You Still Here

Woman saves her refrigerator from getting destroyed by two drunks, as narrated by MMA announcer, Steve Inman.

Inman 5 16 24

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

<title>Steve Inman, Thursday, May 16, 2024 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Steve Inman, Thursday, May 16, 2024

 Woman saves her refrigerator from getting destroyed by two drunks, as narrated by MMA announcer, Steve Inman.

Heinz mark

Mark Heinz

Wildlife

During almost every human-bear encounter, the bear just wants to leave or, at worst, might attack because it’s startled, agitated or defending its cubs.

In the most terrifying and extremely rare cases, a bear sizes a person up as a possible meal.

California resident Ryan Lutes believes he had a predatory encounter with a female brown bear in Sitka, Alaska, during the first week of June.

He told Cowboy State Daily that he credits confidence and bold action for coming out of the encounter unscathed.

[{"type":"text","text":"‘I Planted My Ass’"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Lutes said he encountered the bear near a raptor center along the trails."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"He approached the center but discovered it was closed."}]

Needing to answer nature’s call, he entered some thick cover at the end of an abandoned road.

“It looked like a good place to take a leak,” he said. “I was just finishing buckling my pants back up when I heard the unmistakable crunching of leaves that I knew could come only from the weight of a bear or human.” 

[{"type":"text","text":"He said the bear almost immediately locked eyes with him."}]

“The second she made eye contact with me, I knew I had to plant my ass,” standing firm and not appearing weak, he said.

[{"type":"text","text":"And he started taking video with his cellphone."}]

Lutes said he and the bear went through an intense back-and-forth for at least several minutes.

At one point the bear charged, and he dropped his phone. When he scared the bear back by shouting at it, he picked up his phone and started taking video again.

At another point, the bear “got down on her belly with her head away from me, like a dog,” and he thought he’d finally established dominance over it.

But then, “she popped back up like a jack-in-the-box," and the standoff began all over again.

Lutes said he was pumped full of adrenaline and not particularly proud of “some of the language I was using in those videos.”

Eventually, the bear “stuck its head in some brush” as if it had lost interest in him, and Lutes left quickly.

He said he learned later that the bear’s two juvenile cubs might have been shot while trying to kill goats with her, and so she might have been “angry” toward people.

Lutes loves traveling to Alaska, as well as Wyoming, Montana, and other wild places, and has had plenty of bear encounters.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"But this one was different, he said."}]

The bear was alert, fixated on him, and approached boldly and quietly.

“At some point, her hair touched my arm. Then my adrenaline hit the roof, and I started screaming and going after her,” he said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"‘The Perfect Storm Of A Few Things’"}]

It’s been a busy year for human-bear encounters. In May, two brothers were mauled by a grizzly in Yellowstone National Park. And a man was killed in a grizzly attack in Montana’s Glacier National Park.

Attacks by grizzlies and black bears have also been reported in Colorado, Canada, and elsewhere. Most recently in Wyoming, a woman was hospitalized Monday after a 

 while hiking with her dogs near Teton Pass.

None of that means that bears are getting meaner, said wildlife filmmaker Casey Anderson, who lives in Emigrant, Montana, and has had thousands of bear encounters.

“There’s a perfect storm of a few things. More people going into wild spaces. There are more bears in wild spaces. Wild spaces are shrinking, and everybody’s got a camera,” Anderson told Cowboy State Daily.

That ubiquitous presence of cellphones and social media means that people can document wildlife encounters and share them like never before, Anderson noted.

So, while there might be a genuine increase in the number of human-bear encounters, the new technology might give the impression the numbers have absolutely exploded, he said.

Anderson used his own social media platform to share video of the Lutes encounter and uses it as a tutorial of highly unusual and spooky bear behavior.

Lutes said he usually carries a firearm or bear spray in the wild. But on that day he had neither. He was just trying to burn off a little time before picking up a friend from work by hiking on some Sitka municipal trails that are essentially right in town.

Having no defense mechanism, and with the bear acting the way it was, Lutes “did the right thing,” Anderson said.

“He was standing his ground and being counter-aggressive,” Anderson said. “It’s super-intense. To have that kind of encounter without protection. That’s intense.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Focused, Determined, Deadly"}]

,” produced by the International Bear Association (IBA), is still regarded as one of the best bear safety tutorials.

A segment of the video covers signs of predatory behavior in bears.

A defensive bear will appear “agitated and stressed,” the film’s narrator states.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Not so with a potentially predatory bear."}]

“With its head up and ears erect, its approach is confident and persistent,” the narrator says.

That’s the sort of behavior to watch for, regardless of species, according to the film.

The consensus among bear experts is that large, male black bears are the most likely to be predatory toward humans.

The film recommends acting aggressively toward a predatory bear to discourage it. 

And, if it comes down to it, fighting back.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"‘That Gives Me The Creeps’"}]

Anderson said the behavior of the female brown bear in Lutes’ video reflects what the IBA filmmakers were pointing out.

“That video, when I watched it, provoked some reactions in me because of the bear’s body language,” he said. “The body language is focused. In those circumstances, that bear has some choices to make.

“The bear’s body language suggests, ‘I want to get a closer look at this (human). Because this might be an opportunity. And that gives me the creeps.” 

Anderson said that among all the bear encounters he’s had only one that was possibly predatory, years ago in Yellowstone National Park.

An old, “emaciated” grizzly boldly approached Anderson and his cameraman, looking intensely focused.

That bear, well past its prime, was probably desperate for food, he said.  

Anderson said he charged at the bear, “roaring” and holding his backpack over his head, and the bear fled.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"The incident shook him."}]

“I didn’t sleep for three nights after that,” he said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Be Prepared, But Not Paranoid"}]

Anderson stressed that he wants people to be mindful in bear country, not irrationally terrified.

That means being prepared because “complacency is what gets you killed in the wild. Period,” he said.

For “a broad swath of the public” that might not be skilled with firearmskram he recommends bear spray, which he said he’s had to use on bears a few times.

And knowledge and a cool head should prevail, Anderson said.

“Time and time again, I see people getting themselves out of situations by using their brains,” he said.

As miniscule as the possibility of running into a predatory bear is, people should run through that scenario and how to handle it in their heads, Anderson said.

“You must at least have it on your mind. And you’d better have your game plan in place, because it’s life or death,” he said.

Mix Collage 14 Aug 2026 06 35 PM 1046

<title>When A Bear Wants To Eat You: Outdoorsman Has Terrifying Predatory Encounter | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Outdoorsman Ryan Lutes had a predatory encounter with a female brown bear earlier this summer. He told Cowboy State Daily that he credits confidence and bold action for coming out alive. "I knew I had to plant my ass, stand firm and not appear weak," he said.

When A Bear Wants To Eat You: Outdoorsman Has Terrifying Predatory Encounter

Guest Column

Guest Columnists

I've spent a lifetime in public service in Wyoming, and if there's one thing I've learned, it's that you can tell a lot about a leader by how they treat the people they serve. 

[{"type":"text","text":"Do they talk at folks, or do they listen? "}]

Do they arrive with all the answers, or do they take the time to understand each person and their questions? 

That's why I'm confident to support Eric Barlow — because Eric is the rare candidate who leads by listening first.

In my conversations with Eric Barlow, I can say without hesitation that he is a conservative in the fundamental sense of the word. 

I'm not talking about the kind of conservatism that gets performed on a debate stage or packaged into a thirty-second ad. 

I'm talking about the bedrock principles that built Wyoming and built this country — limited government, personal responsibility, fiscal discipline, and an unwavering respect for the rights and freedoms of every citizen. 

Eric doesn't wear conservatism like a campaign hat that he can put on and take off. It's who he is and how he reflects Wyoming values. It's how he thinks, how he makes decisions, and how he'll lead as Governor.

Top two principles of a conservative Republican are integrity and respect for others.

Look to former Wyoming Governors Stan Hathaway and Cliff Hansen. That’s Eric Barlow.

But what has impressed me most about Eric — and what I believe sets him apart in this race — is his genuine commitment to hearing from the people of Wyoming. 

I've watched him at community events, at kitchen tables, and on front porches across this state. 

He doesn't show up with a stump speech and a stopwatch. He shows up with questions. He wants to know what's working, what's broken, and what people need to succeed.

They want clear choices of how to work as partners. 

He listens to ranchers and roughnecks, teachers and small business owners, retirees and young families just getting started. And he doesn't just nod politely — he absorbs what he hears, asks questions to better understand and then puts it to work.

Wyoming businesses tell us that they have trouble attracting a quality workforce, especially younger people.

What do young families most desire to attract them to a location?

They want quality education and health care, not just nearby in neighboring states but right here in Wyoming, especially in rural communities.

Wyoming is a big state with a small population.

Outsiders such as the Freedom Caucus have decided Wyoming voters are naive and gullible.

National endorsements followed by outsider PAC funding are responsible for the disingenuous and dishonest ads that are intended to manipulate voters.

Those PACs are admitting they don’t have confidence in the qualities of their own candidate so they attack the opposition.

These outside interests manipulate their candidates like a puppet on a string.

I've served alongside good leaders and I've seen my share of disappointing ones. 

The difference almost always comes down to character — do they have the principles to stand firm and the humility to listen? 

[{"type":"text","text":"Eric Barlow has both. "}]

He will stand firm for Wyoming's values, and he's the kind of person who will never forget that those values come from you, the people of this state.

I'm asking you to join me and support Eric Barlow to be Wyoming’s next governor. 

[{"type":"text","text":"We want a governor who will listen and then act, be a leader."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"}],"text":"By Former Gov. Jim Geringer"}]

Image 2026 08 14 T140103 926

<title>Guest Column: Why I'm Supporting Eric Barlow To Be Wyoming’s Governor | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Former Wyoming Gov. Jim Geringer writes, "Eric Barlow doesn't show up with a stump speech and a stopwatch. He shows up with questions. He wants to know what's working, what's broken, and what people need to succeed."

Guest Column: Why I'm Supporting Eric Barlow To Be Wyoming’s Governor

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

Andrew Rossi

Public Safety

 has been identified as Terry Zaske, 48, of Rapid City, South Dakota.

Zaske was riding his motorcycle on U.S. Highway 14/16/20 on Wednesday when he was struck by a Ford pickup truck that swerved into his lane near Wapiti, the Wyoming Highway Patrol said.

Zaske died at the scene. Zaske's wife, Candis, was LifeFlighted to a hospital in Billings, Montana, where she is recovering from serious injuries.

Kaitlyn Zaske, Terry’s daughter, also from Rapid City, 

 to pay for her father's funeral and cover her stepmother's medical bills. She described her father as a jovial soul and a doting grandfather, taken from her family too soon.

“My dad was so many things to so many people,” she wrote. “He was a son, father, grandpa, brother, uncle, and friend. He was my dad and losing him so unexpectedly has left a hole in our family that words cannot describe.”

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

Zaske and three other motorcycles were traveling west on U.S. 14/16/20 toward Yellowstone National Park when the eastbound pickup truck drifted into the opposite lane. The truck struck two motorcycles directly, including Zaske’s, which caused the motorcycles behind them to crash as well.

A Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) vehicle, traveling behind the motorcycles, attempted to swerve to avoid the oncoming truck. The truck clipped the WYDOT vehicle’s tailgate and continued into a field before coming to a stop.

Ten people and six vehicles were involved in the incident. Five people were seriously injured.

“One person was taken by helicopter to Billings for medical treatment,” said Wyoming Highway Patrol spokesperson Aaron Brown. “Another was taken by ambulance to Cody before being flown to Billings as well. Two others were taken by ambulance to Cody with non-life-threatening injuries, where they were treated and released.”

The Highway Patrol said the driver of the Ford pickup was responsible for the accident. Driver inattention and driver fatigue/asleep were the contributing factors.  

As of Friday, it’s unknown whether any charges have been or will be filed against the pickup driver.

U.S. 14/16/20 was closed for 5 1/2 hours as first responders treated the victims and cleared the highway of debris.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Permanent Pain"}]

Candis Zaske is still receiving medical care in Billings. Kaitlyn said her stepmother has “a long road ahead” that will keep her from working.

Knowing the costs of her father's funeral and stepmother's medical bills will be immense, Kaitlyn is turning to friends, family, and other motorcyclists for support.

“While no amount of money can ever take away this pain, we are asking for help to ease some of the financial burden that has suddenly fallen on our family,” she wrote. “Nothing is expected, but everything is appreciated.”

As of Friday, the GoFundMe had reached more than $8,000 of its $14,000 goal.

Kaitlyn shared that she and her father were attempting to repair their relationship after years of conflict when he died. She “will forever wish we had more time.”

“We were just starting to find our way back to each other,” she wrote. “Regardless of everything, he was still my dad. He was still a grandpa, and he loved all of his kids and grandkids with everything he had.”

Kaitlyn will remember her father’s humor and how much he enjoyed doting on his grandchildren. The accident “unexpectedly changed (our family) forever.”

“He had a way of cracking a joke and making anyone laugh, but one of the things I will always remember most was how much he loved his grandchildren and how much he loved to spoil them,” she wrote. “Thank you to everyone who has reached out, prayed for us, shared their love, or offered support during this heartbreaking time. It means more to our family than you will ever know.”

[{"type":"text","text":"The Zaske family could not be reached at the time of publication."}]

Mix Collage 14 Aug 2026 05 36 PM 4823

<title>South Dakota Grandfather Identified As Man Killed In Multi-Vehicle Wreck Near Yellowstone | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Terry Zaske, a grandfather from South Dakota, has been identified as the motorcyclist killed in a multi-vehicle wreck near Wapiti on Wednesday. The Wyoming Highway Patrol says the driver of a pickup truck caused the six-vehicle accident. 

South Dakota Grandfather Identified As Man Killed In Multi-Vehicle Wreck Near Yellowstone

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Business & Tourism

Business

Sam Husted and Sam Rollins have spent five years working together at the Buffalo Chip during the Sturgis Rally, where they are known simply as "The Sams."

[{"type":"text","text":"They come from Wyoming for 14 days and work the entire 10 days."}]

The night YUNGBLUD played the Buffalo Chip, the line in front of them seemed like it would never end.

Drinks flew across the bar as quickly as Husted and Rollins could make them, and after a few days they were out of body glitter.

Beneath the Engine Bar, bikers gathered under an enormous canopy while motorcycles rumbled in and out, making it difficult to hear.

[{"type":"text","text":"For the Sams, all that noise meant business."}]

On a good night, Husted said, the goal was to walk away with $1,500 or more.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"It's exhausting, but so much fun,\" Husted said."}]

They bought a camper, friends came along and the two-week money-making marathon doubled as a strange sort of working vacation.

For the Sams, that's part of what makes the arrangement work. They can make in a night what might otherwise take days or weeks, then step outside into one of the biggest parties in the world.

"It's a good time. It goes by quickly," Rollins said. "And then you have a lot of money to show for it."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Money Grows Everywhere"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"For most of the year, Sturgis is impossibly wholesome. Charming, even."}]

The little South Dakota town is tucked against the Black Hills, where old houses sit behind tidy yards and white picket fences, hollyhocks grow along the sidewalks and church steeples poke above old trees.

[{"type":"text","text":"In the dead of winter, it's a quiet place."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Then August comes."}]

Trucks and trailers begin appearing in driveways. Hand-painted parking signs sprout in front yards. Tents and temporary bars go up. Main Street disappears beneath motorcycles parked wheel to wheel, and the low rumble of engines becomes the background noise of daily life.

[{"type":"text","text":"While the bikers come to play, an army goes to work."}]

For 10 days, bartenders like Husted and Rollins sling drinks until their arms ache. Hotel owners turn rooms as fast as people can leave them. Shuttle drivers prowl the darkness looking for fares.

[{"type":"text","text":"August in Sturgis is harvest season."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"And there is money growing everywhere."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Make Hay"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Sheraz Shah couldn't have picked a wilder week to become an innkeeper."}]

On Aug. 3, with the rally already in full swing, he officially took over the Sturgis Lodge and Suites.

[{"type":"text","text":"Almost immediately, he discovered he had a problem."}]

The motel appeared to be booked, but many of the reservations left behind by the previous management weren't valid, Shah said. Some lacked working phone numbers or credit cards, leaving rooms that had effectively been held for months without paying customers attached to them.

With one of the most lucrative weeks of the year already bearing down on him, Shah began canceling questionable reservations, dropping prices and trying to fill rooms.

The reservation mess left the new owner in an unusual position during a week when rooms around Sturgis can be hard to come by: He suddenly had vacancies to fill.

[{"type":"text","text":"So he got to work."}]

Shah was putting in days that started around 5 or 6 in the morning and stretched as late as 1 a.m., answering phones, fixing keys, checking in guests and trying to survive.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"God is helping me different ways,\" he said."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"One thing Shah wasn't having trouble with was the bikers."}]

Movies tend to portray them as gangsters and troublemakers, he said, but the people actually sleeping in his rooms had been "very nice, very polite, very beautiful people."

[{"type":"text","text":"He said he hadn't had a bad interaction with a single guest."}]

For Shah, the madness is welcome because the economics of running a hotel in the Black Hills are brutally seasonal.

[{"type":"text","text":"Winter is \"almost dead.\""}]

[{"type":"text","text":"\"We completely rely on summertime business to survive.\""}]

Despite the scramble behind the scenes, the rooms are clean, the pool is inviting and hot breakfast in the mornings comes with good, strong coffee.

[{"type":"text","text":"In Sturgis, you make hay while the Harleys roar."}]

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

[{"type":"text","text":"Nearby, another little economy unfolds."}]

Women in bikinis polish motorcycles for tips while their customers lounge beneath the shade, watching chrome become even shinier.

Some of the women say they spend much of the summer following the motorcycle circuit from rally to rally.

[{"type":"text","text":"Sturgis is only one stop."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"There is Daytona. Laconia. Four Corners. The Ozarks."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Where the motorcycles go, the workers follow."}]

There is an entire wandering economy chasing the bikes: bartenders, vendors, gate workers, security crews and more.

[{"type":"text","text":"Sturgis is its Super Bowl."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Viking Shuttle"}]

Sometime around midnight, Baron von Strauss is doing some of his best business.

 and describes himself as the son of a Norwegian soybean farmer from North Dakota.

This is the fifth year Sam Husted and Sam Rollins have gone to Sturgis to work at The Buffalo Chip. The Casper bartenders are known as 'The Sams' and they can make $1,500 per night. August is harvest season. And money is growing everywhere.

Steve Inman, Thursday, May 16, 2024

In case you missed it

More in You Still Here

Today In Real-Life Cartoons: Saturday, August 15, 2026

Today In Robots: Saturday, August 15, 2026

You Still Here? Saturday, August 15, 2026

Bonus Video 2: Saturday, August 15, 2026

Most read