Episode Details

It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming, for Thursday, September 5th. I'm Wendy Corr, bringing you headlines from the Cowboy State Daily newsroom - brought to you by ServeWyoming - Wyoming's center for volunteerism and AmeriCorps service for the last 30 years! For volunteer opportunities, visit ServeWyoming dot org"

An offshoot of a legislative subcommittee has been tasked with considering possible legislative reform to Wyoming's predator policies in the wake of the reported torture and killing of a wolf in Daniel in February.

The Treatment of Predators Working Group voted to forward a draft bill to the Legislature's Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resources Committee that - while not outlawing the practice of chasing down predators with snowmobiles - would make it a crime to keep the animal alive.

Cowboy State Daily's Mark Heinz was at the meeting.

"There were some people that testified, you know, and a lot of people said, hey, look, this doesn't go far enough. We need to just outright ban any pursuit of any wildlife with a snowmobile or any other type of vehicle with the intent of running it down and running it over. However, this bill doesn't address that. This bill would just say if you injure an animal in the process of doing that, you don't kill it right away, then you can be charged with animal cruelty."

Right now, animal cruelty charges don't apply to wildlife and can be filed only by law enforcement officers, such as sheriff's deputies or municipal police officers.

Read the full story HERE.

People trying to sign up to comment on the latest U.S. Postal Service proposal that would impact rural delivery in much of Wyoming are finding themselves shut out after a barely publicized deadline to register for Thursday's virtual meeting passed.

Cowboy State Daily's Renee Jean reports that the Postal Service had announced it won't hold a second in-person forum for people to comment on its latest plan to cut $3 billion in costs, in part by sacrificing rural mail delivery.

"I just happened to find their press release online… and it doesn't say anything about being registration closing at noon on September 3. They didn't send out any notices, either…Representative Hagman has asked them to have another forum. So we'll see what happens with that Secretary of State Chuck Gray was really not happy about it, and he he basically said, this is just another example of bureaucrats making decisions without listening to the people that those decisions affect and that it was outrageously wrong."

The proposal is part of an overall transformation of the postal service that USPS officials say is necessary to significantly reduce costs and enhance service.

Read the full story HERE.

A father and son facing felony charges on suspicion of stealing $70,000 from a Gillette coal mine insisted Wednesday that they did nothing wrong.

George Co