Episode Details

It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming for Friday, August 8th. I'm Wendy Corr, bringing you headlines from the Cowboy State Daily newsroom - Brought to you by the Converse County Tourism Promotion Board! Discover Douglas and Glenrock in beautiful Wyoming, where rich history, outdoor adventure, and welcoming communities await. Feel the Energy of Converse County at www.ConverseCountyTourism.com.

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If size matters, then this Wyoming ranch has it all.

The Pathfinder Ranches, at more than 916,000 acres, is bigger than the state of Rhode Island and almost double the size of Jacksonville, Florida, the largest American city by land mass in the Lower 48.

It's larger even than the fictional "Yellowstone" Dutton Ranch from Taylor Sheridan's famous television series, which is somewhere between 775,000 to 825,000 acres - and Cowboy State Daily's Renee Jean reports that the ranch - which covers a sprawling area in four Wyoming counties - is on the market for just $79.5 million dollars.

"The Yellowstone Dutton Ranch is a fictional ranch. It's purposely exaggerated in size, you know, to suggest something no reasonable person could ever own. But this ranch, Wendy, is bigger than the fictional exaggerated ranch, and it is right here in the real world in Wyoming… it's bigger than a lot of metropolitan cities. It's basically 12 ranches strung together over the decades… It's historic. It's iconic. It's got every kind of outdoor recreation you can imagine… so yeah, if only I had 79 and a half million laying around."

History has left its mark on the Pathfinder Ranches - literally. Independence Rock is near the ranch, and the Oregon Trail, the Pony Express, the California and the Mormon trails all cross its land.

Read the full story HERE.

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The parent company of eight Wyoming hometown newspapers shut them down with no notice Wednesday after a deal to sell them fell through.

News of the abrupt closure of the Pinedale Roundup, Platte County Record-Times, Guernsey Gazette, Torrington Telegram, Lusk Herald, Uinta County Herald, Bridger Valley Pioneer and Kemmerer Gazette was alarming to industry leaders, who told Cowboy State Daily's Greg Johnson that a failed sale is no excuse for the "unconscionable" way employees were treated.

"Wyoming newspaper industry people who are very well known, they've been around for decades… they were as shocked as anybody else about the sudden closure of these eight newspapers from News Media Corp… The former publisher of the Casper Star Tribune, said it's, you know, it's a big loss for the whole state, but also his word was unconscionable, to just spring it on everybody and not let them know, 'hey, this could be coming. You know, we're having some trouble.'

News Media employees said that they knew of the potential for the company to be sold, but had no clue it was close to being shut down.

Read the full story HERE.

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U.S. Air Force bases depend heavily on the same electrical grids that power homes and businesses. In a blackout, while homeowners are fumbling for the candles and the flashlights, military facilities switch over to diesel generators.

Looking to provide a more reliable and long-term source of electricity, nuclear startup Radiant this week signed what it described as a first-ever agreement to deliver mass-manufactured nuclear microreactors to U.S. Air Force bases. Cowboy State Daily's David Madison reports