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A 52-million-year fossil of a "perching bird" has been found in Wyoming with its feathers still attached, a discovery that "no one's ever seen before." Also known as passerines, the perching bird was discovered in Fossil Lake, WY. Passerines are well-known for eating seeds, as most modern-day birds do and account for approximately 65 percent of the 10,000 different species of birds alive today. "This is one of the earliest known perching birds. It's fascinating because passerines today make up most of all bird species, but they were extremely rare back then. This particular piece is just exquisite," said Field...

Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez claimed on Tuesday not a single Senate Democrat voted in favor of the Green New Deal because she asked them to vote “present.” “Because I encouraged them to vote present, along w/ others,” Ocasio-Cortez responded when Republican Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso asked her why Democrats ducked going on the Senate record in support of her radical anti-climate change resolution. The New York congresswoman’s response came only hours after the Senate voted 57-to-0 to kill the Green New Deal, which was introduced by Ocasio-Cortez and Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey. Three Democrats voted against the...

BILLINGS, Mont. — A judge blocked oil and gas drilling across almost 500 square miles in Wyoming and said the U.S. government must consider climate change impacts more broadly as it leases huge swaths of public land for energy exploration. The order marks the latest in a string of court rulings over the past decade - including one last month in Montana - that have faulted the U.S. for inadequate consideration of greenhouse gas emissions when approving oil, gas and coal projects on federal land. U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras in Washington appeared to go a step further than other...

n the first significant check on the Trump administration’s “energy-first” agenda, a US judge has temporarily halted hundreds of drilling projects for failing to take climate change into account. Drilling had been stalled on more than 300,000 acres of public land in Wyoming after it was ruled the Trump administration violated environmental laws by failing to consider greenhouse gas emissions. The federal judge has ordered the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which manages US public lands and issues leases to the energy industry, to redo its analysis. The decision stems from an environmental lawsuit. WildEarth Guardians, Physicians for Social Responsibility,...

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) slammed House Democrats on Thursday over a "sham" House resolution vote condemning hate, saying that the vote avoided condemning Rep. Ilhan Omar's (D-MN) anti-Semitic remarks. "Today’s resolution vote was a sham put forward by Democrats to avoid condemning one of their own and denouncing vile anti-Semitism," Cheney wrote in a statement provided to The Daily Wire. "While I stand whole heartedly against discrimination outlined in this resolution, the language before the House today did not address the issue that is front and center." "After several days of infighting and a near-rebellion by rank-and-file Democrats, as well...

The Senate on Thursday voted to confirm Andrew Wheeler as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in a 52-47 mostly party-line vote. Every Democrat voted against Wheeler, while Sen. Susan Collins (Maine) was the only Republican to vote against him. Collins in a statement Wednesday said she would not vote for Wheeler, a former energy lobbyist, because of his track record backing policies that weaken rules protecting are pollution and lowering car emissions. “While Mr. Wheeler is certainly qualified for this position, I have too many concerns with the actions he has taken during his tenure as Acting Administrator...

Leasing rights on western lands with some of the world’s highest densities of sage grouse were sold this week to energy developers for as little as $2 an acre — the result of a recent Trump administration directive to roll back Obama-era protections for the iconic bird. Thirty-one parcels in Wyoming containing 57,800 acres of prime sage-grouse habitat are among those being auctioned online by the federal Bureau of Land Management. Conservationists call the area the “golden triangle” because of its importance for the species, which has suffered a sharp decline in the past 15 years as oil and gas...

A decade ago, folks in northern states such as Minnesota, South and North Dakota, Montana, Wyoming and Idaho were watching large swaths of their pine forests die off due to invasive pine beetles. The pine beetles bored beneath the bark of pine trees and introduced a fungus and larvae which weakened and then killed the trees.

Carbon County School District No. 2 canceled classes Thursday at the elementary schools in Hanna, Elk Mountain and Medicine Bow, as well as the high school in Hanna. Superintendent Jim Copeland says in a letter to parents Thursday that the one confirmed meningitis case is from Hanna Elementary. He says the other schools were closed as a precaution. He says the student's family initially thought the child had the flu.

WYOMING GRIZZLIES SHIPPED TO CALIFORNIA SIGNED INTO LAW GOV. MARK GORDON SIGNED BILL INTO LAW By EHUNTR -February 20, 2019 WYOMING GRIZZLIES SHIPPED Photo Credit: Pexels Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon signed several bills into law late last week. One particular bill would allow grizzly hunts to take place if the state feels that its needed. “The grizzly bear population in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem has recovered by all measurable recovery criteria, since at least 2003, with approximately seven hundred (700) grizzly bears currently living in the ecosystem;” Bill SF0093 Another part of the bill includes the relocation of problems bears...

More Senate skullduggery, Trump’s role in this, straight lines, and the Bundy case again Senate chicanery Last month I wrote of the skullduggery applied by both political parties in trying to pass a 680-page federal lands package in the waning moments of the last Congress. Up stepped our hero, Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) who just wanted to add two words to the legislation. Alaska and Wyoming are by statute exempt from the Antiquities Act that has been so abused by recent Presidents. Senator Lee wanted to add “and Utah” to that statute. The leadership said no to his amendment,...

In the first judicial test of Wyoming’s new “stand your ground” law, a Natrona County judge on Friday dismissed a first-degree murder case, but implored prosecutors to appeal to the state’s highest court. Judge Catherine Wilking handed down the ruling following a two-and-a-half-hour hearing, the bulk of which she ruled was required by the new law. . . . . John shot Willow nine times with an AR-15, Stedellie said, after exchanging cell phone messages with a woman who had dated John before taking up again with Willow. Multiple rounds hit Willow in the back, the detective said, and John...

The Democrat-controlled House Committee on Natural Resources may soon strike the reference to God in the oath given to witnesses testifying before the panel, according to a draft, Fox News reports. Rather than including “so help you God,” at the end of the oath, it would instead read: "Do you solemnly swear or affirm, under penalty of law, that the testimony that you are about to give is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?"> The rules proposal places the words "so help you God" in red brackets, indicating they are slated to be cut. The words...

More than four months after Missouri became the first U.S. state to regulate the term “meat” on product labels, Nebraska’s powerful farm groups are pushing for similar protection from veggie burgers, tofu dogs and other items that look and taste like real meat. Nebraska lawmakers will consider a bill this year defining meat as “any edible portion of any livestock or poultry, carcass, or part thereof” and excluding “lab-grown or insect or plant-based food products.” It would make it a crime to advertise or sell something “as meat that is not derived from poultry or livestock.” Similar measures aimed at...

We literally blew into Cheyenne last night. Wyoming never disappoints but yesterday was one of their epic High Wind Alert days, complete with Interstate closures to “light high-profile vehicles.” I’m not positive exactly what sort of vehicle that is but I’m pretty sure empty semi-tractor trailers qualify as you always see a few of them flipped over on the side of the road when the wind socks are flying parallel.It was also inauguration day for Mark Gordon, Wyoming’s new governor. We should have known something was up as all the hotel rates were hyper-inflated. Another clue: when we checked in...

Rep. Liz Cheney, the third-ranking Republican in the House GOP leadership, called on President Trump to reverse his decision to withdraw all U.S. troops from Syria. She also urged him to reverse his plans to cut the number of troops in Afghanistan. "I am deeply, deeply concerned, and I oppose strongly the president's decision to apparently withdraw troops from Syria," Cheney said in a "Face the Nation" interview on Sunday. "I think the president has done a lot of very good things," but "these two decisions would be disastrous." Cheney said Mr. Trump's decision was a "very dangerous path to...

GRAND HAVEN, Mich. (WOOD) — A former Baptist missionary doctor from Wyoming accused of molesting nearly two dozen girls and women in Bangladesh, along with a girl in Allendale, won't face trial. An Ottawa County judge ruled that Donn Ketcham, now 87, is incompetent to stand trial because he suffers from dementia. Prosecutors told 24 Hour News 8 they don't plan to appeal, which means the charge against him will be dismissed. Ketcham's alleged victims from his decades in Bangladesh — known then as MKs, or missionary kids — said the local case was their only chance for justice.

WYOMING (WKZO AM/FM) -- Grief counselors will be on hand at Godfree Lee Public Schools in Wyoming this morning after the weekend drowning of a staff member at the School District. Police say that it appears that 38-year-old Tracy Cashman died when she went through the ice trying to save her dog, during a walk through Battjes Park. Cashman’s Mother says they became concerned when Lola the dog returned home soaking wet without Cashman about 9pm Saturday night. The family searched the park and then called police. Fire rescue crews recovered her body from a pond in the park. Godfree-Lee...

Another reason is the vast expanse of cheap land in this state, much of it federally owned, and some of which is now being auctioned off for as little as $2 an acre. That's a fraction of some prices in Texas, Larry says, where more competition has driven up the cost of land. In Wyoming, "we're looking at places that aren't so crowded," he says. "It's untouched fields and that's what people are most interested in." The Trump administration has made much more of that cheap, public land available to oil and gas companies. The amount of land for lease...

As Nancy Pelosi wrangles votes in her bid for House speaker, another leadership battle is playing out on the Republican side, where Kevin McCarthy faces a challenge from conservative Freedom Caucus co-founder Jim Jordan to lead the new GOP minority. Republicans lost the House majority in this week’s midterm elections, and conservatives are blaming the GOP establishment and angling for changes. McCarthy burned up the phone lines Thursday shoring up his support. And down ballot, the GOP will add a familiar name to the leadership lineup — Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, a daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney...