Episode Details

It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming, for Tuesday, October 15th. I'm Wendy Corr, bringing you headlines from the Cowboy State Daily newsroom - brought to you by the Cowboy State Daily Morning Show with Jake! From 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday, Cowboy State Daily's Jake Nichols brings to life the latest news, weather, sports and in-depth conversations that matter to you.

A construction crew found a dead body Monday morning on private land south of Cheyenne.

Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports that Laramie County Sheriff's personnel are still investigating the discovery of the body, which appears to have spent "a substantial amount of time" among weather and wild animals.

"This is private land they were mowing, getting ready to install some infrastructure, like possibly a water pipe, and they found at least one piece of it… according to a chief deputy for Laramie County Sheriff's Office. The challenges in recovering all portions of the body. It's been out there long enough that there's been a little scattering, potentially due to weather or wildlife… but I asked, you know, is this, is this an artifact? Is this something that's like, 200 years old? He said, Nope. This is not a historic find. This is a current investigation."

Sheriff's agents are working with the Laramie County Coroner 's office to recover the body, with hopes of identifying who they are to get closure for their family.

Read the full story HERE.

The Elk Fire is not the largest wildfire going right now in the United States - it's the fourth largest.

But the fire management team has had unprecedented access to aerial assets for the 90,000-acre fire, which is threatening several rural northern Wyoming towns that lie at the foot of the Bighorns. Cowboy State Daily's Renee Jean reports that there are at least 13 aircraft assigned to the fire, which have delivered 3.9 million gallons of water and 527,000 gallons of retardant - so far.

"It's unprecedented, in some ways, how much air power is being brought to this and then… how much water they've dropped, you know, 4 million gallons, a half a million gallons of retardant, and it's barely making a dent in the fire. So if you think about that, over 90,000 acres here how much it would really take to put it out completely clearly, it's going to take a Mother Nature ending event, a season Ender, to get this fire completely out."

Read the full story HERE.

One of the towns being threatened is the fairy-tale-setting town of Story. It's a small, wooded town about 20 miles south of Sheridan nestled amidst pine and other trees at the foot of the Bighorn Mountains.

But for firefighters, all those extra trees, which are now shedding pine needles and pine cones, look extra challenging when it comes to fighting off fires. Jean reports that with the Elk Fire relentlessly pushing south at 90,000 acres and growing, a group of local residents are helping each other out, cleaning debris - which is potential fuel for the hungry fire.

"This guy, John… he started this Facebook group called the Elk Fire Volunteers group, and through that, he's been able to coordinate all kinds of amazing support and help for the people who live in these communities, as well as firefighters. The latest project they did was in Story, about 30 volunteers went and picked up debris, cleared, brushed from around homes to try and get them fire ready."

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