Cowboy State Daily Video News: Friday, May 22, 2026

Cowboy State Daily Radio News: Friday, May 29, 2026

It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming for Friday, May 29th. I'm Mac Watson – Just weeks after unveiling a 3,200-acre data center expansion around Cheyenne, Microsoft is adding two more parcels totaling 420 acres. Cowboy State Daily's Renee Jean reports that the move comes amid a deepening debate over data centers, growth, and water. "They're going to add 420 acres to the overall 3,200 acre footprint that they announced in April, so that announcement in April tripled their footprint in Cheyenne. So it's adding on to what was already a pretty massive expansion as far as their data center footprint goes, and so you know, I don't know exactly what they plan to do on those parcels, they were very close-mouthed about that, they wouldn't answer any further questions." The two areas are on opposite sides of Cheyenne, but one of them, a 385-acre parcel, is near the 3,200-acre site, which is not far from Laramie County Community College. Read the full story HERE. [https://cowboystatedaily.com/2026/05/28/weeks-after-unveiling-3-200-acre-data-center-expansion-microsoft-adds-another-420/] – A 25-person team from the ATF is in Cheyenne to investigate the huge fire that burned a four-story apartment building under construction in minutes Tuesday. Cowboy State Daily's Greg Johnson reports that the fire chief says it was "just a matchbox with open lumber, ready to go up at any time." "The fire chief said it's not a secret why it burned so fast, and it was so hot. It was under construction, so a lot of the finishes hadn't been put on, which a lot of those have fire retardants. What's interesting, that this giant, four-story apartment building, they were just at the phase of construction that you said, where they were going to be putting in, you know, the internal fire suppression system. Obviously, that's not happening now, but they said a lot of things went right for this fire to go as fast and as hot as it went." Cheyenne Fire Rescue Chief Andrew Dykshorn told Cowboy State Daily that ATF investigators have been at the scene since Wednesday and "bring the federal assets" to handle a major event like the fire at the Ridge View Apartments and Townhomes in north Cheyenne. Read the full story HERE. [https://cowboystatedaily.com/2026/05/28/a-matchbox-25-man-atf-team-investigating-huge-cheyenne-apartment-fire/] – Nearly two years after the decomposing body of a Cody man was found in a house after a drug bender with a female friend, the woman turned herself in to authorities this week. Cowboy State Daily's Kolby Fedore reports that Brook Messick says she wants to take accountability for her actions. "Brooke Messick remembers a night of drugs and partying during the weekend, right before August 14 in 2024. She was leaving the house when she decided to go back in and check on a friend who was snoring loudly. She tried to wake her friend up; he would not wake up, and she decided to leave without calling the police or saying anything to anyone. Investigators say that loud snoring after you've been using hard drugs like methamphetamine is a telltale sign of a potential overdose.Toxicology reports later revealed that the victim died as a result of bad drugs. The fentanyl and the methamphetamine had methadone in it, and then later they were able to find on the suspect's phone, Google searches, looking up how to inject methadone." Messick is being held in the Park County Detention Center on involuntary manslaughter and drug possession charges on a $50,000 cash-only bond. Read the full story HERE. [https://cowboystatedaily.com/2026/05/28/cody-woman-turns-self-in-nearly-2-years-after-decomposing-man-found-in-bed/] – Yellowstone visitors were furious after seeing an illegal drone harassing a grizzly bear and her two cubs. Cowboy State Daily's Andrew Rossi reports that the man who shot video of the incident says, "Everybody was madder than hell." "Someone was flying a drone near a mother bear and her cubs in mid-May. We don't know who it was, because the pilot was behind a hill at the time, but we do have the drone on video, and whoever was flying it was getting really close to those bears. The response to that video was pretty universal. Everyone was outraged, because it is illegal to fly drones in Yellowstone, and you certainly don't want to disturb the animals." If convicted of flying a drone in a national park, the person or persons would be charged with a misdemeanor and face up to six months in jail and $5,000 in fines. Read the full story HERE. [https://cowboystatedaily.com/2026/05/28/madder-than-hell-famous-mother-grizzly-harassed-by-illegal-drone-in-yellowstone/] – I'll have more news from the Cowboy State Daily newsroom right after this. Cowboy State Daily News continues now…. – Democrats now have parties in all 23 Wyoming counties with Niobrara and Lincoln counties finally reviving theirs. Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports that Niobrara County is one of the reddest counties in the nation, but as of May 1st, it contains 35 registered Democrats, out of 1,233 registered voters. The Wyoming Democratic Party announced it now has county iterations in all 23 Wyoming counties. For the first time in the current leadership's memory, they couldn't even remember a time when they had 23 county parties, and they just secured that this month. And interestingly, there's a few interesting parts of this, is that some prominent Republicans have been calling for more Democratic presence, saying we're weaker when we're a one-party state. Also the Lincoln County Democratic Party Chair, Donald Shelton, was saying, 'I really want to galvanize workers and the working class and hear their concerns and get some momentum behind that.'" Rep. Tom Kelly, R-Sheridan, in a Facebook post earlier this month, "All of us are better off with a functioning opposition party." Read the full story HERE. [https://cowboystatedaily.com/2026/05/28/democrats-now-have-parties-in-all-23-wyoming-counties-for-the-first-time-in-modern-memory/] – Uinta County planners voted unanimously Wednesday to recommend permit approvals for a huge 1.25-gigawatt data center. Cowboy State Daily's Renee Jean reports that one person who attended the standing-room-only meeting said, "Officials need to do their research on data centers." "In Evanston, the gal I talked to after the meeting, you know, she said she really hasn't made up her mind yet. She just has a lot of questions, you just want to understand things a little bit better. She wants to make sure the benefit is really worth any of the risks involved, and some of her questions I felt really were more about AI in general, and how it's being used in society." After weeks of questions and skepticism at public forums and on social media, most of the standing-room-only crowd listened quietly as commissioners voted unanimously to recommend zoning and conditional use permit approvals to Uinta County commissioners for the proposed 1.25 gigawatt, 500-acre, off-grid campus. Read the full story HERE. [https://cowboystatedaily.com/2026/05/28/uinta-county-planners-give-unanimous-ok-to-1-25-gigawatt-prometheus-data-center/] – Dashcam video released Thursday shows the wild end to a 120 mph chase on the I-80 where a woman was struck by her own moving car as she bailed out and ran on foot. Cowboy State Daily's Kolby Fedore reports that according to officials, even with two flat tires, she was still driving more than 100 mph. "When deputies with the Albany County Sheriff's Office tried to pull over 45 year old Sarah Grayson, because she was wanted in connection to a vehicle theft. She took off going 120 miles per hour on I 80. Sheriff's deputies deployed stop sticks. The car, even with two pop tires, continued rolling at 100 miles per hour as it slowed. Grayson hopped out of the car, which is how she accidentally ran over herself. Law enforcement did take her to the hospital. She sustained minor injuries. She is wanted on felony warrants out of Sublet County, as well as the recent charges connected to a vehicle burglary and larceny." The Albany County Sheriff's Office reports the chase began around 6:25 p.m. on Saturday after a sheriff's sergeant spotted a stolen vehicle traveling eastbound near mile marker 323 on Interstate 80 in Albany County. Read the full story HERE. [https://cowboystatedaily.com/2026/05/28/wyoming-woman-flees-police-at-120-mph-gets-hit-by-her-own-car/] – Lingle-based state Rep. Scott Smith, a member of the Freedom Caucus, is challenging Wyoming Treasurer Curt Meier for his seat. Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports that Smith says he wants to increase Wyoming's wealth, while Meier says, "He says he's going to do the same thing I am." "Treasurer Kurt Meyer has a challenger, and that's Representative Scott Smith of Lingle, who's a two-term representative, served on the appropriations committee this year. Myers, he's a two-term incumbent himself, and he made headlines starting in October for having record high investment earnings for the state of Wyoming, generally surpassing minerals. I know there were some caveats to that, but it was the first time the analysts had seen it, had seen him pass those mineral pools that they were referencing." Three weeks earlier, Virginia-based group Make Liberty Win publicly endorsed Smith for the seat, though he hadn't declared an interest in it at that time. Read the full story HERE. [https://cowboystatedaily.com/2026/05/28/freedom-caucus-member-scott-smith-challenging-curt-meier-for-wyoming-treasurer/] — And that's today's news. Get your free digital subscription to Wyoming's only statewide newspaper by hitting the Daily Newsletter button on Cowboy State Daily Dot Com [https://cowboystatedaily.com/] - and you can watch this newscast every day by clicking Subscribe on our YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMZ6-7-Nv-0ycvqgTIttIFQ] channel, or listen to us on your favorite podcast app. Thanks for watching - I'm Mac Watson, for Cowboy State Daily.

Cowboy State Daily Video News: Wednesday, May 27, 2026

It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming for Wednesday, May 27th. I'm Mac Watson. – Fifth-generation Wyoming rancher Trenton Thornock pitched a huge 1.2 gigawatt data center on family land to a skeptical Evanston crowd on Tuesday. Cowboy State Daily's Renee Jean reports that the project is facing a rising tide of opposition against data centers locally and across Wyoming. "Prometheus Hyper Scale, unlike a lot of the other data centers, you know, they have made that public commitment to community engagement, and so what this meeting was all about was answering the public's questions here in Evanston, it was at times an emotional meeting, a little unruly at times. There were some people in the audience, who just yelled out questions whenever, who would challenge answers and basically say 'You're lying!' There was one person who accused Trenton Fornock of being a sellout because he lives in Texas right now. For the most part, though, it was a pretty civil meeting." Thornock says he started his company in 2020 with the idea of first innovating water cooling systems and doing things in a more sustainable way and second impr oving the economy of his home state. Wyoming has struggled with outmigration of its youth, losing most of them by age 30 to other states. Read the full story HERE. [https://cowboystatedaily.com/2026/05/26/prometheus-faces-skeptical-crowd-in-evanston-over-huge-1-2gw-data-center/] – A fire tore through an under-construction apartment building in north Cheyenne on Tuesday. Cowboy State Daily's Greg Johnson reports that one witness says the burning was so intense, the building was "a total loss" in minutes. "He said within 10, 15 to 20 minutes it went from just seeing some flames to pretty much being a total loss, and it had been collapsing on itself. While it was burning, they could hear explosions coming from inside the building. Being under construction, there's all kinds of tanks and things with whether you're welding or paint or anything like that. So, whatever they had in there, he said they could hear it popping off." The under construction building is in the Ridgeview Apartments located at 2025 E. Carlson St. just off Converse Avenue between Sam's Club to the south and Storey Boulevard to the north. Read the full story HERE. [https://cowboystatedaily.com/2026/05/26/fire-tears-through-cheyenne-apartment-building-in-minutes/] – State Rep. Mike Yin argued against a proposal by Chuck Gray to ban political party changes after Jan. 1st in election years. Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports Yin wants to know why Gray is making it harder for people. Gray says it's an election integrity issue. "So, what the committee majority, not Mike Yin and not a few others, decided was they're going to ask staff to draft a bill that is going to ban party changes for like three quarters, nearly three quarters of an election year, and so they did that. So now staff is going to build that draft, and then at a later meeting of the committee, probably September, people can come and comment, and they'll decide at that point or later whether they want to adopt the bill, which would give it an edge going into the 2027 lawmaking session, if they do." The Legislature in 2023 passed a bill banning voters from switching parties between about mid-May and the primary election in mid-August of each election year. Read the full story HERE. [https://cowboystatedaily.com/2026/05/26/mike-yin-bristles-at-chuck-gray-proposal-to-ban-political-party-changes-after-jan-1/] – Two hikers on a multi-day excursion were helicoptered to safety by Teton County Search and Rescue after becoming ill on Monday. Cowboy State Daily's Andrew Rossi reports that one rescuer says, "It sounded like they weren't prepared to hit as much snow as they did in the high country. "In this case, it wasn't a lack of experience or preparedness. The group knew that they were going to be encountering snow in high elevation on the Teton Crest Trail, and planned to be there for several days, but there was more snow than they anticipated, and they didn't find water to replenish their stores, because getting water off of smelting snow pack is not a bad way to work around carrying water on a trail like that, but in this case, there was a lot of snow, and not a lot of readily available water. At one point, the hikers even tried to boil snow to get water, but the National Weather Service says that one inch of liquid water is equivalent to 12 inches of snow, and even though they tried, they just didn't have enough to hydrate all four of them. Read the full story HERE. [https://cowboystatedaily.com/2026/05/26/hikers-rescued-from-death-canyon-shelf-in-in-grand-teton-national-park/] – I'll be back with more news from Cowboy State Daily right after this. Cowboy State Daily news continues now… – After losing both of her siblings to a male grizzly's attack last spring and then splitting from her mother at an unusually tender age, the young grizzly named Miracle hadn't been seen this spring. Outdoors Reporter Mark Heinz reports that all changed when the bear showed up at Colter Bay on Sunday. "That's almost the exact same spot she was seen almost in exactly a year earlier, and I talked to a bear biologist up in British Columbia, who, who said, yeah, that tracks, because, especially with female bears, they'll establish a range and they'll establish routes to get around, and the person who took the video said it really seemed like she was, she was coming from from one wooded area, trying to get to another wooded area, in other words, she wasn't interested in hanging out in Colter Bay. She was just making that her route through, and the biologist said, 'Yeah, that makes sense.'" Wildlife photographer Marcela Herdova tells Cowboy State Daily that the 2.5-year-old Miracle appears to be in good health. Read the full story HERE. [https://cowboystatedaily.com/2026/05/26/hooray-miracle-the-young-grizzly-survives-winter-shows-up-at-colter-bay/] – A Casper man who admitted being a serial arsonist and starting numerous fires got 6-12 years in prison Tuesday. Cowboy State Daily's Dale Killingbeck reports that Dallas Smith sought probation instead of prison time, but the judge wasn't having it. "He apologized for his actions, said that he knew that he caused some people some financial pain, and he had said in an affidavit that he had started the fires to get rid of the pain. So he asked the judge, and his defense attorney asked the judge if he could get probation and serve time at a place in Sheridan, and the judge was not going to go along with that. She said, "First degree arson, we're not going to do any probation with that." Natrona County District Court Judge Kerri Johnson sentenced Smith to the six to 12 years, and he was sentenced to time served 270 days for three other counts of arson that were part of the plea deal. Read the full story HERE. [https://cowboystatedaily.com/2026/05/26/casper-serial-arsonist-who-says-he-tries-to-burn-the-pain-gets-6-12-years/] – Wyoming biologists say a wolverine that had a rare close-range encounter with a hiker in the Wind River Range mountains is the same animal they've been tracking for more than a year. Outdoors Reporter Mark Heinz reports that the animal has a huge range, being tracked over 200 square miles. "That's typical for wolverine range, 200 or even more. They are wide-ranging animals. The running joke, or the way I put it is, even a lot of wolverines isn't a lot of wolverines, because they are very typical, very typically solitary animals that have gigantic ranges and just don't have much to do with each other, so they're, they're not, it's not like elk, they're very widely dispersed animals, so it makes sense." The wolverine that Zachary Shifrel photographed from about 20 yards away [https://cowboystatedaily.com/2026/05/16/wildlife-watcher-has-incredibly-rare-wolverine-encounter-in-wind-river-mountains/] is a mature, 28-pound male, who was collared back in 2025, so say biologists Dean Clause and Rusty Kaiser. Read the full story HERE. [https://cowboystatedaily.com/2026/05/26/wandering-wolverine-wyoming-hiker-saw-was-tracked-over-200-square-miles/] – Wyoming meteorologist Don Day is skeptical about a popular weather forecasting website's prediction of a wetter-than-normal summer. Cowboy State Daily's Andrew Rossi reports that Day says Wyoming is a huge state for this kind of forecast. "The website Open Snow published their summer 2026 forecast in terms of temperature and rainfall, and they have above average or above normal rainfall for the entirety of Wyoming and portions of 12 other states. So I spoke with Cowboy State meteorologist Don Day about that. First off, he was skeptical because it's open snow. He said that they can be very ambitious with long-range weather modeling." Day tells Cowboy State Daily that Wyoming isn't a one size fits all state, so even if some places do see above normal precipitation for summer, that doesn't mean it's a blanket statement that's going to cover every spot in the Cowboy State. Read the full story HERE. [https://cowboystatedaily.com/2026/05/22/bison-attacks-and-kills-hiker-on-trail-custer-state-park/] And that's today's news. Get your free digital subscription to Wyoming's only statewide newspaper by hitting the Daily Newsletter button on Cowboy State Daily Dot Com [https://cowboystatedaily.com/] - and you can watch this newscast every day by clicking Subscribe on our YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMZ6-7-Nv-0ycvqgTIttIFQ] channel, or listen to us on your favorite podcast app. Thanks for watching - I'm Mac Watson, for Cowboy State Daily.

Cowboy State Daily Radio News: Tuesday, May 26, 2026

It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming for Tuesday, May 26th. I'm Mac Watson. – On Memorial Day, Bill Parr remembers the men he served with during a 22-year career in the Navy who never came home, but he won't talk about them. Cowboy State Daily's Greg Johnson reports that he spoke with Parr at the Cheyenne National Cemetery. "Parr told me basically what veterans usually tell me, that it's a day for remembering those who died, those who paid that ultimate sacrifice for America's freedom, and that he doesn't want to talk about himself. And when I asked him if there's anyone in particular that he was at the National Cemetery to remember, he just kind of got quiet and tears kind of came to his eyes and he just said yeah but I'm not going to talk about them and so that's a pretty common pretty common response." Parr tells Cowboy State Daily he enlisted in 1969 at age 18 and was quickly sent to Vietnam. He served two tours on river boats providing supply interdiction coming down the Mekong River. Read the full story HERE. [https://cowboystatedaily.com/2026/05/25/wyoming-veterans-remember-the-true-military-heroes-who-never-came-back/] – It's grizzly mating season in Yellowstone, and a pair of popular bears were too caught up in courtship to notice gawking crowds. But Cowboy State Daily's Mark Heinz reports that the sweet scene isn't common behavior for bears. "People got a lot of really adorable pictures of them cuddling together, and I did talk to a wildlife biologist, who said don't mistake any of this for like human concepts of romance. Grizzlies don't fall in love, they don't pair bond over any great length of time. In fact, it's not unusual for female grizzly to mate with multiple males over the course of a mating season, because their eggs don't start to gestate right away, they have delayed, usually the gestation doesn't start until they actually go into their hibernation den to time it, so the babies are born around January." The amorous grizzly scene near Yellowstone Lake caused a bear jam for at least a quarter mile in each direction this past week. Read the full story HERE. [https://cowboystatedaily.com/2026/05/24/caught-up-in-their-courtship-mating-grizzlies-ignore-crowd-gawking-at-them/] – Meteorologist Don Day says reports of a Super El Niño brewing in the Pacific Ocean are ludicrous. Cowboy State Daily's Andrew Rossi reports an El Niño is coming and will likely be beneficial for Wyoming. "Why Cowboys State Daily meteorologist Don Dey is skeptical, because a lot of people are trying to anticipate what the impacts of this El Nino will be six months from now, and that's based on long-range weather modeling and we have seven months now of examples of how bad long range weather modeling can be when it comes to predicting these trends. El Nino historically has meant wetter weather for Wyoming in the late fall, going into winter, and then the next spring, and if there's a super El Nino, there's reason to believe that there would be more of that, just more precipitation." A Super El Niño [https://cowboystatedaily.com/2026/03/24/although-good-for-wyoming-predictions-of-a-super-el-nino-greeted-by-skepticism/] is a stronger-than-normal El Niño, meaning the surface waters of the Pacific are warming along the equator. Read the full story HERE. [https://cowboystatedaily.com/2026/05/25/meteorologist-don-day-says-dont-lose-your-mind-over-possible-super-el-nino/] – Kelley Marshall was on track for a violent death when eagle-eyed cops recognized she was being trafficked. Cowboy State Daily's Jen Kocher reports that one trafficking expert says that "People think it doesn't happen in rural states like Wyoming, but it does." "Kelly Marshall wants people to understand that for sex buyers, that transaction that they think is an equal financial transaction, and most cases probably isn't, probably that person is being trafficked, and secondly, she really wants under people to understand how they can help, and that's the whole point of Truckers Against Trafficking, who she works for. They want to mobilize people on the front lines to help not only recognize it but report it." Marshall has channeled her own experience into educating others as a training specialist and survivor leader for Truckers Against Trafficking [https://tatnonprofit.org/tat-app/], a national nonprofit that prepares truckers, law enforcement, truck stop employees, port workers, and other individuals and groups to identify and report human trafficking. Read the full story HERE. [https://cowboystatedaily.com/2026/05/24/i-was-dead-how-eagle-eyed-cops-saved-woman-and-toddler-from-a-human-trafficker/] – I'll be back with more news from Cowboy State Daily right after this. Cowboy State Daily news continues now… – Judge Andre Rudolph grew up in Cheyenne, played running back for UW and once ran down a defendant to earn the nickname "Batman." Cowboy State Daily's Zak Sonntag reports that before the judge's sudden death last week at the age of 59, he also changed the lives of lawbreakers willing to take his help and accountability. "Judge Rudolph had a very human touch in the courtroom. He had a philosophy of justice that was more about life direction than punishment. He wanted people to be the best version of themselves, and he wanted them to see that they were not defined by their worst mistakes. As a result, his courtroom, according to his clerks and according to other witnesses, could feel a lot more like a mentorship conversation than a legal proceeding, and he had an outsized personality – just very gregarious, agreeable, sociable, but firm and intelligent." Raised by his grandmother and without the support of his biological parents in a Cheyenne home of meager means, he nonetheless thrived as a star athlete, honor-roll law student, and then became among the youngest judges appointed in Colorado. Read the full story HERE. [https://cowboystatedaily.com/2026/05/24/judge-andre-rudolph-grew-up-in-cheyenne-to-become-a-superhero-from-the-bench/] – Wyoming's Catholic Carmelite mountain monks are using computers, heavy machinery, and robots to build a massive Gothic monastery in the mountains of the Bighorn Basin. Cowboy State Daily's Jackie Dorothy reports that it's a stark contrast to the simple lives these men of faith live making coffee and raising cattle. "The reason the monks are building their monastery in the rural mountains, far from civilization, is because they're seeking a life of prayer and solitude, but they also want to build something beautiful for God, and the way they're doing it is building the monastery in the old Gothic medieval style, and they're doing it themselves. The quote they had gotten before was for 20 million to 100 million, and they've done it for a fraction of the cost using modern technology. Another thing that comes up is why use modern technology. You're medieval monks, but that is what monks do. They seek modern technology, so that they can spend more time in prayer." Wyoming's Carmelite monastery began in 2007 with $400 and a dream to build a Gothic-style monastery in the mountains of the Bighorn Basin. Today, it is estimated that the monastery's church, located along Meeteetse Creek, will be finished in another six years. Read the full story HERE. [https://cowboystatedaily.com/2026/05/23/wyomings-mountain-monks-simple-men-of-faith-go-high-tech-to-build-a-gothic-monastery/] – A 70-year-old tourist was killed after being thrown six feet in the air by a bull bison on a popular hiking route in Custer State Park. Cowboy State Daily's Kate Meadows reports that the sheriff says this is the first fatal attack by a bison in the park in over 20 years. "They were ahead of them about 1,500 feet, according to a law enforcement report. One of the bulls turned around and charged the woman. The husband called 911 from behind the tree, and help did arrive fairly quickly. However, by the time they arrived, the husband was performing CPR, according to reports, and the woman had already stopped breathing, so there was nothing that rescuers could do to save her. Michelle McElroy tells Cowboy State Daily that she took video on the same trail of two bull bison and turned around. She adds that if her family had known someone died on that same trail just a day before, "I wouldn't have taken my 5 kids on it had I known." Read the full story HERE. [https://cowboystatedaily.com/2026/05/22/bison-attacks-and-kills-hiker-on-trail-custer-state-park/] – Wyoming's looser liquor laws — and higher elevations — make for memorable nights and steady business in Evanston on the state line with Utah. Cowboy State Daily's Renee Jean reports that some call it Utah's "Sin City," where people go for booze, to place bets, and buy fireworks. "I was told by three different ones that they, they generally can spot the Utahns because they're the ones that are kind of looking over their shoulder as they're ordering a beer and a shot, feeling like they're doing something wrong that they're going to get in trouble for. Utah had for a long time 3.2% beer, and in 2019 they finally got rid of that requirement that beer had to be under that amount, and they actually had the Clydesdales came and did a funeral procession for 3.2% beer." A new Utah law that went into effect Jan. 1st that bans people [https://cowboystatedaily.com/2026/01/11/evanston-to-utahs-extreme-drunk-drivers-dont-try-to-buy-your-booze-here/] convicted of DUIs with a blood alcohol content of 0.160% or greater from buying booze. That makes Evanston's bars and liquor stores enticing for those who can't buy alcohol close to home. Read the full story HERE. [https://cowboystatedaily.com/2026/05/24/evanston-is-utahs-sin-city-where-they-can-get-booze-bet-and-buy-fireworks/] And that's today's news. Get your free digital subscription to Wyoming's only statewide newspaper by hitting the Daily Newsletter button on Cowboy State Daily Dot Com [https://cowboystatedaily.com/] - and you can watch this newscast every day by clicking Subscribe on our YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMZ6-7-Nv-0ycvqgTIttIFQ] channel, or listen to us on your favorite podcast app. Thanks for watching - I'm Mac Watson, for Cowboy State Daily.

Cowboy State Daily Video News: Friday, May 22, 2026

It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming for Friday, May 22nd. I'm Mac Watson. – Converse County this week rescinded an order that could have fast-tracked data centers and given the county more control in the process. Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports that one legislator says it's a legal issue, but people also "lost their minds" when they heard the words "fast-track." "Representative Kevin Campbell said that there was a dearth of transparency in this whole process, and that that was his main qualm with it, but in the meantime, the Attorney General's office reportedly settled it anyway by saying, 'I know you can't just put in one of these industrial parks if you don't already have zoning, you can't put it in without a mechanism like that, and Commerce County does not have zoning.'" Commission Vice-Chair Rick Grant tells Cowboy State Daily that the prospective industrial park wasn't meant specifically for a Prometheus Hyperscale data center and the county hasn't received an application for any such development. Read the full story HERE. [https://cowboystatedaily.com/2026/05/21/after-ag-says-dont-converse-county-wont-fast-track-data-centers/] – Parts of Wyoming got up to 2 inches of water from this week's storm that shut down I-80 and Rawlins for more than a day. But Cowboy State Daily's Andrew Rossi reports all that precipitation wasn't a drought-buster. "Speaking to Wyoming meteorologists, we don't want a drought-busting storm all at once, because for as low and as dry as we are, if we got all the moisture we needed to break a drought in one fell swoop, we'd be talking about widespread destruction. May has been a very good month in terms of moisture. We've gotten several inches in the areas that needed it most, and that's definitely improved the situation. But at this point, we're looking at a prolonged drought that isn't going to be rectified by a single event, but if we continue getting more of these storms that drop an inch or two of liquid water at a time, we can make a nice dent in the drought situation." Meteorologist Don Day tells Cowboy State Daily "Getting rid of a drought is like eating an elephant — one bite at a time." Read the full story HERE. [https://cowboystatedaily.com/2026/05/21/storm-brings-up-to-2-inches-of-water-but-not-close-to-busting-wyomings-drought/] – Wyoming regulators are cracking down on bar raffle games like Queen of Hearts and Music Bingo that raise money for charities, saying they're illegal gambling. Cowboy State Daily's Renee Jean reports that event organizer Brian Grzegorczyk asks, "Why is horse racing an exception, but not charity?" "His nickname became Alf Evermore, and so most people just know him as Alf, but so he has a pub here in Cheyenne called Alf's Pub, and he is the founder of a charity effort called Thankful Thursdays, and in 16 years that charity has been around 16 years now, and it's given more than four and a half million to local groups over that 16 year period, and so you know it's become a powerhouse for giving money to local charities." According to Wyoming Gaming Commissioner Nick Laramendy, Wyoming statutes define gambling as risking any property for gain that is contingent in whole or in part by chance. Read the full story HERE. [https://cowboystatedaily.com/2026/05/21/charity-bar-games-getting-shut-down-by-wyoming-gambling-crackdown/] – A wildlife filmmaker spotted 47 grizzlies in the Absaroka Mountains before noon, more than twice as many as he's ever seen in one day in the Yellowstone area. Outdoors Reporter Mark Heinz reports that they were gorging themselves on moths, so he tried one. "He says he's eaten them a few times. He said they taste like honey roasted peanuts, apparently. Army cut worm moths taste like honey roasted peanuts, that's what he describes the flavor of them. They come up out of the prairies, and they're going up over the mountains on their migration route, that you know, long about that time, late in the summer, early in the fall, but they'll get up on the mountains, and to rest, they'll crawl underneath the rocks, and so the bears go up there and just are flipping rocks over and scooping up these moths and eating them." Moth eater and wildlife photographer Casey Anderson tells Cowboy State Daily that grizzlies will travel many miles from the low country and climb all the way up to the mountain peaks to gorge on the delicious moths. Read the full story HERE. [https://cowboystatedaily.com/2026/05/21/filmmaker-finds-47-grizzlies-gorging-on-moths-that-taste-like-honey-roasted-peanuts/] – I'll be back with more news from Cowboy State Daily right after this. Cowboy State Daily news continues now… – People are blaming — and crediting — the Wyoming Freedom Caucus for the Legislature's nearly $4 billion school spending package. Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports whether the caucus deserves either depends on whom you ask. "The Freedom Caucus was taking some credit and celebrating when that package passed. So this controversy followed, right? And people were blaming the Freedom Caucus. And at first I was thinking, 'Why are they blaming the Freedom Caucus?' But then I looked back, and I saw that the Freedom Caucus had taken credit for the package, so it's become just this circle, this narrative circle, where they took credit for it, and then now there's this backlash against it, and now they're taking the blame, even though in reality it's almost a full legislature project." On the one hand, the Wyoming Freedom Caucus' former chair, speaking on behalf of the caucus, took credit for nearly $4 billion per-biennium school spending package after it became law. On the other hand, the spending plan itself contains a mix of favored and hated provisions, and it's often misunderstood. Read the full story HERE. [https://cowboystatedaily.com/2026/05/21/why-are-people-blaming-the-freedom-caucus-for-4-billion-school-funding-package/] – A former BLM director says Steve Pearce's confirmation to lead the agency is good news for Wyoming's energy industries, ranchers and land use. Cowboy State Daily's Kate Meadows reports that William Perry Pendley says "What the BLM director decides determines the fate of Wyoming with regard to its ability to use the land." "Former National BLM manager William Perry Pendley really is excited about this new director, because he is pro multi use on land, so it's this idea that you know we don't have to lease land for just one use, like conservation or grazing or recreation, there is land can be used for multiple things at the same time, and that's something that was not popular in the previous administration. According to Pendley, Pierce brings a private sector background to the BLM, and that's important, because work with the BLM often intersects with private sectors with private business, so it's good for the person in that role to have that experience." That reality is hard to overstate in Wyoming, where public lands define much of the state. In sprawling Sweetwater County alone, roughly 74% of the land is managed by the federal government. Read the full story HERE. [https://cowboystatedaily.com/2026/05/21/former-blm-director-says-steve-pearces-confirmation-is-good-news-for-wyoming/] – Some Wyoming firearms companies say YouTube is unfairly censoring and banning them without giving solid reasons why. Cowboy State Daily's Mark Heinz reports one video creator says, "I hate to lose the audience, but I don't miss the BS," about dealing with YouTube before getting kicked off. "Big Horn Armory, that's a company out of Cody that makes rifles and other firearms. They were recently booted off of YouTube, and apparently for violating community status. I talked to their founder and CEO, and said they never clearly explained to them why. He said it was never clearly explained to them, and they were just booted off, and so they switched over to Rumble, which is a different video platform." Greg Buchel, founder and president of Big Horn Armory Inc., tells Cowboy State Daily that their posted content on YouTube didn't include any of the platform's clearly forbidden material, such as instructions on how to alter a firearm. Read the full story HERE. [https://cowboystatedaily.com/2026/05/21/wyoming-firearms-companies-say-youtube-unfairly-targets-gun-related-content/] – Steve Price, a "legend" who raised money for many Cheyenne causes, passed away earlier this month. Cowboy State Daily's Dale Killingbeck reports one fellow auctioneer says "I don't know anybody who wasn't his friend." "Steve Price was a legendary cowboy in Cheyenne, and also an auctioneer who raised a bunch of money for many nonprofits in the city. He didn't really have a business, but he just used that to help nonprofits, and he helped so many, including the animal shelter, the hospital, you know, also the state fair board.Somebody at the animal shelter told me that there was this bid that went on for like 10 minutes over a Josh Allen jersey a few years ago that he just kept egging people on, you know, to raise their bid, and so everybody I talked to said he was one of the best people they've ever met." The 70-year-old died while visiting family in Dundee, Michigan, on May 4th. A celebration of life is planned on Saturday at the Archer Event Center in Cheyenne. Read the full story HERE. [https://cowboystatedaily.com/2026/05/21/remembering-steve-price-wyoming-cowboy-auctioneer-and-money-raising-legend/] And that's today's news. Get your free digital subscription to Wyoming's only statewide newspaper by hitting the Daily Newsletter button on Cowboy State Daily Dot Com [https://cowboystatedaily.com/] - and you can watch this newscast every day by clicking Subscribe on our YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMZ6-7-Nv-0ycvqgTIttIFQ] channel, or listen to us on your favorite podcast app. Thanks for watching - I'm Mac Watson, for Cowboy State Daily.

Cowboy State Daily Video News: Thursday, May 21, 2026

It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming for Thursday, May 21st. I'm Mac Watson. – Releases of up to 1 million acre-feet of water downriver from Flaming Gorge are gutting the gorge's world-famous kokanee fishery and has marinas racing to survive. Cowboy State Daily's Renee Jean reports that one marina owner says the impact is "like a holocaust for nature." "How much water did Lake Powell get out of that? Two inches. So we took a seven-foot hit in Flaming Gorge. Lake Powell got a two two inch bump. This is the sacrifice Wyoming made to save Lake Powell and to keep Glen Cove Dam hydropower working. If they take another million acre feet, that lake level is going to fall below his boat ramp." Federal officials announced earlier this year that they will release up to 1 million acre-feet of water from Flaming Gorge to boost critically low water levels down the Colorado River on Lake Powell and protect hydropower operations at Glen Canyon Dam in northern Arizona. Read the full story HERE. [https://cowboystatedaily.com/2026/05/20/flaming-gorge-marinas-race-to-survive-as-1m-acre-feet-of-water-sent-downriver/] – Emotions were mixed for the 450-Megwatt Chugwater Energy Project before getting its final unanimous approval from Platte County on Wednesday. Cowboy State Daily's Kate Meadows reports that one landowner says "If people really didn't want wind turbines they should have bought" the land. "A lot of landowners were in support of it, as they were last week at the public hearing. Heard from some others, some new landowners, some different landowners this time around, and again, a lot of support for the project. There was, of course, pushback from people who cited health concerns and property rights issues. One guy said, 'The property rights debate goes as far as your neighbor's chin, so you know that kind of saying that property rights only go so far when it, when it is your property.'" The project approval came in three votes, with commissioners unanimously approving the permits necessary for the wind portion expected to generate 300 megawatts of energy, the solar part of the plan expected to generate 150 megawatts of energy and a 150-megawatt battery energy storage system. Read the full story HERE. [https://cowboystatedaily.com/2026/05/20/huge-chugwater-wind-and-solar-project-gets-final-unanimous-ok-from-platte-county/] – Another calf was killed near Kinnear overnight Tuesday as a bitter feud over roaming Great Pyrenees dogs escalates. Cowboy State Daily's Kolby Fedore reports that rancher Chris Eberline found one of her bottle-fed calves found partially eaten. "Eberleen said she went out to feed the bum calves that she needed to bottle feed. When she saw that there was a dead calf laying by its mother, the top half had been eaten. She said it was still fresh. Eberlyn says she has about seven cameras around the property, but they're very expensive. She's paid about $150 per camera, along with a monthly subscription fee, but so far, she's been unable to catch any of these attacks on camera, so it's been incredibly frustrating." By Wednesday afternoon, deputies with the Fremont County Sheriff's Office and an officer with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department were back on the property performing a necropsy on the animal. Read the full story HERE. [https://cowboystatedaily.com/2026/05/20/were-just-tired-of-it-another-calf-found-dead-in-wyoming-ranch-dog-feud/] – State politicos tell Cowboy State Daily that the Trump-driven ousting of Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie sends a message to Wyoming and the nation. Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports that one former legislator says "Don't step out of line, if you do, you'll get the boot." "Former Senator Anthony Bouchard, he was, during his time in the state senate, very much a conservative firebrand. And so he was kind of spicy on Wednesday talking about Massey, who Bouchard is a fan of, like this is a sign that Trump is holding the strings, was Bouchard's take on it, and he talked about it being kind of this control and capture. On the other side, I talked to Bob Ferguson, who's the vice chair of the Wyoming Republican Party, and he said, 'No, it's deeper than just crossing Trump or crossing Trump a couple times. This guy has been an obstacle to a lot of generally Republican-backed measures.'" Massie, a Libertarian-leaning Republican who urged the release of the Epstein files, lost his primary election challenge Tuesday night to Navy SEAL veteran Ed Gallrein. At more than $32 million in advertising spending, it was the most expensive U.S. Congressional race in the nation's history. And Trump heckled Massie throughout. Read the full story HERE. [https://cowboystatedaily.com/2026/05/20/dont-step-out-of-line-massie-loss-a-message-to-all-republican-candidates/] – I'll be back with more news from Cowboy State Daily right after this. Cowboy State Daily news continues now… – Hawk Springs Reservoir in Goshen County is a popular fishing and boating spot for locals and other Wyomingites. But Outdoors Reporter Mark Heinz reports that it's already incredibly low, and might be dried up by the end of summer. "It gets its inflows from Horse Creek have already been low this spring, and it looks like the situation is going to get worse because there's 80 plus farms downstream from it that have water irrigation rights to that water, and they're going to need their water this summer, and so the people are already saying the reservoir is going to be really low this year. It might even be all but dried up, just be because of, you know, that combination of not much water coming in, b, all the irrigation rights have to come out." Roughly an hour and a half away from Guernsey State Park, the reservoir is part of the Hawk Springs Recreation Area. It's one of Wyoming's smaller state parks and includes 24 primitive campsites. Read the full story HERE. [https://cowboystatedaily.com/2026/05/20/goshen-countys-hawk-springs-reservoir-a-favorite-for-anglers-drying-up-fast/] – A weekend fire that gutted Cheyenne's Historic Pumphouse may not be the end for the run-down 134-year-old building that was recently set for demolition. Cowboy State Daily's Greg Johnson reports that Mayor Patrick Collins says, "We've really tried hard not to be the council to tear it down." "The fire chief says they're really, they're not going to say anything about it until they're, they're done with that, because they don't want any speculation as to how it started, where it started, and they still haven't had anybody set foot in it, because they're not sure it's safe. They've had drones in there, but just to really assess how damaged this stone building is, they haven't been able to do that. However, the mayor said that the city's architect has said that from what he's been able to see, what they've been able to see there, they have optimism that the stone is still sound. It really wasn't damaged too badly in the fire, and that you know the roof was going to be replaced anyway. It's not a death sentence for the pump." One of the oldest buildings in Cheyenne, the pumphouse has been vacant for decades and a magnet for vandals and vagrants. Read the full story HERE. [https://cowboystatedaily.com/2026/05/20/devastating-fire-may-not-be-end-for-historic-134-year-old-cheyenne-pumphouse/] – Rumors of a data center development in Lincoln County has provoked fear as locals get more vocal against them. Cowboy State Daily's Kate Meadows reports that a county commissioner says people are jumping the gun, because there are now no data center projects on the table. "Some of this panic is being spurred by a huge data center project in Utah called the Stratos Project, that's a data center and power development backed by investor Kevin O'Leary in Box Elder County, Utah, so a lot of people in Lincoln County, which is a neighbor to Utah, are, you know, just nervous and wanting, you know, they don't want to see what's happening in Utah come to their county, and their county is kind of, you know, nearby." Many are wary because of an escalating debate and pushback over data centers in and around Cheyenne [https://cowboystatedaily.com/2026/05/04/with-up-to-70-cheyenne-area-data-centers-in-the-works-petition-calls-for-pause/], along with a hugely controversial project in nearby Utah. Read the full story HERE. [https://cowboystatedaily.com/2026/05/20/data-center-rumors-provoke-fear-concern-in-lincoln-county/] – A young, scrawny, and seemingly confused black bear has been hanging around a rural Weston County neighborhood outside of Upton. Outdoors Reporter Mark Heinz reports that one resident says he had to shoo it away from garbage cans. "So far people told me that he's behaving himself, they're assuming it's a he, probably a younger bear, maybe one or two years old, maybe just separated from its mother, and it's kind of trying to find its way in the world, and kind of showed up in this rural neighborhood outside of Upton. Folks are hoping that it's starting to hunt turkeys and maybe prairie dogs there, maybe it's looking to get some, you know, natural food sources, which is what we want bears to do, because once they start getting into garbage and start getting getting into trouble with people, it usually ends badly for the bear in those cases." Resident Katina Spiker tells Cowboy State Daily that the neighborhood, about 6 miles outside of Upton is an area frequented by mountain lions and bobcats, and coyotes, but is the first bear in recent memory. Read the full story HERE. [https://cowboystatedaily.com/2026/05/20/our-resident-bear-scrawny-black-bear-hangs-out-around-rural-upton-neighborhood/] And that's today's news. Get your free digital subscription to Wyoming's only statewide newspaper by hitting the Daily Newsletter button on Cowboy State Daily Dot Com [https://cowboystatedaily.com/] - and you can watch this newscast every day by clicking Subscribe on our YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMZ6-7-Nv-0ycvqgTIttIFQ] channel, or listen to us on your favorite podcast app. Thanks for watching - I'm Mac Watson, for Cowboy State Daily.