It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Thursday, October 29th. I’m Mac Watson.
This newscast is sponsored by Lisa Kinney for Congress. Lisa has, Chuck hasn’t. That’s why former Gov. Mike Sullivan has endorsed Lisa Kinney for Wyoming House. Learn why Lisa is the choice for Wyoming’s future at Lisa Kinney for Congress dot com.
–
Wyoming campaign finance reports filed as of Wednesday morning show Eric Barlow has out-fundraised his opponent Rebecca Bextel in the gubernatorial race by nearly four-to-one. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports Bextel says her numbers are much higher and is filing an amended report.
“Candidates love to point to their individual fundraising, right? What did the normal people, the average Joes, the grandmas, donate? Barlow's campaign team pointed out that he's raised like $1.5 million in individual contributions, and the vast majority of that is from Wyomingites. Bextel's campaign report, you know, again, it's still difficult to say with her yet promising an amended report, but it looks to be almost all generated from individual sources. So we have Barlow with a record-setting figure from individuals, and then we have Bexel with just a massive proportion from individuals.”
Democratic nominee Ken Casner, raised and spent zero dollars. The general election is Nov. 3.
Read the full story HERE.
–
Prometheus Hyperscale has abandoned plans for a massive data center spanning Natrona and Converse counties. Cowboy State Daily’s Emma Jane Jackson reports that the move has blindsided officials even as its multibillion-dollar southwest Wyoming project moves ahead.
“When I talked to Natrona County Commissioner Dave North, he said that he had no advance warning that this project was going to pull out. He said that this company has actually always been good about communicating with the county commissioners. So he said it was kind of a shock to him. Trevor Nielsen, the president of Prometheus Hyperscale, didn't give an exact reason, but he did say that the company is going to be looking for other locations in Wyoming. Though Prometheus has pulled out, Dave North told me that the owner of the land where the project was going to be built is still moving forward with rezoning that land. That doesn't mean that another data center is coming, but it leaves the door open for future development.”
At full scale, the project was projected to bring thousands of temporary construction jobs, roughly 150 permanent roles, and tens of millions in annual property tax revenue.
Read the full story HERE.
–
Eric Snow, the Republican candidate for Teton County Sheriff, says the Democratic incumbent Matt Carr's office has waged a retaliatory campaign against him throughout his campaign. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that Carr denies the allegations.
“There have been allegations of bribery. No one has taken action against Carr or or found bribery for him at this juncture. But in the meantime, you have a very controversial arrest by Eric Snow in July, where the person he arrested, a young man, reportedly didn't have any signs of of drug or alcohol presence in his body during this investigation, and so after that, there's other things like there's claims that his supervisor tried to get him stripped of his drug recognition expert certification. He's been placed on administrative leave in a very public incident days before the election. So there's just kind of a huge string of events here.”
Snow’s attorney, Mark Jackowski, says the saga may be the beginning of a lawsuit.
Read the full story HERE.
–
While hiding Christmas gifts, a Cheyenne man stumbled upon a hidden wallet dating to 1959. Cowboy State Daily’s Kolby Fedore reports that decades after it vanished, J.R. Larsen tracked down the owner’s daughters, who were thrilled to get back a piece of their father's past.
“He found an old wallet with photographs inside and a license going back to the 1950s. So he decided to try to track down the family that it might belong to. He posted photos to a Cheyenne community board, and it didn't take more than a day before the phone started ringing. And he was soon put in touch with the daughters who claimed that the wallet belonged to their dad. George Long was a family man. The girls remember him as being super playful. He had jet-black hair that he always wore slicked back like Elvis, and he wore 501 jeans. They said they can still remember the crease in his back pocket where he always had kept that wallet.”
J.R. Larsen didn't know George Monroe Long when he discovered the wallet and a collection of old keepsakes tucked away in a hiding spot in his house.
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 Division of Criminal Investigation says that a 34-year-old man shot and killed by U.S. Marshals during a manhunt last year may not have died had an Evanston woman not blocked them from entering her home, where he was hiding at the time. Cowboy State Daily’s Greg Johnson reports that back in March of 2025, Kaylee Marie Simmons, tried numerous ways to stop authorities from arresting Steven Sheesley.
“One of the other things that they outlined in the affidavit was that, in their opinion, the woman was intentionally using her young children as shields to keep law enforcement at bay. They had three warrants to go in and search the home and to arrest this guy, but they said that she was blocking the entrance. She's holding a young child, and then she kind of grabbed her other child and put that child in the way as well. And while this was going on, and they were trying to get in to locate the guy, he jumped out the bathroom window. They chased him, and that led to the confrontation in a nearby maintenance shed where they ended up shooting him.”
DCI has recommended Simmons be charged with misdemeanor interference with a peace officer and felony compounding, or trying to delay or impede an investigation by withholding evidence.
Read the full story HERE.
–
A routine speeding stop in South Dakota turned into a wildlife investigation when a trooper discovered 70 harvested ducks in the driver's vehicle, 52 more than is legally allowed. Cowboy State Daily’s Kate Meadows reports that only three of the packaged ducks met legal transportation requirements.
“South Dakota state troopers have not identified the man who was pulled over for speeding on October 13, and then at that traffic stop, the trooper discovered these 70 ducks in his vehicle. In the photos, it appears that some of the ducks that were harvested are only the breast meat in the Ziploc bags. According to South Dakota regulations, every harvested duck has to have a wing attached when it is traveling, so that troopers or parks and wildlife officials can identify the species of bird. The unidentified driver was given a citation, Nick Harrington with South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks told me that this case will go through the whole legal process, and it's possible that more charges will be filed.”
Authorities are being tight-lipped about the case. The driver's name has not been released, nor have authorities disclosed where he is from, where he was headed or how fast he was driving when he was pulled over.
Read the full story HERE.
–
U.S. Attorney Darin Smith announced Wednesday that Chuck Gray's former deputy will oversee a federal operation monitoring Wyoming’s general election next week. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports state authorities told the monitors they must stay at least 100 yards away from the polls.
“You have U.S. Attorney for Wyoming Darin Smith saying, ‘We've appointed the monitoring chief,’ and that is Jesse Naiman. This statement doesn't specifically note that it is a fact that Naiman was the number-two in Secretary of State Chuck Gray's office. You have Gray who's very big on election integrity and scrutiny and his number two deputy goes over to the federal prosecutor's office, the federal installment of the DOJ in Wyoming, and then becomes the monitor for the feds on election operations.”
DOJ election monitors visited Laramie County polling sites Aug. 18, to the surprise and consternation of Laramie County Clerk Debra Lee, who cast the operation as disruptive and ill-noticed. Gov. Mark Gordon also raised the alarm, casting the incident as federal overreach.
Read the full story HERE.
–
Three Crown Vic Police Interceptors hit Cheyenne’s auction block this month. Cowboy State Daily’s Kolby Fedore reports that for a generation of Americans, the Ford cruisers were the silhouette of Five-O: Long hood, huge trunk, upright roof, and headlights that could cause a panicked brake check from a quarter-mile away.
“There was a time when this was the reigning American cop car, especially in the 1990s and early 2000s. Car aficionado Austin Griess says that he still gets nervous when he sees one behind him in his rearview mirror. It's ironic that the quintessential cop car is also known as a granny-mobile. They are spacious and great for going over curbs, picking up groceries. The city of Cheyenne actually got several of these. They've auctioned off over a dozen in recent years as they've moved on towards newer SUVs.”
Although they aren’t glamorous anymore, the Crown Vic was the big, boxy, V8-powered undisputed king of the American cop car and nearly impossible to see in a rearview mirror without checking the speedometer.
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.
