Daily Smile

[{"type":"text","text":"Mission Impossible: Bird vs Cat edition"}]

Daily smile 5 1 23

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

<title>Daily Smile: Monday, May 1, 2023 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Mission Impossible: Bird vs Cat edition...

Daily Smile: Monday, May 1, 2023

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Government & Politics

Politics

Wyoming U.S. House Rep. Harriet Hageman was one of 22 Republicans to vote against making daylight saving time permanent as the House passed the Sunshine Protection Act on Tuesday.

For Wyomingites tired of changing their clocks every spring and fall, the vote was a big step toward ending the twice-yearly ritual that has been a divisive issue in the Cowboy State and across the nation.

The 308-117 vote advances the act to the Senate, which if approved would make daylight saving time permanent.

Most Americans would stop changing their clocks twice a year and instead remain on daylight saving time year-round, although states could choose to observe permanent standard time instead.

Hageman told Cowboy State Daily in a statement that her vote was made with Wyoming in mind.

"The Sunshine Protection Act robs Wyoming farmers and ranchers of precious sunlight and ensures the first hours of a student's day is in darkness,” she said. "The government isn't funded, our elections aren't secure, and Wyoming's legacy industries need help. 

"I will not vote for a time-wasting bill that puts Wyoming in the dark."

If enacted, the legislation would mean later winter sunsets but also later winter sunrises, giving people more daylight in the evening while making mornings darker.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Another Opportunity "}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Wyoming has been preparing for this possibility for years."}]

In 2020, the Wyoming Legislature approved a trigger law authorizing the state to adopt permanent daylight saving time if Congress first changes federal law and neighboring Mountain Time states enact similar laws.

As a result, Tuesday's House vote alone would not change anything for Wyoming.

Even if the bill ultimately becomes law, Wyoming would continue changing its clocks until the conditions outlined in state law are met.

Former state Rep. Dan Laursen, R-Powell, sponsored Wyoming's trigger law and spent years advocating for permanent daylight saving time.

When the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a similar version of the Sunshine Protection Act in 2022, Laursen

he hoped Americans had changed their clocks for the last time that November.

Instead, the proposal stalled in the House before reaching then-President Joe Biden.

[{"type":"text","text":"Now, four years later, Laursen believes Congress has another opportunity."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"\"It's fantastic news,\" he said Tuesday. \"I'm feeling hopeful.\""}]

Laursen said he hopes the Senate can "get something figured out" after unanimously approving a similar bill four years ago.

Asked what message he would send senators, Laursen said, "Let's do it," he said. "Trump wants it. I want it."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Long-Running Debate"}]

Supporters of the legislation argue ending the twice-yearly clock changes would eliminate an unnecessary disruption while giving Americans more usable daylight after work and school.

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie, R-Kentucky, said permanent daylight saving time would improve traffic safety, strengthen the economy and give people "more time to exercise outside, visit family, attend concerts and sporting events."

"It also means more sunlight at the end of the day so Americans can return safely from work and children can return safely from school," Guthrie said.

[{"type":"text","text":"Not everyone agrees."}]

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine supports ending the twice-yearly clock changes but argues that Congress should instead adopt permanent standard time, saying it better aligns with the body's natural circadian rhythms and promotes healthier sleep.

If daylight saving time became permanent, Wyoming would experience later winter sunrises and later sunsets, leaving many children and commuters traveling before sunrise while extending daylight later into the evening.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Senate Faces Familiar Decision"}]

The legislation now heads to the Senate, which unanimously approved a similar version of the Sunshine Protection Act in 2022 before it stalled in the House.

[{"type":"text","text":"Its prospects this time are uncertain."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Wyoming's congressional delegation is split on the issue."}]

While Hageman voted against the House bill, Sen. Cynthia Lummis has 

backed making daylight saving time permanent, calling the twice-yearly clock changes "an unnecessary disruption" and saying advances in technology have made the original reasons for changing clocks obsolete.

[{"type":"text","text":"Sen. John Barrasso has taken a more cautious position."}]

Last spring he told Cowboy State Daily, "Every time we have to change the clocks, I hear about this issue at home in Wyoming. 

"While it would certainly be easier to not have to change our clocks, there are some real concerns with sending our kids to school in the dark. Congress must thoroughly debate all of the potential impacts before taking any action to change daylight saving time on the national level."

Asked Tuesday about the bill's chances in the Senate, Barrasso 

, "We'll see. You know, we had passed something like that once before, and then the House hit the snooze alarm on it, and we'll see what happens when it gets here."

Even if the Senate approves the bill and Trump signs it into law, Wyoming would not immediately stop changing its clocks. 

The state's trigger law requires not only congressional approval, but also neighboring Mountain Time states to adopt permanent daylight saving time before Wyoming could make the switch.

Cowboy State Daily reached out to Barrasso's office Tuesday for additional comment on the House-passed legislation but did not receive a response before publication.

Hageman clock tower 2 7 14 26

<title>House Passes Permanent Daylight Saving Time Bill, Hageman Votes Against | Cowboy State Daily</title>

The U.S. House passed a bill Tuesday to make daylight saving time permanent, but Rep. Harriet Hageman was one of only 22 Republicans who voted against it, arguing it would put schoolchildren in the dark and take morning sunlight from farmers and ranchers.

House Passes Permanent Daylight Saving Time Bill, Hageman Votes Against

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily reporter, Dale Killingbeck

Dale Killingbeck

Crime & Courts

Courts

CASPER — A 21-year-old Casper man pleaded not guilty Tuesday to his alleged part in a confrontation that led up to a fatal shooting at south-side apartment last year. 

Jadin Zander Tripplett is accused of being with an armed friend on May 11, 2025, when he pointed a gun at a man in the apartment — who was also his cousin —and pulling the trigger.

Triplett told Casper police the gun didn’t fire because he had forgotten to take his safety off. 

His accomplice, Anicio Bernard, 20, did fire his weapon as did the man in the apartment, leaving Bernard dead and the cousin wounded.

In Natrona County District Court on Tuesday standing beside his defense attorney Dylan Rosalez, Judge Kerri Johnson read Triplett the aggravated assault and battery charge he faces for the May 11, 2025, incident. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"He told her he understood the charge."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Johnson asked him how he would plead."}]

“Not guilty, your honor,” Triplett said.

The judge said she would order the case be put on the court docket for trial.

Rosalez asked that Triplett’s $100,000 cash or surety bond be continued.

Triplett pleaded not guilty in a separate file on July 9 to a charge of conspiracy to commit aggravated assault and battery related to the same May 11 incident. 

That charge and the aggravated assault and battery charge were separated in Casper Circuit Court due to a legal issue during Triplett’s first preliminary hearing on both charges.

The Natrona County District Attorney’s Office has asked to joint the cases again.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"The Background"}]

Charges against Triplett stem from an incident in the early evening of May 11, 2025, when court records state he and Bernard had gone to his cousin’s apartment to retrieve a weapon allegedly stolen from Triplett.

Both men put on masks before entering the apartment and they were accompanied by Triplett’s girlfriend, Neevah Marie Neeman.

A police affidavit states that at least four people were in the apartment when the pair entered the door and Bernard yelled out, “Give me all your shit, give me all your shit.”

Neeman told police that while walking into the apartment building, Bernard had chambered a round in his pistol. 

The affidavit states Bernard had gotten the weapon from Triplett a few weeks earlier. Neeman also said Triplett had a handgun as well.

Once inside, Triplett’s cousin pulled out the weapon he had and the shooting began, according to the affidavit.

A handful of witnesses interviewed by police inside and outside the apartment estimated that seven to 11 shots were exchanged, the affidavit states. 

Police recovered two 9 mm shell casing and 11 10 mm casings.

Triplett’s cousin was hit in the heart and gall bladder causing “extensive damage,” the affidavit states. 

He was transported to Banner Wyoming Medical Center and then sent by life flight to Colorado for further care.

Bernard was also transported to the hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Last Word: ‘Run'"}]

Witnesses told police that Bernard was lying in a pool of blood on the concrete outside the door wearing a ski mask and in possession of a pistol.

Triplett and Neeman both told police following the shooting that Bernard’s last word to them was “run.”

Bernard’s girlfriend, who remained in the car outside the apartment, said prior to going into the building that she and Bernard had taken off their religious necklaces, put them together and said a prayer.

None of the trio called 911, they just took off in the car to gather weapons at Triplett’s residence to give to a friend.

Witnesses interviewed by police described the cousin and shooting victim as someone the apartment renter wanted out of the place. 

Triplett told police that initially he thought that he and Bernard were going to be “pressing” his cousin with their fists, but when he saw Bernard pull out his gun, he continued because he did not want to be labeled a “pussy.”

The affidavit states Triplett admitted pointing his gun at his cousin with a round in the chamber, but when he tried to pull the trigger he had forgotten to release the safety.

“Triplett stated he took this as a sign and left the apartment,” the affidavit states.

The police investigation included a recording sent from a “reliable” and “unnamed source” after the shooting where Triplett and his girlfriend were heard talking about the shooting,” the affidavit says. 

On one recording Triplett is heard stating that “KB (Bernard) had his blick.” 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Blick is a slang term for a weapon."}]

In a second recording, Triplett is heard describing what he would tell police who maybe would find his fingerprints on shell casings or the gun.

“Know what I’m gonna say? This (n***a) was just in my crib, he got two warrants, and he robbed my blick,” the affidavit states was on the recording. 

The affidavit states prior to May 11, Triplett was offering people $500 to get his weapon back from his cousin. 

A police search of Triplett’s cellphone found a message sent to his cousin on May 9 that read, “I’m coming for you cuz.”

Both the aggravated assault and battery and conspiracy to commit aggravated assault and battery carry potential penalties of 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Neeman was charged with accessory after the fact in the case and faces arraignment next month in Natrona County District Court.

Jadin Tripplett 7 14 26

<title>​Casper Man Pleads Not Guilty To Role In Deadly Apartment Shootout | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A 21-year-old Casper man pleaded not guilty Tuesday for his alleged role in a deadly shootout at an apartment complex in May 2025. He’s accused of trying to shoot his cousin over a stolen gun during an armed raid that touched off a gunfight.

​Casper Man Pleads Not Guilty To Role In Deadly Apartment Shootout

Heinz mark

Mark Heinz

Outdoors

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 summer camp drive through Cody took a disturbing turn when, investigators say, a group of children allegedly found themselves looking out the windows of their van at a man driving alongside them without pants and pleasuring himself while making eye contact with those in the van.

Court records show that rather than let him disappear into traffic, two camp counselors followed the vehicle through Cody, photographed its license plate and called law enforcement.

Cody police officers say they quickly realized the registered owner was someone they already knew.

Andrew Crawford, a Cody resident born in 1988 and a registered sex offender, has been charged with felony indecent liberties with a minor and several public indecency misdemeanors spanning multiple years. 

who was convicted of public indecency in April 2023 after he repeatedly exposed himself to female baristas at Cody coffee kiosks during the fall of 2022.

Those incidents continued for weeks before one barista responded by dumping scalding 170-degree water into Crawford's lap after he exposed himself. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"6 Juveniles "}]

Park County dispatch got the report about Crawford's more recent allegations at about 4:34 p.m. on Friday, court records show.

One of the camp counselors told investigators that he and another counselor were traveling through Cody with six juveniles when a blue Chevrolet Impala pulled alongside their van.

The counselor reported that the driver had removed his pants and was masturbating while looking through the van's windows. He told deputies all six campers and both counselors witnessed the alleged conduct.

Dispatch identified the vehicle as being registered to Crawford, whom the investigating officer wrote he recognized from prior law enforcement contacts involving similar allegations.

Court records show he was accused of exposing himself to two girls and their mother in a Cody Walmart parking lot in 2011 — this while under investigation for allegedly possessing child pornography while serving in the U.S. Air Force in 2009. 

He was sentenced in 2012 to 72 months in federal prison followed by a lifetime of supervised release.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Witnesses Identified Crawford"}]

Investigators presented the counselors with a six-photo lineup, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed in the case.

Before the officer had finished explaining the identification process, a counselor said he already knew who the suspect was and immediately identified Crawford's photograph. 

He told investigators he recognized him by his bald head, facial hair and face shape, saying the only difference was that the driver had been wearing glasses.

The other counselor also identified Crawford as the man he said he made eye contact with during the incident, says the affidavit.

The following morning, investigators reviewed the counselors' written statements. 

"Both witness statements corroborate the emotional distress and shock of the juvenile campers after they all witnessed the same exposed genitalia and masturbating motions with his hand on his penis," says the affidavit. 

Investigators also confirmed with camp's operations director that the van's windows were not tinted and that passengers inside were clearly visible from outside.

Because Crawford has prior military and Wyoming convictions involving public indecency and sex offender registration violations, the investigating officer asked prosecutors to expedite an arrest warrant, he wrote. 

[{"type":"text","text":"Deputies arrested Crawford later that afternoon without incident."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Court Proceedings"}]

Crawford made his initial appearance in Park County Circuit Court on Monday, where a judge set his bond at $100,000 cash only.

[{"type":"text","text":"If released, Crawford must remain in Park County as a condition of bond."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"A preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 22 in Cody."}]

Andrew Crawford Cody sign 7 14 26

<title>Repeat Cody Sex Offender Accused Of Pleasuring Himself Next To Van Of Camp Kids | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A registered Cody sex offender is accused of exposing and masturbating alongside a van of camp kids while making direct eye contact with those in the van. He’s the same man convicted in 2023 for repeatedly exposing himself to female coffee baristas.

Repeat Cody Sex Offender Accused Of Pleasuring Himself Next To Van Of Camp Kids

Around Wyoming

A parasite that can keep people chained to the bathroom for weeks has reached Wyoming.

State health officials have now confirmed six cases of cyclosporiasis this year — double the number 

 — including one domestically acquired infection that remains under investigation while federal officials search for the source of one of the nation's largest Cyclospora outbreaks in recent years.

The illness is often dismissed as just another stomach bug — until it refuses to go away, said Cheyenne Regional Medical Center emergency physician Dr. Matthew Loptien.

"Ultimately I understand those words can provoke that (laughter)," Loptien told Cowboy State Daily, referring to the phrase "explosive diarrhea." 

[{"type":"text","text":"\"But it is not funny, that's for sure.\""}]

His warning comes as Wyoming health officials continue tracking the parasite's spread within the state.

Five of Wyoming's six confirmed infections were likely acquired while patients traveled to countries where the microscopic parasite 

 is endemic, according to the Wyoming Department of Health.

That leaves just one case believed to have been contracted inside the United States.

Wyoming has confirmed six cases of Cyclospora, a parasite that can cause weeks of explosive diarrhea, dehydration and weight loss. Medical experts link five of the six cases to travel outside the U.S. "It is not funny, that's for sure," an ER doctor said.

Daily Smile: Monday, May 1, 2023

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