It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Thursday, February 5th. I’m Mac Watson.
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Wyoming Senate President Bo Biteman tells Cowboy State Daily he is considering a run for Wyoming's U.S. House. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that Biteman has formed an exploratory committee to look into a campaign.
“So the senate president of Wyoming, Senate President Bo Biteman, is looking seriously at a U.S. House run. If he does run that would pit him against Secretary of State Chuck Gray, Casper businessman Reid Reisner, former public instruction superintendent Jillian Balow, so it would become a four way race for that Republican nomination, Biteman actually dropped that ‘seriously looking’ tagline during a broader interview.”
Two of Wyoming’s three seats in Congress face a shakeup this year, as incumbent U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis announced in December that she’s not running for reelection to the upper chamber.
Read the full story HERE.
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And speaking of Wyoming politics, Tom Kelly, a freshman lawmaker from Sheridan who is also a college professor, announced Wednesday he is running for Superintendent of Public Instruction. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that Kelly arrived in Wyoming in 2019.
“Tom Kelly's a longtime educator. He worked in public school. He's been a college professor. He's been in university administration. And so he ran for this seat in a couple different ways back in 2022. He made the Republican nomination when Jillian Balow left early, and then Governor Gordon did not appoint him, choosing Brian Schroeder instead. And so Tom Kelly actually ran that year for the Republican nomination, withdrawing early as it was shaped into a two-way race between Schroeder and Degenfelder. And so he told me on Wednesday, like, ‘Yeah, I just want to continue some of Degenfelder’s work. I want to favor school choice, but stay within the confines of the Constitution.’”
Rep. Kelly, who has a master’s degree in education and a PhD in political science, is a college professor and administrator who chairs the American Military University’s department of political science, public administration and public policy.
Read the full story HERE.
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The newly unveiled USDA portal that tracks foreign-owned ag land in the U.S. has been hailed by GOP lawmakers and Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins as a good step in the right direction. Cowboy State Daily’s Kate Meadows reports that real estate agents, however, don't seem as concerned with the issue.
“A new USDA online portal for reporting foreign owned agricultural land is sparking some debate in Wyoming between politicians and real estate brokers and land experts and landowners, the politicians are saying, you know, no matter how much foreign land is owned in Wyoming, even if it's a small little bit, we should be concerned, and we should know who owns it and why. Real estate agents say they very rarely deal with foreign entities trying to buy land. The USDA has been collecting information regarding foreign ownership of agricultural lands since the late 1970s but this online portal is relatively new.”
The online portal, launched by the USDA in January, is meant to streamline reporting of transactions involving U.S. agricultural land by foreign entities and represents a broader trend of increased federal scrutiny of foreign investment in U.S. agricultural and forest lands.
Read the full story HERE.
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BioLife Plasma Services abruptly closed two of its three Wyoming locations on Tuesday. Cowboy State Daily’s Greg Johnson reports that clients, who said they depend on the money from selling plasma, say the no-notice move is a gut-punch to their budgets.
“Nobody knows why they shut down. They say to optimize their operations. Apparently, that's what they say every time they shut something down. Because I look to see what other, what other bio life places have been closed recently, within the past year, and other other outlets reporting on their local bio life outlets being shut down abruptly. The thing that is a little different about this is this is a place where people were kind of strapped for cash, people who kind of use this as a supplemental income, not for huge amounts of money, but for enough to tie them up.”
Casper resident, Andy Tholl, tells Cowboy State Daily that selling plasma is a simple medical procedure that fills an important gap in his monthly budget.
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 will gain over 70 minutes of daylight in February as "solar spring" begins, which will make days longer and warmer. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that meteorologists say that can lead to massive amounts of wet, heavy snow like the kind that paralyzed Cheyenne five years ago.
“The big question is, when we've already had such a subpar winter in terms of snowfall and temperatures, will this gradual and unavoidable increase in temperature and daylight decrease the chances we have of getting significant snowfall, and that's kind of a mixed bag, we haven't had access to a lot of good weather systems this winter. And if that continues, it's kind of a lost cause, but the benefit is that as there's more sunlight, the air gets warmer. And if you get a system that's a mix of cold, Arctic air and moist Pacific Air, it'll be warmer when it reaches Wyoming, so you'll get a lot of wet, heavy snow, and that's the best kind of snow, because it sinks into the ground faster and doesn't evaporate as much.”
Solar spring officially stretches from Feb. 5 to May 5 every year. The Northern Hemisphere has been steadily gaining daylight since Dec. 21, the winter solstice, but this three-month period is when the gains become much more noticeable, especially in the evening.
Read the full story HERE.
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A state judge’s mixed decision on Monday will allow redevelopment to continue at Hot Springs State Park and also lets the Star Plunge lawsuit proceed. Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports the judge’s decision leaves the popular swim park in limbo.
“Even though star plunge doesn't own any of the rest of the park or have any contractual interest in the rest of the park, a star plunge had argued that it could be harmed if work proceeded in the rest of the park and change the character of the park. But those are speculative harms, and typically in legal cases, speculation about potential harm doesn't fly. They don't trigger injunctions. The harms have to be real and imminent. In this case, the judge agreed with the state on that point. However, it did not agree with the state that there's no case here. It's just saying, yes, there's enough of a claim here for this case to proceed. And no, it can't just be tossed. And no, we can't just lift the injunction.”
The ruling also means Star Plunge will remain closed until the court case is finally resolved. Star Plunge’s owner, Roland Luehne, tells Cowboy State Daily that this translates to tens of millions of dollars lost from Thermopolis and the surrounding communities.
Read the full story HERE.
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An Arizona man settled what was originally a $25M defamation suit vs. the Jackson Hole News & Guide over the paper claiming he'd abused his son. Clair McFarland reports that the paper published an apology.
“Mecartney's attorney said that they brought the case to clear Mecartney’s name. Jackson Hole News and Guide, meanwhile, posted a public apology, saying this story should not have been published. He waged a $25 million lawsuit, initially claiming that Jackson Hole news and guide had called him an abuser, contrary to other evidence, and without seeking comment from him.”
Aviation consultant, David Mecartney, alleged defamation over a story that didn’t give his name but referenced him as an “abuser” of his son. He sued the Jackson Hole News & Guide in federal court on Dec. 3rd.
Read the full story HERE.
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Groundhogs don't have to be just ceremonial animals that allegedly predict when spring arrives. Outdoors Reporter Mark Heinz spoke to a chef and he says they can be good eating too.
“He's cooked just about everything under the sun. He says he hasn't cooked a groundhog yet, but if he were to do that, he would recommend smoking it with a pork rub. He says smoking is any kind of wild game, anything that might likely be tough. He recommends smoking it. Take your time. Smoke it slowly…My dad and I cooked one over a campfire, which is kind of sort of like smoking it. And I'm not joking, it kind of to me, it tasted like chicken, maybe, maybe a bit more gamey.”
Ric Schuyler, owner of the renowned Pokey's BBQ in Gillette, who has cooked all manner of critters, says low and slow in a wood-fired smoker is the best way to go.
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.
