Daily Cartoon

Stiglich 3 3

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

<title>Daily Cartoon 2: Tuesday, March 4, 2025 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Daily Cartoon 2: Tuesday, March 4, 2025

Mac Watson

Daily Video News

It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Wednesday, August 5th.  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":"–"}]

A Laramie man who pleaded guilty Tuesday for saying he might assassinate Gov. Mark Gordon says his Facebook rant has cost him his apartment, job, and college future. Cowboy State Daily’s Kolby Fedore reports that Dawson Cooley says he regrets his actions.

“Back in April, Dawson Cooley was accused of making death threats online to Governor Mark Gordon. Cooley wrote on Facebook, ‘Gov.Gordy. If I have to talk to you with a gun in your office, so be it.’ He added, ‘and I might assassinate you.’ Cowboy State Daily spoke to Cooley after his sentencing, and he expressed deep remorse for his actions. He says he knows what he did was wrong, and if he could take it all back, he would.”

Dawson Cooley was sentenced Tuesday in Albany County Circuit Court after pleading guilty last week to a reduced misdemeanor charge of sending a death threat electronically. 

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

Numerous Wyoming Republicans are claiming some degree of credit for a trans sports ban championed by Sen. Wendy Schuler. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that Schuler says she's happy if they think they helped but it was the Legislature that got the bill "across the finish line.”

“It became a debate when Senator Tara Nethercott did a post saying, ‘Hey, let's give credit where it's due,’ because she was recognizing that a lot of people and their caucuses were campaigning on the issue. She did not directly name the Freedom Caucus, but the Freedom Caucus is one that is taking some credit for the trans sports bans. When I asked Senator Wendy Schuler, she didn't really want to speculate on whether it would or would not have happened without the Freedom Caucus, but she did say ‘it takes a village.’”

Schuler’s first blanket trans sports ban failed the state House of Representatives in 2022. Her second ban, for grades 7-12, passed the Legislature with 79 Republican lawmakers in favor.  So did her third girls’ sports bill extending the ban to college. 

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

Seven months after allegedly kidnapping her 11-month-old son, fleeing the state, then killing the infant during a standoff with law enforcement, a trial has been set for Madeline Daly. Cowboy State Daily’s Greg Johnson reports that the baby’s father says  “There’s a special kind of evil at work here.”

“The father is being pretty guarded. He doesn't want to say too much before the trial because you know he wants to let that process come through. and he says quite frankly he would prefer that she's being tried in a federal court because in New Mexico there is no death penalty and in the federal court there is.”

Since there is no death penalty in New Mexico, life in prison also can mean a convicted felon could be up for parole after 30 years.

Nearly 200 people showed up Monday to discuss the safety of Teton Pass following a dump truck crash last month that killed two people and an out-of-control RV that barreled down the pass a week later. Cowboy State Daily’s Kate Meadows reports that crashes have increased by 20% on the roadway in five years.

“That meeting happened on Monday and drew about 200 people to talk about possible solutions to make Teton Pass safer, because people have said enough's enough. Gary Kofinas, who I talked to, one of the organizers said this was not a government meeting. This was a community meeting, kind of formed on an ad hoc basis. So there's no specific solution, no specific step moving forward. It's a matter of just proactively thinking and trying to come up with ideas. There, there is a group that will continue to brainstorm and keep the public informed.”

Teton Pass, which carries traffic between Jackson and eastern Idaho, is one of the steepest highway grades in the continental United States, according to the Wyoming Highway Patrol. Traffic reaches roughly 10,000 vehicles per day in winter and about 15,000 daily during the summer tourism season.

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….

In the span of a week, Teton County will host a 500-person, invite-only, digital-asset “Davos.” That will be followed by the Federal Reserve’s elite annual retreat. Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports that each event is another round in a high-stakes wrestling match over the future of money.

“The guys behind this conference have had conferences in Hong Kong, Abu Dhabi, London, Singapore. You know all the big major metropolitan places in the world, and Jackson is on that short list here in Wyoming, so that was kind of point one, and then you know seven days after they clear out, here comes Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh, with 120 of the traditional gatekeepers of legacy finance. The theme for this year's Federal Reserve is financial innovation implications for payments and policy. So both of these are clearly about the future of money. It's all happening in Jackson Hole.”

The fact that a digital asset conference with so much global heft is happening in Jackson Hole is not an accident, even if its timing with the Federal Reserve’s annual symposium might be coincidental. Wyoming has spent the better part of a decade quietly rewriting its laws to court this kind of moment.

Sublette County residents came out mostly against proposed mountain biking trails near Pinedale on Tuesday, telling commissioners they worry about harming a vital migration corridor for some 20,000 mule deer. Outdoors Reporter Mark Heinz reports that opponents say the trails won't overlap.

“What is a big deal for some people, is that they say that it would imperil the migration route for mule deer through their for the sublet sublet mule deer herd about a herd of about 20,000 mule deer that that use that that path to migrate back and forth between summer and winter range, and so opponents of this proposed bicycle trail system say it would you know it put a bunch of people right in the deer's territory a bunch of people in human activity and so could disrupt the migration patterns.”

Supporters told the commission the project is planned in a way that it wouldn’t disturb the deer and could provide much-needed recreational access for locals and visitors. The final decision rests with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which oversees the roughly 600 acres involved. 

A Utah auto dealer accused of using forged Wyoming titles to turn hail-battered cars into clean-title bargains is now facing 15 felony counts and up to 30 years in prison. Cowboy State Daily’s Kolby Fedore reports that prosecutors say the scheme involved nearly $2 million worth of damaged vehicles.

“Pryor allegedly obtained these vehicles through an online salvage auction from vehicles that were totaled in an August 2025 historic hailstorm in Cheyenne. Not only did Pryor obtain cars in Wyoming, he's being accused of buying these cars that were damaged throughout the nation. The defendant is currently out of jail on a $5,000 signature bond. He's expected to appear before a judge again for an arraignment in the coming weeks.”

After a preliminary hearing Monday, Scott Keith Pryor, 50, owner of The Good Car Dealer in Salt Lake City, was bound over on 15 felony counts of altering, forging or counterfeiting a certificate of title. Laramie County Circuit Court Judge Antoinette Williams found prosecutors presented enough evidence for the case to proceed.

Scott Artis was just trying to get a video of a thunderstorm for his dad when he captured the lightning strike that started the Kohns Fire in Campbell County on July 27th. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that when the fire started roaring, his wife jumped into action.

“Scott saw the lightning strike. A few minutes later, he saw the red glow on the horizon, and his wife called in to 911. And while the Campbell County Fire Department was responding to multiple fires that day, they hadn't heard about that one until they called. So not only did they see the instigating incident, they were responsible for letting the county know that there was a fire that they needed to address. They contained it at 2,700 acres.”

Artis, along with his wife, moved to Wyoming from California's Bay Area, and is a former molecular biologist.

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

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 5 26

<title>Cowboy State Daily Video Newscast: Wednesday, August 5, 2026 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Wednesday's headlines include:
* Everyone Running On Trans Law
* Man Regrets Death Threat On Gordon
* Jackson Is Epicenter For Economic Gurus

Cowboy State Daily Video Newscast: Wednesday, August 5, 2026

You Still Here

[{"type":"text","text":"The bidet installation did not go as planned......"}]

Bonus vid 1 8 5 26

<title>Bonus Video 1: Wednesday, August 5, 2026 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

The bidet installation did not go as planned......

Bonus Video 1: Wednesday, August 5, 2026

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Crime & Courts

Nearly two months after Wyoming prosecutors accused a Utah car dealer of 

 to resell hundreds of hail-damaged Wyoming vehicles using fraudulent titles, the criminal case has advanced to district court.

After a preliminary hearing Monday, Scott Keith Pryor, 50, owner of The Good Car Dealer in Salt Lake City, was bound over on 15 felony counts of altering, forging or counterfeiting a certificate of title.

Laramie County Circuit Court Judge Antoinette Williams found prosecutors presented enough evidence for the case to proceed.

Each felony count alleges a violation of Wyoming's title fraud statute, which carries a maximum penalty of two years in prison.

The charges stem from what investigators describe as an elaborate title scheme involving vehicles damaged during the historic August 2025 hailstorm that battered Cheyenne.

[{"type":"text","text":"Pryor has remained free throughout the case on a $5,000 signature bond."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Nearly $2 Million In Vehicles"}]

The affidavit filed by Wyoming investigators alleges Pryor purchased 292 hail-damaged vehicles with an estimated value of nearly $2 million after insurers declared them total losses.

[{"type":"text","text":"Many were purchased through online salvage auctions operated by Copart."}]

Normally, vehicles sold through those auctions receive titles reflecting their salvage status or other branding intended to alert buyers that the vehicles sustained significant damage.

Investigators say Pryor instead sought duplicate Wyoming titles that removed those brands, allowing some vehicles to be sold for substantially more money than they otherwise could have commanded.

The criminal case centers on 15 vehicles investigators say were fraudulently retitled.

The Wyoming Department of Transportation ultimately identified numerous irregularities in title applications connected to the vehicles.

Among them, investigators allege, were forged signatures, counterfeit notary seals and fraudulent paperwork submitted in the names of previous owners.

Perhaps the most startling allegation involved paperwork purportedly signed by a Wyoming woman who had died weeks before the August 2025 hailstorm occurred.

Investigators allege another application listed a notary whose commission had expired years earlier.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'Tennessee Titles'"}]

During an interview with investigators, Pryor acknowledged using a company he identified as "Tennessee Titles," according to the affidavit.

He told investigators he found the business through Facebook and paid approximately $150 for each title application.

According to investigators, Pryor identified the people he worked with only as "Rashard" and "Miss Catherine."

The affidavit says Pryor told investigators he simply submitted vehicle information and received paperwork back.

Investigators, however, allege the documents contained forged signatures and counterfeit notarizations that allowed duplicate Wyoming titles to be issued.

Those allegations remain unproven and will now be considered in district court.

At the time charges were filed in June, Cheyenne auto dealer Dallas Tyrrell said dealers were still dealing with the storm's aftermath.

"We see victims to scams like this all the time," Tyrrell told Cowboy State Daily. 

A vehicle's title history can be every bit as important as its mechanical condition, he said, because it affects its value, financing and insurability. 

"It's so important to use somebody that has a license and is reputable," Tyrrell said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Customer Speaks Out"}]

After Cowboy State Daily first reported Pryor's arrest in June, a woman named Brooklyn Arthur reached out to say she believed her own experience mirrored some of the allegations now playing out in court.

"I wanted to reach out because I was a customer of his too," Arthur wrote.

Arthur said she purchased a hail-damaged vehicle from Pryor in approximately September 2024, nearly a year before the Wyoming hailstorm at the center of the criminal case.

"He was very reassuring in the beginning, and there were no issues at first," she said.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"But once I never received the title, things got very sketchy.\""}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Arthur said months passed without the paperwork arriving."}]

"I never received the title after 11 months of having the car," she said. "There was a duplicate title involved in the process,. He also mentioned getting the title from Tennessee, similar to what your article mentions."

Arthur's vehicle purchase is not part of the Wyoming criminal case, and prosecutors have not alleged her transaction was criminal.

Still, she said reading the charging documents immediately reminded her of her own experience.

Cowboy State Daily reached out Tuesday to Pryor’s attorney Thomas Garvie seeking comment on Monday's hearing as well as Arthur's account. He did not immediately respond.

Pryor has not yet entered a plea in district court. He will next appear for an arraignment. 

Court records show the case is being prosecuted by William Joseph Edelman.

Good car dealer 6 12 26

<title>Case Advances Against Dealer Charged With Forging Wyoming Titles For Hail-Damaged Cars | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A Utah auto dealer accused of using forged Wyoming titles to turn hail-battered cars into clean-title bargains is now facing 15 felony counts and up to 30 years in prison. Prosecutors say the scheme involved nearly $2 million worth of damaged vehicles.

Case Advances Against Dealer Charged With Forging Wyoming Titles For Hail-Damaged Cars

Courts

What a 27-year-old Laramie man intended as a frustrated Facebook rant ended with a criminal conviction, five days in jail, the loss of his apartment and job, and three years of supervised probation.

Dawson Cooley was sentenced Tuesday in Albany County Circuit Court after pleading guilty last week to a reduced misdemeanor charge of sending a death threat electronically.

 in May directed at Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon, including one that stated, "I might assassinate you."

As part of a plea agreement accepted by the court, Cooley received a suspended 365-day jail sentence and was placed on three years of supervised probation. The court also granted him a deferred sentence on a second charge.

The misdemeanor conviction carries a maximum penalty of up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Albany County Prosecuting Attorney Joel Defebaugh and defense attorney Travis Shurtliff jointly recommended the plea agreement.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Looking Back"}]

Speaking with Cowboy State Daily after his sentencing, Cooley said he regrets the Facebook posts and wishes he had handled his frustrations differently.

"It all started with a media request functionality website that was broken," Cooley said. "I kind of got upset about that and expressed myself in a pretty ignorant way."

Cooley said he believes portions of the post were taken out of context and that he had been criticizing Gordon before writing the threatening language.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"If I could go back and not do that, I would for sure,\" he said."}]

He also said he posted an apology the following morning after realizing how his words could be interpreted.

At the time, Cooley said he believed the post fell under free speech protections because "the whole thing in context ... painted a different picture."  

Cooley said he has been pursuing independent journalism and was attempting to gather information through public records requests when he wrote the Facebook posts.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Heavy Consequences"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Cooley said the criminal case altered nearly every part of his life."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"He spent five days in jail before posting a $20,000 cash bond in May."}]

While released pending trial, he said bond conditions prohibiting internet access left him unable to search for housing or jobs, complete online college coursework or even make routine purchases electronically.

"I lost my apartment, my job, like the new radio position, and potentially my prospects to go to college," Cooley said.

[{"type":"text","text":"He described the restrictions as \"pretty horrible.\""}]

[{"type":"text","text":"\"I had to withdraw from that stuff,\" he said of his college classes."}]

Looking ahead, Cooley said he plans to continue pursuing independent journalism while developing software he hopes will help people conduct legal and public records research more efficiently.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Mental Health"}]

One of the primary conditions of Cooley's probation requires him to participate in mental health treatment and counseling.

Defebaugh told Cowboy State Daily that the probation terms are "for the most part routine," but place "an emphasis on Mr. Cooley's mental health treatment and counseling."

[{"type":"text","text":"Cooley said he does not object to that requirement."}]

"Everyone's got problems, and I'm no different," he said. "I was actually, before this all happened, looking at getting treatment."

Looking back, he said he wishes he had addressed his frustrations differently.

"I could have done things in a much more mentally healthy way instead of just a rant," Cooley said. "I could have put together a concise article about all my grievances."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'If I Could Go Back ...' "}]

Cooley said he believes aspiring independent journalists should have the same ability to seek government information as members of the traditional news media and that frustrations over public records requests fueled the Facebook posts.

Among the posts investigators cited in the criminal affidavit was one stating, "Gov. Gordy, if I have to talk to you with a gun in your office, so be it." 

Court records show Gordon's legal counsel informed the court that the governor was not seeking restitution and did not wish to provide a victim impact statement.

Cowboy State Daily also requested comment from the governor's office. Communications Director Amy Edmonds declined.

Cooley said he recognizes the seriousness of what happened and hopes to move forward.

"I think that I'm lucky to not be getting jail time for this," he said. "If I could go back and ... not do that, I would for sure."

Laramie assassin 8 4 26

<title>Laramie Man Pleads Guilty, Regrets Threat To ‘Assassinate’ Governor In Online Rant | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A Laramie man who pleaded guilty Tuesday for saying he might assassinate Gov. Mark Gordon says his Facebook rant has cost him his apartment, job and college future. Today, Dawson Cooley says, "If I could go back and not do that, I would for sure."

Laramie Man Pleads Guilty, Regrets Threat To ‘Assassinate’ Governor In Online Rant

[{"type":"text","text":"How to remove the orange without spilling any water......"}]

Bonus vid 1 8 4 26

<title>Bonus Video 2: Tuesday, August 4, 2026 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

How to remove the orange without spilling any water......

Bonus Video 2: Tuesday, August 4, 2026

Heinz mark

Mark Heinz

Outdoors

The removal of a placard mentioning a massacre of Native Americans from the Grand Teton National Park's Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center is an example of censorship by the Trump administration, says a former Park Service ranger who quit in protest over similar decisions across the country.

In April, Melissa Dalley left her job at the Martin Van Buren National Historic Site in New York and joined the Resistance Rangers, a group of current and former Park Service personnel opposed to Trump’s policies related to sites managed by the Park Service.

She also helped form America 443+, an anti-censorship group named in reference to the Park Service's 433 sites around the country.

She was in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks July 21-27 on a family vacation but also to spread her message.

“We’re not advocating for any action or any political candidate; we’re saying (to park visitors), ‘You deserve to have the whole story,’” including parts that the Trump administration apparently doesn’t like, she said.

Richard Jones, a rural Park County resident and retired Forest Service and Park Service ranger, has a different view of the administration’s actions.

He said he thinks Trump and U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum are trying to set right the Park Service’s historical mission after years of “woke” misguidance.

“I’m certainly happy to see the Trump administration ask for these things in parks, look at them with another eye, and maybe get rid of things that aren’t really part of the story,” Jones told Cowboy State Daily.

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

The controversy traces back to Trump’s March 2025 executive order titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.”

It called upon the Park Service to remove or revise exhibits, signs and educational materials that the administration deemed negative toward the United States by promoting “false revision of history.”

Burgum followed up in May 2025, directing implementation of the policy. That included reviews and QR codes calling for public complaints about “negative” material.

On June 12, U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley blocked the administration’s policy and ordered the restoration of dismantled signs and exhibits within 21 days.

The administration filed an appeal shortly after the ruling to block the mandated restoration.

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

Dalley said that while she was still working for the Park Service, personnel were ordered to document displays or signs that might be deemed inappropriate under the executive order and send that information up the Interior Department chain of command.

She said that was mostly done quietly until somebody leaked the database of inappropriate material.

Dalley said she started tracking the censorship herself and noticed a chilling effect among Park Service employees.

She said when it got to where she felt she was being asked to lie to the public, she quit in protest.

“I do hope to go back, and plan to go back to the Park Service after this administration,” she said.

She said current employees have reached out to her and reported terrible morale in the Park Service.

She added that when she was in Yellowstone and Grand Teton, she didn’t pry into park employees’ feelings and opinions because she didn’t want to put them in an “uncomfortable position.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘Ghost Of The Sign’"}]

Dalley said that, to her knowledge, when the call went out to the Park Service for an inventory of problematic material, Yellowstone “had nothing to report.”

However, the placard in the Grand Teton visitor center was deemed inappropriate and removed, she said.

It mentioned 19th-century explorer and U.S. Army officer Gustavus Cheyney Doane.

Doane was remembered for the 1870 Washburn-Langford-Doane expedition to the Yellowstone region, which helped lay the groundwork for the national parks.

The placard also mentioned Doane’s involvement in the massacre of Piegan Blackfeet people near the Marias River in Montana on Jan. 23, 1870. Soldiers killed 173 to 200 Native Americans.

Doane is said to have bragged about his involvement in the massacre.

“In the visitor center, you can still see the ghost of the sign,” or the place on the wall where the placard was mounted, Dalley said.

During her visit, Dalley said she handed out printouts depicting the placard before it was removed and invited people to have conversations about it.

“The Blackfeet are still around, they are active and they are American citizens, they deserve to have their story told along with everyone else,” she said.

She hopes that her actions can “inspire other people” to start pushing back against censorship.

Jones said he doesn’t consider actions such as removing the Doane placard to be censorship.

Rather, the Trump administration is trying to restore the Park Service’s mission of preserving history directly relevant to national parks and other sites.

“The Park Service was always one of the best agencies for interpreting the history of each area,” he said.

However, he said he thinks that over the past decade or so, other material has been added to historical accounts to push a “woke” narrative.

Materials such as the Doane placard added details that were “minor, irrelevant and derogatory to the story that was being told,” he said.

Trump former ranger and Grand Teton sign headquarters MN via Alamy 8 3 26

<title>Ranger Who Quit Over Trump Policies Calls Removing Grand Teton Placard Censorship | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A Park Service ranger who quit over Trump's policies says removing a placard at the Grand Teton visitor center about a massacre of Blackfeet was censorship. A retired ranger from Wyoming says Trump's just doing away with years of “woke” misguidance.

Daily Cartoon 2: Tuesday, March 4, 2025

More in Daily Cartoon

Daily Cartoon 1: Wednesday, August 5, 2026

Daily Cartoon 2: Wednesday, August 5, 2026

Daily Cartoon 1: Tuesday, August 4, 2026

Daily Cartoon 2: Tuesday, August 4, 2026

Most read