It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Thursday, October 8th. I’m Mac Watson.
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Many Wyoming bar owners are shutting down their shake-a-days and football pools because of a new law tightening gambling restrictions. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports one bar owner said lawmakers have “tilted the favor completely to casinos,” and leave little bars struggling to compete.
“So gambling has been illegal to certain degrees in Wyoming for years, several years. We started the legislature started to legalize certain forms starting like five six years ago, specific forms, and we have quite a few now that are legal. But the general rule is, if it's not specifically called out as legal, it's illegal. But now, as prosecutors beg for clarity as they try to enforce gambling crimes, the laws are getting sharper and clearer, which tends to put more of an alarm on people.”
Wyoming Gaming Commission Director Nick Larramendy told Cowboy State Daily shake-a-days were already illegal “for years” even before the passage of SF 44.
But the bill clarified the ban, he noted.
Read the full story HERE.
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A bull moose that got stuck in a skate park in Red Lodge, Montana, prompted an hourslong, multi-agency effort to get it out Wednesday that ended when the tranquilized animal was pulled out. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that one resident said, “It’s been an exciting day in Red Lodge.”
“There was a multi-agency effort to try to figure out how to get it out. So Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks, the Red Lodge Police Department, and the Carbon County Sheriff's Office. They tried to coax the moose out of the half pipe. That didn't work. They ultimately decided to tranquilize it and put a harness around it. Once it was tranquilized, and then lift it out of the half pipe and into a trailer and get it out of town, where they gave it something to rejuvenate it, and then it was allowed to wander free. And thankfully, it was uninjured as a result of its ordeal at the skate park.”
Don Hardy, who grew up in Cody and now lives about two blocks from the skate park, tells Cowboy State Daily the moose rescue also follows a summer and autumn that have seen a noticeable increase in wildlife around Red Lodge.
Read the full story HERE.
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Once flush with oil and gas revenue, Sublette County is spending millions from its reserves to cover everyday expenses. Cowboy State Daily’s Kate Meadows reports that with mineral revenues down and costs rising, officials are grappling with how long the county can keep spending at its current pace.
“Sublette County Treasurer Emily Parvasini had to transfer $10 million of the county's reserve funds into the county budget in 2025. She told me she may have to do the same thing this year just to pay the bills. One of the things that Treasurer Parvasini told me was the county commissioners seem to love to spend money on roads that they are taking on all these road projects. Commissioner Bernard told me that, like, he wants to serve all the taxpayers, and when you start to pick and choose, well, we'll work on this road, but we won't work on that road. He says, ‘we have to play it fair.’”
According to the county treasurer, at the end of August, the county's general reserve fund stood at $156 million, down about $30 million from six years earlier. Officials are now confronting an uncomfortable question: Is Sublette County living beyond its means?
Read the full story HERE.
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A pickup with two kids inside plowed through a Gillette woman’s 4-foot stone wall Tuesday, taking out a hydrant and street signs. Cowboy State Daily Kolby Fedore reports that a female passenger told homeowner Christina Wright that the driver was angry, going 60 mph and “showing off.”
“From her balcony, she could see that there was a woman with a young child on her lap, and there was another young child in the back seat of the truck. The driver had gotten out of the truck and was kind of meandering around. Police arrived on the scene quickly. They did take him into custody for a suspected DUI. Andrew Ruth had his initial appearance on Wednesday afternoon. His charges were not yet publicly available. I do know that he is on probation out of Wisconsin.”
For Wright, the stone wall isn't merely decorative. The wall was grandfathered in under existing property rules, she tells Cowboy State Daily and from her understanding, if the wall is removed, city right-of-way requirements would prevent them from rebuilding it in the same location and effectively take away much of the front yard they now use.
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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The iconic Wapiti Big Boy statue has been replaced by Seagram's Captain Morgan. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports not to worry. Owner James Geier says Big Boy will return after a little rehab.
“If you've ever driven along the east entrance, if you've ever driven to the east entrance of Yellowstone National Park, you've noticed Big Boy. He's been there since 2013. When he disappeared this week, a lot of people were wondering where was Big Boy. He has disappeared in the past, and that was just for some refurbishment because the elements take their toll. But in the past, his pedestal was just left empty. Now Captain Morgan's up there, and he's going to be there at least for a little while longer.”
"Big Boy" is the mascot of the Big Boy Restaurant Group, a chain of American restaurants with 45 locations in the Midwest, California, Thailand, and Japan. The closest Big Boy restaurant to Wyoming is in Bismarck, North Dakota.
Read the full story HERE.
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Encampment is looking to a Jackson town ordinance as a model to regulate short-term rentals as it wrestles with a shortage of affordable homes. Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports critics question whether restrictions will create more housing for workers or leave vacation homes empty.
“The two people on the council I talked to were not for regulating Airbnbs necessarily. The one guy thought maybe they need a little better outline of expectations, whereas the other person said she's just kind of hasn't made up her mind yet, but kind of leans toward no regulations. People posting online that they don't feel like the town really needs these regulations. That the lodging helps businesses by drawing visitors who stay in town, as opposed to maybe staying in Saratoga, which is the next nearest town with lodging.”
Councilman Steve Reichert tells Cowboy State Daily he’s heard from both sides and the town is struggling to reach any sort of consensus. Some meetings have turned into shouting matches.
Read the Full story HERE.
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Patience and Jarod Blocker have a rare collection for their age. Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports the Gillette couple has a passion for classic pre-64 Winchester Model 70 rifles.
“She's 34, and he's about to turn 40. So, as far as gun collectors go, they're very young, but they have the complete collection of all you know the standard production rifles from those years, running between ‘36 and ‘64. I think about 47 rifles in all, and they've already won one award at the big Winchester show in Cody, and they hope to come back and do even better next year. So it's just really kind of a big accomplishment for people in the firearms world.”
Planning for next year's Winchester Arms Collectors Association show in Cody, Patience says, "It's going to be bad-ass."
Read the full story HERE.
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An expected blast of winter-like weather will close the Beartooth Highway for the season at 2:30 p.m. Friday, five days earlier than scheduled. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports the snowstorm is “the first salvo” of a seasonal shift, says Cowboy State Daily meteorologist Don Day.
“It'll either be raining or snowing across the summit of the Bear Tooth Highway between Saturday night and Tuesday morning, and that's significant enough that at some point the Montana Department of Transportation National Park Service throw up their hands and say that's enough for us to close it down for the season. What we need to take away from that is that there is a significant seasonal shift coming. So summer in October ends this weekend, and we're going to start getting true fall and winter temperatures and precipitation into the latter half of October.”
Meteorologist Don Day tells Cowboy State Daily this is the moment when “the hammer comes down” in terms of seasonal weather. It’s not uncommon to get summer-like temperatures in early October, but the incoming winter weather system will end all 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.
