Wyoming
Cowboy State Daily Video News: Friday, July 26, 2024
It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming, for Friday, July 26th. 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.
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The body of a man found wrapped in a tarp and left at the Mirror Lake Recreation Area in Albany County, Wyoming, in early July has been identified as a 56-year-old Colorado man whose death is being investigated as a homicide.
Cowboy State Daily’s Jen Kocher reports that the former “John Doe” who was found with no identification has been identified as James Bitner of Blackhawk, Colorado.
“Law enforcement are being very tight lipped in this case. And that’s not uncommon, but it’s very tight lipped. And I do know, there weren’t any details that either the coroner or sheriff would share about this case at all, except about how the body was identified, and that was through his fingerprints. I will tell you, there’s a lot going on here in terms of the agencies involved. They have Wyoming State Police, Albany County Sheriff, and they also have three agencies in Colorado, including their state police.”
The discovery of Bitner’s body over the Fourth of July weekend shut down the popular Snow Range picnic and fishing site near the base of Medicine Bow Peak for two days as law enforcement investigated the scene.
Read the full story HERE.
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A campaign organization run by former Wyoming congresswoman Liz Cheney has been actively paying into and receiving donations through a Democratic fundraising platform this year.
Cowboy State Daily’s Leo Wolfson reports that the mission of her group, named “Our Great Task,” is to unite Republicans, Democrats and Independents in a combined effort to ensure that, quote, “Donald Trump and those who have enabled him are defeated.”
“Our Great TAsk has been utilizing a Democrat fundraising platform called Act Blue… Act Blue basically acts as kind of an intermediate, like middleman to allow people to kind of donate to her group and other groups through them… what’s interesting, though, is Act Blue is really solely dedicated to the Democratic campaigns.”
Cheney was Wyoming’s congresswoman from 2017-2023, rising to the No. 3 position in the Republican caucus, before losing that role due to her opposition of Trump.
Read the full story HERE.
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A Utah man who worked as a concessionaire employee in Yellowstone National Park was sentenced Tuesday to five years’ probation for making threats one day after a fatal shootout in the same park.
Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that 55-year-old Robert Sherman of Holladay, Utah, was overheard making threatening statements referencing another mass shooting at the Roosevelt area of the Park, the day after a Xanterra employee was shot and killed in Canyon Village.
“This case lasted … less than two weeks… this is only like a disturbance charge, it’s a misdemeanor. I’m not going to speak for the prosecutors or for Congress in making these federal laws, but I think in America, people tend to be cautious about prosecuting speech, even if it does take the form of a threat, which is not constitutionally protected.”
Sherman was also sentenced to 14 days in jail, but received credit for the 14 days he spent in jail during his prosecution.
Read the full story HERE.
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Two Rock Springs Republican legislators are suing the fundraising arm of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, over election mailers that claim that the two Republicans want former President Donald Trump off Cowboy State ballots.
Cody Wylie and J.T. Larson say the claims are deliberately false and meant to mislead, according to politics reporter Leo Wolfson.
“This was in reference to a budget amendment that was brought last session to basically restrict Secretary of State Chuck Gray from filing lawsuits with state money, that came in response to an amicus brief that he filed against the Colorado Supreme Court, when they decided to keep Trump off the election ballots in that state… They say that the mailers were made purposely false, knowingly false, and they want a court injunction to stop their production and to possibly get defamation fees.”
Wylie and Larson said the accusations extend past honest debate about votes, and drift into the realm of slander. Neither has ever taken a direct vote on whether to keep Trump on or off any ballot.
Read the full story HERE.
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Arch Resources Inc. reported Thursday that thermal coal shipped from Wyoming’s energy-rich Powder River Basin faltered again in the second quarter of 2024, but is expected to rebound in the second half of the year.
However, energy reporter Pat Maio writes that the company is already foreshadowing the closure of its once-mighty coal mining operations.
“There’s also filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission… there was notation also that they’re moving forward with closure of the Black Thunder and Coal Creek mines, and that they’ve almost caught up all of the payment of the reclamation costs, you know, after they leave… they’re just reaffirming that they’re going to be doing that. That’s a big deal. Once the world’s mightiest and biggest coal mine about to close.”
While Arch hasn’t said what its timeline is for shuttering its Wyoming mines, it has repeatedly maintained a corporate stance that it wants to be out of the thermal coal business.
Read the full story HERE.
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And a big draw for visitors to Cheyenne during Frontier Days is the world’s largest collection of operable old-time wagons.
Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean spoke to a couple of very experienced wagon drivers – Sam Gill and Mike Stein have both driven teams of horses for the famous “Yellowstone” prequel television series “1883,” but they said they would not miss the Cheyenne Frontier Days parade.
“Mike and Sam have been coming up from Texas for eight and 11 years respectively, to drive a team of horses in the Cheyenne Frontier Days Parade. These guys ride in events all across the country, but they make a point of coming to Cheyenne Frontier Days. And the reason is because the parade just has the most prestigious carriage collection in the world… There’s really nothing like it for these guys who enjoy, you know, driving teams of horses and buggies. And there’s actually a waiting list to be part of the team that pulls these wagons.”
Gill’s team pulled an actual fire station wagon during the parade Thursday, complete with fire hoses in the back, while Stein pulled an oil tank wagon that was once used to deliver heating oil to homes in the Cheyenne area.
Read the full story HERE.
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President Joe Biden’s speech on Wednesday night explaining to America why he halted his reelection bid did little to ease concerns felt by Wyoming’s congressional delegation about the president’s ability to continue as the nation’s leader through the end of his term.
Politics reporter Leo Wolfson spoke to Representative Harriet Hageman, who told him that she believed Biden’s entire speech to be a lie.
“What she really wanted to hear from Biden was, ‘I’m resigning from the presidency.’ She says that he is too feeble to continue holding the office of president. And that just the fact that he’s dropping out shows… if he’s too feeble to be a candidate, he’s too feeble to be a president.”
Biden is far from the first president to not seek reelection while continuing to serve his term in office. Former President Lyndon Johnson surprised the nation in March 1968 when he announced he would not seek reelection.
Read the full story HERE.
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The death of a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer in Casper two months ago continues to complicate the Casper/Natrona County International Airport’s international service and trade zone opportunities.
Since the death of “Dale” Leatham, customs clearances have been slowed at the state’s only international airport – and Cowboy State Daily’s Dale Killingbeck reports that a federal foreign trade zone application remains on hold.
“They’re not seeing as many flights landing to clear at the airport. And what that means is there’s possibly a little bit of loss of revenue, because the airport gets 30 cents per gallon of aviation fuel on that. But even more importantly, is that a couple of businesses in Casper… have Foreign Trade Zones that they’re trying to set up. And so not having that customs officer in place is impacting kind of the timeline on that.”
U.S. Customs is aware of the importance of putting an officer in place, but it may be two months before the position is filled.
Read the full story HERE.
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News that Park County won a much-coveted $10 million Wyoming shooting complex has some wondering if it makes sense to build it in a more remote area in the northwest corner of Wyoming, rather than a more central location.
But Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports that backers of the plan remain confident that putting it near Cody will draw plenty of competitive shooters, firearms-related companies and big money to the Cowboy State.
“Cody already gets upwards of a million people a year coming from elsewhere to Cody… this will just give them one more reason to come to Cody and to Wyoming. And then the other argument is there are things there that will keep them there. Yellowstone is right there. Of course a Firearms Museum will be a huge draw for these folks, that’s right there.”
If all goes as planned, the Legislature will release the money and greenlight the project in Park County during its 2025 session.
Read the full story HERE.
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And the National Weather Service office in Cheyenne is calling for “monsoon moisture” in southeastern Wyoming on Friday and Saturday, but it’ll take a lot more than a monsoon to stop the momentum of Cheyenne Frontier Days.
Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that there have been several wet and dry years during Cheyenne Frontier Days. But it’s never been enough to stop the fun.
“They’re prepared to deal with the rain. I mean, obviously, you don’t want a muddy arena when you have your animal athletes, as I heard them called, in there, because that can be hazardous. But the teams are ready. They’ve been out there with bulldozers before just taking off all the water and all the mud to get the arena ready. They don’t play around because they want everything to keep going.”
Anyone with CFD tickets for Friday and Saturday might want to bring a poncho to the rodeo. Yet, even if there are a few weather-related delays, the show will go on.
Read the full story HERE.
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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 Gunwerks founder Aaron Davidson. 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.
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
KJAX 93.5 FM — Jackson
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
KERM 98.3 FM — Goshen County
Check with individual radio stations for airtime of the newscasts.
Wyoming
Wyoming power plant booming with suspected UFO, drone sightings — but still no answers after over a year
Fleets of drones and suspected UFOs have been spotted hovering over a Wyoming power plant for more than a year, while a local sheriff’s department is still searching for clues.
Officials with the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office recorded scores of beaming, drone-like objects circling around the Red Desert and Jim Bridger Power Plant in Rock Springs over the last 13 months — though they didn’t specify how many, the Cowboy State Daily reported.
Sheriff John Grossnickle was one of the first to witness the spectacles, and last saw the mind-boggling formation on Dec. 12, his spokesperson Jason Mower told the outlet.
The fleets periodically congregate over the power plant in coordinated formations, Mower claimed.
The sheriff’s office hasn’t been able to recover any of the suspected UFOs, telling the outlet they’re too high to shoot down.
The law enforcement outpost’s exhaustive efforts to get to the truth haven’t yielded any results, even after Grossnickle enlisted help from Wyoming US Rep. Harriet Hageman — who Mower claimed saw the formation during a trip to the power plant.
Hageman could not be reached for comment.
“We’ve worked with everybody. We’ve done everything we can to figure out what they are, and nobody wants to give us any answers,” Mower said, according to the outlet.
At first, spooked locals bombarded the sheriff’s office with calls about the confounding aerial formations. Now, though, Mower said that people seem to have accepted it as “the new normal.”
Mower noted that the objects, which he interchangeably referred to as “drones” and “unidentified flying objects,” have yet to pose a danger to the public or cause any damage to the power plant itself.
“It’s like this phenomenon that continues to happen, but it’s not causing any, you know, issues that we have to deal with — other than the presence of them,” he told the outlet.
The spokesperson promised the sheriff’s office would “certainly act accordingly” if the drones pose an imminent harm.
Meanwhile, Niobrara County Sheriff Randy Starkey told the Cowboy State Daily that residents of his community also reported mystery drone sightings over Lance Creek — more than 300 miles from the Jim Bridger Power Plant — starting in late October 2024 and ending in early March.
Starkey said he’s “just glad they’re gone,” according to the outlet.
Drone sightings captured the nation’s attention last year when they were causing hysteria in sightings over New Jersey.
Just days into his second term, President Trump had to clarify that the drones were authorized by the Federal Aviation Administration to quell worries that they posed a national security threat.
Still, the public wasn’t convinced, but the mystery slowly faded as the sightings plummeted.
In October, though, an anonymous source with an unnamed military contractor told The Post that their company was responsible for the hysteria.
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.
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