Daily Darwin

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

<title>Daily Darwin: Sunday, November 13, 2022 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Not likely to end well...

Daily Darwin: Sunday, November 13, 2022

Mac Watson

Daily Video News

It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Thursday, July 23rd.  I’m Reece Cowan, filling in for Mac Watson

This newscast is brought to you by the Wyoming State Fair. Wrap up your summer at the Wyoming State Fair, August 11th through the 15th in Douglas!

Rodeo, Demolition Derby, live music, entertainment and fair food await. Learn more at W-Y State Fair dot com. See you at the fair! This ad was paid for by Converse County Tourism.

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Sgt. Zach Burns — shot three times by a gunman in Baggs last month — got a hero’s welcome in Rawlins after a 230-mile escort from a Colorado hospital Wednesday. Cowboy State Daily’s Greg Johnson reports that the Rawlins police chief said “On the scale of heroism, that’s pretty far up there.”

“Six weeks after Sergeant Zach Burns was shot three times by a gunman in bags, he returned home on Wednesday, and and the people in Rollins just gave him a real hero's welcome. They were out on the streets. They had signs for him, and and his his brothers in blue law enforcement, other first responders. They followed him all the way from Colorado, about 230 miles. A long procession of police cars, sheriff's vehicles, ambulances, all with lights and sirens going, gave him a long procession all the way across Wyoming and home into Rollins. So it was really impressive, and and it was a true hero's welcome.”

For Chief Ward and other law enforcement officers, the risk is always there, he said. While running toward danger while others run from it is what they sign up for, the hope is that they won’t have to. 

U.S. House candidate Bo Biteman is one of many criticizing the Republican Party's decision to endorse candidates. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports he called Chuck Gray, who sought and received the endorsement, the establishment. "Well Chuckie-boy you’re the insider, buddy," he said.

“Technically, it's illegal for the party to financially back one Republican over another in the primary. That has been interpreted by some as been also on endorsements since that's indirect funding. One of many critics, was Senate President Beau Beitman, who is running in the U.S. House race? He did not seek the party's endorsement at all. He did not turn in its threshold questionnaire. Secretary Gray has repeatedly derided an unspecified group of insiders in his statements. And Senate President Beau Beitman, who did not put in for the Republican Party endorsement, was reflecting on it. He said that it is galvanizing a group of insiders, and he said, "Well, Chucky boy, you're the insider, buddy.”

State Party Chair Bryan Miller has countered in both a press release and an email interview, saying the party respects the “fiercely independent, discerning” voter base. 

Officials concluded Tuesday that a 33-year-old man likely surprised a grizzly in the dark before he was killed in Glacier National Park in May. Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports that running into a bear in the dark is a “nightmare scenario,” said an outdoorsman who was in the park at the time.

“They try to use the trails when they know people typically aren't going to be there. If it's dark and you're by yourself, even if you're trying to make noise, you might not make enough noise, and there's just that chance where you're going to come up on a grizzly. Boom, you know, instant encounter, close range. Evidently the guy did use his bear spray, but the investigators say it probably happened so fast at such close range, they're not even sure he was able to hit the bear with the spray at that point. It was just kind of a confluence of everything going wrong, all at the same time and very quickly, and it ended up costing this guy his life.”

The Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee’s report on the investigation of the site indicates that the attack, by an adult male grizzly, was brief and intense. His body was found about 69 feet below the trail and about 2.5 miles from the trailhead. 

Wyoming ranchers are struggling with an existential problem out of their control. Hay has become harder to find, harder to grow, and more expensive to buy. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that some say this will hasten the end of family farms and ranches that can’t afford to feed their animals.

“With the lack of rain in the spring and the lack of snowpack in the winter, Wyoming can't grow enough hay to meet its own demand. So, ranchers who are in the routine of growing enough hay to feed their livestock might be struggling this year, and a lot of them are. In order to feed their livestock, they're having to pay a lot of money for hay. A year ago you could get a bale of hay for $150 per ton. Now you're lucky if you can find it for $300 per ton, and are selling for a lot more than that. And ranchers are already having to make the decision, it's either they find the money somehow or they start selling their livestock.”

Right now, the hay feeding Wyoming’s livestock is probably from out-of-state. Jason Watts, co-owner of HayWerks in Buffalo said importing hay from neighboring states “might” be enough to stabilize Wyoming, if only temporarily. 

I’ll have more news from Cowboy State Daily right after this.

Cowboy State Daily News continues now….

A police sergeant urged the Green River City Council Tuesday to reconsider license plate reader cameras, two weeks after vocal residents blocked the project. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that he says they are a valuable tool in helping find missing and vulnerable people.

“A group of vocal opponents to license plate reader cameras opposed the city getting $112,000 federal grant to put them in at city entrances two weeks ago, and they were so vocal that they got the project shut down. Rhere was a little bit of a counterpoint where Council Member Gary, who had been the lone nay vote in favor of the the grant for the cameras two weeks ago, said seems like the people opposing these don't understand this issue fully, and Dennis Laughlin, vice chair of the Libertarian Party, countered saying, 'I would say Killpack doesn't understand what the people of Green River obviously want.'”

Green River Police Chief Shawn Sturlaugson had noted the grant was characterized as an anti-terrorism effort, but he said the cameras would also be a tool in helping find missing and vulnerable people, as well as answering other real-time investigations. 

Ornery Yellowstone bull bison have now tossed a grandpa 8 feet in the air, chased a man around cabins and popped a car tire, because they're in their annual rut, says one bison biologist. Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports that a bison rancher says one solution is a face full of bear spray.

“Sometimes a bison will display displacement behavior, which is he kind of likened it like if if somebody's driving in a car and they get cut off and the other driver makes them mad, but they can't take it out directly on that person, so they turn around and yell at their kids. Bison will do that sometimes. The bison rancher said he goes through cases of bear spray, and generally he only has to use it once. Like if if an animal's having really bad attitude, he'll hit it with bear spray once, and that's it. They learn their lesson. Bear spray isn't just good for bears; it's good for anything with with an olfactory system.”

Ken Klemm past president and a lifelong member of the National Bison Association said that when bison display those sorts of behaviors, there should be consequences, such as getting hit with bear spray. “If those bulls knew that there was a risk associated with going after people, they would find something else to take their frustration out on.”

A Bar Nunn woman has agreed to plead guilty to six felonies for embezzling $206,000 from Special Olympics Wyoming. Cowboy State Daily’s Kolby Fedore reports that her attorney told Cowboy State Daily on Wednesday that she is "very remorseful for her actions and deeply regrets them.

“According to court records made available this week in Natrona County, 50-seven-year-old Christine Marie Rodriguez has accepted a plea deal for felony theft charges after being accused of embezzling more than $200,000 from the Special Olympics Wyoming nonprofit organization. Investigators are calling the scheme sophisticated. It took place over years while Rodriguez worked at the organization, falsifying financial records, forging checks, and concealing missing cash. Rodriguez was initially charged with nine felonies as part of the plea agreement. The courts have decided to drop three, and she will plead guilty to six. She could still face up to 20 years in prison, and as part of the plea agreement, she is expected to fully repay restitution.”

Special Olympics Wyoming CEO Jen Haines declined to comment on the specifics of the plea agreement, saying the organization does not want to jeopardize the proceedings and plans to speak more openly once the case is resolved. 

Soft seats, catered food, and a commanding view — Cheyenne Frontier Days’ premium skybox experience already has fans. Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports that your eyes stretch from one end of Cheyenne’s historic outdoor arena to the other, with no obstructions.

“I gotta say, it's it's better than even I expected. You are like on top of the world up there, looking down on creation. They've got the sound wired directly into the box. You know, it's so clear and loud. I thought it might be really hot up there, but the way they've designed it, the wind is like constantly kind of breezing through there. It feels almost like air conditioning. Before they had like 20 to 20-five people, sponsors who could fit in the box that they had above shoot nine, and they maybe had a rooftop that would allow 70 people. This has room for 450 people.”

Until now Cheyenne Frontier Days has lacked a true, modern skybox experience. While the grounds previously offered limited, basic, upper-level VIP areas, the new complex marks a much bigger leap into premium hospitality.  

And that’s today’s news. Get your free digital subscription to Wyoming's only statewide newspaper by hitting the Daily Newsletter button on 

 - and you can watch this newscast every day by clicking Subscribe on our 

 channel, or listen to us on your favorite podcast app.  Thanks for watching - I’m Reece Cowan, in for Mac Watson, for Cowboy State Daily.

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<title>Cowboy State Daily Video Newscast: Thursday, July 23, 2026 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Today's headlines include: 
*Hero’s Welcome In Rawlins
*Hay Crisis For Ranchers In Wyo
*Candidates Criticize GOP Endorsements

Cowboy State Daily Video Newscast: Thursday, July 23, 2026

Don Day Weather

Chance of rain in Wyoming on Thursday, otherwise partly sunny in much of the state. Flood watch in parts of central and eastern Wyoming. Highs in the 70s and 80s. Lows in the 50s and low 60s.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":" "}]

Chance of rain, gradually becoming mostly sunny today with a high near 84 and mostly clear overnight with a slight chance of rain before 8 p.m. and a low near 61.

Chance of rain, otherwise mostly sunny today with a high near 84 and mostly clear overnight with a slight chance of rain before 8 p.m. and a low near 60.

 Flood watch until midnight tonight. Rain likely today with a high near 79 and mostly clear overnight with a slight chance of rain before 9 p.m. and a low near 60.

 Slight chance of rain after noon, otherwise mostly sunny today with a high near 80 and mostly clear overnight with a low near 52.

  Slight chance of rain after 5 p.m., gradually clearing today with a high near 85 and wind gusts as high as 22 mph. Partly cloudy overnight with a slight chance of rain before 8 p.m., a low near 57 and wind gusts as high as 21 mph.

Slight chance of rain, breezy, gradually becoming sunny today with a high near 77 and wind gusts as high as 25 mph. Mostly clear overnight with a slight chance of rain before 8 p.m., a low near 56 and wind gusts as high as 21 mph.

 Slight chance of rain, patchy smoke after noon, gradually becoming sunny today with a high near 80 and wind gusts as high as 20 mph. Mostly clear overnight with a low near 50.

 Slight chance of rain mainly after 1 p.m., patchy smoke before noon, gradually becoming sunny today with a high near 83 and mostly clear overnight with a low near 52.

  Slight chance of rain before 10 a.m., patchy smoke after noon, otherwise mostly sunny today with a high near 81 and mostly clear overnight with a low near 50.

 Chance of rain mainly after 1 p.m., otherwise mostly sunny today with a high near 78 and mostly clear overnight with a slight chance of rain before 7 p.m. and a low near 52.

  Chance of rain, patchy smoke before 8 a.m., otherwise mostly sunny today with a high near 84 and mostly clear overnight with a low near 52.

Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park

:  Chance of rain mainly after 2 p.m., patchy smoke after 11 a.m., otherwise mostly sunny today with a high near 79 and mostly clear overnight with a slight chance of rain before 7 p.m. and a low near 47.

Slight chance of rain after 1 p.m., gradually becoming sunny today with a high near 87 and mostly clear overnight with a low near 64.

:  Chance of rain, gradually becoming sunny today with a high near 86 and mostly clear overnight with a slight chance of rain before 7 p.m. and a low near 64.

  Slight chance of rain before 10 a.m., gradually becoming sunny today with a high near 88 and mostly clear overnight with a low near 61.

   Chance of rain, patchy smoke after 10 a.m., gradually becoming mostly sunny today with a high near 82 and mostly clear overnight with a low near 63.

  Chance of rain, gradually becoming mostly sunny today with a high near 88 and mostly clear overnight with a low near 59.

:  Chance of rain, mostly cloudy today with a high near 87 and mostly clear overnight with a low near 60.

Chance of rain, mostly cloudy today with a high near 84 and wind gusts as high as 16 mph. Mostly clear overnight with a low near 61.

   Rain likely today with a high near 81 and mostly clear overnight with a slight chance of rain before 9 p.m. and a low near 61.

:  Rain likely, mostly cloudy today with a high near 78 and mostly clear overnight with a low near 59.

  Flood watch until midnight tonight. Chance of rain after noon, otherwise partly sunny today with a high near 81 and partly cloudy overnight with a chance of rain before 9 p.m. and a low near 61.

  Flood watch until midnight tonight. Rain likely today with a high near 79 and mostly clear overnight with a chance of rain before 9 p.m. and a low near 59.

  Rain likely, gradually becoming mostly sunny today with a high near 82 and wind gusts as high as 16 mph. Mostly clear overnight with a slight chance of rain before midnight and a low near 59.

   Flood watch until midnight tonight. Rain likely after noon today with a high near 77 and partly cloudy overnight with rain likely before midnight and a low near 59.

  Flood watch until midnight tonight. Chance of rain, otherwise partly sunny today with a high near 73 and partly cloudy overnight with a chance of rain before midnight and a low near 55.

   Flood watch until midnight tonight. Rain likely after noon, otherwise partly sunny today with a high near 78 and partly cloudy overnight with a chance of rain before 9 p.m. and a low near 60.

  Flood watch until midnight tonight. Chance of rain, otherwise partly sunny today with a high near 77 and partly cloudy overnight with a chance of rain before 9 p.m. and a low near 59.

  Flood watch until midnight tonight. Rain likely mainly after noon, otherwise partly sunny today with a high near 72 and partly cloudy overnight with a chance of rain before 9 p.m. and a low near 54.

   Chance of rain mainly after 5 p.m., gradually becoming sunny today with a high near 81 and partly cloudy overnight with a chance of rain mainly before 7 p.m. and a low near 53.

Daycap small 7 23 26

<title>Don Day's Wyoming Weather Forecast: Thursday, July 23, 2026 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Don Day's Wyoming Weather Forecast: Thursday, July 23, 2026

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's managing editor, Greg Johnson.

Greg Johnson

Wyoming Life

Around Wyoming

RAWLINS — Six weeks ago, Carbon County Sheriff’s Sgt. Zach Burns was fighting for his life in the dirt parking lot of a Baggs apartment building after 

 from a gunman who later died in a shootout with law enforcement.

Wednesday, he was discharged from a Colorado hospital and got a hero’s welcome as he was escorted roughly 230 miles home by a long procession of law enforcement representing agencies across two states.

 streets through downtown Rawlins were lined with pockets of people who paused their workdays to wave and yell as Burns was driven by with a loud chorus of sirens following.

“That doesn’t surprise me at all,” said local resident Deanna Deffenbaugh about the turnout. “We take care of our own around here.

“Anytime an officer has gotten hurt in the line of duty — even his family — we get the community involved to step up and help take care of them.”

Deffenbaugh said she doesn’t know the Burns family personally, “but that doesn’t matter. If they’re willing to put their lives at risk for us, we need to take care of them.”

Maybe Deffenbaugh doesn’t know Burns, his wife and two young children, but the folks at the Carbon County Courthouse do. He’s their courtroom bailiff, said Jo Rieger, who had staked out a small patch of shade along 3

“Woo-hoo. He’s coming home!” she shouted. “This is cool and very inspiring. He deserves it. He deserves the biggest hero’s welcome ever.”

For Micah Johnson, who also works with Burns at the courthouse, Wednesday was 

, when Burns took bullets in the neck, arm and hip.

“You fear the worst when you first hear about that, you know?” he said. “I think a lot of us were just waiting to hear any kind of piece of news, right? Then I saw the post that he’s coming home today.”

He was referring to a Facebook post Sheriff Alex Bakken made earlier Wednesday telling people that Burns had been discharged from a Colorado hospital and was on his way home.

At 3:31 p.m., the small groups stationed at street corners and in front of the Carbon Building on the corner of 3

 and Pine streets began to cheer as they heard the sirens blaring louder, along with a medical helicopter circling the procession.

“There he is. I see him,” said a woman in the crowd as a Carbon County Sheriff’s Office truck slowly passed.

Sergeant Burns was sitting in the passenger side with the window rolled down and enthusiastically waving to those who gathered for him.

His beaming smile got just a little bit bigger when he saw a giant red, white and blue “Welcome Home Zach” banner.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘We’re All Family’"}]

About an hour earlier, Valeta Rogabaugh was anxious for the procession to get to Rawlins.

The longtime dispatch supervisor for the Rawlins Police Department walked into the bullpen at the department with tears in her eyes.

She had just heard a county dispatch bulletin that Burns and the procession had “come home” and had just passed into Carbon County on westbound Interstate 80.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she said when Chief Michael Ward asked how she was holding up. “It’s just emotional. They even talked to (Burns’ wife) and told her welcome home too.”

Although Burns works for the county sheriff’s office, there are deep connections with the Rawlins PD and other agencies, she said.

“We’re all a team and we’re all family,” Rogabaugh said, adding that Burns’ wife also is a dispatcher for the sheriff’s office.

There are no lines between agencies, said Rawlins Police Sgt. Thom Gamblin, adding that he’s good friends with Burns.

“This isn’t just a guy in uniform coming home, he’s a guy who works and lives here. I’m saying that this is a community, this is home, and it isn’t just his workplace,” Gamblin said.

“This isn’t just his work office, it’s people who love him,” he continued. “These are the people who care for him. It’s the people he meets every day when he serves.”

There’s a reason close to 100 officers from multiple jurisdictions around Wyoming and Colorado responded to Baggs that afternoon when the bulletin went out about an officer down and a gunman was on the run, Gamblin said.

“This is personal,” he said. “He did his job and nearly lost his life over it. He didn’t — thankfully — and now he’s back here where we can protect him.”

Without the quick action of a pair of Baggs residents who 

, he likely would have died, said Chief Ward. Wednesday’s procession was for them as well.

[{"type":"text","text":"“They’re heroes, too,” he told Cowboy State Daily."}]

“It’s a miracle that he’s still with us,” Ward added. “All of us are grateful for that, every minute of every day. His daughter still has a father. His wife still has a husband. He’s still with all of us.

“We could not be more relieved, grateful and excited he’s coming home today.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Stopped ‘Large-Scale Act’"}]

The scope of the potential carnage Burns may have prevented unfolded in the days following, Carbon County Sheriff Alex Bakken has said.

That includes Burns interrupting the suspect carrying out what appeared to be a devastating plan, the sheriff said

The man had a stockpile of semiautomatic weapon ammunition in his Baggs apartment and was likely planning a "large-scale act," Bakken reported June 17.

Burns was in the area June 8 when dispatchers relayed information about a suspect in an active shooting incident. Burns located the suspect driving in town and conducted a traffic stop at his apartment, the CCSO has reported.

“Upon coming to a stop, the suspect immediately exited his vehicle and opened fire on Sergeant Burns with a semiautomatic rifle,” Bakken said in the report.

The suspect — who so far has not been publicly identified — then 

The suspect tried to start his apartment complex on fire with numerous propane tanks inside, then sped away in his car again, according to the CCSO.

He was eventually killed in a shootout with law enforcement after crashing his car north of town off state Highway 789.

“Thanks to his bravery, (Burns) saved the lives of countless first responders and community members,” Bakken says in the report. “The gunman had stockpiled hundreds of AR-15 magazines in his apartment and, by all appearances, had been prepared to initiate a large-scale act of violence.”

At the Hilltop Conoco station along Cedar Avenue, Paige Garwood and Heather Stalinski were working Wednesday afternoon, handling a steady stream of locals and visitors driving through just off I-80.

They both said they were excited to learn that the long procession of emergency responders for Burns would go past their station.

Neither knows Burns or his family, but both said that Rawlins is a small town, and when one person is in trouble, everyone knows and responds.

“I’ve been reading about him and heard what happened to him. He’s a hero,” said Stalinski. “That he’s coming home is really good, and great for his family, his wife.

“I think he was really brave for what he did. He’s a brave, brave man. I think she should get a lot of (accolades). Would I call him a hero? Absolutely.”

Garwood said that Burns getting out of the hospital and getting back to Rawlins is a great boost for the whole town.

“I think it’s great that he’s coming home, because he almost died because of that idiot,” she said. “He deserves it.”

For Chief Ward and other law enforcement officers, the risk is always there, he said. While running toward danger while others run from it is what they sign up for, the hope is that they won’t have to.

“He took an oath to protect our community, and he almost gave his life doing so,” Ward said about Burns. “On the scale of heroism, that’s pretty far up there.”

Sgt Burns Home 1

<title>Hero’s Welcome In Rawlins: Deputy Nearly Killed In Baggs Shootout Comes Home | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Sgt. Zach Burns — shot three times by a gunman in Baggs last month — got a hero’s welcome in Rawlins after a 230-mile escort from a Colorado hospital Wednesday. “On the scale of heroism, that’s pretty far up there,” said the Rawlins police chief.

Hero’s Welcome In Rawlins: Deputy Nearly Killed In Baggs Shootout Comes Home

Lubnau head 2

Tom Lubnau

Opinion

CSD Columnists

, the Wyoming Republican Party Central Committee shouted from their speck of dust on a very small clover: “We are here! We are here! We are here!” I guess they're hoping some Elephant with really big ears wanders by and finally hears them.

Their shout was in the form of endorsing candidates.

Wyoming Statute 22-25-104 says “No political party funds shall be expended directly 

 in aid of the nomination of one person against another person of the same political party running in the primary election.”

The purpose is not complicated. Money donated to elect Republicans generally isn't supposed to get funneled into tilting the scale in a Republican primary. Picking winners is the voters' job.

The party, at best, skirted the edges of that law. By endorsing candidates, they flushed the spirit of the law down the toilet.

Until the law changes, or some court strikes it down, though, it's still the law.

Don't hold your breath waiting for anyone to enforce it. The guy in charge of enforcing election law is Secretary of State Chuck Gray. He got an endorsement. Hmmm.

Every candidate who took one of these endorsements told voters something about themselves. That the ends justify the means. That honor is negotiable when there's an edge to be gained.

Voters get to decide what to do with that information.

My guess? Most of the voters will ignore the endorsements and vote for whoever they believe to be the best candidate.

People inside the party and out warned the Central Committee off this course of action. The Central Committee did it anyway.

So it's worth asking what these endorsements are actually worth, which means it's worth asking who's handing them out.

Every even numbered year, at the primary, voters elect precinct committeemen and women, split evenly between men and women.

Once upon a time, being a precinct committee person meant something -- you rounded up your neighbors and got them to the polls. These days it's mostly a title on a name tag.

Those precinct people, county by county, then elect a state committeeman, a state committeewoman, and a county chair. Send those three off to the state level, and you've got yourself a Central Committee.

Here's the catch: it's not based on population. Three votes per county, period. Laramie County has 102,938 residents. Niobrara County has 2,467. Same three votes. Work out the math and a Niobrara County Republican carries about 41 times the weight of someone in Laramie County.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"The system is skewed from the start.."}]

Meanwhile, while the rest of us are out at the lake, roughly 73 state committee members meet four times a year to handle party business, which mostly means playing model legislature without the actual legislating part.

Their one real power: sending the governor three names when a seat opens up. That's it. Everything else is theater. You've got people who couldn't win an election themselves telling the people who did win how to do their jobs.

So they shouted from their little speck of dust, presumably to get noticed.

No surprises in their endorsements. The list reads like the Freedom Caucus affiliated roster, minus Harriet Hageman, who's apparently signed up with the national version instead.

Take Megan Degenfelder. Four years carrying the party's water as Superintendent of Public Instruction, and this is the thanks she gets — tossed off the list, thrown under the bus.

Loyalty was never this Central Committee's thing.

They also managed spit in Donald Trump's eye, by ignoring his doubled-down endorsement in the governor's race. Megan didn’t even warrant their discussion.

Eric Barlow had the right idea. “Let the voters decide,” he said, and skipped the popularity contest entirely.

So what did the party get for all this? They alienated four U.S. Senate campaigns, nine House campaigns, three governor's campaigns, three secretary of state campaigns, one treasurer's campaign, and two superintendent campaigns. Twenty-two candidates, and all their supporters, with zero reason left to help the Central Committee with anything, ever.

In return: some newspaper ink, a donor list that keeps shrinking, and a president they just insulted, but they got to shout “We are here!”

Not a bad Monday night, if your goal was making as many people mad as humanly possible.

We'll see if Wyoming voters pay attention to your speck of dust. I suspect not.

Alienation of people for nothing is not a good use of party time.

Tom Lubnau served in the Wyoming Legislature from 2004 to 2015 and is a former Speaker of the House. He can be reached at: YourInputAppreciated@gmail.com

<title>Tom Lubnau:  The Wyoming GOP's Endorsement Suicide Mission | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Columnist Tom Lubnau writes, "So what did the Republican Party get for all this? They alienated 4 U.S. Senate campaigns, 9 House campaigns, 3 governor's campaigns, 3 secretary of state campaigns, 1 treasurer's campaign, and 2 superintendent campaigns."

Tom Lubnau:  The Wyoming GOP's Endorsement Suicide Mission

[{"type":"text","text":"This is why men need women…."}]

Darwin no play 7 23 26

<title>Daily Darwin: Thursday, July 23, 2026 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

This is why men need women….

Daily Darwin: Thursday, July 23, 2026

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's Feature Reporter, Andrew Rossi.

Andrew Rossi

Many Wyoming ranchers are struggling with an existential problem that’s completely out of their control. Hay has become harder to find, harder to grow, and more expensive to buy.

With the lack of rain and ongoing drought, it’s harder to grow hay for feeding Wyoming’s cattle, horses and other livestock. Ranchers who have historically harvested their own hay might have to purchase it to keep their animals fed, and prices are constantly creeping upward.

In the short term, it’s enough to make ranching difficult. In the long term, some say, it could hasten the end of many family farms and ranches that can’t afford to feed their animals.

“If it’s not a problem now, it’s going to be,” said Dennis Sun, publisher of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. “Some people are looking to sell cattle because they’re afraid they can't get the hay to feed them.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Not A Hay Day"}]

Meeteetse resident Mitchell Huene works with Cowboys with a Mission, a nonprofit that runs two annual Bible schools teaching kids to ride, brand, lay irrigation pipes, and understand “where their food comes from.”

“Whatever anybody needs us to do, we'll do,” he told Cowboy State Daily. “To facilitate that, we've got 43 horses we need to feed.”

In the past, Cowboys with a Mission got its hay from the Pitchfork Ranch. Huene learned in May that the ranch wouldn’t be able to supply them this summer.

“Because of how bad the winter was, nobody in the area has any grass,” he said. “They're grazing their hay fields at the Pitchfork.”

Wyoming ranchers are struggling with an existential problem out of their control. Hay has become harder to find, harder to grow, and more expensive to buy. Some say this will hasten the end of family farms and ranches that can’t afford to feed their animals.

Daily Darwin: Sunday, November 13, 2022

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