One More For The Road

[{"type":"text","text":"Don't worry, we're safe. Lightning can't hit cars..."}]

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

<title>One More For The Road: Friday, June 9, 2023 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Don't worry, we're safe. Lightning can't hit cars....

One More For The Road: Friday, June 9, 2023

 Don't worry, we're safe. Lightning can't hit cars...

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily reporter, Dale Killingbeck

Dale Killingbeck

Courts

CASPER — Sit in the lobby for the Natrona County Clerk of District Court on any given day and you’ll see people arrive looking for divorce paperwork, to pay a fine, make a child support payment or just hope to make sense of a legal issue they’ve unexpectedly been involved in. 

Some come asking about a loved one who is in trouble with the law. Others try to find a court record from years ago as they work through an estate inheritance.

It’s a place where all records related to felony court cases, probate issues, divorce, adoptions, name changes, civil cases that involve more than $50,000, and child support are maintained.

Records available inside the office go back to the late 1890s and the 16-member staff led by Clerk of District Court Jill Kiester juggle their mandated roles with helping people on a bad day as they spill out their stories of bad marriages, child custody issues, a loved one in jail, or their own run-in with state statutes.

“Everything we do here affects people’s lives,” Kiester said. “We try to understand where they are at. We just listen, and that’s OK."

Kiester, in the elected office since 2021, has 40 years working for the county, and said her office’s main duty is keeping the permanent court record which gets added to on a daily basis. 

On the ground floor of the county’s court building, her office is also the first one people see and go to for help.

Last year, 64,583 people walked through security into the courthouse building and many stopped to be helped, redirected within the building, or maybe outside it. 

Sometimes people show up looking for the federal court, Kiester said.

Her staff work with the four Natrona County District Court judges and their staffs as well as law enforcement, attorneys, state and county agencies, businesses doing background checks on potential employees, and the public.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Cases And Pleadings"}]

The second largest court in the state, there were 2,360 cases added to her office records last year and 65,000 pleadings either via electronic means or paperwork. Child Support Enforcement is the biggest filer.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"The public is her boss, Keister said."}]

Complicating the Clerk of District Court’s role since April 2022 is the Wyoming Supreme Court’s effort to take all the state’s district courts to a paperless record. 

That has now become mandatory. Kiester still sees no end to that transition period and notes that people who represent themselves on an issue typically file using paper.

“We have a lot of systems for a lot of different things, and everything is on a timeline,” Kiester said. “We also are the face of the court.”

Many of the older and more historical court records are now on microfiche with originals sent to the state archives.

Deputy Clerk Supervisor Michelle Brown has spent 19 years in the office and works at training the staff on the responsibilities, processes, and legal understanding they need to answer questions from the public as well as ensure legal guidelines related to the documents are followed.

The office is currently working to develop some AI training that will cover the duties, protocols, and processes that need to be learned.

Brown also handles all the process of supplying documents for cases that are appealed out of the county to the Wyoming Supreme Court.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Enjoying Their Role"}]

Both Brown and Deputy Clerk Carol Korell, who has been in the office for 18 months, join Kiester in emphasizing that serving people continues to be the motivator that brings them back to work every day.

“We want to try and make it not a scary experience,” Brown said.

Korell said she formerly worked for a civil attorney as a legal assistant in Nebraska and finds her Wyoming job challenging.

“It’s a whole different game being on this side of things,” she said.

While the staff works hard to find documents and answer questions presented by those who appear at their windows, one thing they cannot do is provide legal advice. 

Their message when asked for a legal answer goes back to telling people about the record on an issue.

“We try to give people the resources we know of,” Kiester said. “We don’t like people going from one office to another.”

One resource that has proven beneficial in the building is a court navigator who can explain how cases proceed through the court, help with filling out legal forms and proper conduct in the courtroom.

Kiester said staff regularly send people to the navigator program.

In the office’s role working with judges, Kiester said she and her staff are in district court courtrooms to keep the court record, swear witnesses in, and assist the juries.

The Clerk of Court keeps the process for selecting the names in jury pools and when a jury sits on a case, the office is responsible for providing for their needs as well as obtaining a civilian bailiff who oversees the jury. 

Her office also pays the jurors their salary set by the legislature of $30 a day.

“We try and make it the best experience we can make it,” Kiester said. “The content and subject matter often isn’t easy for them or our staff.”

In additional to criminal matters, the Clerk of District Court keeps records for family court matters that involve child custody, child support, and divorce; probate court issues involving conservatorships, estates, guardianships, and wills. 

Kiester’s office also serves juvenile court and adoption issues that must be kept confidential.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"A Judge’s Perspective"}]

Natrona District Court Judge Joshua Eames in a statement for Cowboy State Daily said the judges and district court clerks serve the public in different ways but need to work closely together to accomplish their mission for the public.

“Their work forms the foundation that allows judges to concentrate on what happens in the courtroom,” Eames said. “It’s a close working relationship based on mutual respect, and the courts simply couldn’t run without them.”

Kiester said she is involved in the state’s Clerk of District Court committees and in addition to trying to educate the public about the office’s role, she also works with the local bar association to put on lunches to talk about process changes and other issues.

On the wall in her department’s meeting room are three framed pieces of artwork recently created by Kiester and her staff that represent their motivation and responsibilities.

One framed picture depicts the scales of justice with the word “Service,” another “The Record,” and a third, “Care.” 

Kiester uses them as a reminder for her staff as they keep fulfilling their mandate and meeting the next person at the window who wants to talk about their divorce or answer the phone when an attorney calls looking for a case number.

“I love it. I love the public, I love the record, I love it all,” Kiester said. “It’s lives. It’s important. As we go forward, people should be able to come to this window and get their record today.”

Townsend Justice Center and clerk 6 21 26

<title>Crime And Punishment: Inside A Wyoming District Court Clerk’s Office | Cowboy State Daily</title>

In the lobby of the Natrona County Clerk of District Court’s office, people want help with court cases, applying for divorces, or paying fines. Across the plexiglass barriers, “It’s a whole different game being on this side of things,” said the clerk.

Crime And Punishment: Inside A Wyoming District Court Clerk’s Office

Heinz mark

Mark Heinz

Outdoors

Wildlife

A rancher in central Montana told Cowboy State Daily she suspects a grizzly inflicted ghastly wounds on one of her horses last month, although wildlife officials have yet to confirm it.

Leah LaTray posted photos of the horse and its severe injuries on social media, showing a large gash on its face, a massive open wound on its flank, and other injuries.

LaTray and her family run a cow/calf ranch near Lewistown, Montana, and she’s also a professional horse trainer.

LaTray said the horse apparently attacked by a grizzly is an 8-year-old quarter horse mare (female), and one of the ranch’s working horses.

She suspects the mare was attacked while in a pasture with four other horses on June 16 or 17.

The pasture is in a “wooded area” and also has a creek running through it, with willows along the bank.

LaTray said she didn’t find the mare until the following Tuesday.

“She was standing alone in the willows, with maggots in her wounds,” LaTray said.

The horse was examined by a veterinarian and is expected to live, she said. She added that her veterinarian, and another veterinarian who saw the horse, told her they think its injuries were suffered in a bear attack.

The horse is recovering well, LaTray said. 

The veterinarians could not be reached for comment by publication time.  

agent responded to the scene, but disputed the claim the horse’s injuries resulted from a bear attack.

LaTray said somebody reported seeing a “young grizzly bear” crossing the highway onto her property June 12.

She added that if her horse was, in fact, maimed by a bear, there’s no way of knowing if it was that same grizzly.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Was It A Bear Attack?"}]

LaTray said her bear-attack claim was investigated by Kraig Glazier, the USDA Wildlife Services West District supervisor, based in Helena, Montana. 

She said Glazier visited her ranch, inspected the horse, and disputed her claim.

Glazier’s assessment was that the horse might have run into or become entangled in something sharp, she said. 

Glazier could not be reached for comment by publication time. 

LaTray said Glazier told her that by his reckoning, the horse would have had “bite wounds on her withers if it had been a bear attack."

“Withers” refers to the prominent bony ridge just at the base of a horse’s neck, between the shoulder blades. 

That would have tracked with bears’ usual method of attacking a prey animal. They to get atop the animal while biting its back. The bear uses its immense strength and weight to drag down the animal. 

LaTray said her response to that point is that “horses are more athletic than sheep or cows,” and her horse “could have managed to wheel around and kick the bear in the face before he managed to get on top of her.”

She said Glazier also noted bears don’t typically claw their prey. So, grizzly claws might not account for the gashes on the horse’s face. 

LaTray said she wonders if the bear’s attack was actually predatory. But rather, if “the bear and the horse had a surprise encounter at very close range in the willows.”

If that was the case, the bear might have responded by lashing out with its claws, she said. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Increased Bear Activity"}]

The ranch sits between the North and South Moccasin mountain ranges, along Montana Highway 81, she said.

Grizzly activity has been increasing there in recent years, LaTray said, even though the area more than 100 miles from the Rocky Mountains, where most of the state’s grizzly population lives.

Grizzlies are naturally a Great Plains species, but they’re not being deliberately introduced to prairie country in northern and central Montana.

Instead, they’re moving back into those areas on their own.

The LaTray ranch is also near property owned by the American Prairie conservation group. 

American Prairie welcomes the return of grizzlies to the area, and hopes the bears start settling in on their property.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"LaTray doesn’t like that idea."}]

She said that along with the suspected attack on her horse, neighboring ranches have been reporting trouble with bears. And there’s concern grizzlies could take heavy toll on cattle and threaten human safety.

Danny Kinka, senior wildlife restoration manager for American Prairie, told Cowboy State Daily there are ways to balance ranchers’ concerns with bear conservation.

He said he didn’t know specifics about what might have happened to LaTray’s horse, but agreed it must have been devastating to find the animal so terribly wounded.

“I saw the pictures (posted online), and man, I would be upset if that were my horse. I wouldn’t wish that on anybody,” he said.

When it comes to living alongside grizzlies, “the first order of business is keeping you and your family safe,” he said.

He added that American Prairie has programs to help ranchers mitigate the risk of attacks on their cattle, sheep and horses.

One effective way is to “put a human presence on the landscape,” with working cowboys and range riders staying near cattle, he said.

“The goal is to convince predators that livestock isn’t worth messing with,” he said.

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<title>Montana Rancher More Than 100 Miles From Rocky Mountains Says Grizzly Mauled Horse | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A Montana rancher who lives more than 100 miles from grizzly territory says a bear mauled her quarter horse. Grizzlies aren't deliberately being reintroduced to prairie country. Instead, they’re moving back into those areas on their own.

Montana Rancher More Than 100 Miles From Rocky Mountains Says Grizzly Mauled Horse

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

Renée Jean

Wyoming Life

Around Wyoming

DUBOIS — It was a scene straight out of a Mad Max movie. Two tanks met like gargantuan beasts on a dusty field of battle tucked behind the National Museum of Military Vehicles on Friday. 

The tanks were heralded first by the echoing rat-a-tat-tat of machine guns over the hills of Dubois, thrilling a crowd of hundreds that gathered to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary by watching these rumbling 42-ton tanks show off. 

“Our thinking was this doesn’t have to just be solemn,” National Museum of Military Vehicles founder Dan Starks told Cowboy State Daily. “It can also be fun. And what’s more American than machine guns and tanks crushing cars?”

Starks didn’t get any disagreement from the huge crowds turning out for the daylong event devoted to America. More than 500 people showed up in the first hour, which offered two chances to see the tanks in action. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Starks couldn’t contain his grin."}]

“You see the crowd we’ve attracted with this kind of family fun,” he said. “So, because of that, the messages we’re delivering about the genius of our founding fathers is going to reach more ears, because we created a fun event, instead of just saying, ‘Hey, we’re going to be giving some lectures.'”

The star of the show was what Starks cheerfully calls the “Car Crusher.” It’s an 80-year-old M4 Sherman tank, which was the primary medium battle tank used by the United States and its Western allies during World War II. 

It’s a tank that’s practically purpose-built for exactly this kind of spectacle, Starks said.

“We call it the car crusher tank for two reasons,” he said. “One, it has steel tracks, and so those tracks are quite a bit less likely to be damaged driving over a car — driving over steel with the potential of sharp edges.”

In fact, the Sherman’s steel tracks is one of the reasons it can’t be used in the annual Fourth of July parade in Dubois, which features around 25 tanks and other military vehicles from the museum to celebrate Independence Day. 

“It would tear up the road,” Starks said. “But that’s exactly the kind of track to crush a car with. That particular tank also does not have fenders on the tracks, so there’s less that can get hung up from the car. 

"So it’s really a good configuration to just have the ridiculous fun of crushing your car with it.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Co-Starring The Leopard"}]

The M4’s co-star in this Mad Max approach to history was a 1981 German Leopard tank, one in a series of premier main battle tanks (MBTs) developed by Krauss-Maffei, now KNDS Deutschland GmbH & Co.

The original Leopard 1 MBTs revolutionized armored warfare in 1965, bringing superior mobility and a 105 mm gun to bear. Its successor, the Leopard 2, debuted in 1979 and is still one of the world’s most widely deployed advanced main battle tanks. 

Leopards weren’t designed to go head-to-head with other tanks, said Tom Hartman, who drove a tank on Friday. Theirs was more of a “scoot-and-shoot” strategy. 

“You’d see a target of opportunity, shoot it, and the second you shoot it, hit the reverse and speed away,” Hartman said. “Then you’d go another way and try to hit it from another angle.”

If the tank was spotted, it has a row of smoke grenades to deploy to put down instant cover in which to escape. 

“You’re supposed to be able to create a massive smoke screen a few hundred feet wide,” Hartman said. 

Canada was the first large purchaser of the vehicles, which are still in use by a number of countries, including Greece, Italy and Brazil. 

For a while, they were readily available for around $100,000. 

“Right now they cost anywhere between a quarter million dollars to $750,000,” Hartman said. “They made just a ton of these, I forget the exact figure, but a little country called Russia invaded its little neighbor friend called Ukraine, which doesn’t have a lot of Western tanks.”

Overnight, every available Leopard tank was suddenly headed to Ukraine.

From a distance, it looks like something of a feat when a tank rolls right over a car. 

People in the crowd cheered, kids squealed, and smartphones everywhere were rolling, getting video of cars being smashed flat.

For the tank crews, though, the real surprise was just how smooth the ride was.

“You can kind of feel it go like this,” Hartman said, demonstrating with his body leaning from one side to another. “But it’s not like one solid piece. You can feel it start to crush underneath you.”

That’s unlike the cinderblock wall, 2 feet high, that was part of the warmup obstacle course set up to demonstrate the tanks' capabilities before the cars were crushed. 

“It was really fun,” added Jared Radison, another driver. “But it’s honestly surprising how smooth it is. We came down pretty healthy, but other than that, going on these cars, you almost don’t feel it.”

For Casey Ladelle driving the M4 tank for the first time, he wasn’t sure how fast he should really go in the historical 80-year-old antique. 

“Like, how fast is too fast?” he wondered. “It’s an 80-year-old tank, and today was my first day hitting any obstacles with it.”

His first time rolling over the car, he hit it almost too slow. 

“The second time, I knew what was going to happen,” he added.

So he let the car have it, and it felt “really cool.”

All three drivers, however, were cognizant that the power the tanks gave them also meant awesome responsibility as well. 

“It’s a 42-ton machine that can go up to 45 mph,” Hartman said. “You do not want that going through anything out here, because you’re not going to feel it if you hit something.”

That had all three scanning the field, making sure they weren’t gong to run into each other or anything else. 

If the spectacle sounds one-of-a-kind, that’s not too far off. 

Starks and his crew can rattle off a short list of places on the planet where tanks might be smashing cars.

“There’s one in Bovington, England, which is probably the most famous one,” Hartman said. “There’s one in Canada, the Oshawa Tank Museum, which is a phenomenal museum.”

There are also a couple of high-end commercial “experiences” in Texas and Las Vegas.

“I mean, no museums, where their whole thing is like education, do this, like, ‘We’re going to crush your car,'” Hartman said.

At the for-profit tank experiences, the cost is typically $1,000 to $1,500 per person to crush a car. 

By contrast, spectators in Dubois got to watch the mayhem for $20, the price of regular admission, which also came with free rides and family-friendly demonstrations woven throughout the day.

For all the roar and spectacle, though, Starks is clear that the point of the event wasn’t just entertainment. 

He paired the fun with new exhibits as well as with a few lectures, including a reflective talk from Starks on what he called — to a round of applause and cheers — the “genius” of America's Founding Fathers.

Knocking down a bad government, Starks told the crowd that was enjoying hamburgers and sandwiches from the museum’s canteen, had been the easy part. 

The hard part is what came next — dreaming up a system that would be better than tyranny from a monarchy, or the equally bad: tyranny by a majority. 

“Just think about all the examples of genocide throughout history, modern and ancient history,” Starks said. “That’s majority rule. That’s the majority saying, ‘I’m going to wipe you out, you’re a minority.’ 

"Think of all the examples of, ‘My religion is such and such, and your religion isn’t, so I’m going to turn you into a fugitive.’” 

Majority rule sounds appealing on the surface, Starks said, but is really no better than tyranny by a minority. He said it overlooks the single most important premise of the U.S. Constitution, that all men are created equal.

The idea that all men are created equal was the “most radical, most compelling inspiration in all of history,” Starks said. 

There were no examples at the time of the kind of government the Founding Fathers wanted. 

It was something they had to invent themselves — a group of disparate men who had extremely different views on all sorts of issues, ranging from the role of the federal government to the issue of slavery. 

The differences between these 50-some men were at times so intense, friendships were destroyed, and the country itself all but torn apart, Starks said. 

What these men came up with, then, was not crafted in trust. They distrusted each other, and crafted America’s systems accordingly, he said. Some were in the majority, for now, others in the minority. But they recognized that could change, and realized they had to create a system that would protect the rights of each. 

“That’s where the genius of the Founding Fathers comes in,” Starks said. “They invented something that hadn’t existed before, and it’s called a constitutional republic.”

That republic is designed to put limits on majority rule, by separating the powers of the government into three branches, each one of which had powers that could check the other two, he said. They also added levers that could serve as emergency brakes — the filibuster, for example, and the electoral college. 

“You’ve got people saying, ‘Well the filibuster is anti-democratic,’” Starks said. “‘We should get rid of it. It should just be majority rule.’ No, we’re not majority rule. We’ve got checks against majority rule.”

Getting rid of the electoral college would be a similar mistake, Starks added. It would allow the states with the largest populations to determine national elections and make decisions without any deference at all to the minority.

“Yes, it is terribly frustrating and messy,” Starks said. “But it’s also ingenious. And it’s the best government anybody has ever devised and we’ve now gotten the benefit of it for 250 years.”

Tank crush car 7 4 26

<title>Dubois Military Museum Celebrates 250th By Crushing Cars With Tanks | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Military tanks spent an hour crushing cars Friday as an enthusiastic crowd cheered to celebrate America’s 250th at the National Museum of Military Vehicles in Dubois. “What’s more American than machine guns and tanks crushing cars?” owner Dan Starks said.

Dubois Military Museum Celebrates 250th By Crushing Cars With Tanks

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Crime & Courts

A Florida woman who owned a behavioral health clinic in Cheyenne has been ordered to pay back more than $870,000 to Wyoming Medicaid for bilking the federal agency with fraudulent claims.

Federal prosecutors say her daughter helped carry out the scheme by assisting with billing and falsifying service documentation while working for the clinic.

Tera Marie Campbell, 47, of Maitland, Florida, owned The Olive Branch LLC, a behavioral health clinic that provided autism services in Cheyenne and Minot, North Dakota, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Wyoming said Thursday in a statement announcing the women’s sentences for conspiracy to commit health care fraud.

Campbell used the business to submit fraudulent Medicaid claims over several years, including claims for services provided by employees who lacked required certifications, claims that were upcoded to higher-paying services and bills for appointments that never occurred, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Investigators said some of those claims were submitted for dates when the clinic was closed and even while Campbell was out of the country on vacation.

Campbell's daughter, Tayler Ann Krauss, 27, of McDavid, Florida, worked as the clinic's medical biller between December 2020 and October 2022. She was instrumental in providing service documentation used to support fraudulent claims.

The investigation concluded the clinic relied extensively on untrained employees, falsified certification and supervision records, and knowingly billed Wyoming Medicaid for services that did not meet Medicaid requirements, according to prosecutors.

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

The case was investigated by the Wyoming Attorney General's Office Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department of Defense's Defense Criminal Investigative Service.

U.S. Attorney Darin Smith said in a statement that Medicaid fraud "steals taxpayer dollars from programs that millions of Americans depend on and undermines care for vulnerable patients.

"I am committed to holding accountable those who exploit these programs for personal gain."

Smith said his office will continue working with federal and state partners to investigate and prosecute health care fraud, saying the effort is aimed at protecting public resources and preserving confidence in the healthcare system.

Wyoming Attorney General Keith Kautz added in the statement that the prosecution and conviction of Campbell and Krauss demonstrates the value of cooperation between state and federal law enforcement agencies and praised the work of his office's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.

Smith nor Kautz responded to Cowboy State Daily's request for an interview beyond the prepared statements released by the U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Sentence Handed Down"}]

U.S. District Judge Kelly H. Rankin sentenced Krauss on Monday and Campbell on Tuesday in federal court in Cheyenne.

Campbell and Krauss were indicted May 21, 2025, and both pleaded guilty April 9 to conspiracy to commit health care fraud.

Campbell was sentenced to 36 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release. Krauss was sentenced to two years of home confinement.

The judge ordered the women to jointly pay $735,717.63 in restitution to Wyoming Medicaid. Campbell was also ordered to repay $135,890.91 to the military's Tricare health care program.

A Florida woman who ran a Cheyenne behavioral health clinic, and her daughter, have been ordered to pay back more than $870,000 they stole from Wyoming Medicaid. They funneled fraudulent claims through the clinic for years, say federal prosecutors.

One More For The Road: Friday, June 9, 2023

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