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[{"type":"text","text":"We know, we know. Not everyone will think this is funny..."}]

You still here 8 23 23

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

<title>You Still Here? Wednesday, August 23, 2023 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

We know, we know. Not everyone will think this is funny...

You Still Here? Wednesday, August 23, 2023

 We know, we know. Not everyone will think this is funny...

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

Clair McFarland

Government & Politics

Politics

Reid Rasner’s campaign for Wyoming’s lone U.S. House of Representatives seat is not a satire or a parody, state politicos say.

But if it were, his campaign commercial performances would land an A-grade, a retired drama coach told Cowboy State Daily.

Rasner was among the earliest to declare for what’s now a 10-person GOP primary contest for the House seat, which incumbent Rep. Harriet Hageman is vacating to run for U.S. Senate.

That follows an unsuccessful 2024 bid to unseat longtime U.S. Sen. John Barrasso, and a 2025 publicity splash in which he voiced an effort to buy the social media app TikTok.

Rasner’s campaign videos range from policy discussions, to outright comedic and dramatic acting. His social media presence and output quantity are unrivaled in this race.

 with “No more fat kids!” then urged the nation to revive the presidential fitness test.

 him shouting, “I just watched a man walk into the women’s restroom, come on let’s get him out of here!” before kicking open stall doors in the bathroom, and pulling open the final door to reveal a male holding a sign deriding Secretary of State Chuck Gray, who is one of Rasner’s nine opponents.

[{"type":"text","text":"The male screams, and Rasner barks, “Get the hell outta here!”"}]

 the same vocal inflections as President Donald Trump while voicing outrage at a porta-potty with both male and female restroom insignia on it.

“I can’t believe it, why can’t we just have normal potties?” he asks. “Why do we need a tranny-pottie?

[{"type":"text","text":"Parody, Satire Or Serious?"}]

An ever-growing mountain of commenters asks whether Rasner’s campaign is a parody, or if his videos are satire.

They are not, multiple Wyoming politicos told Cowboy State Daily this week.

“Why would somebody spend this much money on a joke?” said Wyoming state House Appropriations Chair John Bear, R-Gillette. “It’s a real campaign. I don’t believe in his mind it’s a parody.”

Rasner as of April 1 had lent himself about $1.2 million for his federal campaign, and had received another $54,865 in other contributions, Federal Election Commission 

Bear is also the former chair of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, which is a group of conservative and controversial state House Republicans.

He said he believes Rasner’s outlandish approach impacts the candidate negatively.

“It’s kind of silly, so I get why people would think it’s a parody,” Bear added.

[{"type":"text","text":"Rasner’s campaign also insists that his campaign is legitimate."}]

Rodger McDaniel, a former legislator who ran a 1982 Senate campaign against Republican incumbent Sen. Malcolm Wallop and participated in multiple other statewide campaigns, said he was tempted to think of the campaign as a parody while watching some of Rasner’s videos.

But Rasner is suing five people for defamation, in four separate, ongoing civil cases.

“Does he really exist?” asked McDaniel. “I guess he must, he sues people that say bad things about him. He must be able to get into a courthouse.”

The campaign is also real, said McDaniel, adding that it’s probably outlandish because of how crowded the GOP field is in this race.

Rasner’s videos show him in a MAGA hat. He speaks and gestures like Trump. His commentary veers hard right on social issues.

“The problem for a Republican in that race is separating yourself from that crowd, and I think that’s how he’s chosen to do it: just to be as outrageous as possible,” McDaniel said. “It’s not enough to say, you know, ‘I’ll support President Trump.’”

Nearly all of Wyoming’s Republican U.S. House candidates who have campaigned publicly have voiced alignment with Trump. One strong outlier is Kevin Christensen, who outright opposed the president’s

McDaniel doesn’t have a background as a theater critic, but Rasner’s performances are “funny,” he said.

[{"type":"text","text":"“It’s Saturday Night Live quality.”  "}]

[{"type":"text","text":"State Rep. Mike Yin, D-Jackson, cast doubt on the parody idea."}]

Like Bear, Yin was reflecting on how much money Rasner has poured into his campaign.

“I think it’s really hard to take him seriously,” said Yin. “But I think the only one that can tell you whether it’s parody or not is him.”

[{"type":"text","text":"So We Asked Him"}]

Rasner’s campaign spokesman Michael Blevins emphasized that Rasner has given concrete policy positions.

, urged a national ban on abortion, a mass deportation policy, a ban on Sharia law, and opposition to wind farms, to name a few.

“The stuff he talks about on social media are things occurring all over the United States (and are) real issues,” said Blevins.

The issues could expand into Wyoming, and “it’s important to address them before they do, and prevent them,” he added.

Cowboy State Daily asked why Rasner posted a video of himself kicking in bathroom doors while hunting a man in the women’s bathroom.

“I think everybody will derive their own intent,” said Blevins, reiterating that Rasner is serious in purpose about the issues in his videos.

“It’s critical to be able to get the message across,” said Blevins. “And I think Reid is the only candidate we’ve seen in this case who’s been forward-thinking about policy.”

[{"type":"text","text":"But He Would Have Gotten An ‘A’"}]

Michael Stedillie, a Natrona County resident and now-retired drama teacher of 45 years, graded Rasner’s performance on Thursday.

Rasner gets an A for acting and production, but only if these videos are satire, said Stedillie.

Stedillie laughed out loud while reviewing a slate of six Rasner videos, which included the three mentioned prior in this story, plus:

 zooms gradually on Rasner while he criticizes Gray in a Trump-like vocal cadence and tone;

 there are a “lot of fat comments out there” but that Trump’s doctors told him he’s in “tip-top shape” and he’ll run up a set of stairs to prove it. An obvious body double scales the stairs while Rocky theme music plays. The double high-fives Rasner at the top of the stairs;

, using his signature Trump vocal growl, leans over a garbage can just outside Gray’s office window, and accuses Gray of giving Wyoming land use to “Communist China.”

 to lease state lands for wind farms, but the companies requesting those leases are headquartered in America.

Rasner’s visual shot alignment of the garbage can with Gray’s window is clever; his Trump growl could be subconsciously impactful, and his whole Trump impression is almost always spot-on, Stedillie told Cowboy State Daily.

“If his purpose is to make people think that Donald Trump doesn’t like Chuck Gray, he’s playing the part well,” the drama coach said.

[{"type":"text","text":"But it’s a tightrope, he added."}]

“If a Trump supporter thinks that Reid is trying to lampoon the president’s physical presentation, then they might get upset about it,” Stedillie said. “The other possibility is, (they’ll say) ‘Wow, that’s pretty cool, I like the way he does that.’”

[{"type":"text","text":"Rasner’s energy level is “top notch,” Stedillie added."}]

But, he said the video in which Rasner kicks open bathroom doors is jarring.

Stedillie said performers should coalesce empathy for the hero before depicting him in an act of violence, and that’s not doable in a 15-second video.

“The transgender porta potty was just downright entertaining. It’s going to make people laugh,” said Stedillie. 

[{"type":"text","text":"Ever The Target"}]

Gray is the most frequent target of Rasner’s recent videos. Rasner has repeatedly referenced Gray’s aye-votes for wind leases on state lands, as well as the Wyoming-registered companies that bear names that appear Chinese.  

Gray took Cowboy State Daily’s Friday interview request as a chance to call Rasner a “liberal.”

Rasner had voiced approval toward grants for and fewer restrictions on rooftop solar panel installations when he ran for Las Vegas City Council a decade ago. He’s also voiced 

 centers – a fraught topic in some conservative circles.

Rasner’s performative campaign approach is a distraction “from the truth,” Gray asserted.

“I think he’s just trying to bluff his way into running for the at-large (seat),” Gray began in a phone interview. “The truth is that he’s a very liberal individual. He’s a complete liberal.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Gray claimed Rasner has called for defunding police in the past."}]

Blevins said Gray is "lying" and pointed to a Ballotpedia account of Rasner's Las Vegas City Council run showing Rasner as a staunch supporter of police. 

, Rasner said, rather, he wanted to form alliances with police and the community, and clean up the streets, go after drug dealers rather than users, and curb sex trafficking.

He said at that time that he wanted to ensure the police force has enough staff and equipment to keep the community safe.

[{"type":"text","text":"A Whole Field Out There"}]

Rasner and Gray rise to public attention frequently for their fiery clashes.

[{"type":"text","text":"But they’re not the only candidates in this race."}]

The other eight registered Republican candidates are Teton County philanthropist Steve Friess, Wyoming Senate President Bo Biteman, military veterans David Giralt and Kevin Christensen, Teton County Rancher Frank Chapman, former Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow, former state legislator Keith Goodenough, and Sundance man Richard Dodson.

[{"type":"text","text":"One Democrat, Lisa Kinney, is running for her party’s nomination."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"The primary election is Aug. 18."}]

Libertarian candidate Shawn Johnson, who’s the former vice-mayor of Casper, is vying for his party’s nomination as well. The minor party’s convention is set for Sunday.

Rasner bathroom 5 29 26

<title>Despite His Videos, Wyoming Politicos Say Reid Rasner Campaign Is Not A Parody | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Despite a series of bizarre, controversial and sometimes outrageous campaign videos, Wyoming politicos say Reid Rasner’s campaign for U.S. House is not a parody. “Why would somebody spend this much money on a joke?” said state Rep. John Bear.

Despite His Videos, Wyoming Politicos Say Reid Rasner Campaign Is Not A Parody

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

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily reporter, Dale Killingbeck

Dale Killingbeck

Public Safety

BAR NUNN — Natrona County firefighters were called to a fire in the 1900 bock of Mandan Trail on Thursday night that left a Bar Nunn family of three homeless and claimed the lives of two pets.

Mills Fire Department Chief Wil Gay said both Natrona County Fire District 1 and his department were dispatched at 11:01 p.m., and on arriving at the fire 15 or so minutes later found smoke and flames coming from the kitchen window on the left side of the upper level of the bilevel home.

“When the crews went in and made entry through a garage door and went upstairs basically to the kitchen, the kitchen was on fire,” he said. “There was a neighbor on his side watering down his house so it didn’t catch fire.”

Gay said there was no one at the home at the time except for the family’s four dogs. 

He said two of the dogs rescued from the home ended up dying, likely from smoke inhalation.

Firefighters carry pet masks that are put over an animal's snout to force oxygen into its lungs, Gay said. 

One of the dogs initially looked as if it was responding to the oxygen by lifting its head, but later died after being transported to a veterinary facility.

“The fire was contained to the kitchen, but the entire first floor suffered damage from the smoke,” Gay said.

A couple who own the home both work nights, and a son who lives in the home had left for an errand about an hour earlier, Gay said. 

When a neighbor saw the flames, he ran to the house and got on the Ring camera that notified the owners about the blaze.

Gay said in addition to rebuilding the kitchen, it’s likely the home’s drywall and interior on the upper level will have to be replaced due to the extensive smoke damage on that floor. 

Two or three trusses above the kitchen area ceiling will also probably have to be replaced, he said.

Firefighters left the scene around 2:30 a.m., Gay said.

Friday morning, trucks from the Natrona County Fire District and Bar Nunn Fire Department were still at the fire scene, checking to ensure no hot spots remained in the home.

Attempts to reach the homeowners were unsuccessful by the time this story was published.

Gay said the fire department, through a city and county firefighters' fund, offered the family a motel stay until they could figure out housing, but their daughter who also lives in Bar Nunn provided temporary housing for the couple and their son.

Gay said the department was still planning to deliver the family a check from the firefighters' fund to help them get clothing and meet other immediate needs.

The Natrona County Interagency Fire Investigation Task Force continues to investigate the cause of the fire, Gay said.

In addition to the fire departments, the Natrona County Sheriff’s Office, Banner Health EMS, Rocky Mountain Power, Black Hills Energy and the Bar Nunn Water Department assisted at the scene.

Contact Dale Killingbeck at dale@cowboystatedaily.com

Bar Nunn fire Hot Spots inset 5 29 26

<title>Fire Burns Through Bar Nunn Home, Kills Two Family Dogs | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A Bar Nunn family’s kitchen was destroyed by fire and upper level of the home suffered extensive smoke damage after a late Thursday blaze. Four dogs were rescued by firefighters, but two of them died, the Mills fire chief reported.

Fire Burns Through Bar Nunn Home, Kills Two Family Dogs

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.

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.

You Still Here? Wednesday, August 23, 2023

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