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[{"type":"text","text":"Festivus is back!!"}]

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

<title>Hark The Herald: Monday, December 16, 2024 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Festivus is back!!

Hark The Herald: Monday, December 16, 2024

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's managing editor, Greg Johnson.

Greg Johnson

Crime & Courts

Law Enforcement

CHEYENNE — A man who has reportedly threatened “suicide by cop” on multiple occasions held police in a 2.5-hour standoff late Friday night and into early Saturday morning.

The man, who hasn’t been identified, was taken into custody shortly before 2 a.m. Saturday after police and the Cheyenne Police/Laramie County Joint SWAT Team responded to the apartment building at 921 E. 17

Street, the Cheyenne Police Department reports.

Officers “responded to the Casa Grande apartments … for a reported domestic aggravated battery involving a firearm,” the CPD reports.

“Shortly after CPD officers arrived, the suspect barricaded himself in the back bedroom of an apartment,” the agency continues.

The SWAT team and crisis negotiators were brought in and the area was secured.

During the standoff, scanner traffic relayed to police that the man had attempted “suicide by cop” on multiple occasions.

[{"type":"text","text":"No injuries to law enforcement or the suspect were reported by CPD."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"What The Video Shows"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"The standoff was livestreamed on the Fubar on Patrol YouTube channel."}]

The channel’s creator, a man named Brett, patrols the city overnight on weekends following the dispatch scanner and livestreaming events.

For this standoff, he was parked right outside the apartment building with a clear view of the response, which included a K-9, the SWAT Team and what appeared to be an officer using a headset to operate a drone inside the building.

After more than two hours, the video shows a shirtless man with large tattoos on his torso being taken out of the building in handcuffs and placed into a police cruiser.

“They are putting him in a squad car, guys,” Brett says on the livestream. “It’s over.”

Cheyenne standoff 1 Fubar on Patrol 6 6 26

<title>Cheyenne Man Arrested After Overnight Armed Standoff | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A man who has reportedly threatened “suicide by cop” multiple times held police in a 2.5-hour standoff early Saturday morning. “They are putting him in a squad car, guys. It’s over,” says the man behind Fubar on Patrol, who livestreamed the standoff.

Cheyenne Man Arrested After Overnight Armed Standoff

Jimmy orr

Jimmy Orr

Outdoors

Wildlife

A California man said he was dragged 20-30 feet by a grizzly before it finally let him go in an attack he sustained late last month in Glacier National Park.

The report of the attack, which up until now has been scant of specifics, has turned vivid with Daniel Crago discussing the blow-by-blow of his bear encounter on a 

Crago says he was on his last day of a hiking trip when he peeled away from his friend to “take in some views.”

[{"type":"text","text":"That’s when he spotted a “smaller” grizzly."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Then the worst thing happened: he spotted a larger grizzly."}]

“I did as you’re told, I alerted the bear,” he said, which was about 15 feet away.

[{"type":"text","text":"That did no good."}]

“At that point, I was so close it likely frightened the bear,” he said. “As soon as it saw me, it charged down and attacked me.”

“I threw my arm up, it bit my arm, dragged me about 20-30 feet, and took off,” he said in the post.

“I could see my hand, and it was just dangling there,” he told 

The National Park Service said park employees believe that loud rushing water made it difficult for the hiker or the bears to detect each other.

Calling the experience “terrifying,” Crago said he was fortunate in that a pediatrician was in the area who was able to stabilize the arm while another hiker made noises in an attempt to keep the bears from coming back.

[{"type":"text","text":"The bears did not return."}]

Another hiker, he said, alerted emergency services and a helicopter airlifted him to nearby hospital in Kalispell.

He’s had three surgeries so far, he said, and is expecting at least one more.

"I am facing significant medical bills from the treatment and care I received," he said. "The costs are overwhelming, and I am reaching out for help to cover these expenses so I can continue my recovery."

Retired ecologist Chuck Neal of Cody, who frequently hikes solo in grizzly country, told Cowboy State Daily that hiking in Glacier Park demands extra alertness.

“Encounters can happen at just a few yards away” if hikers aren’t paying keen attention, Neal said.

“It’s a high-quality habitat for bears. It’s better habitat for bears than Yellowstone is” and tends to attract a younger crowd, he said.

“Those younger hikers go barreling up those trails without paying that much attention,” Neal said.

[{"type":"text","text":"Busy Season For Bear Attacks"}]

Crago’s is the latest of multiple bear encounters with humans in the region so far this season.

Earlier in the month, Glacier Park reported its 

 since 1998 when the body of Florida resident Anthony Pollio, 33, was found May 6 two days after he was reported missing.

His body was found about 50 feet from the trail he’d apparently been hiking on.

 when they were attacked by a female grizzly with cubs near Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park.

On May 26, a man running on a trail in British Columbia, Canada, was attacked by a female black bear with two cubs.

Outdoor adventurer Michael Hodges was photographing grizzlies in the Glacier Park backcountry on the day that Pollio’s body was discovered about 15 miles away.

Later, he was on the same trail where the alleged May 28 bear attack was reported.

“I was up on the trail the week of May 6 and saw many grizzlies,” he stated in a text message to Cowboy State Daily last week.

“I warned hikers from California and Texas at the trailhead that there was an unusual number of griz, and to be extra alert,” stated Hodges, a novelist and internet personality.

Daniel crago 6 5 26

<title>California Man Says Grizzly Dragged Him 30 Feet In Glacier National Park Attack | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A California hiker said after he surprised two grizzlies last month on a trail in Glacier National Park, the larger bear bit through his arm and dragged him 30 feet. “I did as you’re told, I alerted the bear,” he said, but the bear attacked him anyway.

California Man Says Grizzly Dragged Him 30 Feet In Glacier National Park Attack

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

Andrew Rossi

Some type of large animal, most likely a bear, was spotted on the west side of Laramie on Friday, causing the city to close sections of the Laramie River Greenbelt.

As of publication Friday evening, the area remained closed and a trouble bear hadn’t been found.

The city reported the closure “due to a bear sighting” near the Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory on the eastern side of Interstate 80. The bear appeared to have wandered down from the hills in search of food.

Barricades were installed on streets in the vicinity of the sighting, and residents were asked to avoid the area for their own safety.

Cowboy State Daily was unable to reach the city of Laramie or the Wyoming Game and Fish Department for additional information.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Bears And Barricades"}]

There’s been an influx of bear sightings and incidents in southeast Wyoming this year.

Two black bears wandered into Cheyenne three days apart in mid-May. One of the bears, a 2-year-old male, was captured after it 

sought shelter in Karolyn Middleton’s barn

Wyoming Game and Fish "told me it was probably a young bear that had been pushed out a little way,” Middleton told Cowboy State Daily on May 12.

 after wandering into a subdivision on the north side of Cheyenne. 

It was legally taken by a landowner in the area that had a valid hunting tag for black bear hunt Area 35, which includes Cheyenne.

“The bear wandered to a neighboring property, and my neighbor went in the house, came back out with hunter orange on and a rifle, walked up to where the bear was hiding, and shot it dead,” a neighbor who wished to remain anonymous told Cowboy State Daily. “Point-blank range, doubt it was 10 feet."

 in Cheyenne’s Clear Creek Park in September 2023. That bear was tranquilized, lifted out of the tree by a cherry picker, and relocated westward to the Snowy Range.

In 2022, a 2-year-old male black bear was found wandering in a Laramie neighborhood. That bear was also tranquilized and released in the Snowy Range.

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

Black bears have, historically, been rare in the southeastern corner of Wyoming, but there are indications that their range might be expanding.

“I hate to say things are impossible, because wildlife continues to adapt and surprise us,” said Wyoming Game and Fish Large Carnivore Specialist Dan Thompson. “Black bears evolved with forested ecosystems, and in the last half-century or less, we have started seeing expansions of black bears back into previous haunts in North America, or more appropriately, recolonization."

Laramie resident Anne Brande wasn’t surprised to hear a black bear was spotted in that particular spot.

“It’s a riparian area in the Laramie Basin in June,” she said. “He’s looking for food and water, and I’m sure that’s an enticing spot for a bear.”

Brande, who “walks the greenbelt daily,” found some irony in the city of Laramie’s response. While they’re obviously trying to preserve people’s safety, it’s because of a fact, she feels, they’ve been reluctant to acknowledge.

“City Manager Todd Feezer told the Laramie City Council and the public that the Laramie Greenbelt has no wildlife,” she said. “It’s like when they spotted a mountain lion over by LaPrele Park and told people, ‘Don’t go there,’ and the whole community flocked there because everybody wanted a mountain lion sighting.”

Brand wasn’t concerned about the black bear sighting. She didn’t think it would be a fan of the neighborhood.

“It’s not like he’s going there to hang out,” she said. “I don't think he's going to like all the people in the neighborhoods around that area. He’s going to pass through. Wildlife passes great distances. They’re used to that.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Greenbelt Blight"}]

For Brande, the black bear sighting was a sign of how wild and habitable the Laramie Greenbelt is for local wildlife. That’s been a point of contention between Laramie residents and the local government.

“The City Council keeps talking about the West Side Blight Plan, and that’s very frustrating to me,” she said. “It's the Laramie River Greenbelt Blight Plan, and a lot of people have been blindsided by it.”

According to Brande, the Laramie city manager and planner presented the West Side Blight Plan to make infrastructure improvements like streets, curbs, gutters, and sewer to the area around the Laramie River Greenbelt Park.

One of their main points in favor of developing the area was that, according to Brande, it was inhospitable to wildlife because it had been a superfund site. Brande said that’s patently untrue.

“I’ve personally seen herons there,” she said. “I have seen a bald eagle there. I see raccoons and foxes there. People got there for fly fishing and birdwatching. There is a ton of wildlife there, and that's why I love it so much.”

Brande also said the city’s position on the habitat assessment of the Laramie Greenbelt hasn’t been consistent at the public meetings she’s made a point to attend, so she can speak against the West Side Blight Plan.

“At first, I was told there's no wildlife there because it’s too contaminated,” she said. “During subsequent public meetings, after I was told that it was too polluted to have wildlife, they said there were no pollutants, but it would still be good to do a blight designation. It was extremely confusing.”

At this point, Brande said it’s all “water under the bridge” since the Laramie City Council approved the blight designation. Now, she’s hoping they won’t pursue their intended projects.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'A Treasure'"}]

From what Brande has heard, the area around Laramie River Greenbelt Park has been proposed as a potential site for a future housing development. She’s against that plan, on principle and practicality.

“You don't want to monetize an extreme floodplain, and that's a FEMA extreme floodplain of the Laramie River,” she said.

Brande sees the Laramie Greenbelt as an undervalued natural asset for the city of Laramie and believes many other residents share her perspective. It’s an easily accessible piece of wilderness for people who want to step away from the bustle of Wyoming’s biggest college town.

“I see people from all over the county actually using the greenbelts with me very often,” she said. “You don’t have to have a car or drive to Medicine Bow National Forest to find a spot like this. It’s a 10-minute walk from my house.”

Brande hopes the Laramie River Greenbelt will remain as it is. Even if the alluring environment draws in the occasional black bear, it’s a sign that there’s a habitat worth preserving in Laramie, for wildlife and residents.

“I'm talking to you in a metropolitan coffee shop in San Francisco, California, and I haven't seen one bird,” she said. “Not one. You’ve got to enjoy the Greenbelt because it’s such an accessible way for anyone to find nature in our community. It gives me such peace of mind. It’s a treasure.”

Laramie River Greenbelt Park Visit Laramie 6 5 26

<title>Laramie Closes Popular Greenbelt Park After Bear Sighting | Cowboy State Daily</title>

The city of Laramie closed sections of Laramie River Greenbelt Park on Friday because of a bear sighting in the area. Barricades were installed on streets in the vicinity of the sighting, and residents were asked to avoid the area for their own safety.

Laramie Closes Popular Greenbelt Park After Bear Sighting

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Courts

A Washington man is facing 14 wildlife-related criminal charges in Campbell County after Wyoming investigators say years-old Instagram videos, voice messages and cellphone data uncovered evidence of alleged illegal hunting trips that stretched back more than a decade.

Court records filed in Campbell County allege Bobby Chuck Ephrem, 48, illegally killed antelope and mule deer in Wyoming in 2014, 2015 and 2020, sometimes from vehicles, sometimes without licenses and at least once using a .22-caliber pistol that investigators say was illegal for taking big game.

The charges stem from an Idaho wildlife investigation that eventually led Wyoming Game and Fish investigators to social media posts, archived videos and cellphone extractions that they say show hunting activity in Campbell County.

An arrest warrant was issued June 4, 2025. Ephrem later appeared in Campbell County Circuit Court for a hearing on Tuesday, where bond was set at $75,000. Court records show he posted a surety bond on Wednesday.

As a condition of release, Ephrem is not allowed to leave Campbell County and is barred from hunting, fishing, trapping, collecting shed antlers or accompanying anyone engaged in hunting or fishing activities while the case is pending.

A voicemail seeking comment from the Campbell County Attorney's Office was not returned before publication.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"A Case Built From Phones And Social Media"}]

The investigation began in April 2024 when Idaho conservation officers shared information uncovered during an ongoing wildlife investigation, according to an affidavit filed by Wyoming Game and Fish Investigator Daniel Beach.

Investigators say Instagram videos, voice messages, and other evidence pointed them toward multiple incidents involving antelope and mule deer.

Beach wrote that he later traveled to Oregon in June 2024 to assist Oregon State Police while that agency executed a search warrant at Ephrem's home.

During the search and interview, investigators say Ephrem talked about several mounted animals displayed in his home and admitted to killing some of them in Wyoming.

The affidavit shows Wyoming investigators subsequently reviewed cellphone extraction data, Instagram videos and archived voice messages that they believe corroborated those admissions.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'No Permission, Just Shoot'"}]

Some of the most serious allegations center on an October 2020 antelope hunt in Campbell County.

Investigators discovered Instagram voice messages sent from Ephrem's account that referenced plans to hunt antelope in Wyoming.

One message cited in the charging documents read, "We're going antelope hunting today."

Another allegedly said, "No, just drive around and shoot shit. No permission, just shoot."

Investigators say they later identified the location shown in one of the videos as private property owned by Peabody Caballo Mining LLC south of Gillette.

Neither the company nor the rancher leasing the pasture granted permission for the hunting activity depicted in the videos, wrote Beach. 

In another video, investigators say Ephrem can be seen firing a rifle at antelope from inside a vehicle. 

Investigators also allege the video showed Ephrem handing the rifle to a younger passenger.

The charging documents include allegations of wanton destruction of antelope, taking big game from a vehicle, trespassing to hunt and accessory counts connected to those offenses.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"The .22-Caliber Pistol Allegation"}]

A separate video described in the affidavit forms the basis for another series of charges.

Investigators say the recording showed Ephrem driving a Dodge Ram pickup while firing a pistol at multiple antelope from the roadway and adjacent ditch.

Beach wrote they later determined the firearm appeared to be a GSG 1911-style .22-caliber pistol, and that Ephrem fired 10 rounds at several antelope from close range.

During a June 2024 interview, Ephrem said, "I remember shooting, yes, got it.'" 

The case includes charges alleging illegal use of a firearm for taking big game, wanton destruction and taking big game from a vehicle.

Investigators also allege another man, who they say appeared in some of the videos, later confirmed witnessing portions of the hunt during a recorded interview.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Allegations Reach Back To 2014"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"The investigation didn't stop with the 2020 videos."}]

Cellphone data allegedly connected Ephrem to an antelope killed in 2015 and a mule deer killed in 2014.

Beach wrote that Ephrem admitted during a 2024 interview to those killings. 

Wyoming licensing records showed Ephrem did not possess licenses for those species during the years in question, says investigators, and that Ephrem improperly used or transferred hunting licenses connected to his son during some of the incidents.

Cellphone photographs, taxidermy records and statements made during interviews were used to support those allegations.

The charges remain allegations. Ephrem has not been convicted, and the case will proceed through Wyoming's court system.

Campell county pronghorn 4 5 26

<title>'No Permission, Just Shoot': Instagram Videos Lead To Wyoming Poaching Charges | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A Washington man faces 14 Wyoming poaching-related charges after Game and Fish investigators say Instagram videos and phone data exposed illegal hunts over more than 10 years. “No permission, just shoot,” the man messaged, Game and Fish says.

'No Permission, Just Shoot': Instagram Videos Lead To Wyoming Poaching Charges

Government & Politics

Politics

CHEYENNE — Data centers and Wyoming’s role in hosting them are greater than a local issue for communities debating whether they want that development or not; they represent a national security issue the state’s next governor needs to address.

That’s one of the main takeaways from a crowded Republican gubernatorial candidate forum Friday afternoon.

“We are in an AI arms race with China, and President Trump has been very bullish on data center development,” said Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder. “We have some resources here in the state of Wyoming to keep them going.”

She said she shares the concerns people in Cheyenne, Evanston, Casper and Laramie have already expressed about water usage and how data centers could impact power rates.

The answer isn’t banning data centers, she said, it’s “ensuring there is not water usage pulling from our resources … and making sure that we do not have utility rate (increases) that are on the backs of Wyoming people.”

She was on stage in the Grand Ballroom at Little America in Cheyenne with Republican primary opponents Brent Bien and Eric Barlow for a forum hosted by the Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce.

Bien said that as he’s been traveling around Wyoming, “the vast majority of the folks are opposed to these, and I mean, they’re popping up all over the place.”

A career military man who spent 28 years in the Marines, and ran unsuccessfully for the GOP nomination for governor in 2022, said people are afraid of data centers because they don’t understand or trust them.

“I think what’s going on here is that the people have been left out of the loop,” Bien said. “And ultimately, it does comes down to the people.”

“If people are brought into the equation early and they understand what’s going on, then I do believe they’ll be far more receptive.”

State Sen. Eric Barlow, R-Gillette, echoed some of what Bien said about people’s fear of data centers.

A lot of those concerns are being addressed by the rapidly evolving technology that’s being built into data centers, Barlow said, referencing how directional drilling revolutionized the oil and gas industry.

[{"type":"text","text":"He also said that AI isn’t coming, it’s here."}]

“You have to think about what’s driving the demand” for data centers, said Barlow, a veterinarian who also served in the Marine Corps. “We’re part of the demand. Consumerism is part of the demand.

“Those rectangular devices some of you are looking at right now? That’s part of the demand, whether you’re asking it to do something artificially and intelligent — and I don’t know if those two words should go together.”

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

Moderated by chamber chairman and Cheyenne Regional Medical Center President and CEO Tim Thornell, Friday’s forum featured three of the four registered Republicans on the primary ballot.

More than 300 people were packed into the ballroom to listen to the candidates address questions prepared by the chamber of commerce. Each had up to three minutes to respond.

When asked what Thornell admitted was a “loaded question” about how Wyoming should spend its money, all three expressed a need to be careful and frugal.

“We need to make sure we fund those essential services of government,” said Bien, who also said he drove the ballot initiative on this year’s ballot that, if passed, will allow people to claim up to 50% of their property tax bills as exempt.

“The largest budget in our state history just recently passed, you know, and we got to figure out where’s all this money actually going,” he said. “Is it really being spent on those essential services that we have out there?

“We know that there’s a lot of nonessential things that are out there.”

He claimed that residential property taxes are up 73% in Wyoming over the last six years, making it impossible for people to keep their homes or buy homes.

“The bottom line is that I’m more concerned about people staying in their homes than I am some of these frivolous things that we end up talking about across the state,” Bien said.

Barlow reminded the crowd that some of what Wyoming spends is constitutionally required, like education and public safety.

He also pointed out that minerals like coal, oil and natural gas “are paying 50% of (the state’s) bills on a daily basis.”

The Legislature also put money in savings this past session, and that money and the interest off it “is actually paying for 30% of our bills for the state of Wyoming,” Barlow said. “Think about that.”

Degenfelder, who was endorsed by President Trump in her bid to become governor before she announced her candidacy, also said she’s concerned about property taxes.

“People are being pushed out of their homes, they can’t stay in their homes because they can’t afford their property taxes,” she said. “That’s a problem.”

At the same time, “I’m not willing to compromise on basic services,” Degenfelder added. “I’m not willing to compromise on health and safety. If my house is on fire, I want a fire truck to show up right now.”

Being able to provide basic services is “why we keep a lean government,” she said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Stop Talking About It And Do Something"}]

Another issue all three agree on is that there needs to be more action after decades of officials and state leaders saying something needs to be done to keep young people from leaving Wyoming.

The issue isn’t money, said Bien. He said Wyoming spends about $22,000 per K-12 student, which jumps to about $35,000 including capital construction investments.

“I don’t think it’s a money issue. I think what this is is a coordination issue,” he said.

There’s a disconnect between education and industry when businesses say they need certain skills and Wyoming students aren’t learning them.

“Right now in this community, I know that the demand is for trades, for an electrician, for someone who knows heating and air conditioning controls,” Barlow said. “That is a pretty dang good job.

“In fact, it probably pays better than being a veterinarian — even if I was a good veterinarian.”

[{"type":"text","text":"That last jab at himself drew laughter from the crowd."}]

He pointed out there is some work being done to reverse that outward migration, like teaching certified nursing assistant (CNA) courses in high schools.

Data centers are important to national security and for Wyoming, said the top GOP candidates for governor during a Friday forum. “We are in an AI arms race with China,” Megan Degenfelder said, with all agreeing it will be a priority for the next governor.

Hark The Herald: Monday, December 16, 2024

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