Episode Details

It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming, for Tuesday, June 3rd. I'm Wendy Corr, bringing you headlines from the Cowboy State Daily newsroom - Brought to you by the Wyoming Community Foundation, who asks you to give back to the place you call home. "5 to thrive" is YOUR opportunity to leave a legacy for generations to come. Support the community nonprofits you care about with a gift through the Wyoming Community Foundation. Visit wycf.org to learn more.

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The U.S. Department of Education on Monday announced it's investigating the University of Wyoming because it "allowed a man to join a campus sorority," referring to the UW-campus-based sorority chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma, which inducted a transgender member in 2022.

However, Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports that UW was not the entity responsible - the campus-based chapter of of the sorority did that itself, by a vote of its members in 2022. That vote is now the subject of ongoing litigation, in which six women accuse the sorority of tweaking normal election processes to pressure members into voting to induct Artemis Langford.

"It's unclear what the US Department of Education is trying to do here, because the sorority is a private organization… in 2023 Judge Johnson was like, this is a private group. They can dictate their membership. And you know, well, whether they dictated their membership in terms that were in ways that were appropriate is still being disputed. But at no point did the sorority women sue the University of Wyoming, because… the university doesn't dictate the sorority's membership. So it's unclear what the federal department is trying to do investigating the university, which has always drawn a bright line between itself and the sorority."

Langford was not living in the sorority house at the time but was permitted access to the women's living quarters. The lawsuit complaint alleges awkward encounters between Langford and the other members at a slumber party and other events.

Read the full story HERE.

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Sawyer Costa was a fierce friend, loved animals and shared a family passion for hockey.

That's how her mother, Kim, said she'll remember the Laramie 10-year-old who died Saturday, a week after a devastating collision with a truck while she was selling lemonade with her best friend. Kim told Cowboy State Daily's Greg Johnson that Sawyer suffered a traumatic brain injury May 24 when she was hit by a truck while crossing a road near the local golf course.

"From all accounts… Sawyer Costa was just really a real spunky girl. Her mother called her a firecracker. Had a passion for hockey, and was even though she was a tiny 10 year old, she she was playing on a co-ed team with some of the boys who are, like a good foot and a half taller than her, and her coach said that she just had no fear… it's just a heartbreaking story for this family and for the whole hockey community, and especially for the family, because… This comes about 15 months after her father was permanently paralyzed in a rollover crash… the thing that they came up with for the family is just, it's unfair."

Wyoming Highway Patrol Lt. Brock Weitzel said there is an active investigation into the incident, but that he couldn't share any information until that's been completed.

Read the full story