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, May 1st.
Three elk were apparently illegally shot and left to rot in a remote section of Campbell County this month were part of one of Wyoming’s few plains elk herds.
Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports that the elk were shot multiple times from a distance, then shot in the head at close range, and the carcasses were left to waste, making the poaching that much more enraging for legal elk hunters.
“Apparently, animals had been shot from some distance. And then somebody walked up and shot them in the head and then just left them there to rot. And it was on public land. And so we have basically three elk shot, left to rot. This, of course, is way out of season… the legal hunting tags for the legal hunting seasons in fall are difficult to draw. So that just makes it that much of a bigger slap in the face for people who go out and hunt elk, legally and ethically. It's already hard to draw an elk tag in that area, it's a coveted area. And then someone just went out and blasted three elk just apparently just for sick thrills.”
Elk tags for legal hunting during the fall in that area are few and difficult to draw, which makes the apparent illegal poaching even more egregious.
The richest woman in Australia, who is worth more than $30 billion, could be eyeing a move to buy a significant chunk of Wyoming's rare earths deposits.
Cowboy State Daily’s Pat Maio reports that Australian billionaire Gina Rinehart seems to be clearly making a move to consolidate rare earths, and has even made a play in the related lithium field.
“I guarantee you everybody in the rare earths industry here in Wyoming is paying attention to what Gina Rinehart in Australia is doing. She's bought a stake, a position in a company called MP Materials near Las Vegas, which is the only place in America that mines and produces and processes, rare earths.”
The rare earth minerals bonanza is the result of consumers starved for magnet metals integral to the green transition to electric vehicles, wind turbines, consumer goods, robots, as well as military drones, missiles and chips needed for sophisticated computing power.
After three young men who had stints at the Wyoming Boys’ School launched a civil lawsuit accusing the school of confining, beating, humiliating and abusing them, the facility is denying the allegations and called part of the lawsuit legally inapplicable.
Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that the 53-page civil complaint claims the school’s employees subjected the boys to solitary confinement, verbal and physical abuse, and other cruelties.
“There are allegations of cruel and unusual punishment, due process violations. Several claims allege that the boy's school did solitary confinement practices that were harmful to the kids' developing minds. The answer filed Monday by the Boys School and Wyoming DFS and the individual plaintiffs says, I mean, dozens of times it says Wyoming Boys School does not use solitary confinement. Essentially, it says ‘we deny’ - the word is ‘deny’ - that Wyoming Boys School uses solitary confinement.”
The school is also asking U.S. District Court Judge Scott Skavdahl to dismiss the claims that individual workers violated part of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act.
The Joint Health, Labor and Social Services Committee on Monday approved a motion to draft a bill that would prevent the Wyoming Department of Health from giving money for “sexually explicit” events.
The move came in response to the agency approving nearly $3,000 in public money for a Drag Queen Bingo event, which department director Stefan Johansson says was designed to raise awareness and support for people in the state living with HIV and AIDS. But Cowboy State Daily’s Leo Wolfson says the more conservative members of the committee were not impressed with Johansen’s explanation.
“What the point of the event was, it was hosted by Wyoming Aids Assistance, and this is a nonprofit dedicated to supporting men, women and children living with HIV and AIDS in Wyoming. So the event was strictly a fundraiser to draw awareness and support for these people living in Wyoming. And Johansson really wanted to emphasize to these people that it wasn't the drag queen or drag show aspect of the event that the money was going towards, but more so the disease prevention and awareness aspect that he did believe fit within the federal guidelines of the event.”
Johansson said his department has no policies for what exact activities community organizations can offer at events that receive grant money, but will review their policies moving forward.
And the last day of April was bright and breezy in Wyoming, with mild temperatures and sunny skies. The first day of May will likely be colder and cloudy with a decent chance of snow.
Wyoming’s whiplash winter continues to make spring a roller coaster of fluctuating temperatures and wintry conditions, and it’s likely to continue into the first weeks of May, reports Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi.
“Historically, May is one of the wettest months of the year. And as Cowboy State Daily meteorologist Don Day likes to say, it's the winter weather. It's not going away until Mother's Day. So for the first few weeks of May, we should expect it to be more of this roller coaster kind of unsettled.”
Cowboy State Daily meteorologist Don Day sees the first day of May as a good preview of what Wyomingites should expect for the first few weeks of May.
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. And don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel! 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.
