It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Friday, July 3rd. I’m Mac Watson
–
The City of Cheyenne announced Thursday it's suspending taking wastewater associated with data center systems after a contractor for Meta contaminated the city’s wastewater system. Cowboy State Daily’s Kate Meadows reports that the process took months of cleanup.
“The city announced on Thursday that it is suspending taking wastewater associated with data center systems after this bacterium was found back in February. Once the bacterium was found, the company, or the contractor, which is Goat Systems LLC, was effectively banned from using the city's sewage system. It took at least a week to 10 days for the state lab to determine what the actual bacterium was. It was something that the city of Cheyenne had never seen before, and there was speculation that it could be linked back to a data center, and that was confirmed with the announcement Thursday that it is connected to the Meta project called Project Cosmos.”
The announcement was made by the Board of Public Utilities on Thursday in conjunction with naming the Meta company as the source of the initial contamination.
Read the full story HERE.
–
Recreationists celebrated Wednesday evening as the 18,800-acre Belvoir Ranch west of Cheyenne was opened to the public. Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports that the new recreation area provides 13 miles of trails, giving hikers and cyclists a long-promised playground in the city’s backyard.
“This was the late Councilman Scott Roy Bulls Pet Project. Here, he was its champion for 20-plus years, the 23 years it took for this project to become a reality. He was always the one saying, "We have to open this to the public. It's an amazing recreational opportunity, you know, it belongs to the public. We have to open this to the public, and so, you know, after 23 years, finally it's come to fruition.”
The new trailhead and roughly 13 miles of singletrack and shared-use paths give hikers and cyclists a long-promised playground in the city’s backyard, turning what was once mainly an insurance policy for future water and landfill needs into a full-fledged outdoor destination.
Read the full story HERE.
–
The Wyoming Business Council's biggest critic in the Legislature, Rep. Ken Pendergraft, was mostly relieved at a Wednesday audit report showing the Wyoming Business Council isn't hiding any bank accounts. But Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports he says he still has questions.
“That was scuttlebutt during the appropriations committees meeting, that lawmakers were wondering things like, do we even know what all the business council has going on, and so as part of the budget the business council was required to submit to a department of audit probe, and the department concluded, ‘Yeah, there's not these outside accounts, pretty much everything's on the up and up, some negligible and documenting errors.’”
Rep. Ken Pendergraft, from Sheridan, made headlines in 2025 when he announced a goal to eliminate the WBC. That’s a government-funded entity that gives grants and loans to communities and businesses.
Read the full story HERE.
–
Scattered human bones found in Wyoming's rugged Wind River Mountains nearly a year ago have been identified as a Scottish man. Cowboy State Daily’s Kolby Fedore reports that an investigator from Wyoming Game and Fish found the remains in a remote section of the Wind River Mountains near the Sweetwater Gap Guard Station.
“The remains of John Gillies were found near the Sweet Water Muddy Gap Station, and over the course of a 10 month investigation, detectives were able to piece together who he was based on those remains within a 20 mile radius. They were able to find about 85% of the skeleton and some personal belongings that then helped them link him to Gillies and his family in Scotland, and they were able to confirm on June 30 that he was in fact the person who had been found.”
Deputies found disarticulated skeletal remains, a tent, and personal belongings. Authorities have not announced the cause or manner of death.
Read the full story HERE.
–
I’ll have more news from Cowboy State Daily right after this.
Cowboy State Daily News continues now….
–
The Wyoming Board of Equalization is suing Gov. Mark Gordon back after he rejected its claims that the state's property tax caps are unconstitutional. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that the board is asking Laramie County District Court Judge Nathaniel Hibben to declare that a state law capping residential property tax increases as unconstitutional, and to block its enforcement.
“Governor Gordon had sued the Board of Equalization, trying to get the court to make it honor a 4% cap on property tax increases from year to year, and a judge last month said, ‘Yeah, for now we're going to go ahead and make the board do that while we consider whether this law is constitutional.’ The board fired back Monday with its own counter suit, urging the judge to declare the cap unconstitutional and to free the board from having to enforce it.”
This cap violates the Wyoming Constitution’s requirement that property taxes be assessed at their full value and uniformly within property classes, the board alleges in its filing, through Davis and Cannon attorneys Amanda Esch and Cat Young.
Read the full story HERE.
–
Wyoming ranchers say a $99 million John Deere right-to-repair settlement doesn't go far enough. Cowboy State Daily’s Kate Meadows reports they'll get small payouts while John Deere keeps control over repair software and one rancher calls that an unfair settlement.”
“Farmers and ranchers are objecting to a $99 million settlement by John Deere in a right to repair lawsuit. farmers and ranchers say the settlement doesn't even come close to compensating them for losses they endured because of John Deere's proprietary software and diagnostic system. The window to formally object to the settlement opens July 14 and runs through September 14. During that time, any farmer or rancher who is part of this class action lawsuit can formally object to the settlement and seek fairer compensation. After September, then there will be a final hearing on the settlement in October in Rockville, Illinois.”
The class-action lawsuit claimed the tractor giant was monopolizing the repair market. Right-to-repair advocates say farmers should be able to fix tractors themselves or go to an independent repair shop.
Read the full story HERE.
–
An immigration advocacy firm is suing the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office claiming the agency is withholding important evidence in a deportation case. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that the Cheyenne Police Department confirmed Wednesday that the sheriff's office had issued an inaccurate report.
“Kevin Lewis of Cheyenne is working for an immigration firm, and he alleges that the sheriff's office had a flawed report, had to reissue the report, and that the there were there was all sorts of back and forth about the body cam or the camera footage, the sheriff in turn told me on on Thursday, the deputy made some errors and we had him reissue the report, and there's also a specific set of lies, laws about how we can release camera footage.”
Colorado-based immigration firm Lichter and Associates, and its Cheyenne-based investigator Kevin Lewis, filed the lawsuit complaint Tuesday in the Laramie County District Court.
Read the full story HERE.
–
Clyde "The Buffalo" arrived in Cody for the Cody Stampede Rodeo and Parades, and his first stop Thursday was for a drink. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports the tame buffalo went into Buffalo Bill's Bar in the historic Irma Hotel.
“He's been invited to lead off the Cody Stampede parades on July 3rd and 4th, and when he first got the Cody, his first stop was to the Buffalo Historic Buffalo Bill Irma Hotel, where he might be the first Buffalo ever invited inside and served inside. He's made a reputation for just being a very tame, affable bison, and he's going to be the biggest celebrity in town for Cody's Independence Day celebrations.”
Clyde’s owner, Clint Mortenson, tells Cowboy State Daily, “He drinks what I drink. He likes bourbon and margaritas.” No word on whether Clyde or his owner was carded by the servers.
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.
