You Still Here

Although it may look painful, the good news is she was just signed as a free agent to be the middle linebacker for the Chicago Bears...

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

<title>You Still Here? Thursday, January 18, 2024 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

You Still Here? Thursday, January 18, 2024

 Although it may look painful, the good news is she was just signed as a free agent to be the middle linebacker for the Chicago Bears...

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Public Safety

Skeletal human remains found in an abandoned building west of Cheyenne on Wednesday have prompted a lengthy identification process that investigators say could take months, while renewing hope and fear among families of Wyoming's missing.

Deputies with the Laramie County Sheriff's Office say a deceased individual was discovered in a building on Happy Jack Road. The remains were "essentially skeletal."

The sheriff's office, working with the Laramie County Coroner's Office, said there is no evidence of foul play or any threat to the public.

The discovery has already stirred emotions across Wyoming's missing persons community.

"You're excited because you want closure," said Desirée Tinoco, founder of Missing People of Wyoming. "You want one of those cases that, for years, has been forgotten."

Then comes the realization that every identification also brings devastating news to someone.

"You start to really sympathize and understand this is going to be terrible news also for somebody," Tinoco said. "They are going to get answers, and it's obviously not what they want to hear."

Stacy Koester, president of the Gillette-based nonprofit WyoFind Search, Rescue and Recovery of the Missing, said families across the state experience the same emotional conflict whenever unidentified remains are found.

Loved ones "are both anxious and terrified," she said. "They're hopeful that it could be their person, but they're also terrified that it's their person. They're hopeful because then they'd have answers, but they're terrified because those answers could be devastating."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Who Could It Be?"}]

Both Tinoco and Koester said the location immediately made them think of Nash Quinn, the Cheyenne-area man who vanished July 8, 2024.

Quinn frequently rode his bicycle in the Pilot Hill, Rogers Canyon and Happy Jack Road areas. Deputies and aerial search teams spent days combing those locations after he disappeared.

Both women, however, stressed there is no evidence connecting the newly discovered remains to Quinn.

Tinoco said that after hearing a dispatch call that the clothing found with the remains might date to the 1990s, she realized the remains could just as easily belong to someone who disappeared decades ago or even someone merely passing through Wyoming.

Before investigators had released many details, she had already received a call from a woman in Colorado whose missing friend was last seen wearing clothing similar to what early reports described.

"Could it be related? We don't know," Tinoco said. "I told her to contact the sheriff's office. That's what you always want to do."

[{"type":"text","text":"Koester likewise cautioned against speculation."}]

"Rumors tend to fly like wildfire," she said. "Nobody knows anything except for law enforcement, and everybody needs to be patient and wait for law enforcement to do what they have to do."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Long Wait Ahead"}]

Every discovery, Tinoco said, has the potential to unlock something that had long been buried.

"Getting those new tips, getting that new traction on cases, is what we want," she said. "Even if it isn't for that case, it'll get some good attention on it."

Investigators say the identification process may take several months because of the condition of the remains. No additional information will be released until authorities positively identify the deceased and notify next of kin.

Tinoco said cases like this also remind people how many Wyoming disappearances remain unsolved, some dating back decades.

She noted that many of those investigations are so old the original investigators have retired or died, leaving families and nonprofit organizations to continue pushing for answers.

For now, investigators are asking for patience while they work to determine who was found inside the abandoned building. 

Body found on Happy Jack 7 23 26

<title>Skeletal Remains Found In Abandoned Building West Of Cheyenne | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Skeletal human remains found in an abandoned building west of Cheyenne on Wednesday could take months to identify, investigators say. The discovery has renewed hope and fear among families of Wyoming's missing.

Skeletal Remains Found In Abandoned Building West Of Cheyenne

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

Clair McFarland

Government & Politics

Politics

Wyoming’s lone U.S. House representative was one of seven Republicans who voted against the National Defense Authorization Act for the upcoming year as the $1.15 trillion spending package passed the House.

[{"type":"text","text":"It heads next to the U.S. Senate."}]

In a 216-212 vote, six Democrats voted Wednesday in favor of the bill while seven Republicans — including Rep. Harriet Hageman — opposed the Trump-backed measure.

The other Republicans who crossed the aisle were Reps. Thomas Massie (Kentucky), Tim Burchett (Tennessee), Elijah Crane (Arizona), Anna Paulina Luna (Florida), Chip Roy (Texas), and Josh Brecheen (Oklahoma).

Hageman told Cowboy State Daily via a Thursday text from her communications director that her nay vote was about runaway spending.

Two years ago, she offered an amendment to the 2024 version of the recurring military spending package directing the Pentagon to avoid a trillion-dollar budget request, she noted, adding she was concerned the U.S. would hit that mark by the end of the decade.

“The house did not consider my policy, and the result after failing its seventh audit is a more than trillion-dollar budget request,” wrote Hageman.

“The American people want to support our servicemembers, counter the Chinese Communist Party, and secure the southern border — objectives which this bill accomplishes,” she wrote. “But the U.S. taxpayer also expects fiscal responsibility, and authorizing a $1.15 trillion budget for a single agency that has not made any meaningful progress to clean up its budget while we rapidly approach $40 trillion in national debt fails this expectation.”

Hageman said Congress “must stop writing blank checks with zero accountability, and for that reason I could not support this bill.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘Win For Trump'"}]

Politico called the bill’s ascension from House to Senate a “win for Trump.”

[{"type":"text","text":"The Senate version of the package stalled prior."}]

On the House side, Massie and Democratic U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, of California, tried without success to advance a provision that would have removed a multibillion-dollar provision geared toward defense technology collaboration with Israel.  

While she aligned with Massie in her nay vote on the bill altogether, Hageman differed from him Thursday, as Massie and three other Republicans voted with Democrats to direct the president to remove the U.S. Armed Forces from war with Iran.

She has in public statements voiced more support for of the nation’s defense of Israel than Massie, a critic of U.S. involvement.

The bill includes conservative provisions like renaming the U.S. Department of Defense to the Trump-approved moniker “Department of War,” blocking coverage for sex-change treatments and making it easier for military personnel to carry their own guns on military bases.

Republican leaders attached the election reform bill SAVE America Act to the measure as well.

House Armed Services Committee Democrat Rep. Adam Smith of Washington called the bill’s lack of bipartisan support a product of Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s “out of control” policies.

The six Democrats who crossed party lines to advance the bill were Reps. Henry Cuellar (Texas), Don Davis (North Carolina), Vicente Gonzalez (Texas), Jared Golden (Maine), Adam Gray (California) and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Washington).

Hageman 7 23 26

<title>Hageman One Of 7 Republican No Votes For $1.15 Trillion Trump-Backed Defense Act | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Harriet Hageman was one of seven Republicans who voted against the Trump-backed $1.5 trillion National Defense Authorization Act that passed the House on Wednesday. She said Congress “must stop writing blank checks with zero accountability."

Hageman One Of 7 Republican No Votes For $1.15 Trillion Trump-Backed Defense Act

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

Greg Johnson

CHEYENNE — the U.S. Department of the Interior is ready to intervene in the more than 100-year-old dispute over Colorado River water if the seven Western states involved can’t come together on a realistic plan to manage the resource.

That was part of the message U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum shared during a Thursday visit to Cheyenne Frontier Days with a large number of his department heads.

Burgum also said that after multiple meetings with governors of the Colorado River upper and lower basin states, he’s confident they’ll come to a new agreement that can replace the 1922 compact now in place.

“I’ve said before … if we come up with a plan that nobody likes, we probably have the right plan,” said Burgum, who was North Dakota’s governor before tapped by President Trump to head the Department of the Interior.

“Because when you have a shortage (of Colorado River water) that’s this severe, if somebody was happy and somebody was unhappy, then it’s not the right amount of sharing the pain or shouldering the responsibility,” he continued.

A July 31 deadline to comment on his department’s plan for the Colorado is a little more than a week out, he said, adding that something has to be ready by the time the new water year starts Oct. 1.

“There has been no consensus among the seven states,” Burgum said. “There are disagreements between the upper and lower basin. When they can’t agree, then it kicks it back to the federal (level), and the federal government essentially becomes the water master.”

Even if that happens, Gov. Mark Gordon, who hosted Burgum and his staff, said Wyoming’s share of water is protected by water rights that are senior to the 1922 compact.

“The water rights prior to that are going to be unaffected,” he said. “The Bureau of Reclamation owns the water, we don’t own water in Flaming Gorge. They control that.”

But so far, he said the second Trump administration has been listening to states, farmers “and listen to the people who actually use the resource, and they’ll use their judgment as they can.

“But I want to make sure people understand that Wyoming water law is sacrosanct, and it’s not going to be affected.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Numbers Crunch"}]

A sort of perfect storm of issues is bringing the long-debated Colorado River crisis into focus.

The guidelines of the compact were set more than a century ago during a wet year with plenty of water, setting a baseline that’s just not there every year, Burgum said. Added to that is this past record dry winter and low snowpack in the upper basin.

When the water was divided up in 1922, there were 16 million acre-feet of water available from the Colorado River, he said. This year there’s only 3.5 million available, which increases pressure from lower basin states for the upper basin — which includes Wyoming — to release more water.

“This year, we think that the amount of new water coming into this thing is going to be 3.5 million,” he said. “So, there’s the idea that everybody wants their appropriated share. The water isn’t there.”

Adding to the crisis is the sheer number of people who depend on the Colorado River for drinking water, irrigation, power generation and recreation, Burgum said.

“There are 42 million people that live in an area served by this, and then we ship water out to places like Denver and Salt Lake to serve those other metro areas,” he said. “So, the number of people that are depending on the Colorado is, like, quadruple what it was.

“So, we have one-fourth the water and four times the people — and we’re going to figure it out.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"On Energy"}]

Burgum’s Thursday visit coincides with the Day of the American West at Cheyenne Frontier Days.

He and Gordon also highlighted Wyoming’s place as one of the nation’s energy-producing leaders and the need to continue developing that.

“The American West today … really powers our nation and it feeds our nation,” Burgum said. “And you can’t have national security without energy security.

“We (also) know we’re not going to have national security if we don’t have mineral security. And, of course, the West has historically been a place where we’ve had mining and management of critical minerals.”

He reassured people that his agency works for its “customers,” which he describes as people who use federal lands for a lot of different things — including grazing, minerals development and recreation.

“There has been kind of a trend the last 30 years where across these states with (large swaths) of public lands that we’re going to stop mining, we’re going to stop grazing, we’re going to stop doing timber,” Burgum said.

 “All of that effort around some false ideal that by moving those activities to other countries or other parts of the world is going to be good for the world or good for the environment,” he added.

When it comes to energy, “Wyoming really is a powerhouse,” Gordon said. “We have all kinds of energy and we’re very anxious to be able to get more of it developed and out. And we do that here in Wyoming with an incredible amount of care.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Local Control"}]

Fresh off an announcement last week that the Department of the Interior wants to hand management of 

 Burgum said Thursday that’s part of a larger philosophy of putting local control first.

“It’s a basic belief, and that's why we're moving back towards local control,” he told the small crowd of reporters and onlookers in a corner of the Old West Museum on the CFD campus.

“The people that live on the land know it best, and we should be a partner and a supporter, not a barrier to that,” he said. “And the law for most of the public lands are multiple use, and that includes grazing, recreation, energy, timber and wildlife.”

Burgum and Gordon 3 7 23 26

<title>In Cheyenne, Interior Secretary Says He'll Act On Colorado River Crisis, If He Has To | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said Thursday that he'll intervene in the Colorado River crisis — if he has to. “We have one-fourth the water and four times the people,” he said during a visit to Cheyenne Frontier Days with many of his top-level staff.

In Cheyenne, Interior Secretary Says He'll Act On Colorado River Crisis, If He Has To

Around Wyoming

Elder Louis and Sister Debra Fico, a Casper couple serving as missionaries at Batel Ranch west of Tie Siding, had just finished preparing the church camp for another week of teenage campers when they saw lightning crack across the sky.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"We saw the flash,\" Louis said."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Almost instantly, smoke began rising from the forest."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"The couple called 911, realizing a wildfire had likely ignited nearby."}]

Within minutes, the peaceful mountain retreat shifted into emergency mode.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"It's time to get out,\" Louis remembered thinking."}]

As camp leaders hurried teenagers into vehicles and drove away from the ranch, they looked back toward the mountains.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"We saw the mountain burning,\" he said."}]

The blaze, now known as the Fish Creek Fire, prompted evacuations Tuesday and sent firefighters racing into the Medicine Bow National Forest.

As of 11:30 a.m. Thursday, the Albany County Sheriff's Office reported the fire was 50% contained. Batel Ranch remained under a GO (Evacuate Now) order, while all other previously evacuated areas were in SET status, meaning residents should remain prepared to leave if conditions worsen.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'A Tinderbox' "}]

Just across the area at Fish Creek Ranch, Bill Fuller Jr. witnessed the same unfolding emergency.

[{"type":"text","text":"A homeowner called Fuller after hearing a loud crack."}]

"She said, 'I think our tree got struck by lightning,'" Fuller recalled.

The homeowner had looked toward the northwest corner of the roughly 4,600-acre ranch and noticed what he described as a small trickle of smoke.

[{"type":"text","text":"Fuller and the ranch manager drove to investigate."}]

"Within minutes that tree was up in flames," he said. "By the time I got there it was obvious it was going to be big."

[{"type":"text","text":"Fire crews were already arriving as the flames began spreading."}]

Fish Creek Ranch includes 13 homeowner partners and serves as a wildlife preserve. Fortunately, Fuller said, the apparent ignition point was on the ranch's northwest corner, meaning the fire would have had to cross multiple ridges before reaching homes.

[{"type":"text","text":"Still, the danger was obvious."}]

"It could happen," Fuller said. "Right now it's a tinderbox. It's as dry as it's ever been."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"No Time To Pack "}]

Batel Ranch hosts spiritual retreats for young women, blending scripture study with outdoor adventure.

Campers spend their days reading scripture, participating in faith lessons, playing games and learning wilderness skills, including building shelters from natural materials gathered in the forest and weaving rope from reeds collected around a nearby pond.

About 20 girls, ages 16 and 17, most from the Denver area, were attending camp when the fire broke out. Five adult leaders were also there.

[{"type":"text","text":"Another 80 girls were scheduled to arrive Wednesday."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"They never did."}]

The Ficos had spent days helping prepare the camp. Cabins were ready. Activities had been organized. Everything was in place for the next group of campers.

[{"type":"text","text":"Then the evacuation order came."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"\"There wasn't time to pack things up,\" Debra said."}]

Camp leaders focused solely on getting everyone safely off the mountain, leaving the camp almost exactly as it had been prepared.

Despite the urgency, every camper and leader evacuated safely, and no injuries were reported.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Ranchers Stay To Help"}]

While some residents left immediately, Fuller said others stayed as long as it was safe to do so.

[{"type":"text","text":"They had horses, equipment and neighbors to look after."}]

"We basically told them, 'We're not leaving,'" Fuller said. "If you know ranchers, you know we're gonna stay until we can't stay."

The ranch had 23 horses on the property, and neighboring ranchers quickly began checking whether livestock needed to be moved.

Homeowners worked together to make sure families and animals were safe while firefighters battled the growing blaze.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"It's Wyoming,\" Fuller said. \"That's how it is.\""}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Homeowners Pulled Together"}]

The following day, Louis and Debra returned to Batel Ranch to assess the damage.

[{"type":"text","text":"To their relief, the camp was still standing."}]

No buildings had been destroyed, and they found no visible damage from flames or smoke.

For Fuller, the outcome reflected the work of firefighters and the community that rallied around them.

"Our main goal is to express our unbelievable appreciation for the men and women who came and got it out and stayed all night," he said.

Firefighters remained on scene overnight watching for flare-ups after containing the blaze.

Fuller also praised the volunteers, sheriff's deputies, emergency responders and neighboring ranchers who worked together throughout the incident.

"It was a great community," he said. "All the homeowners pulled together to make sure neighbors were safe and horses were safe. Ranchers in the area all came together to see if people needed help moving livestock."

As firefighters continue working to fully contain the Fish Creek Fire, officials are asking the public to avoid the area so emergency crews can safely continue their work.

Tie siding fire 7 23 26

<title>20 Teenage Campers Evacuated As Fish Creek Fire Explodes; Ranchers Won't Leave | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Moments after lightning struck, Casper missionaries watched the Fish Creek Fire explode to life and rushed 20 teen campers to safety. Meanwhile, residents stayed behind to look after neighbors and horses. "It's Wyoming. That's how it is," one said.

20 Teenage Campers Evacuated As Fish Creek Fire Explodes; Ranchers Won't Leave

Wyoming’s 10-candidate Republican primary race for U.S. House dropped to nine Thursday, when Teton County rancher Frank Chapman dropped out of the race.

He told Cowboy State Daily it’s irresponsible to continue in this crowded race, “when the voters need to whittle it down and figure it out, through a couple people.”

“There’s too much clutter. It’s not easy to get a message out in that situation,” said Chapman in a Thursday phone interview. “I don’t think it’s responsible to allow people to spend the kind of money that would be required to keep going in this.”

As of the second-quarter Federal Election Commission reports, Chapman landed among the top four candidates in terms of campaign funding. 

He and three other candidates — philanthropist Steve Friess, Casper businessman Reid Rasner, and Secretary of State Chuck Gray — have loaned themselves more than $1 million each.

[{"type":"text","text":"Rasner has spent the most as of July 1, at nearly $2 million."}]

Chapman said he is not out of money, but he does not believe it’s responsible “to allow people to spend the kind of money that would be required to keep going in this.” 

That leaves Friess, Rasner, Gray, state Senate President Bo Biteman, former Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow, veterans David Giralt and Kevin Christensen, former legislator Keith Goodenough, and Richard Dodson in the race.

Chapman told Cowboy State Daily he’s very conservative, especially in fiscal terms. But he dislikes divisive politicking and believes the GOP should use more of a big-tent approach.

[{"type":"text","text":"He said he’s not endorsing any of the other candidates at this time."}]

“It’s so important to get everybody into the big tent and not allow your state party to fight,” he said. 

Chapman also said Republicans should “try to get these people to work together so we can actually get something done and not just take advantage of the electorate by saying ridiculous statements you don’t mean … don’t fight with everybody to get it done.”

Chapman added: “It’s not about self-promotion, but about what’s best for the people and how to make their lives better.”

The Wyoming Republican Party’s state central committee, or top statewide delegates, made a controversial move Monday evening by endorsing Gray in the race.

State law bars the party from directly or indirectly backing one Republican over another in the primary election. While some argue that any expense toward endorsements and endorsement announcements violates this law, that remains unclear.

The party is suing Gray in his official capacity in an effort to have the law overturned as an unconstitutional violation of its First Amendment rights. That case is ongoing.

“I think the party made a mistake in endorsing anyone,” said Chapman. “I think that when you have power you have to be judicious in how you use that power, and even if they do have the right to endorse … intelligence and good governance would tell you not to endorse; and let the people decide.”

Miami billionaire Ken Griffin contributed more than $2.5 million to a super-PAC, Fighting for Wyoming, that touted Chapman as a conservative rancher ready to fight with President Donald Trump for the people of Wyoming.

[{"type":"text","text":"That PAC had spent $32,975.67 as of July 1."}]

Chapman said Thursday of Griffin, “He’s a wonderful person that I’ve known since I was in the ninth grade. And we’re just really good friends, and it’s not about politics.

“It’s about who he believes will do a wonderful job for the people of Wyoming and the United States.”

In his own campaign, Chapman’s total receipts as of July 1 amounted to $1,091,623.83.

Of that, $31,622.89 came from contributions; $1.06 million came from a self-loan by Chapman.

The campaign had spent $596,462.50 as of July 1 and had $495,161.33 cash on hand, the FEC says.

Chapman told Cowboy State Daily he may run for office again, if the people wish it. 

A statement his campaign released Thursday quotes Chapman saying, "Wyoming is great because we, the people of Wyoming, are tenacious, independent, hardworking, and unwilling to be pushed around. Although my time as a candidate has come to an end, my commitment to Wyoming has not."

"I will continue to stand with the people of this state, demand accountability and honest answers from those in power, and make certain Washington never forgets that it works for the people of Wyoming—not the other way around," he added. 

Chapman 7 23 26

<title>Frank Chapman Drops Out Of 10-Person Wyoming GOP House Race | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Teton County rancher Frank Chapman dropped out of the 10-candidate race for the Republican nomination in Wyoming's U.S. House race on Thursday. "There’s too much clutter" in that crowded race, Chapman told Cowboy State Daily.

Frank Chapman Drops Out Of 10-Person Wyoming GOP House Race

Wyoming Life

RAWLINS — Six weeks ago, Carbon County Sheriff’s Sgt. Zach Burns was fighting for his life in the dirt parking lot of a Baggs apartment building after 

 from a gunman who later died in a shootout with law enforcement.

Wednesday, he was discharged from a Colorado hospital and got a hero’s welcome as he was escorted roughly 230 miles home by a long procession of law enforcement representing agencies across two states.

 streets through downtown Rawlins were lined with pockets of people who paused their workdays to wave and yell as Burns was driven by with a loud chorus of sirens following.

“That doesn’t surprise me at all,” said local resident Deanna Deffenbaugh about the turnout. “We take care of our own around here.

“Anytime an officer has gotten hurt in the line of duty — even his family — we get the community involved to step up and help take care of them.”

Deffenbaugh said she doesn’t know the Burns family personally, “but that doesn’t matter. If they’re willing to put their lives at risk for us, we need to take care of them.”

Maybe Deffenbaugh doesn’t know Burns, his wife and two young children, but the folks at the Carbon County Courthouse do. He’s their courtroom bailiff, said Jo Rieger, who had staked out a small patch of shade along 3

Sgt. Zach Burns — shot three times by a gunman in Baggs last month — got a hero’s welcome in Rawlins after a 230-mile escort from a Colorado hospital Wednesday. “On the scale of heroism, that’s pretty far up there,” said the Rawlins police chief.

You Still Here? Thursday, January 18, 2024

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