Daily Smile

[{"type":"text","text":"What's a little slobber between friends?"}]

Wednesday Smile 4 1 25

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

<title>Wednesday Smile: April 2, 2025 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

What's a little slobber between friends?

Wednesday Smile: April 2, 2025

 What's a little slobber between friends?

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

Greg Johnson

Wyoming Life

Around Wyoming

RAWLINS — Six weeks ago, Carbon County Sheriff’s Sgt. Zach Burns was fighting for his life in the dirt parking lot of a Baggs apartment building after 

 from a gunman who later died in a shootout with law enforcement.

Wednesday, he was discharged from a Colorado hospital and got a hero’s welcome as he was escorted roughly 230 miles home by a long procession of law enforcement representing agencies across two states.

 streets through downtown Rawlins were lined with pockets of people who paused their workdays to wave and yell as Burns was driven by with a loud chorus of sirens following.

“That doesn’t surprise me at all,” said local resident Deanna Deffenbaugh about the turnout. “We take care of our own around here.

“Anytime an officer has gotten hurt in the line of duty — even his family — we get the community involved to step up and help take care of them.”

Deffenbaugh said she doesn’t know the Burns family personally, “but that doesn’t matter. If they’re willing to put their lives at risk for us, we need to take care of them.”

Maybe Deffenbaugh doesn’t know Burns, his wife and two young children, but the folks at the Carbon County Courthouse do. He’s their courtroom bailiff, said Jo Rieger, who had staked out a small patch of shade along 3

“Woo-hoo. He’s coming home!” she shouted. “This is cool and very inspiring. He deserves it. He deserves the biggest hero’s welcome ever.”

For Micah Johnson, who also works with Burns at the courthouse, Wednesday was 

, when Burns took bullets in the neck, arm and hip.

“You fear the worst when you first hear about that, you know?” he said. “I think a lot of us were just waiting to hear any kind of piece of news, right? Then I saw the post that he’s coming home today.”

He was referring to a Facebook post Sheriff Alex Bakken made earlier Wednesday telling people that Burns had been discharged from a Colorado hospital and was on his way home.

At 3:31 p.m., the small groups stationed at street corners and in front of the Carbon Building on the corner of 3

 and Pine streets began to cheer as they heard the sirens blaring louder, along with a medical helicopter circling the procession.

“There he is. I see him,” said a woman in the crowd as a Carbon County Sheriff’s Office truck slowly passed.

Sergeant Burns was sitting in the passenger side with the window rolled down and enthusiastically waving to those who gathered for him.

His beaming smile got just a little bit bigger when he saw a giant red, white and blue “Welcome Home Zach” banner.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘We’re All Family’"}]

About an hour earlier, Valeta Rogabaugh was anxious for the procession to get to Rawlins.

The longtime dispatch supervisor for the Rawlins Police Department walked into the bullpen at the department with tears in her eyes.

She had just heard a county dispatch bulletin that Burns and the procession had “come home” and had just passed into Carbon County on westbound Interstate 80.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she said when Chief Michael Ward asked how she was holding up. “It’s just emotional. They even talked to (Burns’ wife) and told her welcome home too.”

Although Burns works for the county sheriff’s office, there are deep connections with the Rawlins PD and other agencies, she said.

“We’re all a team and we’re all family,” Rogabaugh said, adding that Burns’ wife also is a dispatcher for the sheriff’s office.

There are no lines between agencies, said Rawlins Police Sgt. Thom Gamblin, adding that he’s good friends with Burns.

“This isn’t just a guy in uniform coming home, he’s a guy who works and lives here. I’m saying that this is a community, this is home, and it isn’t just his workplace,” Gamblin said.

“This isn’t just his work office, it’s people who love him,” he continued. “These are the people who care for him. It’s the people he meets every day when he serves.”

There’s a reason close to 100 officers from multiple jurisdictions around Wyoming and Colorado responded to Baggs that afternoon when the bulletin went out about an officer down and a gunman was on the run, Gamblin said.

“This is personal,” he said. “He did his job and nearly lost his life over it. He didn’t — thankfully — and now he’s back here where we can protect him.”

Without the quick action of a pair of Baggs residents who 

, he likely would have died, said Chief Ward. Wednesday’s procession was for them as well.

[{"type":"text","text":"“They’re heroes, too,” he told Cowboy State Daily."}]

“It’s a miracle that he’s still with us,” Ward added. “All of us are grateful for that, every minute of every day. His daughter still has a father. His wife still has a husband. He’s still with all of us.

“We could not be more relieved, grateful and excited he’s coming home today.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Stopped ‘Large-Scale Act’"}]

The scope of the potential carnage Burns may have prevented unfolded in the days following, Carbon County Sheriff Alex Bakken has said.

That includes Burns interrupting the suspect carrying out what appeared to be a devastating plan, the sheriff said

The man had a stockpile of semiautomatic weapon ammunition in his Baggs apartment and was likely planning a "large-scale act," Bakken reported June 17.

Burns was in the area June 8 when dispatchers relayed information about a suspect in an active shooting incident. Burns located the suspect driving in town and conducted a traffic stop at his apartment, the CCSO has reported.

“Upon coming to a stop, the suspect immediately exited his vehicle and opened fire on Sergeant Burns with a semiautomatic rifle,” Bakken said in the report.

The suspect — who so far has not been publicly identified — then 

The suspect tried to start his apartment complex on fire with numerous propane tanks inside, then sped away in his car again, according to the CCSO.

He was eventually killed in a shootout with law enforcement after crashing his car north of town off state Highway 789.

“Thanks to his bravery, (Burns) saved the lives of countless first responders and community members,” Bakken says in the report. “The gunman had stockpiled hundreds of AR-15 magazines in his apartment and, by all appearances, had been prepared to initiate a large-scale act of violence.”

At the Hilltop Conoco station along Cedar Avenue, Paige Garwood and Heather Stalinski were working Wednesday afternoon, handling a steady stream of locals and visitors driving through just off I-80.

They both said they were excited to learn that the long procession of emergency responders for Burns would go past their station.

Neither knows Burns or his family, but both said that Rawlins is a small town, and when one person is in trouble, everyone knows and responds.

“I’ve been reading about him and heard what happened to him. He’s a hero,” said Stalinski. “That he’s coming home is really good, and great for his family, his wife.

“I think he was really brave for what he did. He’s a brave, brave man. I think she should get a lot of (accolades). Would I call him a hero? Absolutely.”

Garwood said that Burns getting out of the hospital and getting back to Rawlins is a great boost for the whole town.

“I think it’s great that he’s coming home, because he almost died because of that idiot,” she said. “He deserves it.”

For Chief Ward and other law enforcement officers, the risk is always there, he said. While running toward danger while others run from it is what they sign up for, the hope is that they won’t have to.

“He took an oath to protect our community, and he almost gave his life doing so,” Ward said about Burns. “On the scale of heroism, that’s pretty far up there.”

Sgt Burns Home 1

<title>Hero’s Welcome In Rawlins: Deputy Nearly Killed In Baggs Shootout Comes Home | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Sgt. Zach Burns — shot three times by a gunman in Baggs last month — got a hero’s welcome in Rawlins after a 230-mile escort from a Colorado hospital Wednesday. “On the scale of heroism, that’s pretty far up there,” said the Rawlins police chief.

Hero’s Welcome In Rawlins: Deputy Nearly Killed In Baggs Shootout Comes Home

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Law Enforcement

A predawn law enforcement operation stretched across western Wyoming and eastern Idaho on Tuesday, as federal, state and local investigators executed coordinated search warrants in what authorities describe as a drug trafficking investigation.

By the time the raids were over, investigators said they had seized large quantities of methamphetamine, cocaine and other evidence tied to drug distribution.

[{"type":"text","text":"One man now faces five felony drug charges and a child endangering count."}]

But beyond those basics, much of the investigation details have not been released. 

Authorities have declined to answer questions about exactly where the raids took place, how much narcotics were seized, how long the investigation had been underway, or whether more arrests are expected.

[{"type":"text","text":"Three Communities Targeted"}]

The Lincoln County Sheriff's Office announced Wednesday that deputies, the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and other federal, state and local agencies carried out simultaneous search warrants Tuesday in Etna, Jackson Hole and Victor, Idaho.

Officials have not identified the addresses where the warrants were served, including the Etna location.

The coordinated nature of the operation — spanning three communities in two states — suggests investigators could've been targeting an interconnected investigation.

The sheriff's office described the seizures only as "large amounts" of methamphetamine and cocaine, "along with other evidence related to drug trafficking."

[{"type":"text","text":"Officials have not released the quantities of drugs recovered."}]

The only person publicly identified so far is 42-year-old Julio Jaimes Angeles.

[{"type":"text","text":"He has been charged in Lincoln County with:"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Tight-Lipped Investigation"}]

Despite the unusually broad operation, investigators are saying little about what led to Tuesday's raids.

Cowboy State Daily sought additional information from both the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office and the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation. Neither agency returned a comment beyond the written news release, citing the ongoing investigation.

Lincoln county drug guy 7 22 26

<title>One Man Charged After Sweeping Drug Raids Across Western Wyoming, Eastern Idaho | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A 42-year-old man is facing five felony drug charges and another count of child endangerment after the DEA and DCI launched drug raids in Lincoln County, Teton County and Victor, Idaho. Investigators said they seized large quantities of meth and cocaine.

One Man Charged After Sweeping Drug Raids Across Western Wyoming, Eastern Idaho

Heinz mark

Mark Heinz

Outdoors

Wildlife

A 6-year-old German shepherd named Mia was rudely interrupted while trying to do her business during a quick break from a road trip with her owners as tourists in Yellowstone National Park pulled over to gawk at her, apparently thinking she was a bear.

At least six vehicles full of tourists stopped for roughly five minutes to look at Mia in a "lightly wooded area

 and threaten to cause a bear jam, Arizona resident Lulu Skladanowski told Cowboy State Daily.

Her husband, Victor, said he was willing to cut the tourists some slack. Given Mia's location and the light filtering through the trees at the time, he can see how they mistook his dog for a bear.

"She looked very much like a small bear. She looks bigger than she is, and she's already a pretty big dog," he told Cowboy State Daily.

Mia is a purebred German shepherd with a long, dark-colored coat and weighs about 95 pounds, Lulu said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Quick Break Becomes 'Bear Jam'"}]

The Skladanowskis were on their way home from a weekslong road trip in their Sprinter van that included driving all the way to Alaska.

Early on July 12 in Yellowstone, they were looking for a place to pull over, make some breakfast and give Mia a chance to get out and stretch her legs.

They found the perfect spot — a small pullout with no other vehicles in it, Lulu said.

Dogs must remain on leashes or tethers in Yellowstone, so Lulu took Mia to a small stand of trees near the van and tethered her to one of the trees.

"She had the urge to poop," and proceeded to do so while Lulu returned to the van.

"Pretty soon, cars are stopping along the road, as if people were trying to see something in the trees," Lulu said.

At first, she and Victor were perplexed as to what the tourists could be pulling over to see. Had some wild animal strolled up to their van, she wondered?

Then she realized her dog was still outside and started to become alarmed until, in the next instant, she realized Mia was the star of the show.

"There was Mia, outside, pooping, and they were all looking in her direction," Lulu said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"'When Do Deer Turn Into Elk?'"}]

Retired park ranger Greg Jackson laughed when he heard Mia's story.

He told Cowboy State Daily that he'd heard some strange stories during his career, but nothing like a pooping German shepherd being mistaken for a bear and causing a jam.

"I don't think I've got one (story) of people mistaking a dog for anything else," Jackson said.

He's the former deputy chief of the National Park Service Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services. He now runs NPS Park Ranger News.

Still, Mia's story "doesn't surprise me," he said. "Not everyone is a wildlife expert."

Jackson added that sometimes even the experts get fooled.

He recalled an incident in the Santa Monica Mountains in California when "we impounded a dog and took it to the local animal shelter."

"The animal control officer at the shelter told us, 'That's not a dog, that's a wolf,'" Jackson said.

Apparently, somebody in the area had been breeding wolf-dog hybrids and one of the animals escaped, he said.

It also isn't uncommon for tourists to ask strange questions about wildlife, Jackson said.

"A fairly common one we would get was, 'When do the deer turn into elk?'" he said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Mountain Lion Snacks"}]

Rural Park County resident and retired Forest Service and National Park Service ranger Richard Jones told Cowboy State Daily that he also hadn't heard of any dogs being mistaken for bears doing what bears do in the woods during his career.

He noted that he has "a long buffalo-skin coat, and I've been mistaken for a bear from a distance when I was wearing it."

One strange wildlife report involved some people who were eating at a picnic table.

"They saw what appeared to be a dog walking up to them, and when it got right up next to them, it turned out to be a young wolf," he said.

Jones said he was glad to hear that the Skladanowskis kept Mia under control and close to them.

He recalled instances while he was working in Olympic National Park that didn't turn out to be funny the way Mia's story did.

"People would tether their dog to a tree and then go off and leave the dog,

 he said. "And they'd come back and find the lead and the collar, but no dog. Because while they were gone, a mountain lion had come and gotten the dog."

Dog and bear inset 7 21 26

<title>Tourists Stop To Look At Yellowstone Bear — But It Was Only A Pooping Dog | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Tourists driving through Yellowstone thought they had spotted a bear, so they stopped their cars to look at it. They were disappointed to learn it was only a pooping German shepherd. "She looked very much like a small bear,” said the dog’s owner.

Tourists Stop To Look At Yellowstone Bear — But It Was Only A Pooping Dog

Jory Thomas, 14, was absent-mindedly flipping loops with a rope while visiting his grandparents' campground on the Yellowstone River over the Fourth of July weekend when he heard someone start screaming for help.

Within seconds, the Montana ranch kid emptied his pockets, splashed across a side channel and waded chest-deep into the river.

[{"type":"text","text":"Then he did something he'd spent the past year practicing on calves."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"This time, he roped a drowning man."}]

The July 5 rescue unfolded so quickly that by the time the first Sweet Grass County Sheriff’s Office deputy arrived three minutes after Jory's father called 911, everyone was already safely on shore.

"My opinion, Jory saved the individual's life, 100%," Sweet Grass County Sheriff Alan Ronneberg told Cowboy State Daily. "Had Jory not acted, I believe the chances of this individual not making it to shore were very slim.”'

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"A Boat Hits A Bridge"}]

The Thomas family lives on a ranch about a dozen miles outside Big Timber, directly across from a campground where Jory's grandparents had been staying for the week.

Jory wandered over to visit with his parents and grandparents that afternoon, a rope already in his hand as he casually practiced throwing loops.

"All of a sudden he heard some yells for help," Jory's father, Jase Thomas, told Cowboy State Daily.

A boat had struck a bridge pillar, throwing its occupants into the Yellowstone River.

Three people fell in, but only two managed to get out, leaving one person alone in the swift current, desperately clinging to a cooler.

[{"type":"text","text":"Jory didn't hesitate."}]

Somehow, said his father, he convinced the drowning man to let go of the cooler. Then he threw the rope, catching the man around the neck and one arm. 

Jory and another bystander then pulled the man safely to shore before emergency responders arrived. 

In the moment, Jory didn’t think about any potential danger to himself, he just acted on instinct, the teen told KTVQ television in Billings, Montana, which first 

"This current was pretty fast then, and he was moving pretty quickly," he told the outlet. "Only thing I could focus on was helping him get out of the water because I didn't want to see anyone go in front of me.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'Let Me Have My Son Back'"}]

Jory's father has spent three decades on the Big Timber Volunteer Fire Department and immediately called 911.

Dispatch records show the call came in at 5:39 p.m. A deputy arrived just three minutes later and reported everyone was already out of the water. 

[{"type":"text","text":"Watching the rescue unfold wasn't easy for the elder Thomas. "}]

He knows that stretch of river, and that it becomes more dangerous just downstream, where swift current, deep holes and logjams create deadly hazards.

"My biggest concern was to let me have my son back," he said before taking a long pause, reflecting on the potential for Jory to also get caught up in the current.

"He understands water, but I don't think he understands what could happen,” Jase said. "I mean, he does, but he had one thing in mind, which is great, and he got it done." 

Jase believes the man his son rescued likely wouldn't have survived much longer.

[{"type":"text","text":"Sheriff Ronneberg agrees."}]

"I'm not sure how close the individual was to being 'lost,' but in my experience such things happen faster than you might guess they can," he said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'He Loves Roping' "}]

Although the rescue looked almost unbelievable, it wasn't blind luck. Jory has spent the past year immersing himself in roping.

He practices on roping dummies in his spare time and started roping calves from horseback during local brandings, his father said.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"He's always had a rope,\" Jase said. \"He loves roping.\" "}]

Outside of ranch work, he's an avid hunter and is spending this week showing a steer and a pig at the county fair. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'That's Just Who He Is'"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"To his family, the rescue wasn't entirely surprising."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Jase said his son has always been the first person to help someone else."}]

"We'll be in town at the grocery store, and you'll see an elderly person," he said. "They can't pack the groceries, and he never says a word. He goes over and gets their groceries and packs them out. That's just who he is." 

Ronneberg said the rescue is a reminder that courage often appears in ordinary moments.

"Jory saw another in trouble and acted, not for himself but for another," Ronneberg said. "He didn't pull out a phone, but a lariat. He didn't watch what was happening but intervened."

"Jory is a lesson for all of us in this day and age and showed us what is courageous and right.”

Montana lasso teen 7 21 26

<title>14-Year-Old Ranch Kid Ropes Drowning Man On Yellowstone River, Saves Life | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A 14-year-old ranch kid from Big Timber, Montana, had a rope in his hand when cries for help erupted from the Yellowstone River. He sprinted into the water, threw one loop and caught a struggling man around the arm and neck, pulling him safely to shore.

14-Year-Old Ranch Kid Ropes Drowning Man On Yellowstone River, Saves Life

Coy Knobel

Don Day Weather

Sunny skies across Wyoming and hot on Sunday. Chance of afternoon and evening rain in some areas. Mostly clear skies overnight. Highs from the low 80s to near 100. Lows in the 50s and 60s.

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

 Sunny and hot today with a high near 97 and mostly clear overnight with a low near 63.

 Sunny today with a high near 95 and mostly clear overnight with a low near 63.

 Mostly sunny today with a high near 91 and mostly clear overnight with a low near 58.

 Slight chance of rain after noon, otherwise mostly sunny today with a high near 86 and partly cloudy overnight with a low near 53.

  Becoming sunny today with a high near 91 and partly cloudy overnight with a low near 59.

Slight chance of rain after 3 p.m., otherwise sunny today with a high near 84 and partly cloudy overnight with a low near 59.

 Sunny today with a high near 88 and mostly clear overnight with a low near 52.

 Sunny today with a high near 91 and mostly clear overnight with a low near 52.

  Sunny today with a high near 87 and mostly clear overnight with a low near 52.

 Sunny today with a high near 85 and mostly clear overnight with a low near 52.

  Sunny today with a high near 92 and mostly clear overnight with a low near 53.

Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park

:  Sunny today with a high near 84 and partly cloudy overnight with a low near 46.

Sunny and hot today with a high near 99 and mostly clear overnight with a low near 67.

:  Slight chance of rain after 1 p.m., otherwise sunny today with a high near 94 and mostly clear overnight with a slight chance of rain before 7 p.m. and a low near 64.

  Sunny and hot today with a high near 100 and wind gusts as high as 20 mph. Partly cloudy overnight with a low near 64 and wind gusts as high as 20 mph.

Wednesday Smile: April 2, 2025

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