It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Friday, August 7th. I’m Mac Watson.
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Although campaigning against data centers, Chuck Gray voted yes on a data center generation facility easement in June. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that Gray indicated Thursday that his aye-vote was Gov. Mark Gordon's fault.
“What the governor actually said is he's sounding like a jackass in a tin barn, a rather visceral quote referring to Gray, indicating that Gray's ‘aye' vote on granting an access easement to a data center feeding facility was essentially the governor's fault. He's saying that Gordon has a way of hiding the nature of these votes, and board members aren't properly apprised. And you know, there wasn't a clear understanding of this data center vote in June. The governor responded, noting that the State Board of Land Commissioners has access to the documents at least a week before the meeting, and they also get the chance to confer with their administrative office before the meeting. He said that Gray appeared distracted by his phone in Thursday's meeting, falls short of the expectation of Wyoming elected officials.”
In his campaign against eight other Republicans for the GOP nomination to U.S. House, Gray is the only candidate voicing outright opposition to data centers. Many of his opponents have said it’s the state and local governments’ role, not the role of Congress, to dictate policies on data centers.
Read the full story HERE.
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During a vote at the State Board of Land Commissioners to allow Tri-State Generation access to a power substation, Secretary of State Chuck Gray announced he would block it. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports Gray changed his mind after Curt Meier brought up that Tri-State supplies “power to practically every irrigator and farmer in the state.”
“During the meeting, people indicated they didn't know at that point it was an existing substation. Secretary Chuck Gray worried aloud. You know he asked for information like, does this access road have anything to do with data centers, wind projects, solar projects? And during this discussion, Treasurer Curt Meier said, you know, something to the effect of, ‘We're going to block access roads for a power generator now that serves Wyoming irrigators, are we just doing a futile attempt to stop capitalism?’ And Secretary Gray came back and voted for the access road. He said that's because of the assurances he received that it wasn't for data centers or wind or solar projects.”
Tri-State is a wholesale power supplier serving eight electric cooperatives in Wyoming including High Plains Power, Carbon Power and Light and Big Horn Rural Electric Company. Tri-State applied for a five-year, temporary-use permit for a 288-foot access road in remote Natrona County for $250 a year.
Read the full story HERE.
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The Wallop family's legacy Quarter Circle Lazy B Ranch in Sheridan County is for sale for the first time in 135 years, listing for $24.5 million. Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports that the ranch hosted Queen Elizabeth II, supplied cavalry horses to Britain, and helped build Wyoming's polo scene.
“This is kind of a continued trend of, you know, we've seen this wave of legacy ranches that have been in families for multiple generations-three, four, sometimes five generations-coming to market. This is just a continued progression of that trend where people are retiring out of agriculture, and the next generation coming up doesn't want to give that a whirl. It's not a very easy business to get started in. It's pretty expensive, and families are seeing that. Hey, you know, we can cash this out.These guys have been the stewards of this ranch for four generations. It is a ranch with a lot of history. The original guy who came over from England and homesteaded this in, like, 1889.”
The historic ranch is tucked just under the Bighorn Mountains at the mouth of Little Goose Canyon. Its sale will mark the end of an era for one of Wyoming’s best-known legacy ranches.
Read the full story HERE.
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Wyoming State Engineer Brandon Gebhart told state legislators Thursday that if the seven Colorado River Basin states can’t come to terms over a dwindling water supply, lawsuits or federal intervention could result. Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports that Gebhart is hoping the states can solve the issues, not Congress.
“He appeared before the legislature's Select Water Committee to kind of give them an update on what's going on, and the big question one of the members of the committee posed to him was, you know, he said, 'I keep hearing about there's going to be lawsuits over this.' There's going to be lawsuits, and Gebhart's answer was, if we could just keep talking, keep negotiations going between all seven states, he's really hopeful that we can still avoid that. Gebhart is worried that it's either going to end in lawsuits between the states or Congress is going to step in, and he doesn't want either one of those things to happen. ”
The U.S. Department of the Interior, through the Bureau of Reclamation, recently released its final Environmental Impact Statement for Colorado River operations, including plans for operations from 2027 to 2036. That proposal doesn’t include any immediate cuts for the Upper Basin states: Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and New Mexico.
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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President Donald Trump endorsed governor candidate Megan Degenfelder for the fourth time Thursday in a rally held by phone. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that Trump touted Degenfelder as a staunch conservative and said voters would look back and say, “President Trump gave me a good idea.”
“This is the fourth, at least, at least the fourth time the president has endorsed Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder in her run for governor. She's had the original Trump endorsement since January, but on Thursday, Trump also held a tele-rally where he really touted her as a staunch conservative and said that she was going to cut property taxes and that she was going to protect children and foster a love for America in schools, among other goals.”
The rally kicked off with the Lee Greenwood song “Proud to Be An American” and ended with the moderator asking attendees to push one to signify if they’re voting for Degenfelder, who is the state Superintendent of Public Instruction, or push two if they’re not voting for her.
Read the full story HERE.
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If stern warnings and rules won’t keep kids from bringing their cellphones and devices to school, maybe cash fines will get their attention. Cowboy State Daily’s Kate Meadows reports that’s the idea behind a new Lincoln County rule that will fine students $25 if they keep bringing them to school.
“Kemmerer Junior-Senior High School Principal Shawn Roberts said that he hopes that, you know, they won't get to that point, that students will not commit the offense three times. Reaction on social media was mixed. Some parents are saying they're in full support of this policy because students really need to be learning and focused at school, and cell phones are a distraction. Other parents said, you know, it's a matter of personal property, and their phones belong to them, and they want to be able to reach their kids anytime during the school day, and what happens if there's some emergency like a school shooting or something? How do they get a hold of their kids?”
School districts across the state are enacting smart-device policies after the Wyoming Legislature passed a bill earlier this year requiring the adoption of formal policies to address the possession and use of smart devices by students while on school grounds.
However, district board chair Kristi Dearden said she is not aware of any other school districts whose policies include a fee for repeat offenders.
Read the full story HERE.
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Wyoming is among 27 states that were hit by a recent salmonella outbreak traced to jalapeños served at chain Mexican restaurants. Cowboy State Daily’s Kolby Fedore reports one Park County health officer says, “it’s just the cost of doing business” in today’s modern food system.
“This outbreak is different from the cyclospora outbreak that Cowboy State Daily reported on over three weeks ago in the cyclospora outbreak that was linked to contaminated lettuce that was distributed to several fast food chains. Park County Health official Dr. Aaron Billen says that this is the cost of doing business in today's modern world. Because of large-scale food systems, one contamination can now spread so quickly to different parts of the country.”
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Wednesday that 345 people have been sickened by the outbreak strain of Salmonella Javiana. Thirty-six have been hospitalized, but no deaths have been reported.
Read the full story HERE.
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The Montana Department of Livestock said it could take action against Meadow Gold Dairy Products of Billings after "black mold" in cartons and prematurely spoiled milk were reported. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that Meadow Gold also stocks shelves in northwest Wyoming.
“The Montana Department of Livestock is pretty rigorously investigating this. They've actually pursued a suspension of Meadow Gold's license in Billings, and we're not sure how the company is going to respond to that. None of this has been reported in Wyoming yet, although we have confirmation that someone in Cody purchased a milk carton where the mold developed in the same time frame is the ones they're reporting in Montana. If anyone has any of these cartons, or they had a carton that was forming black mold, you need to report it to the Wyoming Department of Agriculture so they can respond, then investigate, and take necessary actions if needed.”
According to reports, Meadow Gold received the notice on Tuesday and had 48 hours to respond.
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.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.
