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Michael P. Ramirez

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

<title>Daily Cartoon: Monday, January 15, 2024 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Daily Cartoon: Monday, January 15, 2024

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

Greg Johnson

Crime & Courts

Courts

 an 87-pound elderly man with cerebral palsy in her care who’s mostly deaf, mostly blind and wears adult diapers that allegedly hadn’t been changed in 10-14 days has reached a plea agreement with prosecutors.

The deal would knock down a felony charge of intentional neglect of a vulnerable adult to a misdemeanor neglect charge.

Under the deal, Colleen Blakesley, 67, will plead guilty or no contest to the lesser charge and, if the judge follows the sentencing recommendation outlined in the agreement, avoid jail time and have a year of unsupervised probation.

A no-contest plea isn’t an admission of guilt, but acknowledges there’s enough evidence to secure a conviction.

Had she been convicted of the felony, Blakesley faced up to 10 years in prison.

She had a hearing on the plea Friday, but paperwork on whether the deal was accepted, and if so, if sentencing had been set, hadn’t been filed by Monday, according to the Hot Springs County District Court.

A call to the county attorney to clarify wasn’t immediately returned. This story will be updated when the results of Friday's hearing are available.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Started With A DFS Report"}]

The man’s condition came to the attention of the Thermopolis Police Department on Feb. 24 when a doctor doing a home visit for the man reported his condition to the Department of Family Services, according to an affidavit of probable cause written by Sgt. Nicole Andersen filed in the case.

Andersen and a DFS agent “received a complaint regarding an elderly male being neglected,” the affidavit says. “The complaint included that the male, who wears diapers, had not been changed for 10-14 days. This complaint came from a trained professional.”

They arrived to be hit with “a pungent, strong, foul smell in the home, although the living room area seemed relatively clean,” the affidavit says. “At this time, the victim … was in clean clothes.”

The elderly man isn’t vocal, and a family member told Andersen that he’s deaf, nearly blind and that they communicate with him by tracing letters in his hand, she wrote.

“I observed Robert was very skinny and not mobile,” she added, later documenting that at the hospital, the man “weighed approximately 87 pounds at the time of admission.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Man Was Combative"}]

Blakesley is the legal caregiver for the man, Andersen wrote, adding that Blakesley said he was last changed three days before.

“Upon speaking with Colleen, she advised she had last changed his diaper on Sunday afternoon, but also stated that he had been in the clothing he was observed in by the complainant for approximately two weeks due to him being combative and her not being able to change him,” according to the affidavit.

Blakesley also told police she was aware that the man had multiple sores on his body and had not seen a doctor since August 2024.

While Andersen observed the man in clean clothes, that wasn’t the case when the visiting doctor was at the home earlier that day, the affidavit says. The doctor also provided a photo of the man’s condition.

“In this photo, I observed (the man’s) pants to be extremely soiled and having the appearance of being wet, along with stains on his shirt — to include what appears to be staining near the bottom of the shirt of urine, feces, or both,” the affidavit says.

As the man was transported to a local hospital by ambulance, “I was advised that his condition was highly concerning to both EMS staff and the doctor,” Sergeant Andersen wrote. “I took photos of his wounds while in the hospital, while wearing protective gear as there was a concern of scabies.”

Thermopolis sign and police vehicle 8 3 26

<title>Deal Calls For No Jail For Thermopolis Caregiver Accused Of Neglecting Elderly Man | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A Thermopolis woman accused of neglecting an 87-pound elderly man who’s mostly deaf and blind, and wears diapers that allegedly hadn’t been changed in 10-14 days has reached a plea agreement. The deal calls for no jail time and a year of probation.

Deal Calls For No Jail For Thermopolis Caregiver Accused Of Neglecting Elderly Man

Outdoors

Public Lands

After getting bookended by a pair of wildfires that prompted the closure of Devils Tower over the weekend, the national monument reopened again to the public Monday — albeit on a limited basis.

While Devils Tower is open, the hiking trails around the tower and throughout the monument remain closed as crews continue to battle a pair of nearby fires, one just southwest of the monument’s boundary and another southeast.

“We were able to open it up this morning, but as of today, the hiking trails in the backcountry are closed,” said Dustin Sene, Powder River Group superintendent for the National Park Service.

“We’re hoping to get those back up as soon as possible,” he added. “I’m glad we were able to get it open today.”

While the trails remain off limits because of the fires burning nearby, Sene said that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to do at Devils Tower other than stand there and look at it.

“You can still come in, drive the roads, and the visitors center and bookstore are open,” he said.

Asked if climbing the tower is still off-limits, he answered, “Oh yes, that’s affirm.”

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

Wyoming State Forestry, NPS and firefighting officials had contemplated discussing reopening Devils Tower on Sunday afternoon after the 282-acre 

 on the southwest border of the monument was started Friday.

That didn’t happen, however, with the discovery Sunday afternoon of the now-300-acre 

 just southeast of Devils Tower and just east of Wyoming Highway 24.

With progress on the Left Creek Fire, fire managers were able to divert resources to the Newton Fire quickly, which has kept it relatively in check for the past 12 hour or so, Sene said.

“Boy, they did get there quick, and so did the air resources,” he told Cowboy State Daily on Monday. “It’s nice we had these resources here at the park already.

“If there was a time to have a second fire, this was it. I’m just really impressed with the local fire folks here.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘Really Scary’"}]

The National Interagency Fire Center reports that the Left Creek Fire hasn’t grown since Saturday, and now is 25% contained.

The Newton Fire isn’t reporting any containment; however, it also hasn’t shown much growth overnight and a previous order putting area residents at “set” status to evacuate has been lifted.

Highway 24 also had been closed for a time Sunday south of Devils Tower, but has since reopened.

While both fires seem to be going well for the wildland firefighting crews working them, it was “really scary” when the Left Creek Fire was discovered, said state Sen. Ogden Driskill.

The fire, believed to have been started by lightning, is on the fence line of his property — and it’s land the ranch depends on.

“It was really scary, because that’s some of the grass we depend on in the fall and winter,” he told Cowboy State Daily on Sunday morning while meeting with state and National Park Service officials.

“In my opinion, it without a doubt could’ve been a 5,000-acre-plus fire — or more,” Driskill said, adding that quick and precise work from the more than 100 firefighters on the scene have kept the wildfire in check.

“We literally watched helicopters put out crown fires all day long,” he said. “They kept it in the original line all day long (Saturday), and the ground crews kept it from spreading on the ground.”

That work has kept the fire at an estimated 282 acres, said Dick Terry, district forester for Wyoming State Forestry.

While he wouldn’t say the fire is contained, he said he’s confident it’s basically under control.

“We’ve got fire line around most of it, but it’s indirect,” he said. “It’s still small and not contained just because we’ve got the east side with a shaky line until we get a little bit of a handle on that.”

The fire has so far also stayed outside the boundary of the national monument, Terry said.

“I would assume it’s lightning,” he added about the suspected cause of the fire. “But, I haven’t seen the start of it yet. But it’s 99% sure it’s lightning.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Newton Fire, And Another One"}]

The Newton Fire was discovered at about 1:15 p.m. Sunday, and had grown to an estimated 200 acres in a couple of hours, the National Interagency Fire Center and Crook County Emergency Management report.

Asked later Sunday for an update on the wildfire situation around Devils Tower — which has closed the monument for much of Saturday and all of Sunday — county Emergency Management Coordinator Ed Robinson was blunt.

[{"type":"text","text":"“It sucks,” he said."}]

“We get one fire almost contained, and then we’re fighting another one now, too,” he told Cowboy State Daily from the scene of the Newton Fire on Sunday.

The Left Creek and Newton fires aren’t the only serious wildfire being fought in northern Wyoming.

Two counties to the east, a Wyoming Type 3 incident management team was called in to help fight a fire in the Clearmont area of Sheridan County, which has ballooned to more than 7,200 acres since it was started by lightning on Friday, according to the Type 3 team.

“A lightning storm moved across the region starting multiple fires north of Clearmont, Wyoming, in Sheridan County,” according to a report from the Type 3 team and its commander, Jon Warder.

“Weather and fuel conditions led to the fire quickly growing in size,” the report says. “While structures were threatened, none have been lost so far.”

The NIFC reports the Lumin Fire is about 50% contained, and that terrain and fuels are making the wildfire difficult to fight.

While he was at the Devils Tower site Sunday, Terry said he also had been checking in on the Lumin Fire.

Crews there have made considerable progress on getting more control and protecting buildings in the area, he said.

“It kind of sounded like they got some burnouts completed and, hopefully, they’ll be winding down on that,” he said.

Devils Tower Fire Jennifer Pierson via Crook County Fire 8 3 26

<title>‘Really Scary’: Devils Tower Reopens As Two Wildfires Burn Nearby | Cowboy State Daily</title>

After getting bookended by a pair of wildfires that prompted the closure of Devils Tower over the weekend, it reopened again Monday as the fires continue to burn. “It was really scary,” said Ogden Driskill, whose ranch is impacted.

‘Really Scary’: Devils Tower Reopens As Two Wildfires Burn Nearby

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Public Safety

Inside Rawlins Family Church on Sunday afternoon, worshippers paused when the sound of blaring sirens rushed toward East State Street. 

[{"type":"text","text":"No one inside knew exactly what had happened."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"But Michelle Greer said she knew it was serious."}]

"We started hearing police cars," Greer told Cowboy State Daily. "Then I stepped outside."

Emergency vehicles from surrounded the intersection where a small bicycle lay twisted on the pavement. Nearby, a black tarp answered everyone's immediate question. 

"I was devastated," Greer said. "I work at the school, and I knew it was one of our kids. My heart was just so broken all day yesterday. I just couldn't even really function." 

The Rawlins Police Department confirmed an 8-year-old boy died Sunday after a collision involving a bicycle and a vehicle around 12:21 p.m. near East State Street and Jefferson Avenue. 

Officers from the Rawlins Fire Department, Carbon County Sheriff's Office, Carbon County EMS and the Wyoming Highway Patrol also responded.

A preliminary Wyoming Highway Patrol report says the boy was riding north on Jefferson Street when he possibly failed to stop at a posted stop sign before entering the intersection with East State Street. A Ram 2500 traveling east on State Street struck the child.

Investigators reported the roads were dry, the weather was clear, and the pickup driver was not injured. 

The crash remains under investigation and authorities have not released additional details.

For Greer, the facts mattered less in the immediate aftermath than the overwhelming sense of loss.

[{"type":"text","text":"As emergency crews worked, people gathered quietly nearby."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"\"They were coming down. They were standing on the street,\" she said. "}]

Roads around the scene were blocked for hours while investigators documented what happened. 

[{"type":"text","text":"'Happy-Go-Lucky' "}]

[{"type":"text","text":"The crash happened in an area where children are a common sight."}]

"State Street is pretty busy," Greer said. "Jefferson is not, but there's a park right behind our church, so there's always kids at the park." 

Only a week earlier, Greer had watched neighborhood children laughing together during a family event at that same spot.

[{"type":"text","text":"The child who died was among them. "}]

"He was there all day playing with all the kids," she recalled. "He was just happy-go-lucky, and he just had a great time the whole day." 

[{"type":"text","text":"That memory has replayed in her mind ever since."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"'We're Praying For Them'"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Greer is also a mother."}]

Her daughter recently turned 18, and her son is 30. She said thinking about the victim's parents has been almost unbearable.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"Oh my gosh,\" she said. \"I can't even imagine that phone call.\" "}]

She said members of Rawlins Family Church are praying for the family and want them to know they are ready to help however they can.

"Our hearts go out to them," she said. "We're praying for them, and our church is there if they need any help or counseling." 

As police continue investigating what led to Sunday's tragedy, Greer hopes at least one lesson reaches other families.

Watching children ride bicycles and scooters through town has always made her nervous.

[{"type":"text","text":"Now, she says, it carries a different weight."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"\"It can be gone so fast,\" she said. "}]

Rawlins 20240525 rawlins 1104 4 18 26 1

<title>Rawlins Boy, 8, Dies When Hit By Truck While Riding Bicycle Outside Of Church | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A Rawlins churchgoer says her "heart was just so broken" after worshippers stepped outside of Sunday service to find remnants of a bicycle crash that killed an 8-year-old boy. "I work at the school, and I knew it was one of our kids," she said.

Rawlins Boy, 8, Dies When Hit By Truck While Riding Bicycle Outside Of Church

Just as wildland firefighters seemed to be getting a good handle on a

burning just outside the southwest boundary of a closed Devils Tower National Monument, another fire has erupted to the southeast.

The Newton Fire burning just east of Wyoming Highway 24 southeast of Devils Tower was discovered at about 1:15 p.m. Saturday, and had grown to an estimated 200 acres in a couple of hours, the National Interagency Fire Center and Crook County Emergency Management report.

Asked for an update on the wildfire situation around Devils Tower — which has closed the monument for much of Saturday and all of Sunday — county Emergency Management Coordinator Ed Robinson was blunt.

Although the 282-acre Left Creek Fire burning to the west is “not as bad as it was,” Robinson said that having another wildfire so close to the monument’s boundary “certainly doesn’t help any.”

While state forestry and National Park Service officials told Cowboy State Daily earlier on Sunday that they would evaluate the potential of reopening Devils Tower later in the afternoon, the new fire takes that option off the table, Robinson said.

Highway 24 has been closed from the “Y,” or where it branches off Highway 14 north toward Devils Tower, and all residents in the vicinity have been placed on “set” status to be prepared to evacuate, according to Crook County Emergency Management.

The Newton Fire also will slow some of the progress at the Left Creek Fire as some personnel and resources are diverted to try to keep the new wildfire from getting out of control, Robinson said.

For state Sen. Ogden Driskill, R-Devils Tower, whose family homestead contains part of the Left Creek Fire, another blaze sparking up so close to the tower is another gut-punch for local firefighters and residents.

“That’s out by the Tower Cemetery,” he said. “It’s a pretty tough deal, and that one’s probably going to burn up to the rimrock at the highway (24), and they’ll make a stand there at the highway, it sounds like.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"KOA Still Open"}]

A little farther north and next to the monument, Devils Tower/Black Hills KOA campground remains open, and is hosting the basecamp for firefighters working both fires.

“Yup, we’re open and full business ahead,” said worker at the KOA who identified himself as “just Chris.”

“We’re catching the breaks, because we are just north of the fires,” he said. “So, we’re open. Everything is good on our end here. That’s what I keep answering phone calls about all day.”

He said the KOA staff has also helped feed the wildland firefighting crews as they go in and out of the field to work the fires.

“Last night, we stayed up late and were the drop-off point for food, and (owner) Andrea Driskill opened up the kitchen,” Chris said. “We made sandwiches and the go-lunches, and had breakfast waiting for them.”

Not only is the KOA campground open, it’s continuing a long-running tradition of nightly screenings of “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.”

[{"type":"text","text":"“Yup, ‘Close Encounters’ every night, 8 o’clock,” Chris said."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"How We Got Here"}]

The Left Creek Fire was discovered at about 10:40 a.m. Saturday, and grew quickly in hot and dry conditions in northeast Wyoming, with temperatures hitting 99 degrees Saturday, the National Weather Service reports.

Believed to have been caused by lightning, Ogden Driskill said the wildfire was on the fence line of his land and another ranch owner — and he was struck with fear when he first saw the smoke.

That work Saturday has kept the fire at an estimated 282 acres, said Dick Terry, said district forester for Wyoming State Forestry.

No structures are in the area and he put his confidence at “about 80%” that the monument could reopen sometime Sunday.

That was before the Newton Fire was discovered later.

National Park Service Powder River Group Superintendent Dustin Sene agrees, while also praising the work of local agencies and landowners for helping keep the fire small and relatively in check.

“They did a great job getting ahead and getting the park evacuated,’ he said. “It’s an incredible interagency effort, as well as the local community here.

“Everybody worked well together and we’re starting conversations about when the park will get opened again.”

He also thanked the local KOA campground, which is just outside the monument’s boundary and remains open, for feeding firefighters over the weekend.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Kink In The Plans"}]

The fire and Devils Tower closure have also put a kink into the vacation plans of weekend visitors and bikers starting to make their way to the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.

“Some travel moments write themselves, and some are actively on fire,” posted John and Jenny of the “No Rules Just Roam” travel platform. “The whole scene looking like something out of a movie.”

“We are staying near Devils Tower National Monument and found out at the entrance that a Level 3 wildfire had closed he entire monument and evacuated everyone, including the staff, due to imminent danger,” the couple reported. “This is genuinely serious and we hope everyone got out safely.”

While reporting updates on the fire, they also posted a video of a camper walking through the campground with Devils Tower and smoke from the fire rising eerily in the background.

“Scrolling — Not the news. Not the fire updates,” John and Jenny posted, adding the woman was watching “reels” like nothing was happening.

“I looked at the fire. I looked at her. I looked at the fire again,” the report continues. “She did not look up.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"150 Firefighters"}]

Meanwhile, wildfire resources were quickly marshalled to battle the fire, the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) reports.

While the fire grew to nearly 300 acres in about 12 hours, “progress has been made,” Crook County Emergency Management reported Saturday. So far, “150 firefighters are currently on this fire, along with four large air tankers, two SEATs (single-engine air tankers), and four helicopters.”

That number was adjusted to more than 100 on Sunday.

Local residents and agencies also have responded to assist.

“Everyone should stay away from the national park and don’t drive in, because they are watching and will ticket anyone violating the closure,” the agency said.

That closure will keep visitors like Bryan Abernathy away, who is part of a crew of bikers making a pilgrimage to the Sturgis rally.

“Whole crew rolled to Devils Tower today,” he posted Saturday to his Sturgis SD 2026 diary on Facebook. “The actual park was closed due to a forest fire. Got to see airplanes and helicopters dropping water.”

This isn’t the first time America’s first national monument has been closed because of a wildfire.

In May 2013, it was closed when what was supposed to be a 300-acre prescribed burn got out of control in high winds and ignited a spot fire in about the same area as the Left Creek Fire, according to the National Park Service.

That fire also burned some power lines that left a couple dozen homesteads in the area without electricity.

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

The Left Creek Fire isn’t the only serious wildfire being fought in northern Wyoming.

The NIFC reports the Lumin Fire is about 5% contained, and that terrain and fuels are making the wildfire difficult to fight. As of Sunday evening, that containment figure hadn’t been updated.

Devils Tower Fire 761355127 1034776352639182 2376020774372480484 n 8 2 26

<title>Second Wildfire Breaks Out Near Devils Tower, Monument Still Closed | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Just as firefighters seemed to be getting a handle on a nearly 300-acre fire burning just outside the southwest boundary of a closed Devils Tower, another fire erupted to the southeast Sunday. “It sucks,” was the blunt assessment from a county official.

Second Wildfire Breaks Out Near Devils Tower, Monument Still Closed

You Still Here

[{"type":"text","text":"Was he expecting a hug? Narrated by MMA announcer, Steve Inman....."}]

Inman 8 3 26

<title>Steve Inman: Monday, August 3, 2026 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Was he expecting a hug? Narrated by MMA announcer, Steve Inman.....

Steve Inman: Monday, August 3, 2026

Kerry Drake

Wyoming Life

When Manus Hand was 9 years old in 1973, he noticed that many places — towns, cities, counties and townships — around the country shared the name of his home state, and he wondered where the word originated. 

His father, James, a Laramie attorney, suggested he write to the postmasters in every "Wyoming" he’d located, and ask them what they thought.

It was a win-win for the youngster, his dad explained. He’d get the answers he wanted and also some neat postmarks for his stamp collection.

As it turned out, Manus' love of stamp collecting, American history and atlas reading would converge three years later for America's bicentennial to lead him on a nationide odyssey with his parents and five sisters that ultimately took him to the White House.

Manus, to his surprise, received friendly replies from everyone he wrote, plus information about the other Wyomings. There was no consensus, though, about the origin of the word.

As the nation’s 200th birthday drew closer, his dad had an idea to pitch to Wyoming’s Bicentennial Commission in Cheyenne.

The father-and-son team told the group that as a goodwill gesture the Equality State could make plaques that would convey Wyoming state citizenship to the residents of every other Wyoming. 

And they’d be hand-delivered by Manus, whose first name actually is Latin for "hand" -- effectively making him Hand Hand. Manus describes it as an example of his father's finely honed sense of humor.

The Bicentennial Commission agreed to provide a grant of $1,200, if Manus could raise a matching amount for the trip. The elder Hand solved that problem, too.

[{"type":"text","text":"Herschler Kicked In $1,200"}]

“Dad just dragged me over to the other wing of the Capitol, straight to the governor’s office, and I did my presentation again,” Manus, now 62 and a professonal web designer in Parker, Colorado, told Cowboy State Daily. 

[{"type":"text","text":"Gov. Ed Herschler provided the matching $1,200 on the spot."}]

Word spread quickly about what was soon dubbed “The Wyoming Trip” as Manus gave newspapers in the state details about the project. He was at a friend’s house in Laramie when he saw Walter Cronkite talk about the upcoming event on the “CBS Evening News.”

Like most people, Hand remembered, America’s most trusted newsman mispronounced his name (it’s MAWN-us). Still, any publicity was good publicity.

On June 11, 1972, the Hand family packed into its station wagon with the appropriate “5-WYOS” license plate and headed for their first official stop in Wyoming, Minnesota. With two adults, six kids, luggage and boxes of plaques and other gifts to give to more than two dozen Wyomings, Manus said, “We were pretty danged packed.”

“My mother hated every minute of it,” he added, though she didn’t confess that until recently. Manus, a parent and grandparent now, understands: “Imagine what it’s like to have all six of your kids yelling and screaming.”

His parents wanted to keep a strict schedule, but their hopes were quickly dashed. If there’s a common thread to the 25-page journal about the trip compiled for the commission by Manus and his folks, it’s that something always made them late on every leg of the journey, especially car troubles and illnesses.

This wouldn’t have been much of a problem if Manus’ initial vision had come to fruition.

Fifty years ago, it was all about the Bicentennial and Laramie's Manus Hand embarked on a project that took him to dozens of towns, cities and counties named Wyoming. Wyoming's Dick Cheney was President Ford's chief of staff and hosted the 12-year-old and his family.

Daily Cartoon: Monday, January 15, 2024

Michael P. Ramirez

Cartoonist

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Daily Cartoon: Monday, January 15, 2024

Authors

Michael P. Ramirez

Cartoonist

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