It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Thursday, October 23nd. Bringing you headlines from the Cowboy State Daily news center, I’m Mac Watson. “Brought to you by the Wyoming Business Council. Wyoming youth are our future, but they're leaving the state at ALMOST TWICE the national average. What would bring them back home? Share your bold ideas with the Wyoming Business Council at wbc dot P U B forward slash story."
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A Wyoming woman who once housed killer Dale Wayne Eaton believes her family’s Natrona County property may hold clues to the 28-year-old case of missing runner Amy Wroe Bechtel. Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports that the woman hopes police will bring cadaver dogs to search an old cabin there.
“Amy Wroe Bechtel went missing in 1997. She was a 24-year-old Olympic hopeful. She went running in the Shoshone forest and vanished, never to be seen again. One of the ladies I talked to mentioned that her sister owned a property where Dale Eaton had lived when Amy went missing and her sister had or her aunt. Rather, it was her aunt and her aunt, Tracy had been trying to get somebody out there with cadaver dogs to, explore that property, because she believes Dale Eaton may have buried somebody there…because he was living there. Dale knew her father. They were friends. They played cards together, you know, just he was a friend of the family, and they never could have imagined that anything like this was going on. But evidently, Dale had some dark secrets.”
While the initial investigation into Amy’s disappearance focused on her husband Steve, investigators eventually came to believe Eaton might have been involved, particularly after Eaton was found guilty in 2004 of murdering Lisa Marie Kimmel, a woman who disappeared while traveling from Denver to her family's home in Billings, Montana, in 1988.
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The Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) is now working closely with the FBI to investigate a suspected improvised explosive device discovered Tuesday morning outside the state Capitol. Cowboy State Daily’s Jackson Walker reports what exactly was found at the capitol and how investigators are looking for a person or persons of interest.
“DCI commander Ryan Cox told Cowboy State daily that the item was likely not something a consumer could buy in a fireworks store, adding that this was something that they likely created on their own to cause a disruption at the Capitol…DCI, at this time, has identified two subjects of interest, which they believe may be connected to the incident, and they are working on reaching out to those individuals. Currently, the FBI is also involved in this investigation and is helping.”
Cox tells Cowboy State Daily that authorities are investigating the incident as though the firework was placed there with malicious intent, describing the device as being cylindrical with no base, and less than a foot in length. If you have any information about this case, you’re asked to call the FBI.
Read the full story HERE.
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The four-year war over a tipi retreat campground in Hot Springs County has escalated to the state’s highest office. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports why seven county residents are asking Governor Mark Gordon to remove two-thirds of the Hot Springs County Commission from office.
“The claim is basically that the commissioners, that those two commissioners tried to go around a judge's order in order to accommodate the teepee retreat, which has been, you know, just was fraught with struggles, not, not, you know, just, just trying so hard to get the commercial authorization to do its business over the years, and has been this point of controversy and this argument about property rights versus neighborhood sanctity. But then the claim against those commissioners specifically is that, after a judge had settled that matter, they tried to go around his order strike a settlement favoring the teepee, retreat and undo a fine that the court had imposed. Gotcha okay. And then the second one is he put down election code.”
Gordon’s office announced in a Tuesday statement saying that seven qualified electors filed a verified complaint with the governor’s office accusing Hot Springs County Commissioner Bob Aguiar and Commissioner Paul Galovich of misconduct or malfeasance.
Read the full story HERE.
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As the government shutdown enters its third week, Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso is saying that GOP leadership will listen to Dems demands, but Cowboy State Daily’s Sean Barry reports from DC that there’s a caveat to the talks.
“There are no negotiations on ending the government shutdown. What's going on here? John Barrasso of Wyoming, the second ranking Republican in the US Senate, saying, we'll talk to the Democrats about their issues, but only after they reopen the government without conditions. And this is where it gets really, really iffy, because the Republicans have basically, they've passed so much legislation on a strictly partisan fashion this year, a lot of the Democrats are really wary of whether they would take anything seriously in the future if they vote to reopen the government. So this is essentially the only card they have to play. The Republicans, of course, controlling the House, the Senate and the White House. It takes 60 votes though, to pass any appropriations measure, and that's what's happening now.”
So far, this shutdown is the second-longest in American history. Government services are crippled and 1 million federal workers — some furloughed, some working — are missing paychecks.
Read the full story HERE.
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I’ll be back with more news, right after this…
A driver racing a Corvette at 112 mph at night on Happy Jack Road between Cheyenne and Laramie got busted and a hefty fine, isn’t really news. But Cowboy State Daily’s Scott Schwebke reports the Albany County Sheriff's Office is calling this kind of reckless driving a certain name.
“Deer Dodgeball is something that was crafted by the Albany County Sheriff's Office and a Facebook post describing an incident in early, early this month, in which he says going that fast on a dark, rural road is not only reckless, it's ‘playing deer dodgeball’ and that it was the drivers likely going through a convention of wild animals who meet at night and that kind of a thing. So he was trying to make a humorous public service announcement, and speeding is a big problem. According to the authorities I talked to, it's, you know, not uncommon for people to drive it hundreds of miles an hour.”
In June, MoneySuperMarket, a research firm that conducts reviews and analysis on consumer services such as car insurance, used data from Google Routes to determine the fastest drivers in the world. The United States ranked first. Wyoming has the fastest drivers, who travel an average of 71.8 MPH on long drives, according to the study.
Read the full story HERE.
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Four bills seeking to catch and prevent botched elections in Wyoming are headed to the 2026 legislative session after the Management Audit Committee advanced them all Tuesday. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports this all stems from the Weston County Clerk’s mishandling portions of the 2024 general election.
“Managing my audit advanced four bills on Tuesday that all had to do with like, how we catch it, how we punish it when someone botches an election. So things like, things like inviting members of both parties or representatives of independent candidates to the post election audit proceeding, things like a stiffer penalty when public officials or people don't show for legislative subpoenas, all really pertaining to what's going on right now with the Weston County controversy.”
The committee discussed the four bills in the context of the Weston County Clerk’s mishandling portions of the 2024 general election, which has been an ongoing political saga since last November.
Read the full story HERE.
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At any time of the day or night, all year, thousands of viewers from across the globe are watching Wyoming’s roads at any given time. Cowboy State Daily’s Jackson Walker reports The Wyoming Department of Transportation maintains 226 web cameras set up to monitor major roadways across the state on a 24/7 basis, but they don’t know why the cameras are such an internet sensation.
“Viewers from across the world have been tuning in to the Wyoming Department of Transportation's web cameras, which monitor different roads throughout the state. I've reached out to the department to ask why…they said that they don't quite know, but specified that there could be a couple of reasons why, such as military troops that are deployed around the world who want to get a look at what's going on back home…or maybe international tourists who are trying to plan the right time of year to visit Wyoming.”
WYDOT tells Cowboy State Daily that they monitor roads near 52 Wyoming cities as well as stretches of Interstate-80, I-90 and other U.S. highways.
Read the full story HERE.
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A young shorthaired Australian Shepherd is lucky to be alive after a mountain lion grabbed her by her head and tried to carry her away on her owners’ rural property near Newcastle. Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports the owners say they were getting ready for church early Sunday when they heard a strange noise and looked out a second-story window into the driveway.
“There's this mountain lion with her dog's head in its mouth, you know, and they tried scaring it away. And I guess her husband finally, he started the vehicle would start that scared the lion enough to get up and leave, but it still had the dog in his mouth. Carried the dog off, and they thought, oh, man, the dogs did. We've lost a dog. But, you know, the husband drove after it in a pickup and spotted it. Mountain lion finally dropped the dog, and the dog ridden back to the house.”
Biologists are saying that mountain lion populations are continuing to grow and are pushing even into states like Kansas and Oklahoma.
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.
