It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Wednesday, January 7th. I’m Mac Watson.
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On Tuesday, the Wyoming Supreme Court announced their much-anticipated decision on abortion rights for the state. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland walks through the controversial court ruling.
“Tuesday about 9am the Wyoming Supreme Court issued its long-awaited ruling in the three-and-a-half year legal battle of abortion in Wyoming. What the High Court decided is abortion is health care. It is a fundamental right. It falls under a rigorous standard of court review that's difficult for the state to defend, and the state did, in fact, fail to defend it…the newest justice, Bridget Hill was the attorney general when this case was originally waged, and so, she could not serve in the final decisions due to that conflict, because this is an attorney general case. And so the former Chief Justice Kate Fox was recalled out of her mandatory retirement to help finish the case.”
The ruling concludes four years of legal challenges that have fraught Wyoming since its 2022 abortion ban “triggered” into place with the overturn of the federal abortion right under Roe vs. Wade.
Read the full story HERE.
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Our coverage of Tuesday’s Wyoming Supreme Court ruling continues…After the controversial abortion ruling was announced on Tuesday, Wyoming leaders vowed to work to advance a pro-life constitutional amendment in the upcoming legislative session. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that ultimately, the voters may decide.
“The Wyoming Legislature plans to try to get that measure through the legislature, if it's well written enough, we could expect Governor Gordon to sign it. If it's not well written or violates the principle he holds. We may not but he is pro life, he says, and he does want to see this issue go before the people, and then if it survives those steps, a two thirds majority in each chamber, the governor's desk, then it would go before the Wyoming voters at the ballot in November of this year.”
During the interview, Clair McFarland reports that Chip Nieman became emotional and told Cowboy State Daily that he and other lawmakers are galvanized on this issue to find options to change the Constitution, or ask the people to do so.
Read the full story HERE.
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Cowboy State Daily’s coverage of Tuesday’s announcement of the Wyoming Supreme Court declaring the abortion ban as unconstitutional continues with The Wyoming AG is filing a petition for a Supreme Court rehearing on Tuesday’s abortion ruling upholding it as fundamental right. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that Governor Gordon requested the filing.
“Later in the afternoon, Governor Gordon announced that he had asked his Attorney General, Keith Kautz, to file a petition for a rehearing. Now this is a measure that Wyoming appeals processes allow, where, if one of the parties in the appeal says, ‘Whoa, you missed these sources and these arguments and all of this stuff that goes completely against your ruling, I want you to reconsider.’ Then he has to file that petition within 15 days of the ruling that he disputes, and then it's up to the High Court whether to hear that petition, and then they would give the other party a chance to respond as well.”
A statement from the office said the petition will be filed within the 15-day deadline.
Read the full story HERE.
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Construction crews are assembling a field demonstration plant that will process up to 10 tons of coal per day into materials for roads, buildings, and nuclear fuel. Cowboy State Daily’s David Madison reports that the project is a critical step from research to commercial viability.
“Wyoming is known for its research into energy development, the School of Energy Resources, is a real leader, especially when it comes to coal research. Well, now some of that research is jumping out of the lab into a more commercial space at the Wyoming Innovation Center near Gillette. They've taken essentially laboratory experiments, research into different uses for coal, and now we're officially ramping up into a demonstration project, basically real production of new products. Building materials from coal, asphalt binder from coal, graphite from coal, that could be used to create nuclear fuels if BWXT really sets up shop in Gillette.”
The facility will be capable of processing eight to 10 tons of coal per day, producing intermediate materials that can be manufactured into asphalt products, building materials, agricultural soil amendments and nuclear-grade graphite.
Read the full story HERE.
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The 42nd annual Saratoga Lake Ice Fishing Derby, planned for Jan. 17-18, had to be cancelled due to what organizers say are very poor ice conditions.
Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that the chamber of commerce is saying there’s too much and not enough ice.
“They've had the event in the past when they've had open water, they just put boats out there, and they've even had events when there's open water and a layer of ice that's thick enough for ice fishing, but this year, the ice there's too much ice to put boats out on the water, or like there is too much ice to put boats out on the water, and there's too little ice for anyone to safely walk on it. So they couldn't find a compromise for the event.”
Stacy Crimmins, the interim executive director of the Saratoga/Platte Valley Chamber of Commerce, said after consulting with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and other agencies, they decided it wasn’t safe for the event, and no compromise could be found.
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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Wyoming’s Dec. 30 oil and gas lease sale got bids on just two parcels out of 34 available from out-of-state firms. Cowboy State Daily’s Kate Meadows reports that the fate of this land is up in the air.
“It used to be, prior to the Biden Administration, that oil and gas companies could go in and put non competitive bids on land, and that was a way to make the land more attractive, because you're not having to put down a minimum, a minimum bid. You just say you'll take it for for this amount, and now under the inflation Reduction Act, that is no longer the case…But what it all boils down to is that the state BLM office and the gas and oil companies are waiting for guidance from the federal level, from the Department of Interior, as to how they are going to interpret the Big, Beautiful Bill Act this particular section that talks about the rules around the oil and gas lease sales.”
The two companies who bid on Wyoming land on Dec. 30 are listed in BLM documents as Petro LLC, out of Denver, and R&R Royalty LTD, of Corpus Christi, Texas. Each bid on 80 acres.
Read the full story HERE.
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A 46-year-old Casper man entered into a plea deal Tuesday in Natrona County District Court for setting a rash of fires. Cowboy State Daily’s Dale Killingbeck reports that Dallas Smith could serve up to 12 years in prison for setting a series of fires at a motel, a vacant restaurant, and three other locations in Casper last summer.
“He pleaded guilty to five charges, two of those were felonies, three of those were misdemeanors, and he faces up to 12 years in prison through the plea deal, the prosecuting attorney is going to drop eight charges, and those are all related to fires that he started throughout Casper this past summer, from May through early September…he told investigators that he really got upset when he had to go to pay rent at at a place in Casper. And so he said, to work with his anger and his frustrations. He just went and started fires. He got so mad he saw red, and he went and started fires.”
In court documents, Smith says he would like some counseling to help him with his anger issues.
Read the full story HERE.
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Former Sheridan football star Dane Steel's leaping touchdown was the highlight of the night in Montana State University winning its first national title in 41 years Monday night. Cowboy State Daily’s David Madison reports that the spectacular play earned the No. 1 spot on SportsCenter's Top 10.
“Dane Steele, pride of Sheridan, catches a pass right near the right sideline. He shakes off one tackler, and then another dB comes at him, and he full on, hurdles this guy, and the defender knocks him a little bit off balance, and Dane somehow plants his hand on the ground, stays up, makes it to just before the goal line, and then, as he's diving into the into the end zone, a teammate helps him, you know, finish the finish the score. It was an incredible play – momentum swing in the game, which turned out to be an all time classic that came down to the last play. It's just great to see a kid from Wyoming pull off such an athletic move on such a big stage, nationally televised.”
Steel's athletic ability shouldn't come as a surprise. At Sheridan High School, he was a two-time Class 4A state wrestling champion and the 2023 Wyoming Gatorade Football Player of the Year who helped lead the Broncs to three consecutive state championships.
Read the full story HERE.
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More than 10 inches of snow and wind chills in the 20s were recorded at the summits of the Big Island in Hawaii on Monday. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that most of Wyoming, by contrast, has remained brown and dry, but changes are on the way.
“Wyoming's been unseasonably warm and dry, with one of the warmest Decembers on record for a lot of communities. But there is a change the jet stream log jam that's been blocking that winter weather that's finally broken, and we're going to see this Reaper. We're going to see changes in Wyoming's weather. As soon as this week, we're going to see snow in eastern Wyoming, which hasn't received much of any snow so far this season, on Thursday and Friday. And as we get further into January and then throughout the rest of the winter season, there's going to be a marked change in temperature and precipitation, and we're finally going to get the Wyoming winter that everyone's been waiting for.”
Cowboy State Daily Meteorologist Don Day says the transition will take some time, but signs point to a steady move toward colder, snowier conditions. By mid-January, the winter we’ve been waiting for could finally arrive.
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.
