45 Hours On Hold: Torrington Man’s Insurance Nightmare Shows How Broken System Is

Renée Jean at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.

Torrington resident Roger Huckfeldt found himself in robocall hell trying to find someone who could help him get his 85-year-old mother a new health insurance provider after United Healthcare announced it was leaving Wyoming.

His story illustrates how far downhill customer service has trended, as well as the kind of difficulties Wyomingites are facing as they navigate a new health care landscape. 

UnitedHealth is one of multiple carriers that left Wyoming’s Advantage health insurance marketplace amid rising health care costs, changes to federal policies, and the expiration of the enhanced Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) tax credits.

“UnitedHealth was an advantage plan provider in Wyoming and, back in October, they sent a letter to Mom saying you’ll have to find something else come the first of the year,” Huckfeldt said. “So, we immediately started the process of trying to find health insurance for mom.” 

‘I’m Not Going To Do This'

Huckfeldt started with a state advocacy group that helped him figure out where and how to start shopping for a new plan.  

“We looked through the government’s websites which, in my opinion, were difficult for me to navigate,” he said. “My 85-year-old mother would never have been able to get that done.  "She’d have thrown up her hands and said, ‘I’m not going to do this. I’m not going to have insurance, to heck with it.’”

Investigation Still ‘Active’ 8 Months After Idaho Twins Died Following Vaccinations

The Defender Staff

Eight months after 18-month-old twins died in their Idaho home, days after receiving the flu vaccine and other routine shots, Payette police told NBC Idaho news affiliate KTVB the case remains open. However, officials did not release any new information.

The parents told CHD.TV in May that police immediately treated them as suspects.

Last week, Payette Police Chief Gary Marshall told KTVB that the deaths of Dallas and Tyson Shaw remain “an active investigation” and that “there is no new information that can be released.”

Officials denied public records requests submitted to the Payette Police Department and the Ada County Coroner’s Office, citing the ongoing investigation.

Authorities have not released a cause or manner of death, and no toxicology or autopsy findings have been made public. It remains unclear whether investigators continue to view asphyxiation as a leading theory or whether alternative explanations are being considered.

Trump Says He Kept Venezuela’s Regime Intact to Avoid an “Iraq-Style” Collapse

Big League Politics, 01/17/26 

President Donald Trump said Friday that he deliberately avoided dismantling Venezuela’s post-Maduro governing structure in order to prevent chaos similar to what followed the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

Speaking to reporters as he departed the White House on Jan. 16, Trump explained that his administration chose to work with Venezuela’s interim leader Delcy Rodríguez rather than immediately install opposition figure María Corina Machado, citing the dangers of creating a sudden power vacuum.

Trump pointed to Iraq as a cautionary tale.

“If you ever remember a place called Iraq, where everybody was fired—the police, the generals, everybody—they ended up being ISIS,” Trump said. “Instead of just getting down to business, they ended up being ISIS.”

Judge Restricts ICE Actions Against Protesters in Minnesota

Kimberly Hayek  1/16/2026|Updated: 1/17/2026 

A federal judge in Minnesota on Friday ruled that federal immigration agents can’t detain or use nonlethal munitions and crowd dispersal tools on peaceful protesters who aren’t obstructing authorities, including when these people are observing the agents.

The decision, handed down by U.S. District Judge Kate Menendez, stems from a lawsuit brought last month by six local activists.

These individuals, backed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Minnesota, said that Homeland Security (DHS)  personnel were infringing on their First Amendment rights when they observed federal agents performing their duties.

After the ruling, Tricia McLaughlin, DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, issued a statement saying her agency was taking “appropriate and constitutional measures to uphold the rule of law and protect our officers and the public from dangerous rioters.”