Episode Details

It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming for Monday, November 10th. I'm Mac Watson. This newscast is "Brought to you by the University of Wyoming Center on Aging. Did you know that 1 in 3 Wyoming adults have pre-diabetes, and most don't realize it? Are you tough enough to know your numbers? Take the quiz at: Find Out WY dot org."

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President Donald Trump has pardoned Troy Lake, the 65-year-old Wyoming diesel mechanic who spent seven months in federal prison for tweaking and removing emissions systems on ailing engines. Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports that Lake found out he was pardoned by listening to a voice mail message on his phone.

"Troy Lake had been caring for his sick dog, and he was in his kitchen in his home there, just outside of Cheyenne, and he noticed he had a voicemail. It was Senator Cynthia Lummis saying that he had received a full and unconditional pardon. He'll no longer be a convicted felon or have to wear an ankle monitor or be on supervised release, and it's just a very victorious moment for this family of seeing all the people who had their backs, who cared about their case, really seeing Wyoming go to bat for them."

Lake spent his 40th wedding anniversary and his 65th birthday in prison and says he believed he'd spend the rest of his life as a convicted felon, unable to vote, hold public office, or possess or hunt with firearms.

Read the full story HERE.

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Wyoming business leaders are saying the effort to bring manufacturing back to the U.S. is an existential crisis for America and the world. Cowboy State Daily's Renee Jean reports that Wyoming has many advantages that manufacturing companies are looking for.

"We have all these resources that we export to other states, and the value is added in other states. The value chain there is huge, and we're missing out on all of it. It's multiple billions of dollars, you know. So if we can do that in Wyoming, we get better sales tax revenue, we have better jobs for people. We have better services as a result of all that, it's kind of this upward instead of a downward vicious cycle. It's an upward and optimistic cycle. And so that's why Wyoming officials are always trying to chase more diversity in the economy, get some of these value added things in Wyoming, and then we're not so dependent on what the commodity market is doing. The commodity market is constantly up and down, up and down, right? Manufacturing is a little more solid, a little more stable."

Part of a top-to-bottom approach, according to Wyoming Business Council Executive Director Josh Dorrell, is making sure that Wyoming communities are nice places to live, have good schools, and the proper infrastructure to support economic growth.

Read the full story HERE.

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Justin Harris was a developmentally disabled Casper teen who vanished from a group home in 2004. Cowboy State Daily's Jen Kocher reports that the Casper PD has put fresh eyes on the unsolved case and that's giving hope to Justin's family after 21 years of unanswered questions.

"A new detective took over the case in 2025, looked back at that information. So it's technically new information derived in 2011…new technology and forensic capabilities have significantly advanced. So those capabilities were not around in 2011 when this information was derived from these suspects in the subsequent follow up interviews."

Harris was 13 when he disappeared from a Casper group home after staff found his bed stuffed with clothing as if he were in