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

<title>You Still Here? Wednesday, January 8, 2025 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Filling your tires with your Dad....

You Still Here? Wednesday, January 8, 2025

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

Clair McFarland

Government & Politics

Politics

Media outlets gasped last week at the socialist movement’s success in the New York congressional 

That success headed west Tuesday, to Wyoming’s southern neighbor of Colorado.

Democratic socialist Melat Kiros, 29, defeated 15-term incumbent U.S. House Rep. Diana DeGette in Tuesday evening’s primary election.

Colorado Public Radio called the ouster “a stunning blow to the Democratic establishment in Denver and continuing a run of leftist victories in major cities.”

Former Wyoming Gov. Mike Sullivan, a Dvemocrat, told Cowboy State Daily on Tuesday that he wasn’t surprised at the move by Denver voters, but he doubted the proximity of a House socialist – if Kiros wins the general election – will affect Wyoming much.

“We have our own issues, and we’re certainly more sensitive to certain issues than others,” Sullivan said. “And it doesn’t necessarily divide us or make us closer to anybody else.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Could Deepen 'Don't Colorado My Wyoming' Sentiment"}]

Liz Brimmer, longtime Wyoming politico, agreed in general, but said having a socialist congressional neighbor could galvanize Wyoming even harder into a tendency it already has: spurning anything that looks like Colorado governance.  

“I think Wyoming uniformly and strongly feels, you know, ‘Don’t Colorado my Wyoming',” Brimmer said. “And I think if anything, it deepens that sentiment.”

Brimmer said the ouster speaks of “these times, where there’s no doubt an anti-incumbent strain.” But no one will know all the reasons, nor should presume too much, until the voter data return, she said.

The Republicans saw the anti-incumbent strain surface differently, with newcomers ousting President Donald Trump’s foes in GOP primary elections.

State Rep. Landon Brown, R-Cheyenne, who is finishing off his final legislative term, voiced fascination with the election outcome.

Brown, a self-described political junkie, lives about 14 miles from the Colorado border.

He said the ouster shows Denver is increasingly dictating the rest of Colorado’s fate, and that the state is growing more polarized.

On the Republican gubernatorial primary side, The 

 a half-point lead for Victor Marx as of Wednesday.

“He’s just as crazy as a democratic socialist on the left,” said Brown.

As for DeGette’s defeat, it’s not as symptomatic as one would think, he added.

“She was running a ‘Hey, I’m the incumbent and I’ve been here 30 years’ (campaign),” he said.

That hurt her. As did a growing divide on the left over Israel’s approach to its many foes — and Congress’ funding of Israeli war and defense efforts, said Brown.

Israel was also a fulcrum in the May primary loss of libertarian-leaning incumbent Rep. Thomas Massie, of Kentucky. But the Republican voters took the inverse approach on that one, nominating the candidate who supports funding Israeli war efforts.

Jack Speight, the GOP strategist who helped Wyoming Gov. Stan Hathaway to victory in 1966, told Cowboy State Daily Kiros’ win is alarming.

Speight was a Democrat when he graduated from the University of Wyoming law school. But the allure of capitalism and the prevailing logic of his good friends pulled him to the Republican side, he said in another interview last month.

The socialist victories of 2026 are “sad for this country. It may well affect the results of this fall, and nationwide,” he said. He called it a shift of California transplants into the Rockies, and a symptom of a growing entitlement.

[{"type":"text","text":"Colorado isn’t the only Wyoming neighbor with socialist momentum."}]

Sam Forstag, a smoke jumper endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, D-New York, won his primary bid for Montana’s U.S. House District 1 on June 2.

Forstag may be less favored than Kiros going into the general election: No Democrat has won that Montana House district this century.

 a “test for left-leaning politicians” who have been arguing for a populist surge in the blue party.

Melat Kiros Getty 7 1 26

<title>Win By Colorado Socialist Could Galvanize Wyoming Independence, Says Politico | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Fresh after socialist-backed candidates' success in New York's U.S. House primaries, Colorado Democrats nominated their own socialist House candidate Tuesday. Having a socialist neighbor could galvanize Wyoming's independence even more, one politico said. 

Win By Colorado Socialist Could Galvanize Wyoming Independence, Says Politico

Heinz mark

Mark Heinz

Business

The U.S. Supreme Court could be poised to overturn bans on so-called “assault weapons” in Connecticut and the Chicago area, which in turn could topple similar bans across a dozen states.

Some Wyoming firearms dealers told Cowboy State Daily that could clear the way to better serving customers from states with stricter gun regulations, including Colorado.

Colorado doesn’t have a statewide assault-weapons ban, although there are some local bans, such as in Denver. There’s a statewide prohibition on “high-capacity magazines” capable of carrying more than 15 rounds.

“I don’t know how many times I’ve been to a gun range where we let people try out our products, and they told us they aren’t allowed to own those products in their state,” said Joshua Kinderknecht, owner of Wyoming Tactical Firearms and W.T.F. Silencers. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Gun-Friendly Court"}]

The Supreme Court announced Tuesday it will hear appeals challenging bans on AR-15s and similar semiautomatic rifles in Connecticut and the Chicago area, the 

SCOTUS in recent years has been criticized by gun-control advocates and praised by Second Amendment rights supporters for its firearms-related rulings.

The 2008 District of Columbia Heller decision established that the Second Amendment protects an individual’s right to possess firearms for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense in the home, unconnected to militia service. 

In 2010, the McDonald v. City of Chicago decision ruled that right applies to the states. The court incorporated the right against state and local governments through the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment. 

In the 2022 New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen ruling, the court struck down a restrictive New York concealed-carry law, declaring that the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to carry a handgun in public for self-defense.

The court is going in the right direction, but “I don’t think they’re going nearly far enough,” said Art Manning, owner of The Armorer in Laramie County. “I think they ought to go back to the Constitution and go back to what the damn thing says.” 

As far as assault-weapons bans, “those states should pull their heads out of their asses” and overturn the bans themselves, he added.

Advocates for banning or restricting AR-15s and similar firearms argue that the terms “assault weapon” or “assault rifle” are apt because of their high ammunition capacity and rate of fire.

George Mocsary, professor of law at the University of Wyoming and director of UW’s Firearms Research Center, previously told Cowboy State Daily the term “assault rifle” is 

The concept of the assault rifle dates to the StG 44, a weapon the German military fielded late in World War II. As the tide turned against Nazi forces, weapons designers were trying to come up with an upgrade.

When the new weapon was presented to Hitler in 1944, he was supposedly so impressed he called it the “Sturmgewehr,” which translates to “storm rifle” or “assault rifle.” The StG 44 became its official moniker, with the “44” designating the year 1944, when it went into production.

Some of its features inspired a Soviet war veteran named Mikhail Kalashnikov, who in 1947 designed the AK-47, widely considered the world’s first true assault rifle.

In military contexts, “assault rifle” refers to an infantry weapon that has three basic characteristics. 

First, it’s fed by high-capacity, detachable ammunition magazines. Second, it’s chambered for a mid-sized cartridge, larger than the ammunition for pistols and submachine guns but smaller than cartridges for battle rifle or machine guns.

Also, the weapon features a selective fire switch. That means it can be toggled between semi-automatic fire (one shot per trigger pull) and fully automatic fire (once the trigger is pulled, it fires rapidly until the trigger is released or the ammunition runs out).

Some more modern military weapons also have “burst fire,” meaning about three shots are fired for every pull of the trigger.

Because AR-15s and similar civilian arms don’t have selective fire switches, they aren’t considered “assault rifles” like military assault rifles, Mocsary said.

Manning said the term “assault weapon” is applied too broadly.

“If it’s black and plastic and has a high-capacity magazine, that’s what people assume is an assault weapon,” he said.

And restrictions can affect firearms that aren’t even classified as assault weapons under some states’ regulations, said Lars Luhrsen, owner of Prairie Grizzly Arms, LLC, in Cheyenne.

For some out-of-state customers, “I can sell them a Ruger Mini 14, which technically isn’t even classified as assault rifle, but I can’t sell them the 30-round magazine that comes with it,” he said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Does The Case Have Merit?"}]

Aaron Dorr, policy advisor for Wyoming Gun Owners, said he hopes SCOTUS will overturn the bans.

The 2008, 2010 and 2022 gun-rights decisions were “stepping stones” that led to the court considering an end to assault weapons bans, he said.

Wyoming Gun Owners plans to file briefs with the court in favor of overturing the bans, Dorr said.

“We’ve been waiting for this decision for 50 years,” he said. “It would be the biggest gun-rights victory in a long time and we’re definitely for it.  

Mocsary said Wednesday the case could hinge on arguments over the principle of sweeping gun bans.

“On the merits, I would frame the issue narrowly: Legislatures may punish misuse of firearms and may disarm people who fall within constitutionally permissible limits, but that is different from banning peaceable citizens from possessing an entire class of commonly owned arms,” he wrote in a message to Cowboy State Daily.  

“The petitioners’ strongest argument is that Heller protects arms in common lawful use, and AR-15-platform rifles are among the most common in the country. They are owned by millions, and perhaps tens of millions, of people, Mocsary added.

Public safety should be considered, he noted. However, the government’s “historical authority” to prohibit commonly owned firearms should also be questioned.

And hype should be removed from the discussion, he said.

“The weapons’ menacing looks, coupled with the public’s confusion over fully automatic machine guns versus semi-automatic assault weapons — anything that looks like a machine gun is assumed to be a machine gun — can only increase the chance of public support for restrictions on these weapons,” Mocsary said.  

Kinderknecht said he’s eager to see gun owners in other states enjoy the same rights as Wyomingites.

“I think it would be cool to allow people in those other 10-12 states to buy the semiautomatic rifles without jumping though a bunch of hoops,” he said.

He’s optimistic SCOTUS will overturn the bans. But he also expects some states will seek “workarounds” to continue banning or restricting certain firearms, high-capacity magazines and the like.

Luhrsen said he moved from Colorado about five years ago to open his firearms business and enjoy Wyoming's freedom.

He said he likes helping people buy their first gun and learn how to safely shoot it, clean it and maintain it.

He’d like to see Wyoming’s standards applied nationwide.

“If we can buy them (semiautomatic rifles) here, they should be able to buy them there,” he said.

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<title>Wyoming Gun Dealers Eager For Supreme Court To Overturn ‘Assault Weapons’ Bans | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A gun-friendly U.S. Supreme Court seems poised to overturn “assault weapon” bans in Connecticut and the Chicago area — and Wyoming gun dealers are all in favor. They say that could make it easier to sell to customers in Colorado and other states.

Wyoming Gun Dealers Eager For Supreme Court To Overturn ‘Assault Weapons’ Bans

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

Greg Johnson

Crime & Courts

Courts

CHEYENNE — A former fifth-grade teacher who had faced nearly 30 charges relating to sexual abuse of children was sentenced Wednesday to 27-30 years in prison.

The sentencing comes after he pleaded guilty in April to two counts of sexual abuse of a minor and one of third-degree sex abuse of a child in an agreement with prosecutors.

Brian Wrhel, 56, was given three 9-to-10-year sentences to be served consecutively, the Cheyenne Police Department reports.

He was first arrested July 28, 2025, about a week after the Laramie County District Attorney’s Office charged him with 16 felony sex crimes.

While out on bond facing those charges, Wrhel was hit with another 11 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor after a search of his cellphone uncovered more than 4,000 images of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), according to court documents.

His April plea bargain voided a pair of trials that had been set for the former teacher.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"What The Girls Said"}]

Wrhel first came onto the radar of the Cheyenne Police Department when someone at a Laramie County School District No. 1 elementary school called the CPD to report sexual abuse of a minor, according to an evidentiary affidavit written by Detective Damon Hall.

The principal told the responding officer that school staff became aware the week prior that a fifth-grade teacher had been allegedly touching students inappropriately in class.

“An internal investigation was conducted prior to law enforcement notification,” wrote Hall, and Wrhel was placed on leave May 16, 2025.

Investigators identified multiple potential victims, all girls, and arranged for them to be interviewed forensically at Safe Harbor.

Some girls in their forensic interviews described their teacher touching their bottoms, breasts, genitalia, torsos, thighs and backs during class, wrote Hall.

Repeatedly, the girls who allegedly suffered this touching also noticed when Wrhel did it to others, the document alleges.

The teacher’s inappropriate touching happened at his desk, which sat in the back of the class, especially when a girl would go to him for help with schoolwork, Hall related from those interviews.

One girl, whom the others identified as most frequently victimized, said her teacher would touch her “private part” under her pants, and it felt “uncomfortable and weird.”

She said the teacher unclipped another girl’s bra, according to the document.

“Small things,” or more minor, inappropriate touching, started around October 2024, but the touching progressed to where the teacher was touching the girl inappropriately every day, two or three times a day, wrote Hall.

Another girl claimed the teacher put his hand up her shirt “three times each week” and down her pants “four times in one week,” wrote Hall.

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

Wrhel was out on bond when he was re-arrested following a search of his cellphone, home computer, and other electronic devices that uncovered thousands of CSAM, according to another affidavit filed in his case.

A forensic download of one of his cellphones “recovered approximately 2,102 images of CSAM, eight CSAM video clips, and 5,372 internet searches from (a pornographic website),” the affidavit says. 

A little less than two weeks later, a search warrant executed at Wrhel’s home — specifically his electronic devices — found 1,196 child sex images on another cellphone and another 1,974 web searches from the same pornographic website, according to the affidavit.

“Many of the images were from picture packages viewed or obtained from the website and were individually titled or labeled with a specific theme name from the website,” the affidavit says.

Examples of the titles include: “Nudist Summer Forest Hike with Youngers;” “Nude Pageant Video;” “Family Shower;” “Naked Camping Bubble Fun;” and “Twister Family Game Night.”

“The CSAM images were of children ranging from approximately 4 to 16 years of age and appeared to originate from Russia and the Czech Republic,” says the affidavit. “The images showed the children, both male and female, completely nude and exhibited the genitals and pubic areas of the children in a lascivious manner.”

Had he been convicted on all 27 of the previous charges, Wrhel faced potential for a prison sentence of up to 395 years.

Brain Wrhel and Laramie County School District 1 administration Unknown 1 9 17 25

<title>27-30 Years In Prison For Former Cheyenne Teacher On Child Sex Abuse Charges | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A former Cheyenne fifth-grade teacher who had faced 27 charges relating to sexual abuse of children was sentenced Wednesday to 27-30 years in prison. Without his plea agreement, Brian Wrhel, 56, could have faced 395 years.

27-30 Years In Prison For Former Cheyenne Teacher On Child Sex Abuse Charges

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

A Cheyenne teen accused of firebombing the pickup of a rival for his ex-girlfriend with a Molotov cocktail built from a root beer bottle could get some serious prison time if convicted.

Court documents made publicly available Wednesday afternoon detail investigators' allegations that Seth S. Hayes, 18, threw the firebomb into another teenager's pickup after he began dating Hayes' former girlfriend.

Hayes is set for a Thursday preliminary hearing on a felony charge of third-degree arson. During his initial appearance in Laramie County Circuit Court late last week, a judge set his bond at $10,000 cash only.

An affidavit of probable cause filed in the case details how detectives spent weeks piecing together witness statements, surveillance video, social media activity and physical evidence before arresting Hayes nearly a month after the May 21 incendiary incident.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Black Rose "}]

Cheyenne Police Department investigators say the conflict that built up to the firebombing began months before the truck was set on fire.

According to the affidavit, Hayes and his girlfriend ended their relationship in January.

Police wrote that Hayes repeatedly contacted his ex-girlfriend after the breakup, leaving voicemails asking her to reconcile or insulting her when she refused.

"Seth often left things on (her) vehicle, including a pile of ashes and a black rose," the affidavit states.

Police also allege Hayes posted a video on social media showing himself and a friend burning one of her sweatshirts.

After she began dating another teenager, investigators say Hayes' attention shifted to him.

One of Hayes' coworkers told investigators Hayes had talked about wanting to "blow (his) truck up" several days before the fire.

According to the affidavit, the victim later told investigators he had heard Hayes make the same threat before his truck was destroyed.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'Let It Burn' "}]

The teenager told investigators he woke around 2:30 a.m. May 21 to find his pickup engulfed in flames outside his Cheyenne home.

After speaking with officers, he said he drove past Hayes' residence "to see if his car was there."

When he arrived, he told investigators he saw a gas mask sitting on the hood of Hayes' vehicle, according to the affidavit.

Firefighters determined the blaze had been intentionally set and recovered what investigators believe was a Molotov cocktail made from a Sprecher's root beer bottle stuffed with a gasoline-soaked cloth.

Detectives traced the bottle to a Menards store, where investigators say surveillance video shows Hayes buying a four-pack of Sprecher root beer just days before the fire.

[{"type":"text","text":"Police also examined Hayes' social media activity."}]

About 25 minutes before the first 911 call reporting the blaze, investigators say Hayes posted Shaboozey's song "Let It Burn" on social media.

The affidavit states detectives combined surveillance video, witness statements, social media activity and physical evidence before concluding they had probable cause to arrest Hayes.

[{"type":"text","text":"Investigators estimated the pickup truck's value at about $10,000."}]

Hayes remains charged with third-degree arson. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Thursday, when prosecutors must present enough evidence to show there is probable cause for the case to proceed to district court.

If convicted, he could get up to five years in prison, a fine of up to $5,000, or both.

Cheyenne police 5 30 22

<title>Cheyenne Teen Accused Of Firebombing Truck With Molotov Cocktail After Breakup | Cowboy State Daily</title>

An 18-year-old Cheyenne man is accused of using a root beer bottle Molotov cocktail to firebomb the truck of another teen dating his ex-girlfriend. He also "often left things on (her) vehicle, including a pile of ashes and a black rose," police say.

Cheyenne Teen Accused Of Firebombing Truck With Molotov Cocktail After Breakup

Around Wyoming

Lake Powell, a key reservoir on the Colorado River, is shrinking toward "dead pool," which means water won't flow downriver anymore — and that could in turn pinch Wyoming’s municipal and industrial water supplies with more demand from Flaming Gorge Reservoir.

Lake Powell, on the Utah-Arizona state line, is in dire condition, 

By next spring, it’s expected to fall into “minimum power pool,” meaning having barely just enough water to generate hydroelectric power at Glen Canyon Dam.

If it falls even farther, that could put the reservoir at “dead pool,” or unable to generate hydroelectric power, according to reports.

That's despite roughly 1 million acre-feet expected to be 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘Paper Water Rights’"}]

Dead pool is considered only a worst-case scenario among water managers.

But if it happens, it could lead to some stark choices, said Wyoming state Sen. Larry Hicks, who served on the Legislature’s Select Water Committee.

In such a scenario, “power generation is subservient” to irrigation water rights, he told Cowboy State Daily.

“Power Generation is important, but it’s not as important as maintaining peoples’ livelihood,” Hicks said. 

The looming dilemmas over Colorado River water rest in the fact that water management is rooted in “paper water rights,” he said.

Many of those are tied to the 1922 Colorado River Compact, which includes seven states, Mexico and numerous Native American Tribes.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Just Not Enough Water"}]

In Wyoming, many farmers’ and ranchers’ water rights predate the 1922 Compact, going as far back as the 1880s.

That means if spats break out over Compact water rights as the river’s supply dwindles, farms and ranches along the Green and Little Snake rivers would be largely unaffected, Hicks said.

The Compact designates roughly 15 million acre-feet per year, supposedly evenly split at 7.5 million acre-feet between the Upper Basin and Lower Basin.

The Upper Basin states are Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and New Mexico. Arizona, Nevada and California comprise the Lower Basin.

River flows in recent years have been as low as about 10 million acre-feet, Hicks said.

If the Lower Basin states made an emergency “call on the river” for more access to the Upper Basin allocation, Wyoming’s farmers and ranchers wouldn't catch the brunt of it, he said.

“The Trona industry and big municipalities in Wyoming” would be most at risk of losing vital water, he said.

For instance, even though Cheyenne isn’t physically connected to the Colorado River system, it still depends upon of it because of water-exchange agreements on the North Platte River.

“Arizona is the state that’s most likely to litigate and say, ‘We’re entitled to this water; you need to send it to us’,” Hicks said.

The growing crisis on the Colorado River “is a concern for Cheyenne and our board of public utility,” Mayor Patrick Collins told Cowboy State Daily.

The city gets about “two-thirds of our water” from sources tied to the Colorado River water contract exchange agreements, he said.

Cheyenne has been preparing for potential water shortages, Collins said.

“If they make a call on the river, it’s going to take a while to take effect,” he said, adding that Cheyenne has a roughly four-year backup storage supply.

Cheyenne has been frugal with its water, typically using about half of its full allocation, Collins added.

Despite growth, the city is using about the same amount of water it was 10 years ago, he said.

In the long term, Cheyenne also hopes to break away from Colorado River dependency.

“We have good leads on replacement water from other areas,” he said, without going into detail.

“There is an irrigation district that we’ve been working with, and some industrial users on the Platte River,” Collins said.

Rock Springs mayor Max Mickelson said the city has some water rights dating to 1871, and is therefore immune to any effects tied to the 1922 Colorado River Compact.

“Our system has never overdrawn its allocation the way the Lower Basin has. The current diversion data our Joint Powers Water Board presented to council shows zero deficit under today's conditions. 11,011 acre-feet of annual demand against roughly 2,413 acre-feet available on average, showing no shortfall in any month,” he stated in an email to Cowboy State Daily.

“That's not luck. That's a century of municipal water management that lived within its means. While states downstream built entire metro economies on water that was never really there in average years.” 

The local economy has felt the effects of increasing pressure on Flaming Gorge from the Lower Basin, Mickelson said. The city doesn’t draw from it directly, but is tied to the recreation economy.

“Our recreation, fishing, and marinas economies will all take a hit,” he said. "Our exposure so far has been to the regional environment and economy, not to the water coming out of our faucets.” 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘It’s A Concern’"}]

If Lake Powell hits dead pool, that would be a concern for Rock Springs, Mickelson said, noting the federal response to the crisis at Lake Powell is to pull from Flaming Gorge.  

“The Bureau of Reclamation's own modeling, presented to council this May, shows a projected shortfall of 2.0 to 2.3 million acre-feet by March 2027,” Mickelson wrote.

“So, yes, it's a concern, but it is fundamentally about fairness. The Flaming Gorge Reservoir is filled by our river and is treated as insurance for a 1922 compact built on flow numbers that were too generous from the start. We watch Powell's elevation because every foot drop is another argument for draining more from our basin,” he said.

Already at critically low levels, Lake Powell is close to being "dead pool," which means water won't flow downriver anymore. That has Wyoming cities and industries worried that will mean more demand for water from Flaming Gorge Reservoir.

You Still Here? Wednesday, January 8, 2025

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