Wyoming
Cowboy State Daily Video News: Friday, July 19, 2024
It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming, for Friday, July 19th. I’m Wendy Corr, bringing you headlines from the Cowboy State Daily newsroom – brought to you by Wyoming Senior Olympics, reminding you that this year’s Summer Olympics start July 31st in Cheyenne – and volunteers are needed! Become a volunteer today at Wyoming senior Olympics dot org.
U.S. Sen. John Barrasso chased down and confronted the head of the Secret Service during the Republican National Convention on Wednesday, demanding answers to security breakdowns that allowed an assassination attempt on former President Trump’s life during a political rally this weekend.
Politics reporter Leo Wolfson reports that Wyoming’s senior senator was uncharacteristically direct with Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle.
“Wyoming Senator John Barrasso is not known for being the most temperamental person in Congress by any stretch of the imagination. He’s usually very friendly even when he’s criticizing people… But this was not the John Barrasso that we saw on Wednesday night at the Republican National Convention. Him and Marsha Blackburn, the Republican from Tennessee, really kind of cornered the head of the Secret Service, Cheatle, and Barrasso basically started yelling point blank at her as she started to walk away from the senators and wouldn’t really address their concerns directly.”
The Department of Homeland Security has opened a second investigation into the U.S. Secret Service for its handling of the attempted assassination.
Read the full story HERE.
A large male grizzly bear that’s been smashing house windows, breaking into vehicles and raising Hell in the tiny Yellowstone gateway town of Gardiner, Montana, may have been killed by wildlife agents on Thursday.
Although the bear’s fate remained uncertain that afternoon, the consensus among locals who spoke with outdoors reporter Mark Heinz was that its behavior escalated to an unsafe point where it likely had to be put down.
“I talked to a lady… she was away from her home and got a text message from her neighbor. ‘Hey, the bear’s trying to break into your house, you better come home.’ So lady races home and she finds the bear hanging halfway in one of her windows. And so what she does is, she drives her car at it. That’s how she scared the bear away…there’s been stuff like this happening left and right with this particular bear.”
The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks was not able to confirm the bear’s death as of press time, but one local with knowledge of the situation told Heinz that the bear was put down Thursday morning.
Read the full story HERE.
Nuclear technology innovator BWX Technologies agreed to work with the Wyoming Energy Authority to evaluate requirements on where to build a potential nuclear fuel factory in Wyoming.
Energy reporter Pat Maio Maio reports that hundreds of millions of dollars could be needed to build the kind of nuclear fuel fabrication factory necessary to power the commercial micro nuclear reactors being designed by BWX Technologies and others. “They’re gonna look at different sites, what makes sense, they’ll look at engineering costs, they’ll look at plant cost to build this thing… this is a big deal in the sense that we have this mining rush going on in the uranium industry… a new factory could run hundreds of millions of dollars in investment in the state of Wyoming.”
Maio spoke to some of the state’s nuclear insiders, who have been discussing for months whether the state has a shot at getting involved in a new business line in the US that could provide a potential source of fuel to compete alongside coal.
Read the full story HERE.
As voices and momentum urging President Joe Biden to end his reelection campaign grow, Wyoming Democrats say they understand the desire of many voters for a younger candidate but worry about the party’s chances of making a candidate switch so close to the election.
Politics reporter Leo Wolfson spoke to several members of the state Democratic party, whose opinions were mixed.
“Wyoming Democratic Party Chairman Joe Barbuto is fully behind Biden and said he totally supports him staying in the race… he sees no reason to walk away from them now. Cheyenne resident Marcy Kindred feels pretty much the opposite… she believes the party as a whole has abandoned rural America and she thinks that the Wyoming Democratic Party could really take a stand by distancing itself from the President at this time.”
An AP poll released on Wednesday showed that nearly two-thirds of Democrats want Biden to withdraw from the race.
Read the full story HERE.
Stay 25 yards away from bison in Yellowstone National Park. That’s the rule the National Park Service posts everywhere and so many tourists ignore.
But what happens when a bison decides to close the distance and get up close and personal? That’s what happened in the park earlier this month, according to Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi.
“A bison had just lost a rut and was angry and aggressive and charging. And it just decided to single out a family that was following the rules and enjoying their time in Yellowstone… and they acted in the best way they could. They tried to put a buffer between themselves and the bison… they weren’t being idiots in this case… that’s just the reality of Yellowstone National Park. It’s a wild environment and wild things can happen and sometimes the animals can be the instigators.”
The video was posted on the Yellowstone National Park: Invasion of the Idiots Facebook page. But the page’s owner, Jen Mignard, defended the afflicted family. She said they were lucky, in a bad situation that was out of their control.
Read the full story HERE.
The average American driver drives about 14,000 miles every year. That’s a lot of vehicle mileage – adding up to about 3.2 trillion miles per year.
But as Cowboy State Daily contributor Aaron Turpen discovered, the average Wyoming driver drives almost twice that.
“By the Federal Highway Administration’s numbers, people in Wyoming drive twice as much as the national average. It doesn’t surprise me terribly. But I was surprised also to see what other states were not on that list. None of our neighbors are on that list. They’re all pretty much average. So it’s just Wyoming, and then the next best one is a southern state, not even related to us.”
The next-closest state to Wyoming for most miles driven per driver is Mississippi at almost 20,000 per year. Americans collectively drive more miles than has been covered in all of NASA’s space exploration to date – even including Voyager.
Read the full story HERE.
Wild critters in Wyoming’s backcountry aren’t fond of any noise made by humans, but chatty hikers and mountain bikers might bother them the most.
Outdoors reporter Mark Heinz reviewed a recently-published study conducted in Wyoming’s Bridger-Teton National Forest that identified the effects of human noises on wildlife.
“They made recordings of recreational activities, like people driving ATVs, or groups of people hiking… they took speakers with these recordings, and they posted them at different sites in the middle of nowhere in the Bridger Teton National Forest… And then they have video of the animals’ reactions… They found actually, that elk and black bears were the most sensitive to the sound…. the lady sent me a really cool video of this black bear who’s kind of lumbering along, and then the sound kicks in, and I mean, he does a 180 and just hauls butt into the trees.”
The study hasn’t included grizzlies so far, but the group is continuing research and hopes to capture some footage of grizzlies’ reactions.
Read the full story HERE.
A Gillette woman was arrested for felony drug possession after police found her 60-year-old roommate dead next to an open safe with methamphetamines inside.
Micki Waldner faces one charge of felony possession of methamphetamine, and three misdemeanor charges of cocaine and marijuana possession and drug use. That’s according to crime and courts reporter Clair McFarland.
“It was actually the landlord that summoned police to the apartment in Gillette where they found the decedent half on-half off his bed next to an open safe containing methamphetamine and marijuana. According to the court documents. Now, Wallner was nearby in another room, she said she lived there, and said she had wiped some cocaine off the table earlier ahead of officers’ arrival because she was afraid.”
As of Thursday, the Campbell County Coroner had arranged an autopsy for Woods, but had not yet received toxicology results.
Read the full story HERE.
Despite the sweltering heatwave that has smothered Wyoming in record-breaking temperatures, there’s still snow and ice at some of the highest points in the Snowy Range in Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest.
That’s because – as Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports – there’s a reason they call it the Snowy Range.
“We’re too far south and not high enough up for snow to persist year round in large quantities. But there are small pockets where glaciers in the snowy range do exist, mostly because of the way they’re shaded and what side of the slope that they’re facing… And it’s not unusual to have even entire roads blocked by snow and ice in early and mid July… But Don Day, Cowboy State daily meteorologist, guaranteed that that snow and ice won’t be there by the time we reach the end of July.”
Long-range forecasts from the National Weather Service have anticipated above-average and possibly more record-breaking temperatures throughout Wyoming for this four-week period.
Read the full story HERE.
Casper police officers helped capture a 14-year-old suspect charged in a Denver murder, authorities say.
Steven Marquez had been on the run for a week after the July 10th killing of Todd Kidd, according to crime and courts reporter Clair McFarland.
“Everyone was a little tight lipped about exactly what role Casper Police Department played in the suspects arrest. But it’s clear that he was arrested in Casper after a week on the run from allegedly killing an adult male outside a bar in Denver. The man, Todd Kidd, was said to have intervened in a disturbance at a bar.”
Police have not released a motive for the killing of Kidd, also of Denver. Investigators said they are not releasing Marquez’s booking photo or arrest affidavit because he is a juvenile.
Read the full story HERE.
And that’s today’s news! For a deeper dive into the people and issues that affect Wyoming, check out The Roundup, conversations with the most interesting people in the Cowboy State. A new episode drops tomorrow, when I have a conversation with explorer, National Geographic correspondent and keynote speaker Mark Jenkins. You can find the link on our website, on our YouTube Channel, and wherever you get your podcasts. And of course, you’ll find it in our FREE daily newsletter!
Thanks for tuning in – 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.
Much of Wyoming outside of Yellowstone and Grand Teton also struggles with emergency response time.
By Katie Klingsporn, WyoFile
Wyoming’s U.S. Sen. John Barrasso is pushing legislation to upgrade emergency communications in national parks — a step he says would improve responses in far-flung areas of parks like Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks.
“This bill improves the speed and accuracy of emergency responders in locating and assisting callers in need of emergency assistance,” Barrasso told members of the National Parks Subcommittee last week during a hearing on the bill. “These moments make a difference between visitors being able to receive quick care and continue their trip or facing more serious medical complications.”
The legislation directs the U.S. Department of the Interior to develop a plan to upgrade National Park Service 911 call centers with next-generation 911 technology.
Among other things, these upgrades would enable them to receive text messages, images and videos in addition to phone calls, enhancing their ability to respond to emergencies or rescues in the parks.
Each year, rangers and emergency services respond to a wide range of calls — from lost hikers to car accidents and grizzly maulings — in the Wyoming parks’ combined 2.5 million acres.
Outside park boundaries, the state’s emergency service providers also face steep challenges, namely achieving financial viability. Many patients, meantime, encounter a lack of uniformity and longer 911 response times in the state’s so-called frontier areas.
Improving the availability of ground ambulance services to respond to 911 calls is a major priority in Wyoming’s recent application for federal Rural Health Transformation Project funds.
Barrasso’s office did not respond to a WyoFile request for comment on the state’s broader EMS challenges by publication time.
The bill from the prominent Wyoming Republican, who serves as Senate Majority Whip, joined a slate of federal proposals the subcommittee considered last week. With other bills related to the official name of North America’s highest mountain, an extra park fee charged to international visitors, the health of a wild horse herd and the use of off-highway vehicles in Capitol Reef National Park, Barrasso’s “Making Parks Safer Act” was among the least controversial.
What’s in it
Barrasso brought the bipartisan act along with Sens. Angus King (I-Maine), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) and John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.).
The bill would equip national park 911 call centers with technological upgrades that would improve and streamline responses, Barrasso said. He noted that hundreds of millions of visitors stream into America’s national parks annually. That includes more than 8 million recreation visits to Wyoming’s national parks in 2024.
“Folks travel from across the world to enjoy the great American outdoors, and for many families, these memories last a lifetime,” he testified. “This is a bipartisan bill that ensures visitors who may need assistance can be reached in an accurate and timely manner.”
The Park Service supports Barrasso’s bill, Mike Caldwell, the agency’s associate director of park planning, facilities and lands, said during the hearing. It’s among several proposals that are “consistent with executive order 14314, ‘Making America Beautiful Again by Improving our National Parks,’” Caldwell said.
“These improvements are largely invisible to visitors, so they strengthen the emergency response without deterring the park’s natural beauty or history,” he said.
Other park issues
National parks have been a topic of contention since President Donald Trump included them in his DOGE efforts in early 2025. Since then, efforts to sell off federal land and strip park materials of historical information that casts a negative light on the country, along with a 43-day government shutdown, have continued to fuel debate over the proper management of America’s parks.
Several of these changes and issues came up during the recent National Parks Subcommittee hearing.
Among them was the recent announcement that resident fee-free dates will change in 2026. Martin Luther King Day and Juneteenth will no longer be included in those days, but visitors won’t have to pay fees on new dates: Flag Day on June 14, which is Trump’s birthday and Oct. 27, Theodore Roosevelt’s birthday.
Conservation organizations and others decried those changes as regressive.
At the hearing, Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM), assured the room that “when this president is in the past, Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth will not only have fee-free national park admission, they will occupy, again, incredible places of pride in our nation’s history.”
Improvements such as the new fee structure “put American families first,” according to the Department of the Interior. “These policies ensure that U.S. taxpayers, who already support the National Park System, continue to enjoy affordable access, while international visitors contribute their fair share to maintaining and improving our parks for future generations,” Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum said in an announcement.
WyoFile is an independent nonprofit news organization focused on Wyoming people, places and policy.
Wyoming
Evacuations spread from fires in South Dakota, Wyoming due to strong winds from coast-to-coast storm
CLIMATE TECH: As wildfires grow stronger, faster, and more expensive, a California-based startup is taking a high-tech approach to fight these fires using autonomous drones designed to extinguish flames before they turn deadly. Founder & CEO Stuart Landesberg joins FOX Weather to discuss Seneca’s firefighting drones.
Large, fast-moving fires are causing evacuations in South Dakota and Wyoming due to the impacts of a coast-to-coast storm.
The FOX Forecast Center said winds have been gusting up to 70 mph in the Pennington County, South Dakota area, which has caused the wildfire to spread rapidly.
COAST-TO-COAST STORM CAUSES TRAVEL ISSUES DUE TO HURRICANE-FORCE WINDS, HEAVY RAIN ACROSS NORTHWEST
The blaze, known as the Greyhound Fire, is approximately 200 acres in size. The fire is burning two to three miles south of Keystone and is moving east, according to the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office.
The Greyhound Fire in South Dakota spans 200 acres.
(FOX Weather / FOX Weather)
Highway 40 and Playhouse Road are closed as crews work to contain the fire.
People living along the highway between Playhouse Road and Rushmore Ranch Road have been evacuated, officials said.
TWO KIDS WAITING FOR THE BUS CRITICALLY INJURED DUE TO STRONG WINDS IN IDAHO
Crews are asking anyone in an evacuation zone to leave the area. Officials are advising people in the area to check the Pennington County Public Safety Hub.
A grass fire has caused evacuations in the Winchester Hills section of Cheyenne, Wyoming.
(FOX Weather / FOX Weather)
People in the Winchester Hills area of Cheyenne, Wyoming, have also been evacuated due to a grass fire.
The FOX Forecast Center said winds are gusting up to 75 mph in the area.
The National Weather Service has issued a Fire Warning and says there is a shelter at South High School for evacuated residents.
Check for updates on this developing story.
The University of Wyoming filed a lawsuit this week seeking $2.5 million from an energy company it partnered with to research enhanced oil recovery.
The university in 2024 signed a contract with Houston-based ACU Energy to advance research at the university’s Center of Innovation for Flow Through Porous Media, according to the university’s complaint filed Monday in Wyoming’s U.S. District Court. ACU Energy agreed to pay the university $15 million over the six-year research period. The company, according to the complaint, was to pay the university $2.5 million annually with two payments each year.
While the university kept up its end of the bargain — by assembling a research team, training research members and incurring costs to modify laboratory space — ACU Energy “failed to pay the University even a cent owed under the Agreement, leaving $2,500,000 outstanding in unpaid invoices,” the complaint alleges.
ACU Energy did not respond to a WyoFile request for comment before publication.
The company notified the university in February that it was terminating the contract, and the university notified ACU Energy in May of its breach of contract, according to court filings. The university asked the court for a jury trial.
Enhanced oil recovery refers to methods used to squeeze more crude from reservoirs that have already been tapped for primary production, extending the life of an oilfield.
The university commonly accepts money from private businesses in return for lending resources and expertise to advance research. The Center of Innovation for Flow Through Porous Media is part of the university’s Research Centers of Excellence in the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences.
The Center of Innovation for Flow Through Porous Media, led by Mohammad Piri, a professor of petroleum engineering, bills itself as “the most advanced oil and gas research facility in the world.” The center conducts research at the university’s High Bay Research facility, which “is funded by $37.2 million in state dollars and $16.3 million in private contributions, with an additional $9.2 million in private gifts for research equipment,” according to the center’s website.
The center has received donations from oil industry heavyweights like ExxonMobil, Halliburton and Baker Hughes.
Piri was tapped to serve as “principal investigator” for the UW-ACU Energy partnership, according to the university’s complaint. As of press time, ACU Energy had not filed a response to the lawsuit.
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