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

<title>You Still Here? Wednesday, September 20, 2023 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

You Still Here? Wednesday, September 20, 2023

 We have no idea what she's saying but it's fair to say she does not appreciate the joke...

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily reporter, Dale Killingbeck

Dale Killingbeck

Energy

CASPER — Add some Natrona County residents to those in the state concerned about data centers and man camps in their neighborhoods raising the temperature, sucking up groundwater, affecting property values and changing their rural way of life.

Natrona County Commissioners on Tuesday heard from a handful of residents who live on the western border of the county east of Casper. 

They thanked the commissioners for not acting to bypass the state’s industrial siting board process and opt for a planned unit development (PUD) process for the Prometheus Hyperscale project’s plans in the county.

Prometheus Hyperscale last fall announced a project for western Converse County that Natrona County Development Director Sabrina Kemper reiterated Tuesday will stretch across the border.

Kemper said she last met with Prometheus officials earlier this spring. She said the company was interested in whether the county would turn to a PUD to create an industrial park for the parts of the project in Natrona County.

“Since we have zoning in Natrona County, we are able to create an industrial park for purposes such as a data center,” she said. “The power plant and man camp (are) proposed to potentially come to Natrona County.”

Commissioners showed little interest in using a county zoning tool to site the project.

Commissioner Peter Nicolaysen, who said his ranch is across from the proposed Converse County site, asked Kemper if she had an update on the project.

County Attorney Ashley Smith said she had spoken with the company’s attorney in the past week, but the discussion had just centered on whether the county would use a PUD for its portion of the project.

Commissioner Casey Coates said he has little interest in an industrial park for the project.

“I really like the industrial siting process,” he said. “I don’t think our county has the ability to scrutinize them to the level that projects such as data centers require, so for me personally, I don’t think we go down that road.”

Process Still Gives “Seat At The Table”

Nicolaysen said with the state process the county could still have “a seat at the table” in the requirements and decisions made regarding data centers on its lands.

Commissioner Dave North said he could see a benefit either way, but the county did not have enough information about the Prometheus project.

“We need more definitive information as far as what they want to put in Natrona County, where they want to put them and what the controls are going to be,” he said. “I don’t want to be in the same boat that Cheyenne is where they are making these big blanket areas.”

Prometheus founder and CEO Trenton Thornock told 

 that the data center will start with a minimum $500 million investment for an initial 200 megawatts, but could scale up to 1.5 gigawatts in all, with up to 600 employees and an overall economic impact of up to $3.1 billion, based on an economic impact study commissioned by Prometheus Hyperscale for a similar center it’s building in Evanston.

Thornock said the project will actually straddle Natrona and Converse counties, giving both an economic boost. The project has been promoted by the company as one that will boast its own power system using natural gas and also having a closed-loop cooling system designed by the company.

Some residents at Tuesday’s meeting voiced skepticism about the project and believe it will change their way of life.

Kris Hool told the commissioners the company is trying to move too fast and he appreciated their decision not to create a PUD. He said many people would be affected by the project.

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

Resident Sarah Collins told the commission she is a fourth-generation rancher and has an Evansville address, but her septic and well are in Converse County. She said the proposed area for the center is not in the middle of nowhere and that the area has been designated a subdivision.

She worries about the change to an industrial-type area and the environmental impacts.

“It’s not a couple of residences, it’s kids living out there,” Collins said. “We’re talking about traffic on the Glenrock highway. We’re talking about wells and the actual water aquifers. That’s obviously going to affect our aquifers for our livestock business.”

Brad Isner characterized the project as a “travesty” that would cause his property value to plummet and put him “underwater.” He also projected that the structure would raise the temperature in the area by 18 degrees due to “the heat this thing is going to produce.”

He raised questions about the closed-loop cooling system, the sewer system for the proposed man camp, and the “continuous hum” he believes the data center will create.

“They’re going to build a power plant that is twice the size of the one we have but that is five years out,” Isner said. “In the meantime, they are going to have portable generators running enough power to power this structure.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'Sketchy' Information"}]

Isner compared the size of the data center to “five Walmarts” and noted that should its cooling system fail or other environmental issues arise they could impact Big Muddy Creek.

“They’re going to spend $20 to $30 million and we still don’t have a plan yet,” he said. “We don’t know where it's going to be … everything they told us has been sketchy.”

Betty Mosley told the board she has been riding horses on Lone Star Ranch property with permission for years. She said area residents moved there for the wildlife and views and now the area will be transformed by the proposed data center.

“How can you be so pompous as to think you’re going to improve upon what God has given us?” Mosley asked. “It would just be a sin. And what’s happening to our beautiful state? I don’t understand what we are doing.”

Resident John Oakley told commissioners too many unanswered questions about the data center remain.

“I just hope that you guys and us can get to the bottom of this before any decisions are made,” he said. “There is just too much at stake.”

Prometheus Hyperscale did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Man Camp Prometheus Talking To Board 1 6 17 26

<title>Natrona County Opponents To Data Center Man Camp Call It A 'Travesty' And 'Sin' | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Fearful residents from east Natrona County voiced their opposition Tuesday to a proposed man camp for a Prometheus Hyperscale data center in Converse and Natrona counties. One called the proposal a “travesty” and another described it as "a sin."

Natrona County Opponents To Data Center Man Camp Call It A 'Travesty' And 'Sin'

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's managing editor, Greg Johnson.

Greg Johnson

Crime & Courts

Courts

 multiple times last week in the tiny southern Wyoming town of Baggs had a stockpile of semiautomatic weapon ammunition and was likely planning a mass shooting, the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office reports.

 took bullets to the neck, arm and hip when he confronted the suspect outside his apartment near the southern edge of Baggs at about noon on June 8.

Responding to a report of an active shooter in the area, Burns located the suspect driving in town and conducted a traffic stop at his apartment, the CCSO has reported.

That led to Burns being shot, while the suspect retreated into his apartment, started a fire, then sped away in his car again, according to the CCSO. He was eventually killed in a shootout with law enforcement after crashing his car north of town off state Highway 789.

In the meantime, a pair of nearby Baggs residents 

, likely saving his life, CCSO Sheriff Alex Bakken has previously reported.

Now it’s been revealed that Burns may have stopped a mass shooting that authorities believe had been the suspect’s plan, Bakken says in an update on the investigation put out late Wednesday.

“Thanks to his bravery, (Burns) saved the lives of countless first responders and community members,” Bakken says in the report. “The gunman had stockpiled hundreds of AR-15 magazines in his apartment and, by all appearances, had been prepared to initiate a large-scale act of violence.”

The identity of the suspect isn’t being released pending the completion of an investigation by the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation, Bakken told Cowboy State Daily in a text message.

As of late last week, Burns remained in critical but stable condition in a Colorado hospital.

Further updates of his condition “will be released at the discretion of the family, a condition which we should all be respectful of,” Bakken says in his Wednesday update.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Careful Who You Call A ‘Victim’"}]

Along with more information about the suspect and what was found in his apartment, Bakken also confirmed that a Carbon County deputy was involved in shooting the gunman after his final chase with law enforcement.

The Wyoming Highway Patrol also reported last week that a trooper involved in that final confrontation was fired at and his patrol vehicle was hit. The trooper wasn’t hurt.

Bakken also called out the massive response from other law enforcement agencies to assist with the active shooter situation that day.

“Numerous agencies from northwest Colorado responded to assist due to their proximity to the incident and the fact that rural law enforcement in Western states is remote, difficult and dangerous,” he said.

“I am incredibly proud of and grateful to all the partner agencies that responded during our time of need,” the sheriff added.

Bakken also bristles at the reporting of an unnamed Colorado news outlet that referred to the suspect as a “victim.”

“The victim in this incident is Sergeant Zachary Burns, a man we are proud to call a member of our team who has served our local community with the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office since 2015,” the sheriff said.

Bakken also again called out the “residents of Baggs who rushed out to render aid to Sergeant Burns (and) all of the community members who have come out in droves to support us.

[{"type":"text","text":"“It all means far more than you will ever know.”"}]

Baggs Burns and apartment 6 17 26

<title>Sheriff Says Baggs Suspect Who Shot Deputy Likely Was Planning Mass Shooting | Cowboy State Daily</title>

The man who shot a deputy in Baggs last week was likely planning a mass shooting, said the Carbon County Sheriff. “The gunman had stockpiled hundreds of AR-15 magazines ... and had been prepared to initiate a large-scale act of violence," he said.

Sheriff Says Baggs Suspect Who Shot Deputy Likely Was Planning Mass Shooting

Heinz mark

Mark Heinz

Environment

Wildlife

A proposed 972-megawatt power project at Seminoe Reservoir in Carbon County has cleared a major hurdle, with a federal commission recommending approval despite widespread opposition in Wyoming.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) released its final 

 (EIS) on the Salt Lake City-based rPlus Hydro company’s Seminoe Pumped Storage Project on Friday.

Some Wyoming conservationists told Cowboy State Daily they were trying to surmise what the 478-page document means for opposition going forward.

The EIS recommends that FERC license the project, and waive seasonal timing restrictions on construction based on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) policy.  

Project opponents say those restrictions protect the Ferris-Seminoe Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep herd. Because of its disease-free status, it’s Wyoming’s most-prized bighorn herd.

Wyoming conservationists, hunters, anglers and municipal and county officials 

 the Seminoe Pumped Storage Project during a recent meeting of the Legislature’s Joint Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resources Committee.

In addition to concerns over bighorn sheep, opponents say they worry how the project could affect blue-ribbon trout fishing on the North Platte River’s Miracle Mile Section, and municipal water supplies.

An rPlus Hydro spokesman said during the legislative committee meeting the project could provide high-paying jobs and much-needed backup power for Wyoming.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘Energy Loser’"}]

But after the release of the EIS, detractors weren’t buying that argument.

“It’s an energy loser. It will use more energy to pump water uphill than it will generate by flowing it back downhill,” Wyoming Wildlife Federation executive director Craig Benjamin told Cowboy State Daily.  

WWF remains staunchly opposed to the project, according to a statement released by the group.

“WWF supports responsible energy development when it is sited well, built responsibly, and delivers real benefits to Wyoming. Based on what we have seen so far, this project raises serious questions on all three fronts. Now that the final EIS has been released, we are reviewing it closely with our partners, and will have more to say in the days ahead,” the organization said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"BLM’s Turn"}]

The fate of the Seminoe Pumped Storage Project could now rest with the BLM. The EIS recommendations hinge on the agency agreeing on the revised sections of its Rawlins Area Resource Management Plan.

That doesn’t seem fair to the BLM, Wyoming Wild Sheep Foundation executive director Katie Cheesbrough told Cowboy State Daily.

“It seems like they’re pushing a lot of the burden of this onto the BLM now,” she said.

Cheesbrough noted that, in an ironic twist, public sentiment is running in the opposite direction than over the BLM’s controversial Rock Spring Area Resource Management plan, which many critics said was too restrictive.

"The issue with the Rock Springs RMP was that local people would like to see less environmental regulation and more industry. And here, local people seem to want more environmental regulation and less industry,” she said.

She called the EIS recommendation for the pumped storage project “disheartening” and said it sets a bad precedent.

That’s because it asks for sweeping changes in BLM wildlife and environmental safeguards. The company claims that otherwise, the construction process will drag out too long and they won’t be able to afford it, Cheesbrough said.

From her perspective, it's a poor siting choice on rPlus Hydro’s part. If the company can’t afford to build the project at Seminoe Reservoir while also protecting the bighorn sheep herd and fishery, then the project should be turned down, she said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Five-Year Schedule"}]

The company argues that “to retain maximum flexibility needed to timely complete each segment of construction,” seasonal work restrictions related to bighorn sheep, sage-grouse and other species should be lifted, according to the EIS.

That would allow “for construction to occur up to 24-hours per day, seven days a week for the duration of the construction period,” the EIS states.

Construction is expected to last five years, but could take longer due to “weather-related events or logistical considerations,” according to the EIS.

There’s widespread perception that FERC and rPlus Hydro are ignoring what the public in Carbon County and the surrounding region are saying about the project, Patrick Harrington, Trout Unlimited's Wyoming government affairs director, told Cowboy State Daily.

The EIS calling for approval didn’t come as much of a surprise, he said. But the way the process keeps moving forward, despite vocal opposition, is disheartening, he added.

“This thing seems it‘s on railroad tracks, moving forward,” Harrington said.

Harrington said he questions “the fairness and the ability of people to engage and raise their concerns,” regarding the Seminoe Pumped Storage Project.

Seminoe State Park Discover Carbon County 6 17 26

<title>After Feds OK Controversial Seminoe Power Projects, Critics Vow To Fight | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Opponents say the proposed 972-megawatt power project at Seminoe Reservoir in Carbon County threatens the state's most prized bighorn sheep herd and the "Miracle Mile" section of the North Platte River famed for its blue-ribbon trout fishing.

After Feds OK Controversial Seminoe Power Projects, Critics Vow To Fight

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

Clair McFarland

The Wyoming Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a former Casper police officer’s argument that a judge wrongly disregarded his plea agreement when sentencing him to a prison sentence five times longer than the one for which he’d bargained.

This sends a message to all defense attorneys to lock down their clients’ plea agreements in writing, the defendant’s appeal attorney Ryan Semerad told Cowboy State Daily in a Wednesday phone interview.

“Going forward as a defense attorney, you should make it crystal clear, on the record, that when my client is entering a guilty plea to a charge pursuant to a plea agreement, we’re offering that guilty plea directly in exchange for the state’s promises about the outcome of this case,” said Semerad. “That we’re not offering our plea agreements into the air – for nothing.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Gritty Incident First"}]

Michael Scott Hughes, now 32, was still a Casper Police department officer on Aug. 22, 2024, when he grew frantic and suicidal inside his home at the Quail Run apartments complex, court documents say.

So Natrona County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the scene. Hughes’ girlfriend was in the apartment and was reluctant to leave Hughes, who was reportedly making suicidal gestures with guns and making suicidal statements.

Hughes told his girlfriend to leave and when she didn’t, he fired a pistol round into the ceiling of the apartment – so the girlfriend left, telling deputies Hughes was now alone in the apartment, and had been drinking.

Deputies evacuated the other apartments and told Hughes' upstairs neighbor to shelter inside her bathtub before evacuating her and two other people – including her teenage son – from the apartment about two hours later.

The neighbor “stepped on something hard in her living room” on her way out, and later found it was a bullet, shot through the concrete and lodged in the carpet.

The sheriff’s office sent a tactical team and crisis negotiators, who stayed in contact with Hughes until the early morning hours of Aug. 23

Hughes kept drinking and deputies kept evacuating neighbors, the high court’s Wednesday opinion recounts.

The standoff continued that day. Hughes called and texted family, friends, coworkers, and crisis negotiators. He “repeatedly attempted to entice law enforcement to enter the apartment and threatened to kill anyone that entered,” the opinion says.

Law enforcement personnel heard other gunshots. The tactical team sent a drone into the apartment through the broken window but Hughes captured it, damaged it, and threw it outside.

Hughes fired a round through a window and toward the tactical team – hitting no one – that afternoon. The round shot toward an unoccupied playground and another building.

Finally, at 4:15 p.m., Hughes handcuffed himself and let the tactical team arrest him. Investigators found three handguns and three spent shell casings in the apartment.

[{"type":"text","text":"Second, What Happened In Court"}]

Once charged and in court, Hughes pleaded not guilty to five counts of aggravated assault (felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison), one count of felony property destruction (also up to 10 years), and one count of reckless endangering (up to one year in jail).

Two months after the not-guilty plea, Hughes asked for a change of plea hearing.

The prosecutor informed Natrona County District Court Judge Catherine Wilking at that time that Hughes would plead guilty to everything except the property-destruction charge, which the state would drop, and the state would agree to limit its sentencing argument to no more than five years in prison.

That’s because while the state could argue for up to five years’ prison time on each felony, it agreed that these sentences would run concurrently, or simultaneously, the court record shows.

The high court’s Wednesday opinion says prosecutor and defense aired this agreement in court, but it wasn’t put in writing.

Wilking told Hughes he couldn’t withdraw his guilty pleas if she rejected his agreement.

[{"type":"text","text":"Hughes said he understood those conditions."}]

At Hughes’ later sentencing hearing, Wilking heard statements from Hughes' upstairs neighbors and a psychologist who had met with Hughes post-arrest.

She announced she wouldn’t follow the prosecutor’s recommended five-year cap. And she sentenced Hughes to five sets of four- to five-year sentences for the felonies and the maximum one-year sentence for the misdemeanor – for a total of 21 to 26 years in prison.

[{"type":"text","text":"Third, Legal Stuff"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Semerad entered the case to represent Hughes on appeal."}]

The attorney argued to the high court that Wilking understood Hughes’ plea agreement incorrectly, and that its one-count-left-off structure showed Hughes retained the right to withdraw his guilty pleas and go to trial if Wilking rejected the sentencing cap.

“The District Court rejected the plea agreement and sentenced Mr. Hughes to … five times what Mr. Hughes bargained for,” Semerad wrote in Hughes’ appeal brief. “This appeal turns on whether plea agreements are predictable contracts or lottery tickets.”

Semerad argued that the high court should bar trial courts from adding to plea agreements “under the guise of ‘interpretation’” and make those courts explain their reasoning when they reject plea agreements.

The Supreme Court’s unanimous opinion, penned by Justice Robert Jarosh, disagrees with this interpretation.

Firstly, it’s harder for the high court to overturn what Wilking did since Hughes didn’t object to her actions at the time, the opinion says.

The Jarosh opinion also views what Wilking did in an entirely different vein of reasoning than the argument Semerad deployed.

“Mr. Hughes’ second (argument) relies on the premise that the district court rejected, at least in part, the plea agreement during the change of plea hearing. We disagree,” says the opinion. “The district court unequivocally accepted the plea agreement and followed through with its acceptance” by dismissing the property destruction charge and holding her sentence until after the parties argued terms in court.

In the high court’s conclusion, the judge rejected the state’s sentencing recommendation which was nestled within the plea agreement, not the plea agreement as a whole.

Wilking wasn’t required to list her reasons for rejecting the state’s sentencing argument, says the opinion, but the court “nonetheless explained its rationale on the record.”

Wilking had pointed to the severity of crimes, number of victims and “heinous nature of Mr. Hughes’ actions.”

Semerad commented Wednesday, “We strongly disagree with the opinion. We respect the court’s decision, but we strongly disagree.”

“Every sentencing term in a plea agreement is, inherently, something that a defendant is exchanging his guilty plea for.

It’s not window dressing. It’s not, you know, a nice idea. It’s not a gift. It’s an agreement. I’ll give you guilty pleas if you’ll do something the state agreed to do.”

Michael Hughes Casper standoff todd 8 23 241000012153 8 23 24

<title>Supreme Court Upholds 21-To-26-Year Sentence For Casper Cop Who Caused Standoff | Cowboy State Daily</title>

The state Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the 21-to-26-year prison term for a former Casper police officer who shot at other officers during a standoff. He argued a judge wrongly disregarded his plea deal to sentence him to a term five times longer.

Supreme Court Upholds 21-To-26-Year Sentence For Casper Cop Who Caused Standoff

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

Andrew Rossi

Around Wyoming

[{"type":"text","text":"Angie Pitts of Mountain View has a problem. A big bird-spotting problem."}]

Pitts has a lean-to on her property in southwest Wyoming where she keeps her vehicles. For the last 19 years, she hasn’t had any problems sharing the space with the local wildlife.

This year, swarms of swallows have moved into the lean-to and made themselves right at home. One need look no further than their open-air bathroom.

“There’s bird poop everywhere,” Pitts said. “On my vehicles, on the concrete, everywhere.”

Pitts has spent the last two weeks trying to find a solution to her swallow problem.

“I don’t want to kill them, but I want them gone,” she said. "It's just gross."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"No. 2 Problem"}]

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

, there are seven species of swallow known to breed in Wyoming. Pitts isn’t sure which has taken up residence in her lean-to, but there are a lot of them.

“There are tons of birds,” she said. “When you drive up, or you're outside my house, they’re flying everywhere. I didn't have a problem with them until I went and looked at my vehicles.”

When Pitts pulled out her GMC pickup, she was “disgusted” by the number of bird droppings. Her red truck was so thoroughly covered, from hood to tailgate, that it looked as if she had painted it with white polka dots.

“Everything came off with soap, water and a pressure washer, but I don’t want to deal with any paint issues,” she said.

That’s just the start of it. Pitts still has two other trucks and three campers parked under the same lean-to. She hasn’t moved them yet, so they’re getting continually covered with swallow droppings.

[{"type":"text","text":"Furthermore, everything on Pitts’ truck accumulated in just two weeks."}]

“I have no idea what’s different this year,” she said. “We’ve been here 19 years, and it’s never been like this.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Stubborn Swallows"}]

Where there’s one swallow, there’s bound to be a lot of swallows, and they can be particularly annoying to deal with.

Cliff and barn swallows nest in colonies and tend to choose spots close to human habitations. That would explain why so many are spotting Pitts’s vehicles.

Pitts options are limited now that the swallows have built their nests and are either sitting on eggs or raising their young.

“The only thing we’ve done, so far, is put up owls,” she said. “That hasn’t worked.”

“Frightening” can be an effective way to deter birds from nesting or congregating in certain areas. According to 

, that isn’t effective when it comes to swallows.

In addition to being a “gross" eyesore, swallow droppings can cause mechanical issues with machinery, including vehicles, damage painted and metal surfaces, and can even carry pathogens that make people sick.

One way to deter swallows from nesting is to remove any overhanging eaves. That’s not a solution for Pitts. Furthermore, no repellents or toxicants are proven to work for swallows.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Don’t Grab The .22"}]

After sharing her anguish on social media, Pitts has received a lot of feedback on possible swallow solutions. Many people have suggested a classic Wyoming approach: that the best defense is a good offense.

“A lot of people told me to get my .22, but I don't want to kill them,” she said. “I also don’t want to be putting holes in the roof of my shop.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Pitts was wise to ignore that solution. It’s illegal."}]

While swallows aren’t an endangered species, all of Wyoming’s eight species are state and federally protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918.

, it is illegal for any person to take, possess, transport, sell, or purchase swallows or their feathers, nest or eggs without a permit.

The only exceptions are when swallows and their nesting colonies pose a significant threat to human health and property. Covered cars might not be compelling enough for Pitts to get approved for a permit to deal with the swallows.

[{"type":"text","text":"In short, Pitts has to swallow it. For now, at least."}]

Hundreds of swallows are pooping all over the place in Mountain View, Wyoming, including on Angie Pitts' property.  She didn't mind that much until she saw her vehicles caked in poop. “I don’t want to kill them, but I want them gone,” she said.

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