It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Thursday, February 26th. I’m Mac Watson.
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Accused of torturing a wolf two years ago in a case that received global condemnation, Cody Roberts has agreed to plead guilty or no contest to one count of felony animal cruelty. But Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that Roberts could still face prison time.
“It's 18 months probation, strict requirements like no hunting, no fishing, no shed hunting, even so like you will not interact with the wild animals at all. And if he fails probation, then he could spend 18 months to two years in prison and pay another 4000 in fine. So he's supposed to pay 1000 and fines right out of the gate, and could pay another 4000 if he fails probation.”
The 44-year-old Roberts was indicted last August by a grand jury. Felony animal cruelty carries a penalty of up to two years in prison and up to $5,000 in fines.
Read the full story HERE.
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There’s been hardly any winter in Wyoming so far this year, but highway fatalities are up nearly double compared to the last two years. Cowboy State Daily’s Greg Johnson reports that the Wyoming Highway Patrol says that speed, not weather, has the most impact on highway fatalities.
“As a driver, the Highway Patrol explained, you can control how you drive in those conditions, and it's usually speed and driver inattentiveness is usually listed as suspected causes in most of these cases. They do see more and more evidence of people, you know, using devices and their smartphones and stuff while they're driving. Not only is it not a good idea, it's illegal.”
On Tuesday, a 19-year-old woman from Powell became the 20th person to die on Wyoming roads so far this year. That’s well ahead of the 13 fatalities recorded by this time last year, the Wyoming Highway Patrol reports.
Read the full story HERE.
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Wyoming lawmakers on Wednesday advanced a bill expanding homeschoolers’ access to public school activities from grades 6-12 to all K-12 students. Cowboy State Daily’s David Madison reports that the move mirrors “Tim Tebow Laws” in other states allowing equal participation for homeschooled athletes.
“Senate Education Committee moved a bill, approved a bill, and moved it forward that would allow homeschool kids to have official access to all kinds of activities, K through 12. That was the main discussion this morning was, should it be sixth grade through 12th or K through 12? They landed on an amendment that made it K through 12 and so it's looking like this bill is probably going to pass, and Wyoming is going to have its own Tim Tebow law where home school kids can participate.”
The Senate Education Committee voted 4-0 to advance House Bill 23, which requires school districts to allow students not enrolled in a district to participate in cocurricular and extracurricular activities.
Read the full story HERE.
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A Laramie County rancher shot a roughly 2-year-old male wolf near Carpenter, Wyoming, where wolves are almost never seen. Outdoors reporter Mark Heinz reports that this may be the first recorded legal wolf killing in the county.
“A rancher, it was a father and son. Ranchers were doing something they do anyway. They're out hunting coyotes on their land. And there happened to be a wolf in the area, and in that part of Wyoming that we're talking Laramie County, extreme, far eastern, southeastern part of Wyoming, you are completely within your legal rights to shoot a wolf on site. You don't need a license or anything like that. The unusual part is where it was. I mean, we mostly associate wolves with Northwestern Wyoming, Yellowstone National Park and kind of that area surrounding it.”
Royce Breeden tells Cowboy State Daily he shot the wolf about two-and-a-half miles north of the Wyoming-Colorado border. That means it’s possible the wolf came from Colorado. However, most of the Colorado wolves have tracking collars. Breeden says the animal he shot didn’t have one.
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 U.S. lost 15,000 small farms in 2025 due to being sold or consolidated. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that although Wyoming has avoided major losses, Farm Bureau president Todd Fornstrom says, “When you get rid of so many small farms, you’re taking rural people out of rural America.”
“Speaking with representatives from the Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation, they said that the closure and consolidation of small farms across the United States, it's a trend that's been ongoing for decades. Farms have a lot of costs and not a lot of profits. That’s not happening as much in Wyoming. It's not that Wyoming's immune to these national trends. It's more that Wyoming's agricultural industry is dominated by livestock predominantly, and crops like wheat and other things that aren't as volatile.”
According to statistics compiled by the United States Department of Agriculture, Texas lost the most, with 2,000 farms gone before the end of the year.
Read the full story HERE.
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One year ago, Troy Lake was in federal prison for "deleting" emissions systems on ailing diesel engines. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that on Tuesday evening, Lake attended President Donald Trump's State of the Union address at the Capitol in Washington, D.C.
“Troy Lake, the diesel mechanic who spent seven months in federal prison at the age of 65 for deleting emission systems on ailing diesel engines, was Senator Cynthia Lummis special guest to the State of the Union. Now this is not too long after Trump pardoned him, even while Trump is scaling back some of these interpretations of federal law that led the Biden administration to prosecute delete mechanics criminally. When I interviewed Troy Lake a few hours before the State of the Union, he said he was mostly sad that he couldn't bring with him all the people who helped him get pardoned.”
Lake joined U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis at the State of the Union address. That’s after Lummis championed his cause and Trump pardoned him Nov. 7.
Read the full story HERE.
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A Buffalo man who walked into two local hardware stores with a length of galvanized steel pipe and asked if the stores sold “fuses” has been arrested on suspicion of making pipe bombs. Cowboy State Daily’s Greg Johnson reports that Tyler G. Roy told police he makes homemade “fireworks” and “smoke bombs.”
“When they searched his home, they did find a box under his bed that the police report says that they found. They found pipes, you know, cut in the length of what normally would be for a pipe bomb. They found, you know, the end caps. They found gunpowder. And even, kind of a diary, kind of a list of the steps he's taken in creating devices so far.”
If convicted, Roy could face up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000 for possessing an explosive, and up to a year behind bars and a fine of up to $750 for the reckless endangering charge.
Read the full story HERE.
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Hawaii native Debbie Pummel, a Casper resident for 33 years, won Wyoming’s 2026 BigWYO tourism award. Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports Pummel was recognized for three decades of leadership in the state’s hospitality industry and her dedication to mentoring future tourism professionals.
“It's only given to people who have made outstanding contributions, major impact for Wyoming's tourism and hospitality industry. Debbie pummel has been here in Wyoming for more than 30 years now, and she's someone who's been working quietly, kind of behind the scenes. She has been a guiding force behind the state's pro Start Program, which, last night, handed out $2 million in scholarships to Wyoming students who are entering the hospitality industry.”
Pummel accepted the BigWYO award on Tuesday night during the Governor’s Hospitality and Tourism Convention.
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.
