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[{"type":"text","text":"Don't worry, Don Day said there's only a 10% chance of thunderstorms..."}]

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

<title>You Still Here? Tuesday, August 22, 2023 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Don't worry, Don Day said there's only a 10% chance of thunderstorms...

You Still Here? Tuesday, August 22, 2023

 Don't worry, Don Day said there's only a 10% chance of thunderstorms...

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

Clair McFarland

Government & Politics

Politics

As of Monday, 35 Wyoming political candidates have sworn to love their enemies.

 after the public killing of conservative icon Charlie Kirk, and has since been working to restore the servant spirit and civility to the public arena in Wyoming.

The Tuesday after the May 14-29 filing period ended for political candidates, the group sent each candidate a pledge, group incorporator Matt Micheli told Cowboy State Daily.

“I will love my enemies, not just my friends. I will stand faithfully upon my convictions without giving into cruelty,” the pledge says. “I will call out wrongdoing without canceling people. 

"I will refuse to let the letters on someone’s hat or the hashtags in their bio mean more to me than the Gospel. I will not be swept up in the outrage cycle, but will instead step out of the chaos and boldly examine my own actions.”

The signers also commit to “bring the peace of Christ back into the public square — to show a divided world what it truly looks like to follow Him, not as a culture warrior but as a Kingdom person.”

The pledge invokes the group’s founding verse, Matthew 5:9: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”

Two of the three GOP candidates for governor had signed the document as of Monday: Sen. Eric Barlow and Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder.

So too had three of the 10 Republican U.S. House candidates: Senate President Bo Biteman, former Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow, and Casper-based veteran Kevin Christensen. U.S. Senate candidate Jimmy Skovgard is also among the signers.

In the governor’s race, Barlow told Cowboy State Daily he doesn’t normally answer candidate questionnaires, but this one was “quite simple” and in line with the promise he made last year to run a clean campaign anyway.

“And whether we agree on issues or don’t, we can still be respectful and honoring of them as, you know, fellow human beings,” Barlow said.

Degenfelder in an email said she's a "devout follo

wer of Christ and certainly agree that politics has become increasingly unchristian."

"People of faith can and should do better following Christ’s teachings as we engage in debates about policy and Wyoming’s future," she said. "We can do this without compromising on our convictions. I will always take an unequivocal stand on issues that are black and white for me - like protecting the Second Amendment, defending the sanctity of life, reducing taxes, and promoting Wyoming’s legacy industries."

She said she completes other questionnaires from voter groups, the media and industry associations "whenever possible" and sees them as a way to be transparent. 

Another GOP gubernatorial candidate, retired Marine Col. Brent Bien, did not comment in response to an email and voicemail. His campaign

[{"type":"text","text":"Wyoming Can Use It"}]

Cowboy State Daily this pledge could be effective in Wyoming, and that he wants to help the group’s cause.

Another former lawmaker, Fred Harrison, was less optimistic about the pledge’s ability to curb vitriol in the state’s political arena. But he said each person should take the effort seriously.

[{"type":"text","text":"As for Micheli, he said the pledge is meant to be unique."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Wyoming candidates face a number of pledges and have for years."}]

In 2020, the group Wyoming Gun Owners launched a pledge-style survey to candidates and derided the political hopefuls who didn’t sign it with phrases 

, “(it’s) a very dangerous situation for gun owners,” or “we all know what that means.”

More recently, the Wyoming Republican Party and its county subgroups launched a candidate pledge based on the state party platform. 

Some candidates have pointed to inconsistencies in the platform wording and called the 

 Others have called it a much-needed revival call for Wyoming’s broad-based GOP.

Micheli said the Peacemakers pledge isn’t meant to be used as ammunition, because its wording discourages that.

“The goal of this is kind of the opposite of all these other pledges you see out there,” he said. “The other pledges are kind of putting people into tribes and trying to figure out what tribe you’re in.”

Micheli said this pledge, however, tells each candidate to “look inward” and improve instead of “hammering anybody else over the head with it.”  

[{"type":"text","text":"Might Just Work"}]

Peterson, who served in the Wyoming Senate from 2005 to 2018, lauded the effort.

[{"type":"text","text":"“I could certainly get behind a movement like that,” said Peterson."}]

Peterson had voiced similar goals one week prior on a live video interview on Cowboy State Daily's Morning Show With Jake, 

Though the effort is “the light at the end of the tunnel” in what Peterson cast as a darkening, exhausting political arena, people will have to refocus on one another as fellow human beings to make it work, he said.

“If you love the person that’s opposed to either your way of life or philosophy or way of thinking,” he said, “and in your mind, your core belief is this is a brother, a sister, a person — and I don’t know what life experiences they’ve had, what brought them to the beliefs they have — it at least gives (one) the courtesy to be patient and listen.”

It takes effort to see the person through the issues. It’s also difficult to ratchet people down from the fiery realms to which public discourse has risen, said Peterson.

“It’s hard work to listen to somebody yelling and screaming at the top of their lungs, random thoughts and things to be argumentative … and say, ‘Oh, I can see you’re very passionate about your belief but you’re not making any sense,’” he said.

Rules of decorum in public arenas, the humility to apologize to one another where necessary, and applying mental rigor toward the actual issues are the way back to civility, Peterson added.

If people avoid dehumanizing and screaming at each other, their conversation will also get smarter, he said.

[{"type":"text","text":"Starting With You"}]

Harrison wasn’t as optimistic as Peterson, but called the pledge’s mission a worthy undertaking for each individual regardless of what society does.

“I’m not seeing a willingness on both sides of the aisle to discuss (differences),” he said. “I appreciate what they’re doing. I think it’s a wonderful idea.”

But, he added, “I’m not sure it’s always going to work, but that doesn’t mean anything. What did Mother Theresa say? We’re called to be faithful, not successful.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Harrison served in the Legislature from 1983-1992."}]

He was a Democrat then. But, ardently pro-life and socially conservative, he parted ways with the party starting in about 1992 and is now Republican. He’s also grown more fiscally conservative, Harrison said.

Harrison now writes a regular column for Cowboy State Daily in which he often scrutinizes the current state of the judiciary and jurisprudence.

“People think my articles are pretty sharp,” he said with a chuckle. Yet on May 9, he penned a 

 against resorting to violence or violent sentiments against judges, saying that nullifies good arguments on the issues.

If people wish to apply the peacemaker group’s pledge, it will take honest discussion, he said. People also have to start taking the high road and stop de-humanizing each other, he added.

[{"type":"text","text":"The Signers, So Far"}]

Micheli told Cowboy State Daily the group didn’t give candidates a deadline to sign the pledge. So this list isn’t final. As of Monday, the 35 signers spanned the governor’s, congressional, state legislative, and county commission races. They are:

State Superintendent of Public Instruction candidate

Update -  This story has been updated to include a post-publication comment by Megan Degenfelder. 

Mix Collage 23 Jun 2026 06 04 PM 252

<title>35 Candidates, Including Two Wyo Gov Hopefuls, Sign Love Your Enemies Pledge | Cowboy State Daily</title>

The Wyoming group that launched a civility movement after the killing of Charlie Kirk has gotten 35 candidates to sign a peacemaker pledge to love their enemies. That includes gubernatorial candidates Eric Barlow and Megan Degenfelder.

35 Candidates, Including Two Wyo Gov Hopefuls, Sign Love Your Enemies Pledge

Employee kate meadows cropped

Kate Meadows

During a lengthy meeting that grew contentious, the Kemmerer City Council on Monday approved an ordinance establishing regulations for a possible man camp inside city limits.

The ordinance allows for the conditional use of a temporary workforce and short-term housing hub of no more than 50 dwelling units. 

Multiple residents of the Antelope Ridge subdivision made their plea clear: not in my backyard.

City officials said opponents were putting the cart before the horse, as no man camp is guaranteed.

 groundwork’s been laid,” Kemmerer Mayor Robert Bowen said after the vote, which followed about two hours of public discussion. “That doesn’t mean it will ever happen. But if it does we have guidelines in place.”

Developers are proposing a temporary hub to house workers who will build the TerraPower nuclear power plant near Kemmerer.

The city of about 2,400 people is bracing for explosive growth with the first-of-its-kind sodium-cooled nuclear power plant under construction, 

Cowboy State Daily has previously reported

Multiple companies have been eyeing properties to house workers when the plant comes online sometime around 2030.

What the man camp looks like, what it will cost to build and where it is located would depend on who is awarded the contract, Bowen previously told Cowboy State Daily.

[{"type":"text","text":"He estimated the project is being considered by five to seven bidders."}]

proposals according to their interest in a particular piece of land, what has drawn the most attention from residents is an undeveloped city-owned property between the justice center and the Antelope Ridge subdivision.

[{"type":"text","text":"Bowen said one developer has shown interest in that land."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Public Pushback"}]

Multiple residents of Antelope Ridge pushed back against the proposed ordinance Monday, citing concerns such as property value impacts, taxpayers bearing costs of infrastructure buildout, noise and safety if a man camp were to be built.

[{"type":"text","text":"The land in question is about a quarter-mile from Antelope Ridge."}]

Jannetta West, who lives in the subdivision, said a man camp so close to her neighborhood would threaten the community’s safety and infrastructure.

She urged council members to reject any proposals for the site near Antelope Ridge.

“Please don’t let the dollar signs cloud your moral and ethical judgment,” she said.

Several residents asked how property taxes would be affected by the TerraPower plant and potential man camp.

Brett Burt, also a resident of  Antelope Ridge, said to the council, “I don’t know if you’re going to respond to me or if this is just me saying words.”

[{"type":"text","text":"He paused, seeming to await an answer."}]

After a brief silence and the mayor beginning to respond, Burt called his questions rhetorical before asking why temporary workforce housing was not discussed by the city during the two years TerraPower was working through its project permitting.

He also posed a question other residents echoed: why not keep the project and temporary workforce housing on the same site?

Burt also asked: “Are you entertaining a data center? That’s a separate issue but I know most of us don’t want that either.”

Antelope Ridge resident Kodi Seamons questioned why the ordinance focused on a potential man camp specifically within city limits. She also wondered why the facility would have to be so close to an established neighborhood.

Seamons said she had reached out to a specific council member with those questions earlier. She did not name the council member.

“The response I received was, 'It’s none of your 

she told the council. “Respectfully, when a project has the potential to impact my neighborhood, my property value, my quality of life and the future of my community, it is my business. It is the business of every resident who lives here.”

Residents deserve the opportunity to ask questions without being dismissed, Seamons added.

“We deserve the opportunity to understand why decisions are being made,” she said.

[{"type":"text","text":"She also said asking questions is civic participation."}]

A resident who identified himself as Mike, who also lives in the subdivision, spoke multiple times, first stating the city has no way of regulating the type of temporary housing that could come in.

“We’re not ready for temporary housing inside city limits,” he said. “We don’t know how to do it yet. We have a huge project coming and one of the first things we do is possibly irresponsibly put temporary workforce housing right next to a neighborhood.”

[{"type":"text","text":"City-Owned Property"}]

Residents asked whether a man camp on city property showed a conflict of interest.

“The city is in direct competition with private entities,” Mike said. “We are all watching who votes to allow a man camp when we have no way to regulate it yet.”

Bowen clarified that the city did not put in a bid for a temporary workforce hub to be built on city-owned property.

[{"type":"text","text":"“We were approached by a contractor,” he said."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"He added that other in-town properties are also possible."}]

That’s when the meeting grew more contentious.

“You’re elected to represent us and you’re not doing so," someone shouted from the audience.

“Anything else I say could be offensive so I won’t say it. Let’s just move on,” Bowen replied. “I think we’ve said enough for tonight. Anything else could get escalated. So we’ll just call it good where it’s at.”

Then, Bowen invited audience members to make additional comments on the record, in front of the microphone.

[{"type":"text","text":"Several did, including Braden Seamons."}]

“These people are being backed into a corner by the people that are supposed to represent us,” Seamons said. “We don’t need a man camp anywhere in this town.”

Seamons asked how the city could guarantee anyone living in a man camp in town was vetted.

The mayor said the city itself can’t vet the people who live in a man camp.

[{"type":"text","text":"“That’s not our place,” he said."}]

“If you can’t do it, then why should we put it in our backyard?” Seamons asked.

[{"type":"text","text":"Temporary Housing Not Guaranteed"}]

Bowen reiterated that a man camp was not inevitable.

“This is all conceptual,” he said. “This is not guaranteed. This ordinance gives the ability to have man camp in city limits. It does not guarantee that it is coming.”

Resident April Burt fired back, “Saying, ‘it may not happen’ is like saying, ‘it can happen'.”

To the assertion the city is not ready for it, the mayor said, “This is the ordinance that gets us ready.”

Housing conditions and choices that workers make could render a temporary housing hub unnecessary, he said.

He laid out projections that of the 1,600 workers expected on the project site, 15-25% are expected to stay in RVs. Another estimated 25% will stay in local housing because they’ll bring families.

[{"type":"text","text":"The is for sole workers, Bowen said."}]

“Realistically, we’re looking at about 400 people in a 

 not the scary 1,600 that’s being kicked around.”

Bowen also reiterated the hub will be built on-demand, to accommodate workers as needed. He assured community members the council is not talking about building a 1,600-person man camp.

“Our housing might catch up to where they don’t even need this,” he said.

He also rebutted other concerns, saying everything is a big “if” right now.

Considerations of temporary workforce housing have been in progress for years by TerraPower, he said. They just haven’t been brought to the city council until recently.

“I guarantee they were talking about this five years ago,” Bowen said. “This didn’t catch them off-guard. They’re way too invested, way too high-profile, too professional to have been caught at the last minute with, ‘Oh no, Kemmerer doesn’t have enough 

"We have to be angry about this,” Burt said. “We have to keep coming to these meetings. I’m really sad that we feel we are not being adequately heard.”

Kodi Seamons agreed, adding, “We’re scared because you will not give us a guarantee that a man camp won’t be there (near Antelope Ridge subdivision). “It feels like you’re putting dollars above our families.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Workers are Coming"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Bowen said that, man camp or no,  workers are coming."}]

“Regardless of where they’re going to live, they’re coming,” he said. “Just because we say we may not pass an ordinance to allow a hub within the city limits, they’d still be coming. They are coming, whether they stay in the hub or stay in the house next to you.”

[{"type":"text","text":"“How about in your backyard?” someone from the audience shouted."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"“I have plenty of room,” the mayor replied."}]

City leaders said that the ordinance was to create rules around a potential man camp within city limits. Should any specific projects materialize, each project would follow a required advertising and discussion process, and also include further opportunities for the public to be heard.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Still, residents did not back down."}]

“On record, we would like to hear that you guys would support your constituents in that we don’t want temporary housing on that (Antelope Ridge) property and we don’t want the city of Kemmerer to be in direct competition with other potential properties for this man camp,” the man who identified himself as Mike said.

[{"type":"text","text":"Neither Bowen nor council members directly responded."}]

After another 20 minutes spent discussing specific provisions of the ordinance, the council voted unanimously to approve it.

Terra power 6 23 26

<title>Kemmerer Lays Groundwork For Possible Man Camp As Residents Object | Cowboy State Daily</title>

During a lengthy meeting that grew contentious, the Kemmerer City Council on Monday approved an ordinance establishing regulations for a possible man camp inside city limits. "The groundwork’s been laid,” Kemmerer Mayor Robert Bowen said after the vote.

Kemmerer Lays Groundwork For Possible Man Camp As Residents Object

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's Feature Reporter, Andrew Rossi.

Andrew Rossi

Public Lands

Another hydrothermal explosion has rocked Yellowstone National Park, only 100 feet from the pool that 

The Yellowstone Volcano Observatory confirmed that a hydrothermal explosion occurred around 5:09 a.m. June 13. When geologists went to evaluate the area the next day, they found a 21-foot-wide pool filled with boiling, silty water, a 60-foot fissure, and water spouting 30 feet into the air.

It was an unexpectedly dynamic event in Biscuit Basin, which has been closed since a similar explosion occurred at nearby Black Diamond Pool in July 2024.

“Black Diamond doesn't seem to have been affected by this event in a major way,” Mike Poland, scientist in charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, told Cowboy State Daily. “That’s a sign that these are very shallow events that impact individual features in a very explosive thermal basin.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Big Blow Up"}]

The observatory detected the explosion as soon as it happened. It was even captured on the camera installed in Biscuit Basin to monitor Black Diamond Pool.

When geologists got to the basin the next day, they found several significant changes. For one thing, there was the new 21-foot-wide crater filled with boiling water, which Poland wasn’t surprised to see.

“That’s pretty standard for Biscuit Basin,” he said. “It has a lot of high-temperature water.”

What was more surprising was a 60-foot-long fissure and several new vents.

“All of these vents were draining water into the Firehole River, and geologists found near-boiling waters in most of these vents,” Poland said. “They were draining enough water that the river itself turned a milky-white color for many miles downstream.”

Based on the scene, Poland said the event was a “relatively small” hydrothermal explosion. It occurred in an area with no existing thermal features.

After weeks of observation, the water-filled crater has shown some geyser-like behavior. Water was seen rising as high as 30 feet.

Poland was interested in the longevity of this behavior and all the new features in Biscuit Basin. It’s too early to say whether they’ll be long-lived or peter out over time.

“It’s completely unknown at this point,” he said. “Maybe that (spouting) was caused by a release of the pressure accumulated beneath the surface, or maybe this new pool will end up being a geyser-like feature. Clearly, there was a lot that went on the morning of June 13.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Predicting The Unpredictable"}]

Hydrothermal explosions are caused by water rapidly converting to steam. The rapid phase change from liquid to gas releases an enormous amount of energy, as evidenced by the incident at Black Diamond Pool on July 23, 2024.

“It’s a pressure-cooker situation,” Poland said. "When water turns to steam, it expands over 1,000 times. When that happens in a confined space, the space can't hold the rapid expansion of steam and can cause explosions.”

Biscuit Basin has been closed to the public since that day, but sophisticated equipment has been installed so geologists can monitor ongoing activity. Black Diamond Pool has 

 since then, but nothing as significant as the July 2024 event.

wasn’t significant by Yellowstone standards

, Poland is excited about what can be learned from it. It might help him and other geologists, hydrologists, and volcanologists predict the unpredictable.

“One of the problems with studying these explosions is that you really don't know where they're going to occur,” he said. “If you put out a monitoring station, you’re never guaranteed to catch an explosion, and we don’t know of any precursors that might indicate an explosion is imminent.”

This hydrothermal explosion occurred 400 feet from temperature sensors and sophisticated stations installed to monitor seismic and acoustic activity in Biscuit Basin. With this event and “a year’s worth of data,” Poland hopes they might find a potential precursor.

“This explosion happened in the middle of an area of dense monitoring, he said. “We've got an opportunity to dive into all of those data sets and see if there was some change in the system that was detected by the seismic and acoustic monitoring.”

Identifying a precursor to hydrothermal explosions will help keep people safe in Yellowstone and around the world, Poland said. It could inform scientists when a hydrothermal explosion is imminent, or the risk is higher based on temperature, acoustic signals, or some other change in the system.

Such a precursor isn’t known to exist, and Poland isn’t confident they’ll find one, but a prime opportunity to do so just presented itself.

“This was a pretty good situation,” he said. “We had all the monitoring instrumentation in the right place at the right time, lots of data already collected, and no one was threatened by this activity.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"It’s What’s New"}]

Since June 13, Biscuit Basin has gotten less explosive. The real question is whether any of the changes will become permanent.

According to Poland, many of the vents opened by the explosion have since dried up. The collapsed crater is still filled with boiling water, but the geyser-like behavior hasn’t been observed since June 18.

“The future of any of these features is really unknown at this point,” he said. “Will they stay boiling or gradually cool down? Was there a change in the heat emission of Biscuit Basin? Those will be the interesting questions going forward."

Meanwhile, other than what Poland described as a “subtle bubble” from the pool’s vent, Black Diamond Pool doesn’t seem to have been impacted.

Poland sees that as evidence of how Yellowstone’s thermal features coexist. While most of Yellowstone’s geysers, hot springs, and steam vents share space with other thermal features, most tend to be separate rather than part of a vast, interconnected system.

“When the 2024 explosion happened, none of the other features in Biscuit Basin changed their behavior,” he said. “This explosion happened 100 feet north of Black Diamond Pool, and it doesn't really seem to have affected it in a major way. That’s a testament to how local all these events are.”

Biscuit basin 6 23 26

<title>Explosion Creates 20-Foot Crater of Boiling Water in Yellowstone National Park | Cowboy State Daily</title>

The Yellowstone Volcano Observatory confirmed Tuesday that a hydrothermal explosion occurred in Yellowstone's Biscuit Basin that created a 21-foot-wide pool filled with boiling, silty water, a 60-foot fissure, and water spouting 30 feet into the air.

Explosion Creates 20-Foot Crater of Boiling Water in Yellowstone National Park

Heinz mark

Mark Heinz

Wildlife

Hunting

Arguments over grizzlies north of the border in Alberta, Canada, are remarkably similar to those in Wyoming and Montana, with some calling for the bears to be hunted again and others saying that would be a horrible idea.

The Rural Municipalities of Alberta is lobbying the provincial government to reinstate grizzly hunts, which were banned there in 2006.

As in Wyoming, grizzlies are showing up in Alberta, Canada, in places they haven't been seen in 50 to 100 years. And just like Wyoming, their arrival has sparked emotional debate over whether to hunt the endangered species again.

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