 80s and his 90’s.”
Dick Nelson’s great-great-grandson, Drew Hester, is keeping the family legacy alive working on the family’s generational ranch in Wyoming.
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.
Have a happy and healthy New Year from Cowboy State Daily!
