One More For The Road

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One for road 10 24 22 no play

Cowboy State Daily is Wyoming’s largest newspaper with Wyoming’s most experienced journalists. 

<title>One More For The Road: Monday, October 24, 2022 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

When Mom picks out your winter jacket...

One More For The Road: Monday, October 24, 2022

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Crime & Courts

Public Safety

A blown tire on a commercial truck appears to be what triggered a crash Wednesday that shut down U.S. Highway 20/26 outside Shoshoni for nearly four hours, leaving motorists stranded in sweltering near 100-degree temperatures while emergency crews cleared the road.

Wyoming Highway Patrol Public Information Officer Aaron Brown said an eastbound semitruck east of Shoshoni traveling toward Casper suffered a tire failure at about 10:30 a.m., causing it to drift into the westbound lane and sideswipe a GMC Yukon. 

Brown said there were no fatalities, though the extent of any injuries was not immediately available because troopers were still working at the scene. 

The highway was closed for nearly four hours as temperatures — expected to hit the high-90s and get near 100 Wednesday — rose while people were stuck behind the crash.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Hours In The Heat"}]

Scott Spiess of Lander told Cowboy State Daily he became stuck in the backup around 10 a.m. and remained there for hours.

"It says it's 94 where I'm sitting right now, so it's probably closer to about 98 on the highway," Spiess said while waiting for the road to reopen. "People hauling horses, I would be concerned about their animals."

Spiess said he never saw the collision itself but watched as a large emergency response unfold.

"I do know that they brought in three flatbed wreckers and two semi wreckers, and at one point in time, they had two helicopters and several fire department and police department vehicles on scene,” he said.

Photos shared with Cowboy State Daily show emergency vehicles, a helicopter and heavy-duty wreckers gathered along the highway as traffic stretched into the distance.

Another image shows one of the commercial trucks involved with extensive front-end damage and its engine compartment exposed.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Investigation Continues"}]

Brown said the Wyoming Highway Patrol expects to temporarily close the highway again Thursday so investigators can reconstruct the crash and determine exactly what happened.

[{"type":"text","text":"A timeline for that closure has not yet been announced. "}]

[{"type":"text","text":"The crash remains under investigation."}]

Highway 2026 crash Unknown 51 7 15 269

<title>Crash Shuts Down Highway 20/26 Near Shoshoni For Hours In Near 100-Degree Heat | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A blown tire on a semitrailer sent it into the opposite lane, sideswiping a GMC Yukon and closing U.S. 20/26 near Shoshoni for more than four hours Wednesday, stranding motorists in near 100-degree heat. 

Crash Shuts Down Highway 20/26 Near Shoshoni For Hours In Near 100-Degree Heat

Heinz mark

Mark Heinz

Outdoors

Wildlife

There’s cause for Wyoming wildlife advocates to celebrate — and be frustrated — as one major wildlife crossing project is running ahead of schedule, while another remains stalled by a lack of federal money.

Work began this spring on a roughly $30 million wildlife crossing project that will go over U.S. Highway 189 near Kemmerer in what’s been called a 

That project was initially expected to be finished in late 2028. Now, the completion date is Oct. 31, 2027, about a year ahead of schedule.

Meanwhile, what conservationists say is an equally urgent crossing project along U.S. Highway 26/287 near Dubois remains on indefinite hold after failed efforts to snag federal funding.

About $2.6 million in private donations have been raised for that project, and some state money might also be available. 

However, an estimated $16 million in federal grant money is needed to meet the roughly $28 million budget.

The plan is to build three wildlife underpasses and an overpass along a 25-mile stretch of Highway 26/287, where 

It was hoped that construction could begin there in 2027, but with funding still not secured, that might not be possible.

WYldlife Fund Vice President Breanna Ball told Cowboy State Daily that her group and others are determined to see the project through.

But it’s in a crowded field of requests for federal money.

“There are needs for wildlife crossings all over the West, and even across the country, so there is lots of competition (for grants),” she said.

The project on Highway 189 involves a 30-mile stretch between Evanston and Kemmerer, where traffic has taken a heavy toll on mule deer, elk and pronghorn.

It will include seven wildlife underpasses, an overpass and 63 miles of 8-foot-tall deer fence to help guide wildlife to the safe crossings, according to the Wyoming Department of Transportation.

The highway there cuts through a vital migration route for the Wyoming Range mule deer herd, considered by hunters to be among the most prized of Wyoming’s wildlife.

The herd typically spends the summer and fall in the Wyoming Range mountains, and then winters on the vast flats between the Wyoming Range and Wind River mountains.

Along U.S. 189, state Game and Fish officials say an average of 80 deer-vehicle collisions are reported there annually, although that number is likely underreported. 

The Dubois project would help secure a vital migration route for mule deer between summer range in the Grand Teton area, and winter range on the Wind River Indian Reservation.

“WYDOT did submit for a federal BUILD grant for the Dubois wildlife crossing project design work, and while the agency was awarded two BUILD grants in this cycle, the Dubois project was unfortunately not one of the winning awards,” agency spokeswoman Jordan Young stated in an email to Cowboy State Daily.

“WYDOT's grant writers will continue to submit the project for any eligible federal grants. Since we are pursuing grants for design work, we have no expected date for construction,” she added.

Ball said that the WYldlife Fund will keep trying to raise private donations to go toward engineering costs for the Dubois crossing project.

If detailed engineering plans for the project were available, it could greatly increase the chances of landing a federal grant for construction costs, she said.

Retired Game and Fish habitat manager and wildlife biologist Walt Gasson told Cowboy State Daily that seeking federal grants can be frustrating.

“It’s hard to convince some people, and sometimes those people hold purse strings,” he said.

There should be no doubt that the Dubois wildlife crossings are needed, Gasson said — not only to spare wildlife, but also for human safety.

“I can’t count the number of times I’ve had near-misses with deer between Dubois and Burris, especially at night,” he said.

Protecting wildlife also protects Wyoming’s economy, Gasson added.

“This is most assuredly not just a ‘feel good’ project,” he said. "This is about what Wyoming’s people bring to the table for the country, and that’s free-ranging wildlife."

“The easiest thing to see is dead critters. What you don’t see is loss of revenue to communities like Dubois. What is Dubois’ claim to fame? Wild things in wild places.”

The key will be getting federal grant managers to see things that way, he said.

“It’s hard to convince somebody who doesn’t understand Wyoming and our reliance on the tourism economy,” he said.

Given the factors of economy, wildlife protection and public safety, the need for the Dubois crossings should be “a blinding flash of the obvious,” he said.

Kemmerer wildlife Arch 1 7 15 26

<title>$30M Kemmerer Wildlife Crossing Ahead Of Schedule, $28M Dubois Project Stalled | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A $30 million wildlife crossing in a “death zone” for deer on U.S. Highway 189 near Kemmerer is about a year ahead of schedule. But another $28 million project near Dubois, which conservationists say is equally vital, is stalled over money.

$30M Kemmerer Wildlife Crossing Ahead Of Schedule, $28M Dubois Project Stalled

Courts

Nearly three weeks after a commercial tanker 

in a construction zone west of Casper, killing two people and injuring eight others, no criminal charges have been filed as a Wyoming Highway Patrol investigation continues.

That isn't stopping a Casper attorney from pursuing the first civil lawsuit stemming from the deadly crash on behalf of a family hurt in the pileup.

The negligence lawsuit, filed Friday in Natrona County District Court, names Ryan Brothers Trucking Inc. and a John Doe defendant, identified as the tanker driver whose identity was not yet known to the plaintiffs when the complaint was filed.

The identity of the truck driver hasn’t been publicly released as the investigation is active, the Wyoming Highway Patrol has said.

Contacted by Cowboy State Daily on Wednesday, WHP spokesman Aaron Brown said the investigation has so far taken weeks because of the sheer amount of evidence investigators must review.

Unlike a typical fatal crash, this one involved a commercial tanker truck and seven other vehicles, which requires investigators to analyze electronic data from the truck and any available from all the civilian vehicles.

“It’s the scale. There’s a ton of data to be coming out of this thing,” Brown said. “We have a ton of data to sift through to try and get this thing done."

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Makensi Van Patten and Chantry Van Patten, individually and as parents and guardians of their two minor children.

A Wyoming Highway Patrol crash summary reports that the driver of a westbound Western Star tanker truck failed to stop for traffic queued to enter a one-lane construction zone on U.S. Highway 20/26 near mile marker 58.3, striking seven stopped vehicles.

The crash killed James Faris Cox, 74, and Susan Horn Cox, 69, of Golden, Colorado, and injured eight others. The Highway Patrol listed driver inattention as a possible contributing factor.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Family Seeks Damages"}]

The lawsuit alleges the tanker driver negligently failed to stop for traffic backed up at the construction zone, triggering the eight-vehicle chain-reaction crash.

It further claims the Van Patten family's Toyota Highlander was struck after the commercial truck plowed into the line of stopped vehicles.

Makensi and Chantry Van Patten, along with their two children, suffered physical injuries in the collision, according to the complaint. 

It also claims the parents and one of the children witnessed another family member suffer serious bodily injury, causing emotional trauma in addition to physical injuries.

The family is seeking compensation for medical expenses, pain and suffering, emotional distress, permanent injuries, loss of enjoyment of life, lost earning capacity and other damages to be determined at trial.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'Get This Case Going' "}]

Attorney Dallas Laird, who represents the family along with James Fitzgerald, said the lawsuit was filed to protect his clients' legal rights.

"The lawsuit was filed to get this case going and to preserve my client's rights," Laird told Cowboy State Daily on Wednesday.

Laird said it is too early to determine the full extent of the family's damages.

"We don't know at this point because they're still in treatment, and these are kind of long-term injuries," he said.

Asked what the family hopes to accomplish through the litigation, Laird answered simply: "A settlement of the case."

He added that the complaint could change as additional evidence becomes available.

"Our theory is, at this point, we may have to amend the complaint once we get the Highway Patrol report," Laird said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Fifth Amendment "}]

Among the lawsuit's allegations is that the tanker driver invoked the Fifth Amendment right with law enforcement and declined to answer questions following the crash.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"That was told to me by the Highway Patrol,\" Laird said. "}]

Since the crash, Cowboy State Daily has repeatedly asked about the investigation and the potential for criminal charges to be filed. 

Among the unanswered questions are whether the tanker driver has been cited, arrested or could face criminal charges; whether investigators can confirm the lawsuit's allegation that the driver invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination; whether the case has been referred to prosecutors for criminal review; and when investigators expect to conclude the investigation.

The Highway Patrol did not respond except to say the investigation remains active and that it’s complicated and involved nature takes time to complete. 

Cowboy State Daily also reached out to Natrona County District Attorney Dan Itzen to ask whether the case has been submitted for criminal review or whether any charges are anticipated. He also did not respond before publication.

As of Wednesday afternoon, no criminal charges had been announced in connection with the crash.

Ryan Brothers Trucking said that it has "no comment on ongoing litigation at this time."

Double Fatal Crash Go Fund Me 7 15

<title>Family Hurt In Semi Crash That Killed 2 West Of Casper Sues Trucker, Company | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A family hurt in a crash west of Casper that killed two people when a semitruck plowed into a construction zone is suing the trucking company and the as-yet unidentified truck driver. No criminal charges have yet been filed as an investigation continues.

Family Hurt In Semi Crash That Killed 2 West Of Casper Sues Trucker, Company

Hunting

An outbreak of canine distemper and other setbacks has left northwest Wyoming’s wolf population at a 20-year low, so the quota for the upcoming wolf hunting seasons is less than half of last year’s.

As of Jan. 1, there were 132 wolves in the wolf management area in northwest Wyoming, state Game and Fish Department biologist Ken Mills told the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission, during the commission’s meeting Tuesday in Sheridan.

The Game and Fish Department’s objective is for 160 wolves in that area, said Mills, a large carnivore biologist and wolf management specialist.

The department recommended setting the wolf mortality quota for the 2026 hunting season at 20, less than half of the 2025 44-wolf quota.

The mortality quota designates the number of wolves that can die, by any cause, before the hunt is shut down. 

If the mortality quota is met before the end date of the hunting season in that area, the hunting season is still shut down, regardless of how many hunters are left holding unfilled tags.

Hunters killed 31 wolves in 2025, falling short of the 44-wolf quota, Mills said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"What About 1090F?"}]

Fans of Yellowstone National Park’s famous Wolf 1090F said her pack is denning in one of the hunt areas.

Some asked the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission to carve out an exception to the proposed 2026 season regulations and suspend hunting in that area.

The commission voted unanimously to accept the wolf hunting seasons as proposed by the Game and Fish Department. Those include a quota of four wolves total in Hunt Areas 1 and 2 (Clarks Fork, North Fork).

Wolf 1090’s pack, the Mollie’s pack, is now denning on the Shoshone National Forest in Hunt Area 1.

The wolf hunt season there is set to run from Sept. 15 to Dec. 31.

In January, Wolf 1090F reached the age of 11 years, 9 months, making her the 

At that time, she surpassed the age of the legendary 907F, who died at roughly 11 years, 8 months old on Christmas Day in 2024 a few days after a fight with members of a rival wolf pack.

Just prior to the commission voting on the wolf seasons, Lisa Robertson of Wyoming Untrapped and Marke Cooke of Wolves of the Rockies called in to the meeting via Zoom to object.

Given the decline in the wolf population, Wyoming Untrapped and other wolf advocates would like to see wolf hunting suspended for two years, Robertson said.

Or, at least hunting should be suspended this year in Hunt Area 1 to protect Wolf 1090F and the rest of the Mollie’s pack, she said.

That would preserve an “internationally-recognized and highly-studied wolf pack,” she said.

Cooke also emphasized that the Mollie’s pack is prized by wolf researchers.

“Once they are gone, decades of irreplaceable knowledge are gone with them,” he told the commission.

Sparing the Mollie’s pack from being hunted could also bolster Wyoming’s image, Cooke said, adding that, "Wyoming is getting pretty beat up lately on some wildlife issues."

There have recently been high-profile cases of alleged wildlife abuse in Wyoming. 

Those include Daniel resident Cody Roberts capturing, tormenting and killing a wolf in February 2024. Also, a Unita County rancher allegedly videotaping two others 

Commissioner John Masterson noted that the Mollie’s pack is popular and frequently watched and photographed.

“From a pure management, scientific standpoint, is there anything substantially unique about that pack?” he asked the commission.

Mills responded that from the department’s perspective, “a breeding pair is a breeding pair, a pack is a pack” in terms of monitoring and managing wolves.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Numbers Down"}]

Wolves in Wyoming fall under three classifications, depending upon where they are in the state.

Inside Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, they remain protected and may not be hunted.

In areas immediately adjacent to the park — in the Game and Fish wolf management zone — they may be shot by licensed hunters only during set seasons and within mortality quota limits.

Outside of the management zone, which is about 85% of Wyoming, wolves are classified as a predatory animal and may be killed at any time, with no limits or hunting tag required.

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Wyoming is “committed” to maintain a population of 100 wolves, including 10 breeding pairs, inside the management zone, Mills said.

A breeding pair is male and female wolf that successfully raise at least two pups through the end of December.

Game and Fish wolf objectives include a “buffer” above the federal commitment, Mills said.

The department’s objective is for 160 wolves and 13 or 14 breeding pairs inside the wolf management zone, he said.

At the beginning of the year, there were 132 wolves in 22 packs, including 10 breeding pairs, Mills said.

The decline in wolf numbers might be largely due to an outbreak of canine distemper, which started in the fall of 2025 and has been especially hard on wolf pups, Mills said.

Wolf populations tend to recover quickly, he added.

For the wolf population stabilize at 160 by the end of 2026, as many as 63 could die of all causes, he said.

Of those, 35 could be “human-caused” wolf deaths by year’s end, Mills said.

Allowing for 15 wolves to be killed for such things as attacking livestock, that leaves a hunters’ quota of 20 across the entire wolf management zone, he said.

Howling wolves 7 14 26

<title>Wyoming Game And Fish Commission Cuts Wolf Hunt Quotas By More Than Half | Cowboy State Daily</title>

With northwest Wyoming’s wolf population at a 20-year low, the state Game and Fish Commission on Tuesday cut the wolf hunt limits by more than half. Some advocates said that’s not enough, arguing to suspend hunting wolves altogether.

Wyoming Game And Fish Commission Cuts Wolf Hunt Quotas By More Than Half

A Lovell woman is being charged with felony child abuse after doctors found a young child suffering from severe burns, brain hemorrhages, a possible skull fracture and numerous other injuries that medical experts concluded were consistent with physical abuse.

Richellena Alana Vinita Lorraine Rule-Monroy, born in 1999, was arrested Friday on a warrant charging her with aggravated child abuse for causing serious bodily injury to a child under her care.

She was scheduled to have an initial appearance when a judge will formally read her single charge at 1:30 p.m. Monday in Park County Circuit Court. 

The child, a boy born in 2022, was living with Rule-Monroy when the injuries came to light. The child's father was reportedly away, working out of town that week.

After the child was placed into protective custody, investigators say he later told a certified foster parent Rule-Monroy poured hot water on his ear because he was "ugly.” The burn eventually required the child to be flown to the University of Utah Burn Center for specialized treatment. 

[{"type":"text","text":"Hospital Visit Raises Alarm"}]

The investigation began July 2 when Rule-Monroy brought the child to the emergency department at Powell Valley Hospital, according to a criminal affidavit filed by Park County Prosecuting Attorney Bryan Skoric.

Rule-Monroy told investigators she accidentally splashed the child with hot water the night before while making oatmeal. She said she had removed a pan of hot water from the stove without realizing the child was standing nearby, causing the water to splash onto his left ear.

What initially appeared to be an accidental burn quickly raised red flags.

Deputies, a Department of Family Services caseworker and hospital staff noticed bruises, scrapes and other injuries covering much of the child's body that they believed could not be explained by the reported accident.

A forensic nurse documented an extensive list of injuries, including partial-thickness burns to the child's left ear, blisters, bruises and abrasions across his face, arms, legs, back and buttocks, bruising around one eye, bruising to the genital area, a skin tear near the gluteal cleft and a corneal abrasion to his left eye, according to the affidavit.

[{"type":"text","text":"Brain Bleeds, Skull Fracture"}]

As physicians looked more closely, the child's condition appeared even more serious.

A CT scan revealed possible subdural and subarachnoid hemorrhages, a scalp hematoma and what doctors described as a possible nondisplaced occipital skull fracture. The child was admitted to the hospital while physicians specializing in child abuse medicine evaluated his injuries.

"Overall I think the multitude of these findings suggest strongly that this child is likely to be a victim of physical abuse," Dr. Kelly Christensen wrote.

The physician also questioned why the child had not been brought to the hospital immediately after the burn allegedly occurred and noted bruises and abrasions in various stages of healing — findings that, noted in the affidavit, suggested the injuries did not all occur at the same time.

Prosecutors allege Rule-Monroy's explanation that the child was accidentally splashed while she was making oatmeal failed to account for the extent and variety of injuries documented by medical staff.

[{"type":"text","text":"Child's Statements"}]

The child later told law enforcement Rule-Monroy threw him down the stairs and poured hot water onto his left ear, causing him to cry.

[{"type":"text","text":"Days later, the his condition worsened."}]

On July 8, he was flown to the University of Utah Burn Center. The next day, specialists with Intermountain Children's Health's Primary Children's Hospital Safe and Healthy Families child abuse and neglect team examined him.

Those specialists concluded that the child's third-degree burns to his ear were non-accidental, documented by the affidavit.

Detectives wrote that the investigation into the child's additional injuries remains ongoing.

Aggravated child abuse is a felony punishable by up to 25 years in prison, a $10,000 fine, or both.

Lovell woman 2 7 13 26

<title>Lovell Woman Charged With Felony For Allegedly Burning Child, Fracturing Skull | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A Lovell woman is being charged with felony child abuse after doctors found a young child suffering from severe burns, brain hemorrhages, possible skull fracture and other injuries that medical experts concluded were consistent with physical abuse.

Lovell Woman Charged With Felony For Allegedly Burning Child, Fracturing Skull

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's business and tourism reporter, Renée Jean

Renée Jean

Wyoming Life

Larry Morgan was born in Superior, Wyoming, in the 1940s, the son of a coal miner. Eventually, he landed in Jackson Hole, well enough off that he could build his dream mountain home.

His friends call him “The Closer.” He’s a corporate dealmaker, high-stakes sales producer and, lately, a self-described best-selling author on Amazon with a book revealing how he made his fortune.  

Despite all that, Morgan doesn’t think of his story as a true rags-to-riches tale — though he’ll acknowledge it’s an arc that’s hard to ignore. 

“I never really saw myself as being poor, although my family was very poor,” he told Cowboy State Daily. “My father owned a tiny little cafe in Iowa, and we barely made a living. He always said, ‘We don’t make any money, but we eat good'.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"A Dusty Old Chevy"}]

Superior today is a semi-ghost town in Sweetwater County. His family didn’t stay there long.  

“My father was a coal miner during the war,” he said. “It was a strategic occupation.”

Two cave-ins later, though, and he was rethinking that strategy. The family packed up and moved to Charlton, Iowa, where he started a cafe. 

“I always liked to work,” Morgan said. “So, when I was probably 12,  he hired me to be the dishwasher. I had to stand on a pop crate to reach the sink and wash the dishes. But he paid me 35 cents an hour, which was the going wage for an adult.”

It didn’t take Morgan long to realize if he wanted to achieve his dream of owning a car when he turned 16, he needed a better-paying job. So, he kept washing dishes but also took a job at the nearby bowling alley. 

“I made real good money in the bowling alley,” he recalled with a chuckle. “I got paid for every line. This was back before automatic pinsetters, so you had to set each one by hand.”

At the end of the night, he could usually count on some fairly large tips, but it was a grueling schedule.

“I went to work at 5 in the morning in the cafe and worked until 8 a.m.,” he said. “Then I went to school and worked at the bowling alley until midnight.”

Before too long, Morgan had saved the $80 he needed to buy a dusty old Chevy — his first car.

Morgan loved living in Iowa. He was in a small rural town he describes as just a few blocks apart, stitched together with the wonderful smell of freshly mowed hay. 

Born in a near ghost-town in Wyoming, Larry Morgan’s life is a rags to riches story that begins and ends in Wyoming. Yet he insists the real story isn’t about money so much as freedom — and he's got a best-selling book on Amazon that tells his tale.

One More For The Road: Monday, October 24, 2022

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