Episode Details

It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming for Thursday, August 28th. 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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Recent steps by the Trump administration and Wyoming are a lifeline for Wyoming's shrinking timber industry.

But Cowboy State Daily's Renee Jean reports that those steps may be too little, too late for what remains of the state's family-owned lumber businesses.

"I wanted to see… how are our lumber mill industry, timber industries doing since all these changes have come along, are they feeling confident about the future? And, you know, really, they're in such bad shape… they're selling more timber now, sure, but when they go through and start cutting that timber, half of it's dead. You know, got so much beetle kill and so forth out there in the forest that the quality of the timber is much less than it used to be… it's a lot of moving parts and a lot of things that need to happen, and they're not out of the proverbial woods yet."

To get back to an economically viable level of production, Wyoming lumber producers say they would need to see roughly twice as much timber for sale next year.

Read the full story HERE.

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Casper Police evacuated two businesses late Wednesday afternoon and then were able to negotiate the surrender of a man on the second floor of the building whom his mother said is wanted for murder.

Cowboy State Daily's Dale Killingbeck spoke to a woman walking around the building who identified herself as Robin Behan, the suspect's mother. She said her son's name was Alejandro Behan and he had "gone back home" to Riverton for a visit - and said, quote, "it turns out he was wanted for homicide."

"I was able to talk to this individual's mother, who said that, you know, she didn't know that he was wanted for homicide. She thought he was wanted for a probation violation, and she encouraged him to surrender to the police, but he apparently didn't do that, and the police showed up in big numbers, and according to another witness, they used a megaphone, speaking speaking in English and Spanish, and then he later saw this individual being walked out in handcuffs."

A Casper Police Department spokesperson confirmed the department executed a felony arrest warrant in the area near Veteran's Park off Second Street.

Read the full story HERE.

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Since 2001, the U.S. Forest Service's Roadless Rule has forbidden new road construction on national forests across Wyoming's high country.

On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins and Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz announced the first step toward rescinding the rule. Cowboy State Daily's Mark Heinz reports that that could open up 45 million acres of roadless areas on national forests across the West for possible new road construction - including vast swaths of some of Wyoming's premier high country, such as the Wyoming Range and Bighorn Mountains.

"There are some people who are enthusiastic about that. Congresswoman Harriet Hageman from Wyoming has expressed very enthusiastic support for that, as she sees it would help along with our logging industry and miti