Episode Details

It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming for Friday, January 23rd. I'm Mac Watson.

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Moments after reportedly shooting his estranged wife early Wednesday at their home near the Wyoming-Idaho border, 43-year-old Christopher Moon texted his mother-in-law. Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports that the chilling text offered an explanation as to why he shot Cassandra Clinger.

"So according to a screenshot I received, Christopher texted his mother-in-law, 'Satan got a hold of me…I'm so sorry. I love her so much.' The oldest daughter, Alexa Edwards, just said, 'Yeah, we've seen red flags all along.' And so the youngest daughter, Jessica, also said, 'It was this cycle of honeymooning and huge explosions, and then more honeymooning and huge explosions, until Cassie finally, aged 23, got kind of the wherewithal to leave and file for divorce. And then this happened on a road near her mother's home.

After Moon called authorities, telling them what he did, deputies quickly arrived to find Christopher's vehicle and Cassandra's vehicle, each parked on the side of the road. They spoke with Chrisopher briefly by phone, urging him to surrender peacefully. Moments later, law enforcement witnessed Moon shoot and kill himself.

Read the full story HERE.

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Jonah Energy's vice president says a Tuesday ruling that blocks a 3,500-well expansion threatens the company's future in Wyoming. Cowboy State Daily's David Madison reports that Jonah Energy's Vice President says the federal ruling earlier this week that threw out approval for the future of the Jonah Field is damaging the future of oil and gas in Wyoming.

"Jonah energy feels as though they were blindsided that they had been doing their best to comply and go above and beyond, even incentivizing employees to follow the Clean Air Act to the letter. But these two judges saw something in the case brought by the Wild Earth guardians, and they basically said, 'It doesn't add up, you're not following the letter of the law when it comes to the Clean Air Act.'"

The Interior Board of Land Appeals on Tuesday vacated the Bureau of Land Management's 2018 approval of the Normally Pressured Lance Project, which would have authorized up to 3,500 wells on 141,000 acres west and south of the existing Jonah Field.

Read the full story HERE.

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Meteorologists are warning that an incoming subzero cold snap comes with an increased risk of "exploding trees." Cowboy State Daily's Andrew Rossi reports that arborists say it's a real thing that sounds like a gunshot when trees pop.

"What happens is, it's a combination of two things, the water and the sap in the tree can freeze and rapidly expand, or when it gets really cold, the outside of the tree shrinks before the inside of the tree shrinks faster than the outside of the tree. When these things happen, that creates a lot of energy, and when that energy is released, it can cause the tree to burst. The technical term is frost cracking, and that's just when impurities in the wood are cracked open…So there have been warnings about exploding trees everywhere from west of Ohio to Eastern Wyoming. So it's a very real possibility. Are trees going to explode into toothpicks? Not likely, but it's possible that a giant branch could snap and pop and explode and land on your house or vehicle."

Experts tell Cowboy State Daily that Wyoming's unusually dry winter might have some benefit. Snow water equivalents across eastern Wyoming are still very low, between 6% and 7