It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Wednesday, June 17th. I’m Mac Watson
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A federal judge in Montana has thrown out more than 1.5 million acres of Wyoming oil and gas leases sold under the Trump administration. Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports that’s forced the state to return $50 million in payments.
“Why is this case involving one and a half million acres of Wyoming oil and gas leases being heard in Montana and the and the answer, according to the oil and gas industry here in Wyoming, that I talked to, is these environmentalists have discovered a friendly judge in Montana who has ruled against oil and gas now three times on this issue, and so they're venue shopping. So, this group waited like years before bringing this suit, and finally they bring this suit. Well, some of these oil and gas leases have already been developed and are producing oil. They waited that long that some of these are already producing oil. It's enormously destructive to the industry.”
The decision, issued by Chief Judge Brian Morris out of the U.S. District Court of Montana on June 12th, is sparking outrage in the oil and gas community. It’s the third time the Obama appointee has ruled against the U.S. Department of the Interior over the protection of sage-grouse habitat.
Read the full story HERE.
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Gov. Mark Gordon on Tuesday sued his tax board for refusing to recognize a 4% limit on property tax increases. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that the governor says the board exceeded its law-given authority, and the executive branch's job is just to “take care that the laws be faithfully executed.”
“The Wyoming Board of Equalization last week told they issued a public report that was also kind of notice to assessors, like, hey, this 4% cap on property tax increases from year to year looks unconstitutional. It's got these crazy results, and we're not going to certify your tax values if that's in the calculation. and so assessors were scrambling last week, like, how do we deal with this? Whom do we obey, state law or the board that has the duty to certify the taxes? And so Governor Gordon on Tuesday was like, let's just ask a court to settle this, so he filed a motion in court for the court to block the board's non-certification, and for the court to settle the issue. The constitutional dispute.”
Gov. Gordon also asked the court to block the actions of the State Board of Equalization.
Read the full story HERE.
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With its stark white feathers and red eyes, what Audubon Rockies says looks like a rare 1-in-30,000 albino robin has been hanging out in the yard of a Cheyenne-area couple. Cowboy State Daily’s Kolby Fedore reports that the homeowner says “It's following its mother around and begging for food.”
“Heather Wiseman lives outside of Cheyenne. She says by day she's an X-ray technician, and at night she's become something of an amateur bird watcher, so she was really excited when she came home and she found a white robin, which has since been confirmed to be an albino bird. According to Zach Hutchinson, the community science director with Audubon of the Rockies, when albinism shows up in birds like robins, they will be all white or partially white, but the key is that you'll notice they have pink eyes, and in this Robins case, it does have those signs.”
Heather and Eric Wiseman tell Cowboy State Daily that they’ve been keeping tabs on a snow-white fledgling robin with pink-red eyes since it first appeared in their yard June 6th.
Read the full story HERE.
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Wyoming's attorney general on Tuesday said he appointed two prosecutors to investigate whether Secretary of State Chuck Gray violated any laws by releasing sensitive voter data to the federal government. But Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that neither decided to charge Gray with a crime.
“George Powers filed a writ of mandamus, telling the court, hey, I don't think the AG is doing what he's supposed to be doing here. Can you make him, can you get a special prosecutor, High Court, and get this investigation going? Well, the AG fired back Tuesday, saying we already got two special prosecutors, and neither of them wants to charge Chuck Gray. So the high court now can decide whether George Power's writ of mandamus petition is moot, meaning irrelevant, and I suppose George Powers can look at his options.”
In April, George Powers, a semi-retired attorney based in Cheyenne, filed an official complaint with the AG’s office accusing Gray of violating a state election law that makes data like the kind Gray reportedly released – voters’ partial Social Security numbers or driver’s license numbers – confidential.
Read the full story HERE.
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I’ll have more news from Cowboy State Daily right after this.
Cowboy State Daily News continues now….
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Rail Tie, one of Wyoming’s most controversial wind projects, got a new five-year extension from Albany County on Tuesday. Cowboy State Daily’s Kate Meadows reports that the lone commissioner who voted against the extension says the company is “fishing to keep the project alive.”
“The Albany County commissioners voted two to one today to extend a permit for work on the Rail Tie wind project south of Laramie. The project has been controversial, it's on 26,000 acres and would generate 504 megawatts of wind energy. However, it's another big wind project. There are opponents arguing that it would play into this wind wall that we've been hearing about, the Wyoming wind wall, where all these big wind projects are connecting to each other in southeastern Wyoming, and kind of creating this massive wind farm.”
The vote allows developers to continue work on the 504-megawatt facility proposed on roughly 26,000 acres about 15 miles south of Laramie.
Read the full story HERE.
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Hundreds of swallows are swarming and nesting in Angie Pitts' lean-to in Mountain View. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that she didn't mind until she saw the bird droppings covering her vehicles, which she describes as “gross.”
“In two weeks, it looks like all of her vehicles have been painted with white polka dots, and she's not particularly happy about it. Unfortunately, there's not a lot you can do. One thing she has been told to do, but has refused to – which is wise – because it's illegal, is to pull out the .22 and deal with the swallows that way. And while that's a very Wyoming solution to the problem, it is illegal to shoot swallows or do anything to disturb them while they're nesting, both by state and federal law.”
When Pitts pulled out her GMC pickup, she was “disgusted” by the number of bird droppings. Her red truck was so thoroughly covered, from hood to tailgate, that it looked as if she had painted it with white polka dots, but was quickly cleaned up with soap, water, and a pressure washer.
Read the full story HERE.
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After years of watching lawn chairs and coolers appear earlier and earlier along the WYO Rodeo parade route, the Sheridan City Council on Monday banned people claiming spots too early. Cowboy State Daily’s Kate Meadows reports the police chief says this has been a problem for years.
“Police Chief Travis Kultiska has been asking residents for years to please set up just one day before the parade, rather than, you know, three or four days before, and he said rather than people complying, the problem seemed to get worse, where people were showing up earlier to claim their spots, and more people were showing up, so he felt like he had no choice but to approach the city council and ask for a resolution.”
The new rule prohibits anyone from placing personal property on public sidewalks, streets or alleyways along the parade route before 5 p.m. the day before the parade unless they receive authorization from the city.
Read the full story HERE.
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A nonprofit in Mills, Wyoming, is training dogs to interrupt military veterans’ PTSD attacks. Cowboy State Daily’s Dale Killingbeck reports that veteran Carol Salveson says after she lost her Green Beret son to suicide, she poured herself into a new mission.
“She's a former Air Force, a veteran Air Force weather person, but when her son, a Green Beret, committed suicide, she decided she was going to train dogs. She just felt like I'm going to do this, and she started doing it on her own to help veterans. And then she found this organization, Project Kenny, which was started on the West Coast, and now it's centered in Casper, and she is their dog trainer, certified dog trainer.”
Salveson, who has always been a dog person, said her son also loved dogs and even when deployed to Afghanistan would find a feral dog to adopt.
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.
