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Michael P. Ramirez

Daily Cartoon

Cartoon 11 11 23

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

<title>Daily Cartoon: Saturday, November 11, 2023 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Daily Cartoon: Saturday, November 11, 2023

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

Greg Johnson

Crime & Courts

Courts

A Tinder date gone horribly wrong ended with a Newcastle man dead with a hollow-point round in his chest and a South Dakota man facing a second-degree murder charge — and vastly different stories from the couple who had just met for a hook-up.

The woman Drake Alexander Ingalls of Belle Fourche, South Dakota, had driven nearly 90 minutes to meet this past weekend told investigators that Ingalls “did not need to shoot that gun at all.”

Ingalls, however, says he shot the other man in defense of his Tinder date after the woman screamed for “help” several times, according to an affidavit of probable cause written by Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation Agent Zack Miller.

The shooting happened a little before 5 a.m. Sunday, and Ingalls had his initial court appearance Tuesday, where a Weston County Circuit Court judge gave him a $250,000 cash-only bond and set an Aug. 19 preliminary hearing.

By the time Newcastle police responded to the home of the victim, identified in court documents as Jason Greene, he was lying face-down on the floor and obviously dead, wrote Miller.

An officer “entered the trailer home and located the victim … lying face-down on the floor between the hallway and living room with a large pool of blood underneath his chest,” the affidavit says. “Officers and emergency medical personnel confirmed Greene was deceased.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"What She Said"}]

In separate interviews with the woman and Ingalls, both told investigators how they met on Tinder and had been talking for anywhere from a couple weeks (according to her) to a few months (according to him) before Ingalls drove to Newcastle on Saturday so they could meet up, the affidavit says.

They had a room at a local hotel and had been drinking for hours by the time the woman got a text from Greene calling her a “whore,” Miller wrote.

The woman then allegedly proceeded to claim Greene had mistreated her, but later told investigators that Greene had “never assaulted her and the two were not in any physical altercation,” the affidavit says.

Upset after getting the text, the woman asked Ingalls to take her to Greene’s place “so she could talk to him,” Miller wrote.

The woman “told Ingalls about the text message and that Greene had abused her in the past,” the affidavit says. “(She) told Ingalls that if he heard her yell for help to come and help her.”

Greene didn’t know they were coming to his residence, the document adds. Miller’s affidavit also doesn’t elaborate on how the woman and Greene knew each other.

The woman and Greene were in a “heated verbal argument” with her “yelling loudly,” which Ingalls reportedly heard, the affidavit says. So, he left his car outside the trailer and went to the woman.

The woman also told investigators that she didn’t actually see the shooting, “and adamantly stated Greene never assaulted her and the two were not in any physical altercation,” the affidavit says.

She continued to say that Ingalls “did not need to shoot that gun at all,” Miller wrote about her statement.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"What He Said"}]

That’s not how the confrontation went down, however, Ingalls said in his own interview with investigators, the affidavit says.

“Ingalls claimed he came around a shed and observed Greene struggling with (the woman) near the doorway threshold,” Miller wrote. “Ingalls described the struggle as Greene behind (the woman) and he had his arms hooked under her armpits and another hand on the back of her head or hair, and it appeared he was trying to pull (her) into his trailer.”

Ingalls said he tried to pull the door open, then pointed a handgun at Greene and demanded he let the woman go, according to his statement detailed in the affidavit.

“At which point, Ingalls said he fired his handgun,” Miller wrote. “Ingalls could only see Greene’s chest as (the woman) was in front of him and he believed he shot him right in the middle of the chest.”

That’s when Greene stumbled back into the trailer and fell onto the living room floor.

Ingalls had the gun because he had it in his car and grabbed it when he heard the woman yell for help, the affidavit says.

“Ingalls retrieved his 9 mm Glock 17 handgun from the center console of his car and chambered a hollow-point round into the handgun as he approached the side entrance of the trailer,” Miller wrote.

Ingalls and the woman then got back into his car and drove around the block before returning to the scene and the woman called 911.

If convicted of second-degree murder, Ingalls could get anywhere from 20 years ot life in prison, a fine of not more than $10,000, or both.

Newcastle highway sign Drake Alexander Ingalls 8 12 26

<title>Tinder Date Ends With Newcastle Man Shot Dead, S.D. Man Facing Murder Charge | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Tinder Date Ends With Newcastle Man Shot Dead, S.D. Man Facing Murder Charge

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

Andrew Rossi

Public Safety

This story was updated at 4:45 p.m. Wednesday.

A multi-vehicle accident between Cody and Yellowstone National Park involving multiple motorcycles on Wednesday morning resulted in one confirmed fatality and five serious injuries, the Wyoming Highway Patrol tells Cowboy State Daily.

WHP spokesman Aaron Brown said the multi-vehicle incident at Wapiti involved four motorcycles, a pickup truck, and a Wyoming Department of Transportation vehicle.

“What we know is we had one fatality,” Brown said. “One (victim) was LifeFlighted to a hospital in Billings, Montana, and the other three were taken to Cody Regional Health via ambulance. I don't know who was taken or transferred where, but they all had severe injuries."

Because the investigation into the accident is ongoing, Brown didn’t know what the contributing factors might have been. He could confirm that the driver of the WYDOT truck was not injured.

“The WYDOT vehicle looks to have been struck toward the end of the crash,” he said

WHIP will release the deceased victim’s name once next-of-kin is notified, Brown said.

As of 2:50 p.m., U.S. Highway 14/16/20 was cleared of debris and open to traffic in both directions.

At 9:38 a.m., WYDOT closed all lanes on the highway due to the crash. First responders were rushing to the scene, which an eyewitness says involved multiple people who appeared to be seriously injured.

According to exchanges on the Park County Public Safety-WyoLink radio scanner, first responders had received “a report of two fatalities.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Too Grisly"}]

Wapiti resident Jimmy Rush was heading toward Cody for work when he observed the scene of the incident. It happened sometime between 8 and 8:30 a.m. Wednesday near the Old Faithful RV Park, just outside Wapiti.

“When I passed by, it was still a very early stage of the accident,” he said. “There were no first responders on the scene. There were at least four to five motorcycles and debris everywhere. I counted at least three bodies that I could see lying on the ground, not moving, with more down in ditches."

Rush said the victims were being attended to “by all of the gracious people of Wyoming,” who immediately pulled over and jumped out of vehicles to help.

A Silver Ford pickup truck, either an F-250 or F-350, had been “ejected out into a field,” according to Rush. From what he could see, it appeared to have "impacted something.”

“I immediately called (Park County Dispatch) and said, ‘You guys got to send everybody. There’s multiple bodies and multiple injuries, and one ambulance ain't going to get it done.’”

As Rush continued into Cody, he saw five Park County Sheriff’s deputies, multiple fire trucks, a Wyoming Highway Patrol trooper, and two ambulances heading to the scene.

Rush took a photo of a WYDOT truck at the scene, which showed a damaged tailgate.

“It was the only picture I felt comfortable taking,” he said. “It was too grisly.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"What Happened?"}]

Rush could only piece together a rough scenario of events based on what he observed.

“From what I can tell, the WYDOT truck was starting to do some type of work,” he said. “There were cones set up, but I don't know if he was setting those cones up for some pending work that was about to happen, or if he had set those cones up because of the accident.

[{"type":"text","text":"“It’s really hard to tell, but it was severe.”"}]

This is a developing story and will be updated as more information is available.

Wapiti Crash 308 12 26

<title>UPDATE: Fatality Reported In Crash Involving Four Motorcycles, WYDOT Truck Near Cody | Cowboy State Daily</title>

An accident involving multiple motorcycles and a WYDOT truck has resulted in at least one fatality and serious injuries on U.S. Highway 14-16-20 near Cody. "I counted at least three bodies that I could see lying on the ground, not moving," one witness said.

UPDATE: Fatality Reported In Crash Involving Four Motorcycles, WYDOT Truck Near Cody

Guest Column

Guest Columnists

My friend and erstwhile opponent in the 2018 Primary for Governor approached me a few days before election day and said, “Mark, I might actually beat you.” He had good reason to think that. It had been a hard campaign.

His entrance into the race had been a surprise to the entire field, but he approached it with grace, humor, and enthusiasm grounded in his faith. 

He earned his spurs, so to speak, by traipsing all over Wyoming with the rest of us, walking parades, answering questions at forums and debates. 

Campaigning is tough for anyone but this 79-year-old man, it was clear, had demonstrated he had the stuff it takes to be a strong leader.

I took his comment seriously. By then he had Chuck Norris backing him and Donald Trump Jr. Foster Friess was a fierce competitor eventually gaining President Trump’s endorsement shortly before the primary.

Foster and I agreed to keep the race above board – and I believe we did. Sure, there were some clumsy and ineffective 3

 party shenanigans towards the end, but neither of us ever condoned them.

Foster was always a gentleman, as were Sam Galeotos and Taylor Haynes. All were among the first to offer help to a new Governor with  so much to learn from each. 

I am grateful because I know it isn’t easy to offer a hand after such a hard fought election. It sucks to lose and it really hurts.

This election, similar to the one two years ago, has amplified the sorts of big city, big money, nasty half-truths and flat-out lies or falsehoods that have become all too common in other states. It’s not the Wyoming I know.

Here we respect the Code of the West, and most candidates always worked to discourage that sort of campaigning. They understood it was offensive to Wyoming people, who pretty well know right from wrong. 

Contrast is one thing, but bearing false witness is taboo for a population that appreciates all ten of the Commandments.

Where has that sensibility gone? This election we have been abused by cynical political operatives whose stock-in-trade is to twist facts and foment suspicion with incomplete, dishonest tales and misinformation. 

Especially galling are out-of-state political operatives who get paid big bucks for duping voters.  I hope their vilification is misplaced in the Cowboy State.  Wyoming voters are honest and they care.

I believe voters will see through the baloney that passes for politics elsewhere and will come to rest on those candidates who know what they are talking about, know and care about Wyomingites and know what is important to Wyoming – jobs, family, the economy, and our way of life.

Ask yourself, is this candidate talking mostly about someone else, or, as they should be, are they listening and talking about the things that will keep our core industries vital, our way of life secure, our kids safe, and our communities whole. 

Ask yourself if what they are saying is valuable to your community, to your family, to your grandchildren –  or is it just political blather and mud?

Ask what a candidate has actually done to make the state better and why.  Ask for details.

I say enough with the name calling, the false information, the nasty for nasty sake. Enough with the schlock that uses Wyoming voters as fundraising bait. 

Let’s elect people for who they are and what they will do, not for what some mysterious, never-heard-of-them-before organization ginned up to make voters mad. 

Let’s elect people to represent our interests, not puppets who parrot consultants’ talking points. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Ride for the brand!"}]

Gordon 11 23 23

<title>Guest Column: Wyoming Doesn’t Need More Mud Slinging | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Gov. Mark Gordon writes, "I say enough with the name calling, the false information, the nasty for nasty sake. Enough with the schlock that uses Wyoming voters as fundraising bait."

Guest Column: Wyoming Doesn’t Need More Mud Slinging

Employee kate meadows cropped

Kate Meadows

Education

A parent in Sweetwater County School District No. 1 has asked for the Board of Trustees to remove chair Cole Wright from his position, claiming the board violated her rights to free speech by amending its public-comment policy last fall.

At the school board meeting in Rock Springs on Monday, Cherell O’Driscoll presented the board with a signed petition calling for Wright’s removal on grounds that he has violated the district’s ethics policy, committed open-meeting violations and behaved unprofessionally.

O’Driscoll’s primary concern is that according to the amended policy she can’t publicly criticize personnel but can publicly praise them.

She said she began circulating the petition in April and collected signatures by reaching out on social media and talking to people around town.

“Like my dad always told me, we have to stand up for what we believe in,” O'Driscoll said.

Wright was not at the board meeting in person but attended virtually because he was out of town for personal reasons, he told Cowboy State Daily.

"There is nothing I can provide at this time other than the board will respond to the petition pursuant to statute," he said.

Once that happens, Wright said, he'll be happy to share the board's decisions "so that you can appropriately tell the full story."

Calls and emails to Superintendent Joseph Libby seeking comment were not returned before publication.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Background"}]

The school board implemented changes to its public comment policy at its August 2025 meeting.

While comments related to district operations, policy or programming are welcome, Wright said that “comments regarding employment or performance of individual staff members cannot be addressed publicly by the board due to privacy protections under the Wyoming Public Records Act and due process rights under the Wyoming Teacher Appointment Law.”

At that same board meeting, Wright reported that action regarding the superintendent’s contract had been taken in executive session two months earlier.

“I want to begin my message with transparency and accountability,” he said at the beginning of the August meeting. “At the June 9 board meeting, I stated I do not anticipate any action upon our return regarding the executive session. That statement turned out to be incorrect. When the board reconvened, we did take action. 

"All trustees present voted to extend Dr. Libby’s contract. I recognize the confusion this caused and I take full responsibility for that miscommunication.”

According to contract documents viewed by Cowboy State Daily, Libby was hired for the 2024-2025 school year with an approved annual salary of $178,000, for both the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 school years.

An amendment to the contract, effective July 1, 2025, extended his employment contract through June 30, 2028 and raised Libby’s salary to $195,000, effective July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026, with increases each year thereafter. 

According to the amended contract, he will be paid $205,000 for the 2027-2028 school year. 

The amendment further increased Libby's car allowance to $1,500 per month from $800, as laid out in the original contract – an increase of 87.5%.

O’Driscoll learned about the amended contract when she discovered a file marked “Confidential” that she said had been uploaded to the public Board Docs website by mistake.

The document, one page labeled “Executive Session Minutes,” is dated June 9, 2025, and references “Personnel discussion was held to discuss The Superintendent’s Contract.”

After the discovery, she reached out to the Goldwater Institute, a conservative public policy think tank and litigation organization that monitors free speech and public records issues nationwide.

The Goldwater Institute has also represented fellow Sweetwater County School District No. 1 parent Kari Cochran in lawsuits brought against her by two school district administrators. Cochran 

lost her 18-year-old son to suicide in 2023

 and has been trying to retrieve his records from the district since.

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

Five signatures are required to present a petition to a school board. O’Driscoll’s petition contained 105 signatures.

“We gave Wright the opportunity to change and he has not,” O’Driscoll told the board Monday. “I told Dr. Libby and Cole Wright in a meeting in May that if they were to keep coming and we were not going to be able to work together I was going to put my feet into the sand and come back and fight back. And here I am.

[{"type":"text","text":"“I may be as stubborn as a mule. But I am as patient as an ox.” "}]

[{"type":"text","text":"She said she was nervous as she stood in front of the board Monday."}]

“It’s confrontation,” she told Cowboy State Daily. “To go face-to-face and call somebody out, it was very stressful.”

O’Driscoll emphasized she was asking for Wright to be removed from his position as chair and not completely removed from the board.

[{"type":"text","text":"“He is failing in the position he was elected to do,” she said"}]

Wright was not present at Monday’s meeting. Board member Danielle Schumacher, who led the meeting in Wright’s place, acknowledged receipt of the petition and said O’Driscoll would receive a response within 30 days.

[{"type":"text","text":"O’Driscoll said she was not surprised by that."}]

“I would love a response to be in writing,” she said. “It’s very difficult to get things in writing from them.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"The Legal Side"}]

Last week, The Goldwater Institute opined on its website that the Sweetwater County School District is misusing its recently revised public comment policy to “unconstitutionally silence critics.”

According to Parker Jackson, an attorney at the institute, Sweetwater County No. 1’s Board of Trustees amended its public comment policy to prohibit any written or in-person comments that negatively address individual employee performance or employment. But comments praising individual employee performance are welcome.

He used O’Driscoll’s experience as an example, saying she was cut off by Wright and her written comments were redacted when she attempted to publicly criticize the district’s assistant superintendent in April.

“However, she was allowed to make written and in-person comments praising other school employees,” Jackson said.

This, Jackson argues, is viewpoint discrimination that violated the First Amendment.

He elaborated in an email to Cowboy State Daily: “Under the First Amendment, government officials cannot engage in viewpoint discrimination. That means that when public comment is taken on agendized matters in a public meeting, the board cannot pick and choose which opinions to hear.”

Jackson further said the school board is in violation of the Wyoming Public Records Act. When the institute requested copies of O’Driscoll’s unredacted written public comments, the district refused, claiming the comments were confidential personnel files.

“The district’s interpretation of ‘personnel files’ is so broad that it could encompass any record the district has that names or criticizes an employee or that the district chooses to place in a personnel file,” Jackson said via email.

The Goldwater Institute sent two letters to the school district asking them to reverse course. The institute has not received a response to either letter, Jackson said.

According to Jackson, the district faces possible litigation if it does not fix the alleged violations.

That could mean lawsuits in state or federal court – or both – based on violations of the First Amendment and state law.

Sweetwater cole wright 8 11 26

<title>Sweetwater Schools Parent Demands Board Chair Removal Over Free Speech Policy | Cowboy State Daily</title>

At the school board meeting in Rock Springs on Monday night , a parent presented the Sweetwater County School District No. 1 Board of Trustees with a petition calling for Cole Wright's removal as board chair. The petition was signed by 105 people.

Sweetwater Schools Parent Demands Board Chair Removal Over Free Speech Policy

Heinz mark

Mark Heinz

Around Wyoming

This story was updated at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

The Weiser Knoll wildfire southeast of Lander, sparked by an overheated trailer wheel bearing Sunday afternoon, exploded to roughly 16,300 acres by late Tuesday afternoon and was 0% contained. 

The fire, the largest of the summer so far in Wyoming, prompted an evacuation order for residents in the Twin Creek Drainage area, east of Wyoming Highway 28. More than 200 fire personnel were fighting it, according to the federal government's InciWeb wildfire tracking website.

Area rancher Rhett Abernathy told Cowboy State Daily that by about noon Tuesday he and others hoped the worst was over, as winds calmed and “slurry bombers” continued to drop water and fire retardant on the blaze.

Sunday night was awful, he said, as the fire was driven by strong winds.

“That first night, the wind picked up and the fire started running down the ridges. Everybody was just waiting for their places to go up,” Abernathy said.

According to state and federal fire agency reports, the fire was sparked at about 2:15 p.m. Sunday on Highway 28 about 13 miles southeast of Lander.

The overheated bearing caused three initial fires to spring up alongside the road at a spot known as Johnnie Lee’s Corner, according to reports. 

Rancher and outdoors business owner Ron Hansen, who lives about 7 miles northwest of Lander, told Cowboy State Daily late Tuesday that he was worried about another possible wildfire. 

That blaze appeared to be growing about 5 miles southwest of Fort Washakie, he said. 

“If this one blows up, it’s going to come straight for us,” Hansen said. 

With hot, dry conditions persisting, he said he’s worried about how bad the fires might get. 

“I hate to say this because I’m in the outdoors recreation business. But I’m almost to the point of begging people to not go outside, to not go out into the hills,” Hansen said. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘Five-Foot Flames’"}]

Lander resident Michelle Motherway told Cowboy State Daily  she was camping with family Sunday and drove back into town after the fire started. 

“There were five-foot flames right on the side of the highway,” she said. 

The smoke in town wasn’t terrible Tuesday, but late Sunda, it was miserable, Motherway said. 

“Two nights ago, it was really reminiscent of the (1988) Yellowstone fires, where you could see that the moon was orange and the sky was orange. It was just eerie,” she said. 

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

Abernathy said that during its initial stages, the fire tore through ranchland on the Abernathy Ranches and Bureau of Land Management allotments leased by the ranch. 

It was touch-and-go for a while, he said, as they scrambled to move cattle out of the flames’ path. 

Luckily, Abernathy said, nobody was hurt and no cattle were killed. 

“We had a couple of old log cabins and old barns burn, but they were of no function,” he said. 

However, a significant amount of rangeland was rendered useless for grazing, he said.

“It will be the year after next before we can graze any of it again,” Abernathy said. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Feeding the Firefighters"}]

Motherway owns Mr. D’s Food Center in Lander, which has been helping to feed firefighters. 

“When the fire broke out on Sunday, I got hold of the fire incident command, and we arranged to get food for them,” she said. “We fed 65 people Sunday evening.” 

But as local Wyoming State Forestry and BLM crews were called in, the number of firefighters needed three meals a day delivered to them ballooned.

“We’re feeding 200 people breakfast, lunch, and dinner,” she said. 

With only three full-time staff at the store, meeting demand requires “an army of volunteers,” Motherway added. 

Codi Jorgensen, a local teacher, volunteered to help prepare firefighters’ meals, along with her 11-year-old daughter. 

“We were there (at the store) for four or five hours, putting meals together,” Jorgensen said. 

Motherway stepping up to help is “just Michelle being Michelle,” Jorgensen said. So, she and her daughter were happy to pitch in.

She added that while the smoke hasn’t been so horrible in town, the fire still has an ominous presence.

“We can see it from our back deck at my house. You can see the flames,” Jorgensen said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘Lookie-Loos’"}]

Motherway said there have been some “lookie-loos” showing up to try to get a look at the fire, which can impede firefighters and cause safety problems. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"The BLM concurred. "}]

“Twin Creek Rd. is closed to the public and only open to area landowners. Highways WY 28 and US 287 remain open, but please remain alert and yield to fire traffic and crews working in the area. For public and firefighter safety, the public is asked to remain out of and away from the fire perimeter,” the agency stated in a fire update Tuesday afternoon. “Red Flag conditions, characterized by strong gusty winds, low relative humidity, and elevated temperatures, contributed to heightened fire activity yesterday (Monday).” 

On Tuesday, ground crews were “constructing direct containment lines," as aircraft continued to drop water and fire retardant. 

“Coordination continues with local power companies to restore power to the area,” the BLM reported.

Fire smoke 8 11 26

<title>UPDATE: Fire Near Lander At 16,530 Acres And 0% Contained, Prompts Evacuations | Cowboy State Daily</title>

The Weiser Knoll fire near Lander, started by an overheated wheel bearing on Highway 28 on Sunday, exploded to Wyoming's largest at 16,530 acres and was 0% contained late Tuesday. “Everybody was waiting for their places to go up,” a local rancher said.

Daily Cartoon: Saturday, November 11, 2023

Michael P. Ramirez

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