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[{"type":"text","text":"More fun with airhorns....."}]

Bonus vid 2 11 26 24

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

<title>Bonus Video 2: Tuesday, November 26, 2024 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

More fun with airhorns.....

Bonus Video 2: Tuesday, November 26, 2024

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Around Wyoming

 outside a Gillette bar, Matthew Lynch stood onstage at the American Legion with an electric guitar slung across his shoulder, living a dream he'd chased for most of his life.

Lynch, a 41-year-old carpenter, potter and musician, spent Independence Day doing what he loved most — playing rock and roll with friends before a hometown crowd.

By midnight, he was staring at what remained of his right hand, unable to hear, his vision awash in "red, purple and stars."

"I looked down on my hand, and it was just the most mangled, crazy-looking thing I've ever seen," Lynch told Cowboy State Daily on Tuesday. "I was instantly in shock." 

The explosion outside the Otherside Bar & Grill injured Lynch and four other people after what he described as an old firecracker he carried in his back pocket for years detonated instantly when he lit it rather than giving him time to throw it.

The blast severed most of Lynch's right hand, shattered bones throughout his left hand, peppered his face, neck and chest with shrapnel and burns, and sent him by Life Flight to Billings, Montana. In the days since, Lynch has publicly apologized, saying he feels terrible for the people who were injured alongside him.

Now recovering at home with both arms wrapped in bandages, Lynch said he keeps returning to two thoughts: the people he endangered and the life he's determined to rebuild.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Tourniquet "}]

After finishing the American Legion concert, Lynch said he spent the evening downtown with friends before hearing about a benefit concert at Otherside.

By the time he arrived, the music was over. People stood outside talking, catching up and deciding where the night would go next.

"I had found this old firecracker I had laying around for a few years and I had it in my back pocket," he said. "I thought, 'Well, I'm just gonna be a little adventurous here, light this off', and then it just blew up right in my face. The fuse was just instant." 

[{"type":"text","text":"The blast left him deafened, nearly blinded and in shock."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"He remembers seeing nothing but flashes of color."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Then he looked down."}]

"I kept thinking this is never going to go away," he said. "I made a mistake I could never undo." 

His friend AJ immediately recognized how badly he was bleeding and shouted for a tourniquet.

Someone pulled off a belt and cinched it around Lynch's arm while they waited for first responders.

A woman Lynch had never met knelt beside him, gently held his face in her hands and kept him from looking at his injuries.

"She kept saying, 'You're gonna be fine. You're gonna be fine. Just don't look at it,'" Lynch recalled. "'Just look in my eyes. Everything's gonna be OK'." 

He also praised the doctors, nurses and staff at Campbell County Memorial Hospital, saying they treated him "like family" before he was flown to Billings for emergency surgery. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Artist and Carpenter "}]

Before the explosion, Lynch spent his days building houses, creating pottery, painting and playing guitar.

[{"type":"text","text":"He's a carpenter following in his father's footsteps."}]

He's an artist whose work is featured in a monthlong exhibition at AVA Community Art Center in Gillette — a show he spent more than a year preparing.

Despite his injuries, Lynch plans to attend the opening reception for from 6-8 p.m. Thursday.

For four years, he also hosted an open jam session at Legends Lounge, welcoming musicians of every skill level to climb onstage and play.

"I've always believed in everybody's own success," he said. "Anybody can do anything." 

His mother, Patricia David, said those qualities have defined him since childhood.

"His name means ‘Gift of God', and it was the perfect name for him," she said. "He has been the brightest, most joyful child you could imagine ... always kind." 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Shattered Bones "}]

"The first thing that hit me was I'm not going to be able to pick up my beautiful son and hold him for quite a while," Lynch said. "He's my whole world." 

[{"type":"text","text":"Then came another realization."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"He wouldn't be able to go fly fishing with his brothers."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Then came the one that hurt most."}]

"My lifelong dream and mission my entire life has been to be a professional guitar player," he said. 

One of the final photographs taken before the explosion shows Lynch gripping the neck of his guitar as he performed at the American Legion that afternoon.

[{"type":"text","text":"Today, most of his right hand is gone."}]

His left hand is held together with pins and hardware after surgeons repaired shattered bones.

Lynch's mother, a retired nurse, said the injuries are among the worst she has seen.

She said she was equally moved by the apology Lynch posted publicly after the accident.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Strong Support System "}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Despite everything, Lynch refuses to believe his music is over."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"He said doctors are optimistic that his left hand will recover."}]

"I'm going to get a bionic prosthetic, and I'm going to be playing guitar again someday," he said. "It's going to be awesome." 

[{"type":"text","text":"His optimism has been strengthened by the people around him."}]

His twin brother immediately drove to Billings after hearing what happened.

[{"type":"text","text":"His mother has helped care for him."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Most of all, he credits Kathryn Schwartz, the mother of their son."}]

"I've got to spend so much time with the mother of my child," Lynch said. "We've just been reconnected, and that's awesome."

Before Lynch even returned home from the hospital, Schwartz had cleaned his house, prepared a place for him to recover and, he said, "hasn't left my side."

[{"type":"text","text":"Friends he hadn't spoken to in 20 years have reached out."}]

"I've probably had a dozen people I don't even know message me," Lynch said. "The outreach from this community has just been immense, and I am so grateful." 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'Focus On The Blessings'"}]

Lynch knows the months ahead will include surgeries, rehabilitation and learning to navigate life with a devastating disability.

[{"type":"text","text":"He also knows the outcome could have been much worse."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Shrapnel struck his face, neck and chest."}]

"It could have been so much worse," he said. "I still believe God's got a plan for all of us." 

He hopes others learn from what happened — how quickly one impulsive decision can change a life.

[{"type":"text","text":"But he also hopes they remember something else."}]

"Stay optimistic," Lynch said. "Life has a lot of suffering, but we've got to focus on the blessings and the goodness too and just be grateful that we're alive to even begin with."

Mix Collage 07 Jul 2026 03 48 PM 9558

<title>After Blowing Off Most Of His Hand, Gillette Musician Vows He'll Play Guitar Again | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Matthew Lynch lost most of his right hand in a fireworks explosion on July 4. But the Gillette carpenter, potter and musician is counting his blessings and refusing to give up on his electric-guitar dreams. "It's going to be awesome," Lynch said.

After Blowing Off Most Of His Hand, Gillette Musician Vows He'll Play Guitar Again

Employee kate meadows cropped

Kate Meadows

Government & Politics

Nearly a week after Cheyenne's Board of Public Utilities identified the company responsible for contaminating the city's sewer reuse system with a rare bacterium, many of the biggest questions surrounding the incident remain unanswered.

Residents still don't know where industrial wastewater from Meta's massive data center construction project has been hauled since it was disconnected from the city's sewer system, why the public wasn't notified for roughly four months after the contamination was discovered or whether city leaders knew about the problem before it became public.

Conversations have played out on social media about why the public wasn't notified for roughly four months after the contamination was discovered, whether city leaders knew about the problem before it became public and where the contaminated water drained from a city retention pond went.

On Tuesday, the Board of Public Utilities told Cowboy State Daily it would not answer questions about the contamination and instead plans to conduct a press conference "in the next week or so."

Meanwhile, a Cheyenne resident has raised thousands of dollars to fund a public-records request that includes more than 8,000 emails between Mayor Patrick Collins, Cheyenne LEADS and area data centers, including Meta, Microsoft, ViaWest, Skybox and Related Digital.

“Transparency hasn’t been forthcoming,” Heather Madrid told Cowboy State Daily. “It seems like we don’t get any information unless we force the issue.”

Mayor Patrick Collins told Cowboy State Daily on Tuesday that BOPU handled the incident efficiently, given the gravity of the situation.

“While it’s regrettable, I think (BOPU) handled this quickly,” he said, adding there was no danger to the public.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Questions Continue To Mount"}]

Last Thursday, the board announced that Goat Systems LLC, the corporate entity Meta uses during construction of its nearly 800,000-square-foot data center campus, was in "significant noncompliance" with the city's industrial pretreatment regulations after discharging wastewater contaminated with 

 into Cheyenne's municipal reuse water system.

The bacterium, which naturally occurs in soil and groundwater, is rarely associated with human illness and primarily poses a risk to people with compromised immune systems.

[{"type":"text","text":"The lack of additional information has only fueled public concern."}]

Among the unanswered questions are where Fortis, Meta's general contractor, is now hauling industrial wastewater from the project and what safeguards are in place to ensure it is being disposed of safely.

Collins said he learned Tuesday where the contaminated water from the retention pond went. He told Cowboy State Daily it's a local water-treatment facility.

The mayor said he understands the public concern. He said the delay in the public being informed was because it took the BOPU, the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality and the EPA “a number of months to understand the issue.”

“They didn’t want point fingers until they were positive (of the issue and the industrial user),” he said.

The incident has also prompted questions about oversight within city government.

Because the Board of Public Utilities operates under the city's umbrella, some residents are asking whether Collins and members of the City Council were aware of the contamination months before it was publicly disclosed.

Collins told Cowboy State Daily he was aware of the issue when it occurred.

“They told me they had something going on in the water,” he said. “I appreciate them letting me know.”

Council member Pete Laybourn previously told Cowboy State Daily he had just learned about the issue himself, the day BOPU announced that Goat Systems LLC was the industrial user behind the contamination.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"I'm disappointed I didn't know more before this,\" he said. "}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Wastewater Going To Certified Facility"}]

Fortis has not publicly identified where wastewater is now being taken, saying only that it is being hauled to "a certified offsite facility" despite Cowboy State Daily asking for a specific location.

[{"type":"text","text":"Collins said he also asked Fortis that question."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"“The folks who know were not available to tell me,” he said. "}]

He added that the company is required to send it to a certified facility. A data center operator he spoke with assured him that's the case, he said.

"We have been in regular communication with the BOPU throughout this process and take our environmental obligations seriously," Fortis spokeswoman Sarah Hamaker told Cowboy State Daily.

Hamaker said Fortis launched its own investigation after being notified of the positive test for 

, including repeated testing by independent environmental specialists.

The Cheyenne project is the seventh data center Fortis has built for Meta.

Cowboy State Daily also asked Meta whether it maintains on-site environmental oversight during construction and whether another corporate entity could later assume responsibility for utility connections. The company referred Cowboy State Daily to its most recent public statement, which answers neither of those questions.

Business filings list Goat Systems LLC as located in Delaware, with Pamela Gregorski as president. Calls and text messages seeking comment were not returned.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Tighter Regulations for Cooling Systems"}]

As a result of the contamination, BOPU now requires industrial companies that use closed-loop cooling systems to build separate collection systems so any water from cooling equipment goes directly into storage tanks provided by the data center developer, rather than the city's sanitary sewer.

“I think they’re going to have to and I think it’s a good policy,” Collins said.

The new policy adds a layer of regulation to closed-loop cooling systems. Data center proponents have heralded them as the answer to the demand for water, as the systems depend on less water than an evaporative cooling system.

However, the regulation will have little effect on Cheyenne data centers in the short term.

“The truth is, we don’t have anyone using a closed-loop system yet,” Collins said.

He said the first data center to use such a system would be Related Digital, later this year.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Resident Raises Money For Public Records"}]

The lack of transparency around Cheyenne’s broader data center buildout prompted Madrid to pursue information herself.

Madrid recently raised roughly $2,800 through a GoFundMe campaign to pay for the public-records request.

[{"type":"text","text":"The city quoted the public records request at $2,764."}]

Madrid said she has filed several public-information requests over the years but often abandoned them because of the cost.

The delayed disclosure of the sewer contamination convinced her this request was different.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"That was definitely concerning,\" she said."}]

Madrid launched the fundraiser believing other residents also wanted answers. Within about a week, she said, 23 donors had contributed enough money to cover the request, including an anonymous $1,000 donation that pushed the campaign over its goal.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"I was shocked,\" Madrid said."}]

She said she hopes the records ultimately reassure residents that proper procedures were followed but worries many documents could be heavily redacted because of nondisclosure agreements.

"Honestly, nothing concerning is what I'm hoping to find," she said. "I think it will be worth it to have that peace of mind."

Collins said he was confident peace of mind is exactly what Madrid will find.

“We have nothing to hide,” he said. “People are caught up in the emotion of this. That’s the way the system works. All my documents are public documents."

Madrid said the issue extends beyond the sewer contamination itself as Cheyenne continues to consider major data center projects and future annexations.

On Monday, Cheyenne’s Public Services Committee advanced the proposed annexation of a 3,500-acre county property into the city, helping clear the way for a Microsoft data center to be built and hook into city utilities.

The property is owned by the family of Wyoming Sen. Cynthia Lummis.

The proposed annexation will go to the City Council on July 13 for a final vote.

"I feel like it's urgent at this point that we have information," Madrid said. "It just seems like it's not stopping."

She added that while she believes most City Council members are trying to do their jobs, "it seems like even they are being left in the dark."

[{"type":"text","text":"Press Conference Planned"}]

Emails to BOPU members Jeff Fassett and Mary Guthrie were not returned Tuesday.

BOPU’s public-affairs coordinator Erin Lamb said an email to Cowboy State Daily that a press conference for media will be “in the next week or so."

Water collins 7 7 26

<title>Cheyenne Mayor Says Wastewater Contamination 'Regrettable' But Lauds BOPU Response | Cowboy State Daily</title>

As questions mount of the Cheyenne Board of Public Utilities' handling of data center contamination of the city's sewer reuse system, Mayor Patrick Collins said BOPU handled the incident "efficiently." "People are caught up in the emotion of this," he said.

Cheyenne Mayor Says Wastewater Contamination 'Regrettable' But Lauds BOPU Response

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

Andrew Rossi

Crime & Courts

Urapeein Porta Pots in Billings, Montana, expects to lose a few toilets every Independence Day.

Over the last week, at least 13 of the small company’s portable toilets were destroyed.  

[{"type":"text","text":"Even by their standards, that’s a massacre."}]

“We typically lose four to five toilets every year during the Fourth of July due to fireworks,” co-owner Kris Vogele said. “Some years, we’ve lost eight or nine. There have been at least 13 this year, and that’s worse than normal.”

Vogele estimates that damages are well over $12,000 and could easily get higher. All those costs will come out of the company’s porta-pot profits.

“People don't think about who this impacts,” he said. “They want to blow up a toilet for the laughs, but it’s definitely hurting people, and it hurts our community.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Blowin’ Up Toilets"}]

Vogele started getting calls about destroyed toilets last week. They lost their first one on Wednesday.

“It mostly has happened in residential construction projects in northwest Billings,” he said. “Subdivisions where not a lot of people are living yet, but a lot of new homes are being built.”

Vogele’s phone was ringing off the hook Monday, as contractors returning to work after the holiday weekend reported unusable toilets and their contents scattered across their job sites.

The only explanation for the extent and nature of the damage is fireworks. Big fireworks.

After several years in the portable toilet business with his son, Connor, Vogele knows to anticipate some lost toilets during the week of Independence Day. It’s the only time of year it seems to happen.

“It's pretty much whenever anybody has access to fireworks,” he said. “We’ve lost a couple around New Year’s, and we might lose a few more this weekend. If people have fireworks they didn’t set off last weekend, they might blow up a toilet this weekend.”

Most of the destroyed toilets were blown apart, but some were melted by the intense heat of whatever was inside.

“They light a fountain off on the floor of the toilet, and that usually melts or burns most of it,” Vogele said. “We've had one toilet that actually burned all the way to the ground. When we showed up for it, it was just a block of plastic on the ground.”

At this point, there are no culprits because there were no security cameras catching the toilet destroyers in the act. Vogele will have to swallow those costs.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Out-Of-State Ordnance?"}]

By this point, Vogele understands what kind of fireworks are needed to blow up a toilet. That’s why he believes they couldn’t have come from Billings or the surrounding area.

“These are not the type of fireworks you can buy at a fireworks stand in Montana,” he said. “If you saw one of our toilets that was really blown apart, it had to have been a large explosive.”

Vogele said he believes the fireworks came from Wyoming or the Crow 

 year-round, whereas Montana only allows for sales between June 24 and July 5.

If Montanans want bigger fireworks, they’ll find them at the year-round places. For Vogele, it’s the only way to explain the extent of the destruction.

"I know a lot of people go to Wyoming to buy bigger fireworks than we can get here," he said.

There are many ways to blow up a portable toilet. 

 the cocktail of chemicals and human waste in the tank won’t be enough to stop an explosion.

“They're either putting it in the tank and blowing a big hole in the tank, or setting it on the floor,” Vogele said. “If the porta potty has been used, it's not all liquid in the tank. It might land on toilet paper floating right at the top and blow up.”

Either way, the aftermath isn’t pleasant. It’s another problem Vogele must deal with.

“If the explosive goes in the tank, whatever’s inside it goes everywhere,” he said. “It’s quite the cleanup.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"No Assurance From Insurance"}]

A single portable toilet costs around $900, plus an additional $250 for shipping. 

Yes, but with the way the company’s insurance works, Vogele said it’s not worth the effort or payout.

“Our insurance company sees each exploded toilet as an individual occurrence, so each one has its own deductible,” he said. “Our deductible for equipment is $1,000, so the most we could get is $100 to $150.”

If Vogele filed a claim for each destroyed toilet, each would be treated each as a loss. That would drive up Urapeein’s annual rates when the company renews each year.

That’s why Vogele said “it’s not worth reporting” any of the exploded toilets.

[{"type":"text","text":"“I don’t need my insurance to go up that much,” he said."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Don’t Be Crappy"}]

The costs for repairing or replacing $12,000 of destroyed property, so far, will be covered by Urapeein. For Vogele, that’s adding insult to injury.

“We donate a lot to the community and sponsor a lot of events and organizations,” he said. “At the end of the day, that's $12,000 we won’t have to give to our community.”

More than 400 Urapeein toilets are placed throughout southern Montana, Vogele said, so the 13 blown-up toilets don’t represent a huge loss of inventory. Still, he can’t help but empathize with his son, who started the business.

“He started with 40 toilets in 2018,” he said. “If this had happened back then, it would have been a really big hardship for us. It would have been a killer for him.”

People have recommended that Urapeein purchase and place trail cams around his toilets to catch people in the act, hopefully leading to identification and restitution.

While he appreciates the thought, Vogele knows that’s an expensive solution for a once-a-year problem.

“Putting a $150 trail cam at 400 toilets is a $60,000 expense for one weekend,” he said. “It’s not something we’re going to do.”

[{"type":"text","text":"The moral of this story, for Vogele, is don’t be a crappy person."}]

Blowing up a portable toilet could be fun, even hilarious. Anyone who is determined should acquire their own, rather than add an unnecessary financial burden to a small family-owned company.

“This is a big expense for us,” Vogele said. “It hurts us, and it hurts our community, because it limits what we can give to the community. We have less to give if we have to keep replacing blown-up toilets.”

Porta Potties exploded 7 7 26

<title>Vandals Blow Up 13 Porta Potties In Montana, Company Blames Wyoming Fireworks | Cowboy State Daily</title>

At least 13 portable toilets were blown up in Billings over the July 4 holiday and the company is blaming Wyoming fireworks for the destruction. They say the fireworks were likely purchased in Wyoming because Montana's fireworks aren't powerful enough.

Vandals Blow Up 13 Porta Potties In Montana, Company Blames Wyoming Fireworks

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

Clair McFarland

Politics

The Green River City Council is considering finalizing a $112,000 grant it's been awarded to install license-plate readers in the city. The mayor said the cameras could curb terrorism while former Libertarian lawmaker Marshall Burt says it's all "bullshit."

Bonus Video 2: Tuesday, November 26, 2024

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