Episode Details

It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming for Tuesday, February 3rd. I'm Mac Watson.

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Although robots aren't ready to fix roads now and cut down on the $400 million to $600 million shortfall Wyoming faces in the next two years, they could help in the future. Cowboy State Daily's Renee Jean spoke to experts who say robotic road repair is on the horizon and could save big money in the long run, but not in the next few years.

"The construction guy I talked to said, probably 10 to 15 different machines at half a million dollars. That's a lot of chump change, right there. Hard to see how that would be less expensive, as AI claimed, if each of these units cost that much money, and then, how long do the units last? How often do you need to repair or replace them? So the other one I talked to was a robot expert. She's done a lot of work in autonomous robots, including road repair, and her take on this was a little subtly different. She also doesn't think it's too likely by 2030."

Some officials have said the shortfall was caused by a combination of factors, ranging from rising material costs to stagnant revenue, given that the last fuel tax increase was in 2013.

Read the full story HERE.

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Data collected across Wyoming shows temperatures between 2 and 13 degrees warmer than average in December and January. Cowboy State Daily's Andrew Rossi reports that these temps have the making of the warmest start to winter ever.

"The data released by the National Weather Service shows that temperatures between December 1 and January 31 were anywhere from two to 13 degrees above average across most of Wyoming, which makes it the warmest winter for a majority of the state. So what does that mean going forward? Well, we have about a third of the winter season left. There are signs that there's a shift on the horizon by long range weather models, but those are the same long range weather models that didn't anticipate that we'd have so many high pressure blocks, one after the other so it's not that Wyoming didn't get the winter that was anticipated. The winter that we were supposed to get is happening. It's just happening in the eastern United States."

Lander Lil and Punxsutawney Phil both saw their shadows this Groundhog Day. Meteorologically, that means nothing, but meteorologist Don Day is forecasting colder weather on the way for Wyoming.

Read the full story HERE.

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34-year-old Jose Benito Ocon is facing federal first-degree murder charges for shooting a man in the head in a moving car on Wyoming's Wind River Reservation. Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports "The affidavit and the eyewitness accounts describe 2 women, 2 men in this car, and there's meth and there's alcohol and there's marijuana use that evening, and Ocon is said to confront his girlfriend who's driving with the words, 'Do you love me?' And then another witness, well, the same witness, describes the victim says, 'Bro, she said she loves you,' and that is allegedly when Ocon shot the victim, who then slumped onto him in the backseat… If convicted, Ocon faces mandatory life in prison."

Ocon's girlfriend was able to confiscate the gun after he shot the passenger.

Read the full story HERE.

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Known for her charity work and devotion to Wyoming's Curt Gowdy State Park, Jerre Gowdy, the wife of the late Hall of Fame sportscaster, died last wee