Cowboy State Daily Newscast: Friday, February 20, 2026

It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Friday, February 20th.  I’m Mac Watson.

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The Wyoming House had a raw exchange Wednesday night about the check-passing controversy that’s advanced into a criminal bribery investigation. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports one lawmaker admits he’s received a check and didn’t think it was wrong.

“House Speaker Chip Neiman, who had just a revelation and told kind of the whole story. Wednesday night, she walked into his office where he was with his wife, according to his telling, handed him a check they had discussed way back in January, that was made out to his campaign account. He handed it off to his wife, said, ‘Put that in the campaign account,’ and went right on with his business. He said he regretted that it had turned into a big controversy.”

The House voted 37-21 in requiring the committee to continue its investigation as Laramie County Sheriff Brian Kozak will concurrently hold his criminal investigation.

Read the full story HERE.

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Two people are dead and more than 20 people were injured after a 34-vehicle incident in the westbound lane of I-80 near Evanston on Wednesday afternoon. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports the westbound lane was finally opened late Thursday morning as wreckers were busily clearing vehicles from the highway.

“Every wrecker in Evanston and several from Lyman were summoned to the scene so they could clear the road, and it took over 16 hours to get the westbound lanes of I-80 open again…Highway Patrol still investigating the contributing factors to these incidents…They said that bad weather conditions were probably a part of it, and a big part of it. There were white out conditions and slick roads. But they also didn't rule out that excessive speeds may have played a role.”

Wyoming Highway Patrol says that the pileup occurred around 3:07 p.m. on Wednesday. In all, 22 commercial semi-trucks and 12 passenger vehicles were involved in the crash.

Read the full story HERE.

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Sen. John Kolb, the loudest voice on gambling in the legislature this session, is pushing four different bills to tighten up regulations on the industry. Cowboy State Daily’s David Madison reports that Kolb says “Gaming within the state of Wyoming has exploded into a multibillion-dollar business.” 

“He's working on a number of bills, including a couple that were discussed today on the Senate floor. One talked about the placement of gaming machines…another bill looks at really refining the language around what is and is not a legal poker game. It's illegal. It would be illegal under this new legislation for there to be an organized game where you buy in and the house takes a cut that is just illegal. But the way the law is currently written, it's not easy to prosecute, according to Kolb and so they're trying to tighten that language to make it so you really have to be among friends.”

Under current law, professional operators exploit a loophole allowing games among acquaintances. Bars take a cut of the pot, players pay buy-ins, and when authorities investigate, everyone claims to be pals.

Read the full story HERE.

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Two years after a wolf was run over with a snowmobile in Sublette County sparked worldwide outrage, animal welfare advocates are still trying to get the practice banned in Wyoming. But Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports that there are long odds getting that done in this year’s budget session.

“I talked to Representative Mike Schmid from LaBarge, who, last year, during the last session, tried to introduce a bill that was unsuccessful to get the practice of whacking ban. He said, ‘I did think about floating a bill this session. It didn't really work out, so we're kind of giving up on that for now,’ but it looks like everybody's looking forward are kind of laying the groundwork for what will probably end up being a big push in the 2027 legislature.”

Kim Bean, the founder and president of Wolf and Wildlife Advocates, told Cowboy State Daily that chances of getting a whacking ban bill passed during this year’s budget session are slim.

Read the full story HERE.

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I’ll be back with more news from Cowboy State Daily right after this.

Cowboy State Daily news continues now…

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The Sublette County attorney prosecuting Cody Roberts for cruelty for allegedly torturing a wolf says chasing it down and taping its mouth are all part of the crime. But Cowboy State Daily’s Greg Johnson reports that the filing gives insight into who may testify against Roberts.

“What was interesting in the filing is that it does lay out a little bit more about what some of the testimony may be. He says there may be testimony of someone who, Roberts allegedly told about running down the wolf and how he chased the wolf and brought it back to his house on his snowmobile. And then other testimony about the examination of the deceased wolf. And it's coming in less than three weeks until his trial is set to start, scheduled for March 9.”

Clayton Melinkovich, who is prosecuting the case, says in his response that the whole act of capturing, tormenting and killing the wolf are part of a single act of abusing the animal.

Read the full story HERE.

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Senate President Bo Biteman's bill to channel severance tax revenues into a Trump administration-backed “Energy Dominance Fund” passed the chamber 31-0 Thursday. Cowboy State Daily’s David Madison reports the bill has also gotten support from the Trump administration.

“It was singled out by the White House in Washington, DC and the Energy Dominance Council there with a letter of support. So Biteman was happy to distribute a copy of this letter from the White House, basically saying, ‘Go get them! We support this energy dominance legislation at the state level, it really ties in with what we're trying to accomplish with the Trump administration's energy policy.’”

The roughly $105 million in severance tax revenues would be used for projects tied to coal, natural gas, uranium, enhanced oil recovery, pipeline infrastructure, rare earth and critical mineral processing, and baseload energy development. 

Read the full story HERE.

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A Big Piney man was sentenced Thursday to between 75 years and life in prison for the bow-and-arrow killing of a 23-year-old autistic man. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that 20-year-old Rowan Littauer was ordered to pay over 4 grand in restitution to the victim's family.

“He said that he has an impossible debt that he'll spend the rest of his life striving to pay. The judge noted that both him and the victim had develop developmental diagnoses, this longing for friends, this struggle to connect with friends, according to Littauer, he didn't actually know his victim. He thought he was defending his accomplice, Orion Schlesinger, who had had a slight a conflict with Dakota Farley.”

The Thursday sentencing of Rowan Littauer brings finality to a pair of cases that started when Littauer texted a female last year, telling her he'd killed somebody over the weekend of Feb. 1, 2025.

Read the full story HERE.

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A driver who comes across a "rolling closure" might see nothing but clear skies and dry conditions and ask “why is the road closed?” Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that WYDOT says it's to keep towns from being overwhelmed. 

“They'll extend the closure outwards so that they can take the pressure off those communities and spread more of those people out. So it's different from a full closure, and for Wyomingites, it's very different, because you can actually get a permit to travel through roads that are under a rolling closure if you have a valid Wyoming driver's license and address…WYDOT would prefer if Wyomingites didn't add to the burden of communities that are already getting an influx of people from out of state who can't travel.”

According to WYDOT, a rolling closure starts after an incident, usually a traffic accident or hazardous weather. It starts in the communities on either side of the hazardous area and can be extended further based on the severity of the situation.

Read the full story HERE.

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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, or listen to us on your favorite podcast app.  Thanks for watching - I’m Mac Watson, for Cowboy State Daily.