It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming, for Tuesday, August 13th. I’m Wendy Corr, bringing you headlines from the Cowboy State Daily newsroom – brought to you by Outrider PAC. Did you know that according to a new survey, 79% of Wyoming Voters support Freedom in Education? Learn more about Educational Savings Accounts in Wyoming at OutriderPAC.com

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An avalanche of political mailers have been flooding mailboxes around the state.

While there’s not one side that has done everything perfectly or another that has done everything wrong, Cowboy State Daily’s Leo Wolfson says some politicians are more concerned about the trend than others.

“Former House Speaker Tom Lubnau… believes that it’s very concerning trend, that a lot of misinformation is being spread and in our current, modern day news ecosystem where people can kind of just going to do echo chambers and listen to whatever news agrees with their preconceived conceptions, that they end up missing out on the real facts of the matter and just kind of go into a skewed type of world.”

However, Wolfson says that everyone he spoke to about the matter agrees that this is the highest volume of political mailers they can remember.

Read the full story HERE.

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Colorado authorities have issued a Senior Alert for a 76-year-old missing Wyoming woman with dementia who was last seen early Monday morning in Colorado Springs.

Martha James, of Rock Springs, has been missing since Saturday late afternoon when she left home in her vehicle. James has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and dementia, and Cowboy State Daily’s Jen Kocher reports that her family is worried she may be lost and not able to find her way home.

“Her dementia has been progressively getting worse over the past several months, so her family, her sister in law and brother, are quite concerned about her, because … she’s been getting lost a bit around town… her credit card was used in Rock Springs on Saturday about 530 so then the next time it was used was in Cheyenne, later that evening, and then again on Saturday in Boulder, Colorado.”

James is traveling in a 2022 Silver Nissan Rogue and thought to be with her two dogs, a tan Chihuahua and a white miniature poodle.

Read the full story HERE.

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Australian-based American Rare Earths Ltd. has restructured its rare earths project in Wyoming as part of a new strategic direction to attract Wall Street investment and accelerate development of its critical ores needed for national security purposes.

With Wyoming becoming ground zero for new development of rare earths deposits, energy reporter Pat Maio says companies are in a race to be the first to start producing. And the new entity, called Wyoming Rare (USA) Inc., is considering moving its headquarters to either Laramie or Cheyenne.

“They’ve restructured the business here in Wyoming, and they’re … formally going to make it like a 100% owned, independent company here in Wyoming, which is going to streamline things for them to essentially raise money, lots of money, like half a billion dollars, at least, money, so they can start accelerating into mining for rare earths.” 

The decision to move the headquarters will be made before the end of the year, as well as rounding out the composition of its board of directors.

Read the full story HERE.

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Secretary of State Chuck Gray wanted to make it clear at Monday evening’s State Building Commission meeting that he hasn’t forgotten about Gov. Mark Gordon’s veto of House Bill 125 during the 2024 legislation session, a bill that would have banned gun-free zones in Wyoming.

The Building Commision met to discuss proposed draft rules that would allow for concealed carry of firearms in the Wyoming Capitol building, something that is currently not allowed, according to politics reporter Leo Wolfson.

“Secretary of State Chuck Gray certainly didn’t miss an opportunity to criticize Governor Mark Gordon for the veto that he made of the bill that would have … prohibited all gun free zones in Wyoming. Gray said that these new rules would never have been necessary if the governor hadn’t vetoed that bill.”  

The draft rules would only allow people with a concealed firearms permit to carry a weapon in the extension hallway area of the Capitol. This would exclude the main Capitol Rotunda and legislative chambers.

Read the full story HERE.

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An 85-year-old homeowner says he shot a home invader Friday night in Riverton after first fighting the intruder back onto his front porch.

Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland went to the home of Wayne Williams, who says in hindsight, he should not have opened the door to the man who was banging on his door at 11 p.m.

“But he says, the guy shoved his way inside, and Wayne had his 380 and he tried to shoot, and it just went, click… he had forgotten to rack one into the chamber… So he pushed him out the door, and they’re tumbling down the front porch steps, 85 year old man with a 20 something man… Wayne ends up on top. He’s trying to get free of the guy’s grasp. And he shoots again. This time he thinks he hit him in the leg.” 

Riverton Police Department representatives declined Monday to comment beyond a preliminary statement they issued Saturday – which says the incident appeared to be a shooting in response to an attempted burglary. 

Read the full story HERE.

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The Perseids, one of the year’s best meteor showers, reaches its peak over Wyoming on Tuesday morning. And stargazers in the Cowboy State have a great spot to see it, according to Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi.

“Historically, the Perseid meteor shower peaks on the evening of August 12 and 13th, but the peak means that’s just when it’s max visibility for meteors. So that’s up to 50 to 100 an hour during the peak, but it’s visible from mid July through the beginning of September… if you want to see the Perseids, according to sources I talked to, you want to get to a high place, in a dark place, get comfortable with it as wide a range of view as possible, and just look upwards and see what you can see.”  

While there’s a month-and-a-half window to see the Perseids, they historically peak Aug. 12 and 13, according to NASA. The peak can be between 50 and 100 meteors every hour.

Read the full story HERE.

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Laramie County Clerk Debra Lee said she believes the Wyoming Republican Party is attempting to “disrupt” the upcoming primary election ahead of Election Day.

Last week, the Wyoming Republican Party filed a lawsuit against Lee for what they claim was an illegitimate test of election tabulators. Politics reporter Leo Wolfson says Lee is calling the complaint an effort to disrupt the current primary election.  

“The lawsuit is frustrated that a equipment test that was performed last week on the voting equipment was not done with the exact procedures that it’s supposed to take place. So the Republican Party lawsuit kind of follows up on a complaint that was already filed by the Laramie County Republican Party. But Lee is standing by the test that she performed.” 

On Monday, the Wyoming GOP put out an email claiming that five other counties had errors similar to Laramie’s in their tests. They also listed six county clerks who they claim are refusing to provide their test results.

Read the full story HERE.

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A Gillette, Wyoming, man accused of slitting his mother’s throat to defend himself from distant attic people has been found sane enough to stand trial.

32 year old Scott Patenaude is scheduled for a Thursday arraignment in Campbell County District Court, according to Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland.

“the case paused so that the authorities could see if he was mentally fit to stand trial. You cannot give a plea in Wyoming unless the court recognizes that you are mentally fit, mentally competent to do so, and after the Wyoming State Hospitals assigned Doctor delivered that report, pad node and his counsel didn’t dispute the finding that he was mentally competent.”

During his police interview, Patenaude reportedly said he had an infected tooth that kept him from sleeping, loud trucks roared along the road and woke him, as did an “intelligent tapping” in the attic.

Read the full story HERE. 

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The state of Wyoming and 16 other coal-producing states are suing to challenge a rule crafted by the Environmental Production Agency that targets “inactive coal ash impoundments.”

The rules were designed by the EPA nearly a decade ago to hold power plants accountable for controlling and cleaning up contamination created by the disposal of coal ash. But Cowboy State Daily’s Pat Maio reports that they could go into effect in November unless they are overturned by a federal appeals court.

“Governor Gordon believes, with his litigation, though, that this is kind of another cost factor, a burden, a regulatory burden, that’s being placed on the coal industry that could limit its production in future years. So that’s why he’s filing this litigation.” 

Coal ash, or coal combustion residuals, is produced whenever coal is burned at coal-fired power plants. These residuals are considered one of the largest types of industrial waste.

Read the full story HERE.

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Wyoming seems to have become aurora central with another spectacular show of celestial lights early Monday morning, which more expected this week.

The geomagnetic storm that manifested as an aurora Monday was the latest generated during the Sun’s 11-year solar maximum, and there’s a good chance of even better displays to come before the end of the year, reports Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi.

“The auroras that manifested over Wyoming Sunday night into Monday morning were part of a severe g4 geomagnetic storm that were the result of coronal mass ejections, or CMEs, generated by sun spots on the surface of the sun. That puts it on par with the solar storm that generated the mid May auroras, which were the best that have been seen in two decades… this was the latest event in a series of what could be several events in August, going into September and October, when we could see spectacular auroras across the skies of Wyoming.” 

The Perseids meteor shower is reaching its annual peak this week — with its best show expected early Tuesday morning — which means meteor fireballs could be seen streaking across the rainbow ribbons of an aurora.

Read the full story HERE.

The San Francisco Giants are one of the hottest teams in baseball. They have started to find their form over the last few weeks, climbing back into the playoff picture in the National League.

The Giants are a long shot in the NL West, as they are nine games behind the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers. But, they have a legitimate shot for a Wild Card spot, as they are only 1.5 games out.

Depending on how things shake out in their series against the Atlanta Braves, San Francisco could enter the weekend with a wild card spot in hand. That is a huge series beginning on Monday night before playing against the Oakland Athletics and Chicago White Sox in must-win games.

If the Giants are going to defeat the Braves, they will need some more stellar performances. One of the players who has stepped up the most during this hot streak is third baseman Matt Chapman.

Chapman has been on fire at the plate in the second half. In 23 games, he has recorded a slash line of .310/.414/.619. He has hit six doubles, one triple and six home runs, scoring 18 times and knocking in 17 runs. The cherry on top; three stolen bases.

His advanced stats are all elite since the All-Star break, as he has been scorching in August. He already has four home runs this month, which ties his high for a single month this season despite there being 19 days remaining.

This hot streak at the plate has Chapman with a season-long slash line of .249/.338/.450 with 19 home runs, 60 RBI and 12 stolen bases. He has an OPS+ of 125 to boot.

Those numbers may not jump off the page, but Chapman is putting together an MVP-caliber campaign. He should be in the conversation for the prestigious award, with his performance at the plate being buoyed by the incredible job he does defensively at third base.

Chapman is currently No. 3 in the NL in WAR, per Baseball-Reference, with a 5.5. The only players ahead of him are Arizona Diamondbacks star Ketel Marte (6.1) and Dodgers sensation Shohei Ohtani (5.8).

Even based on FanGraphs numbers, which differ slightly from Baseball-Reference, Chapman is still comfortably inside the top 10 at No. 5 ahead of games on August 12th. The glovework isn’t going anywhere; if he keeps up his performance at the plate, he will command MVP consideration.

San Francisco remaining in the playoff hunt is also key to his MVP campaign. Chapman could be in line for the most productive season of his career, which voters will take notice of as long as the Giants remain relevant in the playoff race.

The Denver Broncos defeated the Indianapolis Colts on the road, 34-30. It wasn’t a perfect preseason performance, but there were many bright spots in the game that gave Broncos fans hope for this team’s future. 

The with the return of preseason games, Mile High Huddle‘s player grades are back. For the preseason, every player will get a grade.

Typically, only players with a specific snap count get graded, but since the preseason is for evaluation purposes, that requirement will be overlooked temporarily. Let’s dive into the grades to see how each player acquitted himself in Indy, starting with the all-important, uber-scrutinized quarterback position.

Both veteran quarterbacks were solid overall. Stidham had a good command of the offense and dealt with issues beyond his control.

As the first quarterback on the field, Stidham wasn’t aggressive when passing and sometimes seemed to leave yards on the field, while Wilson was a little more aggressive, but his technical issues are still there and were part of the many reasons for his issues with the New York Jets. 

Nix had some excellent moments and some questionable ones. Overall, it was a good showing that should give Broncos fans hope that the team has its quarterback of the future.

While it was a good showing, Nix will need to show more technical consistency and back up his performance against the Green Bay Packers, where he will start the game.

Williams and McLaughlin both had a good game and showed some good running ability. The best play of the veteran running backs was a wheel route catch from McLaughlin.

Badie showed off his speed and quickness on a toss run that he took in for the score. It was a rough game for Perine, though, including a bobbled catch that turned into a Stidham interception. Perine had a limited role in the game and struggled, even when facing second-string players, which doesn’t bode well for his roster chances. 

Estime had a bad fumble, but the rookie showed his power as a runner and how short-yard gains are a given for him. He also showed solid receiving ability out of the backfield, catching all three targets for 13 yards. 

Watson is a quick and explosive player with the ball in his hands. He has made plays as a runner and receiver. He is making a good case to make the roster. 

Burton has a very limited role and likely won’t see the field on offense much. His play on his six snaps in the first game was decent, but the Broncos could use more consistency in the regular season. 

The wide receivers’ showing was great overall. Mims had multiple good plays catching the ball, but the Broncos need him to step up as a blocker. It was noteworthy that the starting trio didn’t include Mims. Sutton, Patrick, and Reynolds were the starting trio, and they brought a blocking ability and demeanor that you don’t get from Mims. 

Sills had a good catch and run, and he, Johnson, and Humphrey did well when tasked with blocking. While Virgil had a great play as a returner that will likely put him squarely in that competition, he wasn’t targeted on offense, and 11 of his 16 snaps were as a run blocker, which he doesn’t do well. Bandy and Dorsett had little to no impact. 

Franklin’s opportunities were limited, with one uncaught target. He will have to continue working on his route running. His lack of blocking will likely always be a limitation. 

There has been a lot of hype around Vele, and there were some moments in the game that showed his promise, but his best plays came from drawing defensive pass interference calls. You want to see the camp practice hype show up in real game action. 

It was a mostly disappointing showing from the tight ends. Trautman was hit-or-miss as a blocker, and Dulcich wasn’t put into the best position as a receiver. The blocking specialist, Adkins, had a rough game and opened the door for Kampmoyer, who did alright as a blocker and showed decent receiving ability.

If it weren’t for an unsecured reception, Krull would’ve ended with the highest grade at the position, as he had a good day as a receiver outside of that play. His blocking leaves a lot to be desired, though. 

Yassmin was decent, but much work must be done to develop him. Since he does not count against the roster due to an international player exception, he should be kept around as a 17th player on the practice squad under the same designation. 

There isn’t much to note of Bolles and McGlinchey. They were what you would come to expect after watching their play last season.

Jacobs and Peart had a great game working as the left tackles. Both created running lanes and push on the ground while holding their own as blockers and not allowing any pressure. Palczewski worked on the right side, at tackle and guard, looking better as a guard than he did as a tackle. 

Crum’s athleticism was on display in multiple reps in pass protection, but his lack of core power and strength was an issue in the running game. 

The starting centers were solid in their limited playing time, but what stood out was that Wattenberg worked quite well as the starting center. It wasn’t perfect, but how he handled his business was that of a starting caliber center. He separated himself from Forsyth, who struggled at center and guard and may be closing in on a battle with Mustipher for a roster spot after Mustipher had a good game. 

Throckmorton should have a leg up on Sherman as the backup guard, as he consistently created push in the running game. Sherman was solid all-around but didn’t have the high moments that  Throckmorton did.  

Jervis was a recent addition to the Broncos, and his appearance was a pleasant surprise. He held his own as a run blocker and in pass protection, though his run blocking didn’t generate much push. 

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Without three of their players, the Broncos needed a lot out of the defensive linemen that did play. Roach had an excellent game, clogging running lanes and creating lanes for others to make a play, which is precisely what he was signed to do.

Jackson and Blackson were solid, with the former showing significant improvement from last preseason. They’re both in competition with Eyioma Uwazurike, who didn’t play, Henningsen, who was decent, and Garcia, who had a rough game. 

The biggest disappointment was Jones, a projected starter, who was shut down almost every rep. Miller played eight snaps and had no impact on the game. 

This was a good showing for the edge room, as they did well from top to bottom, and this was without Nik Bonitto. Browning and Cooper showed consistency and reliability with their play, though it did come on a limited snap count. Incoom took some good steps forward with his development, and Tillman handled the game well. 

Nchami is a versatile player who plays both on and off the ball. He did well in his versatile role. Although special teams play doesn’t get graded, he did extremely well on special teams. Allen played five snaps, registered no stats, and had no impact. 

Elliss is quick and athletic, but he spent multiple pass-rush attempts trying to go through the tackles and failing. He generated good pressure, attacking the outside lane of the tackle and helping create an interception for the defense. His run defense wasn’t a liability, but it wasn’t what you want. 

Singleton is Singleton. He has issues handling specific responsibilities in coverage, but he is quality when working against the run. Barton and Griffith both had some good moments and some bad moments, as they are competing for the starting job next to Singleton. There is a clear gap between Barton and Griffith and the other linebackers. 

Bailey did well on special teams, which doesn’t get graded. His play on defense was not great, and he clearly needs to improve if he wants to make the roster. Mock had a pretty even game, but the Broncos waived him after claiming another defensive back.

It was an excellent game from McMillian, who had a huge play against the run and was sticky in coverage. He entered the game cemented as the starting slot corner, and nothing changed that. 

The Broncos are looking for someone to start opposite Patrick Surtain II, who didn’t play in the game. Levi Wallace is one of them and didn’t play, creating an opening for Moss and Mathis to separate themselves in the battle.

Moss played tight coverage and had some good plays against the run. On the other hand, Mathis had two bad plays that hurt his chances, as he dropped an interception that hit him right in the face and allowed a big catch. 

Taylor and McCallister compete for a roster spot or practice squad spot, and they both put together solid showings. The question for them will be whether they can step up on special teams to potentially replace Smith, who continues to be a liability on the field for the defense. Green played two snaps and got hurt on the second one. 

Abrams-Draine is pushing hard and has shown promising improvements during camp practices. Those improvements showed up on the field, where he was sticky in coverage and even intercepted a two-point conversion attempt. 

Newsome allowed one catch for 18 yards, but he did decently outside that one play. With lower snap counts, one big play could significantly influence the grade overall. 

Key was a great surprise. With Brandon Jones out of the game, he got the start next to Locke. Key handled his responsibilities in coverage and against the run exceptionally well.

Smith also had a good game, mostly in coverage, but did have some solid moments working downhill against the run. Skinner was the opposite of Smith, who did well against the run but had issues in coverage. 

The safety play was decent all around, which was true of Brown. However, his lower snap count and one issue in the run game dropped his grade below the starting point. 

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