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Goodwyn for 3 12 25

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

<title>Daily Cartoon 2: Wednesday, March 12, 2025 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Daily Cartoon 2: Wednesday, March 12, 2025

Zakary Sonntag

Law Enforcement

Food

Sweet Zoey mediterranean restaurant in Casper is known for its baklava and kebabs.

Four customers ordered those items and more during a lunch hour last May, running up quite the tab – then quietly running out the door.   

“They ate everything, appetizers, drinks, sweets, mains, everything,” said owner Zoey Aldahash.

“Then the four of them stood up in the same moment together, they walked to the door, and once they opened the door, they ran to the car — they were 

It was not her first experience with unpaying customers at this restaurant in the city’s Westridge neighborhood.

Unlike before, however, this time she chose not to involve the police. She looked to social media instead.

From the business’s security cameras, Aldahash posted an image of the alleged offenders to the restaurant’s Facebook page and asked the community for help identifying them.

Locals piled into the comments with a stone soup of reaction.

“How disgusting! Make sure their photos are plastered everywhere so they can be banned from everywhere. People like them should never be allowed anywhere 😡,” said one user.

Another customer was so disheartened she offered to help cover the loss. 

“If they dont come fwd I can swing in 65$ of the bill. I know it's not all of it but it's half,” the person said.

The responses show how neighborhood restaurants can feel like a natural extension of a community itself. In the case of Sweet Zoey, it's a reputation earned from years of hard work.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Brand Built On Baklava"}]

Aldahash, an Iraqi native with deep brown eyes and coffee-colored skin, worked as an architectural engineer before pivoting to a career of passion.

She began selling small batches of baklava at the farmers market. Small batches turned to big batches that turned to additional offerings like hummus and specialty bread. Each week, demand rose.

“It was selling out every time and I had people asking me to make more and more and more,” she said, “I reached a point where I couldn’t do it from my home anymore.” 

She moved to a commercial kitchen, then into a bigger space at southside shopping center, and eventually in 2022 into the full-service restaurant on CY Avenue where the business is today.

Despite a loyal customer base, not all support how Aldahash handled the dine-and-dash incident.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Why Not Call Police?"}]

In the image she posted online, commenters noted that the group resembled a family of four with two teenage children.

Their presumed youth was an issue for many.

“Advice from a former manager and business owner, Call the police and report instead of posting on Facebook, especially with children in the photo,” one person wrote.

That opinion was shared by many commenters. It’s also shared by the Casper Police Department (CPD). 

Rebekah Ladd, public information officer for CPD, told Cowboy State Daily social media will often bring useful information to investigators, but it can also result in undue accusations, misidentification or harassment, which raises additional concerns if juveniles are involved.

“Posting (images) publicly is typically not the most appropriate tactic at the beginning of a dine-and-dash investigation,” Ladd said.

“Businesses should be especially cautious when juveniles may be involved … particularly when the full circumstances are not known.”

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

To the mind of Zoey Aldahash, however, the circumstances are clear enough. 

“These people came here and they intended to steal,” she said.

Pour Decisions Bar and Grill in Cheyenne also looked first to social media for help identifying a man who fed his family of four and left without paying in November 2025. 

Although in this instance, the images were cropped to reveal only the group’s patriarch, and the bar owner expressed a hope to resolve the issue amicably without involving authorities.

Locals expressed a range of feelings, but similar to Sweet Zoey, the majority opinion here was summed up best by the commenter who wrote, “Put this on Cheyenne Community Connection … really call him out.”

Aldahash chose not to involve police in May because she still has a sour taste from the last time she looked to CPD for help.

In 2024, a group of five ordered multiple entrees each and then left without paying, she said. After filing an initial report, investigators did not respond to her requests for updates and nothing became of the case, she said.

“In my previous experience, calling the police didn't work. There was no help, so I didn't contact the police the second time,” she said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Is Dine-And-Dash Common?"}]

Dine and dash incidents are categorized in police reports as crimes of “False Pretenses/Fraud,” which can include things like a person who takes a taxi ride and then leaves without paying the fare, Ladd explained.

In 2025, CPD tallied 626 cases of false pretenses and fraud, up 18% from the 531 cases reported in 2024, and up from 404 cases in 2023, according to public records.

However, dine-and-dash theft accounts for only a fraction of the department’s false pretense reports, totaling between 20-30 per year, according to Ladd.

“(Dine-and-dash) reports are not especially common in Casper,” Ladd said.

“CPD staff estimate the department receives roughly a couple of ‘dine-and-dash’ reports per month on average.”

Yet there’s reason to believe the problem is underreported. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"They Even Steal The Menus"}]

At Little Shop of Burgers, a horror-themed restaurant with campy decor in north Casper, owner Sarah Woodward did not involve the police the first time she had dine-and-dash customers. 

Nor did she involve them the second time. Nor the time after that.

“I just feel like the police have better things to do,” she said. “I also wonder, what could they even do?”

Officers will interview staff, review receipts and surveillance video before making a determination about intent and whether probable cause exists, according to Ladd.

In addition to three instances of theft of services, Woodward might also have filed multiple reports of theft of merchandise; for reasons she’s hard pressed to understand, customers often make off with the restaurant’s dolls and laminate menus. 

“In February, we got 55 new menus. Right now we’re down to 15,” said Woodward. “I don’t even get how they’d smuggle them out. Maybe they shove them under their skirts.”

Instead of calling police, she calls on staff to boost vigilance.

“We’ve just tried to keep a closer eye on things,” she said, with a shrug of resignation. 

Elsewhere in Natrona County, restaurant managers have police on speed dial.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"An Old Lady On Her Walker"}]

At the Texas Roadhouse in Evansville, manager Juan Soto said he sees about five dine-and-dash incidents per year.

The most recent example stands out. It was a rowdy table in June, and Soto was suspicious from the start.

“They're a real rowdy bunch. They came in really late at night, and I kind of knew that the table was going to be some sort of an issue,” Soto said, explaining he’s developed an intuition after 25 years in the industry. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"His sense of them was a bull’s-eye. "}]

The table’s bill soared above $200, but when it was time to settle up, they conspicuously headed outside at once. Sotto stopped them at the door and asked to put a card on file. 

After an awkward back and forth, one of them finally agreed to pick up the bill. The problem was he didn’t have any money.

 “They all left except for one dude, but this dude tried three different credit cards and he did not have any money in his account,” he said, describing the group demographically as “in their mid-40s.” 

The man said he’d return with payment the following day; Soto said no. In the end, the man’s mother came to the restaurant to bail him out.

“It was sad. The old lady had to get out on her oxygen and her walker to come in here and pay their bill,” he said.

Unlike Aldahash and Woodward, Soto has no reservations about involving the police.

“In Evansville, the police take really good care of me because I've built this relationship with them,” he said, explaining that he and police approach dine-and-dash incidents with the same overall assumption. 

“People are generally good people. It's just those few cases you get in this industry, and you need to hold people accountable.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘Cry Or Smile’"}]

At Sweet Zoey, accountability has not yet arrived, and she’s left suspended between frustration, gratitude, and a kind of weary bemusement.

“You come in and order this much, and just leave without paying?” she said. “Who are these people?”

But she’s quick to pivot to the people who do show up for her: the regulars who offer to cover strangers’ bills, the customers who fill her dining room and comment with affection on the restaurant’s socials.

“Sometimes it’s like you don’t know if you want to cry or smile,” she said.

Dine and dash inset 8 8 26

<title>After Being Hit Again By Dine-And-Dashers, Casper Restaurant Skips Police | Cowboy State Daily</title>

After being hit again by thieves who dined and dashed, the owner of Sweet Zoey restaurant in Casper posted photos of the offenders instead of calling the police. "They intended to steal,” she said, noting that calling the police in the past didn't work.

After Being Hit Again By Dine-And-Dashers, Casper Restaurant Skips Police

Guest Column

Guest Columnists

The only thing hotter than my Boston Red Sox (a record of 31-5 since June 25) is the record of the states that refused to turn over their confidential statewide voter registration lists (SVRLs) to the Department of Justice (DOJ).   

The DOJ sued 30 states and the District of Columbia to compel the release of their unredacted voter logs, containing confidential personal information.  

But as of Friday, federal judges have dismissed 21 of those cases, ruling the DOJ had no right to these records.  

More cases await decisions. But with a record of 0 for 21, the DOJ’s prospects are dismal.  

At a recent oral argument before the federal court in Washington, the DOJ attorneys admitted the relevant facts involved in the Washington case were the same as in the other cases that had already been dismissed.  

I expect the Washington case is a prime candidate to be the 22

But here in Wyoming we never had a chance to dispute the DOJ’s unprecedented snatching of our confidential voter logs, because our Secretary of State, Chuck Gray, voluntarily turned it over last August without telling the public.  

Rather than stand up for the privacy rights of Wyoming voters that Wyoming election law guarantees, Gray sent the DOJ everything it requested - and then boasted that he had been the first in the nation to turn over these records. 

While the baseball pundits may be divided about the reasons for the Red Sox resurgence, the reasons for the 21 federal court orders dismissing the DOJ complaints are not hard to understand.  

When challenged the DOJ has been unable to produce any legal authority to justify its demand for confidential logs from any state. 

First, before the DOJ can demand voter records from state election officials under the Civil Rights Act (CRA), it must specify the basis and the purpose for the demand in writing.  

Court after court has held that the DOJ letters to the states demanding the logs, letters which were essentially identical to the letter that Gray received, failed to satisfy this simple condition. 

Second, the logs created and maintained by the states are not voter records covered by the act, which only requires states to retain and not alter voting records that “come into their possession.”  

These are things like the registration forms filled out by voters and submitted through the county clerks.   

But the logs containing the confidential personal information about registered voters are electronic files created by the states.  

The logs are regularly updated and changed to reflect the addition of newly registered voters and the deletion of other voters, who have moved, passed away or otherwise fallen out of the system.  

In short, the voter logs are living electronic documents.  

Requiring the voter registration logs to be preserved without alteration under the CRA would conflict with the state’s duty to maintain a current voter list in compliance with other federal laws.

The Wyoming voter roll created and maintained by the Wyoming Secretary of State was no more subject to the federal law than the ones maintained in New Hampshire, West Virginia or any of the other states that have successfully protected their records from this unlawful and unwarranted federal intrusion.

In Colorado, Judge Phil Brimmer recently held “Colorado’s SVRL is not a record or paper that must be produced pursuant to [the CRA]”.  

He may be a Colorado judge, but he is also a true son of Wyoming, whose father was Clarence Brimmer, a respected Wyoming federal judge before whom I practiced.  

I think Clarence would be proud to see that this acorn did not fall far from the tree.

So, why didn’t Gray recognize these obvious defects?  

Didn’t he know the law, or did he just choose to ignore it?  Was it incompetence or something else?  

Does Gray have anything to counter the weight of the 21 written decisions of the federal judges, who have ruled the DOJ had no right to this information? 

Gray just says he worked “in close consultation with the attorney general” and that together “we agree that the disclosure of the requested records is proper under the Civil Rights Act.”  

Gray has hidden behind a claim that the Wyoming attorney general approved his decision, whenever anyone has questioned his decision.  

But he has refused to show us any proof of what the attorney general actually said.  Apparently, Gray does not trust us to use our own eyes and our own common sense.

Secretary Gray, our election law is clear.  

You had a duty to protect the confidential personal identifying information of Wyoming voters.  

If you won’t level with us about why you violated our trust, then I would suggest that the thoughtful voters of Wyoming should think twice about sending you to Washington as our next representative.

George Powers is a retired attorney in Cheyenne. 

For forty years, Mr. Powers’ practice primarily focused on civil trial and appellate litigation throughout the State of Wyoming with areas of special interest including

medical malpractice, insurance claims and railroad litigation.

George Powers can be reached at: gpowers@spkm.org

George powers 5 7 26

<title>Guest Column: Too Bad Our Secretary Of State Didn’t Protect Our Data | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Guest columnist George Powers writes, "But here in Wyoming we never had a chance to dispute the DOJ’s unprecedented snatching of our confidential voter logs, because our Secretary of State, Chuck Gray, voluntarily turned it over last August without telling the public.”

Guest Column: Too Bad Our Secretary Of State Didn’t Protect Our Data

CSD Staff

Daily Darwin

[{"type":"text","text":"Shocking, the craftsmanship seemed solid…"}]

Darwin 8 8 26

<title>Daily Darwin: Saturday, August 8, 2026 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Shocking, the craftsmanship seemed solid…

Daily Darwin: Saturday, August 8, 2026

Daily Smile

[{"type":"text","text":"Uhhhhh, what do I do??"}]

Smile no play 8 8 26

<title>Daily Smile: Saturday, August 8, 2026 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Uhhhhh, what do I do??

Daily Smile: Saturday, August 8, 2026

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Courts

A 37-year-old Powell man faces up to 10 years in prison after allegedly attacking a woman he lived with, punching her in the head multiple times and leaving her bruised and with a chipped front tooth because he didn't believe how many steps she walked during the day.

Catlin Stephen Wolfard is charged with the felony aggravated assault and battery along with domestic battery, a misdemeanor. 

Wolfard had his first court appearance Friday morning in Park County Circuit Court, where his bond was set at $10,000. 

It started when the woman returned to the home she shared with Wolfard on Monday evening, cleaned the house and started making dinner, 

per an affidavit written by Powell Police Lt. Dustin DelBiaggio.

[{"type":"text","text":"Around 8:30 p.m., the two sat down at the kitchen table."}]

During dinner, she began talking about the number of steps her phone had recorded while she was at work. Wolfard didn't believe the number was accurate, she told investigators, and what began as a mundane disagreement turned into a heated argument.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"Whiskey got involved,\" she later told police."}]

Wolfard began drinking Jack Daniel's Tennessee Honey, while she had about two shots. She described herself as about a three on a 10-point scale to drunk, but described Wolfard as "extremely angry."

The two separated for a while, and things appeared to settle down, but she said it didn't last. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"White Claw Cans Fly"}]

Around 1 a.m. Tuesday, the two were back in the kitchen when another argument erupted.

The woman said Wolfard began pulling full cans of White Claw from the refrigerator and throwing them at her, though none connected. 

She told investigators she became worried the argument was about to turn physical after Wolfard walked over and closed the kitchen window, commenting that the neighbors might hear them. 

She bent forward at the waist and put her hands over her head to protect herself as Wolfard approached, she told investigators. He then allegedly punched her two or three times with a closed fist in the back of her head.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"Don't beat me,\" she said."}]

"Stop saying I beat you, now you're going to see how it feels to be beat," Wolfard allegedly responded.

[{"type":"text","text":"The woman retreated into the master bedroom, but Wolfard followed."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Pushed Into Furniture"}]

When she tried to leave, she said Wolfard repeatedly pushed her backward into the room, using his open hands against her upper chest.

[{"type":"text","text":"She eventually got around him and made it into the living room."}]

There, she alleged, Wolfard began pushing her around for several minutes, causing her to strike furniture.

The living room contained wood-framed chairs, a couch with little padding and an air mattress on the floor, the affidavit says.

She told investigators she managed to get back to the bedroom and lie down, separating herself from Wolfard.

But at about 3 a.m., Wolfard came into the bedroom and told her he was going to sleep there, and she could sleep in the living room.

She claims she left her cellphone in the bed, and when she asked Wolfard to give it back, he refused. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Chipped Tooth"}]

Wolfard then allegedly punched the woman twice in the face with a closed fist.

She described one as a glancing blow as she turned away. The other, she said, landed directly on her mouth and chipped the bottom of her left front tooth.

She went into the living room and fell asleep while Wolfard remained in the bedroom.

When she woke later that morning, she grabbed her phone while Wolfard was still sleeping and called the police. 

She said abuse was "normal," but Wolfard had never punched her before that night. 

Police later noticed bruises on the woman's body that appeared to be in various stages of healing.

Some bruising on her chest, she said, came from a separate domestic incident with Wolfard about a week earlier.

Investigators also wrote that the woman discovered a hard mass developing inside her right breast that she attributed to the recent altercation.

Powell Hospital EMS was called, and she agreed to go to the Powell Valley Healthcare emergency room for her injuries and a forensic examination.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"What Wolfard Said"}]

Wolfard left the residence after waking up around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday and was arrested a short time later, according to the affidavit.

He told officers she bruised easily and fell frequently. He also said bruising on her left arm came from the two playing "tug of war" on paddleboards at Deaver Reservoir the previous weekend.

[{"type":"text","text":"The woman disputed both explanations."}]

 wrote that investigators believed Wolfard had attempted to cause the woman serious bodily injury by pushing her into furniture, punching her and breaking her tooth, and repeatedly striking the back of her head.

[{"type":"text","text":"According to the Park County Sheriffs Office, Wolfard remains in custody."}]

Catlin Stephen Wolfard new 8 7 26

<title>Powell Man Accused Of Beating Woman When He Didn’t Believe How Many Steps She Walked | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A 37-year-old Powell man could get 10 years in prison for allegedly attacking a woman when he got angry over not believing how many steps she walked that day. "Now you're going to see how it feels to be beat," the woman told police he said to her.

Powell Man Accused Of Beating Woman When He Didn’t Believe How Many Steps She Walked

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

Clair McFarland

Crime & Courts

Wyoming, 14 other states, a handful of gun advocacy groups, and individuals beat the Trump administration in court this week when a Texas-based federal judge called significant portions of the 1934 National Firearms Act unconstitutional.

U.S. District Court Judge James Wesley Hendrix ruled Wednesday that major portions of the act are unconstitutional and can’t be enforced on Wyoming’s government and a number of other plaintiffs. 

Those provisions restrict suppressors, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, and firearms classified as “any other weapons.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Gov. Mark Gordon called the ruling a win."}]

“This is a great win for gun owners across the country, including here in Wyoming where our gun rights are an important part of our heritage,” said Gordon in a Friday email statement. “It is absolutely essential that the 2nd Amendment be respected and protected. I am delighted to see a judge recognize overreach when it is this clear.”

Gordon congratulated Wyoming Attorney General Keith Kautz and Kautz’s team “for their solid work and wish them the best as this case continues moving forward.”

Hendrix stayed his order until at least Aug. 12, in case the federal government wants to appeal. It hadn’t appealed as of Friday morning.

The judge also did not overturn the NFA’s restrictions on machine guns and destructive devices.

Mark Jones, Wyoming resident and national director of Gun Owners of America, told Cowboy State Daily the ruling represents a big win — but not an invitation to go make short-barreled rifles, at least until the dust settles.

“We’re advising people to be very careful about looking at a headline and running out and engaging in practices related to this until we get more information and there’s some decision on this appeal,” said Jones. 

He also said that though Wyoming is a plaintiff, he doesn’t believe the injunction extends to every Wyoming citizen.

But, added Jones, “I still think it’s the biggest win against the NFA in the NFA’s history, and we'll see what happens.”

A federal judge overturned parts of the National Firearms Act this week after Wyoming and other plaintiffs sued the Trump administration, which had defended the act. Gov. Mark Gordon on Friday called it a "great win for gun owners across the country."

Daily Cartoon 2: Wednesday, March 12, 2025

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