It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Thursday, March 26th. I’m Mac Watson.
Wednesday marked the suppression hearing in the DUI case of State Representative Bill Allemand. Cowboy State Daily’s Claire McFarland reports that Allemand’s attorney argued there wasn't enough evidence for either the traffic stop or the arrest.
“So the judge in Buffalo Circuit Court did not rule from the bench. Wednesday, he gave a little color, asking things like, ‘Well, Allemand was confined when the deputy was asking him direct questions, but he said he was going to take it under advisement.’ So the state, the prosecutor, Joshua Stensis, actually played body camera and dash camera footage of the arrest, where we can see this encounter, Allemand is swaying. There's a concern about the gun and the deputy handcuffs him, which underpins part of the defense's argument about the lawfulness of that.”
If the judge decides the arrest was legal, then Allemand could face trial or work toward a settlement for the charge of driving under the influence.
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Wyoming is processing rare earths for the first time at a new Upton plant. Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports that this marks a major step toward a U.S. supply chain independent of China.
“This new process that Upton is pioneering could just completely rewrite the playbook. It's going to be cheaper, more economical, make it more feasible to have a domestic supply of rare earth minerals. And these rare earths, what are they used for? They're used for just about everything you can think of. They're in every cell phone. They're in medical devices. They're in our defense systems. Anything high tech probably has rare earths in it, and so it couldn't be more important for us to have a domestic supply of rare earths.”
The site could pave the way for hundreds of high-tech jobs and national security gains.
Read the full story HERE.
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A former Union Pacific engineer says the arrest of an engineer charged with being on drugs while operating a 16,000-ton train loaded with hazardous materials is a strong argument against automating humans out of America’s freight trains. Cowboy State Daily’s Greg Johnson reports that one retired UP conductor and switchman, has been a strong advocate for keeping at least two-person crews on freight trains.
“Are we going towards having these freight trains that have no people on them there? It's not there yet, says Stan Blake, the former state legislator, former head of the trade union and a real advocate for trade safety in Wyoming. This is a good example of why there should be two people, because that. The conductor could have saved lives, could have prevented a potential disaster from happening by noticing the erratic behavior and get that train stopped.”
In Friday’s incident, the conductor actually had to fight off an aggressive engineer and lock himself in the locomotive’s bathroom, where he called for help, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed in the case.
Read the full story HERE.
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A Rock Springs animal rights activist who helped raid a Wisconsin beagle lab earlier this month said saving abused dogs was worth getting arrested. Cowboy State Daily’s Jen Kocher reports that Madhu Anderson says she told authorities of her plans.
“Madhu Anderson went to this facility in Wisconsin that has been beleaguered by controversy stemming back nine years when it was at the subject of an undercover investigation, and that end of that investigation uncovered all kinds of violations. They reached out to law enforcement and the local DA and said, ‘Hey, we're doing this. We are going to peacefully protest, and we are going to go into the facility and rescue these animals.' And in Anderson's mind, and in the other activist mind, they believe that they were justified, given all the criminal accusations pending.”
About 100 activists came to Wisconsin from all over the country, including Wyoming, to protest conditions at Ridglan Farms, a biomedical research facility and commercial breeder, in Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin.
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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Firefighters now believe the Kane Fire just north of Lovell is human-caused. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that firefighters also say the 1,900-acre fire has the behavior of “an August blaze.”
“Firefighters on the scene of the Kane fire said that the fire's behavior was more akin to what they would expect for an August wildfire, rather than one in the latter half of March. And nobody was anticipating battling a fire of this intensity this early in the season. So it's going to get warmer and it could get drier as we move into the spring and summer. So it's possible that we could be looking at a very devastating wildfire season ahead. But this fire started when it was believed to be human cause, while there was a restriction on open fires and controlled fires in Big Horn County, so somebody wasn't heeding the rules that were in place to prevent this sort of thing. And as a result, we got a pretty significant wildfire very early in the season.”
According to the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, the Kane Fire is around 30% contained. Nobody in Big Horn County was prepared for such an intense wildfire response this early in the year.
Read the full story HERE.
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As Fremont County officials weigh their options for how to fund essential services, Shoshoni has taken ambulance service into its own hands. Cowboy State Daily’s Kate Meadows reports that it’s the first town in the state to staff an ambulance service with its police department.
“The Chief of Police did some research and figured out how to be able to train members of the police department to become EMTs. So now, any police officer who is hired by the town of Shoshoni undergoes EMT training so they're paid their salary for their police job. But then every sorry, every ambulance run, they go on, they earn an extra $50. Shoshoni has its own ambulance service now because the chief of police figured out how to train these police officers to become EMTs, and in the middle of that Cody Regional Health donated an ambulance to the town for that purpose.”
Fremont County is the second largest county in Wyoming, encompassing just under 9,200 square miles.
Read the full story HERE.
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Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder scored another big endorsement for governor on Wednesday when U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman announced her support. Cowboy State Daily’s Jimmy Orr reports that Degenfelder says she’s honored by the endorsement.
“The Harriet Hageman endorsement is a big deal because usually the congressional delegation does not get involved in a statewide race. There's five months before the primary. And so most people aren't paying attention at all. And so the way that you can get some attention is to get an endorsement.”
In a Wednesday afternoon statement, the congresswoman said she and Degenfelder have "spent countless hours" discussing the superintendent's vision for Wyoming, and that Degenfelder is a "proven winner with a strong conservative record."
Read the full story HERE.
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Just in time for tourist season, Cassie's Steakhouse in Cody is having its grand reopening on April 17. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that the famous restaurant and former brothel, closed since 2024, has received an extensive remodel.
“They've added new tables, new lighting, they've gutted the kitchen and put in new appliances so it's going to retain all of the cassie's charm, along with everything that they need to modernize the restaurant and hopefully keep it open, because it's been consistently ranked as one of the best western steak houses. A lot of people have a lot of nostalgia for that place, and the new owners are hoping that they'll be able to keep people coming in and give new and old generations new memories at one of Cody's classic eateries.”
Cassie’s Supper Club was founded by Cody entrepreneur Cassie Waters in 1933. It was assembled just outside the city limits at the time, so Waters could operate her new business with her old business, a brothel.
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.
