Episode Details

It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming for Thursday, April 9th. I'm Mac Watson.

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Cody Roberts, known for torturing a wolf in February 2024 in Daniel, Wyoming, was sentenced Wednesday to 18 months' probation and fined $1,000. Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports that Roberts could get prison time and more fines if he fails probation.

"The judge gave a speech about the grandeur of Wyoming, the heightened duty that carries toward wildlife and other nature. And the prosecutor, Clayton Malinkovich, quoted from a Supreme Court, a Wyoming Supreme Court case, about being measured when you sentence people. The prosecutor said that the plea agreement was appropriate."

Sweetwater County District Court Judge Richard Lavery, who has been filling in for a Sublette County judge who recused herself from the case, called the crime disturbing.

Read the full story HERE.

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Weston County Clerk Becky Hadlock was arrested Wednesday morning on two election-related felony charges, then released on her own recognizance roughly two hours later. Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports that each charge is punishable by up to five years in prison and $10,000 in fines.

"She's facing a misdemeanor for not appearing for the subpoena. She's facing the civil removal trial that opens next Monday, and she's facing now at least two new felony charges for which she was arrested Wednesday morning. She booked in roughly a couple hours later, she bonded out on a signature bond, which is a judge saying, Just sign your name if you violate you know if you if you fail to appear, you have to pay this amount, but you don't have to pay anything up front. But now she's also facing this felony case in addition to everything else, and it alleges that she violated election law by falsifying documents and being an official who didn't carry out the law."

The Natrona County District Attorney's Office is the special prosecutor over the felony case, the filing says. That same office is prosecuting Hadlock in a criminal case from last year, accusing her of committing a misdemeanor by not appearing for a legislative subpoena at an investigative committee meeting held in Casper in late September.

Read the full story HERE.

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A $500 million commercial-scale Converse County solar project has been delayed because the company doesn't have a buyer for its power. Cowboy State Daily's Kate Meadows reports that one Converse County official says he's not surprised.

"State Senator Brian Boner of Converse county said we know the project isn't real until they break ground. There's a lot of details that need to come together in projects like this. That's what Commissioner Rick Grant told me. Right now, the company is looking at where to tie in their power on the grid, and also who's going to buy the power. So that has not been disclosed. Construction was expected to start in June. With this delay, it is not expected now until sometime in 2027."

The Dutchman development is not the first solar project in Wyoming to stall because it can't find a buyer for its electricity. A solar project in Goshen County that aimed to produce 163 megawatts of electricity hit a big snag last year when it was ready to develop but had no feasible way of transmitting the electricity it would generate to market.

Read the full story HERE.

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