Episode Details

It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming! I'm Wendy Corr, bringing you headlines from the Cowboy State Daily newsroom, for Friday, May 10th.

Social media giant Meta Platforms Inc. — billionaire Mark Zuckerberg's conglomerate that owns social networking sites Facebook, Instagram, What'sApp and other platforms — is building what could become the largest high-tech project in Wyoming in south Cheyenne.

Cowboy State Daily's Pat Maio reports that the company chose Wyoming to house its sprawling enterprise data center for a number of reasons.

"There's a major internet trunk line that runs across the state, east to west. And it'll help them get fractionally faster speeds on the internet. So that's good. Secondly, I would argue also that they like the business climate, it's friendly here in Wyoming. And as a data center, there's legislation out there that gives them tax benefits. So there's an incentive there for them to locate here. Thirdly, it's the weather, it's cooler, with the wind blowing all the time. As you know, it's what, May 9 today, and it's raining, I saw snow earlier. That's good for a data center because it keeps it cooler, don't have to use as much water in the cooling system to keep it cool."

When construction is completed in three years, it could become the largest multibillion-dollar investment ever in a single high-tech project in the Cowboy State.

College students around the United States and other nations have been protesting on university campuses — sometimes violently — as the spring semester draws to a close in support of the Palestinian cause in the Gaza-Israeli war.

But that's about it for campus activity reacting to the Middle East war. In at least three trade schools in Wyoming, the idea of their students tenting out and protesting for hours or days is not only unheard of, it's a little bizarre, according to Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland.

"For one thing, even though there's college aged kids working at these trade schools, the structure is different, where there's a lot more field time and a lot less classroom time. For another thing, they're really focused on getting these vocational certifications. And so there's not as much philosophical, political kind of stewing. And then the person who actually was the director of the trucking school said, no, these people aren't really going to get involved with things that don't directly impact them."

The University of Wyoming saw a peaceful Gaza-related protest involving about 40 people last week, the university's spokesman confirmed to Cowboy State Daily.

Jonas Black, a dog trainer with millions of followers on social media, is organizing a 1,300-mile motorcycle rally from Texas to Wyoming in honor of a wolf that was tortured and killed in Daniel.

Outdoors reporter Mark Heinz spoke to Black, who told him that when he heard about the wolf incident in February, he felt he needed to do something.

"He's a very active, very avid biker. And he's named the wolf involved, 'Hope,' therefore the title Hogs for Hope. So he and his best friend, what he calls his motorcycle riding Brother, they are going to leave Austin on May 23 with their final destination being the Green River bar in Daniel on May 26. And he said, anyone is welcome to join in anywhere along the journey."

Black has launched a Gofundme campaign in conjunction with the motorcycle trip. As of press time, it had raised over $24,000 in less than two days. Black said he's planning to donate all funds from the rally to wildlife groups.

An era is coming to a close. The capital city's iconic Hitching Post Inn sign, a last remnant of the place-to-be hotel that for decades was known as