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 31st.

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Wyoming's congressional delegation hasn't changed their opinion about former President Donald Trump after he was convicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records on Thursday afternoon.

Wyoming's congressional delegation and Gov. Mark Gordon blasted the conviction, according to politics reporter Leo Wolfson.

"Wyoming's congressional delegation blasted the decision that was returned by the 12 New York jurors. Senator John Barrasso said it's an example of Democrats trying to basically interfere in the upcoming election that involves Trump and President Joe Biden. He said elections are decided in voting booths, not the courtrooms and that Trump will keep fighting to get America back on track… there are various polling data out there to show that… very few people out there are basing their voting decision off the results of this conviction."

Trump was convicted for falsifying records that could have derailed his ascent to the White House in 2016. He is the first American president to be declared a felon.

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The Caleco Foundry in Cody was gutted by an intense fire Wednesday morning that destroyed nearly everything inside the metal-frame structure.

The bronze art foundry, one of only two bronze foundries in Wyoming, has been an invaluable resource for Wyoming bronze artists for almost 50 years - and is now completely gone, according to Cowboy State Daily's Andrew Rossi.

"The fire started late Tuesday night and raged until 5am Wednesday morning, and based on just the initial assessment, it's a complete loss - over $150,000 of equipment was destroyed, and millions of dollars worth of art. Because it's not so much the bronze sculptures that were lost, those bronzes are pretty hardy... But it's the molds of those bronze sculptures… and unfortunately, those molds didn't stand a chance in the inferno that consumed the foundry."

For decades, the foundry has been one of the go-to foundries for Wyoming bronze artists. Statues created there still stand across Wyoming and in countless homes and museums.

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Jay Ostrem was a Gillette Police Department agent from 1982-2003 and retired at the rank of sergeant. But the 64 year old South Dakota resident is now facing three first-degree murder charges in that state, in what court documents describe as an attack on three young adult male neighbors, after Ostrem heard that one of them had made an unwanted sexual advance on his wife.

But Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports that while working for the Gillette Police Department, Ostrem had been involved in what was determined to be a justified shooting, in the line of duty.

"It turns out he was involved in a justified fatal shooting while a police officer - actually while a police sergeant in Gillette, and he was later sued over that. And the lawsuit was dropped because the judge was like, he didn't act unreasonably. In fact, the suspect was trying to hit police officers with his vehicle when Ostrem and others fired on him, ultimately killing him."

Ostrem had his first court appearance Wednesday in the triple homicide case.

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As many as 100 people showed up at the Cheyenne National Cemetery on Monday – the only national cemetery in Wyoming – ahead of an advertised 11 a.m. Memorial Day observance to remember America's fallen heroes and loved ones. But they were stood up - and Wyoming Sen. Cynthia Lummis has sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs asking the department to explain why the ball was dropped on a Memorial Day ceremony. That's according to Cowboy St