Episode Details

It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming for Monday, November 17th. 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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A Natrona County GOP delegate was called out at the state party's leadership meeting in Torrington on Saturday to explain a refusal to pay more than $30,000 in dues. Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports that the county chair said it's partly because of the "punitive" attitude of the state GOP.

"There's a philosophical divide a little bit, with a lot of people out of Natrona feeling like, why are we so hard on county clerks? Why are we so heavy on policing them? Why does it seem like this party is headed in a punitive direction? So this is where it gets tricky, because the party is also a structure of state law. Is a private organization, in one sense, but there's also pieces of state law that dictate, for example, no matter what the Natrona county party does, they still get three delegates at the state convention. They can't be totally disenfranchised because there is a state law providing for their representation at that state convention, and that is because they have a role in filling vacancies in Republican offices."

Natrona County Republican Party Chair Rob Hendry tells Cowboy State Daily that by the end of the biennium, the Natrona County Republican Party will have reached more than $50,000 in arrears.

Read the full story HERE.

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Ramaco's Brook Mine project in Wyoming, touted as a rare earth bonanza, is drawing fierce scrutiny from geologists and short-sellers. Cowboy State Daily's David Madison reports that the company stands by its pitch to investors and says criticisms are a smear campaign in search of a payday.

"For the last several months, we've been looking into this, what is the true value of the brook mine, which is Ramaco Enterprise there, near Ranchester. And there's differing opinions, to say the least, Ramaco stands by its assertions that it is rich in critical minerals like scandium…However, there's differing opinions about how much demand there is for scandium and what the real price will be, and so that's what it really comes down to, is like, how much scandium and other critical minerals really exist at the Brook Mine…a bunch of veteran geologists are scratching their heads saying, Look, from my experience, it just doesn't add up the way Rama Coast says it does. This has played out before in all kinds of mining sectors."

The emerging market for domestically produced rare earths and critical minerals like scandium is a brave new world for mining companies, investors, and economists trying to make sense of it all.

Read the full story HERE.

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According to some, day drinking is underrated. Cowboy State Daily's Zak Sonntag reports that even as the power went out last week in part of Wyoming, it didn't phase the day-drinking "Millbillies" at the Bayou Bar in Mills.

"There's a real sense of community that you get with a place like the bayou bar…in that neighborhood, you just, you really can get any mixture of personalities. On the one hand, there was a moment where I'm sitting there, and I've got to my right, this former roust about roughneck left helmet 14. He's a chain smoker, and he is telling incredibly cringe jokes. And then on my left, I've got a Pilates instruc