Same Guys Dancing

[{"type":"text","text":"Theory Of A Deadman -- Bad Girlfriend"}]

Same guys dancing 9 19 22

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<title>Tuesday Morning Dance Party: Theory Of A Deadman -- Bad Girlfriend | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Theory Of A Deadman -- Bad Girlfriend

Tuesday Morning Dance Party: Theory Of A Deadman -- Bad Girlfriend

Heinz mark

Mark Heinz

Outdoors

Wildlife

A 6-year-old German shepherd named Mia was rudely interrupted while trying to do her business during a quick break from a road trip with her owners as tourists in Yellowstone National Park pulled over to gawk at her, apparently thinking she was a bear.

At least six vehicles full of tourists stopped for roughly five minutes to look at Mia in a "lightly wooded area

 and threaten to cause a bear jam, Arizona resident Lulu Skladanowski told Cowboy State Daily.

Her husband, Victor, said he was willing to cut the tourists some slack. Given Mia's location and the light filtering through the trees at the time, he can see how they mistook his dog for a bear.

"She looked very much like a small bear. She looks bigger than she is, and she's already a pretty big dog," he told Cowboy State Daily.

Mia is a purebred German shepherd with a long, dark-colored coat and weighs about 95 pounds, Lulu said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Quick Break Becomes 'Bear Jam'"}]

The Skladanowskis were on their way home from a weekslong road trip in their Sprinter van that included driving all the way to Alaska.

Early on July 12 in Yellowstone, they were looking for a place to pull over, make some breakfast and give Mia a chance to get out and stretch her legs.

They found the perfect spot — a small pullout with no other vehicles in it, Lulu said.

Dogs must remain on leashes or tethers in Yellowstone, so Lulu took Mia to a small stand of trees near the van and tethered her to one of the trees.

"She had the urge to poop," and proceeded to do so while Lulu returned to the van.

"Pretty soon, cars are stopping along the road, as if people were trying to see something in the trees," Lulu said.

At first, she and Victor were perplexed as to what the tourists could be pulling over to see. Had some wild animal strolled up to their van, she wondered?

Then she realized her dog was still outside and started to become alarmed until, in the next instant, she realized Mia was the star of the show.

"There was Mia, outside, pooping, and they were all looking in her direction," Lulu said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"'When Do Deer Turn Into Elk?'"}]

Retired park ranger Greg Jackson laughed when he heard Mia's story.

He told Cowboy State Daily that he'd heard some strange stories during his career, but nothing like a pooping German shepherd being mistaken for a bear and causing a jam.

"I don't think I've got one (story) of people mistaking a dog for anything else," Jackson said.

He's the former deputy chief of the National Park Service Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services. He now runs NPS Park Ranger News.

Still, Mia's story "doesn't surprise me," he said. "Not everyone is a wildlife expert."

Jackson added that sometimes even the experts get fooled.

He recalled an incident in the Santa Monica Mountains in California when "we impounded a dog and took it to the local animal shelter."

"The animal control officer at the shelter told us, 'That's not a dog, that's a wolf,'" Jackson said.

Apparently, somebody in the area had been breeding wolf-dog hybrids and one of the animals escaped, he said.

It also isn't uncommon for tourists to ask strange questions about wildlife, Jackson said.

"A fairly common one we would get was, 'When do the deer turn into elk?'" he said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Mountain Lion Snacks"}]

Rural Park County resident and retired Forest Service and National Park Service ranger Richard Jones told Cowboy State Daily that he also hadn't heard of any dogs being mistaken for bears doing what bears do in the woods during his career.

He noted that he has "a long buffalo-skin coat, and I've been mistaken for a bear from a distance when I was wearing it."

One strange wildlife report involved some people who were eating at a picnic table.

"They saw what appeared to be a dog walking up to them, and when it got right up next to them, it turned out to be a young wolf," he said.

Jones said he was glad to hear that the Skladanowskis kept Mia under control and close to them.

He recalled instances while he was working in Olympic National Park that didn't turn out to be funny the way Mia's story did.

"People would tether their dog to a tree and then go off and leave the dog,

 he said. "And they'd come back and find the lead and the collar, but no dog. Because while they were gone, a mountain lion had come and gotten the dog."

Dog and bear inset 7 21 26

<title>Tourists Stop To Look At Yellowstone Bear — But It Was Only A Pooping Dog | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Tourists driving through Yellowstone thought they had spotted a bear, so they stopped their cars to look at it. They were disappointed to learn it was only a pooping German shepherd. "She looked very much like a small bear,” said the dog’s owner.

Tourists Stop To Look At Yellowstone Bear — But It Was Only A Pooping Dog

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Crime & Courts

Courts

A Jackson man is accused of twice blasting another driver in the face with bear spray during a road rage showdown, leaving the victim temporarily blind and gasping for air.

Police say the second burst is what turned an angry traffic dispute into a felony.

Leonardo Enrique Dominguez was arrested Sunday and charged with aggravated battery after investigators allege he intentionally caused serious bodily injury, as stated in a probable cause affidavit filed Monday in Teton County Circuit Court.

Prosecutors have charged Dominguez with aggravated battery, claiming he intentionally caused serious bodily injury "under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to human life."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"A Road Rage Call"}]

The confrontation unfolded shortly before noon Sunday near the Loaf 'N Jug gas station along West Broadway Avenue in Jackson.

Police responded to reports of a road rage assault involving bear spray and found a man kneeling beside his white Dodge Caravan.

The affidavit says the man was coughing violently, his eyes were burning and he was unable to answer officers' questions. Mucus and tears streamed down his face as emergency responders treated him before transporting him to the hospital.

Witnesses told police they had been driving behind the man when a gray Toyota Tacoma pulled alongside his stopped van.

They said someone inside the truck sprayed bear spray through the passenger-side window of the van, the affidavit says. As the man stood in the doorway of his van, they said he was sprayed a second time directly in the face before the truck sped away.

Officers later noted the interior of the man's van still reeked of bear spray, which made one of the corporal's "eyes burn" and caused them to cough, according to the affidavit.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Pulled Over "}]

At the hospital, the man who had been sprayed told investigators the road rage encounter began after another truck tried merging into his lane, nearly forcing him onto the sidewalk.

He said he pulled over simply to ask the other driver what he was doing. Instead of an explanation, he said he was immediately blasted with bear spray.

The man denied threatening the other driver and said he had never seen him before.

A request for further comment from the driver of the van was not returned by publication. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Self Defense Argument"}]

Investigators reviewed surveillance video and license plate camera data that led them to a gray vehicle registered to Dominguez.

Officers found the truck parked outside his apartment later that afternoon, the affidavit says.

Dominguez agreed to speak with police and acknowledged spraying the man twice, but insisted he acted in self-defense.

The affidavit says Dominguez claimed the man sped up to block him, brake-checked him, yelled profanities and aggressively approached his driver's window.

He said he displayed the bear spray first as a warning before using it, the affidavit says.

Dominguez admitted spraying the man once through the driver's window of the van and a second time after he returned to his own vehicle, saying he feared the confrontation was continuing.

He also told officers he didn't call police because he believed surveillance cameras had captured the encounter and assumed officers would eventually contact him.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Felony Charge "}]

When officers located Dominguez's vehicle, they reported seeing rags inside "as if the vehicle had been cleaned,” the affidavit says. 

They also observed tactical gear, flashlights, a knife and patches mounted throughout the truck's interior.

Dominguez told investigators his truck was equipped with a dash cam that may have recorded the incident.

The investigating officer wrote that bear spray is intended to stop bears — not people — and can cause severe eye injuries, swelling, airway constriction and potentially life-threatening respiratory complications when used at close range.

Police concluded there was probable cause to arrest Dominguez after considering witness statements, the alleged victim's account and Dominguez's own admission that he sprayed the man a second time.

Investigators say that second burst came after Bilen had already returned to his own vehicle, leading them to conclude the use of force was no longer justified and supported a charge of aggravated battery.

Dominguez made his initial appearance Monday afternoon before Teton County Circuit Court Judge Erin Weisman, who set his bond at $5,000 cash. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 31.

Jackson Loaf N Jug green sign 7 21 26

<title>Jackson Man Accused Of Blasting Driver With Bear Spray In Road Rage Showdown | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A Jackson man is accused of blasting another driver twice with bear spray during a Sunday road rage showdown, leaving the victim struggling to breathe. He admitted using bear spray on the other driver, but told police it was self-defense.

Jackson Man Accused Of Blasting Driver With Bear Spray In Road Rage Showdown

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

Greg Johnson

Attorneys for a former Cheyenne woman accused of murdering 

 38 years ago say there’s not enough evidence for a trial and want a district court judge to order a new preliminary hearing.

In the meantime, 57-year-old Eva Martinez is out of jail after her bond was reduced from $100,000 to $25,000 during an arraignment hearing last week in Laramie County District Court.

There’s no record in the public-facing court file of whether Martinez entered a plea to the single charge of first-degree murder she faces.

However, her public defenders claim prosecutors didn’t offer enough evidence to bind her over to trial — an argument they make in a motion to vacate her previous preliminary hearing and order a new one.

During Martinez’s June 18 preliminary hearing, the circuit court judge cited the wrong legal terminology to support moving her case forward to trial and “relied on factual findings unsupported by the evidence provided at the preliminary hearing,” wrote public defenders Stacy Kirven and David Korman in their motion.

Preliminary hearings aren’t trials and there is no “beyond a reasonable doubt” threshold, argues Sweetwater County Attorney Daniel Erramouspe, who’s acting as a special prosecutor in the case for the Laramie County Attorney’s Office.

“‘Reasonable belief’ is the standard” for a preliminary hearing, Erramouspe wrote in his Monday response to the motion for a new hearing. “‘Beyond a reasonable doubt’ is not. The preliminary hearing is ‘not designed to be a dress rehearsal for the trial.’”

The thrust of the claims on Martinez’s behalf centers around Circuit Court Judge Antoinette Williams citing the current laws instead of what the law was in 1988 when the baby died, referencing a “second autopsy” when there wasn’t one, and the definitions of terms relating to a first-degree murder charge.

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

While the grisly discovery of the boy’s body happened more than 38 years ago, it wasn’t until 2021 that advanced DNA testing allowed investigators to 

 and identify Martinez as the boy’s probable mother, according to an affidavit of probable cause written by Detective Sgt. Ryan Martinez of the LCSO (no relation).

When first interviewed by detectives decades later on Dec. 22, 2025, Martinez “repeatedly denied knowing anything about Baby John Doe or having any children or pregnancies around that time frame,” the affidavit says.

It was during that interview that a sample of her DNA was taken.

When she was interviewed again months later after results showed the strong probability of her being Baby John Doe’s mother, she maintained her first story, according to the affidavit.

“She denied having any knowledge of Baby John Doe, having knowledge of anyone else who was responsible for Baby John Doe’s death, or why Baby John Doe’s body was placed in the culvert at Happy Jack Road and McKinney Drive,” the affidavit continues.

She claimed she wasn’t in Cheyenne around that timeframe, but investigators could not verify that information.

Martinez graduated from Cheyenne Central High School in 1987, and at some point afterward moved to Las Vegas, where she worked for about the next 20 years before returning to Cheyenne, the affidavit says.

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

Martinez would have been 18 on Feb. 28, 1988, when Laramie County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a call at Happy Jack Road and McKinney Drive just southwest of the boundary for F.E. Warren Air Force Base.

What they found was anything but routine, the affidavit says.

People who had been walking in the area discovered the dead baby near a culvert.

“Their juvenile son had initially noticed a dog chewing on something in the area, and they later realized it was a deceased baby,” the affidavit says. “It was determined that the deceased baby had initially been inside the culvert prior to the dog moving it.”

The baby was “abandoned, unclothed, deceased … discovered near the roadway,” according to an LCSO report announcing Martinez’s arrest last month.

“An autopsy concluded that the baby was a fully developed, full-term, 6.5-pound baby,” according to the report. “The autopsy found no evidence of significant injury, congenital anomaly, or disease.”

It also was determined that the baby was born alive and remained alive for “an amount of time due to air being in the baby’s lungs and stomach,” the report says.

However, at the time the cause and manner of the boy’s death were undetermined.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"That Testimony"}]

That autopsy is one of the reasons Martinez needs a new preliminary hearing, her lawyers argue in their motion.

That the prosecution failed to present any evidence that she killed Baby John Doe is another.

At the first hearing, testimony referred to a “second autopsy” performed on the boy, and Judge Williams also initially mentioned it in giving her order to bind Martinez over to trial.

There never was a “second autopsy” and mentioning that as a reason to advance the case is improper, the public defenders argue.

During the first preliminary hearing, the detective “acknowledged that there is no evidence to support numerous critical facts regarding the alleged offense,” the defense motion says. The detective further “conceded that there was no way to determine if Baby John Doe died in Wyoming.”

Another inconsistency is testimony that the infant’s cause of death in 1988 was listed as “undetermined,” but it wasn’t until March 2026 when his death certificate was amended to show homicide.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Not Enough"}]

Those arguments aren’t enough for a judge to throw out the first preliminary hearing and order another, 

That’s because a preliminary hearing isn’t a trial, and the issues raised by the defense’s motion should be dealt with during Martinez’s trial.

“Those are trial questions and are not grounds to vacate a bind-over,” he wrote. “Defendant’s contrary position would require the lower court to resolve precisely the kind of ‘difficult legal questions’ that the Wyoming Supreme Court has held are inappropriate at a preliminary hearing and are reserved for the district court.”

He also says the dispute over a nonexistent “second autopsy” doesn’t hold water, because the original autopsy was given an updated review, Erramouspe wrote.

Whether the review “is described as a ‘second autopsy,’ an ‘updated autopsy’ or a review and amendment of the original autopsy is immaterial to probable cause,” he argues.

Moreover, Martinez isn’t entitled to a new preliminary hearing because she doesn’t like that a judge found probable cause, Erramouspe wrote. Whether there’s enough evidence is ultimately a question for a jury.

“Defendant’s requested remedy of a new preliminary hearing before a different circuit judge is especially unwarranted,” according to Erramouspe’s response. “Wyoming law does not entitle a defendant to relitigate probable cause before a new magistrate whenever she disagrees with how the first described the evidence.”

While Martinez was granted a lower bond — and posted it — there are some conditions attached to her being released from jail, according to court records.

Her bond had to have been posted by a bondsman, not personally, and she has to wear an ankle monitor.

If convicted of first-degree murder, Martinez could face life in prison or death.

Eva Martinez and new sign 6 10 26

<title>Cheyenne Woman Accused Of Murdering Newborn 38 Years Ago Wants New Hearing | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Attorneys for a former Cheyenne woman accused of murdering her newborn boy 38 years ago say there’s not enough evidence for a trial and want a judge to order a new preliminary hearing. She's also out of jail on a lower bond granted last week.

Cheyenne Woman Accused Of Murdering Newborn 38 Years Ago Wants New Hearing

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's general assignment reporter, Clair McFarland.

Clair McFarland

Politics

Days after a religious clash exploded on the Wind River Indian Reservation, the Northern Arapaho Tribe’s government says it has adopted a new policy requiring ministry and charitable groups to get tribal authorization for their work on the reservation.

The Northern Arapaho Business Council (NABC), which is the tribe’s six-person leadership board, posted an announcement about the new policy to social media Monday.

The announcement says the policy is “reaffirming the Northern Arapaho Tribe’s inherent sovereign authority to require consultation and governmental authorizations seeking to conduct recurring ministries, charitable services, outreach programs, and other organized activities on lands under the jurisdiction of the Northern Arapaho Tribe.”

This controversy started July 5, when Christian pastor Sarah Lucas, of Foundations for Nations, preached 

against some of the tribe’s Sundance ceremonies

 involving a pipe relic as a prayer centerpiece. She had indicated praying "to pipes" is idolatry. 

She had said, “a pipe cannot hear your prayers,” and “we know that Jesus is enough.”

Foundations for Nations falls within the exterior boundaries of the Wind River Indian Reservation but it sits on private, not tribal land. It has been ministering in Fremont County for nearly a decade, and runs a food pantry in town as well as kids' programs. 

. Lucas refused, telling Cowboy State Daily she’s sorry the sermon came off as an attack, but not sorry for preaching from the Bible.

[{"type":"text","text":" “Jesus is the only way,” she said."}]

The board’s announcement says that the tribe’s records department reviewed records to see if Foundations for Nations had ever received authorization from the tribal government “to conduct recurring organized ministry or outreach activities on the Reservation.”

The review found no documentation that the church is authorized to work on the reservation, says the announcement.

NABC Chair Keenan Groesbeck has told the church that the tribe requests consultation “before any expansion of recurring ministry activities under the new policy,” the announcement says. 

The tribe has invited “the organization” to meet with the NABC by July 25 to discuss its mission, leadership, funding, activities, and “any documentation it believes demonstrates authorization to operate on lands under Tribal jurisdiction.”

It may be a point of debate whether private land surrounded by tribal trust lands falls within tribal jurisdiction, and if so, for what purposes. It’s unclear if the tribe’s new policy is constitutional.

“This policy is not about preventing anyone from practicing their religion,” Groesbeck said in the statement. “It is about respecting the sovereign government of the Northern Arapaho Tribe. Any outside organization seeking to conduct organized activities within our jurisdiction should first communicate with the elected leadership of our Nation and work in partnership with the Tribe.”

NABC says in the statement that the policy will apply uniformly to outside groups.

[{"type":"text","text":"Lucas declined Tuesday to comment. "}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Constitution, Law"}]

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says, in part, that Congress shall make no law prohibiting the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech or the freedom of the people to assemble peaceably.

After the American Civil War, Congress passed the 14th Amendment to expand those prohibitions to state governments. Neither amendment imposed restrictions on tribal governments’ ability to impede the free exercise of religion or speech, or other listed rights.

A century later in 1968, Congress imposed some – but not all – Bill of Rights restrictions on tribal governments through the Indian Civil Rights Act. The law protects rights similar to the U.S. Constitution’s first, fourth, fifth, sixth and eighth amendments, and portions of the 14th Amendment.

“No Indian tribe in exercising powers of self-government shall… make or enforce any law prohibiting the free exercise of religion, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition for a redress of grievances,” the law says. 

Disputes have surfaced over the years, regarding just how much Congress can regulate tribal governments.

The U.S. Constitution delegates just one congressional authority over tribes: “To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes.”

Curiously, tribal governments were some of the strongest proponents of interpreting the “Indian Commerce Clause” to give Congress broad power over American Indian tribes.  

That advocacy unfolded during the U.S. Supreme Court case Brackeen v. Haaland, which contemplated whether a federal law giving tribes primacy over Native child custody matters is constitutional.

The high court found it constitutional. It took a broad view of the Indian Commerce Clause to do so.

“As we already explained, our precedent states that Congress’s power under the Indian Commerce Clause encompasses not only trade but also ‘Indian affairs,’” says the majority opinion, by Justice Amy Coney Barrett.

[{"type":"text","text":"Justice Clarence Thomas wrote a dissenting opinion proclaiming overreach."}]

By passing a law governing tribal custody matters, “Congress ignored the normal limits on the Federal Government’s power and prescribed rules to regulate state child custody proceedings in one circumstance: when the child in volved happens to be an Indian,” he wrote.  

Thomas said the majority opinion “gets things backwards. When Congress has so clearly intruded upon a longstanding domain of exclusive state powers, we must ask not whether a constitutional provision prohibits that intrusion, but whether a constitutional provision authorizes it.”

Foundations for nations 7 21 26

<title>After Church Blowup, Arapaho Tribe Says No 'Ministries' Without Permission | Cowboy State Daily</title>

After Church Blowup, Arapaho Tribe Says No 'Ministries' Without Permission

Jory Thomas, 14, was absent-mindedly flipping loops with a rope while visiting his grandparents' campground on the Yellowstone River over the Fourth of July weekend when he heard someone start screaming for help.

Within seconds, the Montana ranch kid emptied his pockets, splashed across a side channel and waded chest-deep into the river.

[{"type":"text","text":"Then he did something he'd spent the past year practicing on calves."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"This time, he roped a drowning man."}]

The July 5 rescue unfolded so quickly that by the time the first Sweet Grass County Sheriff’s Office deputy arrived three minutes after Jory's father called 911, everyone was already safely on shore.

"My opinion, Jory saved the individual's life, 100%," Sweet Grass County Sheriff Alan Ronneberg told Cowboy State Daily. "Had Jory not acted, I believe the chances of this individual not making it to shore were very slim.”'

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"A Boat Hits A Bridge"}]

The Thomas family lives on a ranch about a dozen miles outside Big Timber, directly across from a campground where Jory's grandparents had been staying for the week.

Jory wandered over to visit with his parents and grandparents that afternoon, a rope already in his hand as he casually practiced throwing loops.

"All of a sudden he heard some yells for help," Jory's father, Jase Thomas, told Cowboy State Daily.

A boat had struck a bridge pillar, throwing its occupants into the Yellowstone River.

Three people fell in, but only two managed to get out, leaving one person alone in the swift current, desperately clinging to a cooler.

[{"type":"text","text":"Jory didn't hesitate."}]

Somehow, said his father, he convinced the drowning man to let go of the cooler. Then he threw the rope, catching the man around the neck and one arm. 

Jory and another bystander then pulled the man safely to shore before emergency responders arrived. 

In the moment, Jory didn’t think about any potential danger to himself, he just acted on instinct, the teen told KTVQ television in Billings, Montana, which first 

"This current was pretty fast then, and he was moving pretty quickly," he told the outlet. "Only thing I could focus on was helping him get out of the water because I didn't want to see anyone go in front of me.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'Let Me Have My Son Back'"}]

Jory's father has spent three decades on the Big Timber Volunteer Fire Department and immediately called 911.

Dispatch records show the call came in at 5:39 p.m. A deputy arrived just three minutes later and reported everyone was already out of the water. 

A 14-year-old ranch kid from Big Timber, Montana, had a rope in his hand when cries for help erupted from the Yellowstone River. He sprinted into the water, threw one loop and caught a struggling man around the arm and neck, pulling him safely to shore.

Tuesday Morning Dance Party: Theory Of A Deadman -- Bad Girlfriend

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