It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Monday, February 2nd. I’m Mac Watson.
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Jake Stoner is planning a funeral for his 11-month-old son on his ranch after the boy was allegedly murdered by his mother two days before Christmas. Cowboy State Daily’s Jen Kocher reports that Stoner is also asking Wyoming legislators to loosen strict Amber Alert criteria for faster child rescues.
“Jake Stoner's attorney Christopher King started a GoFundMe to help Jake Stoner raise money for these efforts to change the Amber Alert guidelines. And Brayden Harvey, who is a member of the Hot Springs Republican Party, saw that fundraiser, and he was very touched by Jake's story, so he put forth a resolution called the Basil Stoner Resolution to reconsider the threshold for what's required for law enforcement to actually issue an Amber Alert. And it was passed on January 29th by the Hot Springs Republican Party. And since then, he has sent that resolution to other Republican parties throughout the state, as well as the governor, law enforcement, and other entities.”
Stoner’s 11-month-old son, Basil, was allegedly killed by his mother, Madeline Daly, two days before Christmas in New Mexico.
Read the full story HERE.
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When Goshen County rancher Gary Hubert first saw the condition of 14 starving horses, he went to the sheriff. Cowboy State Daily’s Dale Killingbeck reports that Hubert then supplied 25 1,2000-pound bales of hay himself before others stepped up.
“An 83-year-old rancher in Goshen County just drove by the pasture where these horses were being kept, and just saw the condition of them. And so he just saw one particular horse that was in really bad condition, and so he went to the sheriff, was told that they couldn't do anything, that's what he told me. And then he said he just started providing feed for these horses, he took hay down there, and that started this whole ball rolling for all those bales of hay, out of his own pocket, he supplied the food to bring these 14 horses back…He told me that he contacted the owner's family in South Dakota, and had a conversation with them, and had a conversation with the owner of the property, and understood, you know, that the owner was not showing up at the property for a long time, and so he just stepped in to try and do what he could to save these horses.”
Nathan Wallman, the owner of the 14 horses, is headed to trial in March on separate animal abuse charges involving 17 other horses that he kept at a rented Torrington location.
Read the full story HERE.
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The town of Wamsutter may be the future of energy with a pilot hydrogen production facility. Cowboy State Daily’s David Madison reports that this potential energy is where oil and gas waste streams could be transformed into hydrogen fuel.
“Produced water comes up with the oil and gas around Wamsutter, and it's a place where they're thinking of applying this technology, and they believe they can take that, that produced water, that has some kinds of that has hydrocarbons in it, and pull hydrogen off of that, and then perhaps hook it into a pipeline system that takes it to the Pacific Northwest, where it is a desired fuel. It could fuel cars. It could fuel your gas stove. Anyway, it's interesting to see this pilot program. They're still looking for funding. The research scientist I spoke to is really excited about it. It's a way of creating a new kind of fuel, and more importantly, for Wyoming, creating a value added export off of waste from an oil and gas field.”
Since 2022, Gov. Mark Gordon, Williams Companies, and UW’s School of Energy Resources have been developing technology that could transform Wamsutter — a small town in Sweetwater County — into a major player in the emerging market for hydrogen fuel.
Read the full story HERE.
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A Sweetwater County judge sentenced a Haitian trucker Friday to 12-14 years in prison for plowing into an ambulance, killing one EMT, and injuring another. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that the deceased EMT's grandfather said he forgave the trucker during the sentencing.
“Saviol Saint Jean has an otherwise really productive history and hard working character, but he did get into a collision three years ago that killed one EMT and severely injured another. And so it's on this backdrop of this reckless moment in his life versus his otherwise inoffensive history that Judge Lavery sentenced him to 12 to 14. That's 12 to 14 on aggravated vehicular homicide, and then nine to 10 on aggravated assault, but those are simultaneous, so it ends up being a total of 12 to 14. And the grandfather, Kirk Clark, the grandfather of the deceased EMT, said, ‘I have to forgive him, because I can't hold on to that much anger and bitterness.’”
During sentencing, Saint Jean said he's been incarcerated so long that he actually has a daughter that he has not met. And when Judge Lavery handed down his sentence, Saint Jean said, “Your honor” and then trailed off. The hearing concluded soon after.
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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People living in Douglas and Glenrock are reporting that their Amazon packages are going missing. Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports that packages often land in Gillette, where they are then listed as “undeliverable.”
“The one gal I talked to said she had ordered, you know, like 10, had 10 different orders, and maybe she received one or two in a crumpled condition, but received nonetheless. She's ordering things like diapers. I mean, you know, in these rural areas, it can be hard to get certain things at cost effective rates, and so it becomes cheaper for them and a little more convenient for them to just order it through Amazon, rather than drive all the way to Casper to get something that's going to be really expensive at a local store. And so, you know, it's become kind of a lifeline for rural areas to make these orders. I think a lot of us are doing this now. You get a subscription. Amazon delivers it.”
Amazon officials told Cowboy State Daily they are investigating the situation and encouraged customers to call customer service if they are experiencing these difficulties, to better highlight that it’s a trend occurring.
Read the full story HERE.
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Teton County outfitter Jake Hutton feels like he's been "backstabbed" because he can't continue his grazing lease on the Kelly Parcel. Cowboy State Daily’s Zak Sonntag reports that the superintendent of Grand Teton National Park says Hutton knew all along his operation was destined to sunset.
“Hutton says we had always anticipated renewing this lease in perpetuity, and the park officials had told us during the initial meetings, we don't want to see you go out of business. That was what he told me. Now I spoke with Chip Jenkins, superintendent of Grand Teton National Park, and he paints a very different picture. He said, ‘Sure, we thanked him for speaking out. We all wanted to preserve this land, but we never indicated that we wanted to see commercial activities like his continuing perpetuity on the Kelly Parcel.’ So there's a very different depiction about how the superintendent and Jake Hutton explain the relationship going into it, and what it boils down to now as Jake Hutton is still fighting to stay relevant on the property, is that he is arguing that the park is violated the National Historic Preservation Act, particularly something known as Section 106 which requires a deliberative process for all kinds of stakeholders, for decisions that affect historic uses, which he makes the claim that his outfit and company should fall under.”
Hutton was a de-facto mascot in the fight over the 640-acre Kelly Parcel, then called the "crown jewel of state lands,” which was the last major state school‑trust inholding within Grand Teton National Park’s boundaries.
Read the full story HERE.
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Touren Pope is a curious 11-year-old boy who was rockhounding in the Greater Green River Basin when he found a remarkable foot-long fossil. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that the young man discovered the fossil on BLM-managed land in the Rock Springs Field Office area.
“Touren was poking around southwest Wyoming when he saw a two-inch by two-inch bit of shiny brown, and that was an indication of a fossil. And it definitely stood out amongst the bluish gray beds of the Bridger Formation, which is roughly 48-million-years old. So J.P. Cavigelli, with the Tate Museum in Casper. He went out there and his team recovered it. It's a foot long. It's a 48-million-year-old soft shell Turtle, give or take, a few million years. And it's not that they're necessarily uncommon in that particular formation, but this one was exceptionally well preserved, and they got the whole of the shell. So it's not it's or at least half of the whole of the shell. So it's remarkably intact and remarkably well preserved. And because it was found on Bureau of Land Management lands in southwest Wyoming, it is going to be available to the public in perpetuity.”
Touren got the opportunity to work alongside collection specialists to collect the fossil, which was taken to the Tate Geological Museum in Casper.
Read the full story HERE.
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13-year-old Cannon Reimann of South Dakota, shattered the National Western Junior Livestock Show record, selling her steer Boots for $320,000. Cowboy State Daily’s Kate Meadows reports that through a lot of hard work, she beat her brother’s 2024 record.
“She learned from her family how to show cattle, because her whole family is into it, including her mom and her brother, her father, unfortunately died in a plane crash when she was just two, back in 2014. She beat her brother's record. She beat her brother's 2025 record. His record was a $210,000 steer. Her steer went for $320,000 for the 2026 auction. That was the highest prize at the National Western Junior livestock auction.”
Cannon tells Cowboy State Daily that in order to show off Boots, she had to wash him, moisturize his hide and hair, and use big blowers to make his hair soft and fluffy and she named her steer Boots because he has white feet.
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.
