It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Thursday, May 21st. I’m Mac Watson.
Releases of up to 1 million acre-feet of water downriver from Flaming Gorge are gutting the gorge’s world-famous kokanee fishery and has marinas racing to survive. Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports that one marina owner says the impact is “ like a holocaust for nature.”
“Flaming Gorge has a bathtub ring around it. Those rocks that have been in that water, they're not the beautiful red rocks, they're covered with, they're kind of bleached out and white and covered with muck. How much water did Lake Powell get out of that? Two inches. So we took a seven-foot hit in Flaming Gorge. Lake Powell got a two two inch bump. This is the sacrifice Wyoming made to save Lake Powell and to keep Glen Cove Dam hydropower working. If they take another million acre feet, that lake level is going to fall below his boat ramp.
Federal officials announced earlier this year that they will release up to 1 million acre-feet of water from Flaming Gorge to boost critically low water levels down the Colorado River on Lake Powell and protect hydropower operations at Glen Canyon Dam in northern Arizona.
Read the full story HERE.
–
Emotions were mixed for the 450-Megwatt Chugwater Energy Project before getting its final unanimous approval from Platte County on Wednesday. Cowboy State Daily’s Kate Meadows reports that one landowner says “If people really didn’t want wind turbines they should have bought” the land.
“A lot of landowners were in support of it, as they were last week at the public hearing. Heard from some others, some new landowners, some different landowners this time around, and again, a lot of support for the project. There was, of course, pushback from people who cited health concerns and property rights issues. One guy said, ‘The property rights debate goes as far as your neighbor's chin, so you know that kind of saying that property rights only go so far when it, when it is your property.’”
The project approval came in three votes, with commissioners unanimously approving the permits necessary for the wind portion expected to generate 300 megawatts of energy, the solar part of the plan expected to generate 150 megawatts of energy and a 150-megawatt battery energy storage system.
Read the full story HERE.
–
Another calf was killed near Kinnear overnight Tuesday as a bitter feud over roaming Great Pyrenees dogs escalates. Cowboy State Daily’s Kolby Fedore reports that rancher Chris Eberline found one of her bottle-fed calves found partially eaten.
“Eberleen said she went out to feed the bum calves that she needed to bottle feed. When she saw that there was a dead calf laying by its mother, the top half had been eaten. She said it was still fresh. Eberlyn says she has about seven cameras around the property, but they're very expensive. She's paid about $150 per camera, along with a monthly subscription fee, but so far, she’s been unable to catch any of these attacks on camera, so it's been incredibly frustrating.”
By Wednesday afternoon, deputies with the Fremont County Sheriff's Office and an officer with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department were back on the property performing a necropsy on the animal.
Read the full story HERE.
–
State politicos tell Cowboy State Daily that the Trump-driven ousting of Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie sends a message to Wyoming and the nation. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that one former legislator says “Don’t step out of line, if you do, you’ll get the boot.”
“Former Senator Anthony Bouchard, he was, during his time in the state senate, very much a conservative firebrand. And so he was kind of spicy on Wednesday talking about Massey, who Bouchard is a fan of, like this is a sign that Trump is holding the strings, was Bouchard's take on it, and he talked about it being kind of this control and capture. On the other side, I talked to Bob Ferguson, who's the vice chair of the Wyoming Republican Party, and he said, 'No, it's deeper than just crossing Trump or crossing Trump a couple times. This guy has been an obstacle to a lot of generally Republican-backed measures.’”
Massie, a Libertarian-leaning Republican who urged the release of the Epstein files, lost his primary election challenge Tuesday night to Navy SEAL veteran Ed Gallrein. At more than $32 million in advertising spending, it was the most expensive U.S. Congressional race in the nation’s history. And Trump heckled Massie throughout.
Read the full story HERE.
–
I’ll be back with more news from Cowboy State Daily right after this.
Cowboy State Daily news continues now…
–
Hawk Springs Reservoir in Goshen County is a popular fishing and boating spot for locals and other Wyomingites. But Outdoors Reporter Mark Heinz reports that it’s already incredibly low, and might be dried up by the end of summer.
“It gets its inflows from Horse Creek have already been low this spring, and it looks like the situation is going to get worse because there's 80 plus farms downstream from it that have water irrigation rights to that water, and they're going to need their water this summer, and so the people are already saying the reservoir is going to be really low this year. It might even be all but dried up, just be because of, you know, that combination of not much water coming in, b, all the irrigation rights have to come out.”
Roughly an hour and a half away from Guernsey State Park, the reservoir is part of the Hawk Springs Recreation Area. It’s one of Wyoming’s smaller state parks and includes 24 primitive campsites.
Read the full story HERE.
–
A weekend fire that gutted Cheyenne’s Historic Pumphouse may not be the end for the run-down 134-year-old building that was recently set for demolition. Cowboy State Daily’s Greg Johnson reports that Mayor Patrick Collins says, “We’ve really tried hard not to be the council to tear it down.”
“The fire chief says they're really, they're not going to say anything about it until they're, they're done with that, because they don't want any speculation as to how it started, where it started, and they still haven't had anybody set foot in it, because they're not sure it's safe. They've had drones in there, but just to really assess how damaged this stone building is, they haven't been able to do that. However, the mayor said that the city's architect has said that from what he's been able to see, what they've been able to see there, they have optimism that the stone is still sound. It really wasn't damaged too badly in the fire, and that you know the roof was going to be replaced anyway. It's not a death sentence for the pump.”
One of the oldest buildings in Cheyenne, the pumphouse has been vacant for decades and a magnet for vandals and vagrants.
Read the full story HERE.
–
Rumors of a data center development in Lincoln County has provoked fear as locals get more vocal against them. Cowboy State Daily’s Kate Meadows reports that a county commissioner says people are jumping the gun, because there are now no data center projects on the table.
“Some of this panic is being spurred by a huge data center project in Utah called the Stratos Project, that's a data center and power development backed by investor Kevin O'Leary in Box Elder County, Utah, so a lot of people in Lincoln County, which is a neighbor to Utah, are, you know, just nervous and wanting, you know, they don't want to see what's happening in Utah come to their county, and their county is kind of, you know, nearby.”
Many are wary because of an escalating debate and pushback over data centers in and around Cheyenne, along with a hugely controversial project in nearby Utah.
Read the full story HERE.
–
A young, scrawny, and seemingly confused black bear has been hanging around a rural Weston County neighborhood outside of Upton. Outdoors Reporter Mark Heinz reports that one resident says he had to shoo it away from garbage cans.
“So far people told me that he's behaving himself, they're assuming it's a he, probably a younger bear, maybe one or two years old, maybe just separated from its mother, and it's kind of trying to find its way in the world, and kind of showed up in this rural neighborhood outside of Upton. Folks are hoping that it's starting to hunt turkeys and maybe prairie dogs there, maybe it's looking to get some, you know, natural food sources, which is what we want bears to do, because once they start getting into garbage and start getting getting into trouble with people, it usually ends badly for the bear in those cases.”
Resident Katina Spiker tells Cowboy State Daily that the neighborhood, about 6 miles outside of Upton is an area frequented by mountain lions and bobcats, and coyotes, but is the first bear in recent memory.
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.
Thank you,
Mac
Mac Watson
Broadcast Media Director
News Anchor
602-920-8888
- Confidence isn’t, “I hope they like me.”
- Confidence is, “I'll be fine, even if they don’t."
From: Jimmy Orr <Jimmy@CowboyStateDaily.com>
Date: Wednesday, May 20, 2026 at 7:01 PM
To: Mac Watson <Mac@CowboyStateDaily.com>; Greg Johnson <Greg@CowboyStateDaily.com>; jeffwelsch406@gmail.com <jeffwelsch406@gmail.com>; Reece Cowan <Reece@CowboyStateDaily.com>
Subject: Re: Scripts for 5-21
Thanks Mac. Let’s go with these bullets:
Flaming Gorge Loses More Water
Another Calf Dead In Ranch Dog Feud
Chugwater Wind, Solar Project Approved
From: Mac Watson <Mac@CowboyStateDaily.com>
Date: Wednesday, May 20, 2026 at 6:56 PM
To: Jimmy Orr <Jimmy@CowboyStateDaily.com>; Greg Johnson <Greg@CowboyStateDaily.com>; jeffwelsch406@gmail.com <jeffwelsch406@gmail.com>; Reece Cowan <Reece@CowboyStateDaily.com>
Subject: Scripts for 5-21
- Wyo Ranch Dog Feud Escalates
- Flaming Gorge Marinas Race To Survive
- Former State Senator Warns GOP Candidates
It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Thursday, May 21st. I’m Mac Watson.
–
Releases of up to 1 million acre-feet of water downriver from Flaming Gorge are gutting the gorge’s world-famous kokanee fishery and has marinas racing to survive. Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports that one marina owner says the impact is “ like a holocaust for nature.”
“Flaming Gorge has a bathtub ring around it. Those rocks that have been in that water, they're not the beautiful red rocks, they're covered with, they're kind of bleached out and white and covered with muck. How much water did Lake Powell get out of that? Two inches. So we took a seven-foot hit in Flaming Gorge. Lake Powell got a two two inch bump. This is the sacrifice Wyoming made to save Lake Powell and to keep Glen Cove Dam hydropower working. If they take another million acre feet, that lake level is going to fall below his boat ramp.
Federal officials announced earlier this year that they will release up to 1 million acre-feet of water from Flaming Gorge to boost critically low water levels down the Colorado River on Lake Powell and protect hydropower operations at Glen Canyon Dam in northern Arizona.
Read the full story HERE.
–
Emotions were mixed for the 450-MW Chugwater Energy Project before getting its final unanimous approval from Platte County on Wednesday. Cowboy State Daily’s Kate Meadows reports that one landowner says “If people really didn’t want wind turbines they should have bought” the land.
“A lot of landowners were in support of it, as they were last week at the public hearing. Heard from some others, some new landowners, some different landowners this time around, and again, a lot of support for the project. There was, of course, pushback from people who cited health concerns and property rights issues. One guy said, ‘The property rights debate goes as far as your neighbor's chin, so you know that kind of saying that property rights only go so far when it, when it is your property.’”
The project approval came in three votes, with commissioners unanimously approving the permits necessary for the wind portion expected to generate 300 megawatts of energy, the solar part of the plan expected to generate 150 megawatts of energy and a 150-megawatt battery energy storage system.
Read the full story HERE.
–
Another calf was killed near Kinnear overnight Tuesday as a bitter feud over roaming Great Pyrenees dogs escalates. Cowboy State Daily’s Kolby Fedore reports that rancher Chris Eberline found one of her bottle-fed calves found partially eaten.
“Eberleen said she went out to feed the bum calves that she needed to bottle feed. When she saw that there was a dead calf laying by its mother, the top half had been eaten. She said it was still fresh. Eberlyn says she has about seven cameras around the property, but they're very expensive. She's paid about $150 per camera, along with a monthly subscription fee, but so far she. Been unable to catch any of these attacks on camera, so it's been incredibly frustrating.”
By Wednesday afternoon, deputies with the Fremont County Sheriff's Office and an officer with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department were back on the property performing a necropsy on the animal.
Read the full story HERE.
–
State politicos tell Cowboy State Daily that the Trump-driven ousting of Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie sends a message to Wyoming and the nation. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that one former legislator says “Don’t step out of line, if you do, you’ll get the boot.”
“Former Senator Anthony Bouchard, he was, during his time in the state senate, very much a conservative firebrand. And so he was kind of spicy on Wednesday talking about Massey, who Bouchard is a fan of, like this is a sign that Trump is holding the strings, was Bouchard's take on it, and he talked about it being kind of this control and capture. On the other side, I talked to Bob Ferguson, who's the vice chair of the Wyoming Republican Party, and he said, 'No, it's deeper than just crossing Trump or crossing Trump a couple times. This guy has been an obstacle to a lot of generally Republican-backed measures.’”
Massie, a Libertarian-leaning Republican who urged the release of the Epstein files, lost his primary election challenge Tuesday night to Navy SEAL veteran Ed Gallrein. At more than $32 million in advertising spending, it was the most expensive U.S. Congressional race in the nation’s history. And Trump heckled Massie throughout.
Read the full story HERE.
–
I’ll be back with more news from Cowboy State Daily right after this.
Cowboy State Daily news continues now…
–
Hawk Springs Reservoir in Goshen County is a popular fishing and boating spot for locals and other Wyomingites. But Outdoors Reporter Mark Heinz reports that it’s already incredibly low, and might be dried up by the end of summer.
“It gets its inflows from Horse Creek have already been low this spring, and it looks like the situation is going to get worse because there's 80 plus farms downstream from it that have water irrigation rights to that water, and they're going to need their water this summer, and so the people are already saying the reservoir is going to be really low this year. It might even be all but dried up, just be because of, you know, that combination of not much water coming in, b, all the irrigation rights have to come out.”
Roughly an hour and a half away from Guernsey State Park, the reservoir is part of the Hawk Springs Recreation Area. It’s one of Wyoming’s smaller state parks and includes 24 primitive campsites.
Read the full story HERE.
–
A weekend fire that gutted Cheyenne’s Historic Pumphouse may not be the end for the run-down 134-year-old building that was recently set for demolition. Cowboy State Daily’s Greg Johnson reports that Mayor Patrick Collins says, “We’ve really tried hard not to be the council to tear it down.”
“The fire chief says they're really, they're not going to say anything about it until they're, they're done with that, because they don't want any speculation as to how it started, where it started, and they still haven't had anybody set foot in it, because they're not sure it's safe. They've had drones in there, but just to really assess how damaged this stone building is, they haven't been able to do that. However, the mayor said that the city's architect has said that from what he's been able to see, what they've been able to see there, they have optimism that the stone is still sound. It really wasn't damaged too badly in the fire, and that you know the roof was going to be replaced anyway. It's not a death sentence for the pump.”
One of the oldest buildings in Cheyenne, the pumphouse has been vacant for decades and a magnet for vandals and vagrants.
Read the full story HERE.
–
Rumors of a data center development in Lincoln County has provoked fear as locals get more vocal against them. Cowboy State Daily’s Kate Meadows reports that a county commissioner says people are jumping the gun, because there are now no data center projects on the table.
“Some of this panic is being spurred by a huge data center project in Utah called the Stratos Project, that's a data center and power development backed by investor Kevin O'Leary in Box Elder County, Utah, so a lot of people in Lincoln County, which is a neighbor to Utah, are, you know, just nervous and wanting, you know, they don't want to see what's happening in Utah come to their county, and their county is kind of, you know, nearby.”
Many are wary because of an escalating debate and pushback over data centers in and around Cheyenne, along with a hugely controversial project in nearby Utah.
Read the full story HERE.
–
A young, scrawny, and seemingly confused black bear has been hanging around a rural Weston County neighborhood outside of Upton. Outdoors Reporter Mark Heinz reports that one resident says he had to shoo it away from garbage cans.
“So far people told me that he's behaving himself, they're assuming it's a he, probably a younger bear, maybe one or two years old, maybe just separated from its mother, and it's kind of trying to find its way in the world, and kind of showed up in this rural neighborhood outside of Upton. Folks are hoping that it's starting to hunt turkeys and maybe prairie dogs there, maybe it's looking to get some, you know, natural food sources, which is what we want bears to do, because once they start getting into garbage and start getting getting into trouble with people, it usually ends badly for the bear in those cases.”
Resident Katina Spiker tells Cowboy State Daily that the neighborhood, about 6 miles outside of Upton is an area frequented by mountain lions and bobcats, and coyotes, but is the first bear in recent memory.
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.
