Episode Details

It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming for Thursday, September 24th. I'm Mac Watson.

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Accused of starving his adopted teenage son almost to death last year, Darrick Mittlestadt of Cheyenne testified Wednesday that he didn't see or talk to the boy for "three or four months" despite living in the same house. Cowboy State Daily's Kerry Drake was in the courtroom and reports that at one point, Mittlestadt admitted, "I'm not a good dad."

"Darrick Mittlestadt testified in his own defense on Wednesday and said basically that he trusted his wife to take care of their child and that he had no idea that he was in a life-threatening condition. Now yesterday, a doctor from Colorado Children's Hospital testified that when he examined the boy when he was brought there from Wyoming, that he looked like a concentration camp survivor."

Whenever he was asked by either his own attorney or the prosecutor how he could be unaware of the child's life-threatening medical condition — he weighed 50 pounds at age 13 — the former fire chief of Laramie County Fire District No. 1 repeated the same answer. His wife Angela told him that she had their son's behavioral problems under control and he trusted that the boy was being fed.

Read the full story HERE.

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A Casper man had given up hope of ever seeing his beloved falcon, named Kevin, after the raptor went missing for a week. Cowboy State Daily's Kolby Fedore reports Jim Osborne was "practically in tears" reuniting with the bird when Kevin turned up at a local hospital.

"Someone at the hospital reported a hungry falcon that was going after pigeons nearby the building, and so they called Osborne. When Osborne arrived, there were about 10 people who had gathered outside the hospital. When he stuck his arm out, a hospital staff member named Veronica Bates said the bird immediately flew to him, and Jim had tears in his eyes."

Osborne tells Cowboy State Daily that right now his priority is going to be nursing Kevin the bird back to health, and they will begin training in about a month.

Read the full story HERE.

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Hot Springs County Commission Chair Bob Aguiar has switched from Republican to Constitution Party, as did his wife, a top staffer for unsuccessful gubernatorial candidate Brent Bien. Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports the move comes as the Constitution Party fields Rebecca Bextel for governor.

"What's interesting is because they both held, the Aguiars both held leadership positions in the local Republican Party, right? As precinct and state committee people, and they were upon you know those vacancies happening by them leaving the party. They were replaced by another married couple that is pretty much always at odds with them within the Republican Party, the Scheels, and so that was an interesting change. And then Phil Scheel called it disappointing and theorized that AGR could not have won the commission seat two years ago had he run as a third party candidate."

Cheryl Aguiar was the state committeewoman for the party, meaning she represented it at State Central Committee meetings. And Bob Aguiar held a precinct committeeman position, which is a local voting role.

Read the full story HERE.

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Wyoming industry leaders and U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis oppose a 90-day ban on diesel exports reportedly p