It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Friday, May 1st. I’m Mac Watson.
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The suspect in a Thursday morning shooting in a central Cheyenne neighborhood was in custody by early afternoon, so say detectives. Cowboy State Daily’s Kolby Fedore reports that police say Adrian Maggos also was once accused of attacking a man with brass knuckles.
“The Cheyenne Police Department is reporting that, apparently, Maggos and this other person had a verbal argument that escalated and ended up with Magnus allegedly shooting him. We don't know where he was shot or his condition, although the injuries that he suffered were life threatening. And in a later update, we learned that he had reached out to the police in some way to inform them he wanted to turn himself in. He returned to the spot where the shooting happened, and that's where police and the US Marshal agent met him and took him into custody.”
Cheyenne PD tells Cowboy State Daily that the 27-year old Maggos faces an attempted first-degree murder charge.
Read the full story HERE.
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A judge on Thursday dismissed the defamation case of two legislators against the campaign arm of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that in the judges ruling, he said “You can say pretty ludicrous stuff” in politics.
“Judge Cassie on Thursday dismissed a defamation suit to Rock Springs lawmakers had filed against the WY Freedom Pack, which is the campaign arm of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus. Now the lawmakers were, you know, bothered by mailers sent out targeting them in the 2024 election, saying things like representative Wiley voted against keeping Trump on the ballot. There was no vote to keep Trump off the ballot at any point in the Wyoming Legislature. So the judge on Thursday, Judge Cassidy, he said, ‘Yeah, some people say ludicrous things in politics, but the First Amendment is so protective you can say ludicrous things.’”
Reacting to the ruling, Rep. John Bear of Gillette, tells Cowboy State Daily on Thursday, "I’m super excited that the First Amendment still exists in Wyoming."
Read the full story HERE.
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A Kemmerer couple faces multiple child endangerment charges, accused of having their four kids living in a home “covered in filth.” Cowboy State Daily’s Greg Johnson reports that authorities described the inside of the trailer as “disgusting.”
“When they opened the door to go in, he said it was just overwhelming – just hit him and he had trouble opening the door. He said there was just garbage and food and rotting food all over the place. Described all kinds of surfaces, you know, couches, chairs, tables, everything was covered with stuff.”
Samanta Dunn-Warren and Jeremyha Warren had their first court appearances on Wednesday and both have been charged with four counts of endangering a child, which is a misdemeanor. If convicted, they could face up to four years in prison, fines of up to $4,000, or both.
Read the full story HERE.
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Some are concerned that gunfire from Wyoming’s new $19.5 million shooting complex near Cody will drive eagles away from prime hunting and nesting grounds. Outdoors Reporter Mark Heinz reports that experts are saying that the presence of humans in their hunting territory will drive them away, not the gunshots.
“The consensus with the biologists I spoke with is that's probably going to go away, because the Eagles, they're just not going to tolerate that much human presence and that much noise. The rabbit population is down, and for Golden Eagles, that's one of their main prey sources. And so it's nobody's saying that this is gonna, like cause mass Eagle death, or that they shouldn't build the complex, and just saying it's something we should be mindful of.”
Raptor researcher Chuck Preston tells Cowboy State Daily that he doesn’t oppose the shooting complex being built, but it should be kept in mind that the project will come at a cost to raptors.
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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A Wednesday U.S. Supreme Court ruling declaring Louisiana’s race-based congressional district unconstitutional could shake up Wyoming. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that Fremont County has a race-based legislative district and a race-based commission district.
“This is all ringing bells in my head, because back in 2021 I called I covered our legislative redistricting. I remember Senator Cale Case emphasizing, at the time, the Wind River Reservation district needs to have a majority of Native American voters in it. We really need to work for this. Well, he was trying to honor the case law that was in place at the time, and so he told me that Thursday. He was like, ‘Yep, we were doing our best to honor that case law, and things might look a little different in five years when we redistrict again.’”
Ruling 6-3, the high court didn’t overturn the Voting Rights Act’s Section 2 or the framework earlier decisions have given to it, but the majority “updated” that framework in a way that makes it harder for a state to justify racial discrimination when drawing legislative districts.
Read the full story HERE.
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High fertilizer costs and severe drought is leaving Wyoming’s farmers and ranchers making tough choices. Cowboy State Daily’s Kate Meadows reports that one farmer says “It’s kind of the perfect storm for agriculture.
“Fertilizer costs have skyrocketed over the past couple of months because of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, and that, coupled with this severe drought that Wyoming is creating what one farmer called a perfect storm for Wyoming farmers and ranchers. So these farmers and ranchers are having to think about how to do things differently in this particularly tough year.”
A recent survey by the American Farm Bureau Federation shows that 70% of respondents reported they can't afford all the fertilizer they need for this year’s operations.
Read the full story HERE.
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When a 15-month-old Glenrock boy started having seizures and was choking, the family called for help. Cowboy State Daily’s Dale Killingbeck reports they were lucky local cop and firefighter Shane Pierce lives next door.
“When he gets to the other house, his neighbors are coming out, one of the neighbors is coming out to get him, and so he goes into the house, and he finds that there's this 15 month old boy that has gone into a seizure, isn't breathing. He turns him upside down, gives him some taps on the back, and this boy vomits things that were stopping him from breathing, and he starts to breathe again. Because of what the grandmother and the officer did, there was no brain damage. There was no organ damage or loss involved. And the officer was honored at the Glen Rock City Council meeting this week for what he did.”
Glenrock Police Officer Shane Pierce said he serves as the school resource officer as well as a patrolman on the day shift.
Read the full story HERE.
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Everyone hated Pepper McKay, so when he turned up dead, Sheriff Walt Longmire had a lot of suspects to rule out in his latest “Longmire” mystery, “The Brothers McKay.” Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports that Wyoming author Craig Johnson’s 22nd “Longmire” novel is dives into unresolved questions about Dostoevsky’s 993-page mystery, which Johnson first read when he was just 13 or so years old.
“It's a mystery novel. It's a little like those Russian Matryoshka Dolls, the nesting dolls, you know, you open one and oh, there's another one,
and there's another and another. And so the mysteries are going to be kind of like that, because those Dostoevsky novels were also like that.”
The book is set to be released on May 26th.
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.
