Episode Details

It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming, for Thursday, January 2nd. I'm Reilly Strand, in for Wendy Corr, bringing you headlines from the Cowboy State Daily newsroom brought to you by the Cowboy State Daily Radio Show with Jake. Listen every morning from 6am – 10am on CowboyStateDaily.com and soon will be broadcast on your local radio station.

A video of a horse drowning in June that resurfaced last week has caused outrage and has led to an investigation by a sheriff's office in Montana. The horse was purchased in Cheyenne for competing, and taken back to Montana by college rodeo rider Tatum Hansen. Hansen found the horse with the guidance of Reno Ward, a star of the hit History Channel series Ice Road Truckers. Ward was riding the horse in the video his sister, Terra, posted to social media.

"On December 26, that video surfaced on social media. Since then, a dispute between a brother and sister….has made its way onto the internet. The sister wound up in jail after allegedly violating a restraining order, and there's still a lot of hard feelings….It's risky business when you take a brand new horse into a body of water…One of the experts that I interviewed, said it was highly plausible that this was an accident, but perhaps the owner of the horse should have considered all the circumstances before getting into the water. Complicating all of this is the fact that the horse swam great, reportedly, in the first two ranch ponds."

The Powell County Sheriff told Cowboy State Daily the office will continue to investigate the drowning without emotion, based solely on facts.

Read the full story HERE.

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Teton County's State Rep. Andrew Byron wants to take river otters off Wyoming's protected species list, where it's been for about 70 years. House Bill 45 would allow Wyoming Game and Fish to manage the species. Cowboy State Daily's Leo Wolfson reports that while Byron believes the otters have rebounded, otter experts disagree.

"What's interesting about this bill… is that it wouldn't necessarily open immediately… the door for hunting or trapping of otters. It would, however, basically allow Game and Fish to potentially manage the species for hunting someday, since it wouldn't be a protected species anymore… That's what has some…scientists concerned is that that possibility down the road, in their mind, the species is really still recovering and is not where it needs to be."

The bill will be considered in the upcoming legislative session, but Wolfson reports it's too early to say what chance the bill has of passing.

Read the full story HERE.

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A group of ranchers is appealing the state's decision to allow a water exchange for HF Sinclair's Carbon County refinery. They claim the refinery is taking their water from the North Platte River and ignoring more than 100 years of Wyoming water law. Cowboy State Daily's Leo Wolfson reports that the ranchers are standing up for what they see as declining water resources in their area.

"What makes the story interesting is the fact that ranchers are really trying to stick up against a very large oil and gas company being Sinclair. You don't necessarily see that every day, and it really kind of struck me that these ranchers are really not wanting to give the refinery a free pass when it comes to their water access during dry years."

The Board of Control is reviewing the appeal and its next meeting is in February.

Read the full story

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