Episode Details

It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming, for Tuesday, September 17th. 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"

After a video of crumbling asphalt and a hole in the right eastbound lane of Interstate 80 over the Greeley Highway went viral Monday morning, it took only about an hour for a Wyoming Department of Transportation crew to start repairing it.

Although a hole in the deck of one of the busiest interstates in the nation may seem alarming, a member of the WYDOT work crew told Cowboy State Daily's Greg Johnson that the agency makes repairs like this one all the time.

"At the scene, one of the the WYDOT workers there told me that… it's not a safety risk. There's a lot of rebar in there, and that they would have it patched up pretty quick… However, I talked to some truckers over at the Flying J who who watched the video, but also said that, you know, they they believe there are safety issues on the on the highways, and don't think that they're really that safe. And they were surprised to see, to see the sky through that hole in that in that video."

The WYDOT employee said the structural integrity of the overpass wasn't compromised and that the highway would be as good, or better, than before with the epoxy fix.

Read the full story HERE.

Wyoming was included in a string of threats made against secretaries of states across the country Monday, prompting the evacuation of a state office building next to the Capitol.

Cowboy State Daily's Leo Wolfson reports that the building was evacuated after a letter containing a white powder was found in Secretary of State Chuck Gray's Office.

"This caused the evacuation of the entire Herschler Building East which contains the Secretary of State's office, the State Auditor's Office, the Treasurer's Office and the Department of Revenue. There was about 100 to 110 employees milling about the outside of the building on Monday, waiting for when they'd be allowed to re enter the building, even a few hours after. The employees were still not allowed to resume the normal activities, but were allowed to get back their laptops and then work from a different building."

Election workers in several battleground states have reported receiving almost daily threats about their management of the presidential election. Gray also received a threatening voicemail earlier this summer.

Read the full story HERE.

Hundreds of mule deer are killed along a 25-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 26, roughly centered around Dubois, so a coalition of state agencies and tribal and private groups has pegged it for Wyoming's next major wildlife crossing project.

Now Cowboy State Daily's Mark Heinz reports that enough private donations have been raised for the project to snag a federal grant to finish the wildlife crossing, scheduled to begin construction in 2027.

"The highway intersects a really major migration route for mule deer. This is mule deer that are moving in and out of the Grand Teton… but it's not just mule deer, there's also bighorn sheep and elk and other animals that need to get across the highway there. So very high priority… they needed to raise a certain amount of… $2.7 million of private funds in order to qualify to apply for grants to get toward