One More For The Road

Moron protesters quickly find out blocking road was a bad idea.....

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<title>One More For The Road: Sunday, October 13, 2024 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

One More For The Road: Sunday, October 13, 2024

 Moron protesters quickly find out blocking road was a bad idea.....

Lubnau head 2

Tom Lubnau

Opinion

CSD Columnists

The Wyoming Republican Party's new move to endorse primary candidates, demand loyalty oaths, and favor certain campaigns is a violation of Wyoming law, short-sighted, and self-destructive.

Their actions will lead to the party's eventual collapse, and the party is doing it to itself.

The central committees exist to recruit electable candidates and serve the Republican electorate.

Somewhere along the way, the Republican governance lost the plot. 

The Republican central committee is the group that spends weekends playing model legislature where they debate resolutions, censure members, and expel anyone who had the audacity to go to the lake instead of attending a Saturday meeting. 

Between meetings, they bloviate, posture, and pontificate on matters that affect no one outside the room. 

Then they wonder why nobody pays attention.

So, in a bid for relevance, they've decided to pick winners in primary elections as if the voters can't be trusted to do it themselves.

Here's the problem. Assume ten candidates are running for U.S. Representative. Each has donors, volunteers, and true believers. The moment the party anoints one of them, it makes enemies of the other nine camps. Those people worked hard, donated money, and believed in their candidate. 

That anger doesn't evaporate after Election Day. Betrayal has a long memory.

As my old friend Al Simpson once told me when I was doing something misguided: 

"In politics, friends come and go, but enemies accumulate."

The central committees don't seem to understand that principle or they don't care. Either way, the invoices eventually come due.

Consider a governor's race. Assume 4 candidates are running. 

If the party endorses a candidate who loses, does anyone think the winner owes them anything?

Gratitude? Loyalty? Cooperation? Not a chance. They backed the other guy.

Remember, the Wyoming Republican Central Committee is the same party organization that once favored Ted Cruz over Donald Trump in a straw poll.

Now, they demand fealty to the platform and question other Republicans' conservative credentials. The hypocrisy is breathtaking.

The resentment compounds in other ways, too. I've heard — anecdotally, but credibly — that at the state convention, certain candidates for the same office were charged to put up signs while their opponents were not. If true, that isn't party leadership. That's a thumb on the scale dressed up as administration.

The party's credibility has eroded to the point where serious candidates simply skip party-sponsored debates.

And why wouldn't they? When your forums are widely perceived as auditions for predetermined favorites, participating only legitimizes the charade. Skipping the debate costs a candidate nothing.

Showing up and getting sandbagged costs plenty. So, the debates become theater for the already-converted, meaningful to no one else.

Then there are the loyalty oaths. Wyoming's constitutional oath of office requires officeholders to uphold the United States and Wyoming Constitutions. That's it.

Nothing in Wyoming law demands a pledge of ideological purity to a party platform — and certainly not to a platform drafted by 23 people huddled in a back room the day before the state convention, whose product was then presented to the full convention delegation without opportunity for debate, amendment, or even a question from the floor. 

The delegates, by their silence, ratified whatever the back-room kids wanted. That's not grassroots democracy. That's a coronation with extra steps.

Now candidates are asked to swear allegiance to an internally inconsistent document most delegates never had a chance to examine critically. For perspective, demanding loyalty oaths as a condition of participation has historically been the province of feudal monarchies, authoritarian regimes, and the occasional communist party. It is an odd model for a party that claims to champion individual liberty. 

The only legitimate measure of a Republican candidate's strength is the ballot box. Republican voters are the test. 

Our elections should not be altered by validation seeking central committee members, back-room kids drafting a platform or self-aggrandizing party leadership.

Voters are the rightful judges of who represent our values and interests.

It takes a particular brand of arrogance to conclude otherwise.

The central committees are supposed to represent all Republicans. Instead, they have appointed themselves gatekeepers, convinced that their weekend deliberations produce insights superior to the collective judgment of tens of thousands of voters. They have confused arrogance with authority.

The remedy is straightforward. Ignore the endorsements. Skip the loyalty oath theater. Learn about the candidates on your own terms, about their records, their character, their positions. Then vote.

The back-room kids have had their turn. Take your election back.

Tom Lubnau served in the Wyoming Legislature from 2004 to 2015 and is a former Speaker of the House. He can be reached at: 

<title>Tom Lubnau: The Wyoming Republican Party Is Eating Itself | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Columnist Tom Lubnau writes, "The Wyoming GOP's move to endorse primary candidates, demand loyalty oaths, and favor campaigns is a violation of Wyoming law, short-sighted, and self-destructive. Their actions will lead to the party's eventual collapse."

Tom Lubnau: The Wyoming Republican Party Is Eating Itself

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

Andrew Rossi

Law Enforcement

An armed female suspect surrendered to law enforcement after a multi-hour standoff on Cody's upscale south side Wednesday afternoon.

Dawn Blaylock, 41, was arrested and charged with criminal trespass, property destruction, and interference with a police officer.

At 1:20 p.m., the Cody Police Department alerted residents of an active law-enforcement situation in the 700 block of Meadow Lane Avenue, near the Olive Glenn Golf Course.

“We responded to a residence following a report of criminal trespass,” Lt. Juston Wead with the Cody Police Department told Cowboy State Daily. “When officers arrived, they made contact with (Blaylock), who had entered the residence unlawfully and then barricaded herself in a portion of the residence armed with a firearm.”

Several streets in the area were blocked by vehicles from multiple responding agencies, including the Park County Sheriff’s Office, the Wyoming Highway Patrol, and the Cody Volunteer Fire Department.

The Cody PD’s ballistic armored tactical transport vehicle, or “bearcat,” was on the scene as of 1:30 p.m. Officers in tactical gear and carrying firearms surrounded the residence, and an EMS crew from Cody Regional Health was on standby.

Meanwhile, locals were told to avoid the area and neighbors were told to shelter in place.

After several hours of negotiation, Blaylock surrendered and was taken into custody without incident around 4:45 p.m. Wead confirmed there were no injuries.

[{"type":"text","text":"“That was what we were hoping for,” he said."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"No other details were available at publication."}]

Cody standoff 6 24 26

<title>Armed Woman Arrested Near Cody Golf Course After Multi-Hour Standoff | Cowboy State Daily</title>

An armed female suspect surrendered to law enforcement after a multi-hour standoff on Cody's south side Wednesday afternoon. Dawn Blaylock, 41, was arrested and charged with criminal trespass, property destruction, and interference with a police officer.

Armed Woman Arrested Near Cody Golf Course After Multi-Hour Standoff

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

Clair McFarland

Crime & Courts

Courts

The things Wyoming state Rep. Bill Allemand said while handcuffed for 12 minutes during a 

 can’t be used as direct evidence against him in a trial slated for September, because his arresting deputy failed to give him his Miranda rights, a Johnson County court magistrate has ruled. 

Allemand, a Republican state representative of the Mills area, 

 on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol in Johnson County – one day after a Buffalo traffic stop just off Interstate 25.

When Johnson County Deputy Caleb Campbell stopped Allemand at around midday Dec. 28, Campbell handcuffed Allemand without first giving the lawmaker his Miranda warnings against incriminating himself. 

That was a fair move, because Allemand had a gun on his front truck seat and Campbell had concerns about officer safety, Buffalo Circuit Court Magistrate Jeremy Kisling ruled in a Friday order. 

But Allemand remained handcuffed for 12 minutes – including a length of time after Campbell had secured the gun and after Campbell’s secondary “cover” deputy arrived. And Campbell kept asking Allemand questions, and also urged Allemand to be honest with him, according to court documents and body-camera video shown in court. 

This led to a number of potentially incriminating statements while Allemand was confined, but not warned the order says. 

Because Allemand was being interrogated while in custody without receiving his Miranda warnings, 

 he said during that 12-minute span can’t be part of the Johnson County Attorney’s Office’s main case against him at his Sept. 16 trial in Buffalo Circuit Court, Kisling ruled. 

“Even in consideration of the totality of the circumstances, the court can think of no scenario where a reasonable person would not consider themselves in police custody after being placed in handcuffs,” Kisling wrote. “Deputy Campbell violated the defendant’s constitutional rights by questioning him while he was handcuffed without reading Miranda advisements.” 

But Allemand wasn’t coerced, threatened, or tricked into saying the many things he said or indicated while handcuffed. In the body camera footage, for example, Allemand said he’d had two beers, and he knew drinking and driving is “highly illegal” but drinking while driving down the interstate helps with his “anxieties." 

So since Allemand's statements were voluntary, the case prosecutor can still bring those statements up for “impeachment,” or to fact-check testimony at trial, Kisling ruled. 

The prosecutor can also bring direct evidence of what Allemand said after Campbell removed his handcuffs and tried getting him to perform field-sobriety tests. For example, Allemand voiced confusion about whether his gun was on his body, said “nonsensical” things and repeatedly asked questions that had already been answered, notes Kisling’s order. 

Kisling also said the evidence shows Allemand’s speech was slurred, and he swayed and stumbled during the traffic stop. 

Allemand reportedly failed his field-sobriety tests and was arrested and taken to jail.  

The evidentiary affidavit, body and dash camera video, and court testimony together indicate that a blue truck was the subject of a Report Every Drunk Driving Incident (REDDI) call. A male in his 60s with white hair was driving the truck, the REDDI caller told dispatch at the time, according to court documents. The caller initially described the truck as a blue Dodge with a bed topper, but later voiced uncertainty as to whether it was a Dodge, the order recounts. 

Campbell arrived on that section of interstate to find the REDDI caller’s vehicle driving near a blue Toyota Tacoma with a bed topper. The Tacoma left the interstate in the Buffalo area, stopped at a stop sign, rolled toward the intersection and braked abruptly to avoid colliding with a red truck, Campbell testified in court in March. 

Dash camera footage, though grainy, corroborates this partially by showing a red truck pass in front of Allemand’s truck. 

Allemand parked the blue truck at the Miller’s Travel Center gas station. 

Campbell activated his lights, knocked at Allemand’s window, and soon put him in handcuffs because Allemand had a gun on his front truck seat, according to the case evidence. That’s reportedly why Campbell handcuffed him. 

[{"type":"text","text":"‘Justified Under All Circumstances’"}]

Allemand’s attorney Mike Vang had brought an argument with regard to this evidence that Campbell didn’t have reasonable suspicion to justify the initial traffic stop or its extension. 

The Wyoming Constitution’s Article 1, Section 4, requires that searches and seizures be reasonable under all the circumstances. For traffic stops, Wyoming courts are to review that reasonability question under “all facts and circumstances,” Kisling’s order says. 

[{"type":"text","text":"Vang argued at a March 25 hearing that Campbell failed that test. "}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Kisling disagrees. "}]

“The initial stop was justified under all circumstances,” the magistrate wrote. The REDDI report and matching circumstances in which Campbell found the REDDI caller and Allemand lent reasonable suspicion, but Campbell also had probable cause of a traffic violation with Allemand’s alleged failure to yield the right of way to the red truck at the intersection. 

Campbell was also justified in extending the stop because he had evidence that a DUI had happened, Kisling added. 

“The video speaks for itself in establishing there was probable cause to believe the defendant was under the influence of alcohol while operating a motor vehicle,” the magistrate wrote

Allemand sheriff 6 24 26

<title>Judge Rules Rep. Allemand Wasn’t Read Miranda Rights When Stopped For DUI | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A Johnson County judge ruled that anything Wyoming state Rep. Bill Allemand said while handcuffed for 12 minutes during a DUI traffic stop can’t be used as direct evidence against him, because his arresting deputy failed to give him his Miranda rights.

Judge Rules Rep. Allemand Wasn’t Read Miranda Rights When Stopped For DUI

Heinz mark

Mark Heinz

Wildlife

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.

Bear denver 6 24 26

<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.

[{"type":"text","text":"Latham said fines were never a part of the county’s solution."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"“To my knowledge, we never imposed fines,” he said."}]

Due to the challenge of communicating with Amish residents, County Attorney Joe Baron mailed letters to the landowners, Latham said. Peters also visited properties in person several times, he added.

“Some didn't want to talk to him,” Latham said. “Some did and were very cordial. The ones who didn't found out we're not going to quit, because it's about health and safety. It's something we take very seriously.”

After being notified of the violations, some landowners installed vault toilets that comply with county requirements, he said.

He credited Peters’ persistence with resolving the issue. 

“Caleb did a heck of a job of staying on it and getting things corrected,” Latham said. “Sometimes they feel like they can follow a different path. It was a lot of education and a lot of back-and-forth.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Government Overreach Or Public Health?"}]

Fipps said he believes the county's response amounted to government overreach.

Latham disagrees, saying Crook County is obligated to enforce regulations consistent with standards established by the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality.

“Every time we have to knuckle down and say, 'This isn't right', we hear that,” he said. “We could have been a lot meaner about it. It was mainly getting an understanding of what the laws are.

[{"type":"text","text":"“Our biggest thing with that deal is their health and safety.” "}]

According to the Young Center at Elizabethtown College, Crook County is home to Wyoming's largest Amish settlement. The state's Amish population numbers roughly 500 people spread among five settlements.

[{"type":"text","text":"Smaller settlements have since formed near Newcastle, Buffalo and Powell."}]

“I've known them my whole life,” Fipps said of the Hulett settlement. “I've traded horses with them and done business with them.”

Outhouse 2 6 24 26

<title>Rancher Claims Outhouse Dispute The Reason Amish Community Leaving Hulett | Cowboy State Daily</title>

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.

Rancher Claims Outhouse Dispute The Reason Amish Community Leaving Hulett

Outdoors

Adam Fink, the owner of Laird Sanitation LLC (“Got Poop?”) in Greybull, says trying to retrieve anything that's fallen into an outhouse, portable toilet, or vault toilet isn't worth the risk and effort. 

That includes sunglasses, which is what a man in central California was trying to recover when he fell into a vault toilet and had to be rescued from its fetid depths last week.

“Aside from a family heirloom or a wedding ring, it’s not worth digging through a pile of waste to recover something that’s fallen into a vault toilet,” Fink told Cowboy State Daily. "Even then, you should call someone, not try to get it yourself."

The incident occurred June 20 at Camp Edison on the Sierra National Forest, northeast of Fresno.

According to media reports, the unidentified man trying to recover his sunglasses was stuck inside for about 15 minutes before being rescued.

Fink typically doesn’t deal with vault toilets in Wyoming’s state and national parks, but he knows what horrors can lurk at their depths. This man was lucky he wasn’t down there deeper or longer, he said.

“A vault toilet can be anywhere from three to 10 feet deep,” he said. “If you jump in, you may not be touching bottom. It's not worth the risk."

[{"type":"text","text":"Disturbing Depths"}]

For the unfamiliar, vault toilets are non-flush toilets in which human waste is deposited into a large underground tank. Because no water is used, the waste sits until it’s pumped out and transported to a treatment facility.

Vault toilets are common in national parks and campgrounds where running water and sewer lines are unavailable. They can go several months or longer without being pumped.

You don’t know what diseases might be running around in there with all the human waste,” Fink said.

While vault toilets don’t use water, many are at least partially filled with the same biodegradable chemical solution Fink and others use to fill portable toilets. It helps break down everything that falls inside.

Nobody likes the idea of being partially submerged in a caustic chemical bath at the bottom of a vault toilet, but it’s preferable to everything else floating at the bottom.

The owner of a Wyoming sanitation company said it's not worth it to jump in a vault toilet to retrieve sunglasses like a man in California did last week. “It's anywhere from 3 to 10 feet deep,” he said. “If you jump in, you may not be touching bottom."

One More For The Road: Sunday, October 13, 2024

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