Cowboy State Daily Video News: Tuesday, July 16, 2024

It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming, for Tuesday, July 16th. I’m Wendy Corr, bringing you headlines from the Cowboy State Daily newsroom - brought to you by Wyoming Senior Olympics, reminding you that this year's Summer Olympics start July 31st in Cheyenne and volunteers are needed, become a volunteer today at Wyoming senior Olympics dot org.

A Sheridan man faces up to 20 years in prison, accused of punching a man so hard he died after a parking argument.

33 year old Cody McCalla was charged with involuntary manslaughter Monday, following a fight Friday outside the local rodeo in Sheridan that ended in the death of  local hockey coach and player Patrick Mudd. That’s according to Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland.

“There was some sort of a fight or scuffle, and then one hit took him to the ground and he had pretty much no brain activity from that point going forward, and died over the weekend. But what followed was, the hockey community there in Sheridan, put their sticks on their front porch, because he was an apparently beloved hockey coach and mentor and adult league player. ”

Mudd’s friends from the Sheridan hockey community told Cowboy State Daily he was a loving family man and a passionate hockey player and coach.

Read the full story HERE.

Former President Donald Trump’s selection of Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance as his running mate on Monday drew widespread praise from Wyoming’s congressional delegation.

Cowboy State Daily’s Leo Wolfson said the delegation’s support for Vance comes from working directly with the Senator.

“Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis just recently co sponsored a bill with Vance that would end DEI programs in the federal government… Wyoming Senator John Barrasso is someone that Vance has described as a mentor, and likewise Barrasso issued his support for the pick of Vance on Monday, calling him a friend and a colleague.”

Congresswoman Harriet Hageman called the Vance decision “a phenomenal choice” and said she “can’t wait” to see his debates with Vice President Kamala Harris. 

Read the full story HERE.

Earlier this summer, there was a confirmed sighting of a grizzly in southwest Montana’s Tobacco Root Mountains. That’s a place where grizzly bears haven’t been spotted in decades.

Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports that the increasing frequency of reports of grizzlies being sighted in places that they’ve not been previously has biologists wondering if a mingling of Wyoming and Montana bears is imminent.

“The million dollar question on the table is when are the northern Continental Divide grizzly bears, that kind of radiates out from Glacier Park in Montana, and the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem grizzly bears, which radiate out from Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, when are those two populations going to join and start mixing it up to a significant level? Because a lot of people have said, even people that are otherwise adamantly opposed to Grizzlies being delisted, to have said if and when that happens, that will kind of be the last thing that needs to fall into place for the Grizzlies to be delisted.” 

About 1,100 bears make up the Northern Continental Divide population, and a roughly equal number of grizzlies are thought to live in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. 

Read the full story HERE.

American Rare Earths Ltd. indicated earlier this year that its rare earth minerals project near Wheatland could need an infusion of $456 million to begin mine development and production.

Cowboy State Daily’s Pat Maio reports that the company announced Monday that it began test drilling at its Wyoming mine to determine just how big it's find really is.

“They just started those bore wells last week, they announced today to me, and that's significant, because what it's doing is it's setting in motion a lot of the state permitting, that's going to have to happen now… And by the end of the year, they'll have kind of a clearer picture on the geology up there.” 

The results of the test drilling will be used to draft a revised estimate on the amount of recoverable rare earth deposits at the Wheatland mine.

Read the full story HERE.

A Natrona County ranch couple blocked off a portion of County Road 505 where it crosses their property, potentially impacting two major road projects. 

One commissioner told Cowboy State Daily’s Dale Killingbeck that the county is extremely concerned.

“They blocked the road in two places. And that is impacting potentially construction projects on top of Casper mountain. I was told by the Natrona County road and bridge superintendent that the issue is going to be getting asphalt up to their projects from the front side of the mountain going through switchbacks and all of that on on Casper mountain road.”

The road is blocked about one mile southwest of the Muddy Mountain intersection at the couple’s property line. It is also blocked on the south side of their property.

Read the full story HERE.

And former President Donald Trump, as expected, became the Republican party’s official nominee at their national convention, and did so with the help of 29 Wyoming Republican delegates.

Cowboy State Daily’s Leo Wolfson reports that Secretary of State Chuck Gray announced the delegates’ unanimous support for Trump. 

“Gray took center stage during his roughly minute long speech promoting Wyoming's energy industry and agriculture industry… he was surrounded by many leading Wyoming Republicans and he was wearing an oversized white cowboy hat that said the Cowboys for Trump.” 

Trump won enough delegates to officially be considered the party’s nominee on Monday afternoon, but he had already been the presumptive nominee for months.

Read the full story HERE.

One of the game wardens who investigated the capture, torture and killing of a wolf in Sublette County has been charged with driving under the influence, according to court records. 

52-year-old Herbert “Bubba” Haley of Pinedale, was charged with DUI after he failed a field sobriety test on July 7th, according to Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz.

“A gentleman was pulled over and cited for DUI, having a brake light out and driving without a seatbelt on. The reason this is significant, or the reason that people are talking about it is it was one of the game wardens who was involved in the investigation of the Cody Roberts case. And of course, if folks recognize that name, Cody Roberts was the person from Daniel who allegedly hit the wolf with the snowmobile, and kept it alive and tormented it and then killed it and caused this whole, really what became an international controversy.” 

Haley posted $750 cash bond on July 9 and is scheduled to appear in court for an arraignment on July 24th. 

Read the full story HERE.

A Texas couple voiced outrage Sunday, saying they caught an Evanston man sexually attacking their horse when they stopped briefly at the local rodeo grounds.  

Carly Rudd of Fort Worth posted a message on a public Facebook group about the incident, saying she didn’t want what James Botkin allegedly did to her horse to happen to anyone else, according to crime and courts reporter Clair McFarland.

“She had caught a man with his arm in her horse, sexually attacking her horse… They came to Evanston at like three in the morning. They were doing chores, getting ready to bed down before continuing their travels... And then her husband Levi went to shut off a light… and he heard a commotion. And that's when he allegedly saw Botkin in the act and yelled, what are you doing? Except a more profane version of that. And Botkin is said to have squared up against Levi, and then Levi tackled him.”

Rudd’s account was backed up by court documents detailing the arrest. Botkin faces one count of bestiality, which is punishable by up to one year in jail and $1,000 in fines.

Read the full story HERE.

U.S. Sens. John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis celebrated the dismissal of a classified documents case against former President Donald Trump on Monday.

Politics reporter Leo Wolfson spoke to the senators, who said they had always viewed the allegations as a politically motivated attack by the Justice Department.

“One of the most sharply worded responses was from Congresswoman Harriet Hageman, who said that she wasn't surprised that the case was dismissed. But what she was surprised by, was that Attorney General Merrick Garland chose Jack Smith to be the independent prosecutor in the first place. She believed that picking Smith was basically the equivalent of picking an attorney off the street.”

The timing of the ruling is also significant because it aligned with the first day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where Trump was formally named the party’s nominee for president.

Read the full story HERE.

A balloonist and passenger participating in the Casper Balloon Roundup sustained injuries in a hard landing on the east side of Casper on Saturday morning.

Cowboy State Daily’s Dale Killingbeck reports that two adult females were in the balloon when it crashed, and one was injured.

“They had a hard landing. The pilot and the passenger were thrown out of the balloon basket and the pilot was taken to the hospital with injuries. And fortunately another balloon landed about a quarter mile down where the balloon ended up and had gas on. So that gas was turned off, and there were no further issues.”

Ten balloons participated in the event on Saturday.

Read the full story HERE.

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 - and you can watch this newscast every day by clicking Subscribe on our YouTube channel. 

I’m Wendy Corr, for Cowboy State Daily.