Episode Details

It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming for Tuesday, July 29th. I'm Charene Herrera, in for Wendy Corr, bringing you headlines from the Cowboy State Daily newsroom - Brought to you by Cheyenne Frontier Days, who thanks everyone for another record‑breaking year. Mark your calendar for July 17 to 26, 2026 for the 130th Daddy of 'em All, celebrating the Year of the American Indian.

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The race for Wyoming governor remains a wait-and-see contest as potential candidates hesitate to jump in without knowing what U.S. Representative Harriett Hageman plans to do.

Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports that a combination of the Hageman effect, the earlyness of the campaign cycle and some frontrunners' goals to consolidate under one "conservative" candidate leaves next year's gubernatorial field with several highly tentative characters.

"She's very popular as our lone house delegate there in Congress. And so if she declared for governor, the early polling shows she would just run away with it. And so for that reason, Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray and House Speaker Chip Nieman, are like, I don't know if I would run for that seat until I know what Harriet Hageman is going to do. Hagemon is still tentative, and so are a lot of other people. Not all of them are blaming it on the Hageman effect. Some are just saying, I want to focus on what I'm doing right now, or it's too early, and so we'll just have to watch as that develops."

The two who have declared their candidacy so far are Cheyenne resident Joseph Kibler, who runs a web development and marketing company, and 2022 candidate Brent Bien.

Read the full story HERE.

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Arrest warrants have been issued for the fire chief of Laramie County Fire District No. 1 and his wife for allegedly imprisoning and starving their 13-year-old adopted son. Darrick and Angela Mittlestadt are facing charges of aggravated child abuse and conspiracy to commit aggravated child abuse.

Cowboy State Daily's Dale Killingbeck reports that while the warrants have been issued, the couple had not been arrested at press time.

"The details that are in the court records are really graphic. It talks about a 13 year old boy that they had adopted that weighed 50 pounds when he ended up in a hospital in Colorado, but first he was dropped off at a youth detention center in Douglas and gave a fake name and story… It was uncovered that he was an adopted child of the fire chief and his wife… the boy said that he had been blockaded in his bedroom and had been given one meal a day to eat. People that saw him said he was emaciated, and there was allegations that the boy you know had this bad behavior, but at the hospital and grandparents are saying that they never witnessed that."

Both the aggravated child abuse and conspiracy to commit aggravated child abuse charges carry potential penalties of 25 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Read the full story HERE.

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Gov. Mark Gordon on Monday announced the Wyoming Highway Patrol had entered into an agreement to assist U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement while performing their regular duties.

Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports that to date, five Wyoming sheriffs have established agreements with ICE, but this the first Wyoming statewide agency to do so.

"With Wyoming Highway Patrol signing on to that, that's significant, because that's a statewide agency. It's also under the governor's purview, rather tha