Episode Details

It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming, for Wednesday July 3rd. I'm Wendy Corr, bringing you headlines from the Cowboy State Daily newsroom -presented by Cheyenne Frontier Days, which kicks off July 19th. From sun-up to sun-down, there will be something for everyone! Check it out at C-F-D RODEO DOT COM!

Virginia-based energy giant AES Corp. says its $233.4 million Settler wind farm near Glenrock could bring 200 jobs at the peak of construction and produce enough electricity to power 44,000 homes.

Cowboy State Daily's Pat Maio reports that AES intends to exit its coal generation businesses by the end of next year and instead refocus on alternative forms of energy.

"AES, which is a really big energy company on the East Coast, which is going through some chain transformational changes with the company… it's literally going to remake the entire company into an alternative energy company, dumping all the coal assets."

The project will be constructed entirely on private land leases within the southwestern part of Converse County, about 13 miles south of I-25 near Glenrock.

Read the full story HERE.

While Wyoming residents were going about their day-to-day lives in 2019, public officials and economic developers began working behind the scenes to bring a large Facebook data center to the Cowboy State.

Fast-forward five years to Tuesday morning, when Project Cosmo - $800 million, 715,000-square-foot Meta data center in south Cheyenne - was officially announced. Cowboy State Daily's Leo Wolfson attended the press conference.

"The mood was pretty jovial. I think this is universally a pretty good thing for Cheyenne… it would be hard to argue for most people to say otherwise… You know, it's going to provide 100 jobs in Cheyenne, up to 1000 construction jobs at peak production… And it symbolizes how the town of Cheyenne is really developing into a hub for data centers in the country."

Not everyone's a fan, however. A number of neighbors to the future data center expressed concerns about the noise and traffic the facility will cause in their neighborhood - and construction isn't expected to be complete until 2027.

Read the full story HERE.

An area in northern Yellowstone National Park appears to be having a grizzly bear baby boom.

Outdoors reporter Mark Heinz spoke to several experienced wildlife photographers, who have counted an unprecedented number of new cubs this year.

"I had talked to a gentleman who had gotten some really good good crisp video of that White Bison calf that was born in Yellowstone a while back. We got to talking and found out that he's part of this group that's been going to watch the grizzly bears in Yellowstone now since the 80s… He said generally, four or five, maybe six is what they usually see - they saw 18 this year."

Experts say a relatively mild winter might have had something to do with the bumper crop of cubs.

Read the full story HERE.

A federal jury ruled Tuesday that Wyoming's prison system did not create an unlawfully hostile work environment for the state's first Black female warden, who claimed corruption within her ranks.

According to crime and courts reporter Clair McFarland, the jury ruled in favor of the Wyom