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Inman 11 26 24

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

<title>Steve Inman: Tuesday, November 26, 2024 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Steve Inman: Tuesday, November 26, 2024

 Never start a fight with Men at Work, as narrated by MMA announcer Steve Inman.....

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

Andrew Rossi

Wyoming Life

 on Saturday. Its prognosis for Wyoming and the Rocky Mountain region is “cold, snowy at times, and breezy.”

Cowboy State Daily meteorologist Don Day is aware of this and other long-range forecasts coming out for the upcoming winter. He's not buying what anyone's selling.

“I'm not going to follow the herd into slaughter this time,” Day said. “The Farmer’s Almanac does what the Farmer’s Almanac does. The National Weather Service will do what they do, and people on social media can post every computer model that they want, but I’m not going there yet.”

With a Super El Niño on the horizon after several consecutive historically dry months, Day was willing to discuss the broad trends that could impact Wyoming this winter. As for the specifics, there’s such a thing as being too early.

Day's message: trust these at your peril, especially when it’s still summer.

“Last year was a good example of getting too far ahead of your scheme, but it's so easy,” he said. “I’ve learned the hard way, so I’m not seeing expectations when we’re still in August.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Super, But How Super?"}]

The “biggest player” this winter, according to Day, will be 

the much-anticipated “Super” El Niño

. Weather patterns and water temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, which have been 

, are manifesting as one of the most intense El Niños in recent years.

“We're definitely going to have this very strong El Niño,” Day said. “It's going to be the dominant factor this winter, but it's not the only one.”

Many long-range forecasts circulating are relying on historical data from past El Niños to provide an outlook for how it will impact global weather.

Day is a huge proponent of using historical data, but there might not be a historical precedent for what’s coming. A strong El Niño can be great for Wyoming or miss it entirely.

“The El Niño can be so strong it shifts the storm track to our south,” he said. “The enhanced rain and snow you can get in the winter can bypass Wyoming. It can just miss.”

In other years, a strong El Niño has tracked farther north, inundating parts of Wyoming with precipitation.

A strong El Niño is a given this winter. At this point, its trajectory could take it either way, which is why Day isn’t giving into the pressure to release a long-range forecast.

“The north-south extent of the El Niño signal is a real concern I have,” Day said. “It's really too early to glob onto and go all-in on either a model-driven forecast or what we would call an analog forecast of looking at El Niños from the past.”

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

The top reason to be skeptical of any long-range winter forecasts for this winter is the lessons still to be learned 

Day acknowledged how his long-range forecast for the 2025-2026 winter season, released in August 2025, was radically different from the winter Wyoming got. That stung, but his misery had good company.

“That’s the cautionary tale,” he said. “We had 90 blocking patterns this winter. Nobody anticipated that, and no models predicted it. Simply put, our models fail.”

Those “blocking patterns” were stubborn ridges of high pressure that essentially 

 from reaching Wyoming and siphoned it elsewhere. That’s why it was historically dry in the western U.S. and historically cold and snowy in the eastern U.S.

By November 2025, it was clear that the colder, snowier winter forecasted wasn’t going to plan. Nearly every month since then has been 

“This summer was a hangover from last winter, especially through July,” Day said. “Last winter, all our weather went north. A really strong El Niño can direct all the storms south. That is a concern.”

El Niño isn’t known for having frequent blocking patterns. Instead, it tends to have one blocking pattern that can last for several months without let-up.

According to Day, very persistent, stubborn blocking patterns are “a concern” with the incoming El Niño. Where those patterns could set up, and how it would impact the winter, remain to be seen.

That’s one area where Day had a sliver of confidence when looking ahead. Historically, the enduring block patterns have favored Wyoming.

“You can have a semi-permanent high-pressure system over central Canada that migrates back and forth,” he said. “El Niño patterns can lock in between December and February, which is a concern, but it's not in the Pacific, which was our problem last year.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Who’s On The Bench?"}]

For Day, putting out a long-range forecast for the 2026-2027 winter season would be like betting on the winner of a barely started chess game. The game’s afoot, and there’s no way to confidently say what the winning move will be.

However, Day can look at the board and see which pieces are and aren’t in play. Many of the factors that came together to make last winter so warm and dry aren’t a factor now.

“What we can say about the upcoming winter is that it does not look like we have all of the big players that we had last winter,” he said.

The 2025-2026 winter season started with a weak La Niña. Since the Super El Niño is already manifesting, La Niña won’t be a factor going forward.

The quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) is a cyclical pattern of wind directions in the troposphere, the lowest layer of Earth’s atmosphere. It has enormous impacts on global weather.

According to Day, the QBO was in “an easterly phase” last year. This year, winter will begin when the QBO is in its opposite, westerly phase.

Then there are the North and South Poles, which are already colder than they were at this point last year.

Several elements that affect long-range weather and seasonal forecasting are different this year. How it all plays out with a strong El Niño remains uncertain.

“El Nino is going to be the quarterback and head coach this winter, bar none,” Day said. “There are other players involved, but that's why we've got to understand these players and those that aren't going to come off the bench until a little bit later on.”

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

Historically, El Niño has been favorable for Wyoming’s winter, bringing colder temperatures and precipitation. That’s a possible scenario for this winter, but there are no guarantees.

That’s another reason Day doesn’t want to make people more optimistic or pessimistic than they need to, especially in August. Many people who are seeking salvation from a strong El Niño might not get it.

“If you take a critical look at El Niños in Wyoming, it’s extremely rare that the entire state benefits from it,” he said. “If we do get into stubborn holding patterns, El Niños can be feast or famine, and Wyoming is a big state.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"No Voodoo That You Do So Well"}]

As Day was discussing his concerns about long-range winter forecasts in August, he didn’t even consider what the Farmer’s Almanac was forecasting.

“I'm not going to include the Farmer’s Almanac,” he said. “They're either taking models verbatim, or they're taking El Niños that have occurred in the past. These approaches aren't necessarily wrong, but I don't think that's the right way to approach the winter forecast when we're still on the backside of summer.”

Day’s hoping to have his winter forecast ready by mid-September, when the impacts of the Super El Niño are starting to roll in. It’s going to be so critical that its impact shouldn’t be anticipated so soon.

“A lot of things that are going to drive this winter, in addition to El Niño, aren't going to really start showing themselves until we get deeper into fall,” he said. “I am not going to go there yet. I’m not setting expectations. We need to be patient.”

Day’s word of caution to Wyomingites was to be extremely skeptical of any long-range winter forecast they might see for the next month or so. Any person or agency that’s confident in their forecast, in his opinion, doesn’t have enough critical information to be credible.

“The problem with doing long-range weather forecasts is that weather is so dynamic,” he said. “If you make a graphic that's good for three or four months, and subtle things change, then you have to throw it out the window. That’s why we have to be careful.”

That goes double for the Farmer’s Almanac. While it still has its uses in the 21st Century, long-range weather forecasts aren’t one of them.

“I don't know what voodoo magic they use to get their forecasts,” he said. “I don't think we should be talking about any detailed winter forecast till maybe mid to late September. Until then, it’s not helpful for anybody.”

Don day winter 8 11 26

<title>Meteorologist Don Day Calls New Farmer's Almanac Winter Forecast 'Voodoo Magic' | Cowboy State Daily</title>

The Farmer’s Almanac has released its winter forecast, and Cowboy State Daily meteorologist Don Day calls it "voodoo magic." However, he does believe a very strong El Niño is on the way but he's "not going to follow the herd into slaughter this time."

Meteorologist Don Day Calls New Farmer's Almanac Winter Forecast 'Voodoo Magic'

Kerry Drake

Crime & Courts

A Colorado woman has been charged with a felony for allegedly injuring a Wyoming Highway Patrol officer by kicking him during a traffic stop on U.S. Highway 85 in Laramie County last week.

Hannah Nicole Roudani, 45, of Castle Rock, Colorado, was also charged Friday with five misdemeanors, including simple battery to her mother, Barbara Ingles, who was driving, and resisting arrest.

Roudani appeared in the First Judicial Circuit Court of Laramie County on Friday. She was released on a $3,000 cash bond.

[{"type":"text","text":"The incidents occurred at about 4:30 p.m. this past Wednesday. "}]

WHP Trooper Nick Haller wrote in his affidavit that Ingles, also of Castle Rock, called 911 at the urging of her toddler grandson, who was in the back seat and allegedly witnessed his mother hitting her in the arm while she was driving, at about mile marker 45.

Haller caught up with the black Dodge Ram pickup at mile marker 29 and stopped it two miles later for having expired registration and not maintaining a single lane. He noted that Roudani was slumped over in the passenger seat, apparently asleep.

The trooper said Roudani appeared heavily under the influence of alcohol and became agitated when he questioned her about the altercation with her mother, so he asked her to exit the truck. 

“She became erratic and kicked me when I attempted to remove her from the vehicle,” Haller wrote. 

After she swung her fists at him and another trooper, he took her to the ground and placed her in handcuffs, he said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Kick To Trooper’s Face"}]

Three troopers tried to lift her into the back of the WHP vehicle while Roudani flailed her legs, Haller's affidavit said. He also recounted that “she kicked me in the face with her heel as we attempted to close the transport door.” 

The suspect continued to yell and scream while kicking the cage window, and was reportedly uncooperative when several deputies carried her into a cell at the county jail.

Haller said Ingles told him her daughter had been distraught and was having issues with anxiety and “acting out” before their car was stopped.

Ingles gave the officer permission to search Roudani’s luggage, where he allegedly found several bags of THC edibles. Haller noted Ingles said her daughter used medical marijuana.

Roudani was also charged with possessing open containers with alcohol in two water bottles. 

The felony charge of interference with a peace officer-injury is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine upon conviction.

Roudani was also charged with two separate counts of interference with Trooper Austin Barker and Trooper Rebecca Monnett, both misdemeanors punishable by up to a year in jail and/or a $1,000 fine. Barker and Monnett backed up Haller at the scene.

Roudani also could see a year in jail for the THC possession and six months for battery against her mother. 

Hannah roudani 8 10 26

<title>Colorado Woman Charged With Kicking Wyoming Highway Patrol Officer In Face | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A Colorado woman faces up to 13 1/2 years in jail for allegedly kicking a Wyoming Highway Patrol officer in the face after a traffic stop in Laramie County last week. The woman was pulled over after reportedly punching her mother while driving.

Colorado Woman Charged With Kicking Wyoming Highway Patrol Officer In Face

Heinz mark

Mark Heinz

Outdoors

Some Wyoming outdoorsmen said they were surprised by the sudden resignation of Wyoming Game and Fish Department Director Angi Bruce on Friday afternoon, amid longstanding rumblings of discontent with the department. 

There is no clear explanation as to why Bruce suddenly left the helm at Game and Fish for an appointment as director of special policy initiatives for Gov. Mark Gordon’s office, a job she started Monday. 

“I think that was a surprise to everybody. I didn’t see that one coming. I thought she would at least be there until Gordon was gone, but I guess that’s not the case,” prominent Wyoming outdoorsman Guy Eastman of Cody told Cowboy State Daily. 

“I think it was getting really bad, and she had to get out of there (Game and Fish), for whatever reason,” added Eastman, who represents the third generation of the outdoors multimedia family behind Eastmans’ Hunting Journal. 

Bruce, the department's first female director, did not respond to a request for comment Monday morning. 

Gordon picked Bruce as Game and Fish director in July 2024 to succeed Brian Nesvik, who retired that September. She started with Game and Fish in 2019 after 17 years with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

Nesvik was tapped by President Donald Trump as director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service last year. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"New Job Description"}]

Gordon’s office announced Friday afternoon that Bruce was resigning from Game and Fish and was set to take her new position. 

Game and Fish deputy director Eric Wiltanger was chosen interim director. 

A statement emailed from Gordon’s communication director, Amy Edmonds, to Cowboy State Daily on Monday provided a description of Bruce’s new job but no explanation why she left her old one. 

“The Director of Special Policy Initiatives in the Governor’s office will focus on leading the Governor’s key federal natural resources topics, including but not limited to grizzly bears, sage grouse, shared stewardship, and feedgrounds management. These are topics the governor has been focused on throughout his administration and has prioritized making significant progress on for the remainder of the year,” Edmonds wrote. “Bruce comes to this office with unique experience, talent and knowledge on such topics.” 

It wasn’t clear whether Bruce will retain the position after Gordon leaves office in January 2027. 

“Bruce will be responsible for working closely with our federal executive and congressional partners to ensure Wyoming continues our strong position on wildlife management, conservation, and state-led policies that benefit the people on the ground who work and live in the state,” Edmonds concluded. 

While Game and Fish has maintained an overall good reputation, Eastman said, aspects of the department’s direction have been troubling hunters and anglers, even before Bruce became  director. 

Bruce was among numerous newer Game and Fish employees from outside Wyoming and the West, he said.

“I can’t believe that they can’t bring in more Wyoming kids,” he said. “I’m not alone in thinking that, but I’m the one who will say it.”

Meanwhile, it seems that “a lot of the older, red-shirted guys” have been retiring or resigning from the department, Eastman said. 

Most recently, Cody region senior wildlife biologist Tony Mong resigned. 

He cited concerns over how the Wyoming Shooting Complex near Cody might affect mule deer habitat as one of his reasons for leaving, 

Eastman said he doesn’t have anything against Bruce personally, but rather the wider pattern of out-of-staters in the department’s leadership. 

“I think she was out of her league, coming from the Midwest, coming to Wyoming, where it’s a lot more complicated, where we have grizzlies and wolves,” he said.

Wyoming has one of the highest per capita percentages of hunters and anglers among the state’s population, which puts Game and Fish under considerable scrutiny, he said. 

While not everyone is pleased with the department’s administration, its field personnel are highly respected, Eastman added. 

“Wyoming has the best game wardens in the country, I believe, and I feel comfortable saying that,” he said. 

While it’s not unusual for Game and Fish directors to be replaced with a new governor taking office, it was highly unusual to see Bruce suddenly resign while the governor who appointed her is still in office, avid hunter Buzz Hettick of Laramie said. 

“She (Bruce) wasn’t hard to work with, or anything like that,” Hettick, co-chair of the Wyoming chapter of Backcounty Hunters and Anglers, told Cowboy State Daily.

Among rank-and-file Wyoming hunters, there’s an impression that Game and Fish has started to favor landowners and outfitters, he said, adding that he didn’t blame Bruce personally for that.

Like Eastman, he said Game and Fish field personnel remain highly respected, but many hunters question the direction of department administration. 

“There’s been this shift away from doing what’s best for wildlife and best for people,” he said. 

Game and Fish should focus on thriving wildlife populations, and not only for hunters and anglers, but also for wildlife viewers, birdwatchers, and the like, Hettick said. 

Outfitters have also watched shifts in Game and Fish with some trepidation, said Dustin Stetter of Dubois, president of the Wyoming Outfitters and Guides Association.

“As an industry, we’re sorry to see so much of the old guard leaving all at once,” he told Cowboy State Daily. 

Stetter said he doesn’t blame Bruce for that. 

“I liked Angi personally. She was good to work with,” he said. 

Angi bruce 8 11 26

<title>Angi Bruce's Resignation As Game and Fish Director Catches Sportsmen By Surprise | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Wyoming sportsmen said the sudden resignation of Game and Fish Director Angi Bruce came as a surprise despite some misgivings about the department's direction. Bruce, the department's first female director, now has a job in the governor's office. 

Angi Bruce's Resignation As Game and Fish Director Catches Sportsmen By Surprise

Business & Tourism

The addition of Cheyenne to a proposed Colorado passenger rail project has longtime boosters in both states more confident than ever the service will happen.

The reasons for such optimism over bringing passenger rail service to Wyoming are two-fold. 

First, the Front Range Passenger Rail district is hopeful it can build an effective infrastructure, unlike inherent problems that doomed previous efforts.

Meanwhile, the economic case for Cheyenne officials and residents to go all in on the proposed Colorado rail system is stronger because the benefits to the capital city taking advantage of increasing Front Range population appear clear.

Still, while signs for FRPR success in Colorado are encouraging for starting in 2029, supporters say, both the district and Cheyenne officials agree expansion to the north won’t happen unless Wyoming develops a funding system to support it.

Wyoming and South Dakota are the only two contiguous states with no passenger rail service. Wyoming hasn’t had service since the Pioneer route was discontinued in 1997, though Amtrak serves Laramie, Rock Springs and Evanston with buses. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Never Say Never"}]

Never Say Never, a Cheyenne group determined to make it happen, has been meeting with FRPR officials for the past three years. It also is trying to solicit interest from state lawmakers, the Wyoming Department of Transportation and the City of Cheyenne.

One member of the group, Michael Rudolph of Cheyenne, was a NASA engineer who worked on the 2020 Mars rover project. His job was finding bugs in the software that directs the precise movements of the camera that serves as the eyes of the vehicle.

“If we can go 140 million miles to Mars, we ought to be able to go 45 miles from Cheyenne to Fort Collins,” quipped Steve Borin, a regional business developer and the founder of Never Say Never.

“Cheyenne is listed as a potential future extension, but Colorado has no political incentive to push north,” added Borin, a regional business developer. “Their taxpayers are not paying for Wyoming’s benefit.” 

Once the initial phase is up and running between Denver and Fort Collins, he said, Cheyenne must use its resources to join the FRPR district. 

“If we don’t, all we’re going to get is a bus ticket to the border,” Borin said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Colorado Project Optimism"}]

James Flattum of the FRPR district is clearly hopeful. 

“I think there’s a strong consensus that a future connection to Cheyenne is full of potential,” he said. “When you look at the distance between Fort Collins to Cheyenne, it’s really reachable.”

Another positive aspect, he added, is that north of the Denver suburb of Westminster all of the existing track to be utilized is owned by the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad.

“We have such a strong working relationship with them,” Flattum said. 

Oddly, the downturn of Wyoming’s coal production and moving it by train is working in Cheyenne’s favor.

“What has changed in the world over the last 20 years is there are significantly fewer coal trains running on this alignment,” Flattum explained. “BNSF’s strategy is to send those trains on a different alignment to Nebraska from Denver.”

A major milestone was reached in the FRPR’s plans, he added, when the group recently released its delivery plan, a document intended to show the full picture of its short- and long-term vision.

“We’ve got to make sure that we’ve got a ‘spine’ in Colorado that really connects our core centers and this kind of first act that we’re contemplating,” Flattum said. “And the more successful we are in securing a reliable and frequent service here in Colorado, the easier and quicker it’s going to be for us to expand to Wyoming, and south to Trinidad, Colorado, and perhaps Albuquerque, New Mexico.”  

Flattum said FRPR is taking an incremental approach to keep costs low, starting with three trains a day between Fort Collins and Denver over the next three years using revenues voters approved in 2024.

The FRPR Board will make a decision by the end of August whether to pursue a sales-tax initiative for Colorado’s general election in November.

“We’d be able to fund up to 10 trains a day between Fort Collins and Denver, and then eight trains a day to Pueblo with a 0.333% sales tax,” Flattum said. 

That is expected to generate about $295 million annually.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Bedroom Community?"}]

The Front Range continues to grow and housing costs also are rising fast. Fort Collins is considerably more expensive than Cheyenne.

“As Denver's metro expands northward, Cheyenne becomes an increasingly attractive bedroom community — if the commute is solved,” Borin said. “Without rail, it stays out of reach for anyone working in Fort Collins.”

According to a Never Say Never fact sheet, the cross-border commuter market already exists at a meaningful scale:

• Approximately 7,100 Colorado residents commute into Wyoming for work — nearly three times the number going the other way.

• About 1,600 workers from Larimer and Weld counties (Fort Collins/Greeley) commute specifically to Laramie County each day by car.

• Roughly 20% of Cheyenne's workforce commutes from outside the city, including northern Colorado.

Borin said a University of Wyoming economist has noted that Wyoming's economy would be stronger if those Colorado commuters lived in Wyoming.

“They’d spend their paychecks on Wyoming mortgages and groceries instead of Colorado ones,” Borin said.

Never Say Never claims that by spending between $300 million to $400 million on infrastructure, Wyoming would get about $1.4 billion back over the next three decades in tax revenue and economic activity.

“The mechanism is not a subsidy,” Borin said. “It's removing the coordination barrier — cross-state planning, zoning authority — that only the government can remove, then letting market forces do the rest.”

Borin maintained that “the window to act cheaply is now.” He estimated land near a future Cheyenne station can be acquired today for $10,000 to $20,000 per acre. After a rail announcement, he predicted, it will cost five to 10 times more. 

“A $2 million to $4 million land acquisition today is the most asymmetric public investment Wyoming could make — small downside, very large upside, and it keeps all of its options,” he said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Loving The Depot"}]

Flattum said the FRPR is impressed with Cheyenne’s preservation of its historic Union Pacific Depot. He said it’s an example of how forward-thinking Cheyenne is.

“Whenever we come up and visit, the depot gives us a huge amount of inspiration,” the FRPR official said. “How cool would it be if we can work together to bring trains back to this station?

“Really, all you’re going to have to do is build a connector track to get to the station facility,” Flattum added. “If Cheyenne specifically wants in, whatever is going to be possible under Wyoming law and Wyoming politics, if they pass funding as well, we do have a very realistic path in terms of engineering and project execution.”

He described expansion to Wyoming as "very doable, but it’s really going to have to come down to voters in the Cheyenne metro area — do they fundamentally want it?”

Kerry Drake can be reached at: Kerry@CowboyStateDaily.com

Passenger Rail Colorado Amtrak 5 5 24

<title>Colorado-Wyoming Passenger Rail Can Happen If Cheyenne Provides Funding Support | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Leaders of a project to provide passenger rail service between Colorado and Wyoming say it can happen if Cheyenne does its part with funding support approved by voters. “If we can go to Mars, we can go 45 miles from Cheyenne to Fort Collins,” said one supporter.

Colorado-Wyoming Passenger Rail Can Happen If Cheyenne Provides Funding Support

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Sunday morning, I threw some clothes in a bag and headed east, Sturgis-bound.

For hundreds of miles, Wyoming unspooled beneath a great blue sky, the prairie rolling toward the horizon through cattle, sagebrush and long stretches of nothing at all, until the earth began to rise and the plains folded themselves into the dark, pine-covered ridges of Meade County.

[{"type":"text","text":"Motorcycles seemed to materialize out of thin air."}]

One became three. Three became 20. Packs merged with packs until the highway itself appeared to be migrating toward Sturgis, chrome flashing in the sun and the low thump of exhaust echoing off rocky bluffs.

I left the interstate for an old highway where limestone walls rose around the road, waterfalls spilled from cliffs and disappeared into the trees, and the air seemed to change as the prairie vanished behind me.

[{"type":"text","text":"I had crossed into the primal kingdom of the Black Hills."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"A crow cawed from somewhere above, and a shiver ran down my back."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Too late to turn back now."}]

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

For most of the year, Sturgis is a South Dakota town of close to 7,000 people. 

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

, transforming the place into a temporary city of chrome, leather and humanity, with Main Street as its pulsing center. I was told about half-million people were there Sunday.

Somewhere near the entrance, a 66-year-old Louisiana man was waiting to show me the ropes.

Manny Myers was sitting in a low-slung, tricked-out trike customized down to the smallest details, his gray beard hanging down his chest in two long braids and not one but three packs of Marlboro Blacks riding in the pocket of his sleeveless orange shirt.

The Pantydropper — the name of this wild beast — was painted with ghost flames and built around a 350 V8 car engine sitting obscenely exposed in front of us.

The name is a nod to the toll, but "You get a free ride," he told me with a smirk, because he knows my aunt.

Climbing into a three-wheeler called "The Pantydropper" with a 50-year Sturgis veteran who boasted "it goes zero to 100 in a second," ended up with me at the wheel and the flashing lights of a South Dakota patrol car behind us.

Steve Inman: Tuesday, November 26, 2024

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