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[{"type":"text","text":"Lebron whenever he's about to lose....."}]

Sports 3 12 25

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

<title>Today In Sports: Wednesday, March 12, 2025 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Lebron whenever he's about to lose.....

Today In Sports: Wednesday, March 12, 2025

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

Greg Johnson

Crime & Courts

Courts

A Douglas man facing 72 charges relating to child sex abuse and pornography will spend at least the next month in a San Francisco jail after he was arrested there on a fugitive warrant just hours after skipping out on a Wyoming court hearing.

John Charles Smallbone, 38, indicated Thursday that he intends to fight extradition to Wyoming to continue facing his charges in Converse County District Court.

During his first hearing in San Francisco Superior Court since his July 28 arrest by San Francisco police officers on a Wyoming felony fugitive warrant, Smallbone declined to waive extradition back to Douglas.

That’s despite signing a document June 24 when he was released from the Converse County Detention Center after someone posted a $250,000 cash bond to get him out of jail in the first place.

Signing a waiver of extradition was a condition of Smallbone being released on bond, court documents indicate. That waiver means he voluntarily gives up his right to fight extradition and agrees to be transported back to Douglas if he’s caught elsewhere.

“I hereby willingly agree and consent to place myself in the custody of any authorized Wyoming law enforcement officer and to freely return, without contest, to Converse County, Wyoming, from any jurisdiction where I may be found … to answer the charge(s) against me,” reads the waiver, which has Smallbone’s signature on it.

While Smallbone signed a waiver, that doesn’t necessarily mean he can’t fight being sent back to Wyoming anyway, said Steven Titus, a Gillette-based defense attorney.

It all depends on the other state a fugitive is being held. Some states and courts honor those waivers, while others don’t.

In Colorado last month, a Fort Collins magistrate didn’t when she allowed Smallbone out of jail on his own recognizance when picked up on another fugitive warrant.

That set the stage for him to miss his July 28 arraignment and arrest in San Francisco four hours after that hearing ended.

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

, where he follows developments of Wyoming cases involving alleged child abuse and exploitation crimes.

He’s followed Smallbone’s case since his arrest, and said it’s so far been unlike any case he’s followed.

“You can call him the gift that keeps on giving,” he said. “It just keeps going.”

That includes after posting a $250,000 cash bond June 24 to get out of the Converse County Detention Center and being caught last month on a fugitive warrant in Colorado. Gallaway said he was watching a livestream of that hearing and was shocked he was allowed to go free.

“That was crazy,” he said, adding that he hopes the San Francisco court “does the right thing.”

Unable to attend in person and without a video or audio option available, Gallaway found a volunteer in San Francisco to attend Smallbone’s hearing on Thursday.

The San Francisco Superior Court said Thursday that Smallbone admitted that he’s the person named in the Wyoming fugitive warrant, and he declined to wave extradition back to the Cowboy State.

A hearing on the extradition was set for Sept. 3, and Smallbone will remain in the San Francisco jail without bond until then, the court said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Feared For His Life"}]

 on 72 child sex and pornography charges in a Wyoming district court on July 28, Smallbone was arrested on a fugitive warrant in San Francisco.

The 38-year-old Douglas man told Judge F. Scott Peasley through his public defender that he feared for his life if he were to show up for his plea hearing.

In the meantime, it seems he was on his way to San Francisco, and was arrested by police officers there about four hours after his 3:30 p.m. hearing ended in a Douglas courtroom, according to the Converse County Sheriff’s Office.

That Smallbone had been caught twice in less than a week fleeing Wyoming and the dozens of felony charges he faces here, Converse County Sheriff Clint Becker said he hopes there isn’t a repeat of what happened in Colorado.

“That was my comment when I got called to let us know he was in custody,” the sheriff told Cowboy State Daily at the time. “Hopefully …”

After Smallbone was released in Colorado, officials in that state and Wyoming who worked to track him expressed frustration with that situation.

Kylie Masserman, a spokesperson with the Larimer County District Attorney’s Office in Colorado, told Cowboy State Daily via an emailed statement that the court had the proper documentation to hold Smallbone.

“The District Attorney’s Office strongly believes that this bond setting is dangerous and has put the communities in both Colorado and Wyoming at risk,” she said. “Giving a free pass to dangerous out-of-state offenders fleeing to Colorado sets a terrible precedent and risks further harm to the victims in the Wyoming case.”

Now that he’s been caught again, Becker said he’s confident Smallbone will be returned to Wyoming to face his charges.

And there will be more of those to face, Converse County Deputy Attorney Nate Shumway said during the July 28 hearing.

He told the judge that his office has filed amended charges against Smallbone that include the 72 he already had been hit with, plus more that he’s since picked up.

Those amended charges have so far not shown up in Smallbone’s public-facing court file.

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

The list of charges against Smallbone is long, including:

• 1 count of first-degree sexual abuse of a minor.

• 36 counts of possessing child pornography.

• 16 counts of using a video camera to record intimate areas of another person without consent.

• 18 counts of knowingly manufacturing, generating, or creating child pornography.

• 1 count of possessing more than 3 ounces of marijuana (1.3 pounds).

He landed on the radar of the Converse County Sheriff’s Office after the mother of an underage girl reported concerning interactions her daughter had with Smallbone on May 9.

The girl was in a vehicle with Smallbone and others when he allegedly typed “if you suck me, I’ll lick you” on his phone and showed it to the girl, according to an affidavit of probable cause written by Peech.

“He also mouthed the words, ‘I want to see you naked,’” the affidavit says.

Smallbone later denied mouthing anything or showing the girl any messages.

That, along with other alleged disturbing interactions with the girl at Smallbone’s home that evening, started an investigation that revealed a trove of photos, videos and other child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on his electronic devices, the affidavit says.

The investigation also showed Smallbone had been convicted in 2002 of sexual assault on a child by a person in a position of trust in Douglas County, Colorado.

He also had registered as a sex offender in Wyoming in 2014, but it was “later determined not to be required to register in Wyoming due to him being a juvenile at the time of his adjudication in Colorado,” according to the affidavit.

That was in reference to a 2001 case when Smallbone was 12 and was accused of sexually assaulting a 5-year-old girl, the affidavit says.

While in treatment for that incident, he disclosed he also had sexual contact with at least seven other children, and five were younger than him at the time of the sexual contact.

Smallbone and san francisco 8 7 26

<title>Wyoming Man Facing 72 Child Sex-Related Charges To Stay In San Francisco Jail | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A Douglas man facing 72 charges relating to child sex abuse and pornography will spend at least the next month in a San Francisco jail after a court hearing there Thursday. John Smallbone indicated he intends to fight being sent back to Wyoming.

Wyoming Man Facing 72 Child Sex-Related Charges To Stay In San Francisco Jail

Law Enforcement

CHEYENNE — A man trying to run away from police after crashing a car near downtown Cheyenne in the early hours of Thursday morning made the chase easy for law enforcement by unknowingly trying to break into the Laramie County jail.

“You ever wonder what happened to that kid that always lost at hide-and-seek?” asks an amused Laramie County Sheriff Brian Kozak in a video response to the incident.

[{"type":"text","text":"“I think he’s in our jail,” he quips."}]

Kozak goes on to explain that the man came onto the radar of sheriff’s office deputies when they saw him running around the detention center at the intersection of 20

 Street and Pioneer Avenue in downtown Cheyenne.

The man seemed frantic and was trying all the doors around the building, trying to get in, he said.

“On the camera system, they saw some guy running from door to door on the outside of our jail trying to get in — wiggling the doors and just trying to get in the jail,” the sheriff said.

Those watching the cameras alerted jail deputies, “who went outside and found this guy hiding near the intake door,” Kozak said. “You know, where the police officers drive into the sally port to book people into the jail.”

The man was “hiding there in a corner” when deputies found him, then gave a false name when asked for identification, Kozak said.

‘Didn’t Have Far To Take Him Into The Jail’

That’s when the deputies learned that there had been a vehicle crash a few blocks away, “and the police department was looking for the suspect who fled,” the sheriff said.

So, the Cheyenne Police Department was contacted to arrest the guy, after which they “didn’t have far to take him into the jail, so that’s one good thing,” Kozak said.

The driver, later identified as a 44-year-old transient named Adam Scott, was arrested on suspicion of falsely identifying himself, driving under suspension, driving the wrong way on a one-way street, no proof of insurance, and hit and run, reports CPD spokesperson Alexandra Farkas-Schulz.

Cheyenne police were dispatched just before 12 a.m. Thursday to a report of a vehicled that crashed near the intersection of West 19th Street and Brent Avenue, she says in an email to Cowboy State Daily.

"The preliminary investigation shows the vehicle was traveling in the wrong direction on West 20th Street before attempting to turn south onto Brent Avenue," Farkas-Schulz wrote. "The driver failed to make the turn, causing the vehicle to leave the roadway and strick a building.

"The vehicle continued into a parking lot south of the building, where it came to a stop."

Scott, fled the scene and asked a passerby to report the crash, and he was later found outside the jail. He was taken to Cheyenne Regional Medical Center for an evaluation before being booked into the local jail.

Kozak said that besides the incredibly bad luck of trying to get away from police by attempting to break into the jail, the suspect may have been guided there.

“I’m guessing maybe what happened was he saw the flashing ‘VACANCY’ sign and thought maybe it was a hotel,” he said. “But it wasn’t.”

 that’s perpetually flashing above the northeast door to the jail.

“However, he did find out the ‘vacancy’ thing – that’s legit,” the sheriff added. “So, he’s in our jail.”

Vacancy at jail IMG 2027 1 8 24

<title>Oops! Man Running From Cheyenne Cops Tries To Break Into Laramie County Jail | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A man trying to run from police in Cheyenne early Thursday morning made the chase easy by unknowingly trying to break into the Laramie County jail. “You ever wonder what happened to that kid that always lost at hide-and-seek?” the sheriff asked.

Oops! Man Running From Cheyenne Cops Tries To Break Into Laramie County Jail

Mac Watson

Daily Video News

It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Friday, August 7th.  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 

. See you at the fair! This ad was paid for by Converse County Tourism.

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

Although campaigning against data centers, Chuck Gray voted yes on a data center generation facility easement in June. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that Gray indicated Thursday that his aye-vote was Gov. Mark Gordon's fault.

“What the governor actually said is he's sounding like a jackass in a tin barn, a rather visceral quote referring to Gray, indicating that Gray's ‘aye' vote on granting an access easement to a data center feeding facility was essentially the governor's fault. He's saying that Gordon has a way of hiding the nature of these votes, and board members aren't properly apprised. And you know, there wasn't a clear understanding of this data center vote in June. The governor responded, noting that the State Board of Land Commissioners has access to the documents at least a week before the meeting, and they also get the chance to confer with their administrative office before the meeting. He said that Gray appeared distracted by his phone in Thursday's meeting, falls short of the expectation of Wyoming elected officials.”

In his campaign against eight other Republicans for the GOP nomination to U.S. House, Gray is the only candidate voicing outright opposition to data centers. Many of his opponents have said it’s the state and local governments’ role, not the role of Congress, to dictate policies on data centers.  

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

During a vote at the State Board of Land Commissioners to allow Tri-State Generation access to a power substation, Secretary of State Chuck Gray announced he would block it. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports Gray changed his mind after Curt Meier brought up that Tri-State supplies “power to practically every irrigator and farmer in the state.”

“During the meeting, people indicated they didn't know at that point it was an existing substation. Secretary Chuck Gray worried aloud. You know he asked for information like, does this access road have anything to do with data centers, wind projects, solar projects? And during this discussion, Treasurer Curt Meier said, you know, something to the effect of, ‘We're going to block access roads for a power generator now that serves Wyoming irrigators, are we just doing a futile attempt to stop capitalism?’ And Secretary Gray came back and voted for the access road. He said that's because of the assurances he received that it wasn't for data centers or wind or solar projects.”

Tri-State is a wholesale power supplier serving eight electric cooperatives in Wyoming including High Plains Power, Carbon Power and Light and Big Horn Rural Electric Company. Tri-State applied for a five-year, temporary-use permit for a 288-foot access road in remote Natrona County for $250 a year.

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

The Wallop family's legacy Quarter Circle Lazy B Ranch in Sheridan County is for sale for the first time in 135 years, listing for $24.5 million. Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports that the ranch hosted Queen Elizabeth II, supplied cavalry horses to Britain, and helped build Wyoming's polo scene.

“This is kind of a continued trend of, you know, we've seen this wave of legacy ranches that have been in families for multiple generations-three, four, sometimes five generations-coming to market. This is just a continued progression of that trend where people are retiring out of agriculture, and the next generation coming up doesn't want to give that a whirl. It's not a very easy business to get started in. It's pretty expensive, and families are seeing that. Hey, you know, we can cash this out.These guys have been the stewards of this ranch for four generations. It is a ranch with a lot of history. The original guy who came over from England and homesteaded this in, like, 1889.”

The historic ranch is tucked just under the Bighorn Mountains at the mouth of Little Goose Canyon. Its sale will mark the end of an era for one of Wyoming’s best-known legacy ranches.

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

Wyoming State Engineer Brandon Gebhart told state legislators Thursday that if the seven Colorado River Basin states can’t come to terms over a dwindling water supply, lawsuits or federal intervention could result. Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports that Gebhart is hoping the states can solve the issues, not Congress.

“He appeared before the legislature's Select Water Committee to kind of give them an update on what's going on, and the big question one of the members of the committee posed to him was, you know, he said, 'I keep hearing about there's going to be lawsuits over this.' There's going to be lawsuits, and Gebhart's answer was, if we could just keep talking, keep negotiations going between all seven states, he's really hopeful that we can still avoid that. Gebhart is worried that it's either going to end in lawsuits between the states or Congress is going to step in, and he doesn't want either one of those things to happen. ”

The U.S. Department of the Interior, through the Bureau of Reclamation, recently released its final Environmental Impact Statement for Colorado River operations, including plans for operations from 2027 to 2036. That proposal doesn’t include any immediate cuts for the Upper Basin states: Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and New Mexico.

I’ll have more news from Cowboy State Daily right after this.   

Cowboy State Daily News continues now….

President Donald Trump endorsed governor candidate Megan Degenfelder for the fourth time Thursday in a rally held by phone. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that Trump touted Degenfelder as a staunch conservative and said voters would look back and say, “President Trump gave me a good idea.”

“This is the fourth, at least, at least the fourth time the president has endorsed Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder in her run for governor. She's had the original Trump endorsement since January, but on Thursday, Trump also held a tele-rally where he really touted her as a staunch conservative and said that she was going to cut property taxes and that she was going to protect children and foster a love for America in schools, among other goals.”

The rally kicked off with the Lee Greenwood song “Proud to Be An American” and ended with the moderator asking attendees to push one to signify if they’re voting for Degenfelder, who is the state Superintendent of Public Instruction, or push two if they’re not voting for her.  

If stern warnings and rules won’t keep kids from bringing their cellphones and devices to school, maybe cash fines will get their attention. Cowboy State Daily’s Kate Meadows reports that’s the idea behind a new Lincoln County rule that will fine students $25 if they keep bringing them to school.

“Kemmerer Junior-Senior High School Principal Shawn Roberts said that he hopes that, you know, they won't get to that point, that students will not commit the offense three times. Reaction on social media was mixed. Some parents are saying they're in full support of this policy because students really need to be learning and focused at school, and cell phones are a distraction. Other parents said, you know, it's a matter of personal property, and their phones belong to them, and they want to be able to reach their kids anytime during the school day, and what happens if there's some emergency like a school shooting or something? How do they get a hold of their kids?”

School districts across the state are enacting smart-device policies after the Wyoming Legislature passed a bill earlier this year requiring the adoption of formal policies to address the possession and use of smart devices by students while on school grounds.

However, district board chair Kristi Dearden said she is not aware of any other school districts whose policies include a fee for repeat offenders.

Wyoming is among 27 states that were hit by a recent salmonella outbreak traced to jalapeños served at chain Mexican restaurants. Cowboy State Daily’s Kolby Fedore reports one Park County health officer says, “it’s just the cost of doing business” in today’s modern food system.

“This outbreak is different from the cyclospora outbreak that Cowboy State Daily reported on over three weeks ago in the cyclospora outbreak that was linked to contaminated lettuce that was distributed to several fast food chains. Park County Health official Dr. Aaron Billen says that this is the cost of doing business in today's modern world. Because of large-scale food systems, one contamination can now spread so quickly to different parts of the country.”

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Wednesday that 345 people have been sickened by the outbreak strain of 

. Thirty-six have been hospitalized, but no deaths have been reported.

The Montana Department of Livestock said it could take action against Meadow Gold Dairy Products of Billings after "black mold" in cartons and prematurely spoiled milk were reported. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that Meadow Gold also stocks shelves in northwest Wyoming.

“The Montana Department of Livestock is pretty rigorously investigating this. They've actually pursued a suspension of Meadow Gold's license in Billings, and we're not sure how the company is going to respond to that. None of this has been reported in Wyoming yet, although we have confirmation that someone in Cody purchased a milk carton where the mold developed in the same time frame is the ones they're reporting in Montana. If anyone has any of these cartons, or they had a carton that was forming black mold, you need to report it to the Wyoming Department of Agriculture so they can respond, then investigate, and take necessary actions if needed.”

According to reports, Meadow Gold received the notice on Tuesday and had 48 hours to respond.

[{"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.

Thumbnail 8 6 26

<title>Cowboy State Daily Video Newscast: Friday, August 7, 2026 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Friday's headlines include:
* Gordon: Gray Sounds Like ‘Jackass In A Tin Barn'
* Wallop Family Ranch For Sale For First Time In 135 Years
* More Explosive Diarrhea: This Time It’s Mexican Jalapeños

Cowboy State Daily Video Newscast: Friday, August 7, 2026

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

Clair McFarland

Government & Politics

Politics

In a Thursday meeting of the State Board of Land Commissioners, Secretary of State Chuck Gray nearly voted against giving Tri-State Generation and Transmission permission to use a 298-foot access road in rural central Wyoming after voicing concerns about whether the company would use the road to advance any wind, solar or data center projects. 

Tri-State is a wholesale power supplier serving eight electric cooperatives in Wyoming including High Plains Power, Carbon Power and Light and Big Horn Rural Electric Company.

Tri-State applied for a five-year, temporary-use permit for a 288-foot access road in remote Natrona County for $250 a year.

The elected officials on the State Board of Land Commissioners and the public have access to these applications at least a week before each meeting.

Gray announced at the Thursday meeting in Cheyenne that he would vote no on the permit because he didn’t know if the access road involved any data centers, wind or solar projects.

After a lively debate about supplying irrigation power to farmers, Gray reversed course and voted yes to approve the permit.

Tri-State told Cowboy State Daily after the meeting that its application isn't tied to any potential projects. 

It was for access renewal into an existing Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) substation, where Tri-State keeps equipment for operational and grid reliability purposes, "that from time to time requires routine maintenance," the company said.

That substation also abuts one of Tri-State's own substations, serving High Plains Power, the company said. 

[{"type":"text","text":"'Futile Call To Essentially Stifle Capitalism'"}]

Conversation at the Thursday meeting turned to Tri-State’s request for access via a 288-foot route.

Gray had asked administrative staff if applicants were associated with data centers, wind energy or solar projects. He told Cowboy State Daily on Thursday that that “blanket” inquiry was due to his concerns that board members don’t have enough information.

Office of State Lands and Investments Director Stacia Berry said she’d reviewed the list for temporary-use permits. None appeared to be associated in any way with those projects, except for one unknown, she said.

“The only one I’d note is (the Tri-State application),” said Berry. “This is an access road. I can’t guarantee what all is associated with that access road.”

Berry said the office tried to contact Tri-State, but the company had no notice its access road application would come up as a standalone topic at the meeting.

[{"type":"text","text":"Gray asked to remove that application from the list."}]

State Auditor Krisi Racines granted his wish by moving the whole list without it.

“I’m going to vote no on this,” said Gray. “It might be fine. They (the office) reached out. They (Tri-State) didn’t respond. We don’t know.”

Gray said the board should “tighten things up here. I think it’s gotten too loose, and I’m going to be a no here.”

Gov. Mark Gordon noted that Tri-State is a significant power generator for multiple cooperatives that distribute power to Wyomingites.

Gray again said the board’s administrative office hadn’t heard back from Tri-State.

“I would just supplement that with, they’ve had about 35 minutes,” said Berry. “They didn’t anticipate needing to be present today.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Treasurer Curt Meier issued a warning."}]

“Impeding, you know, generation and power to me seems like a futile call to essentially stifle capitalism,” said Meier. “We need power in this state for economic development. Tri-State supplies power to practically every irrigator and farmer in the state.”

Meier warned of denying Tri-State access to power facilities “in this extreme drought area.”

[{"type":"text","text":"He shook his head. "}]

“I’m really grasping the utility of continuing this dialogue,” he said.

[{"type":"text","text":"Gray changed course, saying he would probably vote for the access route."}]

“But I just asked a simple question: is this tied to wind or solar. And we can’t get an answer,” he said. “I just think it’s really disturbing, to me.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Meier countered."}]

“At no time I think in the last decade or even in the last 10 minutes have I heard that wind and solar is illegal,” said Meier. “And I think trying to manage our economy on political ideology instead of law is troubling to me.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Gordon said he wanted to get back on track."}]

Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder called for the vote. When the other board members voted aye, Gordon turned to Gray and asked if he was choosing to abstain from the vote.

Gray gestured and said something the livestream audio didn’t capture clearly.  

[{"type":"text","text":"“He’s voting aye,” said Gordon."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"'It Became Clearer'"}]

Gray told Cowboy State Daily in his Thursday email that he changed course because Berry indicated the project was probably not linked to wind, solar or data center projects. He also said Gordon has a tendency to hide the nature of board matters, and that's an ongoing problem. 

he lack of information provided to Board members about these proposed projects has been deeply disturbing to me," said Gray. "That is why today I just asked in a blanket fashion whether any of the dozens of proposed Temporary Use permits for road access had any nexus to a wind, solar, or data center project.

"It was very concerning to me when the Director and the Governor appeared to not even know if any of the Temporary Use permits had anything to do with wind, solar, or data centers."

He said he ultimately voted for the access permit because Berry indicated it probably wasn't connected to wind, solar, or data center projects. 

"Because it became clearer the easement had nothing to do with wind, solar, or data center with the Director’s modified comments, I decided to support it," he said. 

The board's administrative arm, the Office of State Lands and Investments, noted Thursday that board members have a week to review materials before the meetings, and are given opportunities to ask questions of OSLI personnel. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Gordon emphasized that also. "}]

, the governor added that Gray appeared unprepared and distracted by his phone in Thursday's meeting, falling short of what's expected of Wyoming elected officials. 

"Mr. Gray continues to show his inability to understand the issues before him and to work well with his colleagues," said Gordon. "The Secretary is sounding like a jackass in a tin barn."

Earlier in that meeting, the discussion turned to a 2.46-acre, 39-year easement request for which Enbridge Solar offered to pay a $56,235 one-time fee.

Gray asked the board to remove Enbridge’s application from a bigger list of easement applications by various companies.

Gordon asked the board three times if anyone would support Gray’s amendment. Silence followed.

[{"type":"text","text":"“Mr. Secretary, I’m sorry, that motion fails,” said Gordon."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Degenfelder urged thoughtfulness."}]

“I know discussion is on this Enbridge Solar, but I think we should be cognizant we’re talking about access only,” said Degenfelder. “So when we start prohibiting access, we get ourselves into trouble.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Gray said he’d be voting no on the easements consent list."}]

“It’s just really unfortunate we weren’t able to have a discussion on the Enbridge Solar piece separately,” said Gray. “It’s linked to the data center south of town.”

Chuck Gray Curt Meier and substation 8 6 26

<title>Gray Changes Mind On Power Station Access After Spat With Curt Meier | Cowboy State Daily</title>

After Curt Meier said of State Chuck Gray's announced vote to block Tri-State Generation's access to a power substation would “essentially stifle capitalism,” Gray changed his mind. They supply "power to practically every irrigator and farmer in the state," Meier said.

Gray Changes Mind On Power Station Access After Spat With Curt Meier

Heinz mark

Mark Heinz

Wildlife

A massive abscess on a Yellowstone bull bison’s right rear quarter likely is the result of an infected wound from a rut battle. When it ruptures, “a 5-gallon bucketful of stuff” will gush out, a top bison rancher says, adding the bison should be fine.

Today In Sports: Wednesday, March 12, 2025

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