It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming, for Monday, June 10th. I’m Wendy Corr, bringing you headlines from the Cowboy State Daily newsroom - presented by Cheyenne Frontier Days. From sun-up to sun-down - there’s something for everyone! Check it out at C-F-D RODEO DOT COM!!
A “catastrophic failure” of Wyoming Highway 22 over Teton Pass overnight Friday washed away a huge section of the lifeline corridor between Jackson, Wyoming, and Victor, Idaho, the Wyoming Department of Transportation reports.
And Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi says the road washout is going to cause problems for tourists and commuters alike for some time to come.
“It's really a total loss along that span of the highway. There was no earthquake or anything like that. It's just a landslide, a natural shift along that slope. And unfortunately, it's just going to take what it takes to get that highway repaired and in use. So it's going to be putting people out of the way - their 30 to 40 minute drive between Victor and Jackson just turned into a two hour drive, and probably more to get around it. But there's nothing, unfortunately, that people can do.”
Governor Mark Gordon has declared a state of emergency for Teton Pass, which will open up some federal highway funds to repair the damage. But there's no anticipated date of reopening in sight.
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More than seven months after a Wheatland woman went missing, her car has been found abandoned 1,100 miles away in California - but there’s no clue where she might be.
Hyo Jin Min was reported missing by her ex-husband, Edward Min, on Oct. 14th of last year. And Cowboy State Daily’s Jen Kocher reports that there are some disturbing elements to Min’s disappearance.
“Everybody I talked to said there's no way she would go without talking to her son. She was devoted to her son. And prior to her leaving town, she never missed a meeting with him, never missed a phone call… it's not clear if she's been endangered, or if she left on her own. And the police, you know, when … a person is reported missing by family or a friend, they can't take them off the missing list until that person contacts the local police station or them. So as of now she's still missing.”
Her ex-husband said he is worried because she has not contacted their son, but he also can’t say if she is intentionally missing.
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Wyoming’s U.S. House Representative, Harriet Hageman, made an appearance at the Wyoming Mining Association convention in Cody last week, and drew a red line with Washington, D.C.’s ever-expansive powers, which it possesses through the Bureau of Land Management and Environmental Protection Agency, and which intends to shut down the coal industry by 2041.
Energy reporter Pat Maio was in attendance for Hageman’s speech, in which she pointed out that if fossil fuels are so evil, then liberal cities like Boulder should just give them up proactively. They could start by giving up gas stations - oh, and pavement should be removed.
“She called it this lala land thinking. And, you know, people need to wake up to the fact that we're in trouble if we go down this path of destroying the coal industry.”
Both Hageman and Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon gave a hand-slapping series of speeches to close out the Wyoming Mining Association’s annual convention.
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TV shows like Yellowstone and Longmire and stars like Beyonce have helped to make cowboy fashion popular again.
Business reporter Renee Jean visited one particular shop in Jackson, and noticed that tourists were spending big money on hats, art and all things western.
“The hats were practically flying off the shelves, I couldn't believe how many people were in this high end cowboy hat shop, buying hats, dropping a couple of thousand dollars for a hat on your head. Now, I should say that not everybody there was uber wealthy. Nobody there was particularly desperate to become a cowboy. They're just kind of in love with this whole western flair right now. It's fashionable. And I think if you think about what the cowboy portrays, it's that independence. It's that moxie, it's that, ‘I can get the job done no matter what’ kind of attitude.”
Jean says people are in love with the spirit that cowboys and cowgirls portray. And who doesn’t want to put a little piece of that on their head, even if it’s only for a moment?
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Folks who find themselves lost and starving in Wyoming’s vast backcountry might have to overcome some modern squeamishness to survive.
Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz took a closer look at what survivalists have done to stay alive - and that means NOT just eating the red meat of wild critters they catch. That can actually kill you, and it would be a painful, drawn-out death from something called “rabbit starvation” - the common term for protein poisoning.
“You can actually overload your liver with nothing but that lean protein, your liver can't process it. That in turn can cause ammonia poisoning in your blood, which in turn can kill you. So you can essentially, as they say, starve on a full stomach… well, do what the Paleolithic people did. You have to get other nutrients out of the animal… the internal organs, the liver and the heart are really good sources of fats to balance out that, that pure protein, also the stomach content of animals… porcupines is a great one to go for. They've got a lot of fatty content in their flesh, and you need those fats. And plus, they're slow and relatively easy to catch.”
And of course, don’t forget the brains. Those are loaded with healthy fats.
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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 check out 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.
