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[{"type":"text","text":"Love is in the air and gravity never takes a day off....."}]

Bonus vid 2 24 25

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

<title>Bonus Video: Monday, February 24, 2025 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Love is in the air and gravity never takes a day off.....

Bonus Video: Monday, February 24, 2025

 Love is in the air and gravity never takes a day off.....

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

Clair McFarland

Politics

Government & Politics

[{"type":"text","text":"Ann Simpson died early Friday morning in her daughter’s arms."}]

“I lifted up the shade and the moon bathed Mom in the moonlight,” said Ann’s daughter Sue Simpson Gallagher. “I walked over and cuddled up to her and held her, and she died.”

Sue remembers her mother as the most beautiful woman, “inside and out, that ever lived.”

Ann was a mother of three, a wife of 70 years to prominent Wyoming political figure and

Her son Colin Simpson said she was unafraid and even optimistic about dying. She’d been diagnosed with an illness about two months earlier, he said.

“She made us all aware that she did not fear death at all,” said Colin. “She was a Christian and had great faith, and was very at peace with the end of her life.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Her great hope encouraged those grieving around her, he said."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"But the loss is still heartbreaking, the family said."}]

“We lost a person who really understood all of us,” said Sue. “She was on our team.”

Ann’s grandson Nick Simpson interjected that “she was half the damn team.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Sue laughed through tears. "}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Colin said the late couple both had a close connection with the moon."}]

Al Simpson died on the full moon and lunar eclipse of March 14, 2025. Ann died after the buck moon.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Al’s ‘Gorgeous Gal'"}]

Ann Schroll caught Al’s eye her freshman year at the University of Wyoming, said Pete Simpson. His brother Al fell for that “gorgeous gal,” and the pair married in 1954.

She became a mother, a powerful influence on the whole family, and a force even in Washington, D.C., Pete reflected. He said her beauty and “way of treating people” paused the frantic clockwork at the U.S. Capitol, when she crossed a hallway.

She backed her husband and exuded confidence even in the rough-and-tumble world of politics, he said.

“She was a marvelous mom and a marvelous citizen — and a great inspiration for us,” said Pete. “We’re going to miss her like fire.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Pete, who turned 96 Friday, said he misses his brother as well."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"“It’s hard to see both of them gone.”"}]

Alan Simpson was one of Wyoming’s most well-known political figures, having served in the Legislature and Congress. 

A champion of bipartisanship who said a person should “do what’s right … and have thick skin,” he also was awarded the 

For him, Ann was “all the woman that is, and ever was,” said Sue. “And her children and grandchildren and great grandchildren and family would agree.”

[{"type":"text","text":"He was from Cody. She grew up on a small farm in Greybull."}]

Time the pair spent in Germany during Al’s army career led Ann to start the first American Field Service study abroad program in Cody. The program allowed Wyoming youth to travel abroad, while bringing students from around the world to Wyoming.

[{"type":"text","text":"Ann was a mental health advocate, and a champion of the arts"}]

Her twin sister, Nan Fogel Thorne, died last November, with family members by her side, said Colin.

[{"type":"text","text":"“She said, ‘That’s how I want to go,’” he said."}]

U.S. Sen. John Barrasso said in a Friday statement that Wyoming was fortunate to learn from the couple.

“They made a legendary team, always working together to make Wyoming and Washington a better place,” said Barrasso. “We take comfort that she is reunited with her beloved Al once again.”

Diana Enzi, wife of the late Sen. Mike Enzi, reflected on Ann’s sense of humor and remembered her as “a gracious lady, a real role model for our state.”

“I learned a lot from her,” Diana added.

Cowboy State Daily contributor Coy Knobel contributed to this report. 

Simpson anniversary01 7 31 26

<title>Ann Simpson, Wife Of Late Sen. Al Simpson, Died In Daughter's Arms Friday Morning | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Ann Simpson, mother of three and wife of 70 years to prominent Wyoming political figure and late U.S. Sen. Al Simpson, died Friday morning in her daughter's arms. “I walked over and cuddled up to her and held her, and she died," Sue Simpson Gallagher said.

Ann Simpson, Wife Of Late Sen. Al Simpson, Died In Daughter's Arms Friday Morning

Crime & Courts

Law Enforcement

Wyoming is seeing a turnover of at least eight sheriffs since last year, which is more than a third among the state’s 23 counties.

Some of those retiring or leaving have about four decades of law enforcement experience each, like Big Horn County Sheriff Ken Blackburn and Campbell County Sheriff Scott Matheny.

Johnson County Sheriff Rod Odenbach and Sweetwater County Sheriff John Grossnickle were each at about 30 years’ law enforcement service when Odenbach decided not to run for reelection and Grossnickle switched jobs.

Departing Goshen County Sheriff Kory Fleenor is leaving after 26 years with his office; so too is Fremont County Sheriff Ryan Lee.

Sublette County Sheriff KC Lehr is retiring after what his office’s Lt. Travis Bingham estimated at about two decades of total law enforcement service; and Platte County Sheriff David Russell left the office last August after 13-and-a-half years in law enforcement.

The sheriffs who spoke to Cowboy State Daily on Friday about their decisions to leave the job cited a readiness, a weariness, immense gratitude, and a longing to spend time with family.

“I think it’s just time,” said Blackburn. “I’ve seen a lot, been through a lot. It’s taken its toll … and it was time to heal myself and take care of my family.”

He voiced gratitude for the people and experiences of the job, saying, “It’s a wonderful profession. It’s been wonderful for me.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘Used To Be The Good Guys'"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"But it hasn’t lacked trauma."}]

Blackburn responded in February 2025 to a scene in which a Byron mother had shot herself and her four young daughters in their home. The mother and daughters all died within a week.  

That incident wasn’t the final straw, Blackburn said. A growing anti-law enforcement cynicism had accumulated much longer.

“It was the divisiveness of people and the degradation of civilized conversations,” he said. “There’s always been negativity toward law enforcement. But we did used to be the good guys.”

Blackburn said that frustration and the other downsides to the job still don’t outweigh his love for the people he served and worked with.

“And I walked out holding my head high,” he said. “I gave 110% to the state of Wyoming and the people of Big Horn County — and I’m so grateful for the opportunity I had to serve my fellow man.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘We’re Trying To Do The Right Thing'"}]

Odenbach said he’s retiring so he and his wife can visit family members in their native South Dakota and spend time with their grandson.

It’s tough lobbying against “anti-law enforcement bills” too, Odenbach added.

“You know, just the constant we’re trying to do the right thing for public safety and our communities, and we have these out-of-state lobbyists that are trying to tell the people what’s best for Wyoming,” said Odenbach.

 Second Amendment Preservation Act of this year’s legislative session.

The bill sought to impose $50,000 civil penalties on Wyoming police agencies that help with federal gun-crime enforcement operations against "law-abiding" citizens, or hire former federal agents who’ve conducted those operations.

, saying it broad-brushed active and nuanced situations and would chill their ability to intervene in crises.

Odenbach said he’s proud of his department and believes its in a good place, including in its current relationship with the Johnson County Attorney’s Office. He described the coming year as a good time to leave it to someone else.

Adrian Keeler is running unopposed for that seat in the Republican primary election.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘It’s Time'"}]

Matheny said he’s retiring because, “It’s time to let somebody else be sheriff.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Daniel Maul is running unopposed in the primary election."}]

Matheny said he loves his job and has made lots of friends. He spoke highly of his office, dispatch and county personnel.

“When I first pinned on the badge as a young man, I learned a deep respect for this office,” he said. “I didn’t know then just how much this role would shape my life.”

Matheny added: “God puts people in places that only he knows and I’ve learned to trust him and lean on him to guide me.”

Matheny said he doesn’t count sparring with the Legislature as a factor in his retirement. But he does consider it noteworthy.

Lawmakers in 2025 considered another bill that sheriffs universally opposed: it would have required all agencies to strike contracts with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 

Even sheriffs already working with ICE disliked the bill, saying it put them at a negotiation disadvantage by mandating them into contracts.

Others worried the ICE contracts would be too costly for small-town sheriffs.

“I don’t think (clashing with lawmakers) will ever change,” said Matheny. “You get new legislators … that want to come up with a new law, without thinking about the ramifications — especially on law enforcement.”

He added, “It seems like every year we’re down there telling them why this is not a good idea; or why this would be a good idea.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"He’s Dropped 12 Pounds"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"But Grossnickle liked that part, he said Friday."}]

“It wasn’t any more stressful than anything else,” said Grossnickle. “I actually enjoyed working with the Legislature. I enjoyed being able to have those conversations, and standing up for the right thing.”

Grossnickle said he left the job because “it was time,” and the stress was affecting his health.

His blood pressure has dropped from 138 over 90 to 118 over 72 since he left the department May 31 to take a job as executive director for Southwest Counseling Service. 

[{"type":"text","text":"He’s sleeping at night and he’s dropped 12 pounds, Grossnickle added."}]

Still, being in law enforcement was an “honorable career and I’m thankful for it,” he said.

 about his reasons for leaving the post, but wrote in a September statement to the Platte County Sheriff’s Office’s Facebook page that the decision was “in the best interests of my mental health and family.”

He described an unhealthy and compulsive relationship with his work that took from his family.

Sheriff Tony Krotz, who was appointed to replace Russell, is running unopposed in the primary election.

[{"type":"text","text":"Russell and Lee declined Friday to comment to Cowboy State Daily."}]

Lehr could not be reached for comment, but Bingham confirmed his decision to retire.

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

Sweetwater, Fremont, Goshen, Big Horn and Sublette counties are seeing contested sheriff’s races after their incumbents’ departures or decisions not to run.

[{"type":"text","text":"Six Republicans vie for the GOP nomination in Sweetwater County."}]

Those are: Grossnickle’s appointed replacement Rich Fischer, Ozzie Knezovich, Randall Tryzbiak, Matthew Wharton, Richard Kaumo and Amanda Buller.

Four Republicans seek the GOP nomination in Fremont County: Undersheriff Mike Hutchison, former Riverton police chief Erick Murphy, Ross Giles, and Deputy John Zerga.

In Sublette County, Bingham faces Thomas James Hatch, Klief Guenther, and Michael James Crosson in the primary election.

[{"type":"text","text":"Bingham said Friday that Lehr has endorsed him."}]

George Mills and Herb Irons are vying for the GOP nomination in Goshen County primary election.

Jeff Angell, Travis Davis, Jason Beal and Craig Shidler seek the GOP nomination in Big Horn County. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Sure, But"}]

Allen Thompson, a former sheriff himself and now director of the Wyoming Association of Sheriffs and Chiefs of Police, said the turnover “feels different” this time, but the number is not extraordinary.

[{"type":"text","text":"Wyoming got seven new sheriffs in the last election cycle, said Thompson."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"“I think it’s just the cycle,” he said. “Turnover is normal.”"}]

Thompson said that despite the rise of anti-law enforcement sentiment on social media, Wyoming is still a great place to work.

“I feel like Wyoming is still a great place to serve in law enforcement, because you still have that relationship on the local level,” said Thompson.

Matheny said the sheriff is unlike any other law enforcer in the American legal system.

“We’re the only law enforcement officials that answer directly to the people,” he said. “We have direct accountability, through the election process. That’s who we answer to.”

Matheny said that tends to yield a bond and a trust, and a pride in protecting the peace “and the constitutional rights of every citizen in our jurisdiction.”

And in Wyoming in particular, said Matheny, every sheriff’s office is a trove of “amazing” history, similar to “if you were to walk through the hallways of a museum.”

Sheriffs leaving 7 31 26

<title>Eight Wyoming Sheriffs Quit, Retire Or Choose Not To Run For Reelection | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Wyoming is seeing a turnover of at least eight sheriffs since last year, which is more than a third among the state’s 23 counties. The sheriffs who spoke to Cowboy State Daily cited readiness, weariness, gratitude and a longing to spend time with family.

Eight Wyoming Sheriffs Quit, Retire Or Choose Not To Run For Reelection

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's business and tourism reporter, Renée Jean

Renée Jean

Business & Tourism

Dale Clark, an Airbnb owner in Thermopolis, had just one word when he heard Wyoming State Parks had reached a tentative $1.8 million agreement to buy the Star Plunge water park in Hot Springs State Park, ending a long-running legal dispute that’s kept the popular attraction 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"“Ecstatic,” he said."}]

 ever for his Airbnb this year with the Star Plunge closed and said August bookings so far look to be a record low. 

“This month I think we have eight days in August reserved, where usually we’re close to sold out,” he said.

Two guests told him this month that if they’d known Star Plunge wasn’t open, his already low bookings would have been short another two.

“Whether you like it or not — and there’s many who don’t — Star Plunge is the No. 1 attraction,” he said. “I get that there’s the Dinosaur Center, there’s another pool, and there’s the State Bath House, and there’s this and that. 

"But Star Plunge is No. 1, like it or not.”

For Clark and many other Thermopolis business owners, the state’s deal with Star Plunge owner Roland Luehne is long-awaited relief from a legal fight they say has been taking the top off their tourism season. 

The $1.8 million settlement agreement, which will require the Wyoming attorney general’s approval, will close out all claims — filed or unfiled, current or future — related to the Star Plunge dispute, according to Wyoming State Parks, Historic Sites, and Trails Deputy Director Nick Neylon.

“It will pay C&W Enterprises $1.8 million and will stipulate that Roland and his company drop all claims against the state regarding the Star Plunge,” he said. “The settlement isn’t final yet, but Director (Dave) Glenn has signed it, and Roland and Star Plunge have signed it.”

The attorney general’s review was a stipulation in the

 fund to buy out both Star Plunge and the Hot Springs Hotel.

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

The dispute between State Parks and Star Plunge began almost two decades ago when the long-term concession contract for the attraction expired in 2008. 

That morphed into years of short-term deals, as well as political fights at the Capitol and, ultimately, closure of the popular attraction in January 2025, along with sparking a lawsuit between the parties over just compensation.

The agreement clears the way for new concessionaire Wyoming Hot Springs, LLC to 

, along with neighboring TePee Pools and the State Bath House, ushering in millions of dollars worth of improvements. 

A separate agreement covering purchase of the Hot Springs Hotel is pending and nearing completion, Neylon added.

“We have spent a week negotiating with them, and we hope to have an announcement about that very soon,” he told Cowboy State Daily. “It won’t happen today, but hopefully soon.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Won’t Reopen Overnight"}]

Star Plunge won’t reopen right away, Neylon said. The first step once the state regains control of the property will be a “top-to-bottom” safety inspection. 

“We have said many times there were some safety issues we were worried about at the Star Plunge,” he said. “Once the agreement is fully executed and the keys turned over to us, we’ll get in there and conduct that safety inspection … and then we still have to finalize the contract with the new concessionaire.”

Neylon said the state has been working concurrently on the final shape of its contract with Wyoming Hot Springs LLC, the concessionaire owned by former Alaska U.S. Sen. Mark Begich, which will take over all the park’s attractions.

Luehne filed a lawsuit prior to the Star Plunge closure in January 2025, alleging the state’s process had been fundamentally unfair and violated formal regulations for choosing a new concessionaire. 

He also claimed the state was cheating him of just compensation for decades of capital improvements.

In the months since the lawsuit, various efforts were made to try and open the attraction, including a deal that would have seen a third party operate the park for Luehne. That 

who left very little wiggle room for negotiation.

The new settlement caps a nearly two-decade standoff between Wyoming and C&W Enterprises over improvements to the concession.

“It’s been 18 years since their last long-term lease expired in 2008,” Neylon said. “So, it’s been a long journey to get to this point. 

"We’ve been working with them at least that long to try to finalize a new contract and get some improvements across all concessions.”

The lawsuit has put the status of other park improvements in limbo, with Wyoming Hot Springs LLC officials saying they cannot decide what direction to take until they know the outcome of the lawsuit between the state and Luehne, whose family has operated Star Plunge since 1975. 

Hot Springs is already Wyoming’s most-visited state park, according to the state’s traffic statistics, and represents a huge opportunity to create new tourism in the state, parks officials have said in previous interviews. 

In 2016, to try to capture more of that potential, Wyoming updated its master plan for the park, laying out a new vision and sending out a request for proposals. 

The state chose Wyoming Hot Springs LLC as the new concessionaire in 2024, effectively evicting Luehne and his family.

Messaging around the closure has tried to refocus attention on other attractions in Hot Springs County, such as the Wyoming Dinosaur Center, the TePee Pools, the State Bath House, and Hot Springs State Park itself, with its buffalo pasture and hiking and biking trails. 

To some extent, state lodging statistics do show the effort helped, especially with respect to the area’s blue-ribbon fishing opportunities and its whitewater rafting, but Airbnb stats also show that the area’s 

Thermopolis Mayor Adam Estenson said the town’s overall tourism has remained “surprisingly” resilient and blamed confusion over the Star Plunge closure, with some mistakenly thinking it meant a broader closure of the park itself.

“It’s good news indeed for Thermop and Hot Springs County,” he said. “And I would say probably the whole Bighorn Basin. 

"By and large, you talk to most people in our community, and this is what they really want, just a resolution to where we can start to move forward.”

Estenson indicated efforts would continue to diversify away from too much reliance on any one attraction.

“We’ve got a group here called the Hot City Outdoor Alliance, and they’re doing some awesome work with the trails,” he said. “In the last five or six years, they have expanded a trail system where you could literally hike all day long, never hitting the same trail twice, and never really leave the town of Thermopolis.”

Those hikes feel secluded, with amazing vistas, Estenson added.

“That group also has something to do with the Wagonhound, an off-road park up toward like Anchor Dam and Legend Rock,” he said. “And so that’s just highlights of a lot of stuff going on in Hot Springs County.”

Star Plunge 7 31 26

<title>$1.8M Settlement Puts Star Plunge On Track To Reopen After Closed For 18 Months | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Star Plunge in Thermopolis is on track to reopen after a $1.8 million settlement between Wyoming State Parks and its previous operator has kept it closed since January 2025. “It won’t happen today, but hopefully soon,” said a state parks official.

$1.8M Settlement Puts Star Plunge On Track To Reopen After Closed For 18 Months

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

Greg Johnson

Courts

A Green River man who manipulated four underage children into performing sex acts on each other claims he didn’t entice the kids into “explicit sexual conduct” and that the 21-30 years he got in prison is cruel and unusual punishment.

The Wyoming Supreme Court disagrees in a Thursday ruling denying William J. Duncan’s appeal.

The justices didn’t buy Duncan’s legal arguments that even though he enticed the children to digitally penetrate and use sex toys on each other, that didn’t meet the legal standard for “explicit sexual conduct,” according to the ruling.

They also said, given that Duncan, 51, could have drawn a prison sentence of between 30 and 72 years, the 21-30 he got isn’t “cruel.”

“We therefore do not need to consider whether Mr. Duncan’s sentence shocks the moral sense of the people, and we decline his invitation to compare his sentence to those in other criminal cases,” the Thursday decision says.

A third prong of Duncan’s appeal also was denied by the high court — that the jury may not have been unanimous on some of his charges.

Duncan was convicted in July 2025 by a Sweetwater County jury of six counts of sexual exploitation of a child, two of endangering children, and one count of unlawful contact without bodily injury.

Because there were four child victims in the case, the county District Court judge imposed four sentences, to run consecutively. That includes three 7-to-10-year sentences and five years of supervised probation after prison.

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

The convictions stem from events that unfolded in about 2021 and 2022, when Duncan encouraged a pre-teen child into multiple sexual acts, some with an older teen and some with two other preteens, according to the Supreme Court’s ruling.

Duncan furnished sex toys and alcohol to at least one child as well, according to an evidentiary affidavit Sweetwater County Criminal Chief Deputy Attorney Micaela Lira compiled from the notes of Green River Police Department Detective Martha Holzgrafe and Sgt. Lars Nandrup.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Duncan did not testify at his trial."}]

The jury deliberated four hours after the trial ended, Sweetwater County Attorney Daniel Erramouspe 

he charging mechanism in Duncan’s case was unique, Erramouspe added.

“We charged him the statute that’s usually applied to child pornography (cases),” he said, referring to child sexual exploitation. “But the facts of the case fit it.”

Wyoming doesn't have a "grooming" statute, though the Legislature discussed passing one earlier in 2025. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Yes,  That Was ‘Explicit’"}]

The investigation started in January 2025, when a counselor alerted Green River Police Department investigators to potential criminal activity.

The victim spoke to police and gave a forensic interview that implicated Duncan in sexual enticement and grooming, and physical violence, the affidavit says.

Police also reviewed text messages between Duncan and the victim in which Duncan demanded the victim delete their communications.

Other text messages show the pair discussing alcohol and the child talking about being drunk; and others show Duncan discussing with the child the “practicing” of sexual acts, the document says.

The Wyoming Supreme Court justices also point out some of the specifics behind Duncan’s convictions, including how he groomed the child and tried to hide the behavior from other adults.

That’s included in what the court cites in dismissing Duncan’s argument that the acts the children performed on themselves weren’t “explicit” conduct, according to Wyoming law.

“Mr. Duncan’s conduct of encouraging the Minor Child to digitally penetrate and use sexual devices on (another minor child) constitutes ‘explicit sexual conduct,’ and the convictions … are supported by sufficient evidence,” Thursday’s opinion says.

Duncan also unsuccessfully argued in his appeal that there wasn’t enough evidence to support that he “enticed” minor children into sex acts, according to the opinion.

A Green River man who manipulated four underage children into performing sex acts on each other claims that the 21-30 years he got in prison is cruel and unusual punishment. The Wyoming Supreme Court disagrees in a Thursday denial of his appeal.

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