Cowboy State Daily Video News: Wednesday, July 17, 2024

It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming, for Wednesday, July 17th. 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.

On June 10, 4-year-old Serafina Blue Day fell face-first out of a second story window in Sheridan. Medical professionals told her mother the little girl might not wake up; might not be able to talk. They warned of potential paralysis or deafness. 

But a month after the accident, Fifi, as she’s called, is spunky and bright as ever - despite her frightening injuries. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland spoke to Fifi and her mother, Anastasia Harbour.

“The way she recalled it to her mother… she was playing with the other little girls she was visiting at that window, kind of, and she pushed on the screen wanting to feel the sun on her hands. And out she went, face first on the concrete. And Anastasia found her. She thought she was dead… But over the course of days, she was talking. I actually talked to her Monday in a FaceTime call. And she was so cute. She was showing off her nails. She was articulating things and asking for things and promising to be nice while her mother fetched a sandwich.”

Although her right leg remains in a rigid brace so her femur can heal, Fifi has even been dancing, wiggling her little body in her wheelchair.

Read the full story HERE.

On July 8, 19-year-old Powell resident Jhett Schwahn and his girlfriend were hiking down from the summit of Heart Mountain in northwest Wyoming, when Schwahn was suddenly bitten by a rattlesnake in the late afternoon hours. 

Cowboy State Daily’s Leo Wolfson spoke to Schwahn, who said he heard no rattle from the reptile that pounced out from a bush near the trail. 

“Schwahn got very lucky. Basically, since he was wearing pants that day, it… might have saved his life. Because … only one side of the fangs really penetrated his skin. So it was much less venom coursing through his body. And that's significant, because it took emergency rescuers about two, two and a half hours to reach him on the top of Heart Mountain. And then on top of that, it was still about four hours after he was bit that he finally received the antidote, the venom antidote.” 

Schwahn is optimistic that he could be cleared to walk without assistance by this weekend, and even more likely, play baseball again by next weekend.

Read the full story HERE.

Going just by the numbers, the grizzly population in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is more than double the 500 bears designated as “recovered.” 

Outdoors reporter Mark Heinz says the Wyoming Game and Fish Department is waiting to hear back from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service whether a petition to delist the grizzlies from federal protection will move forward.

“There's some bears showing up in new places in Jackson and also bears even showing up in cornfields in some places in Wyoming…Game and Fish is waiting to hear back from the federal wildlife service, the US Fish and Wildlife here was about possible movements toward delisting.”

Grizzlies in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho were delisted twice before, from 2007-2009, and 2017-2018. The bears were relisted both times. 

Read the full story HERE.

Wyoming's sodium bentonite companies produce over 70% of the world’s supply. 

Wyo-Ben, a privately-held company, is going up against larger rivals like Mineral Technologies and Haliburton’s Bentonite Performance. But it’s in kitty litter that Wyo-Ben is seeing the biggest bump in business, according to energy reporter Pat Maio.

“I sat down with the CEO David Brown for a good couple of hours, and we talked about the business - and lots of activity in the area of kitty litter. That's what bentonite is used to make. Partially. There's also mud for drill bits, and Oil Gas drilling, and it's also - interestingly - used as a binder, they call it, for bringing together proteins and making wine look nice and smell good, that kind of thing.. But the kitty litter business is just going crazy for them. It's double digit growth.”

The company currently employs about 350 workers - but could take another 50-plus. They’ve been somewhat stifled in their growth plans because of worker shortages. 

Read the full story HERE.

The Natrona County road blocked by a Casper-area ranch couple on Friday had the barriers removed by county workers Tuesday morning.

Cowboy State Daily’s Dale Killingbeck reports that County Road 505, also known as Circle Drive, is now open to traffic - and the county intends to keep it that way.

“The county commissioners are telling me that the road is going to remain open for the foreseeable future. They are in the process of obtaining the road legally by adverse possession if need be…  adverse possession means that they have had control of the road for the past 10 years under Wyoming law, they can do it that way. They have to have a public hearing, they have to publish a notice in the newspaper. They have to give all the property owners right to object. And then they have an administrative hearing.”

Natrona County ranchers Walt and Stephanie Woodbury and their ranch business purchased property that surrounds a portion of the road in 2023. They have complained about trespassing, littering and other issues on their property.

Read the full story HERE.

Lake Trout in Flaming Gorge Reservoir have gotten so numerous they’re out-competing other fish species, and even each other.

Outdoors reporter Mark Heinz says the problem has prompted Wyoming and Utah to call for no-limits and a fishing free-for-all for any of the lake trout under 28 inches.

“There's gotten to be so many lake trout, they really like to eat Kokanee salmon, so … they're worried about the Kokanee salmon getting diminished because of this. And also the lake trout themselves are suffering, because there's so many of them competing for diminishing food source, they're having trouble growing to those really big sizes.”

If things go as planned, starting Oct. 1 there will be no limit on how many lake trout under 28 inches anglers can pull from the reservoir, which straddles the Wyoming-Utah state line.

Read the full story HERE.

At the 2024 Wyoming State Shoot last weekend, nearly 700 4H kids from counties across the Cowboy State converged on Douglas for three days of shooting competition.

 The event is the most prominent shooting competition in the state, reports Cowboy State Daily’s Jackie Dorothy - whose 13-year-old son, Nate, was a competitor.

“You have over 600 Kids, nearly 700 students from the ages of eight to 18, handling these firearms, and they knew what they were doing there. It just felt safer than a football game, which was really funny when you think about it.”

The 4H kids are expected to already be trained in safety and shooting before they arrive at the Wyoming State Shoot. They are discouraged from coming if they had not previously trained on a local level with county 4H instructors.

Read the full story HERE.

Casper attorney Steve Helling has no illusions about his chances of beating Wyoming Rep. Harriet Hageman in the upcoming Republican primary election. 

But Cowboy State Daily’s Leo Wolfson reports that he still believes running against the incumbent is the right thing to do, so voters can have a choice. 

“He ran for the US House as a Democrat in 2022. But he basically has two main issues with Hageman. For one, he's very offended that she won't participate in a debate with him… And then he also has a different stance than her on the issue of nuclear power. He is very against the TerraPower facility that's being proposed in Kemmerer.”

Hageman, who’s running for reelection to a second term, is a formidable opponent. She beat Cheney by 38-percentage points in the 2022 election and coasted to an even larger victory against Democrat Lynette Grey Bull in the general election.

Read the full story HERE.

During his first day in court, an Evanston man caught sexually attacking a horse agreed to the maximum penalty, one year in jail. 

James Botkin was charged Monday with one count of bestiality, after a Texas couple passing through Evanston early Sunday caught him with his arm inside their mare at the Evanston rodeo grounds. That's according to Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland.

“I talked to Loretta Kalish, she's the elected county attorney there… and she said we always give them that option. You know, you can get an attorney or sign up for a public defender and you can fight this, or if you're interested, here's a plea agreement. She said that for 20 years our offices have offered that on day one for misdemeanors like this…. She said it was a little unusual that he took the plea agreement on day one.”

One of the horse’s owners had posted a public warning on Facebook Sunday to other rodeo enthusiasts, advising them to skip Evanston during their travels. 

Read the full story HERE.

Park County Search and Rescue is always ready to handle a wide variety of calls across a large region with incredibly varied terrain. Their volunteers were stretched to their limits early this month, though, after responding to five calls in four days across northwest Wyoming.

Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that there are 38 volunteers on the squad - and while the frequency of these calls was unusual, he said they are always prepared for anything.

“I mean, there's search and rescue teams across the West. They're all very proficient, very skilled. What makes Park County Search and Rescue unique is the amount of area they have to cover and the varied train they have to deal with. They're doing snow rescues, desert rescues, mountain rescues, water rescues and all types.”

Between July 5 and 8, the squad responded to a stranded boat, a fall from a waterfall, horse and mule-back injuries, and a rattlesnake bite. 

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.