It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Wednesday, September 9th. I’m Mac Watson.
This newscast is brought to you by Google. This Wednesday, September 9th, Google invites you to a free community meeting at 5pm at the Metropolitan Downtown in Cheyenne. Come learn more about Project Tembo, ask questions, and meet your Wyoming Google team.
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Democratic state Sen. Mike Gierau is calling ads by fellow Dem, Rep. Liz Storer's PAC “distortive” and harmful to what he thought was the higher political ground his party held. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that Gierau compared its tactics to those of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus.
“Senator Mike Gierau called the PAC's ads distortive because one showed a picture of a project that was going on in town under a text deriding the actions of county commissioners for allowing developments, and so he was saying ‘this was not a county project. Why are we linking these two things?’ He said that this kind of quote distortive messaging was similar to the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, which of course made headlines in 2024 when its political arm, its campaign arm, launched flyers that were so aggressive and indeed distortive that they landed in court on a defamation lawsuit that was dismissed more than a year later.”
The core dispute has been about the housing shortage that has been a flashpoint in Teton County for years.
Read the full story HERE.
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A 6-year-old boy who was kidnapped in Michigan turned up safe in Wyoming on Monday, while his mom — who didn’t have legal custody of him — was arrested in Evanston. Cowboy State Daily’s Kolby Fedore reports the boy’s father praised the “sharpness of a Wyoming officer” for recovering his son.
“A Michigan woman named Marisa Kalia was arrested on Monday afternoon. She is being connected to a missing six-year-old boy from Michigan, who is now safely being reunited with his family. On Tuesday afternoon, he was with the Department of Family Services. A prosecutor for Uinta County said that charges have been filed against Marissa Kalia, although those charges are not yet publicly available until Wednesday. The father, Justin Malberg, made a public post thanking everyone who helped locate his son, and he had said on Monday night, that he was boarding a plane to go and be reunited with Liam.”
Liam Malburg has since been safely returned to his father, Uinta County Attorney Loretta Kallas confirmed Tuesday. Meanwhile, 30-year-old Marisa Calliea remains in the Uinta County Detention Center after being booked on Monday.
Read the full story HERE.
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A Gillette carpenter and musician who lost most of his right hand when a firework exploded in it outside a bar July 4 now also faces the potential of having to do his rehab from prison. Cowboy State Daily’s Greg Johnson reports Matthew Lynch has now been charged with arson and is due in court next week.
“The Gillette police in their affidavit outlining why they called for the charges explained that, yes he was injured. However, the explosion also caused some damage to the business, to the bar he was standing outside, and some minor injuries to some people around him within a radius around him. They also got some bruises, some contusions. arson is the closest thing to charge with.”
Arson is a felony that could get Lynch up to five years in prison, a fine of up to $5,000, or both if convicted.
Read the full story HERE.
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Searchers continue to scour Wyoming’s Wind River Mountains for Jonathan Bailey and his yellow Lab Wrigley, missing since Saturday when they didn’t come back from a hike. Cowboy State Daily’s Jen Kocher reports that a former Sublette County sheriff says, “Anyone can get turned around out there.”
“Jonathan Bailey was camping with family in the Wind River Range, and he had separated briefly and was going to meet them at a campsite. They last saw him on Friday about 1:30 p.m. And when he failed to make it to the campsite that evening, they all hiked out and went and reported him missing to the sheriff on Saturday. His sister says he is an avid outdoors guy, a bow hunter who knows his way around the outdoors. He does have a sleeping bag with him, and they're just Hopeful he's just lost and just totally got turned around and will be found.”
For the past four days, the Sublette County Tip Top Search and Rescue team has combed the area on foot and by air looking for Jonathan Bailey and his yellow Labrador retriever, Wrigley, said Shannon Gehlhausen, office manager for the Sublette County Sheriff’s Office.
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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Lawmakers are saying Rocky Mountain Power's inability to meet more demand is costing Wyoming large-scale industry. Cowboy State Daily’s Kate Meadows reports that one official says Sweetwater County is missing out on opportunities.
“Rocky Mountain Power came under fire at a recent Joint Minerals Committee meeting for not being able to provide the power needed for things like data centers and the power that is being more and more required by even other industries like mining and even local governments. state senator Stacy Jones of Rock Springs said we don't have any extra power in Sweetwater County at all to have any sort of new industry coming in. Rocky Mountain Power Company spokesperson Jonah Whiteside said in a statement that their role is not to drive economic development, but to support it by providing reliable electric service in a way that balances new growth opportunities with the obligation to existing customers.”
The issue revolves around data centers, trona and soda ash producers, and other large industrial users that need far more electricity than Rocky Mountain Power's existing system can readily provide.
Read the full story HERE.
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Within an hour of identifying a vehicle believed to be connected to the murder of a 28-year-old woman in Sioux City, Iowa, a man was arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder. Cowboy State Daily’s Greg Johnson reports that license plate reader technology last week led the Wyoming Highway Patrol to arrest 46-year-old Irosy Iotis.
“In this case, Sioux City, Iowa's police chief said that a murder suspect or a killing that happened in a park There was apprehended on I 80 near Cheyenne only about an hour after they put after they put it into the license plate reader system, saying, "Hey, this is this is the car we're looking for. They found the car. They found him. Wyoming Highway Patrol picked him up after the license plate reader found his car driving somewhere in western Nebraska.”
Authorities say coordination with law enforcement agencies in multiple states, along with the FBI, led to Iotis’ vehicle being stopped without incident. It was after the stop that the Sioux City Police Department quickly secured an arrest warrant for Iotis, who was driving the vehicle.
Read the full story HERE.
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A Casper couple was killed in a side-by-side crash on Muddy Mountain over the Labor Day Weekend, Natrona County authorities confirmed Tuesday. Cowboy State Daily’s Kolby Fedore reports their daughter was injured trying to reach them and had to be airlifted off the mountain.
“According to new information from the Natrona County Sheriff's Office on Tuesday morning, 49-year-old Sarah Turman and 50-year-old James Turman were killed on the Sunday crash on the front side of Muddy Mountain. the sheriff's office said that there were four people in a side-by-side, and two people, including 27-year-old Cheyenne, the deceased's daughter, got out of the side-by-side while the couple remained inside and tried to turn it around when it rolled over a hill, killing both of them. The 27-year-old daughter was Life Flighted for her injuries.”
Four people were aboard when the side-by-side was traveling uphill, and two passengers got out, investigators preliminarily determined. Sara and James remained aboard and attempted to turn the machine around when it rolled down the hillside.
Read the full story HERE.
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Colorado wildlife officials have killed nearly 300 black bears this year, almost four times as many as a year ago. Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports one official says, “I think what people aren’t realizing is that trash is the primary reason for bears being in towns.”
“I believe 294 as of the end of August. That's the number of black bears that the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Department has killed because of human bear conflicts between from the beginning of the year through till the end of August. And of course, there could be more because bears are not done yet. They probably won't start going to sleep until October, or who knows? As warm, warm as the weather has been
The drought and lack of natural food sources have much to do with why bears are getting into trouble and sometimes getting killed this year, he said, adding that people being careless with garbage and other possible food sources also is to blame.”
Bryan Peterson, the director of Bear Smart Durango, tells Cowboy State Daily people are careless with garbage. Bears show up, bears get into trouble, and sometimes they end up having to be euthanized because of that.
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.
