It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Friday, May 29th. I’m Mac Watson
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Just weeks after unveiling a 3,200-acre data center expansion around Cheyenne, Microsoft is adding two more parcels totaling 420 acres. Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports that the move comes amid a deepening debate over data centers, growth, and water.
“They're going to add 420 acres to the overall 3,200 acre footprint that they announced in April, so that announcement in April tripled their footprint in Cheyenne. So it's adding on to what was already a pretty massive expansion as far as their data center footprint goes, and so you know, I don't know exactly what they plan to do on those parcels, they were very close-mouthed about that, they wouldn't answer any further questions.”
The two areas are on opposite sides of Cheyenne, but one of them, a 385-acre parcel, is near the 3,200-acre site, which is not far from Laramie County Community College.
Read the full story HERE.
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A 25-person team from the ATF is in Cheyenne to investigate the huge fire that burned a four-story apartment building under construction in minutes Tuesday. Cowboy State Daily’s Greg Johnson reports that the fire chief says it was “just a matchbox with open lumber, ready to go up at any time.”
“The fire chief said it's not a secret why it burned so fast, and it was so hot. It was under construction, so a lot of the finishes hadn't been put on, which a lot of those have fire retardants. What's interesting, that this giant, four-story apartment building, they were just at the phase of construction that you said, where they were going to be putting in, you know, the internal fire suppression system. Obviously, that's not happening now, but they said a lot of things went right for this fire to go as fast and as hot as it went.”
Cheyenne Fire Rescue Chief Andrew Dykshorn told Cowboy State Daily that ATF investigators have been at the scene since Wednesday and “bring the federal assets” to handle a major event like the fire at the Ridge View Apartments and Townhomes in north Cheyenne.
Read the full story HERE.
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Nearly two years after the decomposing body of a Cody man was found in a house after a drug bender with a female friend, the woman turned herself in to authorities this week. Cowboy State Daily’s Kolby Fedore reports that Brook Messick says she wants to take accountability for her actions.
“Brooke Messick remembers a night of drugs and partying during the weekend, right before August 14 in 2024. She was leaving the house when she decided to go back in and check on a friend who was snoring loudly. She tried to wake her friend up; he would not wake up, and she decided to leave without calling the police or saying anything to anyone. Investigators say that loud snoring after you've been using hard drugs like methamphetamine is a telltale sign of a potential overdose.Toxicology reports later revealed that the victim died as a result of bad drugs. The fentanyl and the methamphetamine had methadone in it, and then later they were able to find on the suspect's phone, Google searches, looking up how to inject methadone.”
Messick is being held in the Park County Detention Center on involuntary manslaughter and drug possession charges on a $50,000 cash-only bond.
Read the full story HERE.
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Yellowstone visitors were furious after seeing an illegal drone harassing a grizzly bear and her two cubs. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that the man who shot video of the incident says, “Everybody was madder than hell.”
“Someone was flying a drone near a mother bear and her cubs in mid-May. We don't know who it was, because the pilot was behind a hill at the time, but we do have the drone on video, and whoever was flying it was getting really close to those bears. The response to that video was pretty universal. Everyone was outraged, because it is illegal to fly drones in Yellowstone, and you certainly don't want to disturb the animals.”
If convicted of flying a drone in a national park, the person or persons would be charged with a misdemeanor and face up to six months in jail and $5,000 in fines.
Read the full story HERE.
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I’ll have more news from the Cowboy State Daily newsroom right after this.
Cowboy State Daily News continues now….
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Democrats now have parties in all 23 Wyoming counties with Niobrara and Lincoln counties finally reviving theirs. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that Niobrara County is one of the reddest counties in the nation, but as of May 1st, it contains 35 registered Democrats, out of 1,233 registered voters.
The Wyoming Democratic Party announced it now has county iterations in all 23 Wyoming counties. For the first time in the current leadership's memory, they couldn't even remember a time when they had 23 county parties, and they just secured that this month. And interestingly, there's a few interesting parts of this, is that some prominent Republicans have been calling for more Democratic presence, saying we're weaker when we're a one-party state. Also the Lincoln County Democratic Party Chair, Donald Shelton, was saying, ‘I really want to galvanize workers and the working class and hear their concerns and get some momentum behind that.’”
Rep. Tom Kelly, R-Sheridan, in a Facebook post earlier this month, “All of us are better off with a functioning opposition party.”
Read the full story HERE.
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Uinta County planners voted unanimously Wednesday to recommend permit approvals for a huge 1.25-gigawatt data center. Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports that one person who attended the standing-room-only meeting said, “Officials need to do their research on data centers.”
“In Evanston, the gal I talked to after the meeting, you know, she said she really hasn't made up her mind yet. She just has a lot of questions, you just want to understand things a little bit better. She wants to make sure the benefit is really worth any of the risks involved, and some of her questions I felt really were more about AI in general, and how it's being used in society.”
After weeks of questions and skepticism at public forums and on social media, most of the standing-room-only crowd listened quietly as commissioners voted unanimously to recommend zoning and conditional use permit approvals to Uinta County commissioners for the proposed 1.25 gigawatt, 500-acre, off-grid campus.
Read the full story HERE.
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Dashcam video released Thursday shows the wild end to a 120 mph chase on the I-80 where a woman was struck by her own moving car as she bailed out and ran on foot. Cowboy State Daily’s Kolby Fedore reports that according to officials, even with two flat tires, she was still driving more than 100 mph.
“When deputies with the Albany County Sheriff's Office tried to pull over 45 year old Sarah Grayson, because she was wanted in connection to a vehicle theft. She took off going 120 miles per hour on I 80. Sheriff's deputies deployed stop sticks. The car, even with two pop tires, continued rolling at 100 miles per hour as it slowed. Grayson hopped out of the car, which is how she accidentally ran over herself. Law enforcement did take her to the hospital. She sustained minor injuries. She is wanted on felony warrants out of Sublet County, as well as the recent charges connected to a vehicle burglary and larceny.”
The Albany County Sheriff's Office reports the chase began around 6:25 p.m. on Saturday after a sheriff’s sergeant spotted a stolen vehicle traveling eastbound near mile marker 323 on Interstate 80 in Albany County.
Read the full story HERE.
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Lingle-based state Rep. Scott Smith, a member of the Freedom Caucus, is challenging Wyoming Treasurer Curt Meier for his seat. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that Smith says he wants to increase Wyoming's wealth, while Meier says, “He says he's going to do the same thing I am.”
“Treasurer Kurt Meyer has a challenger, and that's Representative Scott Smith of Lingle, who's a two-term representative, served on the appropriations committee this year. Myers, he's a two-term incumbent himself, and he made headlines starting in October for having record high investment earnings for the state of Wyoming, generally surpassing minerals. I know there were some caveats to that, but it was the first time the analysts had seen it, had seen him pass those mineral pools that they were referencing.”
Three weeks earlier, Virginia-based group Make Liberty Win publicly endorsed Smith for the seat, though he hadn’t declared an interest in it at that time.
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.
