By CJ Baker Special to the Wyoming Truth Despite being cleared of criminal wrongdoing, a California man still must forfeit $75,000 of suspected drug trafficking proceeds to the state government. Lorenzo R. Gallaga has been battling the state since July 2020, when authorities arrested him on drug charges and seized his cash. A jury acquitted Gallaga of a misdemeanor count of possessing marijuana in 2021, but the Wyoming Attorney General’s Office continued to pursue his money in a separate civil forfeiture proceeding. Gallaga initially prevailed in that case, too: Last winter, a district court j ..read more

By Jacob Gardenswartz Special to the Wyoming Truth When Jackie Zalcman told her friends at home on Long Island, New York, that she’d be attending the University of Wyoming, their responses were ubiquitous. “The biggest question I got asked senior year of high school was like, ‘What are you going to do? There’s like negative-five Jews in Wyoming,’” Zalcman recalled. “‘How are you going to live there? How are you going to survive?’” Now a 22-year-old senior physics major, Zalcman told the Wyoming Truth she was “confident” enough in her Judaism not to worry much about moving to Wyoming. And since ..read more

By Jacob Gardenswartz Special to the Wyoming Truth WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives on Thursday narrowly passed a bill which would prohibit the use of federal lands for housing noncitizen migrants seeking asylum in the U.S., as Republicans continue to highlight U.S.-Mexico border security heading into the 2024 election season. The bill, H.R. 5283, passed 224-203. Most Republicans and six Democrats voted in favor, while most Democrats opposed. During debate on the House floor Wednesday, Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-Wyo.) decried President Joe Biden’s immigration policies, suggesting his adm ..read more

Liz Cheney’s forthcoming memoir, “Oath and Honor,” takes aim at former President Donald Trump and the many GOP leaders she alleges exhibited “cowardice” for failing to hold him accountable for the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. (Courtesy photo via Hachette Book Group) Jacob Gardenswartz Special to the Wyoming Truth WASHINGTON — Former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.)’s tell-all memoir about her surprise turn against former President Donald Trump won’t be released for another week. But the revelations contained within it are already trickling out, as Cheney continues her ardent campaign again ..read more

By Carrie Haderlie Special to the Wyoming Truth  Even after undergoing a $300 million, four-year overhaul, the expansive Capitol Square in Cheyenne can be tough to navigate.  “It’s often that you run into someone [at the Capitol] who is so frustrated because there are so many doors, some of them are locked, and [people] don’t know where to find departments or meetings,” Wyoming State Auditor Kristi Racines told the Wyoming Truth. “If you show up and feel like you can’t find your way, you feel like you are getting the runaround a little. That is the last ..read more

By CJ Baker Special to the Wyoming Truth Wyoming’s new stable token won’t go live by the year as once hoped, but state officials are continuing to push forward with an ambitious timeline. When lawmakers agreed to launch a digital version of the U.S. dollar last winter, they ordered the Wyoming Stable Token Commission to “endeavor” to issue the first $1 token by the end of 2023. It was an ambitious goal, and with time running short last month, the commission considered launching just a test version of the token on the Ethereum blockchain to hit the Dec. 31 date. Earlier this month, however, the ..read more

By Jacob Gardenswartz Special to the Wyoming Truth WASHINGTON — Lawmakers on the House Natural Resources Committee’s subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs explored the many law enforcement challenges tribal communities face during a hearing Tuesday, as Native American tribes in Wyoming and nationwide report funding disparities and staffing shortages severely impacting public safety on reservations. Chaired by Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-Wyo.), the hearing brought together tribal leaders from across the country, including representatives from the Chehalis Reservation and Tulalip Tribes in Wash ..read more

By Shen Wu Tan Special to the Wyoming Truth State legislators will consider a bill on Thursday that amends an existing law to require safe haven providers to find out whether relinquished newborns have any Native American ancestry and, if they do, mandate courts and other parties to comply with the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). The Select Committee on Tribal Relations will receive an update about the bill from the ICWA Task Force. Last week, the task force unanimously approved the proposed amendments, which would apply to infants 14 days or younger who have been turned over to a safe haven ..read more

By Jacob Gardenswartz Special to the Wyoming Truth WASHINGTON —The U.S. House on Tuesday approved an unusual plan to temporarily extend government funding and avert an impending shutdown by setting up two funding deadlines early next year, the latest development in an ongoing saga over federal appropriations that has roiled the Congress for several months and shows no signs of easing anytime soon. The final vote tally was 336-95, and the bill passed with more support from Democrats than Republicans. Senate leaders said they intend to take up the measure imminently, and President Joe Biden is e ..read more

By CJ Baker Special to the Wyoming Truth After hearing impassioned pleas from a victim and an offender, Wyoming lawmakers are proposing to tighten one part of the state’s sex offender registration laws while slightly loosening another. Rep. Jeremy Haroldson (R-Wheatland) perhaps summarized the philosophy the best, saying his hope is to “make sure that we are properly protecting but yet at the same time not unjustly doing.” The potential changes are part of the Joint Judiciary Committee’s broader effort to clean up the complex statutes related to Wyoming’s sex offender registry; the committee t ..read more