Jimmy orr

Jimmy Orr

You Still Here

[{"type":"text","text":"Planting trees is a very dangerous job..."}]

You still here 7 25 23

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

<title>You Still Here? Tuesday, July 25, 2023 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Planting trees is a very dangerous job...

You Still Here? Tuesday, July 25, 2023

 Planting trees is a very dangerous job...

Employee kate meadows cropped

Kate Meadows

Government & Politics

Executive

Cheyenne’s Board of Public Utilities isn’t accepting industrial wastewater associated with data center systems until further notice after a subsidiary of Meta Platforms contaminated the city’s wastewater system, prompting months of cleanup.

The announcement was made by the Board of Public Utilities (BOPU) on Thursday in conjunction with naming the Meta company as the source of the initial contamination.

It also comes more than four months after the Meta company — which is building a huge $800 million data center in south Cheyenne — disrupted the city’s reclaimed wastewater system with a rare bacterial contaminant.

Goat Systems LLC was in “significant noncompliance" with the city's industrial pretreatment regulations after discharging wastewater contaminated with Cupriavidus gilardii, a bacterium that interfered with operations at the city's water reclamation facilities and contaminated the municipal reuse water system, according to the BOPU’s Thursday statement.

Goat Systems LLC is the corporate entity Meta uses for construction of its sprawling nearly 800,000-square-foot Cheyenne data center campus known during development as 

Cheyenne City Councilman Pete Laybourn said learning that the contamination originated from Meta's data center was unwelcome news.

"It's a very, very unpleasant surprise," Laybourn told Cowboy State Daily. "I have a lot yet to learn. It definitely complicates matters."

Laybourn said he has already expressed concerns about some of the arrangements the city has made with data center operators, adding that he expects the disclosure will prompt additional discussion.

"It's about the last thing we need right now," he said. "But it's a reality we're going to have to work through.”

Mayor Patrick Collins likewise expressed disappointment in Thursday's announcement.

"I think it's a disappointment to everyone involved," he told Cowboy State Daily.

Collins also praised the BOPU for catching the contamination and getting the city's sewage reuse system cleaned up. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'Final Resolution'"}]

Thursday’s announcement marks the first time city officials have publicly identified the company behind the contamination, which was first discovered in February and prompted months of investigation and public speculation.

According to the statement, Goat Systems immediately stopped discharging wastewater from fill-and-flush operations at Meta's Cheyenne Data Center CHY 1-2 after being notified of the contamination.

BOPU also revoked the company's industrial discharge privileges for those operations effective March 24.

[{"type":"text","text":"The incident has led to broader changes beyond Meta's project."}]

BOPU also is suspending acceptance of industrial wastewater from data center fill-and-flush and closed-loop system operations until further notice while officials evaluate how to prevent future incidents.

The city said the action is intended to protect the integrity of Cheyenne's wastewater treatment system.

Calls to Cheyenne’s Public Utilities Office were not immediately returned Thursday.

"The BOPU appreciates the public's patience throughout this process," the agency said in the statement. "By conducting a thorough and diligent review, we have been able to reach a final resolution while ensuring continued protection and integrity of our wastewater treatment system."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Months Of Questions"}]

The disclosure comes after months of questions surrounding the source of the contamination.

BOPU previously confirmed the bacterium had entered the city's wastewater treatment process through an industrial user but declined to identify the company while the investigation remained underway.

The contaminant was traced to wastewater generated during data center fill-and-flush operations, a process used to clean and test cooling systems before a facility begins operation.

Meta's Cheyenne campus, one of the largest private construction projects in the city's history, spans hundreds of acres in the High Plains Business Park and is expected to encompass roughly 800,000 square feet when completed.

 that Meta was the company behind the previously unnamed Project Cosmo development.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Questions Remain"}]

Thursday’s announcement answers one of the biggest questions surrounding the incident but leaves others unresolved.

Among them are how the BOPU intends to regulate future data center wastewater, how the suspension of accepting industrial discharges associated with data centers affects other facilities under construction in Cheyenne and whether any long-term environmental or public health impacts are expected.

Meta IMG 7791 7 2 26

<title>Cheyenne Won’t Take Data Center Wastewater After Meta Company Contaminated System | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Cheyenne announced Thursday it's suspended taking wastewater associated with data center systems after a Meta company contaminated the city’s wastewater system, prompting months of cleanup. "It's a very, very unpleasant surprise,” said a city councilman.

Cheyenne Won’t Take Data Center Wastewater After Meta Company Contaminated System

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

Clair McFarland

Crime & Courts

Courts

with a Cheyenne-based investigator is suing the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office 

 is obstructing justice by withholding important evidence 

Colorado-based immigration firm Lichter and Associates, and its Cheyenne-based investigator Kevin Lewis, filed the lawsuit complaint Tuesday in the Laramie County District Court.

It accuses the sheriff’s office of producing a report of an April 23 encounter and arrest that one Cheyenne Police Department records clerk called a “complete fabrication.”

It also accuses the sheriff’s office of withholding body camera and dash cam video of the incident, though the Mexican national involved in it, Mario Fabian Valenzuela Robles, allegedly needs that video to fight his ongoing immigration deportation case — and a federal 

case he’s waging in the U.S. District Court for Colorado.

Cheyenne-based attorney Drake Hill filed the suit on the 

behalf. Hill is the husband of former Wyoming Superintendent of Public Instruction Cindy Hill and recently has also represented the right-leaning political group Honor Wyoming.

The lawsuit says that Lewis set out to investigate Valenzuela Robles’ law enforcement encounter and arrest, but met obstacles at nearly every juncture.

“This case presents a clear abuse of power and the violation of Wyoming statues by the Laramie County sheriff, Brian Kozak, and the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office, in willfully denying access to critical evidence material to immigration proceedings and (the habeas case),” says the complaint.

On Wednesday, Hill also asked Laramie County District Court Judge Peter Froelicher to recuse himself from the case, saying Froelicher represented the sheriff’s office when he was still a litigator.

Froelicher’s response, if he’s filed one, wasn’t in the public-facing court file as of Thursday.

The lawsuit seeks to levy public records violation fines against the sheriff’s office, and urges the court to declare the sheriff’s office violated the law.

[{"type":"text","text":"First, The Detention"}]

The complaint says Lewis sought to gather evidence on Valenzuela Robles’ case for the Lichter firm and on Valenzuela Robles’ behalf.

The sheriff’s office had detained Valenzuela Robles on April 23 “as part of a wider effort directed by Defendant Kozak,” says the complaint.

An order in Valenzuela Robles’ federal wrongful-detention case says he was detained starting about April 23, through at least May 27, after a 

 police officer initiated a traffic stop on him because his taillights were “kind of dark” and his truck had “tinted windows.”

ICE agents were on scene within the span of time Valenzuela Robles took to provide his ID to the officer, he order says, adding that Valenzuela Robles asserts he was given a choice between $2,600 to return to Mexico or face ICE detention. He opted for detention, the order says.

The order recounts assertions by Valenzuela Robles that he’s lived in the U.S. for 20 years and has no criminal history, plus has three children who are U.S. citizens.  

[{"type":"text","text":"Next, The Investigator"}]

Lewis went to the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office’s records department April 24 and encountered a paper sign saying it was closed, the complaint says. 

Then he went to the Cheyenne Police Department to request records. An officer whose name Hill related by the uncertain spelling of “Mooske” searched for data of the detention and found none, reportedly.

The searcher also “said the computer system also showed the sheriff’s office records and there was nothing to be found there either,” wrote Hill.

The next Monday, April 27, Lewis took a written records request to the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office, the complaint says. There, a staffer told him Lewis needed to show he actually represented Valenzuela Robles to view the records, says the document.

Lewis sent that letter of confirmation two days later, according to the court file.

The complaint alleges that the staffer told Lewis they “still did not have a report” on Valenzuela Robles’ arrest or detention, and for Lewis to return in a couple days.

“In the meantime,” laments the complaint, “immigration proceedings that could lead to Mr. Valenzuela Robles’ removal were moving at a very fast pace and the records were vital to his defense.”

Lewis found the sheriff’s records office closed May 1, and returned three days later, the complaint says.

A staffer again said they lacked records, the document alleges. The staffer told Lewis to provide a birth date for Valenzuela Robles, reportedly. 

The complaint claims the staffer said that there wouldn’t be arrest records if the detainee wasn’t booked physically into the jail; and that even if the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office provided a field “assist” to ICE, then ICE would be the custodian of that detainee.

Lewis asked for body and dash camera video, and the staffer allegedly said the office wouldn’t release such footage without a definitive identification of the subject. The complaint says that identification had already been provided.  

Body and dash camera video fall into a special category under Wyoming public records law.

[{"type":"text","text":"The keeper of that video shall deny release of that video except:"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"• Where the incident involves deadly force."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"• Where the person asking for it is the “person of interest.”"}]

• In response to a complaint against law enforcement personnel, and where the keeper of the video finds release is not contrary to the public interest.

• Or where “the interest of public safety” permits releasing that video.

[{"type":"text","text":"The Part About Cheyenne PD"}]

On May 21, says Lewis’ complaint, he visited the Cheyenne Police Department again and a staffer said CPD wasn’t involved in Valenzuela Robles’ arrest or detention.

[{"type":"text","text":"So Lewis circled back to the sheriff’s office."}]

A staffer there gave Lewis a report “purporting to document the encounter, arrest and detention of Mario Fabian Valenzuela Robles,” says the complaint.

That report, the complaint alleges, “specifically indicated there was no body camera footage,” and the report detailed the identity of a CPD officer reportedly involved in the encounter.

Lewis went back to the police department to ask about any video the agency had from that incident, says the 

. There, a Cheyenne PD staffer called “Tiffany” looked over the report and “in an emphatic manner declared the Defendants’ report to be a ‘complete fabrication,’” says the complaint.

In a Wednesday email to Cowboy State Daily, the Cheyenne Police Department acknowledged that the initial sheriff’s office report was flawed.

“Our records clerk was able to ascertain that the Cheyenne Police Department was not involved in the traffic stop on April 23,” wrote CPD spokeswoman Alexandra Farkas in the email. “The officer identified in the Laramie County Sheriff's Office report (P76) was off duty at the time. The report also incorrectly identified her as a male.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Sheriff Responds"}]

Laramie County Sheriff Kozak responded Thursday in a brief phone interview with Cowboy State Daily, saying this matter has been referred to the Laramie County Attorney.

Laramie County Attorney Mark Voss did not respond by publication to a Wednesday-afternoon phone message request for comment.

Kozak said in his own interview that when his office got Lewis’ request, “there was nothing that said this person was actually representing the immigrant,” and that the county attorney asked for that proof.

[{"type":"text","text":"Lewis’ case filings say he provided that proof."}]

Kozak said, “We never received that. That’s just a major issue that’ll be resolved in the court hearing that’s coming up.”

As for the report, Kozak said the deputy made a mistake with it and corrected that mistake later — before the litigation was filed.

“That happens occasionally,” he said. "But the supervisors caught that and had the deputy correct it."

[{"type":"text","text":"The Saga Continues"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"The complaint details more interactions between Lewis and records staff."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"“Tiffany” told Lewis the sheriff’s office was rewriting the report."}]

Lewis was “stunned by the assertion” that the initial report had been a complete fabrication, says the complaint.

After the Laramie County Sheriff’s records office closed over the Memorial Day holiday, Lewis returned and asked about a new report.

This new report gave “a completely different narration of events,” says the complaint, “including a statement that body camera footage was recorded and stored with the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office, contradicting what the defendants had before repeatedly stated.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Lewis kept asking to see the video."}]

 Haskins at the sheriff’s office told him he could watch it in person June 1.

[{"type":"text","text":"Meanwhile, The Wrongful Detention Case"}]

Valenzuela Robles was then waging a wrongful detention case and had won back the right to have a bond hearing, while immigration authorities had invoked a 

U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Kathryn Starnella, of Colorado, ordered immigration authorities to grant Valenzuela Robles a bond hearing no later than June 4.

Lewis’ lawsuit says that hearing was set for June 1, the same day he was to review body camera footage.

The timing, says the lawsuit complaint, “Ensured that no digital media would be available to assist in Mr. Valenzuela Robles’ defense and Mr. Valenzuela Robles’ position that the stop had been unlawfully conducted.”

Still, Lewis went to the sheriff’s office June 1, says the document. He was told Haskins would be sending him an email denying the opportunity to view the video, the complaint says, adding that Lewis never saw such an email.

Laramie County Sheriff Brian Kozak 7

<title>Colorado Immigration Firm Accuses Sheriff Kozak Of Blocking Vital Evidence | Cowboy State Daily</title>

An immigration advocacy firm is suing the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office claiming the agency is withholding important evidence in a deportation case. The Cheyenne Police Department confirmed Wednesday that the sheriff's office had issued an inaccurate report.

Colorado Immigration Firm Accuses Sheriff Kozak Of Blocking Vital Evidence

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

For nearly a year, the man known only by his scattered bones on a remote Wyoming mountainside remained a mystery.

Investigators found pieces of his skeleton spread across rugged country near the Sweetwater Gap Guard Station, along with a tent and personal belongings. 

An identification card hinted at who he might be, but proving it would require an investigation stretching from Sublette County to Scotland, involving Interpol, foreign police agencies and DNA collected half a world away.

On Thursday, the Sublette County Sheriff's Office announced the mystery has finally been solved.

The remains belong to John Gillies, a Scottish man who would have been 69 years old this year.

"This case is a testament to the dedication of everyone involved and the strength of partnerships that extend well beyond our county and even our nation's borders," Sheriff K.C. Lehr said in a statement.

"What began as the discovery of unidentified remains in a remote area of Wyoming ultimately brought together local, state, federal and international partners with one shared goal — to give a family answers,” he said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'Very Remote'"}]

The investigation began Sept. 6, 2025, when Wyoming Game and Fish personnel 

discovered scattered human skeletal remains

 in a remote section of the Wind River Mountains near the Sweetwater Gap Guard Station.

Authorities later described the location as "very remote," in an area that sees little traffic outside of occasional search-and-rescue missions.

Deputies found disarticulated skeletal remains, a tent, and personal belongings. At the time, authorities said foul play did not appear to be a factor.

Four days later, a 14-member search team made up of deputies, detectives, Sublette County Search and Rescue volunteers and U.S. Forest Service personnel combed roughly 20 miles of rugged terrain, recovering additional skeletal remains.

By late December, a forensic anthropologist estimated investigators had recovered about 85% of the skeleton and concluded the remains had likely been in the wilderness for about six years.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'More Than Bones'"}]

Among the items recovered at the scene were personal effects that eventually led investigators to believe the man could be Gillies.

With no immediate next of kin in the United States, detectives contacted Gillies' ex-wife on Sept. 16, 2025.

Although she had not yet received confirmation that the remains belonged to her former husband, she provided photographs, medical history and details about his life.

[{"type":"text","text":"One message stayed with investigators throughout the case."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"\"I wanted you to know he was more than bones\" she had said. "}]

The sheriff's office called her compassion and willingness to help "a powerful reminder that every unidentified person is someone's loved one."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Investigation Crosses An Ocean"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"The investigation soon expanded across the Atlantic."}]

Detectives contacted Saint Mary's Church in Kirkintilloch, Scotland, which helped locate Gillies' surviving relatives and assisted with an international death notification.

Through Interpol, Police Scotland and the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement International Bureau, investigators obtained DNA reference samples from Gillies’ family, the Sublette County Sheriff’s Office reports.

Those samples arrived in Wyoming on Feb. 10. The following day, investigators personally transported the family DNA and the recovered skeletal remains to the Wyoming State Crime Laboratory in Cheyenne for comparison.

On Tuesday, the lab confirmed the remains were biologically related to Gillies' surviving family members, bringing the nearly yearlong investigation to a close, along with six years of limbo overall for the family.

[{"type":"text","text":"Investigators immediately notified his family in Scotland."}]

At their request, the Sublette County Sheriff's Office and the Sublette County Coroner's Office are now working with Interpol to return Gillies' remains home for burial.

The sheriff's office did not say how Gillies came to be in the isolated Wyoming wilderness or whether he had been reported missing before his remains were discovered.

[{"type":"text","text":"Authorities also did not announce a cause or manner of death."}]

Instead, investigators focused Wednesday on the collaboration that ultimately restored a name to a man who had spent years missing and unidentified.

"We are grateful to everyone who played a role in helping bring John home," Lehr said.

The sheriff's office specifically thanked the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Sublette County Search and Rescue, the U.S. Forest Service, the Wyoming State Crime Laboratory, Interpol, Police Scotland, the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement International Bureau, Saint Mary's Church in Kirkintilloch and, most importantly, Gillies' family "for their patience, trust and assistance throughout this investigation.”

Missing man found inset

<title>Scattered Bones Found In Remote Wyoming Wilderness ID'd As Missing Scottish Man | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Scattered human bones found in Wyoming's rugged Wind River Mountains nearly a year ago have been identified as a Scottish man. "I wanted you to know he was more than bones,” his ex-wife said when contacted by investigators.

Scattered Bones Found In Remote Wyoming Wilderness ID'd As Missing Scottish Man

Coy Knobel

Don Day Weather

Patchy smoke, chance of afternoon rain in parts of Wyoming on Thursday, otherwise sunny skies. Partly cloudy skies overnight. Highs from the low 70s to low 90s. Lows from mid 30s to upper 50s.

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

Sunny today with a high near 89 and wind gusts as high as 20 mph. Partly cloudy overnight with a low near 54 and wind gusts as high as 21 mph.

Slight chance of rain after 5 p.m., otherwise sunny today with a high near 88 and breezy, gradually becoming mostly clear overnight with a slight chance of rain before 8 p.m., a low near 53 and wind gusts as high as 23 mph.

 Sunny and hot today with a high near 90 and partly cloudy overnight with a low near 54.

 Slight chance of rain after noon, otherwise mostly sunny today with a high near 76 and partly cloudy overnight with a low near 41.

  Increasing clouds and breezy today with a high near 82 and wind gusts as high as 24 mph. Gradually becoming mostly clear overnight with a low near 48 and wind gusts as high as 23 mph.

Chance of rain mainly after 3 p.m., increasing clouds and breezy today with a high near 75 and wind gusts as high as 31 mph. Partly cloudy overnight with a low near 41.

Chance of rain mainly after 2 p.m., increasing clouds and breezy today with a high near 73 and wind gusts as high as 30 mph. Gradually becoming mostly clear overnight with a chance of rain mainly before 7 p.m. and a low near 39.

 Slight chance of rain after noon, otherwise partly sunny today with a high near 79 and wind gusts as high as 20 mph. Partly cloudy overnight with a slight chance of rain before 7 p.m. and a low near 43.

  Chance of rain mainly after 3 p.m., increasing clouds and breezy today with a high near 75 and wind gusts as high as 30 mph. Gradually clearing overnight with a slight chance of rain before 7 p.m. and a low near 36.

 Chance of rain mainly after 2 p.m., increasing clouds and breezy today with a high near 72 and wind gusts as high as 28 mph. Gradually becoming partly cloudy overnight with a slight chance of rain before 9 p.m., a low near 42 and wind gusts as high as 22 mph.

  Chance of rain mainly after 3 p.m., otherwise mostly sunny and breezy today with a high near 77 and wind gusts as high as 21 mph. Partly cloudy overnight with a slight chance of rain before 9 p.m. and a low near 42.

Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park

:  Mostly sunny today with a high near 69 and wind gusts as high as 20 mph. Partly cloudy overnight with a low near 38 and wind gusts as high as 20 mph.

Slight chance of rain after 4 p.m., otherwise sunny and breezy today with a high near 89 and wind gusts as high as 21 mph. Gradually clearing overnight with a slight chance of rain before 9 p.m. and a low near 55.

:  Chance of rain mainly after 2 p.m., increasing clouds and breezy today with a high near 82 and wind gusts as high as 23 mph. Mostly cloudy overnight with a slight chance of rain before 9 p.m. and a low near 53.

  Chance of rain mainly after 3 p.m., increasing clouds and breezy today with a high near 88 and wind gusts as high as 24 mph. Mostly cloudy overnight with a slight chance of rain before 7 p.m., a low near 55 and wind gusts as high as 20 mph.

  Slight chance of rain, otherwise mostly sunny today with a high near 86 and gradually becoming mostly clear overnight with a chance of rain and a low near 56.

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

  Slight chance of rain after 3 p.m., otherwise mostly sunny today with a high near 87 and mostly cloudy overnight with a chance of rain mainly before 9 p.m. and a low near 53.

:  Slight chance of rain after 3 p.m., otherwise mostly sunny today with a high near 84 and mostly cloudy overnight with a slight chance of rain before 10 p.m. and a low near 53.

Mostly sunny today with a high near 91 and wind gusts as high as 21 mph. Partly cloudy overnight with a slight chance of rain, a low near 55 and wind gusts as high as 21 mph.

  Slight chance of rain after 3 p.m., otherwise mostly sunny today with a high near 88 and wind gusts as high as 21 mph. Partly cloudy overnight with a slight chance of rain before midnight, a low near 59 and wind gusts as high as 20 mph.

:  Slight chance of rain after 3 p.m., gradually becoming sunny today with a high near 90 and wind gusts as high as 16 mph. Partly cloudy overnight with a slight chance of rain, a low near 55 and wind gusts as high as 16 mph.

  Patchy smoke, sunny and hot today with a high near 93 and partly cloudy overnight with areas of smoke before 11 p.m. and a low near 59.

  Patchy smoke, sunny and hot today with a high near 90 and partly cloudy overnight with a low near 55.

  Sunny and breezy today with a high near 90 and wind gusts as high as 21 mph. Partly cloudy overnight with a low near 53.

  Patchy smoke, sunny today with a high near 87 and partly cloudy overnight with patchy smoke before 7 p.m. and a low near 56.

  Patchy smoke, sunny today with a high near 80 and partly cloudy overnight with patchy smoke before 10 p.m. and a low near 49.

  Patchy smoke, sunny today with a high near 87 and partly cloudy overnight with patchy smoke before 1 a.m. and a low near 56.

  Patchy smoke before 1 p.m., sunny and breezy today with a high near 81 and wind gusts as high as 30 mph. Partly cloudy and breezy overnight with a low near 49 and wind gusts as high as 30 mph.

You Still Here? Tuesday, July 25, 2023

In case you missed it

Jimmy Orr

Executive Editor

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You Still Here? Tuesday, July 25, 2023

In case you missed it

Authors

Jimmy Orr

Executive Editor

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Bonus Video 1: Thursday, July 2, 2026

Bonus Video 2: Thursday, July 2, 2026

Steve Inman: Thursday, July 2, 2026

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