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Sports 10 19 24

Today In Sports: Saturday, October 19, 2024

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Today In Politics: Thursday, October 17, 2024

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Bonus Video 1: Thursday, October 17, 2024

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Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's general assignment reporter, Clair McFarland.

Clair McFarland

Government & Politics

Legislature

The Joint Appropriations Committee majority tried in January to defund the Wyoming Business Council, an agency that gives grants and loans to businesses and communities.

The state Senate, which ran more fiscally moderate this year than the 

, rejected the effort overwhelmingly in February. But then in March, the Legislature passed a budget that funds the Wyoming Business Council’s operations for one year instead of the traditional two-year budget allocation.

The Joint Appropriations Committee is now delving into a monthslong research project into how it can trim the business council, tether it to legislative oversight and refocus it onto what the supermajority Republican Legislature deems proper uses of government.

The committee spent around five-and-a-half hours on that topic while meeting Monday in Lander.

Its members weighed three proposed bills. They also engaged in a spicy back-and-forth with Wyoming Business Council CEO Josh Dorrell.

[{"type":"text","text":"‘Give Me A Number'"}]

“Mr. Dorrell, what do you anticipate will be your ask for the Wyoming Business Council for the supplemental budget? And 

, how much do you need to succeed?” asked Senate Appropriations Chair Tim Salazar, R-Riverton.

Dorrell said the WBC’s figures are still in flux, and he expected it to give its final budget request submission to Gov. Mark Gordon in August. But becoming “whole,” or receiving the rest of its two-year budget, would be the priority, he added.

As of now, the agency’s budget ends June 30, 2027, unless the Legislature acts to restore its second-year money.

Salazar later voiced dissatisfaction with that answer, pressing Dorrell on it again.

“Give me a number. Tell me where that fits into the supplemental budget,” said Salazar.

“I’m not going to give you a number,” 

 Dorrell. “I don’t mean to be obtuse, but I want to work it through the proper channels first.”

Besides having its funding cut to one year of operations, the WBC is slated for a potential makeover.

Both the Appropriations Committee and the Joint Minerals Business and Economic Development Committee are reviewing the WBC’s programs and underpinning laws.

Dorrell said he’s looking for information on which programs the Legislature wants to cut.

[{"type":"text","text":"He also indicated that lawmakers don’t fully understand the agency yet."}]

“I don’t think it’s appropriate for us to really discuss the exact in-and-out if you don’t understand the things that we do,” said Dorrell, adding that WBC has presented program data to lawmakers in recent months. 

“I’d advocate to at least stay whole, as a minimum, (but also) we should look at investing in our communities, and the state agency that unlocks those,” he said.

[{"type":"text","text":"Humble Ask This Time"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Rep. Ken Pendergraft, R-Sheridan, also parried with Dorrell."}]

“Honestly, I’m not trying to be confrontational, but I’m frustrated,” said Pendergraft. “You were asked what does it cost to be successful — no answer. No answer, no money.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Dorrell reiterated that he’d know the answer in August."}]

Salazar’s line of questioning is an echo of one he launched in December, but which Dorrell then handled very differently. 

At that time during the committee’s budget-planning marathon, Salazar asked how much money WBC needs to fix the economic problems facing the state.

[{"type":"text","text":"Dorrell answered $1.7 billion."}]

“Thank you for giving us the courtesy of the truth,” said Salazar at the time.

Around seven weeks later, the committee advanced two pieces of legislation — both of which later failed — that had sought to defund the agency and strip it from state law.

Ahead of next year’s January lawmaking session, the two committees are working on a plan to refocus the Wyoming Business Council and reevaluate its many programs.

[{"type":"text","text":"Neither committee has adopted any WBC makeover bills yet."}]

But the Joint Appropriations Committee on Monday discussed four in this vein.

[{"type":"text","text":"The Bill About Federal Money"}]

One of the bills would authorize lawmakers to review and appropriate federal funds seeking to pass through the WBC for capital and investment projects.  

[{"type":"text","text":"Dorrell cast that one as peculiar.  "}]

Congress authorizes federal money for governmental investments, the U.S. Treasury allocates those investments and enforces their terms, and the executive branch of Wyoming runs the program.

“And then all of a sudden, somehow the state Legislature is inserting itself into this process,” said Dorrell. “And while I am happy to report, I’m happy to bounce ideas off of, it feels like gumming up the system …  is exactly what this is going to do. It doesn’t help us act at the speed of business. I’m open to understanding why.”

House Appropriations Chair John Bear, R-Gillette, said lawmakers would consider that concern carefully so they don’t create undue burden. 

Of the 11 companies involved in this system, he said he hopes “the preponderance of them” have been traditional energy companies.

Bear referenced allegations Wyoming continues to wage in federal court litigation with other red states that large investors colluded to kill coal and other fossil fuels by banding together in green-energy compacts.

“Even though these are federal funds, they’re still taxpayer funds,” said Bear, who went on to ask about the WBC’s administration of its investment projects.

Dorrell said WBC’s investment committee can meet spontaneously to consider and authorize those projects, and 

 employee to serve as investments analyst.

[{"type":"text","text":"The Bill To Stop Feeding Airports"}]

The Wyoming Business Council’s Business Ready Community program generally involves WBC sending a grant or loan to a community entity, which then works on economic development and business infrastructure projects.

But WBC doesn’t call it that anymore. The agency rebranded the controversial program this year as the Building Resilient Communities program.

The Appropriations Committee is considering a bill that would ban airports from benefitting from the program, as well as recreational and convention facilities, and infrastructure projects of the WBC’s choosing.

That would leave the program free to fund or invest in land, buildings, facilities, telecommunications infrastructure, rights of way, sewer and water projects, roads and landscaping.

The bill also seeks to add a requirement that the WBC can’t grant or loan money for assets that the applicant owns or will own.

A lawsuit between Gunwerks and the Cody-based economic development group that secured funding for it has been 

over the allegedly dismal state of a building Gunwerks doesn’t own, but which the economic development group arranged to be built for the company with WBC money.   

The bill pertaining to the BRC program would also require WBC to send grant and loan plans to two lawmakers — one state House representative and one senator — for review and comment before sending them to the executive branch for final approval.  

The biggest bill the committee considered would eliminate 13 Wyoming Business Council programs, 

Others Dorrell hopes to keep, he indicated to Rep. Jeremy Haroldson, R-Wheatland.

He asked why the Wyoming Partnership Challenge Loan program is on the chopping block. That’s a loan program in which WBC partners with banks to secure loans for businesses.

Dorrell insisted the WBC is not competing with banks, but is helping businesses get loans on components on which banks aren’t authorized to lend, like the more speculative success prospects called “blue sky.”

Disaster loans are “a challenge,” but outside disaster loans, the program is at industry-standard or higher rates of success, Dorrell said.

[{"type":"text","text":"Pendergraft raised an ideological roadblock."}]

“My problem with this is ideological. Essentially, it sounds to me like you’re not in competition with the banks,” said Pendergraft. “But if a business goes to a bank and the bank turns them down — presumably because of risk — why is it justifiable to take public moneys and … risk public funds, which to me should be, probably, more cautiously invested?”

Dorrell said banks have to refuse certain investments due to other reasons besides risk.

Pendergraft countered again, asking why the government should be involved in the fate of businesses that don’t provide essential public services.

[{"type":"text","text":"Sen. Mike Gierau, D-Jackson, rebutted Pendergraft’s logic."}]

On the Select Water Committee, he said, lawmakers are willing to “dole out” significant 

“You want to talk about blue sky?” asked Gierau. “Oh my Lord. And we do it. And we do it because it’s right.”

Haroldson said he’d be happy to put a “question mark” next to this program, and he emphasized that this is only a draft bill set for more contemplation later this year.

[{"type":"text","text":"Here Bear answered Gierau’s rebuke."}]

“As you’re forming that ideology in your mind as to how you’ll approach this, I hope you’ll also not compare water infrastructure to helping mom and pop shops have a successful program,” said Bear. 

Small business success is “quite different from water infrastructure,” he added.

Water infrastructure serves small family farms, which are businesses, said Gierau.

“Water infrastructure,” countered Bear, “would be much similar to the road in front of the small mom and pop shop. ... It’s got a common usage.”

[{"type":"text","text":"The County Infrastructure Bill"}]

One of the bills contemplates a revival of the old budget appropriation called the County Consensus Funding program by which counties, if at least half of the governing boards of the local governments within them agree, could receive construction and infrastructure grants through the State Loans and Investment Board.

The Wyoming County Commissioners’ Association has asked the Legislature to send $75 million per year into that program. The draft bill says “XX” where the appropriation would go.

Three-quarters of the allocations to counties would hinge on population, and one-quarter on how poor their property values are.

Apropriations Business Council IMG 6584 6 22 26

Cowboy State Daily is Wyoming’s largest newspaper with Wyoming’s most experienced journalists. 

<title>Wyoming Business Council Chief Spars With Committee That Tried To Kill Agency | Cowboy State Daily</title>

The head of the Wyoming Business Council sparred Monday with the Joint Appropriations Committee, which has tried to kill it. "No answer, no money," was the reply CEO Josh Dorrell got when he said he won't know the WBC's budget ask until August.

Wyoming Business Council Chief Spars With Committee That Tried To Kill Agency

Mac Watson

Daily Video News

It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Tuesday, June 23rd.  I’m Mac Watson

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Black Hills Energy says it’s ready for data centers that draw as much power as small states. Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports that Vice President Wes Ashton says its large-load tariff makes cost-causers pay their full cost, even as AI demand has jumped from megawatts to gigawatts.

“The question is, how well is it going to scale when we go from megawatt to orders of magnitude greater gigawatt scale? Black Hills tells me they're very confident that this large load tariff is going to scale, they're not worried about that at all. In fact, they think that folks might see that their rates are continuing to be held back, because as these large companies are building this infrastructure there's economy of scale there, and it's resulting in less cost for regular rate payers, because these guys are paying for ginormous upgrades to the right reliability and efficiency and overall capacity of the grid that serves everyone, and so they, they only see benefits from this down the line as we continue to build this out.”

Project Jade, as just one example, will come into Wyoming with a “bring-your-own-power” mentality for an initial 2.7 gigawatts of power, which is nearly three times what industry analysts have said Wyoming uses now. 

Demand for nuclear fuel, a ban on imports from Russia and booming data center-driven electricity needs are sending uranium producers back into Wyoming. Cowboy State Daily’s Kate Meadows reports that mining association chief Travis Deti says, “We need the fuel, and the fuel starts with Wyoming uranium.

“There's a renewed interest in this mineral nationwide, and the need globally is huge, and Wyoming has a lot of uranium and a lot of exploration to be done, so companies are at work in the Powder River Basin. I talked to the CEO of a smaller company, he is from Australia, but owns American Uranium Limited, and they have an operation in Wyoming that is ongoing and expects to be producing in the next few years. Uranium is key for energy development and could also play a role in data center build out in the future.”

Nuclear energy still supplies about 20% of the nation's electricity, and the United States operates more nuclear reactors than any other country in the world, according to the U.S. Energy Information Association.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"–"}]

Almost a week after a semitruck carrying millions of bees flipped over in Yellowstone National Park and destroyed hundreds of hives, bees are still swarming on trees in the area. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that one Wyoming beekeeper calls it “ a swarming mechanism.” 

“Bee trees are kind of like staging stations for bees, as they're trying to find new homes. So, when you see a tree covered with bees, it's most likely that there's a queen there, and the other bees are swarming around her, while scouts go out to find a suitable location to build a new hive. If you see those trees, beekeepers know that they can still collect that colony and relocate it to an apiary or another beehive safely, but if you stop seeing those trees, it means the bees have moved on.”

The fact that bee trees can still be seen along U.S. Highway 191 six days after the June 16 crash might indicate the bees are having trouble finding an ideal place for a new home. But it definitely means the colonies can be safely recovered.

Data from the National Weather Service revealed the last three months have been the driest spring on record for most of Wyoming. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that's following one of the driest winters on record, which doesn't bode well for the summer months ahead.

“After one of the driest winters in Wyoming's recorded history, it makes sad sense that it was one of the driest springs in recorded history. Many Wyoming communities got less than half, in some places barely more than a quarter of the moisture they typically receive between March 20-first and June 20, but there could be some potential salvation on the horizon. It's been a very active weather week in Wyoming, and there could be more moisture moving in. The downside to that is if we get that moisture, it's going to most likely come in the form of thunderstorms, and with the thunder comes the lightning, and if we get a thunderstorm that doesn't produce much rain but does produce some lightning, then we're talking about a heightened risk of wildfires on a landscape that's already deep in the drought.”

Cowboy State Daily meteorologist Don Day tells Cowboy State Daily, “March was so bad, April was not great, May was really bad in places, and June has been a bust. Those months are so critical, and they didn’t come through for us.”

I’ll have more news from Cowboy State Daily right after this.

Cowboy State Daily News continues now….

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"– "}]

When a bull moose wandered into Wheatland on Sunday, wildlife agents drugged it, then rolled the massive animal onto a tarp to move it into a waiting horse trailer. Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports that one fire-rescue responder said, “Once he woke back up, he was not too pleased.”

“The moose was getting spookily close to I-25 and a lieutenant from the Wheatland Fire and Rescue told me that they've had a lot of deer get hit in that same area, so they really don't want that moose hanging out there. So Game and Fish came in and tranquilized the moose, and they called in Wheatland Fire Rescue to assist. Then they managed to get it rolled onto a tarp, and they just had like eight or 10 guys getting a circle around the tarp, he lifted up and carried into a horse trailer, and then once it got in the horse trailer, they took it up to the Snowy Range Mountains and released it back out into the wild.”

Jeff Herb of Wheatland Fire-Rescue tells Cowboy State Daily that no one is sure where the moose came from. He speculates that the moose might have wandered out of the Laramie Range because it’s been so dry lately in those mountains.

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The Natrona County Commissioners approved an agreement to keep the College National Finals Rodeo in Casper for the next 10 years. Cowboy State Daily’s Kolby Fedore reports the CEO of Visit Casper says the economic boost to Natrona county is huge.

“It's become a tradition. Annette Pitts with Visit Casper said that this brings about $3 million in economic impact to the Casper community. Casper College's head rodeo coach, Faith Anders, said that Casper is a great place for the CNFR because people in Central Wyoming really understand rodeo culture. In other states, there are some misconceptions about animal cruelty, whereas in Wyoming, there are ranchers, farmers, veterinarians, people who care about animals and really understand livestock production, so it's a great place to celebrate Western culture.”

The CNFR has been a fixture in Casper for more than a quarter-century, bringing hundreds of the nation's top college cowboys and cowgirls to Wyoming every June.

Terlingua, Texas, crowns the world’s chili champions, but many say their favorite contest is in Chugwater, Wyoming. Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports that for 40 years, the Chugwater Chili Cook-off has been a Father's Day bucket-list contest for the best chili cooks on the planet.

“Many of them are former Terlingua winners. Terlingua is the competition that crowns the world's chili champion every year, and talking with some of these guys who came up here from Texas, this is a bucket list competition for them right here in Little Old Chuck Water, Wyoming. A lot of these folks who do this, who are from Wyoming, do it as a family activity. They get together kind of like families do over the holidays for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Well, they get together over chili, and there's some fantastic chilis here. If you don't find something that you like at this festival, well, then you just don't like chili, because there's some really good chili at this event.”

Many contestants pair their chili fest trip with subsequent Yellowstone and Devils Tower adventures.

Mount Rushmore expects a huge turnout for the nation's 250th Independence Day celebration that will feature fireworks returning for the first time in six years. Cowboy State Daily’s Kate Meadows reports that you’d better have a lottery ticket to get in.

“The idea of celebrating Fourth of July at Mount Rushmore for America's 250th birthday was so popular that the National Park Service had to implement a lottery system for tickets. Nearly 103,000 people vied for 4800 tickets, and the lottery closed in April. So there will be 4800 people at Mount Rushmore, and many more people who would love to be there. They are showing up all over the Black Hills and Keystone, which is the community nearest Mount Rushmore, has reported an increase of 127% in visitors over last year.”

There is also speculation that President Trump will attend this event, but the White House has not confirmed.

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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 

 - and you can watch this newscast every day by clicking Subscribe on our 

 channel, or listen to us on your favorite podcast app.  Thanks for watching - I’m Mac Watson, for Cowboy State Daily.

News image 6 23 26

<title>Cowboy State Daily Video Newscast: Tuesday, June 23, 2026 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Tuesday's headlines include:
* Unparalleled Demand For Energy
* Millions of Bees in Yellowstone Trees
* Why Chugwater Chili Cookoff Is So Popular

Cowboy State Daily Video Newscast: Tuesday, June 23, 2026

Sunny in much of Wyoming on Tuesday, chance of rain in the east. Mix of clouds and clear skies overnight, with a chance of rain. Highs from the mid 60s to upper 80s. Lows from near 40 to mid 50s.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":" "}]

Gradually clearing today with a high near 78 and becoming mostly cloudy overnight with a low near 50 and wind gusts as high as 22 mph.

Mostly sunny today with a high near 82 and mostly clear overnight with a low near 50 and wind gusts as high as 20 mph.

 Gradually clearing today with a high near 79 and partly cloudy overnight with a low near 49.

 Sunny today with a high near 83 and afternoon wind from 11-16 mph. Mostly clear overnight a low near 47 and wind from 12-17 mph.

  Sunny and breezy today with a high near 88 and wind gusts as high as 25 mph. Mostly clear overnight with a low near 48 and wind gusts as high as 26 mph.

Sunny today with a high near 87 and wind gusts as high as 30 mph. Mostly clear overnight with a low near 49 and wind from 12-17 mph.

Sunny and breezy today with a high near 79 and wind gusts as high as 26 mph. Increasing clouds and breezy overnight with a low near 40 and wind gusts as high as 25 mph.

 Gradually clearing today with a high near 83 and increasing clouds overnight with a low near 45.

  Gradually clearing and breezy today with a high near 82 and wind gusts as high as 25 mph. Breezy overnight, becoming mostly cloudy toward daybreak with a low near 44 and wind gusts as high as 22 mph.

 Sunny and breezy today with a high near 77 and wind gusts as high as 26 mph. Mostly clear overnight a low near 43 and wind gusts as high as 24 mph.

  Sunny today with a high near 83 and clearing overnight with a low near 45.

Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park

:  Sunny today with a high near 74 and increasing clouds overnight with a slight chance of rain after 5 a.m. and a low near 38.

Gradually becoming sunny today with a high near 80 and mostly clear overnight with a low near 52 and wind gusts as high as 21 mph.

:  Sunny today with a high near 72 and wind gusts as high as 20 mph. Partly cloudy and breezy overnight with a low near 49 and wind gusts as high as 28 mph.

  Gradually becoming sunny today with a high near 80 and partly cloudy overnight with a low near 51 and wind gusts as high as 22 mph.

  Slight chance of rain, otherwise partly sunny today with a high near 66 and partly cloudy overnight with a slight chance of rain and a low near 49.

  Patchy fog before 9 a.m., chance of rain before noon, otherwise mostly sunny today with a high near 69 and partly cloudy overnight with patchy fog after 3 a.m. and a low near 45.

:  Patchy fog before 9 a.m., mostly sunny today with a high near 71 and partly cloudy overnight with a low near 46.

Gradually becoming sunny today with a high near 70 and wind gusts as high as 20 mph. Partly cloudy overnight with a low near 46 and wind gusts as high as 20 mph.

  Mostly sunny today with a high near 73 and wind gusts as high as 18 mph. Increasing clouds overnight with a slight chance of rain after midnight, a low near 50 and wind gusts as high as 17 mph.

:  Gradually becoming sunny today with a high near 66 and wind gusts as high as 17 mph. Increasing clouds overnight with a low near 46 and wind gusts as high as 16 mph.

  Slight chance of rain after 3 p.m., otherwise mostly sunny today with a high near 78 and mostly cloudy overnight with a chance of rain and a low near 56.

  Slight chance of rain after 3 p.m., gradually clearing today with a high near 78 and mostly cloudy overnight with a slight chance of rain and a low near 50.

  Slight chance of rain after 3 p.m., otherwise partly sunny today with a high near 79 and mostly cloudy overnight with a chance of rain and a low near 56.

  Chance of rain after noon (some storms could be severe), otherwise mostly sunny and breezy today with a high near 75 and wind gusts as high as 30 mph. Increasing clouds overnight with a chance of rain (some storms could be severe), patchy fog after 5 a.m. and a low near 52.

  Chance of rain after noon, otherwise mostly sunny today with a high near 79 and partly cloudy overnight with a chance of rain mainly before 9 p.m. and a low near 48.

  Chance of rain after 3 p.m., gradually becoming sunny today with a high near 75 and wind gusts as high as 25 mph. Mostly cloudy overnight with a chance of rain before midnight and a low near 52.

  Slight chance of rain after 3 p.m., breezy, gradually becoming sunny today with a high near 83 and wind gusts as high as 30 mph. Mostly clear overnight with a low near 48.

  Sunny today with a high near 83 and wind gusts as high as 25 mph. Becoming clear overnight with a low near 48.

  Breezy, gradually becoming sunny today with a high near 83 and wind gusts as high as 25 mph. Mostly clear and breezy overnight with a low near 45 and wind gusts as high as 21 mph.