Daily Smile

[{"type":"text","text":"It's Saturday, let's go dancing..."}]

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

<title>Daily Smile: Saturday, February 3, 2024 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

It's Saturday, let's go dancing...

Daily Smile: Saturday, February 3, 2024

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

Clair McFarland

Government & Politics

Politics

Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon released an executive order on Wednesday telling state agencies to “promote responsible development of data centers and other large-load facilities.”

[{"type":"text","text":"The order is effective immediately."}]

On the one hand, the order points to Wyoming’s capacity to produce energy, its business-friendly environment, reliable infrastructure, and what the governor called a “proven commitment to innovation which provides Wyoming a leading role in America’s digital future.”

 President Donald Trump signed, promoting advanced artificial intelligence development and its role in support of national security.

[{"type":"text","text":"Data centers feed artificial intelligence."}]

On the other hand, Gordon’s state-level order requires Wyoming executive-branch agencies to heed several considerations while they advance these projects.

• Encourage advanced technology uses and practices that minimize water consumption and protect water quality, including by supporting innovative cooling tech “appropriate for Wyoming’s semi-arid climate;”

[{"type":"text","text":"• Balance economic growth with wildlife and open space conservation;"}]

• Encourage “open and continual communication” and allow meaningful opportunities for public participation on proposed builds, while being transparent about project impacts, benefits, and regulatory processes;

• Recognize “that data centers are increasingly important to national security, global technological competitiveness, and economic growth” while pursuing opportunities that strengthen the nation’s energy security and technological leadership – and Wyoming’s role as the nation’s leading energy state;

• Protect residential and small-business utility customers from bearing incremental costs exclusively associated with data center builds;

• Leverage the state’s competitive business climate to “attract investment across Wyoming” while ensuring that expansion is in line with the state’s heritage, and generates “meaningful benefits for local governments” and systems.

• Prioritize workforce development efforts to prepare state citizens for careers in digital infrastructure or related trades. That means working with the University of Wyoming, community colleges, school districts and businesses;

• Encourage projects that show a commitment to helping and improving their host communities.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Explosive On The Home Front"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Local communities in Wyoming are roiling at the prospect of data centers."}]

 on data center development last week after four hours of emotional, sometimes angry testimony by community members on both sides of the issue.  

In Evanston, the Uinta County Planning and Zoning Commission faced less vocal pushback – despite a packed room – during a similar approval meeting last week.

 to recommend permit approvals for a 1.25 gigawatt data center.

Many tribal members of the Wind River Indian Reservation are still indignant over an April announcement, that the Wyoming Business Council has awarded a $50,000 grant to the Northern Arapaho Tribe’s government to study the prospect of a large data center on the reservation.

[{"type":"text","text":"That reservation headquarters a second tribe, the Eastern Shoshone Tribe."}]

LeBeau heads one of the two factions currently vying in court for executive-branch control of the Shoshone Tribe.

The Converse County Commission tried and failed earlier this year to create a special industrial park to fast-track a data center on private land. The Attorney General 

 back — and the commission did — reportedly because the county doesn’t already have a zoning system in place to allow such a targeted land designation.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"More About …"}]

Data centers are large warehouses full of servers that power parts of the internet and increasingly, artificial intelligence.

They may use a closed-loop cooling system, which proponents tout as a water-conservative way of keeping the equipment from overheating. 

In a closed-loop system, water still should be flushed periodically because its quality can degrade and cooling chemicals can break down over time, 

Wyomingites have voiced fears of water pollution and consumption, noise, vista degradation and a shift from the state’s agricultural environment with the influx of data centers.

Proponents of the builds, however, have pointed to their capacity to generate immense revenues and create jobs.

 data centers exist currently in Wyoming. 

Data center and gordon 6 3 26

<title>Gordon Orders 'Responsible' Data Center Development In Wyoming | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon released an executive order on Wednesday telling state agencies to “promote responsible development of data centers and other large-load facilities.” The order comes as local governments create their data center rules.

Gordon Orders 'Responsible' Data Center Development In Wyoming

Mac Watson

Daily Video News

It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Wednesday, June 3rd.  I’m Mac Watson

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

Police in Montrose, Colorado, say a Gillette resident bought a gun in Wyoming, drove hundreds of miles and started randomly shooting. Cowboy State Daily’s Kolby Fedore reports that police say they don’t know why 42-year-old Eduardo Garcia Barrera did it.

“Barrera, a part-time resident of Gillette, bought a gun at a local sporting goods store in Wyoming, and then he drove 11 hours to Montrose, Colorado, where he then unleashed a fury of bullets in downtown Colorado, in a busy commercial section, he did strike a 22-year-old pedestrian before he ultimately turned the gun on himself. The 22- year-old victim is in stable condition.”

Police say the incident unfolded over roughly 35 minutes Saturday morning as Barrera fired at moving vehicles and pedestrians as he entered the western Colorado city.

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

A Bozeman woman is home following a 24-day hospital stay after her hand was ripped off in a terrifying horse accident at the Montana State University rodeo practice arena. Cowboy State Daily’s Kate Meadows reports the woman’s husband and MSU rodeo coach sent team members to find the detached hand.

“Presely Whitaker was training a horse in a small enclosure with a rope, and something happened to spook the horse or buck her off somehow. The horse drug her through the arena and she hit a fence and broke her jaw, and that's where she also lost her right hand. Presley was flown to a hospital in Salt Lake City, where surgeons tried to reattach her hand. However, the damage was too extensive, and they were unable to do so. Casey Ray Sellers, the rodeo coach at Gillette College, told me that she's seen people lose fingers in rodeo accidents and horse accidents. She's seen a lot of wrecked legs, but she's never seen someone lose a hand.”

On May 4, Presley was pen roping a young horse — a horsemanship technique that teaches young horses how to handle cattle and grow accustomed to working with a rope — when the horse she was on threw her and took off.

Cheyenne attorney George Powers, who filed a complaint calling for a criminal investigation against Chuck Gray for releasing sensitive voter data to the federal government, asked the Wyoming Supreme Court on Tuesday to appoint a special prosecutor. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports Powers wants answers.

“Powers has said, 'Well, get a special prosecutor, you know, find a way to rope in a special prosecutor. And then Kautz, the Attorney General, said, 'You know, I'm handling this in accordance with the rules, not in the public arena, so that's what that's what Attorney General Kautz said to Powers on May 4th, and so then Powers pushed again May 20th, like I need to know something's going on, we're probably, we can file a writ of mandamus, making you do the thing, so that so he did end up filing that writ of mandamus. Which is a petition to a court to make an official do something that is clearly that official's duty.”

Powers also asked the high court to issue an order “commanding,” Wyoming Attorney General Keith Kautz and the AG’s office to recuse themselves from investigating whether Gray could have committed a crime. It’s unclear whether the AG’s office already has, or has not recused itself from the matter. 

Cheyenne planners are recommending denial of most of the provisions in a huge 3,200-acre Microsoft data center expansion. Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports that one resident said during a marathon five-hour hearing Monday that this would overtake the city.

“A fifth of Cheyenne’s size, this 3200 acres coming into the city. It's huge. It's just a huge track that really did kind of put some scale to it. So the person who brought that up was one of the commissioners, Megan Connor, and she just wanted to know, you know, how did the planning people come to determine it's beneficial to the city? It's kind of hard to imagine, and then because it's in the beginning stages, Microsoft really hasn't planned it out, or you know, there's no way to know how much water it will eventually use, or you know exactly how many data centers will go there.” 

Only one part of the plan — assigning agricultural zoning to the 3,050-acre Highlands area if it is annexed — will reach the June 8 City Council meeting with a recommendation to approve.

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

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

Cowboy State Daily News continues now….

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

A young grizzly named Storm got too close to a sandhill crane’s nest in Yellowstone. Outdoors Reporter Mark Heinz reports that the crane was having none of it and drove the bear off. 

“She apparently got too close to a crane, a sand hill crane nest, and so you see this, the crane came out, you all stood up big and tall with its wings spread out, being all intimidating, and stood the grizzly bear down. I talked to some bird experts, bird biologists, and they said, ‘Yeah, you know, birds whether they're big birds like crane or even smaller birds, they will take off after something as big or even considerably larger than them if they think their nest is at stake.’”

Drawing itself up to its full height, the crane towered over Storm with its wings spread wide in a display of aggression during their close encounter on Saturday in Yellowstone National Park.

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

The city of Rock Springs is catching backlash after declaring June “pride month.” Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that one councilman says people are upset.

“Councilman, Rick Malonis, was talking about how, you know, he cast it as ironic. They took a photo of the Pride display, the flags, and everything under a banner that said ‘In God We Trust,’ and so Malonis derided the proclamation, but the other council members that I talked to on Tuesday said that the backlash is being overblown.”

Rock Springs has declared June “pride month” for years, but this year’s proclamation has generated a surge of backlash, as shown through 543 comments on the city's Facebook post and 43 shares as of Tuesday afternoon.

A Casper man who tried to burn down his ex-boyfriend’s house last summer — but made sure to save his own pet snake — was sentenced Monday to six to eight years in prison. Cowboy State Daily’s Dale Killingbeck reports that the ex says David Lee Wilkinson “destroyed everything in my life.” 

“Casper Mann, 31 years old, faced his last day in court, presumably when he was sentenced for setting fire to his ex-boyfriend's home last summer, and the ex-boyfriend did testify to say that you know his relationship with this guy was great and terrible at the same time, and that you know he felt like he took a bullet for others that might be in a future relationship with him. He said that alcohol fueled a lot of his problems, and he had trauma in his past. Meanwhile, the defendant just sat at the table and kind of just sat there and watched and listened, and then when it was his turn, he apologized for what he had done.”

Wilkinson entered a plea deal with the Natrona County District Attorney’s office on Feb. 19 where both a first-degree arson charge for the July 16 fire and a domestic battery charge for an Oct. 11 incident were admitted via an Alford plea. 

Wild turkeys recently attacked an elderly California woman, leaving her bruised and bloody. Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports that Game and Fish says Casper's urban turkeys “have absolutely established a reputation for aggressive, bold, and disruptive behavior.”

“Gaming Fish told me that they do get - they haven't had like in bonafide turkey attacks yet, but they've had instances of turkeys, you know, trying to fight people's dogs, turkeys chasing people, trapping people in their cars, those sorts of things. And I talked to a resident who lives right next to the downtown area, and she says, I haven't really had a run-in with the turkeys yet, but I don't get really close to them either. Don't take for granted that turkeys can't be aggressive.”

83-year old Mary Jo Kelly, of Alameda, California described the turkey attack as terrifying. She suffered severe bruising and cuts to her right hand that required stitches at a local hospital.

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

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

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

News image 6 3 26

<title>Cowboy State Daily Video Newscast: Wednesday, June 3, 2026 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Wednesday's headlines include:
* Gillette Man Dies In Shooting Spree
* Woman Loses Hand In Rodeo Accident
* Attorney Asks For Special Prosecutor For Gray

Cowboy State Daily Video Newscast: Wednesday, June 3, 2026

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Crime & Courts

Courts

A Lincoln County contractor could be facing serious criminal charges after allegedly beating a man, threatening him with a shovel, taking his phone and coercing him into signing over a truck and equipment during a daylong 

Lincoln County Sheriff's Deputy Kale McGee outline the allegations in a 12-page affidavit filed Friday and made available Tuesday, seeking charges of aggravated blackmail and battery against Thomas John Robinson.

mother called 911 from Afton, reporting her son had been held against his will and was covered in blood, wrote McGee. 

The sheriff's deputy arrived to find the man wearing a white shirt stained with dried blood. McGee wrote that he also had dried blood near his nose and fresh bruising on his face.

The man claims Robinson arrived at his Thayne-area home around 10 a.m. demanding repayment from a failed equipment deal.

Robinson money, but said he couldn't immediately pay him, and that Robinson could not simply take vehicles and equipment 

He said he "originally owed Robinson $30,000, but Robinson kept bumping the price up.” 

The alleged victim said that Robinson then grabbed him by his sweatshirt collar, threw him to the ground and climbed on top of him, wrote McGee. 

"He popped me,” the man told investigators, later reported pain in his ribs, face, and mouth.

Next, he said Robinson loaded up a trailer and skid steer onto the man's truck and hauled him to a property on Rock Farm Road outside Etna.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Threats And A Shovel "}]

Once at the property, the man told investigators that the confrontation escalated, according to the affidavit.

He said Robinson began videotaping him and humiliating him while accusing him of fraud.

In a video taken by a witness, Robinson tells the man, "I honestly can't believe there's people like you around in this world,” the affidavit says. "Every one of us as a god — civilization and a community. 

"Every one of us that's a normal mother f***er that goes and works for their money needs to come together and f***ing catch people like you and string you up and flog you daily." 

In the video, Robinson calls the man a "piece of shit" multiple times, wrote McGee. "Like I said, I got him by the balls. I got him right by the balls; he just forfeited his truck and equipment to me and agreed to do so."

The man claimed Robinson threatened to hit him in the back of the head with a shovel and "bury him,” and also told him that he would come after him if he went to the cops. 

Robinson also allegedly threatened to burn down the man's house with his children inside and to "take him out of the community," again referencing striking him with a shovel, according to the affidavit.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Robinson Tells A Different Story"}]

Robinson acknowledged to the sheriff’s office that he confronted the other man over money, but described the encounter very differently.

According to McGee, Robinson told investigators he had been trying for months to recover money he believed was owed to him.

Robinson said he discovered the man had recently acquired a truck, trailer and skid steer despite owing him money.

McGee wrote that Robinson told investigators the man voluntarily drove the equipment to Robinson's property and later agreed to sign over his truck and equipment as collateral 

Robinson denied bloodying the man, telling investigators that he told him he was free to leave and ultimately agreed to work off the debt.

McGee wrote that Robinson produced six invoices totaling $43,589.16 and documents allegedly signed by the man transferring the truck as collateral.

Before investigators arrived at the property to talk to Robinson, they learned that he had an active warrant out to Idaho with full extradition. 

When they told Robinson there was a warrant for his arrest out of Fremont County, Idaho, Robinson began "using vulgar language and became agitated," wrote McGee. "He refused to let me place him in handcuffs behind his back and told me that he had shoulder issues.” 

He was ultimately placed in handcuffs and taken to the Lincoln County Detention Center, but according to the sheriff's department, he is no longer there. 

Court records in Fremont County, Idaho, show Robinson had been facing a felony DUI charge there. 

However, a plea agreement was filed May 28 and the case has been remanded to a lower court, according to a Fremont County District Court clerk. The clerk said the felony charge has been reduced to a misdemeanor and Robinson is expected to enter a plea in the lower court.

[{"type":"text","text":"Robinson is not being held in custody in Idaho."}]

Cowboy State Daily reached out to Fremont County prosecutors about whether Robinson may face any additional charges in Idaho and had not received a response by publication time.

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

Several witnesses interviewed by investigators support portions of the alleged victim's account.

Investigators also reviewed surveillance footage from a nearby Maverik that showed the victim later in the day kneeling on gravel with a cloth pressed against his nose while Robinson spoke on the phone about alleged fraud accusations.

A notary told investigators she notarized paperwork signed by Robinson and the man later that day.

The notary told investigators she sensed tension between the men and had received a text message from the witness who made the video beforehand, one of Robinson's employees, that said, "It's getting intense.”

McGee wrote that he asked the notary if the alleged victim "looked like he was willing to sign these papers," and she said, "Hmm, I mean, he signed.” 

She said he put his driver's license down on the table, and she didn't log anything in her notary book with the state because she "just has to make sure the signature matches the signature on the paper.” 

Lincoln County Attorney Ember Oakley did not return a request by publication time for clarification about Robinson's pending charges in Wyoming.

Lincoln County Sheriffs Office 12 11 25

<title>Lincoln County Man Accused Of Beating, Shaking Down Man Who Owes Him Money | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A Lincoln County man is accused of beating a man to coerce him to sign over a truck and equipment during a daylong shakedown over a debt. “Catch people like you and string you up and flog you daily,” police say the contractor threatens on video.

Lincoln County Man Accused Of Beating, Shaking Down Man Who Owes Him Money

A Cheyenne-based attorney who filed a complaint calling for a criminal investigation against Secretary of State Chuck Gray for releasing sensitive voter data to the federal government, asked the Wyoming Supreme Court on Tuesday to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the matter.

George Powers also asked the high court to issue an order “commanding” Wyoming Attorney General Keith Kautz and the AG’s office to recuse themselves from investigating whether Gray could have committed a crime.

[{"type":"text","text":"The Journey Here"}]

Powers started filing public records requests after news broke that Gray had released sensitive voter data to the U.S. Department of Justice last year. The department had asked Gray’s office to hand over Wyoming voter rolls including driver’s licenses or partial Social Security numbers.

Powers, an attorney who beat the Wyoming Department of Education in a different public records challenge in 2023, has pointed repeatedly to a state law that says election records containing portions of Social Security numbers and driver’s license numbers are not public record.

He filed a formal complaint against Gray with the Wyoming Attorney General’s Office on April 13 alleging “there is a reasonable basis to believe” that Gray violated the state’s election law.

Gray has said repeatedly in public comments that he released the rolls after  “close consultation” with the AG’s office. He’s also told reporters the AG approved the release of voters’ information.

Because of that attorney-client relationship, Powers has said that the AG has a conflict of interest and cannot investigate Gray for potential criminal culpability himself, but should task a judge with appointing a special prosecutor.

It is unconfirmed whether Wyoming Attorney General Keith Kautz has appointed a special prosecutor.  

His deputy AG Mackenzie Williams parried with Powers initially on whether Gray has waived his attorney-client privilege to keep any advice the AG’s office gave on this matter private.

Powers had requested documentation of that advice, in public records requests.

Williams pointed to cases indicating that Gray hadn’t waived attorney-client privilege. Powers pointed to cases indicating that he had.

[{"type":"text","text":"The Final Letter"}]

Then Kautz, who is also a former Wyoming Supreme Court justice, told Powers in a May 4 email that the matter would be handled, but that it wouldn’t be a public display.

“This response is not an invitation for further communication,” wrote Kautz, according to the Tuesday petition. “A prosecutor’s investigation and exercise of prosecutorial discretion are not conducted in the public square. I previously told you that your complaint would be addressed in accordance with our office policies, the law and the Wyoming Rules of Professional Conduct for Attorneys at Law.”

Powers sent Kautz “one final letter” on May 20, saying once again that Kautz cannot investigate Gray for potential wrongdoing in this matter, and warning that, “if necessary, (Powers) may seek a writ of mandamus concerning AG Kautz and the AG’s office to recuse themselves from investigating this complaint against Secretary Gray should AG Kautz and the AG’s office continue to refuse to do so voluntarily.”

Cowboy State Daily has not seen evidence that Kautz is investigating Gray himself.

Powers’ petition says that based on Kautz’s final, May 4 email to him, “Mr. Powers understands and believes” that the office is still processing, reviewing or investigating Powers complaint against Gray – “despite the conflict of interest here.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Kautz declined Tuesday to comment on the petition."}]

Gray did not respond by publication to a text message request for comment.  

A writ of mandamus is a request for a court to make an official perform a duty that the law "specifically" requires from that office.

A relevant case also says this mechanism is meant to command the performance of a "ministerial duty which is plainly defined and required by law," and that the function only works when the duty is "absolute, clear, and indisputable. The law must not only authorize the demanded action but require it."

Casper-based attorneys Rob Shively and Ryan Semerad filed the writ Tuesday on Powers' behalf. 

[{"type":"text","text":"Some More History Stuff"}]

The DOJ last June asked Gray for information about Wyoming’s compliance with federal election laws. It also asked for Wyoming’s statewide voter registration list, public documents show.

Gray wrote the federal agency back July 24, 2025. He described Wyoming’s handling of election security and maintenance measures, and said a public-facing copy of the voter rolls had been uploaded into a federal database.

U.S. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon voiced dissatisfaction with that in an Aug. 14 response to Gray.

“We have received Wyoming’s statewide voter registration list,” wrote Dhillon. “However, as the Attorney General requested, the electronic copy of the (voter rolls) must contain all fields, including the registrant’s full name, date of birth, residential address, his or her state driver’s license number or the last four digits of the registrant’s social security number.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Dhillon said that was required under the Help America Vote Act."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Gray wrote back in an Aug. 28 letter."}]

“We are satisfying this request,” he wrote. “Upon review of the provisions cited in your letter, and discussion of the applicable provisions of the Civil Rights Act with the Wyoming Attorney General, we agree that disclosure of the requested records is proper under the Civil Rights Act.”

Gray referenced “assurances” from Dhillon that federal privacy protections would apply.

Powers’ complaint says the DOJ had no authority to demand the voter rolls under the Help America Vote Act, and the DOJ didn’t make any claim Wyoming had violated the act in the first place.

Dhillon had also hinged her demand on the National Voter Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act of 1960. 

Powers noted in his complaint that Wyoming is exempt from the National Voter Rights Act (NVRA), and he asserted that the Civil Rights Act (CRA) of 1960 doesn’t authorize the DOJ’s demand.

He said the DOJ is trying to “bootstrap” a broad investigative provision in the Civil Rights Act to requirements found in laws Congress passed much later, though the Civil Rights Act “was intended to address racial discrimination.”

“When Congress wrote the CRA, it could not have intended the CRA to serve as a vehicle to mandate disclosure of information in voting records … developed years later,” wrote Powers. 

He also claimed that Wyoming’s voter rolls don’t fit the description of shareable documents under the relevant part of the Civil Rights Act.

Many states, including multiple Republican-led states, are fighting the DOJ to keep their non-public-facing voter rolls private. Numerous cases on the matter are ongoing, and courts in Massachusetts, Oregon, Rhode Island, Arizona, California, Maine, Michigan, and Wisconsin have found that the DOJ lacked legal authority under any federal law to compel the states to release those unredacted voter rolls.

[{"type":"text","text":"Powers has emphasized Wyoming statute 22-2-113(d), which says:"}]

“Election records containing Social Security numbers, portions of Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, birth dates, telephone numbers, tribal identification card numbers, e-mail addresses and other personally identifiable information other than names, gender, addresses, unique identifying numbers generated by the state and party affiliations are not public records and shall be kept confidential.”

[{"type":"text","text":"A Word From Gray"}]

Gray is currently running a campaign for the state's lone U.S. House representatives seat. He faces nine contenders in the Aug. 18 Republican primary, as well as whoever wins the Democratic primary election that same day - and Libertarian Party nominee Shawn Johnson. 

Gray in a Tuesday text message called the petition a "clear attempt by Leftist attorney George Powers to weaponize the legal system against a conservative for my work on election integrity during a campaign, just like the radical Left did against President Trump." 

"I stand by our office's election integrity work with the Trump Administration," wrote Gray. "We have maintained compliance with the law and these actions have been carried out in close consultation and approved by the Attorney General."

Gray said 20 states have worked with the top law enforcement agency "on this election integrity work," including Utah, "making almost every single red state in the nation to engage in this important work that is in compliance with the law." 

Utah has not capitulated fully, and its lawsuit with the DOJ is ongoing. The state has, however, completed an audit of its voter rolls that revealed found 27 confirmed noncitizens, whom clerks have since removed from the voter rolls, says a 

by the office of Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson. 

Idaho continues to fight the DOJ's push for sensitive voter data, though its case is stayed while the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals evaluates the law in other, similar cases. 

This story has been updated to include a post-publication comment by Secretary of State Chuck Gray. 

Kautz powers 6 2 26

<title>Attorney Asks Wyoming Supreme Court For Special Prosecutor To Investigate Chuck Gray | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Cheyenne attorney George Powers, who filed a complaint calling for a criminal investigation against Chuck Gray for releasing sensitive voter data to the federal government, asked the Wyoming Supreme Court on Tuesday to appoint a special prosecutor.

Attorney Asks Wyoming Supreme Court For Special Prosecutor To Investigate Chuck Gray

officially declared this week that June is “pride month” in the southwest Wyoming city.

It’s done so for years, but this year’s proclamation 

a surge of backlash, as shown through 543 comments on the city's Facebook post and 43 shares as of Tuesday afternoon.

than the three comments and five shares a similar post 

Mayor Max Mickelson told Cowboy State Daily this year’s heated election cycle — not just municipal, but at all levels — is driving public vitriol.

“There’s just a lot of strong feelings,” said Mickelson in a Tuesday phone interview. “And people are expressing those which again, absolutely (that’s their) protected First Amendment right. But it is the whole purpose of a city to create an environment where people can thrive. That’s it.”

The majority of Rock Springs City Council members who spoke to Cowboy State Daily said the proclamation is about honoring diverse groups within Rock Springs, and the backlash is 

Rick Milonas, a city councilman who is running against Mickelson and another candidate for the mayor’s seat, said he has nothing against gay people, but 

 city government shouldn’t be advancing any sexual agenda.

The city government’s Monday Facebook post proclaiming June as pride month shows Mickelson standing in his suit along with City Councilwoman Jeannie Demas, and a half dozen other people, most holding rainbow pride flags.

The photo backdrop features a banner above the city logo which reads, in gothic calligraphy, “In God We Trust.”

The city of Rock Springs declared June is “pride month” — and is catching backlash. The city "made the whole month gay pride month and boy oh boy, people are upset,” says a councilman. The mayor countered that he wouldn't play gatekeeper on events.

Daily Smile: Saturday, February 3, 2024

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