Episode Details

It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming for Friday, June 12th. I'm Mac Watson

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A Denver man was found dead near a capsized kayak on Yellowstone Lake, park officials announced Thursday. Cowboy State Daily's Kolby Fedore reports that a former park ranger, who patrolled the lake, says certain factors make the lake dangerous year round.

"Former Yellowstone park ranger Tara Ross said that what makes this lake extremely dangerous is very cold temperatures and wild winds. Ross said the water hovers between 40 and 50 degrees, even in the summertime, so if someone does go in the water, and they're unable to self-rescue, as in get back into the kayak and out of the water. They may only have 10 minutes, generously up to 20 minutes, before rescuers will be recovering a body. Park officials say that the man recovered was from Denver, and he was 41 years old."

According to Yellowstone National Park officials, occupants of another vessel on the lake discovered the body of Brandon Rhea on Monday floating near Rock Point on the lake's northwest shore near Bridge Bay.

Read the full story HERE.

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Wyoming's state-level property tax board told counties on Thursday that a 4% cap on yearly increases in residential property taxes is unconstitutional. Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports it will also refuse to certify this year's property tax assessment figures if the cap remains.

"So, they're saying, 'Whoa, we've got homes in sluggish market areas that are being taxed way less of a rate than homes that look exactly the same that are in faster growing areas.' And so, according to the board, this violates the women constitutions call for equal and uniform taxation, and so they're saying, 'Hey, if you county assessors keep allowing this 4% cap, we're gonna not certify the tax values this year,' which would mean you couldn't collect on property taxes. Dixie Huxtable, who's the Converse County Assessor, and speaks out for the Assessors Association often said, 'I don't think anyone's getting a tax holiday. We're gonna figure out what our legal options here are and decide what to do.'"

The board's two-person majority — Chair Jayne Mockler and Vice-Chair Marty Hardscog — wrote in the Thursday report that the 4% increase cap for residential property taxes has arbitrary impacts across the state.

Read the full story HERE.

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The Clinton-era Roadless Rule on U.S. Forest Service lands will be erased if Wyoming Republicans U.S. Sen. John Barrasso and Rep. Harriet Hageman get their way. Cowboy State Daily's Mark Heinz reports Rep. Harriet Hageman says, "I have been fighting the Roadless Rule since the day it was handed down."

"The Trump administration has already been pushing for this. Now Congress has stepped in. Senator Mike Lee of Utah added an amendment to a wildfire prevention bill that Senator Barrasso was already sponsoring, and that that amendment would just nullify the roadless rule, like Trump is trying to rescind it now. Congress is essentially trying to nullify it, and Congresswoman Hagman has a mirror bill to nullify it coming out of the House, so, so basically the roadless rule is facing a double threat from both the the the administration and the legislative branch, which, if you're if you're against it and you want to see it gone, that's good news. If you want to see it preserved, that's bad news."

The Roadless Rule has forbidden new road construction on national forests across Wyoming's high country. It also similarly p