Episode Details

It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming, for Friday, June 14th. I'm Wendy Corr, bringing you headlines from the Cowboy State Daily newsroom - Presented by Cheyenne Frontier Days - starting July 19th, from sun-up to sun-down - there's something for everyone! Check it out at C-F-D RODEO DOT COM!

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With their commute time now quadrupled because of the closure of Teton Pass, more and more workers who live in Idaho and work in Jackson are taking the bus rather than making the drive.

Early Thursday morning, Cowboy State Daily's Pat Maio stepped on the coach bus offered up by the city of Jackson's Southern Teton Area Rapid Transit, or START. On the road, he visited with the workers who have decided they'd rather have someone else do the driving.

"These are not billionaires that are taking the bus. These are regular people, you know, a daycare worker, you know, a bank employee… they didn't want to deal with that three hour commute, so they're taking the bus, which is cushy. It's a nice coach, brand new… I experienced the commute. It's a beautiful commute. I wish I had that kind of commute in LA…People were reading a book… Another person was doing their work on their laptop, because they got great Wi Fi service on this bus."

For these commuters, a three-hour bus ride sure beats driving in bumper-to-bumper traffic, more hard-earned money spent on gas, and more exhaustion from a long commute that has tripled or quadrupled in time since the collapse of the highway that was the shortest route between home and work in Jackson.

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A 17-year-old Campbell County teen is being charged as an adult with attempted first-degree murder, for allegedly stabbing his mother in the back while she was in bed sleeping.

Tharles Smith is accused of stabbing his mother, Karla, with a 13 and a half inch knife overnight Monday, fracturing her left shoulder blade and damaging her left lung. That's according to Cowboy State Daily's Jen Kocher.

"His parents wanted to move him out into a different house, because he was acting up, and he didn't want to go. And so he was angry. He was supposed to move shortly, and they just been over to the new place, and they returned home that night. And the parents had talked to him, and he just kept getting madder, but didn't say anything. So when it came time to get to sleep, he wasn't able to sleep because he was too mad. And he, as his parents slept, he just went in and put a knife in his mother's back. And he told the police later that he wasn't sure why he did it. He was just mad, and he felt like they were giving him up."

If convicted, Smith stands to face life in prison, a fine of not more than $10,000, or both.

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A Washington state man had plenty of time to consider whether breaking the rules in Yellowstone National Park was worth it, when he was given seven days in jail for leaving the boardwalk at Steamboat Geyser for a better photo op.

Cowboy State Daily's Andrew Rossi reports that while many people have been caught doing similar things, the sentence for 21-year-old Viktor Pyshniuk was unusual because it included jail time for thermal trespass.

"A 21 year old Washington man says he stepped off the boardwalk to get a better picture of Steamboat Geyser. What angle he was going for is anybody's guess. But luckily, a park ranger caught him in the act. And that was his explanation, and he was sentenced - he paid the usual $1,500 fine and court fees, but he was also sentenced to seven days in jail, which isn't guaranteed. When you're found guilty of thermal trespass in Yellowstone, there can be jail time."

Several people have avoided jail time after expressing remorse for their actions. Irish actor Pierce Brosnan was found guilty of ther