Daily Cartoon

Varvel 4 23 25

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

<title>Daily Cartoon: Wednesday, April 23, 2025​​ | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Daily Cartoon: Wednesday, April 23, 2025​​

Mac Watson

Daily Video News

It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Wednesday, June 24th.  I’m Mac Watson

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

During a lengthy meeting that grew contentious, the Kemmerer City Council on Monday approved an ordinance establishing regulations for a possible man camp inside city limits. Cowboy State Daily’s Kate Meadows reports that despite resident’s objections, Mayor Robert Bowen says, “The groundwork’s been laid.

“The Kemmerer City Council was adamant at the meeting on Monday that there is no man camp guaranteed. The ordinance just lays this groundwork. One place that has gotten interest from potential developers for a possible man camp is an area near this Antelope Ridge subdivision. Multiple people were at this meeting who live in that subdivision saying we don't want this in our backyard. the main concerns are safety, one woman brought up, you know, when you have people in groups, strange things happen.”

Developers are proposing a temporary hub to house workers who will build the TerraPower nuclear power plant near Kemmerer.

The Wyoming Supreme Court denied a Cheyenne-based attorney’s request for an order appointing a special prosecutor to investigate Secretary of State Chuck Gray for handing sensitive voter data to the federal government on Tuesday. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that the high court also denied the attorney, George Powers’ request that it order Wyoming Attorney General Keith Kautz to recuse himself from this investigation since Kautz’s office has reportedly counseled Gray on the voter data transfer.

“George Powers had asked the Wyoming Supreme Court to make the Attorney General's office recuse itself from Fowler's requested investigation of Chuck Gray, and for the High Court to appoint a special prosecutor for that investigation itself. And now, while the Attorney General fired back last week, like we already got special prosecutors to look into this. The high court officially ended the case on Tuesday, saying George Powers, you didn't show that the Attorney General's office had shirked a clear duty here, so we're not going to make the Attorney General do certain things.”

The U.S. Department of Justice last year urged Gray to hand over unredacted voter rolls bearing driver's licenses or partial social security numbers. Gray did so, public records indicate. He’s since said repeatedly that Kautz’s office advised him in this, and approved the release.

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

At a meeting in Denver on Tuesday, Wyoming's state engineer said 2026 is “one of the worst, if not the worst, hydrologic years on record.” Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports the engineer added it’s due to the dire water situation in the Colorado River's Upper Basin states. 

“There's a representative from each of the four states, which are Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico. Our representative is our state engineer, Brendan Gebhart. Bottom line is looking really grim. I think Gebhart said, from a hydrological standpoint, it's one of the worst, if not the worst years we have on record for the Colorado River.  The commissioner from Utah mentioned that there's already towns there that have run out of water and are having to truck it in little towns in Utah.”

Members of the Upper Colorado River Commission expressed frustration during the meeting, saying water-management policy needs to shift away from legal wrangling and toward the realities of water availability. The commission didn’t make any policy decisions, and plans to meet again this summer.

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

The Wyoming group that launched a civility movement after the killing of Charlie Kirk has gotten candidates to sign a peacemaker pledge to love their enemies. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that includes gubernatorial candidates Eric Barlow and Megan Degenfelder.

“They launched in September after the killing of Charlie Kirk, calling for civility in politics. They, this candidate, see this election season, they released a pledge for candidates to sign if they wish, where they're basically promising to love their enemies, stand on their principles, but not resort to cruelty. And as of Monday, 35 candidates had signed it, including two running for governor.”

Three of the 10 Republican U.S. House candidates have also signed the pledge: Senate President Bo Biteman, former Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow, and Casper-based veteran Kevin Christensen. U.S. Senate candidate Jimmy Skovgard is also among the signers.

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

Cowboy State Daily News continues now….

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

Cheyenne’s City Council moved a massive 3,500-acre data center annexation closer to approval Monday night, rejecting an effort to secure a $50 million community benefits agreement. Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports that Mayor Patrick Collins recently described as “extortion.”

“What are the impacts of that? Councilman Wolf felt that the city should be looking to get more out of the deal, so that it could handle or deal with those impacts, but the council did not agree. There were three votes for such seeking an agreement and the rest were against. It's a nine-member council. The mayor was absent, and so you know that went down to defeat. Some of the councilmen pointed out that they can still seek annexation agreements.”

The tract, roughly one-fifth the size of Cheyenne and adjacent to Microsoft’s existing data centers, is envisioned as a long-term expansion site where it would build its facilities out over the next 10 to 20 years. 

The Yellowstone Volcano Observatory confirmed Tuesday that a hydrothermal explosion occurred in Yellowstone's Biscuit Basin. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that Yellowstone authorities say they observed water spouting 30 feet into the air.

“When geologists went out there the next day, they found a 21-foot-wide crater filled with boiling water, a 60 foot long fissure, and several vents that were draining water into the nearby Fire Hole River.  I spoke with Mike Poland, the scientist in charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, and he said that this is evidence that these incidents are very shallow and they're very localized, that they only occur in individual thermal features rather than affecting an entire basin.”

Biscuit Basin has been closed since a similar explosion occurred at nearby Black Diamond Pool in July 2024.

Wyoming lawmakers started work on Tuesday to lift the upper limit on county prosecutors' salaries, topping out at $180,000. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that the bill would raise Wyoming Supreme Court Justices’ salaries and district court judge salaries as well.

“A lot of these salaries for prosecutors, judges were set like 18 years ago in state law, so that's a hard figure that remains rigid in state law, even as inflation and other factors take off, and so they're having a look at raising those, those amounts, and also maybe tying them to some kind of an escalator that hinges on economic factors like inflation and cost of living.”

If it becomes law, the bill now being drafted would raise Wyoming Supreme Court Justices’ salaries from $187,250 to nearly $225,000, district court judge salaries from $171,200 to almost $202,000, and circuit court judges from $153,700 to $180,000. Those figures would change over time based on economic metrics, as they’d be tethered to federal judge salaries, which have built-in escalators.

A Colorado woman, accused of stealing $2,000 worth of pyrotechnics from Artillery World along Interstate 25 in Cheyenne, is headed to district court. Cowboy State Daily’s Kolby Fedore reports that the woman allegedly drove toward store employees at high speed to avoid being detained.

“61-year-old Sandra Bafia loaded up her cart at a fireworks stand at Cheyenne, and then left without paying. As she was putting the fireworks into her car, two employees tried to stop her. Bafia scratched one employee, and then she pushed off the other one, got into her car, and then turned the car around and drove toward the employees as if to hit them. She missed them. If convicted, Bafia faces up to 10 years in prison. Anything over $1,000 in the state of Wyoming is considered a felony.”

Sandra May Bafia waived her preliminary hearing on Monday in Laramie County Circuit Court, sending the case to district court more than a year after the alleged theft. If convicted, Bafia faces up to 10 years in prison. 

[{"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 no play 6 24 26

<title>Cowboy State Daily Video Newscast: Wednesday, June 24, 2026 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Wednesday's headlines include:
* Cheyenne OKs Microsoft Annexation
* Kemmerer Lays Groundwork For Man Camp
* Explosion Creates Boiling Crater In Yellowstone

Cowboy State Daily Video Newscast: Wednesday, June 24, 2026

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

Clair McFarland

Government & Politics

Politics

As of Monday, 35 Wyoming political candidates have sworn to love their enemies.

 after the public killing of conservative icon Charlie Kirk, and has since been working to restore the servant spirit and civility to the public arena in Wyoming.

The Tuesday after the May 14-29 filing period ended for political candidates, the group sent each candidate a pledge, group incorporator Matt Micheli told Cowboy State Daily.

“I will love my enemies, not just my friends. I will stand faithfully upon my convictions without giving into cruelty,” the pledge says. “I will call out wrongdoing without canceling people. 

"I will refuse to let the letters on someone’s hat or the hashtags in their bio mean more to me than the Gospel. I will not be swept up in the outrage cycle, but will instead step out of the chaos and boldly examine my own actions.”

The signers also commit to “bring the peace of Christ back into the public square — to show a divided world what it truly looks like to follow Him, not as a culture warrior but as a Kingdom person.”

The pledge invokes the group’s founding verse, Matthew 5:9: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”

Two of the three GOP candidates for governor had signed the document as of Monday: Sen. Eric Barlow and Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder.

So too had three of the 10 Republican U.S. House candidates: Senate President Bo Biteman, former Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow, and Casper-based veteran Kevin Christensen. U.S. Senate candidate Jimmy Skovgard is also among the signers.

In the governor’s race, Barlow told Cowboy State Daily he doesn’t normally answer candidate questionnaires, but this one was “quite simple” and in line with the promise he made last year to run a clean campaign anyway.

“And whether we agree on issues or don’t, we can still be respectful and honoring of them as, you know, fellow human beings,” Barlow said.

Degenfelder in an email said she's a "devout follo

wer of Christ and certainly agree that politics has become increasingly unchristian."

"People of faith can and should do better following Christ’s teachings as we engage in debates about policy and Wyoming’s future," she said. "We can do this without compromising on our convictions. I will always take an unequivocal stand on issues that are black and white for me - like protecting the Second Amendment, defending the sanctity of life, reducing taxes, and promoting Wyoming’s legacy industries."

She said she completes other questionnaires from voter groups, the media and industry associations "whenever possible" and sees them as a way to be transparent. 

Another GOP gubernatorial candidate, retired Marine Col. Brent Bien, did not comment in response to an email and voicemail. His campaign

[{"type":"text","text":"Wyoming Can Use It"}]

Cowboy State Daily this pledge could be effective in Wyoming, and that he wants to help the group’s cause.

Another former lawmaker, Fred Harrison, was less optimistic about the pledge’s ability to curb vitriol in the state’s political arena. But he said each person should take the effort seriously.

[{"type":"text","text":"As for Micheli, he said the pledge is meant to be unique."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Wyoming candidates face a number of pledges and have for years."}]

In 2020, the group Wyoming Gun Owners launched a pledge-style survey to candidates and derided the political hopefuls who didn’t sign it with phrases 

, “(it’s) a very dangerous situation for gun owners,” or “we all know what that means.”

More recently, the Wyoming Republican Party and its county subgroups launched a candidate pledge based on the state party platform. 

Some candidates have pointed to inconsistencies in the platform wording and called the 

 Others have called it a much-needed revival call for Wyoming’s broad-based GOP.

Micheli said the Peacemakers pledge isn’t meant to be used as ammunition, because its wording discourages that.

“The goal of this is kind of the opposite of all these other pledges you see out there,” he said. “The other pledges are kind of putting people into tribes and trying to figure out what tribe you’re in.”

Micheli said this pledge, however, tells each candidate to “look inward” and improve instead of “hammering anybody else over the head with it.”  

[{"type":"text","text":"Might Just Work"}]

Peterson, who served in the Wyoming Senate from 2005 to 2018, lauded the effort.

[{"type":"text","text":"“I could certainly get behind a movement like that,” said Peterson."}]

Peterson had voiced similar goals one week prior on a live video interview on Cowboy State Daily's Morning Show With Jake, 

Though the effort is “the light at the end of the tunnel” in what Peterson cast as a darkening, exhausting political arena, people will have to refocus on one another as fellow human beings to make it work, he said.

“If you love the person that’s opposed to either your way of life or philosophy or way of thinking,” he said, “and in your mind, your core belief is this is a brother, a sister, a person — and I don’t know what life experiences they’ve had, what brought them to the beliefs they have — it at least gives (one) the courtesy to be patient and listen.”

It takes effort to see the person through the issues. It’s also difficult to ratchet people down from the fiery realms to which public discourse has risen, said Peterson.

“It’s hard work to listen to somebody yelling and screaming at the top of their lungs, random thoughts and things to be argumentative … and say, ‘Oh, I can see you’re very passionate about your belief but you’re not making any sense,’” he said.

Rules of decorum in public arenas, the humility to apologize to one another where necessary, and applying mental rigor toward the actual issues are the way back to civility, Peterson added.

If people avoid dehumanizing and screaming at each other, their conversation will also get smarter, he said.

[{"type":"text","text":"Starting With You"}]

Harrison wasn’t as optimistic as Peterson, but called the pledge’s mission a worthy undertaking for each individual regardless of what society does.

“I’m not seeing a willingness on both sides of the aisle to discuss (differences),” he said. “I appreciate what they’re doing. I think it’s a wonderful idea.”

But, he added, “I’m not sure it’s always going to work, but that doesn’t mean anything. What did Mother Theresa say? We’re called to be faithful, not successful.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Harrison served in the Legislature from 1983-1992."}]

He was a Democrat then. But, ardently pro-life and socially conservative, he parted ways with the party starting in about 1992 and is now Republican. He’s also grown more fiscally conservative, Harrison said.

Harrison now writes a regular column for Cowboy State Daily in which he often scrutinizes the current state of the judiciary and jurisprudence.

“People think my articles are pretty sharp,” he said with a chuckle. Yet on May 9, he penned a 

 against resorting to violence or violent sentiments against judges, saying that nullifies good arguments on the issues.

If people wish to apply the peacemaker group’s pledge, it will take honest discussion, he said. People also have to start taking the high road and stop de-humanizing each other, he added.

[{"type":"text","text":"The Signers, So Far"}]

Micheli told Cowboy State Daily the group didn’t give candidates a deadline to sign the pledge. So this list isn’t final. As of Monday, the 35 signers spanned the governor’s, congressional, state legislative, and county commission races. They are:

State Superintendent of Public Instruction candidate

Update -  This story has been updated to include a post-publication comment by Megan Degenfelder. 

Mix Collage 23 Jun 2026 06 04 PM 252

<title>35 Candidates, Including Two Wyo Gov Hopefuls, Sign Love Your Enemies Pledge | Cowboy State Daily</title>

The Wyoming group that launched a civility movement after the killing of Charlie Kirk has gotten 35 candidates to sign a peacemaker pledge to love their enemies. That includes gubernatorial candidates Eric Barlow and Megan Degenfelder.

35 Candidates, Including Two Wyo Gov Hopefuls, Sign Love Your Enemies Pledge

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Courts

[{"type":"text","text":"\"You know the drill.\""}]

That's how Fremont County Circuit Court Judge Jason Stebner greeted Kerri Johnson on Tuesday as she appeared for arraignment on the latest in a string of misdemeanor animal-at-large citations tied to her Great Pyrenees livestock guardian dogs.

Before calling individual cases, Stebner advised everyone in the courtroom of their constitutional rights.

When Johnson's case was called, the judge noted she was appearing on "another" animal-at-large citation before reading the charge.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"I am guessing you want to enter a not guilty plea,\" Stebner said."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"\"Yes,\" Johnson replied."}]

Johnson is scheduled to return to court Wednesday for a status conference involving several additional animal-at-large citations that remain pending.

While Tuesday's proceeding was brief, the dispute behind it has consumed a rural neighborhood southwest of Kinnear for years.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Dead Calves"}]

What began as complaints about roaming dogs has evolved into one of Fremont County's most contentious rural disputes.

According to court records, neighboring ranchers have r

eported problems involving Johnson's dogs

One neighbor, Anna Shurtleff, told investigators she amassed more than 700 photographs and videos documenting incidents involving the dogs.

The Shurtleffs, who raise cattle and horses, reported finding dead calves, injured cattle and cows so stressed by dog attacks they abandoned their young, according to court filings.

A Wyoming Game and Fish investigation into a dead calf on neighboring rancher Chris Eberline's property earlier this year found tracks investigators described as too large to be coyotes and too small to be wolves.

The affidavit says the tracks were believed to be from either domestic or feral dogs.

Court records show Johnson paid fines tied to animal-at-large citations in April 2024 and April 2025. Another citation was dismissed in April 2025.

Additional citations filed between September 2025 and March 2026 remain active.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Surveillance Cameras"}]

Court records show Johnson has been cited multiple times under Wyoming's animal-at-large statute.

Rancher Chris Eberline previously told Cowboy State Daily she has lost multiple calves and spent thousands of dollars installing surveillance cameras across her property in an attempt to catch the dogs on video.

The effort has included multiple cameras spread across roughly 1,000 acres, along with monthly subscription costs to store footage.

"We're just tired of it," Eberline said in a previous interview.

She estimated a market-ready calf can be worth nearly $3,000.

Last month, Eberline reported finding another dead calf on her property. A deputy with the Fremont County Sheriff's Office and an officer with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department responded to investigate.

The results of that investigation have not yet been released.

At one point, Eberline alleged tensions between neighbors became so heated that one confrontation included the statement: "You shoot my dogs, I'm shooting you."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Two Different Narratives"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Johnson has consistently disputed the allegations."}]

While neighboring ranchers portray the dogs as a persistent problem, Johnson has publicly described them as working livestock guardian dogs that have themselves become victims.

In social media posts reviewed by Cowboy State Daily, Johnson said a dog named Thor was shot and rushed to a veterinarian while protecting livestock.

In another post, she claimed another dog named Ed was found dead from a gunshot wound.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"My faith in humanity is beyond shattered,\" Johnson wrote."}]

Johnson has not responded to multiple requests for comment from Cowboy State Daily.

[{"type":"text","text":"For now, the legal battle continues."}]

Tuesday's arraignment lasted only a few minutes, but it represented another chapter in a dispute that has generated years of complaints, repeated citations, allegations of livestock losses and bitter divisions between neighbors.

Multiple citations arepending and another court appearance is scheduled for Wednesday.

Dog cattle blur 6 23 26

<title>Kinnear Woman Pleads Not Guilty Again To Latest Citation Over Roving Guard Dogs | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A Kinnear-area woman embroiled in a years-long feud over roaming livestock guardian dogs pleaded not guilty Tuesday to her latest animal-at-large charge. Several ranchers have alleged her dogs have harassed livestock and contributed to calf deaths.

Kinnear Woman Pleads Not Guilty Again To Latest Citation Over Roving Guard Dogs

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's Feature Reporter, Andrew Rossi.

Andrew Rossi

Public Lands

Another hydrothermal explosion has rocked Yellowstone National Park, only 100 feet from the pool that 

The Yellowstone Volcano Observatory confirmed that a hydrothermal explosion occurred around 5:09 a.m. June 13. When geologists went to evaluate the area the next day, they found a 21-foot-wide pool filled with boiling, silty water, a 60-foot fissure, and water spouting 30 feet into the air.

It was an unexpectedly dynamic event in Biscuit Basin, which has been closed since a similar explosion occurred at nearby Black Diamond Pool in July 2024.

“Black Diamond doesn't seem to have been affected by this event in a major way,” Mike Poland, scientist in charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, told Cowboy State Daily. “That’s a sign that these are very shallow events that impact individual features in a very explosive thermal basin.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Big Blow Up"}]

The observatory detected the explosion as soon as it happened. It was even captured on the camera installed in Biscuit Basin to monitor Black Diamond Pool.

When geologists got to the basin the next day, they found several significant changes. For one thing, there was the new 21-foot-wide crater filled with boiling water, which Poland wasn’t surprised to see.

“That’s pretty standard for Biscuit Basin,” he said. “It has a lot of high-temperature water.”

What was more surprising was a 60-foot-long fissure and several new vents.

“All of these vents were draining water into the Firehole River, and geologists found near-boiling waters in most of these vents,” Poland said. “They were draining enough water that the river itself turned a milky-white color for many miles downstream.”

Based on the scene, Poland said the event was a “relatively small” hydrothermal explosion. It occurred in an area with no existing thermal features.

After weeks of observation, the water-filled crater has shown some geyser-like behavior. Water was seen rising as high as 30 feet.

Poland was interested in the longevity of this behavior and all the new features in Biscuit Basin. It’s too early to say whether they’ll be long-lived or peter out over time.

“It’s completely unknown at this point,” he said. “Maybe that (spouting) was caused by a release of the pressure accumulated beneath the surface, or maybe this new pool will end up being a geyser-like feature. Clearly, there was a lot that went on the morning of June 13.”

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

Hydrothermal explosions are caused by water rapidly converting to steam. The rapid phase change from liquid to gas releases an enormous amount of energy, as evidenced by the incident at Black Diamond Pool on July 23, 2024.

“It’s a pressure-cooker situation,” Poland said. "When water turns to steam, it expands over 1,000 times. When that happens in a confined space, the space can't hold the rapid expansion of steam and can cause explosions.”

Biscuit Basin has been closed to the public since that day, but sophisticated equipment has been installed so geologists can monitor ongoing activity. Black Diamond Pool has 

 since then, but nothing as significant as the July 2024 event.

wasn’t significant by Yellowstone standards

, Poland is excited about what can be learned from it. It might help him and other geologists, hydrologists, and volcanologists predict the unpredictable.

“One of the problems with studying these explosions is that you really don't know where they're going to occur,” he said. “If you put out a monitoring station, you’re never guaranteed to catch an explosion, and we don’t know of any precursors that might indicate an explosion is imminent.”

This hydrothermal explosion occurred 400 feet from temperature sensors and sophisticated stations installed to monitor seismic and acoustic activity in Biscuit Basin. With this event and “a year’s worth of data,” Poland hopes they might find a potential precursor.

“This explosion happened in the middle of an area of dense monitoring, he said. “We've got an opportunity to dive into all of those data sets and see if there was some change in the system that was detected by the seismic and acoustic monitoring.”

Identifying a precursor to hydrothermal explosions will help keep people safe in Yellowstone and around the world, Poland said. It could inform scientists when a hydrothermal explosion is imminent, or the risk is higher based on temperature, acoustic signals, or some other change in the system.

Such a precursor isn’t known to exist, and Poland isn’t confident they’ll find one, but a prime opportunity to do so just presented itself.

“This was a pretty good situation,” he said. “We had all the monitoring instrumentation in the right place at the right time, lots of data already collected, and no one was threatened by this activity.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"It’s What’s New"}]

Since June 13, Biscuit Basin has gotten less explosive. The real question is whether any of the changes will become permanent.

According to Poland, many of the vents opened by the explosion have since dried up. The collapsed crater is still filled with boiling water, but the geyser-like behavior hasn’t been observed since June 18.

“The future of any of these features is really unknown at this point,” he said. “Will they stay boiling or gradually cool down? Was there a change in the heat emission of Biscuit Basin? Those will be the interesting questions going forward."

Meanwhile, other than what Poland described as a “subtle bubble” from the pool’s vent, Black Diamond Pool doesn’t seem to have been impacted.

Poland sees that as evidence of how Yellowstone’s thermal features coexist. While most of Yellowstone’s geysers, hot springs, and steam vents share space with other thermal features, most tend to be separate rather than part of a vast, interconnected system.

“When the 2024 explosion happened, none of the other features in Biscuit Basin changed their behavior,” he said. “This explosion happened 100 feet north of Black Diamond Pool, and it doesn't really seem to have affected it in a major way. That’s a testament to how local all these events are.”

Biscuit basin 6 23 26

<title>Explosion Creates 20-Foot Crater of Boiling Water in Yellowstone National Park | Cowboy State Daily</title>

The Yellowstone Volcano Observatory confirmed Tuesday that a hydrothermal explosion occurred in Yellowstone's Biscuit Basin that created a 21-foot-wide pool filled with boiling, silty water, a 60-foot fissure, and water spouting 30 feet into the air.

Explosion Creates 20-Foot Crater of Boiling Water in Yellowstone National Park

Outdoors

Almost a week after a semitruck carrying 

 flipped over in Yellowstone National Park and destroyed hundreds of hives, bees are still swarming around the area.

Thousands of bees are still homeless and visibly trying to survive in large groups on “bee trees” along U.S. Highway 191. 

Jim Holstein with Yellowstone Tour Guides has been passing through the area where the accident occurred. He took a photograph of one of the bee trees, where thousands of bees had completely covered a small lodgepole in a vast, buzzing swarm.

“They were still there on Monday,” Holstein told Cowboy State Daily. “It’s in the park between Big Sky and West Yellowstone. All the hives have been cleaned up, but there are quite a few bees left.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Bee Trees"}]

Cheyenne beekeeper Michael Jordan is familiar with bee trees. They’re an indication that a colony of bees is actively house-hunting.

Almost a week after a semitruck carrying millions of bees flipped over in Yellowstone National Park and destroyed hundreds of hives, bees are still swarming on trees in the area. “It’s what's called a swarming mechanism,” said a Wyoming beekeeper.

Daily Cartoon: Wednesday, April 23, 2025

More in Daily Cartoon

Daily Cartoon 2: Wednesday, June 24, 2026

Daily Cartoon 1: Wednesday, June 24, 2026

Daily Cartoon 1: Tuesday, June 23, 2026

Daily Cartoon 2: Tuesday, June 23, 2026

Most read