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<title>🚧 You Still Here? Sunday, December 24, 2023 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Not since the days of Michael Jordan has the basketball world witnessed moves like this...

You Still Here? Sunday, December 24, 2023

 Not since the days of Michael Jordan has the basketball world witnessed moves like this...

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's Feature Reporter, Andrew Rossi.

Andrew Rossi

Outdoors

Public Lands

Black Diamond Geyser in the Biscuit Basin explodes Vlada March 7 23 24

<title>🚧 Violent Yellowstone Thermal Pool Eruption Explodes Boardwalk, Spews Mud And Rocks | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Black Diamond Pool in Yellowstone National Park violently erupted Tuesday, sending dozens of tourists running as the boardwalk they were standing on exploded. The eruption spewed black water, mud and rocks, but no injuries were initially reported.

Violent Yellowstone Thermal Pool Eruption Explodes Boardwalk, Spews Mud And Rocks

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Jake Nichols

Wyoming Life

Entertainment

Dave Stamey performs at the Colorado Cowboy Gathering in 2022 6 29 24

<title>🚧 Legendary Cowboy Crooner Dave Stamey Won Over Wyoming One Show At A Time | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Cowboy singer-songwriter Dave Stamey is one of the most celebrated Western entertainers alive today. Eight-time Entertainer of the Year, seven-time Male Performer of the Year and five-time Songwriter of the Year by the Western Music Association.

Legendary Cowboy Crooner Dave Stamey Won Over Wyoming One Show At A Time

Around Wyoming

Alien abductions main 9 30 23

<title>🚧 Alien Abductions Of 2 Wyoming Men In The 1970s Remain Unexplainable | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Recent whistleblower accusations of a U.S. government cover-up regarding UFOs casts new light on old claims, including a pair of Wyoming encounters in the 1970s that made national headlines.

Alien Abductions Of 2 Wyoming Men In The 1970s Remain Unexplainable

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's general assignment reporter, Clair McFarland.

Clair McFarland

Crime & Courts

Accused of punching, pistol-whipping, and warning another man never to attack his dad again, Logan James Savage, 43, pleaded not guilty to a felony assault charge Monday.  
Savage also got out of jail on a $20,000 unsecured bond.  
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Elmore argued against Savage&#x2019;s release.  
&#x201C;There are individuals in the community who are afraid of the defendant based on the charged conduct,&#x201D; said Elmore in a hearing in the U.S. District Court for Wyoming in Lander.  
Savage, of Arapahoe, Wyoming, is accused of entering a man&#x2019;s home and punching the man with his fist, Elmore said. The U.S. Attorney&#x2019;s office charged him with one count of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to do bodily harm, which is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and $250,000 in fines.  
&#x201C;He brandished a pistol and struck him in the head several times with it,&#x201D; Elmore continued. &#x201C;He forced the victim to kiss the pistol then threatened to kill him if he ever assaulted his father again … or told law enforcement.&#x201D;  
The victim, Elmore said, showed wounds consistent with being beaten with a pistol.  
Savage&#x2019;s defense attorney Bailey Lazzari countered, saying Savage is &#x201C;no danger to the community,&#x201D; has strong ties to the community and has fully complied with the terms of his bond in a separate case in Wind River Tribal Court.  
Other than the charges alleged in this case, Lazzari said there&#x2019;s nothing suggesting that Savage is dangerous. She also said he expects to return to full-time employment. 
Savage later clarified that he has a bachelor&#x2019;s degree and is close to having his master&#x2019;s degree, and works in finance.  
U.S. Magistrate Judge Teresa McKee granted Savage&#x2019;s release by unsecured bond. She did so &#x201C;with a bit of hesitation,&#x201D; said the judge.  
McKee forbade Savage from contacting potential witnesses in the case. She also forbade him from accessing alcohol, drugs or firearms, and from leaving Wyoming without permission. She told Savage to remain living at his home in Arapahoe and to remain employed.  
Savage may not have firearms or &#x201C;large knives&#x201D; at his home, even if they belong to other people, said McKee.  
&#x201C;That sounds straightforward,&#x201D; said Savage, who spoke clearly throughout the hearing. &#x201C;Thank you.&#x201D;

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<title>🚧 Wyoming Man Accused Of Pistol-Whipping, Threatening To Kill Another Pleads Not Guilty, Bonds Out… | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Accused of pistol-whipping and warning a man against ever hurting his father, Logan James Savage of Arapahoe pleaded not guilty to an assault charge Monday and was released from jail on an unsecured bond.

Wyoming Man Accused Of Pistol-Whipping, Threatening To Kill Another Pleads Not Guilty, Bonds Out Of Jail

Heinz mark

Mark Heinz

Even as the Eastern U.S. struggles with a raccoon rabies epidemic, a Lander trapper said he can recall a time when the critters were scarce in Wyoming, though that&#x2019;s no longer the case. 
Todd Fross said he&#x2019;s trapped some &#x201C;gigantic&#x201D; raccoons in recent years, mostly around Riverton and Powell. 
&#x201C;I&#x2019;ve got three (pelts) in my shed right now,&#x201D; he told Cowboy State Daily on Friday. &#x201C;From the tail to the nose, they must be 36 inches. The fur is really thick, really beautiful.&#x201D; 
He&#x2019;s even sold some of the better pelts to Russians. 
&#x201C;They used the raccoon fur to line the hoods in women&#x2019;s coats,&#x201D; Fross said. 
The current state of global affairs has shut that market down for now, he said, but he hopes it picks back up again. 
Raccoon pelts weren&#x2019;t easy to come by in Wyoming when his father taught him how to trap in the 1950s and early1960s, Fross said. Raccoons started becoming more common here in the 1980s and have increased since. 
People over the decades have drawn raccoons in with crops, garbage, pet food and other temptations, Fross said. Now the critters are plentiful, especially around settled areas. 
&#x201C;Raccoons are like liberals,&#x201D; he told Cowboy State Daily. &#x201C;As soon as it gets really prosperous in an area and there is a lot of food for them, they show up.&#x201D;
Big Rabies Problems Back East 
The raccoon rabies strain hasn&#x2019;t taken hold in Wyoming, disease experts told Cowboy State Daily. Skunks and bats are the primary rabies carriers here. 
The Eastern U.S. has been struggling with a mushrooming raccoon rabies epidemic for decades, according to a recent article in The Atlantic magazine online. The epidemic is thought to have started in Florida and has since spread as far north as the Canadian border and as far west as Ohio. 
Officials in the East have resorted to air-dropping millions of oral rabies vaccine packets each year, the Atlantic said. The packets entice raccoons with two flavors; fish and vanilla. 
Skunks and Bats Are The Rabies Carriers Here 
Rabies isn&#x2019;t prevalent in Wyoming&#x2019;s raccoons, and there&#x2019;s little evidence the Eastern raccoon rabies epidemic will keep up enough steam to reach this far west, two Wyoming disease experts said. 
&#x201C;(The wildlife oral vaccination program) continues to be successful in preventing the westward expansion of the raccoon rabies variant from the Eastern US,&#x201D; Dr. Emily Curren told Cowboy State Daily in an email. She&#x2019;s the state public health veterinarian with the Wyoming Department of Health. 
&#x201C;The skunk strain of rabies is the most common terrestrial rabies variant in Wyoming,&#x201D; she said. 
&#x201C;It (skunk rabies) does tend to be more concentrated in the north,&#x201D; Curren added. &#x201C;In counties such as Big Horn, Sheridan, Johnson and Campbell, and in the east, in Laramie and Goshen counties.&#x201D; 
Rabies occasionally infects bats in Wyoming, wildlife disease biologist Michael Pipas told Cowboy State Daily. He works for the USDA Wildlife Services. 
&#x201C;Bats can sometimes bite people,&#x201D; he said. &#x201C;You have to be extremely cautious if you need to remove a bat from your home.&#x201D; 
Rabies is almost always fatal in humans unless a bite victim is vaccinated immediately. Wyoming&#x2019;s only known rabies fatality was a Lander woman. She died weeks after being bitten by a bat that flew into her home in August 2015, according to news reports from the time. 
The woman was not named in the reports. Cowboy State Daily columnist Bill Sniffin, who lives in Lander, said she was Karen Farthing, whom he knew. 
In extremely rare cases, humans can become infected by breathing in rabies from bats, Pipas said. 
&#x201C;If, for example, you were to go into a cave that was populated by bats, and some of those bats were rabid, it (the rabies virus) could be there in aerosol form,&#x201D; he said. <h2>Vicious Cycle of Nature </h2>Fross said that in addition to trapping in the wild, he sometimes traps troublesome creatures, including skunks and raccoons, around settled areas.  
Traditional leg-hold traps typically don&#x2019;t work in those situations, because they&#x2019;re too dangerous to dogs, he said. 
Instead, for raccoons, he uses &#x201C;dog-proof&#x201D; devices that entice racoons to reach for bait with their front paws into a tube with a trapping mechanism inside. 
After decades of chasing wild critters around, Fross said he doesn&#x2019;t recall ever snaring a rabid animal. 
&#x201C;If in animal is sick out there (in the wild), it won&#x2019;t last very long. Something else will eat it,&#x201D; he said. &#x201C;I know coyotes seem to like eating skunks. I guess it&#x2019;s like Mexican food for coyotes, because to them, it&#x2019;s spicy.&#x201D;

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<title>🚧 Wyoming Trapper Hopes Russia Raccoon Market Opens Again Soon, Not Concerned About Rabies Epidemic | Cowboy State Daily</title>

As a raccoon rabies epidemic rages in the Eastern U.S., a Lander trapper said he hopes Russian relations warm-up so he can restart his raccoon fur business to the country.

Wyoming Trapper Hopes Russia Raccoon Market Opens Again Soon, Not Concerned About Rabies Epidemic

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