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 Tuesday, April 23rd. 

Wyoming’s Grizzly 399 is the most famous bear on the planet and has the world on edge each spring, wondering if and when she’ll emerge from hibernation — and she’s done it again.

Grizzly 399 was spotted late Sunday with her huge cub in tow, according to outdoors reporter Mark Heinz.

“This is remarkable. She is 28 years old, which is quite old for a grizzly, especially for a grizzly with a cub. But, you know, the cub, Spirit, has about a year before he’s ready to strike out on his own, and people seem pretty convinced that she seems to be healthy enough that she’s gonna live at least long enough to get that cub raise to maturity.” 

Grizzly 399 gained fame and huge social media followings through her habit of taking her cubs to highly visible areas near roadsides in Grand Teton National Park.

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Before the story of a tormented wolf story flashed viral a few weeks ago — the one where a local man entered a local bar with a barely breathing wolf with its muzzle taped shut to show off how he had dropped it with a snowmobile — Daniel, Wyoming, was a sleepy place to get a hot dog and beer in the local bar. 

Now it is dealing with international outrage, reports Cowboy State Daily’s Pat Maio, who visited the sleepy Sublette County town over the weekend.

“The purpose of my story was not to look at the the incident of this ugly event. My purpose was to paint a picture of what is Daniel, what is what is here. And, and the impression I got is that it’s a wonderful community. People love it… So yeah, the people up here are really torn. They’re, they’re upset. It’s a raw nerve, the whole issue and that this wolf incident has touched you and I feel for the people. There’s a lot of really super, super nice people, but they’re, they’re upset. They’re hurt. You know, they want it all to go away.” 

Many wouldn’t speak to the press on the record, and are angry that they are having to defend the reputation of the Upper Green River Valley. He said the people who live in the area feel divided over the issue.

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A Pinedale railroad engineer is suing Union Pacific, claiming he was hurt — maybe permanently — when an artificial intelligence-powered train driver malfunctioned, causing a train wreck.

Now in a civil complaint filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for Wyoming, 51-year-old Andrew Kirol is accusing the railroad of negligence, and of violating the federal Locomotive Inspection Act, according to crime and courts reporter Clair McFarland.

“he’s saying that he was forced under threat of discipline to man, this locomotive were at the very least the center locomotive in the train was powered by a computer that’s supposed to learn to navigate terrain by AI. But the the middle locomotive when faced with a hill decided to speed up whereas the front locomotive decided to slow down and he’s alleging that’s no competent human locomotive operator would have done it that way. And so the, the middle part of the train rear ended him he was in the front locomotive, he alleges that he was knocked around and has suffered ongoing injuries.”

The Union Pacific Railroad told Cowboy State Daily in response to a Monday request for comment that it will review this lawsuit once officially served with it.

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For Wyoming hunters, the good news is that the acquisition of a $2.3 million piece of the Mule Creek Ranch could get them better access to an area of Albany County teeming with elk.

The not-so-good news is that it’s about two hours from anywhere, in the far-flung northern reaches of the county. It’s a stretch of mind-boggling vastness that outdoors reporter Mark Heinz says locals call “Little Siberia.”

“It’s really one of the most remote places in Wyoming. People usually don’t think of Albany County as being that all remote, but you get North of Rock River and there’s really a whole lot enough and for quite a long ways… And the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission last week they went ahead and approved the sale of purchasing some land – the Rocky Mountain Elk foundation is going to sell land, they’re going to sell about half of it to the game and fish and half to private landowner. The private landowner is going to keep easements open for elk hunting.” 

The acquisition should create a few more close-to-the road hunting opportunities for elderly hunters or those with mobility challenges, but the vast majority of it will be remote country.

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And folks in Sublette County don’t give a rat’s whisker about what that back-East groundhog has to say about the changing of the season, or even Wyoming’s prognosticating prairie dog Lander Lil.

That’s because people in the Pinedale area have Bob. Spring hasn’t arrived until Bob the barrel has reached the shores of Fremont Lake, according to Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi.

“It’s a long standing tradition that goes back to at least the 1980s. And it’s just a fun way for the pintail lions to earn a few more bucks for their Sublette county initiatives. … Every year after their annual fishing derby, they place this yellow barrel on the ice. And it just sits there until the ice melts, and eventually the barrel is going to drop through the ice and make its way, float to shore. And so they sell tickets and the person who guesses the correct date and the closest time wins $500.”

For now, Bob continues to sit patiently on the ice in the middle of the Lake. But once the ice has melted enough to allow the bright yellow steel barrel to finally float to shore, Bob’s work is done for another 11 months.

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.