Episode Details

It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming, for Tuesday, April 15th. I'm Wendy Corr, bringing you headlines from the Cowboy State Daily newsroom - Brought to you by Wyoming Community Gas. The Choice Gas selection period ends on Wednesday April 23rd – This is your opportunity to select your Natural Gas Provider for the coming year. For more information, visit Wyoming Community Gas dot ORG."

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Nearly every member of the Vedauwoo Volunteer Fire Department resigned Thursday, after weeks of controversy in the department.

Detractors of the mass resignation say the department's members had been acting outside safety standards and clashing with firefighters from other departments, and that the Albany County Fire District No. 1 Board did its best to address these issues.

But Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports that the leaders of the resignation wave say they left because the board operated without transparency and good faith.

"There's no real bridging the different narratives about why this happened, right? Because people who are speaking kind of for the mass resignation crowd are saying, We don't know. We don't hear things from the board. We don't have a lot of clarity. We don't have a lot of direction. This just feels like bullying. Whereas, you know, people who, um, are a little more critical of the current makeup of the department, are saying, No, they've been reported for safety concerns. They've been running lights and sirens through Laramie, which you're not supposed to do. They're getting into tiffs with other departments."

At least one member of the department, Dave Bray, did not resign. Bray was appointed temporary interim chief after a Monday emergency meeting of the district board. And the Albany County Fire District 1 Central Department has been responding to fires in that area.

Read the full story HERE.

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In graphic testimony today, a former foster daughter of Steven Marler described how he sexually assaulted her in the family's master bedroom in Casper.

This was the fourth day of an anticipated three-week trial involving more than two dozen charges against a former national-award-winning foster parent. Cowboy State Daily's Dale Killingbeck was in the courtroom for the testimony, which included allegations of severe abuse of some of the boys in Marler's care.

"There were a series of adopted sons that testified today. One of them talked about how they had just finished shoveling off a metal roof at the Marler household, and then he wasn't going fast enough to get off the roof. He said he was trying to be careful because of ice, and Stephen Muller kicked him in the back and sent him off the roof into some jagged metal at the end of the roof. Cut his leg. He still has a scar as a result of that."

Other former foster children also detailed alleged physical abuse in the family's Casper Mountain home.

Read the full story HERE.

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The longtime nationwide debate over abortion has made its way to the Park County Animal Shelter in Cody, where the facility's director has resigned over a policy to perform spay abortions on pregnant cats.

Cody resident Jona Harris told Cowboy State Daily's Leo Wolfson on Monday tha