Daily Darwin

Always great to have supportive friends when working on difficult projects...

Darwin 8 5 23

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

<title>Daily Darwin: Saturday, August 5, 2023 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Daily Darwin: Saturday, August 5, 2023

 Always great to have supportive friends when working on difficult projects...

Heinz mark

Mark Heinz

Outdoors

Wildlife

Less than a month after a man was apparently killed by a grizzly in Glacier National Park in Montana, there were reports of another possible bear attack on a hiker on Thursday.

A “surprise encounter involving a hiker and a bear occurred on the Grinnell Glacier Trail in Glacier National Park,” park spokeswoman Autumn Sifuentes stated in an email to Cowboy State Daily on Friday.

“National Park Service personnel and emergency services responded to the incident. The Grinnell Glacier Trail is temporarily closed and will reopen when deemed appropriate by park staff,” she added.

There was no further information available about the species or size of the bear, or whether the hiker suffered any injuries.

Hiker Devin Dufrene described encountering a distraught man who was screaming about a “bear attack” 

Although he and his sister attempted to get the man to calm down, “he continued running and screaming,” according to SFGate. “Knowing there was an attack up-trail and now a bear approaching from the opposite direction, we decided to ascend up the cliffside and wait for the bear to pass.”

A little later, Dufrene told SFGate that they saw park rangers going in the direction of the reported attack.

In early May, Glacier Park reported its first fatal bear attack since 1998.

Florida resident Anthony Pollio, 33 was reported missing May 4. On May 6, his body was found in a densely wooded area roughly 50 feet from the trail he’d apparently been hiking on.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Busy Year Already"}]

May is usually the first month of widespread grizzly and black bear activity. This year, it’s been a busy month for bear attacks.

On May 4, two brothers were severely injured when they were attacked by a female grizzly with cubs near Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park.

Also this month, a black bear hunter in Idaho shot and killed a grizzly when it charged him and his son. Wildlife agents deemed the shooting a legitimate case of self-defense.

And on Monday near Squamish, British Columbia, Canada, a man running on a forested trail was attacked and injured by a female black bear with two cubs, 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘The Men Mocked Me’"}]

Outdoor adventurer Michael Hodges was photographing grizzlies in the Glacier Park backcountry on the day that Pollio’s body was discovered about 15 miles away.

Later, he was on the same trail where Thursday’s alleged bear attack was reported.

“I was up on the trail the week of May 6 and saw many grizzlies,” he stated in a text message to Cowboy State Daily.

“I warned hikers from California and Texas at the trailhead that there was an unusual number of griz, and to be extra alert,” stated Hodges, a novelist and internet personality.

“The men mocked me, the women in the group listened,” he added.

Contrary to popular perceptions, grizzlies in Glacier Park aren’t meaner than those elsewhere, bear experts told Cowboy State Daily.

Rather, the area’s thick vegetation and rugged landscape increase the chances of hikers and bears surprising each other at close range.

“For the most part, if bears hear you, see you or smell you, they don’t want to have anything to do with you,” Canadian human-bear conflict prevention expert Kim Titchener said.

She’s hiked in Glacier Park and said she can attest to how conditions there can make it more difficult for bears to sense people approaching.

She added that the landscape around Squamish, where the runner was attacked by a black bear is similar.

“It’s got lots of thick vegetation,” said Titchener, the founder of the Bear Safety and More organization.

And people shouldn’t take for granted that black bears can also be dangerous if they’re surprised at close range, she added.

Retired ecologist Chuck Neal of Cody, who frequently hikes solo in grizzly country, agreed that hiking in Glacier Park demands extra alertness.

“Encounters can happen at just a few yards away” if hikers aren’t paying keen attention, Neal said.

“It’s a high-quality habitat for bears. It’s better habitat for bears than Yellowstone is” and tends to attract a younger crowd, he said.

“Those younger hikers go barreling up those trails without paying that much attention,” Neal said.

Big bear 5 29 26

<title>Glacier Park Reports Second Bear Attack Less Than A Month After Man Killed | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Less than a month after a man was apparently killed by a grizzly in Glacier National Park, there were reports of another possible bear attack on a hiker on Thursday. It was a “surprise encounter involving a hiker and a bear,” said a park official.

Glacier Park Reports Second Bear Attack Less Than A Month After Man Killed

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Crime & Courts

Courts

A 24-year-old semitrailer driver accused of slamming into the bed of a pickup and triggering the deadly 2025 Valentine’s Day pileup that closed the Green River Tunnel for months has been criminally charged more 15 months after the explosive crash that killed 

According to court records made available Tuesday, Riaz Ahmad Noori is wanted on two counts of aggravated homicide and one of aggravated assault and battery — all Wyoming felonies each punishable by up to 20 years in prison each if convicted.

The Feb. 14, 2025, crash eventually ballooned into a 26-vehicle catastrophe that filled the westbound Interstate 80 tunnel near Green River with fire, explosions and thick, black smoke.

According to an affidavit written by Wyoming Highway Patrol Trooper Tyler Chapman, the pileup began when a Toyota Tundra lost traction near the tunnel exit, struck a guardrail and spun back into traffic, blocking most of the right lane and part of the left lane.

Snow had fallen earlier that day, and slush and ice had formed near the tunnel exit where the variable speed limit had already been reduced from 65 mph to 55 mph because of weather conditions, according to 

by the National Transportation Safety Board.

A Pepsi semitrailer then braked and veered left to avoid the disabled pickup, striking the tunnel wall before narrowly missing the Tundra.

Another semi entered the tunnel afterward and jackknifed while attempting to stop, leaving its trailer blocking the right lane and the tractor sideways across the left lane, the affidavit says.

The crash killed Christopher Johnson, 20, and Quentin Romero, 22, both of Rawlins. Another truck driver, 30-year-old Harmanjeet Singh of Nova Scotia, Canada, died after becoming trapped in the post-crash fire.

, reports the affidavit, including a major liver laceration, lacerated spleen, traumatic subdural hemorrhage with loss of consciousness, fractured vertebrae, multiple broken ribs, fractures in her foot and a fractured thumb.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Semi Slammed Into Truck "}]

Investigators say 21-year-old Bradley Coleman was driving a Dodge Ram westbound through the tunnel with passengers Daryn Macy, Christopher Johnson and Quentin Romero.

At roughly the same time, Noori was driving an IGM Logistics Inc. semi westbound approaching the tunnel. According to the affidavit, the Dodge Ram passed the IGM semi on the left before entering the tunnel.

The affidavit states the Ram’s brake lights became visible as it approached the jackknifed semitrailer blocking the roadway ahead.

“Right at the camera timestamp of 11:34:53,” the affidavit states, the Ram “begins to slide, rotating toward the south wall.”

Chapman wrote that the truck’s brake lights were visible, as was the semitrailer blocking the lane ahead.

Investigators say Noori then moved into the left lane, struck the tunnel wall and “overrode the bed” of the Dodge Ram before continuing forward into the disabled tractor-trailer blocking the tunnel.

The affidavit states the “IGM/Ram combination” then struck the disabled Toyota Tundra before crashing into the rear of the Pepsi trailer outside the tunnel.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Tunnel Filled With Fire, Smoke"}]

Federal investigators said several more vehicles crashed after the initial collisions, and a massive fire erupted inside the tunnel.

 who goes by the online handle tophauler0 and narrowly escaped the 

 described the horror inside the tunnel and posted graphic and intense video of the immediate aftermath on social media. 

In one of the videos, screams can be heard from drivers who say they are burning up.

“Oh, this truck is on fire,” tophauler0 said in one of the videos, referring to a truck that crashed in front of him. “I gotta get out of here.”

He then can be seen kicking out the windshield of his semitrailer to escape, while other vehicles in the crash and a fire can be seen burning in the background. 

The trucker’s second video picks up after he’s escaped from the tunnel and clearly shows him just outside the entrance, a huge plume of black smoke billowing out with various law enforcement officers on the scene. 

He goes on to tell the officer that his truck was involved, but was one of the last ones, and it did not get too far into the tunnel.

“I was one of the very last ones, man,” he says. “The truck in front of me was on fire, with that guy dying in there. He’s dead."

Initially, emergency crews could not reach portions of the tunnel because of intense heat, explosions, heavy smoke and falling concrete.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘Human Error Was The Primary Factor’"}]

Investigators say road conditions inside the tunnel were dangerously slick because of snow, slush and ice buildup.

Water carried into the tunnel by passing vehicles had frozen on the roadway surface, increasing the distance required for vehicles to stop safely, says the affidavit. 

Even with those conditions, and despite an illuminated 55 mph speed limit sign, investigators allege Noori was traveling between 60 and 65 mph approaching the tunnel.

The affidavit states he slowed closer to the speed limit as he entered the tunnel, but not before colliding with the Ram.

“Human error was the primary factor contributing to these crashes” Chapman concludes in the affidavit. "Notably, 13 vehicles were brought to a controlled stop without striking anything, with five ultimately being struck."

The charging documents were filed in Sweetwater County Circuit Court on May 22. As of Friday afternoon, Noori had not been arrested, but the Sweetwater County Sheriff's Office has confirmed there is an active warrant for his arrest.

Noori is also facing separate civil litigation tied to the crash from a wrongful death lawsuit filed in September accusing he and his employer, IGM Logistics Inc., for failing to operate safely in dangerous winter conditions.

"As a direct and proximate result of Defendant Noori's negligence and reckless acts and omissions, Quentin Romero was killed, and his family suffered damages and losses," reads the complaint.

Brewer photo Green River Tunnel 2 2 14 25

<title>Trucker Faces Homicide Charges For 2025 Green River Tunnel Inferno That Killed 3 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A trucker accused of triggering a 26-vehicle crash in the Green River Tunnel in 2025 that killed three people now faces homicide charges. “Human error was the primary factor contributing to these crashes,” says an affidavit supporting the charges filed last week.

Trucker Faces Homicide Charges For 2025 Green River Tunnel Inferno That Killed 3

Public Safety

A Hyundai clocked going 117 mph on Interstate 80 — with a child in an improperly secured car seat — is lucky it didn’t crash. At that speed, the damage to the people inside would be like falling for a 45-story building, said the Wyoming Highway Patrol.

“That sort of speed with an improperly secured child is never a good combination,” the WHP said.

The May 11 stop just north of Wheatland was featured Friday as the agency’s “Speeder of the Week,” along with a photo for the radar gun displaying “117."

Speeding that fast in an 80 mph zone with a child in an improperly installed car seat is a recipe for disaster, said WHP spokesman Aaron Brown. 

That’s because a driver encountering a problem at that speed has a smaller window to react.

"Generally speaking, the faster you go, the worse things can get," Brown told Cowboy State Daily.

The stop drew attention from across Wyoming on Friday, many responding to the WHP’s Facebook post about the speed, including jokes about the likelihood of a Hyundai’s ability to drive that fast.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Like Falling From A 45-Story Building"}]

It’s not a joke, Brown said, adding that many drivers don't fully appreciate how quickly their margin for error disappears as speeds climb.

At 60 mph, a driver needs roughly 250 feet to recognize a hazard, react and stop, he said. At interstate speeds, that distance increases dramatically.

By the time a vehicle reaches 117 mph, avoiding a collision may no longer be possible.

"If you hit something at 117 mph, it's essentially a death sentence," Brown said.

To put the forces involved into perspective, Brown compared such a crash to the impact of falling "from a 45-story skyscraper."

Even on Wyoming's wide-open highways, he said, there is little room for error when vehicles reach triple-digit speeds.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"One Drift, One Correction"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"A crash isn't the only threat."}]

Brown said drivers traveling more than 100 mph can lose control from something as simple as drifting onto the shoulder, making a sudden steering correction or overreacting to debris in the roadway.

A mistake that might result in a scare at lower speeds can become a violent rollover at 117 mph.

"The chances of surviving a rollover at those speeds is highly unlikely," Brown said, adding that the risk grows even greater when occupants are not properly restrained.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"Seat belts save lives,\" he added."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'Your Body Is Going To Find A Way Out'"}]

The citation involving the child restraint system is particularly concerning to troopers, Brown said.

Occupants who are not properly secured, whether adults or children, face a far greater risk of being tossed around a vehicle or ejected during a crash, he said.

"If you're not properly strapped in, your body is going to find a way out of that vehicle," he said.

Brown pointed to a recent fatal rollover near Wheatland that involved a partial ejection.

When people are thrown from vehicles, they "get mushed,” he said, and the odds of survival plummet. 

The Wyoming Highway Patrol continues to stress the importance of seat belts and properly installed child safety seats, especially during Wyoming's busy summer travel season.

[{"type":"text","text":"For Brown, the lesson from the Wheatland stop is straightforward."}]

At 117 mph, a driver isn't simply speeding. They're operating with almost no margin for error, where a split-second mistake can have irreversible consequences.

Speeding 117 mph 5 29 26

<title>Hyundai Clocked At 117 MPH On I-25 Near Wheatland — With Child Onboard | Cowboy State Daily</title>

The Wyoming Highway Patrol reported Friday that a Hyundai clocked at 117 mph on I-25 near Wheatland had a child onboard in an improperly secured car seat. "If you hit something at 117 mph, it's essentially a death sentence,” said the agency’s spokesman.

Hyundai Clocked At 117 MPH On I-25 Near Wheatland — With Child Onboard

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

Clair McFarland

Government & Politics

Executive

Gillette-based attorney Steve Titus is so sick of reading about local governments debating and denying grants to Gillette Reproductive Health,

 not everything he said about it is safe to print.

Titus on Thursday announced he’s sending a $25,000 donation to Gillette Reproductive Health.

That’s the amount the nonprofit group requested this year from the Campbell County Commission, 

 for wellness exams for uninsured and underinsured women in the community.

Three of the five commissioners in an informal 

The county is holding a budget hearing June 15, and won’t adopt a final budget until June 17, says the denial letter a county official sent Thursday to Gillette Reproductive Health

irector Taylor Ortega on the commission’s behalf.

“I’m so sick and tired of the ass-backwards bullshit in the Commissioners’ office,” wrote Titus in a Thursday Facebook post.

letter to Gillette Reproductive Health, with a $25,000 check placed slantwise across it.

“I am COMPLETELY tired of hearing year after year that Reproductive Health must beg for scraps from the dumb, short-sided (sic) f***s that run the Campbell County Board of Commissioners,” says Titus’ letter. “Preventative health care is one of the smartest investments a community can make, and refusing to fund it is both shortsighted and irresponsible.”

 phone interview with Cowboy State Daily.

“I think maybe the County Commission would be more apt to support it if they (GRH) provided Viagra and penis enlargement pills,” he said.

“The people that run that organization have better things to do than beg for $25,000 from our ungrateful County Commission, so I thought it’d be easier (to donate) so they can get to their work instead of begging five men for pennies,” Titus said. 

“Don’t get me wrong, $25,000 is a lot of money, but in the scheme of our county budget, it’s an accounting error,” he added. "It’s fractional. It’s nothing.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"The Why, Over The Years"}]

Gillette Reproductive Health has made local headlines since at least 2020, when questions and controversies around whether the clinic provides abortion services or referrals surfaced.

[{"type":"text","text":"The controversy has recurred over the years. "}]

It erupted again in 2025, this time on the Gillette City Council side, when the mayor 

 a link to Power to Decide — which in turn provided links to abortion clinic connection sites like AbortionFinder — on GRH’s website.  

 Director Julie Price Carroll told the Gillette News Record at the time that she’d been unaware that Power to Decide had contained links to services such as AbortionFinder.

Ortega in a Friday phone interview said the clinic isn’t involved with abortions.

“We have never done anything with abortion care, and we will not be doing anything with abortion care moving forward,” said Ortega.

Regarding Titus’ donation, Ortega laughed and said the attorney “surely caused a little ripple for us didn’t he?” 

Still, she said she hopes the county and city will still provide the 

 1% tax grant funding, since it’s a more consistent revenue than private donations.

Another controversy that has dogged the clinic over the years, said Ortega, is that it provides Plan B contraceptives, an emergency pill that works by delaying ovulation to prevent pregnancy.

“Plan B is not an abortion pill,” said Ortega. “You can purchase Plan B from your local grocery store. It does nothing once a woman is pregnant.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"These Concerns Specifically"}]

Campbell County Commissioners Scott Clem and Jim Ford told Cowboy State Daily that in the informal straw 

, they both signaled favor toward funding the clinic, while the other three commissioners voted to deny the money.

Those other three are Commission Chair Bob Jordan and Commissioners Kelley McCreery and Jerry Means.

McCreery told Cowboy State Daily he keeps hearing that the clinic provides birth control to minors without notifying their parents, and sexually transmitted infection treatment to minors without notifying their parents.

 should be fueling those efforts, since they involve parental autonomy, said McCreery.

“There’s just enough stuff I don’t know about that I’m having reservations on giving taxpayer money to fund them,” he said.

McCreery said he doesn’t see any evidence the clinic is providing abortions, and heard from a woman who received services there when she was 17 and pregnant that the clinic didn’t try to coerce her into having an abortion.

“Of course, that’s just one person, but to me that gives them some pretty good credibility (on the abortion front),” said McCreery, who emphasized that he is pro-life.

As for Plan B, McCreery said he hadn’t heard of that 

 and that didn’t factor into his thinking at all.

[{"type":"text","text":"“I’m surprised he talks the way he does,” said McCreery of Titus."}]

Wyoming law allows minors to consent to receive sexually transmitted infection treatment.

It is silent as to whether minors can obtain birth control unilaterally, 

Jordan and Means did not immediately return Thursday morning text and voicemail requests for comment.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"That Little Comment"}]

Ford categorized grants for GRH as a discretionary, not vital, use of public money.

[{"type":"text","text":"No funding shortfall worries factored into this budget decision, he said."}]

Though he’d cast his informal aye in the clinic’s favor, Ford emphasized that, “Like most things that matter … it’s not quite as simple as folks want to make it on social media.”

Whether to give grant money to the clinic has been a 

Last year, the commission urged GRH to raise $40,000 from other sources to unlock the grant money.

The clinic answered the commission’s call to raise more money and received a grant last year, Ford recalled.

He also said that the money is “reimbursable,” meaning given on a pay-as-you-go structure rather than a one-time grant.

The county, city, and local appointee-occupied Community, Advocacy, Resources, Education (CARE) Board had recommended the county fund the grant.

At a May 19 work session, “kind of at the last moment,” three commissioners said they didn’t want to fund GRH, said Ford.

[{"type":"text","text":"He and Clem said they wanted to fund the clinic."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Ford laughed aloud at a question about Titus’ approach to the issue."}]

“I think it’s great to have people who are passionate about funding causes that are important to them, and to have public support, you know, for all these social service agencies, for every charity, for all these things,” Ford said. 

“I guess I would say his one comment, about the commissioners, maybe shouldn’t be (referencing) all the commissioners,” he added.

He said he hopes more people will give to causes that matter, “not out of spite or protest, but maybe out of a consistent and sincere desire to support a cause.”

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

Clem also harkened to the past claims and concerns of the clinic providing abortion referrals or services, adding, “I don’t think any of that is really substantiated.”

Both he and Ford said there was no discussion on the merits of the decision when the informal vote unfolded May 19.

Clem said he hadn’t heard of the clinic treating minors, but noted that for STIs at least, state law specifically calls for that.

“I think it’s proper for our local government to help fund that social safety net, and I consider that this is part of that,” said Clem.

[{"type":"text","text":"It’s also a smart decision, he added."}]

People without insurance and without meaningful access to preventative care, he said, could exacerbate their medical problems and end up in the emergency room — where their inability to pay impacts everyone else on a much larger scale.

“I do think it’s money that’s well spent, and I think the concerns raised in the past are pretty well put to bed,” said Clem.

Steven Titus and Gillette Reproductive Health 5 29 26

<title>Gillette Lawyer Gives $25K To Reproductive Clinic, Calls Commission ‘Ass-Backward’ | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A Gillette-based attorney is so sick of Gillette Reproductive Health being denied money, he wrote a scathing letter and cut the group a check for $25,000. “I’m so sick and tired of the ass-backwards bull**** in the commissioners’ office,” he wrote.

Daily Darwin: Saturday, August 5, 2023

In case you missed it

More in Daily Darwin

Daily Darwin: Saturday, May 30, 2026

Daily Darwin: Friday, May 29, 2026

Daily Darwin: Thursday, May 28, 2026

Daily Darwin: Wednesday, May 27, 2026

Most read