Cowboy State Daily Video News: Friday, August 28, 2026

It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming for Friday, August 28th.  I'm Mac Watson.

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Hiker Shaun Mackelprang thanked rescuers from his hospital room in Pinedale on Thursday for saving his life. Cowboy State Daily's Kolby Fedore reports the Missouri deputy attorney general had summited Wyoming's highest mountain peak but then became lost for five days.

"The spokesman for the Sublette County Sheriff's Office says that it was the ground team that actually found him. He was conscious, but he was severely dehydrated, disoriented, and had gotten confused and lost as he was ascending the mountain. But he was able to stand on both feet and get into the helicopter on his own. Cowboy State Daily spoke to Mackelsprang's brother Romell, who said that even though this was an unfortunate event, Sean did achieve what he set out to do. He made it to the top, and he signed his name in the registry at Gannett Peak. Unfortunately, due to severe weather, things took a turn during the descent."

Mackelsprang specifically thanked Tip Top Search and Rescue and the Sublette County Sheriff's Office for being "ready and prepared to stand up for me in my time of need." He is expected to make a full recovery.

Read the full story HERE.

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Gov. Mark Gordon said reports of "aggressive" behavior by federal election monitors at polling places in Cheyenne last Tuesday have left him "shocked." Cowboy State Daily's Clair McFarland reports that Gordon alerted the Wyoming Attorney General, but said it's too early to know if litigation is in order.

"So election day is chaotic, and so into that chaos walked a couple of federal election monitors that the U.S. Department of Justice sent to Wyoming to monitor the election. So, clerk Debra Lee called it a poorly managed exercise by the feds. Governor Mark Gordon, hearing about this, he told me Thursday in an interview that he was shocked that the Trump administration felt it needed to do this to Wyoming. The secretary, when pressed by the governor during the canvassing meeting, kind of defended it, saying, 'Wyoming law allows for observers.' What Wyoming Law specifically carves out is an opportunity for designated poll watchers chosen by each party who are residents of that county to go and watch."

As for the federal agents visiting, by Gordon's count, at least six of Laramie County's seven polling stations, The governor tells Cowboy State Daily, "We were delighted to let them participate as observers."

Read the full story HERE.

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