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 22nd.
Although talk of a terrifying grizzly tag team duo in Grand Teton National Park has been circulating on the Internet, park officials say Sunday's mauling of a Massachusetts man was likely a mother grizzly defending her cub.
And a bear expert also told Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz that although to his knowledge there aren’t any documented cases of two or more grizzlies attacking somebody at once, it’s not completely impossible - but he says most grizzlies don't go around the woods looking for trouble.
“It's usually unfortunate circumstances that are surprised at close range. It’s not unusual that Mama Bear wants to defend her cubs. That's usually how these things go. And, you know, bears aren't really a social animal. But he said it's not unknown for maybe young young sub adult bears that just kicked away from their mom, they might travel around in groups of two. But this was definitely a mother and at least one cub, which again, that fits the MO for for grizzly bear attacks. It's just people in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
The man is still hospitalized in stable condition.
Crazed Rampage
A Gillette woman is accused of flying into a crazed rage and ramming her vehicle into the car of her boyfriend’s mistress, all while doing a DoorDash delivery - to the mistress.
While reflecting on the charge of felony property destruction she now faces in Campbell County District Court, Amber Osborne told Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland that she admits her actions were wrong.
“She just said, ‘I'm sorry for my actions. I regret doing that. You know, we took a break and he hooked up with this other girl, and then she and I were texting about it.’ And then according to Miss Osborne, the other woman said something to the effect of, ‘DoorDash a soda for me,’ because Osborne’s a DoorDash driver… And the way she later described it to the investigator was, ‘I kind of saw red and went over there knowing I was gonna do something and ended up crashing into the car.’”
Though Cowboy State Daily has learned the identity of the other woman, she hasn't been charged in this case and could not be reached for comment by publication time.
The entire nation is experiencing unprecedented growth in demand for electricity, with Wyoming displaying some challenges of its own as is evidenced by construction of mammoth-sized data centers encircling its capital city.
Explosion Of Electricity
U.S. Sen. John Barrasso told energy reporter Pat Maio on Tuesday that the amount of energy the country will need in five years is going to increase so much, it's like adding a whole new California.
“Senator Barrasso, like his colleagues on the committee, wants to ensure that we have enough electricity to meet future demand… the Biden administration is attacking the coal and oil and gas industries by… basically ending coal by 2041. And the hearing is to kind of point out the dilemma there that, look, we don't have enough power, you can't be doing this kind of thing, you know, shutting coal and oil gas fired plants down. You need to ensure the reliable sourcing of power, and that's going to be done through what we already have in our state, which is coal.”
Barrasso said that the United States could be entering a period of sustained demand growth unlike anything seen since the two decades following World War II.
Self-Defense?
An Evansville man accused of killing another man during a drug deal gone bad argued he acted in self-defense despite shooting him in the back, and asked the judge to reduce the bond, which is currently set at $750,000 dollars. That’s laccording to Cowboy State Daily’s Dale Killingbeck.
“His attorney asked the judge to reduce the bond and argued that, you know, he spent money on getting an attorney, he spent money on getting an expert witness for his trial, that he's not a threat to the community. And this is a self defense case. Then the … district attorney stood up and said that he didn't really agree with that narrative, because the suspect allegedly only had a job … doing an Uber Eats delivery. And he didn't understand how someone with that kind of job could have nearly $500,000 worth of cash in a safe that was confiscated by … police during the investigation.”
Natrona County Chief Deputy District Attorney Blaine Nelson also argued against the self-defense claim, pointing out that the victim, Brandon Lopez was shot squarely in his back.
Jennings vs Crago
Two of the more prominent members of the Wyoming House — and in some ways longtime political rivals — state Reps. Mark Jennings and Barry Crago will square off against each other for the state Senate.
Even though they’re both Republicans, they have been political rivals on many issues according to politics reporter Leo Wolfson, with Jennings often taking the more conservative position.
“Both Jennings and Crago are some of the more prominent known members of the House. Jennings has been in the house since 2015, and he is one of the original founders of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus. Crago has served two terms in the house and is one of the leading bases of the Wyoming Caucus, which was formed in opposition to the Freedom Caucus, a group of more moderate Republican legislators compared to the farther right Freedom Caucus.”
There are already two Republican candidates who have officially announced plans to run for Jennings’ seat - Thomas Kelly and Gail Symons.
Bee Guy Gets Bobblehead
The Phoenix-based beekeeper who grew up in Wyoming and saved a Major League Baseball game last month from a swarm of angry bees became the most famous guy in baseball for a few days.
Now Cowboy State Daily’s Jake Nichols reports that Buffalo native Matt Hilton’s fame has been commemorated forever, with his own personalized collector’s edition bobblehead.
“The bobblehead is being created by the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum. It's expected to be a collector's piece that will be available in November. This follows a Topps baseball card of the bee guy, which sold out in 24 hours - 17,000 baseball cards. So the Phoenix pest control guy, Matt Hilton, is living his 15 minutes of fame a little extra.”
Since his game-saving play, Hilton has been interviewed by hundreds of national media outlets and was even offered the opportunity to become a cast member in a high-profile reality TV show.
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.
