Episode Details

It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming, for Thursday, January 23rd. I'm Wendy Corr, bringing you headlines from the Cowboy State Daily newsroom - brought to you by Visit Casper. Visit Casper invites you to come enjoy the Casper International Film Festival, January 31 through February 2. A broad range of films from local and international filmmakers will be shown. Learn more and get your tickets at visitcasper.com.

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A Gillette man has been charged with second-degree murder, accused of shooting his sister as she burst into his mother's home Monday.

26-year-old Vincent Hackett could face between 20 years and life in prison if he's convicted. According to crime and courts reporter Clair McFarland, Hackett told his mother after he shot his sister, quote, "Give me a hug, because I am going to jail."

"The mother and daughter were cleaning a house together and drinking… The brother's also there. And so this escalates to a conflict where we have a verbal argument, and then, you know, we have the alleged victim taking off, coming back, getting in an argument, and then he kind of pushes her out onto the porch, according to the court documents, and deadbolts the door. So, so she's banging at the door wanting to come in. The Affidavit says, related from a witness statement that the door swings open. And so this, I think, is where the argument is going to play out over the next months or weeks. How did the door swing open? What kind of entry are we seeing? Is there a threat?... so those three factors, I think probably are going to weigh on the case going forward."

Hackett's bond is set at $750,000 cash. His preliminary hearing is set for January 30.

Read the full story HERE.

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With sustained winds reaching 60 mph and gusts hitting nearly 90 mph, Tuesday's wild winds were some of the worst Wyomingites can recall in recent memory. The Wyoming Department of Transportation reports at least nine semitrucks were blown over around the state, the most in a day in at least two decades.

Cowboy State Daily's Andrew Rossi reports that WYDOT is rolling out a new notification system for drivers warning them of the dangers of driving on dangerous wind-swept highways.

"They've started a new signage system that's giving people more information about not just what kind of wind risks they're facing as they drive on Wyoming's highways, but what kind of blow over risk their vehicle faces? So… with this new system, it's not just saying high profile vehicles can drive on these roads. It's providing the gross weight of the vehicle. So saying, If your vehicle is not above this weight, it can't drive on these roads, or it's going to get blown over."

WYDOT hopes the new signage it has been using will reduce the number of future blowovers, but winds are always a hazard on Wyoming's highways.

Read the full story HERE.

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A year ago, artificial intelligence didn't even get a mention as TerraPower was working to develop