Same Guys Dancing

[{"type":"text","text":"Nelly Furtado -- Maneater"}]

Mix Collage 17 Sep 2024 04 25 PM 5348

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

<title>Wednesday Morning Dance Party: Nelly Furtado -- Maneater | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Nelly Furtado -- Maneater

Wednesday Morning Dance Party: Nelly Furtado -- Maneater

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Crime & Courts

A Texas man is accused of exposing his erect penis and "wiggling his hips" in the parking lot of a busy Mexican restaurant in Jackson on Tuesday evening before driving away intoxicated.

The alleged incident involving Anthony Joseph Durkas happened at 7:42 p.m. outside El Abuelito Restaurant, a popular family eatery about a five-minute walk west of Jackson Town Square.

A caller told dispatch an intoxicated man pulled down his pants, exposed his genitals and was "swinging it around" in the parking lot before climbing into a white Chevrolet Silverado with Texas license plates.

The public indecency allegation, however, stems largely from what police say happened before officers ever arrived, documented in a probable-cause affidavit filed Wednesday by Sgt. Justin Lancaster of the Jackson Police Department. 

A woman who witnessed the encounter showed Lancaster cellphone video she recorded from the parking lot before providing it to investigators for review. 

The video appeared to show Durkas "passionately kissing a woman" before she reached toward his crotch. 

Lancaster notes the video showed Durkas "appeared to undo his pants facing the female." 

Then, he wrote, Durkas "turned to the side which showed his penis was erect and exposed to the general public."

According to the affidavit, Durkas then began "wiggling his hips, which caused his erect penis to move in a circular motion."

Lancaster wrote the incident occurred during the dinner rush with passing motorists and at least one witness nearby.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"DUI Arrest"}]

As officers arrived, Lancaster reported seeing the pickup backing out of a parking space.

When the officer approached the driver's window, he said he immediately smelled a strong odor of alcohol along with the faint smell of marijuana coming from inside the truck.

Lancaster wrote that Durkas had bloodshot, watery eyes, slurred speech, and appeared unsteady on his feet after getting out of the vehicle.

Lancaster also said Durkas was "slow to follow commands and/or was unable" to comply with instructions.

He noted that Durkas did not respond to a request to perform standardized field-sobriety tests.

Durkas was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and taken to jail. His pickup was impounded because, according to Lancaster, it was partially blocking the parking lot.

During an inventory search of the truck, officers found a clear plastic bag labeled "MAC GALACTIC" containing suspected psilocybin mushrooms.

Inside a camper shell, officers also reported finding what appeared to be burned and unburned marijuana in a pipe along with a grinder.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Court Proceedings"}]

Durkas appeared Wednesday in Teton County Circuit Court, where he was arraigned on one count each of public indecency and driving under the influence, along with two misdemeanor counts of possessing controlled substances.

If convicted on all four counts and ordered to serve the maximum penalties consecutively, he could face up to 3½ years in jail and $4,500 in fines.

Teton County Circuit Court Judge Erin E. Weisman set a bond at $3,000 cash or surety and scheduled a jury trial for Oct. 27, though the matter could be resolved through a plea agreement or another disposition.

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<title>Texas Man Accused Of Flashing Penis Outside Busy Jackson Mexican Restaurant | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A Texas man is accused of exposing his penis and "swinging it around" in the parking lot of a busy Mexican restaurant in Jackson on Tuesday evening before driving away intoxicated. If convicted on all four counts he could face up to 3½ years in jail.

Texas Man Accused Of Flashing Penis Outside Busy Jackson Mexican Restaurant

Heinz mark

Mark Heinz

Fishing

Facing extreme drought in the wake of an exceptionally mild winter, officials in Colorado and Oregon have thrown up their hands and told anglers at some reservoirs: Catch all the fish you want, because they’re going to die anyway.

Conditions aren’t nearly so dire at two of Wyoming’s premier fishing reservoirs, Flaming Gorge in Sweetwater County and Boysen in Fremont County, where limits remain in place and the angling should remain good this summer, a state park manager and marina owner told Cowboy State Daily.

In northeastern Oregon, fishing limits were lifted on three reservoirs on the Powder River, a tributary of the Snake River, which originates in Wyoming.

Colorado is allowing unlimited angling on Antero Reservoir on the South Platte River in the central part of the state, and the Nee Noshe Reservoir to the southeast.

Utah has loosened catch limits on Crouse Reservoir, east of Salt Lake City, and Nine Mile Reservoir, south of the city.

In each instance, state agencies surmised reservoirs are getting so low and stagnant the fish are doomed regardless, according to numerous media reports.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"No Emergency, Yet"}]

Despite drought conditions across the state, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department doesn’t have “immediate plans to enact emergency regulations to liberalize creel limits,” according to fisheries management coordinator Mark Smith.

“However, conditions could change rapidly. If an emergency change to creel limits were to occur that information would be disseminated widely to the public and posted at the water for anglers to find,” Smith said in an email to Cowboy State Daily.

Some of Wyoming’s larger reservoirs have conservation pools, or “dead pools,” to act as buffers for fisheries when water is running low, Smith said.

Even so, “all stored water has limitations,” he added. The water at Flaming Gorge and Boysen is expected to drop enough to render some boat ramps useless.

So, Game and Fish is watching closely for a “tipping point” that might warrant a change in fishing regulations, Smith said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Bad New For Small Waters"}]

For smaller fisheries, the news isn’t quite so good.

“Ultimately, our goal is to protect all of our fisheries, but we recognize that some of our small waters have already been lost, or will be lost, to drying,” Smith said.

Sometimes that happens so fast there isn’t time to react, he said.  

“For example, when we were finally able to access roads and assess small ponds in the 33 Mile country north of Casper this May, most of those fisheries had already succumbed to low water elevations and poor water-quality conditions,” Smith said.

“Other sagebrush stock-water reservoirs could face a similar fate,” he added.

Emergency regulations require the governor’s signature.

“Emergency regulations take effect immediately upon the Governor’s approval and would be lifted if conditions improved and fish were likely to survive,” Smith said.

Boysen Reservoir has been roughly 70% full during June, Boysen State Park superintendent John Bass said.

Boysen is one of Wyoming’s top destinations for walleye, and also boasts good trout fishing.

Bass said he doesn’t anticipate the reservoir dropping to the point of mass fish die-offs or calls to lift all fishing limits.

According to Bureau of Reclamation estimates, Boysen will slowly fall, but remain above 50% capacity.

All four Boysen boat ramps are usable, he said. They are Bannon, Tough Creek, Fremont Bay and Cottonwood Bay.

“Although, as the lake starts falling, the Fremont and Cottonwood Ramps will be too shallow to use. But that’s a fairly common occurrence in my 10 years here,” Bass said. "The Brannon and Tough Creek boat ramps will be usable for the remainder of the year, until ice-up.” 

Likewise, there’s no reason to think officials will call for a free-for-all at Flaming Gorge, which straddles the Wyoming-Utah state line, Buckboard Marina owner Tony Valdez said.

“I don’t think we’ll be at the stagnant water level, where we could lose all of the fish,” he said.

Flaming Gorge draws anglers from all over the region for its prized kokanee salmon. It’s also known for lake trout and other species.

The Bureau of Reclamation this spring announced that Flaming Gorge is set for a million-acre-foot drawdown to make up for severe shortages downstream at Lake Powell, on the Utah-Arizona state line.

An acre foot is the amount of water that would flood an acre of land to the depth of one foot.

Valdez has previously expressed concerns the drawdown could ruin kokanee spawning areas. Kokanee are already under pressure because of competition with lake trout and burbot.

Wyoming Game and Fish and the Utah Division of Wildlife already lifted catch limits on smaller lake trout (under 28 inches) and burbot, in hopes of helping the kokanee.

Valdez said he doesn’t expect fishing limits to be suspended on any other species.

However, boat ramps could be rendered useless as the reservoir drops for the drawdown, he added.

Valdez said his marina could also tank this summer.

“This year, the marina could be gone. In fact, I’ve got to go deal with that right now, and move some stuff around (because of dropping water levels),” he said during a telephone interview with Cowboy State Daily.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Catfish Getting Scarce"}]

Valdez said if there’s any danger of water dropping to fish-killing levels it would hit first upstream, at Fontenelle Reservoir.

“If it did get that low, the first one to go would be Fontenelle, then the Green (River) and then Flaming Gorge. But I don’t see it dropping that low,” he said.

Drought has ruined some of the fishing on the Blacks River, which feeds Flaming Gorge on the west side, Valdez said.

That river once was a hot spot for catfish, he noted.

“People still catch catfish near the confluence, more so in the lake than on the river. The river gets stagnant,” he said.

While Flaming Gorge is holding its own for now, the long-term picture could be stark.

During a Tuesday meeting in Denver, members of the Upper Colorado River Commission said conditions along the river system – which includes the Green River – are dire.

Wyoming state engineer Brandon Gebhart said it could be the 

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<title>Colorado And Oregon Lift Fishing Restrictions, Drought Will Kill Fish Anyway | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Facing extreme drought in the wake of an exceptionally mild winter, officials in Colorado and Oregon have told anglers at some reservoirs: Catch all the fish you want, because they’re going to die anyway. In Wyoming, emergency measures are on hold.

Colorado And Oregon Lift Fishing Restrictions, Drought Will Kill Fish Anyway

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

Andrew Rossi

Wildlife

 crashed along U.S. Highway 191 in Yellowstone National Park’s northwest corner. Hundreds of destroyed hives have been cleared from the highway, but the homeless bees are 

While many are concerned about the fate of the still-homeless honeybees, others worry about 

Honeybees aren’t native to Yellowstone or North America. Their presence in Yellowstone could have repercussions.

“If these honeybees get established as feral colonies, the primary concerns would be food and disease,” said Laura Burkle, a professor of ecology at Montana State University in Bozeman. “It all depends on whether or not they're going to persist in the area.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Native Vs Foreign Bees"}]

Burkle is a community ecologist. She studies bee communities and the flowers and other plants they pollinate in natural and managed systems.

While Burkle was aware of the bee catastrophe in Yellowstone, she didn’t have any specific insight into the circumstances or how many bee colonies had yet to be collected. However, she is aware of the diversity of bees in the park.

“There are hundreds of native species of bees present in Yellowstone,” she said. “Some of them are social, like bumblebees, and some of them are solitary, meaning they don’t live in a colony.”

, published by the National Park Service, said least 3,604 described species of bees inhabit North America. Several National Park Service sites, including Yellowstone and Grand Teton, were included in a cursory nationwide survey.

However, none of these bees are honeybees. All honeybees in the United States were imported from Europe and Africa, with the first colonies arriving in the 18th century.

“That’s why honeybees are considered livestock,” Burkle said. “Bringing a colony of honeybees into a national park wouldn’t typically be allowed.”

Semitrucks aren’t permitted in Yellowstone. The stretch of U.S. 191 between West Yellowstone and Big Sky, Montana, is the exception.

Burkle said honeybees are usually transported en masse to pollinate crops or to move between fields where they can collect nectar for better honey production. The hives, or honey boxes, are critical to their survival.

“Almost all the honeybees in North America go back to a hive,” she said.

Of the 20,000 known species of bees worldwide, only eight are honeybees. Nevertheless, they have been one of the most beneficial insects to humanity since they were first domesticated nearly 5,000 years ago.

That’s where the homeless honeybees could pose a threat to Yellowstone’s natives.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"A Dish (Or Disease) To Pass"}]

Because honeybees have been so thoroughly domesticated, they tend to rely on their honey boxes to build colonies, raise larvae, and produce honey. A honeybee colony that thrives without hives is what Burkle called a feral colony.

“There aren't very many feral honeybee colonies, although they do exist,” she said. “If there were any honeybees in Yellowstone, they would have to be feral colonies.”

There have been concerns about the impact of non-native honeybees on native ecosystems in North America for decades. Honeybees can be defensive and are known to compete with native bumblebees for food and territory in North America and Europe.

That would be one of Burkle’s primary concerns about the homeless honeys in northwest Yellowstone. If one or multiple colonies establish themselves as feral colonies, they could start competing with the park’s native bumblebees for food.

“Honeybees collected a lot of nectar and pollen to produce honey,” she said. “They could use up floral resources that would be needed to sustain Yellowstone’s native populations, taking food away from native bees.”

The foraging area for a single honeybee hive can extend over two miles. Foraging bees have been observed as far as four miles away from their hives.

Furthermore, bees can only forage when the temperature is right, usually between 55 and 66 degrees. With a limited window and limited resources within their foraging range, non-native honeybees could quickly start competing with native bees.

Then there’s the risk of spreading bee disease. That’s the other concern that immediately presented itself to Burkle.

“It's known that honeybees can give diseases to native bees, and vice versa,” she said. “It’s more likely that these honeybees are carrying various pathogens and parasites that Yellowstone’s native bees haven’t been exposed to before.”

Bees don’t need to come into direct contact to transmit diseases. According to Burkle, they can be shared from flower to flower.

“If a honeybee visits the flower, and then a native bee comes to that flower next, it could pick up a pathogen that was left by a honeybee,” she said.

Between competition for food and the spread of disease, the homeless honeybees could pose a serious problem for Yellowstone’s native bees.

[{"type":"text","text":"But will they?"}]

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

When colonies of honeybees are destroyed, it’s in the best interest of their owners to collect as many queens and colonies as they can. Efforts to collect the surviving bees were immediately underway after the semitruck incident.

Without seeing the scene, Burkle couldn’t say how serious the situation might be for Yellowstone’s native bees. That’s partly because not a lot is known about Yellowstone’s bees.

“To my knowledge, Yellowstone's bee populations are poorly characterized and understood,” she said. “There have been studies, not all of which are published, that are just starting to scratch the surface of which species are even present inside the park.”

That means it’s hard to say if Yellowstone’s bees are thriving or struggling.

Entomologists and biologists like Burkle are collecting data to understand the health of these native populations and to determine whether they’re affected by climate change or other environmental factors.

That said, Burkle said there are reasons to think the homeless honeybees won’t make any noticeable impact on native bees. They’re actively being collected, and even an established feral colony might struggle to survive.

“They might not be able to set up colonies, depending on the weather and how far they have to fly to find a suitable place to set up a feral colony,” she said. “They might not be able to persist where they’ve ended up.”

Also, honeybees tend to live the easy life. Their hives are placed in optimal environments, where they don’t have to expend energy foraging to find enough food to sustain themselves and produce honey.

“Big bees, like bumblebees, fly farther than smaller bees,” Burkle said. “Smaller bees might only forage 200 meters away from the hive, so they can have a pretty limited range.”

Burkle was aware that many people are concerned about how these honeybees could impact the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. While there are many potential concerns and factors to consider, there isn’t enough known to inform conclusive answers.

“I’m not an expert on all things bees, but I don’t know how concerned the National Park Service or anyone else is or should be right now,” she said. “These honeybees could be disruptive if they set up feral colonies, but I don’t have a good sense of what’s happening down there. I don’t know if I have a good answer at this time.”

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<title>Yellowstone's Homeless Honeybees Could Make Native Bumblebees Sick, Scientist Says | Cowboy State Daily</title>

There is concern that homeless honeybees that remain in Yellowstone after last week's semi crash could threaten the native bees. They are likely "carrying pathogens and parasites that Yellowstone’s bees haven’t been exposed to," one professor said.

Yellowstone's Homeless Honeybees Could Make Native Bumblebees Sick, Scientist Says

Colorado Parks and Wildlife is trying to determine why a black bear attacked a woman Sunday on a popular hiking trail, and then followed her for 30 minutes despite her shouting and throwing rocks at it.

“We don’t know for sure, because we haven’t found the bear,” Kara Van Hoose, CPW's northeast region spokeswoman, told Cowboy State Daily on Wednesday.

The bear was thought to be a “yearling, or young adult,” she added.

Predatory attacks, in which a bear is deliberately stalking a person as prey, are extremely rare in both black bears and grizzlies.

Most bear attacks are defensive or territorial.

The consensus among bear biologists is that while grizzlies are more likely to attack humans, black bears are more likely to attack in a purely predatory manner.

While the bear’s behavior was alarming, CPW doesn’t think it was predatory, Van Hoose said.

“It makes us think more likely a food-conditioned bear, not a predatory black bear,” she said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Bear Wouldn’t Give Up"}]

The woman, who CPW did not identify, told wildlife agents that she was attacked from behind and suffered scratches on one leg at about 5:20 p.m.

She was on the Enchanted Forest trail in the 700-acre Apex Park near Golden in Jefferson County. CPW shut down the park after the reported attack.

The woman told investigators the bear continued to follow her despite her repeated attempts to intimidate and haze it by making herself look big, shouting, and throwing rocks and sticks.

Toward the end of the encounter, the woman was joined by two hikers who responded to her calls for help. Even with all three people shouting at it, the bear was undeterred, CPW reported.

Eventually, the bear turned down another trail, where it reportedly started following other hikers, according to CPW.

The woman is an avid hiker who has had previous bear encounters, and acted appropriately by trying to intimidate and haze the bear, Van Hoose said.

The woman gave CPW a short cellphone video she took during the encounter, which helped the agency identify the bear as relatively small and probably young, Van Hoose said.

CPW isn’t at liberty to share the video with Cowboy State Daily, she said.  

 reported the woman reached out and shared the video and details of the encounter but declined to be named in their report.

The woman told Denver 7 the bear was “circling” her.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Problems Human-Caused"}]

British Columbia bear researcher Lana Ciarniello told Cowboy State Daily she couldn’t comment on the specifics of the Colorado attack, but affirmed that predatory behavior is extremely rare in both black bears and grizzlies.

Most human-bear conflict is rooted in human mistakes, such as deliberately feeding bears or allowing them access to garbage or other food sources, she said.

People who recreate in bear territory should “take training courses” on avoiding close encounters, and what to do if one occurs.

And “carry bear spray,” Ciarniello said.

Van Hoose said it wasn’t known for certain whether the woman attacked in Colorado was carrying bear spray.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Time To Fight Back"}]

Ciarniello noted that a video tutorial, “Staying Safe in Bear Country”, was made years ago by the International Bear Association (IBA) but remains a “gold standard” bear-safety training tool.

In one segment, the difference is noted between defensive actions by bears versus deliberate approaches.

Bears that deliberately approach people might be driven by curiosity or food conditioning, according to IBA. In rare instances, bears see people as prey.

A predatory bear will move in “with its head up and ears erect, its approach is confident and persistent,” according to IBA.

If a predatory bear makes contact, it’s time to fight back because “you’re fighting for your life,” IBA states.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"What Happens To The Bear?"}]

It’s not certain what will happen to the bear once CPW finds it, Van Hoose said.

More information is needed before it can be determined whether it will be euthanized, or if other action is needed, she said.

Agents need to determine if it has persisted in following people or displayed other aggressive behavior, and whether it might be malnourished or suffering from disease, Van Hoose said.

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<title>Colorado Wildlife Officials Uncertain Why Black Bear Attacked, Followed Woman | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Colorado wildlife agents are trying to determine why a black bear attacked a woman on a hiking trail in Denver and then followed her for 30 minutes despite her shouting and throwing rocks at it. The woman who took video of the encounter said it was "circling her."

Colorado Wildlife Officials Uncertain Why Black Bear Attacked, Followed Woman

Employee kate meadows cropped

Kate Meadows

Around Wyoming

A dispute over primitive outhouses on Amish-owned property in Crook County has prompted claims that some families are leaving northeast Wyoming’s oldest Amish community, though county officials say the issue has been resolved and was never intended to drive anyone away.

Sheridan rancher Pepper Fipps said he believes county enforcement efforts over wastewater disposal in the Hulett area have discouraged Amish families from remaining in the community.

“They wind up starting a little bit of a war,” Fipps said of the commissioners. “The community is dwindling.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Crook County Commission vice chairman Bob Latham disputes that."}]

“It’s all settled now. Everything is fixed,” Latham told Cowboy State Daily.

An estate moving sale earlier this month was held for two Amish families — Abe and Elizabeth Yoder and Rudy and Irene Borntreger. Records show Abe Yoder was among the landowners involved in the wastewater dispute.

About 40 Amish families live in the Hulett area, Fipps said. Founded in 2011, the Hulett Amish settlement is one of five in Wyoming.

Cowboy State Daily attempted to contact the families but did not receive responses before publication. Amish communities have traditionally relied on the U.S. mail for communication, and many members do not use cell phones or email.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Sanitation Concerns"}]

The issue surfaced in October 2024, when Crook County officials learned some Amish landowners west of Hulett had dug pits to use as toilets without obtaining permits.

Crook County wastewater specialist Caleb Peters informed commissioners that Yoder had installed outhouses that did not comply with county regulations, according to reporting by the Sundance Times.

Latham said a hole in the ground used to collect human waste is considered an illegal outhouse because it poses a risk to groundwater.

Commissioners scheduled a hearing in January 2025, expecting Yoder to attend and discuss the matter, but he did not appear, according to the Times.

Peters and county planning director Tim Lyons determined conditions at some properties presented health concerns after observing graywater and blackwater drainage. The Times reported Peters found a chicken with its head inside blackwater drainage at one residence, along with what he described as an odor of rot. At another property, he reportedly discovered an abandoned outhouse occupied by animals.

Latham said county code requires human-waste receptacles to be portable, pumpable or connected to a septic system.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"No Fines Levied"}]

Fipps contends county officials threatened landowners with fines of up to $30,000 per day if they failed to comply with regulations.

He called the county’s rule about illegal outhouses “asinine, stupid."

“It is baffling to me because I haven’t ever seen an outhouse blow up,” he said, noting Amish families typically live on 160-acre parcels well away from town.

A Sheridan rancher says an "asinine, stupid" outhouse crackdown is pushing Amish families out of the Hulett area. He said landowners were threatened with fines of up to $30,000 per day if they failed to comply with outhouse regulations.

Wednesday Morning Dance Party: Nelly Furtado -- Maneater

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