One More For The Road

[{"type":"text","text":"Oh good, the garbageman is finally here...."}]

One more for 3 6 24

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

<title>One More For The Road: Wednesday, March 6, 2024 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Oh good, the garbageman is finally here....

One More For The Road: Wednesday, March 6, 2024

 Oh good, the garbageman is finally here....

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's business and tourism reporter, Renée Jean

Renée Jean

Energy

A federal judge in Montana has thrown out more than 1.5 million acres of Wyoming oil and gas leases sold under the Trump administration, a sweeping ruling that Wyoming attorneys said will force the state to return $50 million in payments and imperil $180 million in future revenue for schools and other public services. 

The ruling also affects an additional 185,000 acres of oil and gas leases in Montana and the Dakotas.

The decision, issued by Chief Judge Brian Morris out of the U.S. District Court of Montana on June 12, is sparking outrage in the oil and gas community. It’s the third time Morris, an Obama appointee, has ruled against the U.S. Department of the Interior over the protection of sage-grouse habitat.

“The environmental group found a sympathetic venue in Montana to file their case and ultimately hurt Wyoming,” oil and gas landman Steve Degenfelder told Cowboy State Daily. “I am hopeful the State of Wyoming will appeal this decision with everything they have. Other than a successful appeal, it’s my understanding we would need an act of Congress to overturn this injustice. I wonder how Montana would feel if a Wyoming judge hurt their state to this magnitude?”

Ryan McConnaughey, with the Petroleum Association of Wyoming, said it’s just the latest example of how activists are misusing the judicial system to attack industries they dislike.

“Anti-oil and natural gas activists have a sympathetic ear in Montana, which is why they continuously file cases there,” he told Cowboy State Daily. “The hard truth is that until Congress steps in to restore the original intent of laws like NEPA and the Endangered Species Act, every land management decision will be decided out of public view by the courts. It’s further proof that permitting reform is absolutely necessary if the United States wants to be a country that harvests energy and builds things again.”

Wyoming’s Bureau of Land Management office referred Cowboy State Daily for comment about the case to Montana’s office, which did not respond. 

It was not known Tuesday afternoon whether BLM will appeal the case, or what its next step will be for the leases.

The Wyoming Attorney General’s Office was also consulted, but had not responded at the time this story was posted.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Sage-Grouse Protection At Issue"}]

At the heart of the case brought by the Montana Wildlife Federation, The Wilderness Society, National Audubon Society, National Wildlife Federation and Montana Audubon is how the BLM applied its 2015 sage-grouse conservation plans in Wyoming. 

The groups argued that leasing should have been steered first to areas outside of key habitat so the bird would stay off the federal endangered species list. 

The 2015 sage-grouse plan required the agency to “prioritize” oil and gas leasing and development outside of sensitive habitat, particularly in designated priority areas.

But, in 2018, the BLM issued a new instruction memorandum that effectively told staff to disregard those prioritization requirements when offering new “fluid mineral” leases in sage-grouse country.

Wyoming has a voluntary sage-grouse protection plan, one that guides development away from those areas without any prioritization on BLM’s part, Wyoming attorneys argued.

However, the judge ruled that the prioritization error “infected everything” that followed, making it infeasible for BLM to keep the current leases in place.

BLM offered about 1.25 million acres of oil and gas leases in Wyoming in 2019 alone, roughly 785,000 acres in its February 2019 sale and more than 493,000 acres combined in the September and December 2019 sales. 

Altogether the June 12 order affects about 1.5 million acres of Wyoming leases sold between December 2017 and December 2019. December 2020 sales were excluded because the judge found that no final agency action yet exists to vacate or remand those sales. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Wyoming Warns Of Deep Revenue Losses"}]

In court filings, Wyoming attorneys laid out what the revenue losses will mean to local and state governments providing public services. 

Federal defendants estimated that vacating Phase Three leases will require the return of more than $50 million in revenue that has already been allocated and spent. The state would also lose future severance, ad valorem, and conservation taxes on the leases, totaling at least $180 million over the life of the wells. 

Funding cuts due to losing these revenues will affect a range of public services in Wyoming, from employment, roads, IT, fire personnel, hospitals and other daily operations, Wyoming’s lawyers argued, and should prompt the court to remand without vacating the leases. 

In Campbell County, for example, oil and gas revenues help fund the senior center, homeless shelter and soup kitchen, domestic violence shelter, youth crisis and treatment home, and the Boys and Girls Club.

In Converse County, half the annual budget relies on oil and gas revenue, which helps fund senior services, the Humane Society, a youth crisis center, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Douglas and Glenrock, a domestic violence and sexual assault survivors crisis center and shelter, a mental health crisis and intervention center, and more.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"State Already Protects Sage-Grouse"}]

Wyoming attorneys also argued that the state is already protecting sage-grouse habitat — so well that it was praised by the Obama administration at the time.

Since 2008, federal oil and gas leases in core sage-grouse habitat have declined 63%, Wyoming’s attorneys wrote, and reduced production in those areas by 48%. 

The state’s plan has also reshaped development, Wyoming contended. 

“From 2006 to 2012, vertically drilled well permits declined 65%, while directionally and horizontally drilled wells from outside core areas increased by 66% and 1,337%,” the attorneys wrote. “The trend continues with 95% of wells drilled in Wyoming from 2020 to 2024 being directional or horizontal, reducing sage-grouse disturbance.”

Horizontal wells disturb up to 3.5 acres, compared with 19 acres for vertical wells. 

“Thus, deferrals are not needed to guide development away from sage-grouse habitat,” the attorneys wrote. “In sum, the state’s strategy — adopted by BLM — has shifted development away from sage-grouse habitat and changed development patterns to meaningfully reduce impacts.”

Drilling in lower conflict areas is already preferred through the state’s sage-grouse mitigation plan, which protects habitat while allowing economic opportunities, they said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Economic Harm Vs. Legal Violations"}]

The judge in the case acknowledged disruptive economic impacts caused by vacating the lease sales, but concluded that BLM’s legal violations outweighed those considerations except in cases where a lease was already producing oil and gas.

Wyoming, Jonah Energy, and Continental Resources, which intervened in the case, argued that the judge should carve out an exception for leases for wells that have already been drilled and completed.

Jonah Energy told the court it had already spent $68 million developing its leases. Continental said it had spent more than $97.6 million for nine producing wells. 

“The considerations of equity require that the court not vacate the nine already producing leases stemming from the challenged Phase Three lease sales,” Morris agreed, likening the situation to a scrambled egg that can’t be put back into its shell. “Vacatur as to the producing leases could not restore the leases to the pre-leasing condition without further disruption.”

Wyoming oil and gas drilling 2 1 24

<title>Montana Judge Tosses 1.5M Acres Of Wyoming Oil And Gas Leases, Costs State $50M | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A federal judge in Montana has thrown out more than 1.5 million acres of Wyoming oil and gas leases sold under the Trump administration, forcing the state to return $50 million in payments. “The environmental group found a sympathetic venue in Montana,” said a Wyoming landman.

Montana Judge Tosses 1.5M Acres Of Wyoming Oil And Gas Leases, Costs State $50M

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

Andrew Rossi

Wyoming Life

Around Wyoming

[{"type":"text","text":"Fire and water will be back in this year’s Cody Stampede Parade."}]

 in protest, the Cody Volunteer Fire Department and the Cody Stampede Parade Committee have reached an agreement that will ensure the fire district’s engines and volunteers will be back in the parades July 3 and 4.

That means, according to the Cody Volunteer Fire Department, there will be “a little splash of classic parade spirit” along Sheridan Avenue. Water will also be back in the parade for the United States’ semiquincentennial.

“It's going to be great,” said Joe Bower, president of the Cody Stampede Parade Committee. “People missed them last year. The parade committee missed them last year. It’s good to have them back, and I hope everybody has a lot of fun with them.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Insurance And Assurance"}]

The Cody Volunteer Fire Department has been one of the longest and loudest entries in the Cody Stampede Parade for decades. That changed in 2025, when the department announced it wouldn’t participate.

[{"type":"text","text":"The point of contention? Water balloons."}]

“In recent years, new rules and regulations have made our participation increasingly difficult,” Chief H.R. Coe 

. “We initially agreed to stop throwing candy from our trucks, provided we could continue the long-standing tradition of water balloons. 

"Unfortunately, we’ve now been informed that water balloons are no longer allowed either.”

Instead of having all their engines and sirens blaring, one of the highlights for locals, the only fire engine in last year’s parades was the historic "Truck 00." It didn't spray or throw a single drop of water.

Historically, the volunteers have had buckets of water balloons they’ve thrown from their trucks. Parade attendees have, historically, brought their own balloons to toss back.

Water balloon fights between the volunteers and the crowds have become a long-standing tradition. The inability to use water balloons last year was the reason Coe specifically cited as "a beloved part of the parade" that promoted their exodus. 

According to Bower, nobody wants to prohibit water balloons. The committee’s primary concern is safety.

“Our number one priority is to keep everybody safe on the parade route,” he said. “Hypothetically, if a water balloon were to hit a horse and send that horse off running, that could be a big deal. We just needed to sit down and discuss how to keep things moving.”

Water balloons might sound like harmless fun, but they are also a potentially enormous liability. Mack Frost, another member of the parade committee, said one of the most pressing concerns in recent years has been insurance.

“We are required to have liability insurance for the parade, and we can’t get the insurance premiums we used to get,” he said in May 2025. “We could lose our insurance if there were an incident caused by water balloons, and I’m sure there would be a very measured response if we couldn’t do the Cody Stampede Parade because of water balloons.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Letting Them Go"}]

In anticipation of the 2026 Cody Stampede Parade, the parade committee met with the fire department to discuss its participation. Bower said the two parties have “come to a good agreement” that ensured the department’s return to the parades.

“Everybody's in a good position now,” he said. “They're going to bring up the back of the parade and close it out for us.”

Water balloon safety was specifically addressed, and Bower said everyone reached a productive understanding of how to preserve the tradition while ensuring everyone’s safety.

“I'm sure they'll have water balloons,” he said. “They love throwing water balloons, and people love throwing them back, so we’re looking forward to that.”

Fire departments at other parades often use their hoses to spray crowds lining the parade route. Bower doesn’t know what the Cody Volunteer Fire Department has planned, but nothing’s been hosed down.

[{"type":"text","text":"Above all else, Bower said the key point was ensuring safety."}]

“We’ve had unsuspecting people hit with water balloons before, and we’re trying to avoid that,” he said. “That’s what it all comes down to. We're asking them to put their best foot forward, and they should be able to do that. We’re all adults.”

One of the previous compromises was having designated water zones where people know to anticipate water balloons.

Those zones were at the intersection of Sheridan and 15th Avenue, right next to the fire station, and in front of the Silver Dollar Bar. The “water war” between the fire department and the Dollar is the stuff of local legend.

Based on the new agreement that prioritizes spectator safety, Bower indicates there might be more opportunities for water-related fun.

“At this point, we’re letting them go, as long as it doesn’t cause any issues,” he said. “We want to keep everybody safe on the parade route.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Five Days Of Festivities"}]

The Cody Stampede kicks off with Cody PRCA Xtreme Bulls on June 30, followed by the Cody Stampede Rodeo from July 1 to 4. Tickets for the July 3 and 4 events are sold out.

Cody has three parades. The Kiddies Parade will be held on July 2 at 10 a.m. The Cody Stampede Parade will start at 9:30 a.m. July 3 and 4 with the theme “250 Years of Legends, Liberty, and the Lasting West."

This year’s grand marshals are renowned Wyoming authors Craig Johnson, Michael & Kathleen Gear, and Paul Hutton.

Cody fire dept 2 5 12 25

<title>Cody Fire Department Back In Stampede Parade, Allowed To Throw Water Balloons | Cowboy State Daily</title>

After missing last year’s Stampede Parade for not being able to throw water balloons, the Cody Volunteer Fire Department is back this year — and allowed balloons. “They love throwing water balloons, and people love throwing them back,” said an organizer.

Cody Fire Department Back In Stampede Parade, Allowed To Throw Water Balloons

Government & Politics

Executive

Ward 1 Cheyenne City Councilman Larry Wolfe is calling for a dramatic reset in the city’s negotiations with Microsoft when it comes to a proposed 3,459-acre annexation that is roughly one-fifth the current size of Cheyenne.

During a Public Services Committee meeting Monday, Wolfe urged the committee to recommend postponing or denying annexation of the property, along with accompanying measures that change the city’s land-use map and change the property’s zoning from agriculture to business park. 

That would give Cheyenne time to negotiate a community benefits agreement with Microsoft that Wolfe proposed should be worth at least $50 million. 

Despite Wolfe’s push, the PSC voted 2-1 to recommend annexation of the 3,500-acre property to the full council, along with zoning changes and future land-use map changes. Councilman Pete Laybourn cast the lone “no” vote on these measures, which will be before the Cheyenne City Council at its next meeting June 22.

According to Wolfe’s proposal, which was sent to PSC members ahead of the meeting, the $50 million would be payable over the next five years in annual installments of $10 million, commencing July 1, 2027, and continuing through July 1, 2031. 

The funds would be for permanent improvements to the city. While the city would consult with Microsoft on the use of the funds, final decisions would be entirely up to the city.

The money could be accumulated for investment on larger, more expensive projects, but would have to be spent by July 1, 2036.

The community benefits agreement would also obligate Microsoft to use state-of-the-art technology to minimize water use and minimize or eliminate emissions, as well as set contractual guardrails on about 40 different items, including traffic, noise, wildlife, social and economic impacts, including affordable housing.

Wolfe, who is not a PSC member, said he opposed the annexation because the company’s development timeline is so far into the future it amounts to today’s city council trying to obligate a future city council, even though the same people might not be on it.

“Things change,” he said. “We don’t know, and we shouldn’t be arrogant enough to think that we know what this is going to look like 10 years from now. And we ought to defer to the city council that’s … sitting in your chairs 10 years from now, to make the annexation decision.”

Wolfe also pushed back on the idea that annexation should be considered separate from the land’s future use.

“Annexation is the battle,” he said. “It’s all one and the same, because, as the chairwoman acknowledged, it’s the commitment of resources of the city. It’s the commitment of water and sewer resources. So this is where … the battle should be fought.”

Ward 3 Councilman Mark Moody, who is not a member of the PSC either, also spoke during the 4.5-hour session. He focused on property rights, saying council members should also be mindful of the rights of surrounding property owners as far as what gets developed.

“When constituents talk to me, they really have said we need to slow down,” Moody said. “That’s from — a lot of them are not here, a lot of them are working. We have to look at that aspect there.”

Moody also suggested the gold mine opening west of town escaped protest because it went through the state’s industrial siting process. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"More Analysis Needed"}]

Meanwhile, Councilman Pete Laybourn, who cast the lone dissenting vote, acknowledged that data centers have helped Cheyenne’s business parks and have helped the city thrive for the past 25 years.

The property owners, too, are “incredibly distinguished members of our community who have done an awful lot for us,” he added.

Cheyenne has only had one other annexation of comparable size: the Sweetgrass annexation. That annexation, Laybourn noted, came with an extensive analysis of all the issues involved in bringing a major area into the city. 

“It’s very interesting,” he said. “Same property owner, same city of Cheyenne agreement, but (this time) we’re not hearing anything like that. Where are the roads going to go? What are the arrangements that are going to be made? And it’s been pointed out a few minutes ago here that we’re making a decision that’s going to be way off in the future.”

The development arc being far into the future would be OK, Laybourn suggested, if more detail was available about the property’s future.

“Where are the conditions that we need to put onto an annexation agreement, so that it’s well understood going into the future?” he said. “I know we’re going to get to the questions of the planning commission that I attended here not too long ago for five hours, and when we get to that we can take a look at why the planning commission felt so strongly that there are questions here they didn’t get answers to and that they wanted to.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Too Many Missing Details"}]

The area in question has unique considerations, Laybourn added, because it’s part residential, part agricultural, part in the county, and part in the city.

“We have all seen, if you’re driving out South Greeley Highway, a lot of activity going on in the county that isn’t directly involved in this annexation,” he said. “But it is nearby, so I want to caution us that we don’t have to hurry with this. We need to really think about this.”

The conditions of an annexation, spelled out in state law, include a requirement that the action is beneficial for the health, safety and welfare of people residing in the area. 

“Other people might interpret it one way,” he said. “I interpret that as being a broad call to us to really think about what we’re doing and the effect that it’s going to have on our city.”

Laybourn also signaled that he’s receptive to Wolfe’s idea, saying, “I just heard some very sensible language proposed by my fellow councilman from Ward One in regard to the economics of this situation, because what we’re dealing with is unprecedented and almost unimaginable corporate wealth.”

Laybourn added that an evaluation of whether the annexation is good for Cheyenne has to include a broader look at all of the factors involved.

“Our governor suggests in his recent executive order, ‘whereas Wyoming’s local towns and city councils and county commissioners have the power to protect community interests and further mitigate siting and nuisance issues that may arise from large industrial development',” Laybourn said. “These are the reasons that I’m going to be voting ‘no’ today. It’s a choice that I think we have to carefully consider.”

A forceful defense of property-owner rights came from Cindy Delancey, a large landowner in Laramie County who said she’s one of the owners involved in the 3,500-acre land deal with Microsoft.

Delancey said she hadn’t planned to speak, but felt compelled after hearing people argue that agricultural land should be preserved at all costs. The framing ignores the economic realities she and her family face.

“My family, we have our ranch for sale,” she said. “Agriculture is hard. We can’t get fertilizer. Cattle prices are high, but so is everything else … everything is expensive.”

Landowners need flexibility to partner with projects or sell if it makes sense for their operations, she said.

“Private property rights used to matter to us in this state,” she said. “We’re not serfs. We’re not bound to the land like it’s the 14th century. If we feel as large landowners that we need to make decisions for our operations, we should be able to do that.”

Many of the same objections to data centers that have been raised in previous meetings surrounding the Microsoft land deal were made again.

Residents and speakers such as Jana Tolman and Donna Presto warned that Cheyenne is “always in a drought” and questioned whether the city truly understands long-term water impacts. 

One speaker cited a neighbor whose rural well had to be deepened from 600 to 900 feet — at a cost of $120,000 — due to declining groundwater. They suggested draining local aquifers to serve industrial growth would be irresponsible.

Microsoft officials pushed back on that narrative, saying all of their new data centers will use recirculating cooling systems, which operate a little like a car’s radiator system, recirculating a mixture of water and propylene glycol, a food-grade, non-toxic coolant.

Harmony Meadows resident Heather Madrid, meanwhile, asked how it could be possible to find that annexing the land is beneficial to the city when Microsoft has no plan laid out for the parcel.

“Microsoft cannot tell this community or the council how many buildings there will be and therefore they cannot predict water usage,” she said. “They cannot predict how the grid will be impacted, and how wildlife in the ecosystem will be protected without having a plan. It is impossible to prove that this annexation is protecting the health, safety, and welfare of the community, which is not a simple suggestion. It’s one of the criteria required by law when considering annexation.”

Annexing the property now amounts to a blank check with zero guarantees, she said. 

“It’s been stated that Microsoft has been a good community partner, but corporate philanthropy does not excuse them from following the same rules and regulations as other companies,” she said. “It does not replace proper planning. If the developer cannot provide concrete numbers or even a good guess on infrastructure strain, they are not ready to be annexed. Please recommend a ‘no’ vote, or at the very least, a postponement until a complete plan is presented.”

While critics warned of water shortages, spiking electricity rates, and noise problems, a steady stream of supporters talked about how data center projects have changed their lives and the lives of their families.

One electrician said work on the west-side campus allowed him to move back to Cheyenne after years of chasing construction jobs around the region, while others described friends who went from low-end retail and food-service jobs into six-figure careers. 

“The thing I value the most about this opportunity is that it allows me to stay local,” Cheyenne resident Micah Snyder said. “I’m happy to be home every night. My wife really appreciates that. And, as a single-income household, she’s still able to stay home and raise our kids on the income from this opportunity.”

David Zook, meanwhile, came to Cheyenne from the East Coast in 2013 to help build the city’s first data center.

“I’ll be honest. Before accepting the job, I couldn’t have pointed to Cheyenne on a map,” he said. "But I took a chance, drove West, and it changed the entire trajectory of my life.”

Every new data center has a human side, he added.

“Behind every new building, every expansion, every project, there are people like me, whose lives and families are shaped by the opportunities created here,” he said. “When I moved to Cheyenne, I was a single guy starting a new chapter. In 2015, I met my wife and a year ago yesterday, we welcomed our daughter into the world.”

The family bought a home in Cheyenne in 2018. Now, this July, they’ll move into a bigger home, with more space for their growing family. 

“Cheyenne isn’t just where I work, it’s where I’ve chosen to put down roots,” he said. “I really love it here. I’ve watched Microsoft grow in this region, and I’m proud of the work we do.”

While there have been many claims that data centers don’t employ many people, they have ripple effects throughout the economy that support hundreds of jobs, Amanda August told the PSC.

“Every week, our campuses host over 267 full-time Microsoft employees,” she said. “We have 245 security and vendor-critical environment employees who show up every day and are dedicated to our sites alone. Then we have 430 to 750-plus vendors every week who show up to our data centers across Cheyenne alone. These are long-term. They’re not construction. These are jobs that bring steady economic activity into the city.”

Cheyenne city council 3 6 15 26

<title>Cheyenne Committee Backs Microsoft Annexation While Councilman Pushes $50M Deal | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Despite calls to delay or deny a 3,500-acre annexation for Microsoft data centers, Cheyenne’s Public Services Committee narrowly recommended approval Monday. A councilman urged them to postpone to give the city time to negotiate a $50 million agreement.

Cheyenne Committee Backs Microsoft Annexation While Councilman Pushes $50M Deal

Kerry Drake

Cheyenne’s new vehicle noise ordinance was unanimously passed by the City Council to stop obnoxious motorists who drive their loud cars, trucks and motorcycles late at night, disrupting people’s sleep.

 soon after it went on the books in late September was auto mechanic Geno Stecks, who was driving a fairly unassuming 2006 Subaru with a modified muffler. 

It also wasn’t in the middle of the night or in a residential section of the capital city. Stecks said it was on a main thoroughfare at the intersection of East Lincolnway and Hugur Avenue at 2:45 in the afternoon.

“Communists. Control freaks!” is how Stecks responded when asked what he thought about the City Council members who approved the ordinance after many people opposed it during public testimony at three council meetings.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"He Wasn’t Speeding"}]

Stecks was on the job when he got busted, transporting auto parts for FM Automotive when he heard the police siren.

He told the officer that he didn’t think he’d been speeding, but was informed the stop was made because of excessive noise.

This how the encounter went, according to Stecks:

“I couldn’t hear my radio for your exhaust,” the officer told him.

“I said, ‘Turn your volume knob up,’” Stecks said he replied. "I couldn’t hear my exhaust because of my radio, because I’ve got a kick-ass stereo in it.”

In hindsight, Stecks said he’s since thought of some other creative responses.

“I wish I had told him, ‘What are you going to tell the Hells Angels if they come roaring through town? Are you going to pull them over and cite them for having too loud exhaust? You probably wouldn’t live through it,’” said the bearded Stecks, wearing a T-shirt that depicted a full mug with the word “Beer – It’s What’s for Dinner.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Too Few Tickets"}]

A spokesperson for the Cheyenne Police Department said that after Stecks broke the ice as the first to be ticketed for driving too loudly, 43 other motorists were given noise violation citations in 2025, and 33 more so far this year.

Even those are way too few, said a council member who supported the noise ordinance.

“They should be writing 300 or 400,” said City Council Vice President Pete Laybourn. “The problem is immense, and I’m very disappointed with how it’s being handled. The ordinance hasn’t been effective at all.”

Laybourn said residents are purposely modifying their mufflers and making noise in all parts of the city, at all hours day and night, and also deliberately speeding.

“They tried to disrupt Friday Night at the Plaza last week, driving up Capitol (Avenue) and backfiring,” he said. “It was really, really bad.”

City Council President Tom Segrave was one of several councilmen who brought up the issue last summer because ​he was getting so many complaints from Cheyenne residents about excessive noise from motorists.

“I live off Yellowstone Road, and I can tell you it’s quite a sight to see a pack of people riding these loud little motorcycles down Yellowstone at night, often up until 1 a.m., popping wheelies,” Segrave said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Too Early To Tell"}]

He said it’s too early to know if the ordinance is making a difference. 

Segrave said he hasn’t been receiving complaints, but figures that will change during the summer when more people have their windows open.

The main difference between the new ordinance and a previous one is that it allows a police officer to use his or her judgment about whether a vehicle is too loud. 

The former regulation required a meter to be used at least 25 feet away, which Segrave said made it unenforceable.

Stecks said he paid the $100 fine, which would be increased to $200 if he breaks the ordinance again within a year. 

Possible jail time is on the books for a third offense, plus a $500 fine, but City Attorney John Brodie told Cowboy State Daily when the ordinance was passed last year that it’s 

“If anything, jail is maybe an imposed part of the sentence that would then be suspended,” he said.

“People told me, ‘You could have fought this,’” Steck said. “I said I’d be in worse trouble because I would have ended up in jail after I told the judge and the court how crooked they are. 

"There would have been F-bombs involved. When you’re a mechanic, F-bombs are the terminology of the trade.”

The ordinance requires all vehicles driven within city limits to be equipped with a muffler. It prohibits vehicles that bypass or cut out their mufflers to be louder and those that create “excessive smoke.”

Stecks said he agrees with the idea that people who drive small motorcycles known as “crotch rockets” up and down the street after 10 p.m. need to be ticketed. 

But he emphasized, “Not drivers who are just doing their job in the middle of the day.”

He said it would have made more sense if he’d received a ticket for a machine that he knows is really noisy: a fast 1931 Model A rat rod named “Clyde” that he built several years ago. 

Several of Stecks’ co-workers smiled and nodded their heads as he said this, because they know exactly how loud Clyde can be cranked it up.

Stecks said his main problem with the ordinance is that it relies on a police officer to make a judgment call about how loud the noise is.

“They need to measure it,” he said. “That’s the only way they should ever do this.”

Geno breaks the sound barrier 6 15 26

<title>Meet The First Driver To Get A Ticket Under Cheyenne’s New Noise Ordinance | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Mechanic Geno Stecks got the first ticket under Cheyenne’s new noise ordinance while delivering a car part in the middle of the day. When the officer told him he couldn't hear his radio because of the exhaust, Stecks said, "Turn your volume knob up."

Meet The First Driver To Get A Ticket Under Cheyenne’s New Noise Ordinance

Heinz mark

Mark Heinz

Outdoors

Wildlife

A pair of young Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep rams that wandered into Cheyenne were killed by game wardens out of concern that they could catch pneumonia from domestic livestock and transmit it back into wild sheep herds.

A pair of young bighorn sheep rams that wandered into Cheyenne were killed by Wyoming wildlife officials. However, one biologist and wildlife researcher says it's not necessary. He said they should be quarantined instead.

One More For The Road: Wednesday, March 6, 2024

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