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Michael P. Ramirez

Daily Cartoon

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

<title>Daily Cartoon: Tuesday, September 5, 2023 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Daily Cartoon: Tuesday, September 5, 2023

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Crime & Courts

What began as an act of kindness for a pregnant woman new to Casper ended in months of anonymous threats, fake phone numbers and a digital trail investigators say stretched across Facebook, Google and multiple texting apps, prosecutors say.

A Natrona County woman is accused of stalking the foster mother who once drove her to prenatal appointments, took her grocery shopping and later cared for her infant son while she received mental health treatment.

Daji Carter, 27, was bound over to district court Tuesday after a preliminary hearing on two felony counts of stalking and two misdemeanor counts of violating a stalking protection order. She posted a $3,500 surety bond July 15 and was released from custody. 

Investigators say Carter spent months using anonymous texts, fake online accounts and spoofed phone numbers to continue contacting Ashley Monroe and members of her family after a court ordered Carter to have no contact with her.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'She Was My Friend'"}]

For Monroe, the allegations are especially painful because the relationship began with compassion.

[{"type":"text","text":"She met Carter in June 2024 while Carter was pregnant and new to Casper."}]

"I would have considered her one of my friends," Monroe told Cowboy State Daily. "She didn't have any mode of transportation, so I always offered to take her grocery shopping. We took her to do shopping for stuff she would need for the baby once he was born. She was fun to be around. She had a good sense of humor."

Monroe, a licensed foster parent, said she wasn't expecting to become Carter's foster placement.

[{"type":"text","text":"Instead, she simply wanted to help someone she knew was struggling."}]

"I was just trying to be there to support her and keep the baby safe if she needed help," Monroe said.

According to Monroe, she became concerned about Carter's well-being and requested a welfare check. After Carter agreed to seek help, the Department of Family Services arranged a voluntary placement, and Monroe began caring for the infant. Monroe said the arrangement was intended to be temporary, allowing Carter to regain custody when she was ready.

[{"type":"text","text":"The baby returned home within weeks."}]

Not long afterward, Monroe said Casper police contacted her after Carter made statements suggesting the infant had died. Officers eventually located the child safely, Monroe said, and the Department of Family Services placed him in her home again. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'That's When Things Turned South'"}]

Monroe said the relationship unraveled during a visitation dispute around Halloween 2024.

She recalled Carter becoming upset over visitation scheduling during one of the baby's medical appointments.

"She tried to take the baby and run with him from the doctor's office," Monroe said.

[{"type":"text","text":"That night, Monroe said, the messages began."}]

She said the first texts said "You're a c---, this is Daji," along with a knife and blood emojis.

The criminal affidavit similarly alleges Monroe began receiving threatening messages from anonymous Wyoming and Alabama phone numbers, many sent through internet-based texting services rather than traditional cellular numbers.

Investigators say the harassment continued for months and eventually spread to Monroe's husband and mother.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Living In Fear"}]

According to the affidavit, the messages escalated from vulgar insults to explicit threats. Monroe told investigators she received texts accusing her of taking Carter's child and messages warning that she was "going to die." 

[{"type":"text","text":"Monroe said the emotional impact reached far beyond her own safety."}]

At the time, she was caring not only for Carter's infant but for other foster children, in addition to her own family.

"I didn't sleep," she said. "Every time one of my dogs would bark ... is that Daji outside my door?"

She said the alleged harassment forced her family to install additional security measures and left her anxious.

"I found myself constantly looking over my shoulder, hesitant to engage in routine activities and struggling with stress and sleep disturbances," Monroe said.

"I didn't even feel safe letting my kids go to school," she told Cowboy State Daily.

The Department of Family Services ultimately moved Carter's son to another foster home in hopes the threats would stop.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"They did not,\" Monroe said. "}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Digital Trail "}]

Court records show the alleged stalking became an extensive digital investigation involving numerous search warrants.

The affidavit describes detectives obtaining records from Facebook, Google, TextNow, Pinger, AT&T and T-Mobile while also conducting forensic examinations of multiple electronic devices.

The various anonymous phone numbers, Gmail accounts and online messaging services ultimately pointed back to Carter, says the affidavit. 

During an interview with investigators, Carter acknowledged sending Monroe what she described as "mean" messages but denied sending many of the anonymous communications detailed in the affidavit.

"When you piss me off, I say what's on my heart," Carter allegedly told investigators.

Detectives also interviewed witnesses, reviewed phone records, and manually examined several electronic devices after extracting data from phones seized during the investigation.

Investigators concluded there was probable cause to charge Carter with felony stalking and two counts of violating a stalking protection order.

When reached by Cowboy State Daily for comment, Carter's public defender, Casper attorney Dylan Rosalez, declined to comment.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'Maybe This Will Finally End'"}]

Monroe said she felt relief when Carter was charged earlier this month, believing the months of uncertainty might finally be over.

"It was just like a sigh of relief," she said. "She's being held accountable for what she's doing."

[{"type":"text","text":"But Monroe said that relief has been short-lived."}]

After Carter posted bond and the preliminary hearing concluded Tuesday, Monroe says the unwanted contact has continued, alleging that Carter even reached out to her work on Wednesday. 

"I'm feeling very frustrated currently," Monroe said. "Mostly, I worry for my kids because I'm a mama bear."

Monroe said she still believes in fostering despite everything that's happened.

She said most biological parents she has worked with eventually recognize foster parents are trying to help families reunite, not replace them.

"I'm wanting to help them, and I want them to have their children back," Monroe said. "I want them to be healthy."

Foster 3 7 30 26

<title>Casper Foster Parent Says She Was Terrorized By Bio Mom After She Took In Baby | Cowboy State Daily</title>

After taking in a friend's baby, a Casper foster mom says her family became the target of anonymous threats by the biological mother, who is charged with two stalking felonies. "I didn't even feel safe letting my kids go to school," Ashley Monroe said.

Casper Foster Parent Says She Was Terrorized By Bio Mom After She Took In Baby

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily reporter, Dale Killingbeck

Dale Killingbeck

Wyoming Life

Around Wyoming

As a young college student working as a graduate assistant at the University of Wyoming in 1976, Alan O’Hashi had landed a plum summer job along with his university gig.

He was a ranger in Rocky Mountain National Park.

A Cheyenne native, O’Hashi, now 73 and living in Boulder, Colorado, reflects on nearly a half century of being an author, journalist, and documentary filmmaker who continues to ponder and pursue topics of interest.

On the last day of July in 1976, however, his interest was just getting back to work after spending part of the weekend in Cheyenne at Cheyenne Frontier Days with a friend. Before that journey could be completed, the future news chronicler became part of one of the biggest stories of his life.

That’s when he got caught up in the sudden and devastating Big Thompson Flood, riding out the terrifying natural disaster in a Ford Pinto.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"On The Way To Work"}]

O’Hashi said his national park role first involved collecting fees at the front entrance, and then he was promoted to being a ranger at a campground.

The job came about with the help of the late U.S. Rep. Wayne Aspinall, a Democrat from Colorado.

Aspinall had taught a political science class at Hastings College in Nebraska, where O’Hashi earned his undergraduate degree.

“For whatever reason, we hit it off,” O’Hashi said. “And I asked him to write some letters to the Department of Interior on my behalf.”

Due back on duty at the park at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, O’Hashi decided to make the two-hour drive back to the park on Saturday evening, July 31, 1976.

He left Cheyenne and drove south to Loveland, Colorado, where he connected with U.S. Highway 34 to take him up to Estes Park. 

In the evening sky above the mountain peaks before him, O’Hashi said he could see a “brilliant orange stripe” with a “black ribbon on top” across the western horizon.

As he drove his Ford Pinto wagon up toward the “narrows” of Big Thompson canyon, he became aware that everybody else was driving east. He alone was going west.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"A Warning"}]

“A Colorado Highway Patrol officer, or maybe a county sheriff’s deputy, waved me down saying maybe I better turn around up at Drake, which wasn’t too far from where I was, saying there was some bad water ahead,” O’Hashi told Cowboy State Daily. “And so, I kind of drove up and there was a trickle of water, and I slowed down.”

He understood that U.S. Highway 34 runs alongside the Big Thompson River for its length into Estes Park.

As he continued toward Drake to find space enough to turn around on the narrow highway he was suddenly met with a “big wall of water” that slammed into his Pinto.

Looking out the window, he could see uprooted trees floating by, along with propane gas tanks. After that, rocks started thumping against his car.

He remembers being in a low part of the road and seeing a speed limit sign and the top “foot” of the sign.

He witnessed a “lovely car” coming toward him eastbound that went off the edge of the road across from him and into the river below.

Thinking about what he should do, O’Hashi said a floating portable toilet snagged onto his Pinto bumper and carried the car to the canyon wall instead of “over the edge.”

“So, I climbed out the driver’s-side window and waited,” he said. “I was in maybe knee-deep or not-quite-waist-deep water.”

O’Hashi said he started walking up an incline when a Colorado Department of Transportation truck showed up headed westbound looking for people who needed help.

He was able to join others in the back of the truck who had found themselves stranded with the waters rising.

The truck took them to higher ground at Rainbow Bend where there was a gas station, cabins and a little store. That’s where O’Hashi spent the rest of the night.

If that Department of Transportation truck had not shown up, O’Hashi said he would have had to try and climb up the canyon wall.

It wasn’t until the next day he got a true sense of what he had survived.

“We got up the next morning and saw the aftermath of the flood,” he said.

O’Hashi said he never learned what happened to the people in the car that went over the edge, but believes the car was from Loveland because of the license plate he observed before it vanished.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Disaster Unfolds"}]

That morning revealed to O’Hashi and the nation one of the worst floods in Colorado’s history. It happened as the state was preparing for its 100th birthday.

On Aug 2, 1976, The New York Times front page headline proclaimed: “65 Killed as Rains Flood Colorado Recreation Area.”

But the numbers would climb much higher in succeeding days until ultimately reaching 144 dead.

A story in the Grand Junction, Colorado, newspaper The Daily Sentinel on Aug. 5, 1976, projected total damage would hit $50 million.

That figure would be revised downward to $35 million to $40 million. Bridges and roadways, houses, and livelihoods were washed away in a matter of minutes. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Helicopter Drop Zone"}]

O’Hashi said that Sunday Aug. 1, his major concern was getting out of the flood zone.

He and some other flood survivors who were at the gas station and store noticed a Chinook helicopter flying around.

They got some white paint and created a circle for a drop zone. The helicopter saw it and landed, allowing him and several others to get flown down to Loveland, where they were housed in a gym.

He said it was in Sunday afternoon at that point and he knew his parents, who then lived in Laramie, would try to find him.

With all the roads closed and phone lines down, he looked for a solution. He found it in a group who had a car and were planning to drive to Cheyenne.

O’Hashi said he hitched a ride and was dropped off at a college classmate’s home in the city. He tried to call his parents in Laramie to learn that they had driven to Loveland to try and find him.

“My parents came down and found I wasn’t in Loveland,” he said. “And then they must have given them word that I was headed to my friend’s house, and that’s where we hooked up.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"A Second Chance"}]

About 10 days after being caught in the Big Thompson Flood, O’Hashi said he went back to Rocky Mountain National Park and continued to work the rest of the summer. He said the experience of being in the disaster changed him.

“I was actually given a second chance, and I was more grateful,” he said.

A memorial stone erected along Highway 34 on July 31, 2001, the 25th anniversary of the flood, recounted how a thunderstorm stalled over the canyon in 1976 sending the deluge down among the rocks and claiming the lives of dozens and changing the lives of many others.

O’Hashi said he thinks about the choices that led to him being part of that history.

He has made other choices in life that have put him in tight spots as well. On July 31, 1976, he said decided to try and get back to work Saturday night rather than drive in early Sunday morning.

As disasters continue to happen — such as the recent flooding in Kerr County, Texas, or a Dec. 30, 2021, Boulder County wildfire that claimed two lives, caused a massive evacuation and destroyed nearly 1,000 homes — O’Hashi said he’s come to understand that things happen in life, and the government will never act fast enough.

“It’s a matter of being prepared, like if you are in an urban area, get to know your neighbors and talk about what your options might be if something happens,” he said. “It’s hard to predict how everyone is going to react under pressure.

“I’m trying to figure out what we can do to make it less problematic when something like this happens.”

Following the summer of 1976, O’Hashi said he never completed his graduate degree at the University of Wyoming because before he finished his graduate thesis, he got his first “real job” in Gillette.

With his insurance settlement on the Pinto, he bought another Pinto station wagon.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Another Escape"}]

While working in Gillette, that Pinto was rear-ended. O’Hashi said it was known at the time that the car had a problem with exploding gas tanks. His did not explode.

Another twist of being in the right place at the wrong time happened in 1997 when he was flying out of Houston on Continental Airlines and had left his airline ticket in the men’s bathroom.

He nearly missed his plane but was allowed to board after a janitor found it and paged him. The gateway door to the plane had already been closed, but they opened it and allowed him to board.

Once in the air, the plane experienced an emergency and landed in Oklahoma City, he said. He later was told it was a cockpit fire.

“It’s absolute chaos inside of an airplane,” he said. “No one has time to barely put on their seat belts, put their trays back and their seats in an upright position. It was total mass chaos inside with flight attendants tumbling down the aisle and books flying all over the place.”

His pondering of the incident is that maybe by getting onboard it changed the outcome, that his “presence” on the plane may have resulted in it not going down.

Even if somebody’s else’s time was up, his was not.

O’Hashi believes that disasters can have an upside along with the loss and upheaval that results from the event. He shared about it in a blog.

“If there’s one strange gift disasters leave in their wake,” he wrote. “They bring people together who might otherwise never share a meal, a conversation, or even a glance.”

Alan O Hashi and the flood 7 15 25

<title>50 Years Ago: Floating Toilet Saved Cheyenne Man In Devastating Big Thompson Flood | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Cheyenne native Alan O’Hashi vividly remembers being caught in the canyon when the Big Thompson Flood, the deadliest flood in Colorado history, hit on July 31, 1976. He survived when a floating portable toilet snagged his car and carried it to safety.

50 Years Ago: Floating Toilet Saved Cheyenne Man In Devastating Big Thompson Flood

Mac Watson

Daily Video News

It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Thursday, July 30th.  I’m Mac Watson.

This newscast is brought to you by the Wyoming State Fair. Wrap up your summer at the Wyoming State Fair, August 11th through the 15th in Douglas!

Rodeo, Demolition Derby, live music, entertainment and fair food await. Learn more at W-Y State Fair dot com. See you at the fair! This ad was paid for by Converse County Tourism.

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

U.S. House candidate Reid Rasner's attorney filed a police report Wednesday on a Chuck Gray supporter and former sheriff's deputy for allegedly threatening Rasner. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that the former deputy denies making a threat. 

“Reid Rasner's attorney filed a report initially with the sheriff, and then it was bumped to the PD, accusing a former deputy of threatening Rasner, saying he needs to watch his back. And I called the former deputy, and he adamantly denies it. He said, ‘No, I never made that call. I have made negative comments to Raisner on socials, but I never made that call.’ The former deputy sent me what appears to be a screenshot of his wireless carrier's call log for him. Team Raisner sent a screenshot that appears to be his call log that shows the call as being received Sunday morning, at this point, we can't confirm if the call was made. We have dueling screenshots from both men.” 

A person who makes a false report to law enforcement can be charged with false reporting, and a person who lies to law enforcement in an investigation can be charged with interference, both misdemeanors punishable by jail time. But, Torrington Police Chief Matt Johnson emphasized in a Wednesday interview, people shouldn’t be charged with either of those crimes unless they “knowingly” provided a false report or lied about evidence.

Four hours after no-showing in court on 72 child sex and pornography charges in a Wyoming court on Tuesday, John C. Smallbone was nabbed in San Francisco. Cowboy State Daily’s Greg Johnson reports Sheriff Clint Becker says, “We didn’t want a person with those types of charges to be out and about.”

“He forfeited the $250,000 cash that someone posted for him for bond. However, only four hours after that hearing ended, he was arrested in San Francisco on a new warrant that the judge had just issued for him. Doing the math, that cost him about $62,500 per hour of extra freedom there.  The Converse County Sheriff, when I talked to him, he really credited his investigators for doing that. I asked the sheriff how they knew to alert the San Francisco police to go get him to look for him, and he said you really can't really can't say they really can't divulge how they knew that he was going there.”

The San Francisco Sheriff’s Office confirms through its online inmate roster that Smallbone remains in custody there, being held on the Wyoming fugitive felony warrant.

Teton County Search and Rescue recovered the body of an unidentified Australian man in the Teton Range on Wednesday. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports the man, who was attempting a thru-hike of the Continental Divide Trail, is believed to have died from a fall off a ridgeline.

“He had reached Old Faithful in Yellowstone by July 19th, and the last update his family got via satellite device was on July 23, but it didn't include a message or any coordinates. The Teton County Search and Rescue was able to get coordinates from that message. They got a short-haul helicopter on Wednesday morning to head out to that area, and unfortunately, the man was found deceased at the bottom of a ridge line. It's believed he died from the fall.”

According to Teton County Search and Rescue, the 28-year-old Australian man was hiking the full Continental Divide Trail, a 3,028-mile route that stretches across the Rockies from Alberta, Canada, to Chihuahua, Mexico. The body was recovered and transported to the Teton County Coroner’s Office. 

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

A Utah man who died after collapsing inside a Lincoln County jail following his arrest at southwest Wyoming's Oyster Ridge Music Festival. Cowboy State Daily’s Kolby Fedore reports that 38-year-old Tyson Alvarez is being remembered by friends as someone whose struggles with addiction never eclipsed the generosity that defined him.

“Lifelong friend Stacy Izzat says that she knew him all her life. Growing up, he was a great guy. He would give anybody the shirt off his back. She did acknowledge that he struggled with addiction for his whole life. He was in and out of treatment, and it was something that he fought like hell to beat. The Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigations is continuing to investigate this in custody death. Sheriff Shane Johnson said that there was no use of force involved.”

The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office says EMTs cleared Alvares for booking. He arrived at the detention center at about 9:30 p.m. and collapsed in a holding cell around 10:20 p.m. while being booked. Detention officers began lifesaving efforts after noticing he was no longer breathing, but he could not be revived, according to the sheriff’s office.

I’ll have more news from Cowboy State Daily right after this.

Cowboy State Daily News continues now….

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"},{"type":"italic"}],"text":"–"}]

A social media influencer and others are offering a $10,000 bounty for the identities of hunters who shoot members of Yellowstone National Park's famed Mollie’s wolf pack this fall. Outdoors Reporter Mark Heinz reports that Wyoming Game and Fish Director Angi Bruce calls the bounty “outrageous.”

“They put up a $10,000 reward for information leading to the identity of any hunters who, if anybody ends up shooting one of the Molly's pack wolves during the upcoming hunting season, they've offered a $10,000 reward for information that could lead to the public publicly identifying that person. So basically, it's trying to dox wolf hunters. This gets complicated because all three states-Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho have statutes written into law that the the identities of wolf hunters must remain confidential because they don't want people anti-hunters doxing these guys.” 

Social-media influencer Jonas Black of Austin, Texas, tells Cowboy State Daily that posting the reward is necessary to protect the pack, particularly 12-year-old Wolf 1090 F. Black adds that the wolves have spent most of their lives in Yellowstone and aren’t afraid of people, so there’s no way it could be a “fair-chase” hunt. 

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

Republican U.S. House candidate Steve Friess told Riverton's political old guard Wednesday he wants to turn the EPA into an advisory board for state environmental agencies. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that the Sierra Club of Wyoming called that idea “ridiculous and harmful.”

“Friess was going along business as usual, talking about being pro-life, pro-gun, pro-energy. And he goes, "Hey, can this be off the record? And I was like, "I guess you can have one. And he says that he wants to turn the EPA, which is a federal agency with some prosecutorial investigative teeth, into an advisory board to where it it gives advice to state agencies, but it's no longer this big federal thing with with teeth to start you know criminal cases, and I said, "Why would that be off the record? And he goes, ‘Take it.’ The Sierra Club of Wyoming called it ridiculous and harmful to hardworking Wyoming communities, and pointed to the environmental concerns surrounding data centers.”

Freiss tells Cowboy State Daily that he agrees “entirely” with the Sierra Club’s point that Wyoming is in charge and should exercise leadership regarding data centers. He said state leaders “should negotiate fiercely to ensure that electricity rates should not go up.”

Park County commissioners say geography and other factors mean data centers aren't imminent, but they want to have regulations in place if or when the industry does arrive. Cowboy State Daily’s Kate Meadows reports that Park County residents are telling them they are "100% no" on data centers.

“Park County commissioners and planning and zoning officials have been going back and forth for months, working on a draft plan to rework the zoning for the county because it hasn't been touched in 10 years. A whole zoning plan. A big part of this is whether the county could absorb a data center where you know residents are completely against. The Park County officials are not completely against data centers, but said, ‘we need more education around them, and it's just such a quickly evolving technology.’ County Commerce County Commission Chairman Scott Stewart said that residents are 100% no on data centers.”

The county has spent months reorganizing its zoning classifications, updating industrial districts and revising land-use regulations. The process has included numerous public meetings.

Time for Good News, Bad News. The good news is no one vandalized the Persian Gulf War Memorial in Rock Springs. The bad news is that it crumbled anyway. Cowboy State Daily’s Greg Johnson reports that the mayor says, “It should never have been allowed to reach a point where it is that vulnerable.”

“Apparently a small child had been looking at the monument, and that's when that's when it all came crashing down, and that nobody was hurt with that. One of the remarkable things that people are really taking notice here is the only reason that they know it wasn't vandalism is because the mother of the the child came forward and said, ‘Yeah, now that I see this, I realize this is why my child was all covered with dust because it collapsed while my child was looking at it.’ I talked to one Rock Springs man who who's already stepped up and said, ‘Hey, look, I'll do whatever I can to to to donate my time to make this right.’”

After the Parks and Recreation Department announced the crumbling fixture, a flood of people reached out to the city asking how they could help to fix the monument. Mayor Max Mickelson says, “The silver lining in this is it brings out so much good in our community,” 

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

And that’s today’s news. Get your free digital subscription to Wyoming's only statewide newspaper by hitting the Daily Newsletter button on 

 - and you can watch this newscast every day by clicking Subscribe on our 

 channel, or listen to us on your favorite podcast app.  Thanks for watching - I’m Mac Watson, for Cowboy State Daily.

News image 7 30 26

<title>Cowboy State Daily Video Newscast: Thursday, July 30, 2026 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Thursday's headlines include:
* Rasner Files Police Report On Gray Supporter
* Australian Man Falls To His Death In Grand Teton
* Douglas Man Who Skipped Court Captured In San Fran

Cowboy State Daily Video Newscast: Thursday, July 30, 2026

Employee kate meadows cropped

Kate Meadows

Energy

Coal

As Peabody Energy has again slashed the health benefits for retired Wyoming coal mine workers, the state’s congressional delegation has so far been silent.

Multiple requests Wednesday for reaction from the offices of U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman and U.S. Sens. John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis to Peabody’s decision to terminate its Retiree Medical Allowance program weren’t answered by publication.

 that cutting the program has left them, in some cases, without hundreds of thousands of dollars they had counted on.

In the meantime, Peabody reported Wednesday that its second-quarter earnings fell short of expectations while projecting stronger cash generation later this year.

For retirees who say Wyoming’s largest coal-mining company broke promises of lifetime medical benefits, the report only deepened their questions about why it can afford to pay its CEO more than $9 million a year but not the benefits they spent decades earning.

Travis Deti, executive director of the Wyoming Mining Association, said things like the retirement benefits “are company decisions” that fall “outside of my wheelhouse” to comment on.

He also said Peabody’s production was a little lower than the mining association had hoped for in the second quarter, but that Mother Nature was largely to blame for that.

“We came out of a really mild winter,” he said, which means less power used to heat homes. “We certainly expect with a nice, hot summer that those numbers will pick up in the third and fourth quarters.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Second Quarter Earnings Report"}]

Peabody Chief Executive Officer Jim Grech said in a statement that the second-quarter report “reflected temporarily lower volumes and higher costs.”

Grech added he expects results to improve in the second half of the year, spurred by performance at the company’s flagship Centurion Mine in Australia.

"We're targeting strong cash generation for the second half of 2026, fueled by our seaborne metallurgical and thermal segments," Grech said.

[{"type":"text","text":"Those segments are in Australia."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Wyoming Retirees Scrambling"}]

Keith Schaeffer, formerly of Casper and Douglas, spent 17 years working for Peabody Energy’s North Antelope Rochelle Mine in Campbell County. 

When he retired from the company in 2016, he said he had $190,000 to use for medical expenses under the RMA program.

As Peabody Energy has slashed the health benefits for retired Wyoming coal mine workers, the state’s congressional delegation has so far been silent. Retirees wonder why it can afford to pay its CEO $9 million last year but not their promised benefits.

Daily Cartoon: Tuesday, September 5, 2023

Michael P. Ramirez

Cartoonist

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Daily Cartoon: Tuesday, September 5, 2023

Authors

Michael P. Ramirez

Cartoonist

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