Episode Details

It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming for Friday, November 7th. Bringing you headlines from the Cowboy State Daily news center, I'm Mac Watson. "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."

–

The Weston County Clerk has been formally charged with the crime of dodging a legislative subpoena during a subcommittee's investigation of her handling of the 2024 election. Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports Becky Jo Hadlock reportedly told an investigator she had other appointments that day.

"This is a tricky beast, because it's one of those really splashy areas where politics and crime intersect. So the management audit committee subpoenaed her to give an account of the 2024, election…she did not show, and at that point, the law says the chairman of the committee shall turn her in so the as soon as she didn't show, the chairman had no choice, essentially, under this law, but to take the the hard nosed path and turn her in. And also, it also says that he shall apply for a court order to make her appear. I'm told by legislative staffers that hasn't happened yet."

Hadlock could face up to six months in jail and $100 in fines if convicted of failure to appear. However, she could also face lesser penalties, including a deferral or probation, if convicted.

Read the full story HERE.

–

Skyrocketing power demand from data and AI centers is reviving calls for more coal-fired electricity. Cowboy State Daily's Renee Jean reports that fuels the debate about the role of Wyoming coal in the nation's energy future. "Coal is reliable…It's cheap when you are operating it on a 24/7 basis, but now that you have renewables, which are zero cost on the margin, once they're built, they don't cost a thing, and they come in and they put energy on and so maybe now you're only running the coal plant 50% of the time. You are no longer meeting that overhead. You're not spreading that cost, that overhead over a 24-hour period. You're spreading it over a 12-hour period. Suddenly, the coal costs a lot more than it used to."

Artificial intelligence centers are expected to grow astronomically within the next decade. According to an estimate by the International Energy Agency, it will surge by 160%.

Read the full story HERE.

–

President Trump wants Senate Republicans to scrap the 60-vote threshold in order to end the government shutdown and move other legislation without Democrats' support. Cowboy State Daily's Sean Barry reports from DC that Wyoming's U.S. senators oppose the idea, saying Democrats would retaliate down the road.

"Senate Republicans, including staunch allies, like Senators John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, yeah, they don't want to go down this road because it is a very dangerous game to get rid of the only tool that protects the minority party in Washington, DC. The US House doesn't have anything to protect the minority party. And then, of course, there's the presidency…They do not want to go along with President Trump and eliminate the filibuster because they know the Republicans are going to be in the minority someday, and they're worried about having the Democrats agenda rammed down their throat. Some of the things they're concerned about granting statehood to Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia that would boost the Democrats numbers in Congress."