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Michael P. Ramirez

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

<title>Daily Cartoon 1: Sunday, September 29, 2024 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Daily Cartoon 1: Sunday, September 29, 2024

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Crime & Courts

Courts

A 12-person Laramie County jury found former South Cheyenne Water and Sewer District General Manager Dena Hansen guilty Wednesday of stealing about $350,000 from the district over nearly a decade.

A Laramie County District Court clerk confirmed Hansen's conviction on a single felony theft count. The verdict form was not publicly available Wednesday afternoon.

The case centered on allegations that about $350,000 was diverted from the South Cheyenne Water and Sewer District between 2014 and 2024 while Hansen oversaw its finances.

For years, the numbers were small enough to disappear into a stack of utility bills.

[{"type":"text","text":"A few hundred dollars one month. A little more the next."}]

Some was cash handed across a counter by customers paying water bills. Checks sometimes sat for days before clearing. Deposit slips appeared to tell different stories, depending on which copy investigators examined.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"A Familiar Face"}]

According to court records, Hansen worked for the district for more than 30 years.

Employees told investigators she was deeply involved in the district's day-to-day financial operations.

She handled deposits, interacted with customers, and maintained broad control over money moving through the office, says an affidavit of probable cause. 

The district serves customers south of Cheyenne, collecting monthly payments from residents and businesses for water and sewer service.

Those payments arrived in different forms — checks, cash and money orders — and for years appeared to move through the office without raising significant alarms.

After concerns arose about district finances in 2024, the South Cheyenne Water and Sewer District hired forensic accounting firm Jacobson and Associates to review years of records.

That review ultimately identified what investigators alleged were hundreds of thousands of dollars in missing funds.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Two Deposit Slips"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"One of the recurring details in the affidavit involved deposit slips."}]

Investigators alleged Hansen prepared bank deposits using duplicate deposit forms.

The yellow copies retained by the district frequently showed larger amounts than the white copies submitted to the bank -- a discrepancy that became a focus of the investigation.

In one section of the affidavit, investigators wrote that deposit slips appeared to have been altered using correction fluid before being delivered to the bank.

The records described instances where the amount recorded on the district's copy did not match the amount ultimately deposited.

Investigators concluded cash had been removed from deposits before they reached district accounts.

The affidavit further alleged that checks were sometimes substituted for missing cash to make deposit totals appear balanced.

Employees told investigators the district did not begin accepting online payments until October 2021.

According to witness statements summarized in the affidavit, Hansen opposed implementing online payment options.

Several employees reportedly told investigators they never understood why online payments were resisted.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Customers Complaints"}]

The investigation also uncovered complaints from customers who noticed something unusual.

Some customers contacted the district wondering why their checks had not cleared their bank accounts.

Investigators said those reports suggested certain checks were being held before being deposited, notes the affidavit. 

The delays became one of many small pieces investigators later compared against deposit records and customer payments.

Employees interviewed during the investigation described Hansen as the person primarily responsible for deposits.

Several told investigators they did not routinely transport deposits to the bank themselves.

[{"type":"text","text":"Others reported that Hansen sometimes took deposits home overnight."}]

The affidavit notes that employees said deposits occasionally left the office with Hansen.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Cash Trail "}]

The affidavit details a review of personal banking records belonging to Hansen and her husband.

According to investigators, bank records showed approximately $242,573.88 in cash deposits into personal accounts between 2014 and 2024.

Most of those occurred during the same years investigators identified substantial shortages in district deposits.

The accounting review attempted to compare money missing from district accounts with cash appearing elsewhere.

Month after month, investigators charted shortages ranging from hundreds to thousands of dollars.

[{"type":"text","text":"Some months showed no shortages at all."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Others showed significant discrepancies."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Over time, investigators alleged, the missing amounts accumulated."}]

Forensic accountants identified approximately $263,934.73 in missing funds between 2017 and 2024.

A review of earlier records, covering July 2014 through June 2017, identified an additional estimated $96,000 in missing deposits.

Combined, investigators concluded roughly $350,000 had disappeared from district accounts.

The investigation eventually grew into a criminal case supported by years of financial records, employee interviews, and forensic accounting analyses.

When prosecutors filed the felony theft charge, the resulting affidavit stretched across dozens of pages detailing deposit records, customer payments and banking activity dating to 2014.

A 12-person jury heard the case during a trial that began June 8.

A sentencing date had not been announced as of Wednesday afternoon. Under Wyoming law, felony theft is punishable by up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $10,000, or both.

Dena Hansen and Cheyenne green sign IMG 6015 6 17 26

<title>Jury Finds Former Cheyenne Water Manager Guilty Of Stealing $350K Over A Decade | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A Laramie County jury on Wednesday found the former manager of the South Cheyenne Water and Sewer District guilty of stealing about $350,000 from district accounts over a decade. She could get up to 10 years in prison at sentencing.

Jury Finds Former Cheyenne Water Manager Guilty Of Stealing $350K Over A Decade

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

Andrew Rossi

Business

Agriculture

There's a big bee emergency in Yellowstone National Park after a semi-truck carrying dozens of beehives crashed Tuesday.

Dalton Broadus of West Yellowstone, Montana, was driving north along U.S. Highway 191 around 9 a.m. Tuesday when he drove past the scene.

Damaged and destroyed beehives were scattered across a quarter-mile stretch of road. Bees were swarming his vehicle, several tow trucks and a Yellowstone ambulance were at the scene, and someone in a beekeeping suit was already assessing the area.

“It happened about an hour before I got there, I believe,” Broadus said.

The Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office, Hebgen Basin Fire/EMS, the Montana Department of Transportation, and the Montana Department of Agriculture responded to the scene.

James Peterson, dispatch manager for Eaton Road Solutions, told Cowboy State Daily his company received a call from the National Park Service to recover the flipped semi-truck. He wasn’t sure what caused the accident.

“We brought three recovery trucks and two traffic-control trucks from Idaho Falls,” he said. “It took us about three hours to get it back up.”

Peterson said Eaton’s crews were heading back to the scene Wednesday night to start recovering the damaged hives and, hopefully, the bees that had been residing inside.

“We’ve been working one-on-one with the company (that owns the hives), and they’re trying to save what they can,” he said.

The crews will require bee suits while on the scene. Fortunately, Eaton already had some at the ready.

“We haven’t dealt much with bees,” Peterson said. “This was our second bee call in 15 years, and we still have the beekeeping suits we got for the first call."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Bee Catastrophe"}]

After viewing Broadus’s video, Cheyenne venture capitalist and beekeeper Michael Jordan said that, from what he could see, the incident was “a devastating loss” for all involved.

“From the way it looks. I’d think about 40 to 50 percent of what’s there is salvageable, maybe,” he said. “It’s a big dump across a long section, so I’d say they’ve got a three-day ordeal ahead of them.”

According to Jordan, an average honey box can hold between 75,000 and 125,000 bees. Each box costs around $500 and generates $2,000 in profit from honey production.

A semi-truck like the one that crashed can carry 250 to 500 honey boxes, and potentially double that if they’re trying to save space.

[{"type":"text","text":"“There could be up to 1,000 of those boxes in one load,” he said."}]

That’s easily millions of bees and hundreds of thousands of dollars lost in Yellowstone.

Jordan has been involved in similar incidents. He helped coordinate a salvage effort after a beehive-carrying semi-truck was involved in an incident on I-80 near Arlington.

“The first four hours are critical,” he said. “The truck drivers, the insurance company, and the owners of the colonies have to work together and approve everything. Somebody on-site is going to be the manager, and they’ll figure out how to fix the problem, so there’s a lot of communication that needs to happen.”

In this incident, all parties will have to coordinate with the Park Service. They’ll need to have a lot of input, given the accident happened in Yellowstone, and fines could be assessed.

“When your boat sinks in Glendale Lake, they charge you for littering, not to mention salvage,” Jordan said. “It’s going to be a pretty big loss, and that’s just the property damage. The owners will need approval from the insurance companies, and then there’s whatever liability the trucking company will have with the NPS. If the mitigation takes too long, they could lose everything."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Bee Recovery"}]

Jordan wasn’t sure how the NPS would manage a 500-hive bee recovery in Yellowstone.

In a high-traffic area, such as a highway through Yellowstone during the summer, the first step in a successful recovery might be to call the fire department, he said. That’s potentially the worst-case scenario for the bees and the beekeepers, but the quickest solution for the NPS.

“If the bees are deemed a hazard to traffic, the fire department might go ahead and foam the whole area,” Jordan said. “That kills everything in the area, but you can go in and clear everything out without having to close down the highway.”

As for the bees, Jordan said everyone involved in the salvage operation must make critical moves within 48 hours. That’s how long they have before the surviving bees move on.

“The queens are going to be looking for locations where they feel safe,” he said. “If you can’t get new hives set up in 48 hours, the queens will migrate and leave a pheromone trail that the bees accommodating her in that hive will follow.”

Tracking down and individually placing the queens in new or rebuilt honey boxes is the best strategy, assuming the surviving queens can be located. Otherwise, there might be a big bee population in northwest Yellowstone.

“If the queens are in Yellowstone, they’re going to migrate into Yellowstone’s forests,” he said. “You can prevent that if you find the queens and put them in individual hives, but you have 48 hours to do it.”

When Jordan helped salvage the scene near Arlington, they successfully recovered 70% of the bees that had been on the semi-truck. They accomplished this by quickly setting up new honey boxes in a safe spot near the scene.

“Bees are very communal,” he said. “They work on a swarm mentality, and they can migrate and integrate into a new colony pretty easily. Once the new housing is set up, they’ll typically migrate to those locations within 24 hours.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Busy As Bees"}]

Jordan imagines the companies that owned the damaged honey boxes are coordinating a large response and rushing new housing to the scene.

“I’d say salvaging those colonies and hives will be a three-day ordeal, working 18 hours a day,” he said. “It depends on who’s managing the cleanup. The owners will want to keep as much product as they can, and there are many factors that go into that.”

That already complicated and urgent effort will likely become even more complex, given that it all needs to happen within a national park. The NPS might implement its own strategy to ensure the safety of visitors, traffic and the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem.

, a Yellowstone spokesperson said there were no reported injuries.

"Although the highway remains open, expect delays and traffic control measures as cleanup and mitigation work continue at the site of the accident,” the statement reads.

Broadus had the same takeaway from the incident as he’s had for years driving that 55-mph section of road in Yellowstone's northwest corner: slow down.

“I’m surprised there aren’t more accidents like this,” he said. “I drive from West Yellowstone every day during the summer. People speed quite a bit and pass within tight margins of oncoming traffic. They need to slow down.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Any way you look at it, it’s not good."}]

“I feel bad for all the people involved,” Jordan said. “There could be two or three owners of those hives, and that’s a lot of money. That’s their livelihood. That’s at least one whole company that has to rebuild.”

Bees 6 18 26

<title>Semitruck Carrying Millions Of Bees Crashes In Yellowstone National Park | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A semitruck carrying millions of honeybees flipped over on U.S. Highway 191 in Yellowstone National Park on Tuesday. Cheyenne beekeeper Michael Jordan called the scene "a devastating loss" of hundreds of thousands of dollars to the owners of the bees.

Semitruck Carrying Millions Of Bees Crashes In Yellowstone National Park

Employee kate meadows cropped

Kate Meadows

A mishmash of factors including drought are causing a historic cattle shortage that's led to a continuing tightened beef supply across the United States, which in turn has beef at record-high prices.

Yet people are still buying beef and showing a willingness to pay a higher price for it.

While the situation looks bleak now, Wyoming ranchers are optimistic 

 confident that herds will be rebuilt eventually and that, one of these days, it will rain 

, a shortage analysts expect will continue pushing prices higher through at least next year.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports 2027 prices are expected to be even higher because of continued limited supply.

Drought, rising production costs, an aging ranching population and concerns about livestock disease have combined to make rebuilding the nation's herd a slow and expensive proposition.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Drought the No. 1 Culprit"}]

For former National Cattlemen's Beef Association president and Laramie County rancher Mark Eisele, one factor towers above the rest.

"This is about drought, pure and simple," Eisele told Cowboy State Daily. "It's as big and as widespread as it's ever been."

Eisele said he is considering selling calves and yearlings earlier than usual this year because pastures have not produced enough forage to sustain his herd.

"You used to be able to go over to the next valley and rent some grass or buy some hay," he said. "You might even go over into the next county or the next state. Now, that's not an option."

When drought forces ranchers to sell breeding cows, rebuilding takes years, Eisele said. Producers must retain heifers that otherwise would have gone to market, reducing beef supplies in the short term before increasing them later.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Herds Are Hard To Rebuild"}]

Unlike other agricultural sectors, cattle production cannot be ramped up quickly.

Todd Fornstrom, Wyoming Farm Bureau President and a rancher, sees herd building as a long game.

It can take two years or more for cows to give birth. At one year, a calf is old enough for the breeding system, Fornstrom said, but it will still be another year at least before that calf has a chance of breeding.

[{"type":"text","text":"And that assumes the rancher retains the calves."}]

“You have to make the decision to sell them or keep them for rebreeding,” Fornstrom told Cowboy State Daily.  

Fornstrom said he is choosing this year to sell off his calves, because he is earning all-time highs.

“The decision I’m making right now is, when I’m at an all-time high of selling calves, do I sell now and reinvest that money into my operation or do I retain my calves?” he said. “Ranchers are making those tough decisions.”

Overall, Fornstrom said Wyoming ranchers are retaining more cattle this year than they did last year. While that might be good news, “that’s only the start of the relief, because we still have two years before the calves are even able to breed,” he said.

[{"type":"text","text":"“It’s the long game you have to play as a rancher.”"}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Demographics At Play"}]

Eisele said another obstacle to strengthening the cattle supply is demographics.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"The ranching population is aging, he said."}]

"We've got a lot of older producers who see good prices and they're wanting out," Eisele said. "But the capital to get in — for the land and the equipment — is so much higher now. So young people aren't getting in."

He said many younger would-be ranchers watched parents and grandparents work seven days a week while struggling to make ends meet.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"We don't have enough incentives to bring them back,\" Eisele said."}]

President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act has tried to make the ranching sector more attractive for young people, Eisele added.

“It’s great,” he said. “But it’s coming a little late to the party.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Screwworm A Concern"}]

 isn’t a direct threat to Wyoming cattle, but restrictions tied to the parasite are tightening overall beef supplies.

, the screwworm dynamic can complicate ranchers’ decisions, Fornstrom said.

“If I don’t have the feed for these cows, where do they go? What does it cost to take them there?” he said. “I obviously don't want to go too far south to get them anywhere near the screwworm outbreak.”

Compounding the supply shortage is the closure of the U.S.-Mexico border to cattle imports.

[{"type":"text","text":"Mexican cattle accounts for 4-5% of the U.S. beef supply."}]

“Were not importing Mexican beef into the U.S., so that pinches (the supply) further,” Fornstrom said.  

[{"type":"text","text":"Agreed Eisele: \"The screwworm has shortened the supply.\" "}]

Eisele also voiced concerns about expanding beef imports from countries where he believes disease-monitoring standards are more lax than those in the United States. He said maintaining confidence in USDA-inspected beef remains important to American producers.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Meatpacking Plants Pivot"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"The shortage is also affecting meatpacking plants."}]

JBS recently announced plans to close a beef-production plant in Pennsylvania and a processing facility in Tennessee.

Last fall, Tyson Foods shuttered its beef-processing plant in Lexington, Nebraska, the town’s largest employer. The closure resulted in an approximate 5% cut to the daily total U.S. beef slaughter capacity.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Demand Hasn't Budged"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Despite rising prices, Americans continue to buy beef."}]

Eisele said that speaks to the public’s seal of approval of USDA-inspected meat.

[{"type":"text","text":"USDA approval is the gold standard, he said."}]

"Nobody celebrates a big business meal with a chicken leg," Eisele said.

Fornstrom said he believes demand is still strong for beef because it is a high-quality, nutrient-rich product.

“Your bang for your buck on your hamburger is still better than buying an $8 latte,” he said.

For ranchers who still have cattle to sell, higher prices can provide an opportunity to pay down debt or potentially expand operations.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"The best time to expand is when prices are high,\" Eisele said."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"High prices allow ranchers to pay off their debts quicker."}]

“Maybe the plus side is that there are some people who say, ‘I could start leasing some ground from older operators',” Eisele said.

[{"type":"text","text":"Prices are not expected to ease this year or next, according the USDA."}]

“You hate to say you’ve got a crystal ball to tell when we’re coming out of it but that’s what we need. And no one has that,” Fornstrom said.

[{"type":"text","text":"Eisele remains optimistic."}]

“It will rain — eventually,” he said.

Beef prices Albertsons 5 6 17 26

<title>Wyoming Ranchers Pray For Rain As Drought, Demand Push Beef To Record High Prices | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Drought and demand are pushing beef to record high prices, leaving Wyoming ranchers praying for rain even if Americans are willing to pay more. "This is about drought, pure and simple," said a Laramie County rancher.

Wyoming Ranchers Pray For Rain As Drought, Demand Push Beef To Record High Prices

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

Renée Jean

Wyoming Life

A sprawling, high-tech medical center that once envisioned itself as the "Mayo Clinic of the West" and promised to reshape rural health care in northeast Wyoming might yet be able to fulfill at least some of that vision.

The Hoskinson family is in talks to sell its Gillette clinic to a large hospital chain, according to a post the family made Wednesday on the Hoskinson Health & Wellness Clinic Facebook page.

The sale could happen quickly, with an eye on maintaining continuity of patient care. Hoskinson Health announced in May that it would 

, citing months of multi-million-dollar financial losses. 

A potential buyer now raises the possibility that some of the family’s vision — highly advanced specialty care in a small energy town — can be retained. 

“We want to share a very hopeful and exciting update with our amazing community,” the post read. “We are currently in advanced discussions with a large hospital chain about potentially taking over the clinic’s operations!”

An agreement has not yet been finalized, but negotiations are at the stage where final words are being put to paper, the post added. 

“Both sides are fully aligned, and the spirit of the terms makes sense for everyone involved,” the post continued. “We are working diligently to get this across the finish line, but we wanted to keep you in the loop.”

Continuity of patient care is a priority for the new health-care organization, Hoskinson said in its post. 

“They are fully aware of our timeline, and are already mobilizing a team to help ensure a smooth transition,” the post said. “They are eager to speak with all of our current providers and staff, to see who they can retain moving forward.”

If realized, Hoskinson Health said the family would step back from the medical business and lease the building to the new organization, which will take full responsibility for day-to-day operations as well as employment of staff.

“We are incredibly enthusiastic about this direction,” the post continued. “We truly believe this is the absolute best outcome for our patients, our dedicated employees, and the community. Most importantly, it ensures that you will continue to have a strong, alternative choice for your health care needs.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Community Reacts With Hope"}]

Within minutes, the post had dozens of comments, mostly applauding the news or praying the deal would go through. 

“The building sitting there and all the loss of staff made me sick to think about,” Kathy Davis posted. “Oh I hope this works out.”

Commenter Tonja Slater said she is relieved.

“Can’t wait for it to be finalized and no more worries on finding a new health provider ever!!” she wrote. “Excited to see what the future brings to our community and onto our personal lives, journey, and health care!!!”

Heidi Jacobson noted the health-care provider is “very well known in the Dakotas” and said she hopes the deal “goes thru.” Tiffany Pickett Emery said it’s “Amazing news!! Continuing to remain hopeful.”

Hoskinson Health & Wellness in Gillette, which envisioned itself as the "Mayo Clinic of the West" before announcing last month it would close, may have a buyer. The Hoskinson family announced Wednesday it's in talks to sell to a large hospital chain.

Daily Cartoon 1: Sunday, September 29, 2024

Michael P. Ramirez

Cartoonist

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Daily Cartoon 1: Sunday, September 29, 2024

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Michael P. Ramirez

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