It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming! I’m Wendy Corr, bringing you headlines from the Cowboy State Daily newsroom, for Thursday, April 25th. 

A Wyoming company with international clout that’s bolstered the state’s energy industries for decades is jumping into the nuclear business.

Gillette-based L&H Industrial Inc., a 60-year-old industrial machinery company in the coal-rich Powder River Basin, has partnered with nuclear technology innovator BWX Technologies Inc. Energy reporter Pat Maio says the partnership is part of a blockbuster deal to launch a multibillion-dollar industry in the micro nuclear reactor field.

“What they’re trying to do together is build an infrastructure in the Wyoming State, specifically doing nuclear components that would be used to manufacture them here, to assemble and build nuclear reactors that can be sold anywhere, the small ones, but they want a US industrial base.” 

The partnership also has plans to provide consulting services, operate and lease energy generated from the micro-nuclear reactors.

When the black bear population increases in an area, so does the number of people reporting they saw Bigfoot.

A new study reports that in other words, more often than not, people who report seeing a sasquatch probably saw a bear, according to outdoors reporter Mark Heinz.

“That kind of establishes a connection with something that a lot of people have said for a long time, that maybe not all, but certainly a high percentage of Bigfoot reports are actually bears just standing up and walking around doing things that bears do… You know, we still have some compelling Bigfoot reports from Wyoming that might or might not be easily explained away as bears. So we’ll just keep that as an open ended question for now, whether we’ve got Sasquatch in Wyoming.” 

Retired federal ecologist Chuck Neal of Cody said he is certain there’s no such thing as Bigfoot – he says it’s just the product of people’s overwrought imaginations.

Over the weekend, Sen. John Barrasso supported President Joe Biden’s approval of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which continues the federal government’s authority to conduct warrantless surveillance on U.S. citizens.

Barrasso told political reporter Leo Wolfson he supported the bill because he believes it strengthens law enforcement’s ability to fight terrorism. But members of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus are outraged.

“The Freedom Caucus thinks this has been weaponized by agencies like the FBI, and other groups to unjustly spy on Americans, which in certain circumstances was pointed out, such as some of the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests and then the January 6th 2021 Capitol riot, as well.” 

Fellow Wyoming Sen. Cynthia Lummis voted against the bill, as did U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman. 

Casper mountaineer Dr. Joe McGinley’s quest to climb Mount Everest has been temporarily blocked, as the Chinese is prohibiting foreigners from entering the Tibet region. 

But Cowboy State Daily’s Dale Killingbeck reports that McGinley, who is on a quest  to summit the highest peaks on all 7 continents, has a backup plan through Nepal. 

“Dr. Joe McGinley sent us a text, he said to check out his social media because his plans had to change as he’s pursuing his seventh Summit. So, on his Facebook page about an hour later, we saw that his intent to climb the north face of Mount Everest was not going to be able to happen, because the Chinese won’t allow them into the country. So they’re pivoting and they’re gonna go to the south side of Mount Everest. And he said he plans to be at the base camp probably on May 3 or May 4. Meanwhile, they’re going to climb another mountain about 90 miles from Everest that goes up to 22,000 feet, to keep in shape and their climatization. So, Dr. Joe is definitely having an adventure.”

McGinley aborted his attempt to climb Mount Everest last May after finding crowded and unsafe conditions on the south side of the mountain — one of the reasons he selected the north side attempt this year.

And trees are difficult to grow in much of the state, so people put a lot of effort into keeping their trees alive and thriving.

But Travis Smith of Glenrock doesn’t do anything to keep a centerpiece tree in his yard alive. That’s because his natural showstopper has been dead for a few million years. And for $20,000, it can be yours, reports Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi.

“He’s got a one ton segment of a petrified tree in his yard. It’s just a lawn ornament that has been handed down through the generations in his family. And he said he’s tired of having to mow around it. So he’s hoping that somebody out there will be interested and be willing to come pick this thing up and take it home with them. There’s no shortage of petrified wood in Wyoming, but a petrified tree section of anything is pretty exciting. And this one’s actually hollow in the middle, which, as somebody who is an enthusiast in paleontology, I can’t say I’ve ever seen before.”

Smith is listing the prehistoric piece of tree trunk simply as brown and in “new” condition.

And that’s today’s news. Get your free digital subscription to Wyoming’s only statewide newspaper by hitting the subscribe button on cowboystatedaily.com. I’m Wendy Corr, for Cowboy State Daily.

Radio Stations

The following radio stations are airing Cowboy State Daily Radio on weekday mornings, afternoons and evenings. More radio stations will be added soon.

KYDT 103.1 FM – Sundance

KBFS 1450 AM — Sundance

KYCN 1340 AM / 92.7 FM — Wheatland

KZEW 101.7 FM — Wheatland

KANT 104.1 FM — Guernsey

KZQL 105.5 FM — Casper

KMXW 92.5 FM — Casper

KBDY 102.1 FM — Saratoga

KTGA 99.3 FM — Saratoga

KJAX 93.5 FM — Jackson

KZWY 106.3 FM — Sheridan

KROE 930 AM / 103.9 FM — Sheridan

KWYO 1410 AM / 106.9 FM  — Sheridan

KYOY 92.3 FM Hillsdale-Cheyenne / 106.9 FM Cheyenne

KRAE 1480 AM — Cheyenne 

KDLY 97.5 FM — Lander

KOVE 1330 AM — Lander

KZMQ 100.3/102.3 FM — Cody, Powell, Medicine Wheel, Greybull, Basin, Meeteetse

KKLX 96.1 FM — Worland, Thermopolis, Ten Sleep, Greybull

KCGL 104.1 FM — Cody, Powell, Basin, Lovell, Clark, Red Lodge, MT

KTAG 97.9 FM — Cody, Powell, Basin

KCWB 92.1 FM — Cody, Powell, Basin

KVGL 105.7 FM — Worland, Thermopolis, Basin, Ten Sleep

KODI 1400 AM / 96.7 FM — Cody, Powell, Lovell, Basin, Clark, Red Lodge

KWOR 1340 AM / 104.7 FM — Worland, Thermopolis, Ten Sleep

KREO 93.5 FM — Sweetwater and Sublette Counties

KGOS 1490 AM — Goshen County

KERM 98.3 FM — Goshen County

Check with individual radio stations for airtime of the newscasts.