It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Wednesday, November 11th. I’m Mac Watson.
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For 84 days, a 4-year-old collie mix outsmarted a small army of volunteers determined to bring her home. Cowboy State Daily’s Kate Meadows reports that on Tuesday, a dog that spent nearly three months running from people found her forever home with the one person she had come to trust the most.
“The problem was not finding her; it was catching her. So a lot of people saw her, caught sightings of her on security cameras, saw her, you know, drinking out of ponds on golf courses and mountain lakes. But as soon as anyone tried to approach her, she would run off. A woman named Bonnie Hodges happened to have a live trap for a dog. This is a humane trap that can get dogs up to 40 pounds, coyotes, and foxes. They set this live trap, and eventually, Rogue walked into it, and they were able to get her that way. She went back to the Humane Society, got a bath, was evaluated for behavior to make sure she hadn't picked up any negative habits, and then she was ultimately adopted by the trainer at the Humane Society that she absolutely loved.”
For Casey Corbett, a volunteer at the shelter who led much of the search, Rogue's adoption was the perfect ending to a story that began with a terrified dog running for her life. Corbett tells Cowboy State Daily, “She now gets to live out the rest of her years with the person she has come to trust and love the most.”
Read the full story HERE.
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Former Wyoming congressional candidate Reid Rasner is suing his campaign consulting firm for not providing “quality and valuable advice and strategy” in the U.S. House race where he finished fifth. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports the complaint says he paid the company $2.2 million.
“This is different from Rasner's other ongoing lawsuits in Wyoming state and federal court districts. Those are all defamation cases, whereas this one is, you know, a breach of contract, unjust enrichment case against FP1 Strategies, saying that they basically ducked out on a lot of communication and didn't provide good consulting.”
The civil complaint Rasner’s attorney William Fix filed Sunday in the U.S. District Court for Wyoming is different: it accuses the Virginia-based GOP strategic consulting firm FP1 Strategies LLC of breaking faith with Rasner to enrich itself.
Read the full story HERE.
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Two downtown Douglas businesses were destroyed and several historic buildings suffered extensive damage from a fire that erupted Monday afternoon. Cowboy State Daily’s Kolby Fedore reports the city's downtown remains closed as investigators searched for the source of the blaze.
“I spoke with Mayor Kim Pexton. She said two businesses were completely destroyed. One was a consignment shop, and the other a vape shop in downtown Douglas. Several other buildings were heavily damaged by smoke and water. The mayor said that on Tuesday night the town met so they could discuss how the community could come together and help support business owners after the fire.”
Mayor Kim Pexton tells Cowboy State Daily that the neighboring College Inn Bar survived but suffered extensive smoke and water damage. The nearby Corner Barber Shop also was damaged. The investigation into what started the blaze is ongoing.
Read the full story HERE.
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Democratic lawmaker Mike Yin filed a new election finance complaint against former gubernatorial candidate Rebecca Bextel, noting that she listed corporations as donors, in violation of Wyoming law. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that statements say a ranch and LLC both gave her money.
“He originally filed a campaign finance complaint against Rebecca Bextel and two other Republican contenders for the governor's seat, like late October. He had urged Team Bextel to cure deficiencies in her campaign finance reports before the election. The amendments that her team has made since then don't show that cure that he was proposing, and so when he was combing through those to see did they do a refund because they reportedly accepted more than a maximum donation. He also found where Team Bextel had listed companies like a ranch and other corporations that had given to her campaign.”
Yin is the minority floor leader of the state House of Representatives. But he said he filed three campaign finance complaints, then one amended complaint Monday, with the Secretary of State’s Office as an individual.
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 Manderson mother whose 2-month-old baby died in a filthy camper now faces 10 new felony charges after investigators say they found videos on her phone of children being sexually abused. Cowboy State Daily’s Kolby Fedore reports Destynie Study is facing 10 new felony charges.
“This is a new case stemming from a July 6 incident when Study found her two month old baby unresponsive in a crib in the family's camper. Investigators later seized her cell phone, and that's when they found a hidden folder containing alleged child pornography. DCI agents found a screenshot from Study's phone that looked like a Snapchat advertisement asking for $10 for 10 pictures and up to $95 for all the pictures. Though it remained unclear what content she was selling and how much she had, they did find separately at least 50 files of child sexual abuse materials in her phone.”
DCI agents John McCloud III and Tony Giles interviewed Study at the Big Horn County Detention Center. After being advised of her Miranda rights, she allegedly acknowledged knowing the videos were on her phone. Study is being held in the detention center on a $75,000 bond.
Read the full story HERE.
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At a Senate Finance Committee hearing on Tuesday, Sen. John Barrasso called WE Soda’s layoff announcement of 350 jobs a “devastating blow” and pointed the finger overseas for the industry downturn. Cowboy State Daily’s Emma Jane Jackson reports that the Senator blames one country.
“Senator Barrasso blames China. At a Tuesday Senate Finance Committee hearing, he said, ‘The cause is clear. It's communist China,’ saying that China, with its solution mining, has essentially flooded the soda ash market with a cheaper product that he says is also an inferior product and is pricing Wyoming out of the market.”
Wyoming sits on the world’s largest known trona deposit, and WE Soda, the world’s largest natural soda ash producer, operates in the basin. But the state’s producers have been squeezed as China expands.
Read the full story HERE.
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Rawlins hunter Jacob Paintin said although the bull elk he shot had no edible game meat due to previous bullet wounds, he's glad the the agony for the bull is over. Outdoors Reporter Mark Heinz reports Paintin estimates the bull had been suffering for weeks.
“He said when he saw the bull, it was laying down. He said it got up slowly from his perspective, but he went ahead and shot it and killed it, and then they started trying to gut it and process it, and it was just horrible. It had at least one gaping old wound on its neck. And Game and Fish confirmed, ‘Yeah, it's just it's riddled with infection. Don't eat this meat. Bad idea. Maybe you can salvage a hind quarter.’ So he got the hind quarters home, got those skins, started to butcher them, and they were riddled with lead fragments, and that meat was also spoiled. So he feels good that he was there at just the right time and just the right place to end that animal’s suffering, and it did have a cool rack that he was able to save.”
Paintin tells Cowboy State Daily that the bull elk didn’t die in vain. He says, “I’m trying to teach my sons good ethics. As hunters we try to do the ethical thing and make sure animals aren’t suffering.”
Read the full story HERE.
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Christopher Gore was planning to hand his drugs over to the police. He just hadn't gotten around to it yet. Cowboy State Daily’s Kolby Fedore reports that's what the Wyoming man told cops after they discovered more than a pound of meth in his impounded truck.
“This case began. January 17, after 42-year-old Christopher Gore was arrested for eluding the police in Natrona County. His SUV was placed inside a towing yard, and nobody came to retrieve it. Meanwhile, investigators were talking to anonymous sources who suggested there might be drugs in the glove compartment. When they searched the SUV, they found a secret hiding hole inside the compartment. Inside, they found about a pound and a quarter pound of methamphetamine. Gore told the authorities he had every intention of bringing the drugs to the police, but he just hadn't been able to get to it yet. Police found it first, and then the case went to federal court, where he eventually took a plea deal, and on Tuesday he was sentenced to 10 years in prison with seven years of supervised probation.”
A sworn statement filed in U.S. District Court shows Gore admitted that he intended to sell the meth to cover personal expenses.
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.
