Episode Details

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

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Wyoming's U.S. Attorney Darin Smith on Friday said federal, Wyoming, and Idaho law enforcement have taken down a Jackson-area drug ring with ties to a Mexican drug cartel. Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports that Smith said cooperation was the key to taking the bad guys off the street.

"The US Attorney for Wyoming, which was the top federal prosecutor for this district, Darren Smith held a press conference on Friday where he announced the latest sentencing. There was a sentencing earlier this month for one of the defendants, whose nickname is post trade dessert, and at that time, he said that, then, this activity is tied to a Mexican drug cartel, and that cocaine, you know, even though there was this fentanyl boom, cocaine is still very much an issue."

The press conference followed the most recent sentencing in a years-long case marked with older and newer sentencings – and a controversy that erupted during the legislative session over whether Wyoming should pass a bill penalizing local police for helping federal agents enforce federal gun laws.

Read the full story HERE.

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The town of Kemmerer is booming. Cowboy State Daily's Renee Jean reports that TerraPower will soon be moving in hundreds of workers to build the actual nuclear plant. At its peak there will be 1,600 construction workers.

"Some are very ambivalent about the idea of growing. And like the mayor told me, he doesn't want to grow too much. He doesn't want to get past 6000 people. He feels like that would be plenty of growth. The other camp, I think, is just a lot of the people who are worried about how this is being managed. They're afraid that rents are going to skyrocket because people are not thinking about the demand big enough."

The key construction permit from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has been granted, and concrete and steel are already moving on the site for its precursor Test and Fill facility.

Read the full story HERE.

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It may be one of the most beautiful places to have a fireworks display, but not everyone is happy about the upcoming show at Mount Rushmore for the nation's 250th birthday. Cowboy State Daily's Kate Meadows reports that some Native Americans say the ground is sacred while others cite fire danger.

"The Lakota people have long held that the land belongs to them. They were here first. They are the tribe that you know, named the Black Hills. They called them the Paja Sapa. And they argue that the hills were just illegally taken. So a lot of the Native Americans don't like Mount Rushmore. There will be a National Park Service Incident Management Team and trained structural and wildland fire crews will be on site for the event. However, the Black Hills are very dry. We are in a drought like a lot of Wyoming is, and even just this last week, there were two forest fires in the Black Hills."

The National Park Service, along with the state of South Dakota are putting on the fireworks display. A spokesperson at the South Dakota Department of Tourism tells Cowboy State Daily that they are still working on contracts for the event and should know soon how much the fireworks celebration will cost.

Read the full story

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