Episode Details

It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming, for Monday, December 23rd. I'm Wendy Corr, bringing you headlines from the Cowboy State Daily newsroom.

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Vast stretches of harsh desert near Rock Springs are among the few places in the world where mustangs with curly coats can be found.

The Salt Wells Creek herd is only one of two in Wyoming known to have horses with distinctive curly manes, tails and winter coats. Outdoors reporter Mark Heinz spoke to wild horse advocates who say the entire Salt Wells herd, thought to include several hundred horses, is set to be rounded up next summer.

"They're south of Rawlins, and apparently it's only one of a couple places where people have seen this occurrence of these horses that have curly mains, curly coats, curly tails. Apparently, they're really hardy during the winter. They're big and they're mellow… the BLM is planning on pulling out that entire herd out of the salt wells Creek area… I did talk to the BLM, and they said, you know, we're not trying to eliminate these horses. You know, we want to get them out there. We want to put them up for adoption."

Roughly 500 of the White Mountain mustangs were rounded up this past summer. That reduced the herd to roughly 300 horses, and drew protestors to Rock Springs.

Read the full story HERE.

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As the final week of 2024 approaches, there's a definite change coming that might start soon enough to carry a taste of winter weather across the Cowboy State on Christmas Day - a change from the mostly mild temperatures the region's been experiencing recently.

But don't hold your breath waiting for a Norman Rockwell white Christmas, reports Cowboy State Daily's Andrew Rossi.

"If your definition of a white Christmas is snow covering the ground, then if you don't have snow already, you're not going to have snow by Christmas. There's just nothing in the way of that happening. But if your definition is snow falling on Christmas, that could happen. There is a winter system that's going to be moving from west to east on Christmas days that could be Scattered snow showers. Emphasis on the scattered part of that throughout the day Wednesday."

The scattered snow showers on Christmas Day will be the harbinger of a winter weather system that will ring in the new year. Meteorologist Don Day said the week between Christmas and New Year's Day will begin to look more like winter.

Read the full story HERE.

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The zebra remains a threatened species in the ecosystem of Wyoming high school sports, with athletic directors scrambling throughout football season to field officiating crews. This led to fewer Friday night games, while school officials absorbed higher costs for bringing in referees from out of town.

Now those costs and a continued referee shortage is carrying over into the winter basketball and wrestling seasons, reports Cowboy State Daily's David Madison.

"It's not news to anyone that it's a tough job being a referee, especially when parents are in the stands and emotions are running high, and the Wyoming and Wyoming high school athletics has continually faced a shortage of referees… Wyoming is addressing this problem. There is training available through the University of Wyoming…. They're recruiting wrestlers, you know, former high school wrestlers who might want to give back to the sport. And so it's not completely dire, but it's getting more expensive."

There are escalating costs associated with hirin