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You still here 12 8 24

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

<title>You Still Here? Sunday, December 8, 2024 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

You Still Here? Sunday, December 8, 2024

 It clearly says, "Let It Snow." There's just a problem with the spacing....

Mac Watson

Daily Video News

It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Tuesday, August 4th.  I’m Mac Watson.

This newscast is brought to you by the Wyoming State Fair. Wrap up your summer at the Wyoming State Fair, August 11th through the 15th in Douglas!

Rodeo, Demolition Derby, live music, entertainment and fair food await. Learn more at W-Y State Fair dot com. See you at the fair! This ad was paid for by Converse County Tourism.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"},{"type":"italic"}],"text":"–"}]

Gambling sites PolyMarket And Kalshi both favor Steve Friess to win the Republican nomination for U.S. House and Eric Barlow to win the GOP nomination for governor. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that bettors, so far, have wagered $210,000 on these two Wyoming races.

“So these markets, according to pollster Dustin Olson, are not really a crystal ball. They're more a reflection of headlines and chatter, and sometimes publicly released polls, and sometimes internal polls that people know about. So on the one hand, it's kind of a composite of chatter and publicly released polls and headlines. On the other hand, people are at least confident enough that they're willing to put money forward.”

Dustin Olson, owner of American Pulse Research and Polling, tells Cowboy State Daily that political wagering is, “one of the more fascinating things to happen in politics in the last decade.” But it carries risks of fixed races, dishonest polls, and even inside political maneuvering.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"–"}]

Worland athlete Roman Parra died Sunday, eight days after being ejected from his vehicle in Colorado. Cowboy State Daily’s Kolby Fedore reports that his mother says her son’s purpose in life was to spread kindness.”

“A 20-year-old Worland man died eight days after a crash in Weld County, Colorado, that claimed the lives of three others on impact. Roman Parra was traveling in the car with four others when the vehicle got into a rollover collision. All five occupants were thrown from the vehicle, according to the Colorado State Police. Investigators are examining whether alcohol played a role in the crash, as there were opened and unopened alcoholic beverages inside the vehicle.”

 to help cover Roman's medical and funeral expenses.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"– "}]

For most of Wyoming, July was the hottest month in recorded history. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that Worland's scorching 110 degrees on July 12th was the hottest, while many towns saw as many 100-degree days in one month as they usually see in several years.

“The numbers are in – July 2026 was not only the hottest month of the year; it was the hottest month on record for many Wyoming communities, and some of those records go back as far as 1891. In the case of Lander, several communities had many days where there were 100 degree plus temperatures, for example, in Riverton, I think they had at least five, 100 degree plus days. That's as many as they might have in several years.”

National Weather Service meteorologist Jason Straub in Riverton, tells Cowboy State Daily that seven communities either set records or tied for the hottest July on record.

Sen. Eric Barlow says attack ads accusing him of voting to allow sex changes and voting to send money to illegal immigrants are not true. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that Barlow says the bills he voted against were poorly written or rushed and are being twisted against him.

“These attack ads in some of them will they'll attack Eric Barlow, Senator Barlow, for these attack ads will go after Senator Barlow for voting against a child sex change ban in 2023 when he actually voted for a different child sex change ban that same year, same thing with immigration – they'll go after him for voting against a sanctuary, an anti-sanctuary cities bill in 2025 when he voted for what he thought was a more careful version of it that same year.”

The new attack ads say Barlow voted to send money to illegal immigrants. He denies making such a gesture, saying his nay votes on two immigration bills were due to the short, rushed nature of the budget-planning sessions that fall on even-numbered years.

I’ll have more news from Cowboy State Daily right after this.

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

Cowboy State Daily News continues now….

A Rawlins churchgoer says her "heart was just so broken" after worshippers stepped outside of Sunday service to find remnants of a bicycle crash that killed an 8-year-old boy. Cowboy State Daily’s Kolby Fedore reports that worshipper Michelle Greer says, “I work at the school, and I knew it was one of our kids.”

“An eight-year-old Rawlins boy was struck and killed on Sunday in Rawlins at a busy intersection on East State Street and Jefferson Avenue. The Wyoming Highway Patrol says the boy was heading north and possibly went through a stop sign when he was struck. A witness named Michelle Greer says she was in church when she heard the sirens. Everyone in the church went outside, and there they saw the mangled bicycle. There was a black tarp covering a body, and she believes the man was brought to the hospital for what she is calling a nervous breakdown.”

Investigators reported the roads were dry, the weather was clear, and the pickup driver was not injured. The crash remains under investigation and authorities have not released additional details.

Big Horn County Search & Rescue is second only to Teton County in calls due to booming tourism and uniquely rugged and remote terrain leading to the high-risk missions. But Cowboy State Daily’s Kate Meadows reports that as demand for rescues have quadrupled, the agency's budget has been cut in half.

“Property tax legislation has caused Bighorn County Search and Rescue to see huge cuts in their budget for operating. They went from 106,000 a few years ago down to 50,000 in 2025. Meanwhile, their calls for help have quadrupled as more and more people travel through Bighorn County on their way to Yellowstone or sometimes to The Bighorn Mountains. When the Wyoming legislature voted to cut property taxes, that scrapped a lot of funding for these rural search and rescue operations. Bighorn County receives the second most volume of calls for their search and rescue behind Teton County search and rescue.”

The challenge facing Big Horn County is unique. Although only about 12,000 people live in the county – which ranks among Wyoming's lowest for median family income – nearly 1 million visitors travel to or through it each year.

A Thermopolis woman accused of neglecting an 87-pound elderly man who’s mostly deaf and blind, and wears diapers that allegedly hadn’t been changed in 10-14 days has reached a plea agreement. Cowboy State Daily’s Greg Johnson reports that the deal calls for no jail time and a year of probation.

“Part of the agreement is that she would still be part of the abuse registry. If you're convicted of certain abuse crimes, you have to register and be on some registry. Now this is a plea agreement. It doesn't mean that the judge has to accept it or not. That that we don't know. The court file didn't say whether the judge has actually accepted this plea agreement or not, and then sentencing won't happen for at least 60 days, so we don't know exactly what sentence she’ll get.”

A no-contest plea isn’t an admission of guilt, but acknowledges there’s enough evidence to secure a conviction. If 67-year-old Colleen Blakesley had been convicted of a felony, she would’ve faced up to 10 years in prison.

For years, a huge male grizzly called Bruno was one of the brawniest bears in Grand Teton National Park. But Outdoors Reporter Mark Heinz reports that Bruno is past his prime and those who routinely watch him are saying he's gotten thinner and “is on the downhill side.”

“He's somewhere around the age of 22, which, according to what a bear biologist told me, is roughly about 10 years past a bear's you know the peak of their prime, so he is showing his age a little bit. Some people say he maybe looked a little thin right about now, but they haven't really gotten, you know, that they do that pig out right before they go into hibernation. They haven't really had that yet, so he might still put on some weight. But he is getting old. He's past his prime.”

Bear biologist Cecily Costello tells Cowboy State Daily that dominant, male grizzlies hit their peak sometime in their early to mid-teens. She also added that Grizzlies rarely live past 30 in the wild.

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And that’s today’s news. Get your free digital subscription to Wyoming's only statewide newspaper by hitting the Daily Newsletter button on 

 - and you can watch this newscast every day by clicking Subscribe on our 

 channel, or listen to us on your favorite podcast app.  Thanks for watching - I’m Mac Watson, for Cowboy State Daily.

News image 8 4 26

<title>Cowboy State Daily Video Newscast: Tuesday, August 4, 2026 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Tuesday's headlines include:
* Barlow: Attack Ads Aren’t True
* Gambling Sites Favor Friess & Barlow
* Grand Teton’s Mighty Grizzly Bruno Getting Old

Cowboy State Daily Video Newscast: Tuesday, August 4, 2026

Dave Simpson

Opinion

CSD Columnists

Time's a-wasting before Wyoming's all-important primary election this month, so I better clear off several items building up on my opinion-writing workbench.

- A guy in Casper had this to say about how Wyoming chooses its governors:

“Wyoming people won't vote for someone for governor that they wouldn't feel comfortable inviting over for dinner.”

If you ask me (and I notice you didn't), the old Marine Ed Herschler would have been a pretty intimidating guy to invite over for dinner. But Wyoming elected him governor a record three times. I met Mike Sullivan at a party at the local editor's house in Casper years ago, before he became governor, and I can't imagine a more charming dinner guest.

Dave Freudenthal – the last Democrat I ever voted for – would be an interesting dinner guest. (My older brother once said guys named Dave almost always have a good sense of humor.) And I covered a legislative committee meeting once at which his wife Nancy, before she became a federal judge, talked about the challenges of fixing up old, historic homes. We'd have plenty to talk about over dinner with those two.

Not sure where this current crop of governor wanna-bes score on the dinner guest scale, but I bet the discussion would be lively with any one of them. 

- My theory on how Wyoming elects governors takes me back to auto shop days in high school, where we learned about how small engines work.

The function of the governor on your lawnmower is to keep the speed of the motor from revving up too high and running wild. It keeps a lid on things.

Seems to me that Wyoming's political governors do the same thing. They tend to be milder guys (at least lately), who keep things from getting too frisky upstairs in the Legislature. They represent the folks in Wyoming who don't want a

It can be frustrating dealing with them when you've got some bill you particularly like. But Wyoming voters prefer fewer laws, not more, and they tend to elect governors willing to serve as the governor on the legislative lawnmower.

- Last week on my way down the mountain from my cabin (I'm thinking of calling it my pied-a-terre) I nearly ran into a road grader working on the Forest Service road up in the Medicine Bow National Forest.

This is a good thing. For years we didn't see any maintenance on the road that goes past the little island of private land where my cabin is located, and provides access to folks camping, fishing and hunting on a huge swath of public land.

Two years ago we wrote to Rep. Harriet Hageman about the road and an abandoned camper that had been sitting in a little public campsite for at least eight years. I called it the “haunted campsite,” because the mashed-down, trashed-out camper made the place look like a crime scene. Nobody used that campsite for years, because of the mess.

About a week after we wrote to Hageman, a neighbor spotted a Forest Service crew hauling off that abandoned camper. And not long after that we noticed a grader doing some much-needed work on the road.

[{"type":"text","text":"And the grader was back last week."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Harriet Hageman cut through the bureaucracy."}]

And what was the haunted campsite is now clean as a whistle, and the public can camp there for up to 16 consecutive days. It has a wonderful view of the meandering Medicine Bow River down below, and a marshy area that tends to attract deer. It's one of my favorite places to stop and cogitate about stuff in the late afternoon.

So, if you're one of these folks who see Harriet Hageman as some kind of threat to public lands, I've got an entirely different view of her performance.

And I could show you a better road and a cleaned-up campsite to make my case.

- And lastly, two weeks ago I noted that Taft Love, who is running for re-election as state senator in my southeast Wyoming district, sent a flier showing him standing in front of the Tetons. I pointed out that you can't see the Tetons from Laramie County.

Got another flier from Love this week, this one showing him standing in front of what I'm pretty sure is Medicine Bow Peak.

He's getting closer, but you can't see Medicine Bow Peak from Cheyenne, either.

Dave Simpson can be contacted at DaveSimpson145@hotmail.com

Dave simpson head 10 3 22

<title>Dave Simpson: Which Candidate Would You Invite To Dinner? | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, “A guy in Casper had this to say about how Wyoming chooses its governors: 'Wyoming people won't vote for someone for governor that they wouldn't feel comfortable inviting over for dinner.'”

Dave Simpson: Which Candidate Would You Invite To Dinner?

Daily Smile

[{"type":"text","text":"My worst enemy revealed......"}]

Smile 8 4 26

<title>Daily Smile: Tuesday, August 4, 2026 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

My worst enemy revealed......

Daily Smile: Tuesday, August 4, 2026

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

Clair McFarland

Politics

People have wagered at least $189,000 on Wyoming’s governor’s race and at least $21,000 on its U.S. House race on political market sites such as Polymarket and Kalshi.

Both sites favor Steve Friess to win the Republican nomination to U.S. House, narrowly, over Secretary of State Chuck Gray, and Eric Barlow to win the GOP nomination for governor.

But they’re not a crystal ball, Dustin Olson, owner of American Pulse Research and Polling, told Cowboy State Daily in a Monday phone interview.

Generally the more money in a race, the more reliable it is, he said. Wyoming’s House race hasn’t garnered big money: about $11,000 on PolyMarket and Kalshi each.

The big drivers of these markets are pollsters, people conducting their own surveys, people with special insight and news headlines, Olson added. Also they don’t call the wagers bets: they call them contracts, “and that’s how they get around all the (sports betting) rules.

“It’s not a good barometer of what’s necessarily real in a race … because it’s based on who’s buying contracts.” 

But, Olson added as a caveat, the markets have at least the credibility factor that people were willing to put money on their predictions.

If anyone has some assurance that Gray will win the House race, now might be a good time to buy a “contract” in his favor, noted Olson.

As of 4:40 p.m. Monday, Kalshi has Gray at 42% odds behind Friess at 54%, and all other GOP House candidates trailing with 3% or less. Reid Rasner and Kevin Christensen are next, favored at 3% and 2%.

The other candidates in the Aug. 18 Republican primary election are Senate President Bo Biteman, former Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow, former legislator Keith Goodenough, veteran David Giralt, and Richard Dodson.

Polymarket has Friess at 51% followed by Gray at 45%, Giralt at 5%, and the others trailing at 4% or less.

Gray’s Polymarket run was a near-steady climb through July, until Aug. 1, when he dropped from 66% to 46%.

That was two days after Friess unveiled 19 endorsements from former Wyoming legislators, industry leaders and former Gov. Jim Geringer.

Kalshi showed a similar dropoff Aug. 1 for Gray, but a flatter, though sizable, lead for him all summer.

That race, in those markets, doesn’t show the kind of money that suggests pollsters or big-time surveyors are involved, said Olson. It’s likelier a reflection of public messaging, news headlines, and released polls, he added.

[{"type":"text","text":"Olson said the odds get more accurate when the pollsters jump in."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Gov’s Race"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"As for the governor’s race, “This has a lot more money on it.”"}]

That’s $77,507 on Kalshi and $102,661 on Polymarket as of Monday afternoon.

[{"type":"text","text":"That means this race has more traffic, and likely more input."}]

Polymarket has Barlow at 58%, Degenfelder at 41% and Bien at 3%. Kalshi has Barlow at 62%, Degenfelder at 38% and Bien at 3.8%.

Odds for Degenfelder skyrocketed in January – right after President Donald Trump endorsed her. She kept higher wager favorability than Barlow all summer.

The two didn’t trade places on until about Aug. 1 – and they did so on both Polymarket and Kalshi.

It’s likely a lot of the same people are playing both markets, said Olson.

Barlow started to climb in mid-July before unveiling poll results July 21 showing him with a huge lead.

The markets may be out of touch with on-the-ground sentiment, said Olson, adding that many people leveraging money likely don’t live in Wyoming.

“They might be people who live in New York City,” he said. “They read the headlines, or they’re talking to the insiders, or who knows.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Headlines appear to be a large driver in this race as well, he said."}]

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

Olson said political wagering is, “I have to say, one of the more fascinating things to happen in politics in the last decade.”

But it carries risks of fixed races, dishonest polls, and even inside political maneuvering to fix the outcome of political events polls.

[{"type":"text","text":"“This is, honestly, not a good thing for democracy,” he said."}]

Whoever is placing the majority of these “contracts” isn’t heeding the influence of the Wyoming Republican Party leadership, which endorsed Bien last month.

Bien’s campaign outreach coordinator Cheryl Aguiar said the team doesn’t put much stock in the betting metrics the market has given to it.

“Since these prediction markets are not related to election campaigns and should not be confused with the results from actual scientific public opinion polls, and since most are held outside of the United States and reflect the betting actions of people who bet on them rather than the views of residents of Wyoming,” said Aguiar, “the Bien campaign does not consider these prediction markets to have any value whatsoever as indicators of the outcome of elections.”

Aguiar added, “In other words, these ‘predictions’ are not predicting votes, they are only laying bets. Not to mention, foreign betting markets do not have the best interests of the USA or free economies.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Kalshi’s website says it’s a U.S.-based company."}]

It was founded in 2018 by two people attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and became the first fully regulated financial exchange in the U.S. “specifically for event contracts,” the site says.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Oh About That $2,700"}]

Kalshi has a $2,670 market going for Wyoming’s Republican U.S. Senate nominee.

[{"type":"text","text":"It’s not a competitive market."}]

Rep. Harriet Hageman is favored at 94.5% and Jimmy Skovgard at 3.8%. The other registered Republicans running aren’t on the market but curiously, House candidate Rasner is.

Betting on the races 8 3 26

<title>Gambling Sites Favor Steve Friess And Eric Barlow, Bettors Have Wagered $210K So Far | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Gambling sites PolyMarket And Kalshi both favor Steve Friess to win the Republican nomination for U.S. House and Eric Barlow to win the GOP nomination for governor. Bettors, so far, have wagered $210,000 on these two Wyoming races.

Gambling Sites Favor Steve Friess And Eric Barlow, Bettors Have Wagered $210K So Far

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Around Wyoming

[{"type":"text","text":"The room Roman Parra left behind still looks much the way he left it."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"His Bible remains on the coffee table at his home in Worland. "}]

His truck still needs a suspension repair he never got to finish with his father.

And in the days since the 20-year-old former Worland athlete died from injuries suffered in a northern Colorado rollover crash, family members say those ordinary reminders have become priceless.

, Colorado State Patrol said Parra was critically injured July 25 when the Chevrolet Tahoe he was driving rolled on Weld County Road 80 near Eaton, ejecting all five occupants. Three Colorado passengers died at the scene. A fourth passenger survived with minor injuries. Parra remained hospitalized for eight days before dying Sunday. 

Cowboy State Daily requested the official crash summary from the Colorado State Patrol but had not received the report before publication. 

 that the State Patrol said that speed and impairment contributed to the crash, though a cause hasn’t yet been determined.

Now, those who knew Roman best say they hope he is remembered not for the crash but for the life he lived.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"A Mother's Worst Call"}]

Roman's mother, Alyssa McDonald, said Saturday had been an ordinary summer day.

She had taken Roman's younger sister to the fair parade before returning home to surprise her oldest son by cleaning his bedroom.

[{"type":"text","text":"Roman had driven to Colorado the night before for a concert with friends."}]

As she folded clothes and straightened his room, she expected him to walk back through the front door the next day.

[{"type":"text","text":"Instead, at about 5:15 p.m., her phone buzzed."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"The Life360 app she used to keep track of Roman showed a collision."}]

"I texted, called, panicked when I saw there was no movement," said McDonald. 

She hoped his phone had simply fallen to the floor or been tossed across the vehicle.

[{"type":"text","text":"When the location never changed, she called police and waited."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Nearly two hours later, the hospital called."}]

"They told me there had been a bad accident and my son was involved," she said. "Three had passed away at the scene, but Roman had survived."

[{"type":"text","text":"Doctors rushed him into emergency brain surgery."}]

"The chance of him making it off the table was very unlikely," she said.

[{"type":"text","text":"For over a week, his family remained by his bedside before Parra died."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Faith Before Football"}]

Long before he became one of Wyoming's top linebackers, Parra was the little boy who wanted one thing more than anything else.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"He just never wanted to let me down,\" McDonald said."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"His faith grew naturally alongside him, she added. "}]

As a second-grader, teachers noticed he signed the bottom of school assignments with the words "God is Good." 

Near graduation, one of his teachers asked what he wanted to do with his life.

"My first priority is my relationship with Christ," he replied, according to his mother.

Looking back, McDonald said she believes that answer explained the way he lived.

"I think that was probably his purpose in life — to spread that kindness, that joy and Christ's love," she said.

[{"type":"text","text":"His aunt, Daniela Parra, saw the same thing."}]

If someone challenged Roman's beliefs, she said, he didn't argue emotionally.

"He would fight for God all the time," she said. "If somebody said something, he could back it up with Scripture."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Competitor On Every Field"}]

In his final high school football game in the fall of 2024, McDonald said Parra tore his meniscus.

[{"type":"text","text":"Coaches wanted to pull him from the game."}]

He finished the game and scored the final touchdown of his high school career.

In the spring of 2025, he again played through the same injury during the state soccer tournament because he didn't want to leave his teammates behind.

When football ended, Roman spent the summer working construction alongside his father while preparing to attend Laramie County Community College this fall to study automotive technology.

Asked what his son had taught him over the past 20 years, Armando Parra paused.

"He taught me peace and patience," he said. "As much as you raise a kid, a kid raises you."

[{"type":"text","text":"He credits Roman with helping him become a better man."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"\"He changed my life,\" Armando said."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'He Was That Loved'"}]

The waiting room rarely emptied during Parra's eight days in the hospital.

[{"type":"text","text":"Friends drove from Cheyenne after work."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Football families stopped in."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Strangers from Eaton, Colorado, brought food, water and supplies."}]

One mother loaned the family a wagon so they could haul meals through the hospital.

[{"type":"text","text":"For Daniela, none of it came as a surprise."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"\"I expected it,\" she said. \"He was that loved.\""}]

She remembers her nephew as the young man who encouraged everyone around him.

[{"type":"text","text":"His father said Roman never limited his friendships to teammates."}]

"He was friends with everybody," Armando said. "He fit in everywhere. He talked to everybody."

 to help cover Roman's medical and funeral expenses.

Armando also asked for prayers for the lone survivor of the crash, saying he believes the young man now faces an unimaginable burden.

"I feel worse for him than I feel for anybody," he said. "That poor boy that has to live through this is going to need more guidance than anybody I know."

Roman Wesley Parra and new Colorado crash location 8 3 26

<title>Worland Man Dies Sunday, Eight Days After Being Ejected From Car In Colorado | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Worland athlete Roman Parra died Sunday, eight days after being ejected from his vehicle in Colorado. His family said Roman's greatest gift wasn't in sports, but making everyone feel loved. "His purpose in life was to spread kindness," his mom said.

You Still Here? Sunday, December 8, 2024

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