It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Wednesday, April 22nd. I’m Mac Watson.
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The ACLU is suing President Trump’s Department of Justice, saying the agency broke the law by stockpiling voter information from Wyoming and at least 11 other states. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that Chuck Gray says the ACLU is advancing “false claims” made by “left-wing” interests.
“The ACLU took a passing jab at Wyoming and other states that have handed sensitive voter data to the US Department of Justice, saying this was not appropriate, and their lawsuit further alleges that it's not constitutional and that it doesn't comply with stringent federal privacy laws. trying to get the data locked down so the Feds can't basically centralize it all. How it may affect Wyoming, if they won, would be to lock down our voter data as well.”
The ACLU and other counsel sued on behalf of Washington, D.C.-based voter rights group Common Cause, and four individuals who say the Trump administration’s massive voter data collection effort has harmed them.
Read the full story HERE.
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Wyoming signed a deal with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Tuesday that allows the state to regulate uranium and radioactive byproducts from mining rare earths. Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports that the deal gives the state another edge during a push for nuclear plants and domestic rare earths.
“The NRC has agreed to let Wyoming regulate its own radioactive byproducts, which are produced whenever rare earths are mined, it's just, you know, it's there in the Earth's crust. So by adding that, it's really key to this industry, because, you know, before it cost $3 million for a permit, takes three years to get the permit. By doing this, we're going to have that cost. We're going to dramatically speed up the time it takes to get these permits.”
Director of NRC’s Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards Andrea Kock was in Wyoming on Tuesday to sign the deal shifting day-to-day oversight of byproducts to the Cowboy State. She tells Cowboy State Daily that she made a special trip to Wyoming just for the signing ceremony.
Read the full story HERE.
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A 21-year-old Casper man faces felony charges for allegedly grabbing and yanking the testicles of a police officer, then biting him in the groin, drawing blood. Cowboy State Daily’s Dale Killingbeck reports that Sylvester Jakeson Seaton could get up to 30 years in prison if convicted.
“The Casper police responded to a call that there was some yelling and apparently a big disturbance, or notable disturbance, on Sunday evening. A man in the residence pointed to his backyard where there was a trailer, and he said three people were living there. There's a third individual who is the one that's charged, and he was apparently, according to the affidavit, looked like he could be under the influence of something. They cuffed him, and then things got out of hand. Once he got cuffed, he started fighting the officers. They put him on the ground. There was fighting among the officers. And then at some point, this man, while he's on the ground, grabs onto the private parts of one of the officers, yanks on them, and then bites the shin of the other officer, piercing the skin.”
Both officers involved were treated by Banner Wyoming Medical Center for their injuries. Seaton remains in the Natrona County jail on a $50,000 cash or surety bond.
Read the full story HERE.
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A Cody woman says she was shocked when a FedEx driver let himself into her home uninvited and without warning to get a signature on a package. Cowboy State Daily’s Kolby Fedore reports that Natalie Singer says she wants to warn people about how disturbing that can be.
“25-year-old Amanda Singer was at home doing dishes with her back to the door when a delivery driver let himself in and closed the door behind him before asking her for a signature. Singer signed for the package, but after he left, she found herself wondering what FedEx is. Policy is on delivery drivers walking into someone's home unannounced. She did reach out to FedEx. Cowboy State daily reached out to FedEx. Neither of us have heard back from FedEx about what their procedures are involving incidents like this and if any action will be taken against the driver.”
As of this newscast, FedEx had not responded to multiple requests for comment from Cowboy State Daily about the incident, including questions about its delivery protocols and whether drivers are ever permitted to enter residential homes to obtain signatures.
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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WyoRINO, an anonymous site created “to expose liberal Wyoming Republicans who violate our Wyoming Republican values,” ranked how well Republican lawmakers voted in line with the GOP platform this year. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that some lawmakers were surprised to be singled out.
“Some of the lawmakers that they gave a failing grade to have come out strong with pro life bills, with Second Amendment bills, even property tax reform bills of their own. Representative Martha Lawley, there were clashes between her and budget hawks on the budget, where she was, for example, defending the University of Wyoming, but they actually they dinged her for voting to restore the budget to the governor's recommendation, saying this abdicated the legislative responsibility? She said, ‘No, I just thought that was a cleaner starting point and I didn't trust everything that the budget planners did ahead of session.’”
The group bases its rankings on 10 of the several hundred votes that surfaced in this year’s legislative session.
That figure is less than 9% of the 114 bills the Wyoming Legislature passed into law this year, ranging from topics of local interest to national flashpoints.
Read the full story HERE.
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Yellowstone’s bison are doing well, but their bigger cousins — wood bison — are struggling to recover in Alaska after being nearly killed off. Outdoors Reporter Mark Heinz reports that as massive as Wyoming’s plains bison are, wood bison are about 15% larger.
“Folks might not realize that up in northern Canada and in Alaska, they had a species native to that part of the world called wood bison that they're about 15%, 10 to 15% bigger and built slightly different than plains bison. So they are distinct sub species. Sadly, roughly 100 and some odd years ago, the bison essentially disappeared from Alaska. In 2015, the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Alaska Department of Fish and games started taking some wood bison from Canada and reintroducing the species to Alaska, and they are up to, all told, maybe shy of like 180 to 200 bison.”
While all bison are built for surviving harsh winters, wood bison are especially adapted for the worst of the worst in their native territory in northern Canada and Alaska.
Read the full story HERE.
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The Guernsey Town Council is considering a resolution that would ban people sitting in the audience from recording meetings, instead putting them in a specified area. Cowboy State Daily’s Kate Meadows reports that one councilman says it “borders on being unconstitutional.”
“Donna Reichert is a self described independent citizen journalist, and she is advocating for her right to record public meetings at the Guernsey Town Council and to record them wherever she wants. The proposed resolution wants to limit where, where anyone can record these meetings, and it would be in the language of the resolution. That came about when members of the town council noticed that Ms Reichert was they said that she was being loud, talking to her followers on Facebook while the public meeting was going on, another town council member told me that she was being very quiet and has every right to be where she is and to record.”
The resolution is on the agenda for Tuesday night's council meeting, but Cowboy State Daily did not get confirmation on whether the council will vote on it.
Read the full story HERE.
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Two men wanted on suspicion of first-degree murder in a drug deal gone bad in a Salt Lake City hotel on Monday were caught hours later near Green River. Cowboy State Daily’s Greg Johnson reports that according to police reports it didn’t take long to apprehend the alleged criminals.”
“The folks in Rock Springs at the Sweetwater County Sheriff's Office, get that at about 10:30, and less than 30 minutes later, one of their deputies sees the cars. They do what's called a high-risk stop. So instead of getting out and going up to the window, the deputy sits in the car, uses the PA, gives them instructions to leave the car, back up, put your hands up, that type of thing, until they can then get out and secure them in handcuffs. And to their surprise, that's exactly what they did after apparently, or, allegedly, committing this violent crime, and being armed and and trying to get away that when a deputy comes up behind them, they all over, get out, comply, and it was just a very, very routine and safe, safe stop.”
Chino Montoya Aguilar, 21, and Carlos Samuel Chee, 23, were stopped just west of Green River at about mile marker 83 driving eastbound on Interstate 80, so says sheriff’s office spokesman Jason Mower.
Read the full story HERE.
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.
