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 Wednesday, April 24th. 

Wyoming homeowners are reporting skyrocketing insurance premiums that have doubled or tripled in the last year. 

Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports that other homeowners are getting dropped by companies altogether, for reasons completely out of their control.

“the insurance industry says what’s happening here is just really a perfect storm. Inflation has driven up costs for everything from lumber to labor, when it comes to rebuilding these homes. And then… On top of that, you’ve had all these wildfires, and it’s not just Mountain State, Texas had that big million and a half acre fire in the prairie, Colorado had a big wildfire. California, you know, of course, lots of big losses there. And so all of these things, have insurers really taking a second look at what their risks are, where their risks are located, and how they can better spread that around so that they can afford to pay out the claims when they come.”

As a result of double and triple price spikes, some states are looking at capping insurance rates, and possibly even requiring policies be written so insurers can’t just drop customers in areas they don’t want to cover any more.

The first enrolled Northern Arapaho officer hired by the Riverton Police Department is suing the department alleging racial discrimination, retaliation and the perpetuation of a hostile workplace.

Former RPD Detective Billy Whiteplume’s civil complaint was filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for Wyoming, according to Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland.

“There have been Native American officers sworn in Riverton Police Department before But Billy Whiteplume is the first enrolled Northern Arapaho tribal member to sign on there. So, he resigned here several months ago, but he attributes that decision to what he calls a hostile work environment, racial discrimination and retaliation for his disagreement with disciplinary actions against him.”

Whiteplume is asking for a jury trial, judgment in his favor and monetary compensation for damages stemming from his resignation.

Natrona County School District 1 board members got an earful from passionate parents and residents about how the district is failing students who are bullied, attempt suicide and refuse to go to school out of fear.

Cowboy State Daily’s Dale Killingbeck reports that several people insisted that school district policies to prevent bullying, suicide and to deal with crises such as the recent stabbing of a 14-year-old, are not working.

“One woman spoke about terror, about sending her child back to school, the same school where Bobby my hair went. Another parent who lives next to that school said she sees fights in the alley. There another parent at different schools, they expressed a lot of concern about how policies in the school district are not working regarding suicide, a woman’s spoke about her sister, who was bullied in the school district that committed suicide at 15. So there was just a lot of different comments and concerns that the school district needs to really buckle down and look at their policies and and do something that’s going to be effective to help students feel safe in the school district.”

One woman who lives across from Dean Morgan Middle School has sent videos to school officials of children being beaten up behind her house — often in the alleys after school or during lunchtime.

There’s a new spinoff on exploiting Wyoming’s trust laws that give business entities some of the nation’s strongest privacy rules, and this time it comes with a mix of limited liability corporation filing laws.

Fremont County Assessor Tara Berg told Cowboy State Daily’s Leo Wolfson that  she’s been investigating an influx of out-of-state businesses filing with the state as LLCs to addresses in her county. 

“After doing some investigation, she found that a number of these out of state businesses that are filing with often are pretty much always filing with third party registration services are using addresses, unbeknownst to the actual owners of the properties that belong to these addresses, and are just using it basically as a shield. So that they can register in Wyoming, which has a variety of reasons for that as well. This is definitely illegal, what she’s been seeing, but it’s difficult to track. Because a lot of these people that own these addresses often don’t know that this is going on.” 

Wyoming has some of the most lenient and private corporate business filing laws in the country, and some of the lowest associated fees for LLCs.

No one likes a story where a Girl Scout doesn’t win a prize for selling cookies.

But that’s just what nearly happened when a by-the-book municipal code officer in Pinedale slapped a Girl Scout and her mom hundreds of dollars in fines for selling cookies.

Cowboy State Daily’s Pat Maio reports that 13 year old Emily McCarroll and her mom found themselves fighting City Hall because mom parked in her parents’ driveway so that Emily could sell cookies.

“the mom parked her car in a driveway next, in between the post office and the the main park there the veterans park. That driveway is owned by her mommy and daddy. And the Girl Scout her daughter was selling cookies in front of the car. Well, three straight days they did this. At the end of three straight days. The code enforcement officer in Pineville said that she had warned them not to park there because she had not gotten permission from the owner of the driveway, which was her mommy and daddy remember? Yeah. So she was slapped the $400 in fines all together.” 

Mom’s advice? Beware of the spot where you sell Girl Scout Cookies. It could end up costing $658 in legal bills and having to pay a citation for violating city code.

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.