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

<title>Daily Smile: Tuesday, April 29, 2025 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Daily Smile: Tuesday, April 29, 2025

 How to tell the difference between a purebred Chihuahua and an inbred Chihuahua....

Employee kate meadows cropped

Kate Meadows

Business

A proposed horse betting and bar facility on the north side of Interstate 80 in Evanston has cleared a key hurdle after the city's Planning and Zoning Commission approved a conditional-use permit for the project this week, but not without some vocal opposition from nearby residents.

They argue the development would bring casino-style gambling into the middle of a residential neighborhood. 

Supporters counter that the proposal meets all zoning requirements and would expand an established commercial corridor that has hosted off-track betting operations for decades.

The recommendation now moves to the Evanston City Council, which will decide whether to grant final approval.

If approved, Wyoming Downs LLC would build on undeveloped lots at 27 and 29 Allegiance Circle and 283 Wasatch Road, across the interstate from the existing Horse Palace Gateway near Exit 3.

The project has drawn sharp opposition from nearby residents, who argue the development would bring casino-style gambling into the middle of a residential neighborhood. Supporters counter that the proposal meets all zoning requirements and would expand an established commercial corridor that has hosted off-track betting operations for decades.

According to a staff report obtained by Cowboy State Daily, the project would be built in two phases inside a single commercial building totaling 52,938 square feet.

At full buildout, it would include 520 gaming seats, 68 bar seats and 49 lounge seats, for a capacity of 637. The proposed bar would seat 27 customers.

Developers estimate the business would employ about 25 people during the first phase and roughly 125 employees once construction is complete. Customer traffic is projected to average about 400 people per day, although that would fluctuate depending on the season and time of day.

The plans also include on-site parking and lighting. No perimeter fencing or screening is currently proposed.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Long Road To Approval"}]

Monday's vote represents the latest step in a process that began last year.

In November, the Planning and Zoning Commission recommended changing the property's zoning designation from Industrial to Highway Business and amending the city's comprehensive plan to accommodate an off-track betting facility. 

The Evanston City Council later approved those changes, paving the way for Wyoming Downs to apply for a conditional-use permit.

Brooke Bulgrin of Inberg-Miller Engineers represented Wyoming Downs during Monday's hearing.

The meeting was not livestreamed, and Evanston Senior Planner DuWayne Johnson declined to discuss the public comments presented during the meeting.

Calls and emails seeking comment from Evanston Mayor Kent Williams were not returned before publication.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'Same Thing On The North Side'"}]

City Councilman Evan Perkes said the proposed business would largely mirror the existing Horse Palace Gateway across the freeway.

"It's going to be the same thing, on the north side of the freeway," Perkes told Cowboy State Daily.

He said Wyoming Downs hopes to attract visitors from Utah's Wasatch Front. Gambling is prohibited in the Beehive State.

"They're trying to appeal to the millions of people in Utah that can make the 70-mile drive and gamble," Perkes said.

Perkes noted that the property has remained vacant for years and said the proposal complies with the property's zoning.

"This meets all the zoning requirements," he said. "So, it's hard to turn something down when they meet all the requirements."

He added that if the project proceeds, the city and developer intend to orient lighting toward Interstate 80 rather than nearby homes.

Perkes also pointed to the success of Horse Palace Gateway, saying it has created jobs and remained busy since opening. The Horse Palace Gateway previously kept both its original, smaller betting facility and the its larger facility open simultaneously.

"The older one is a nice little, quaint little place for the locals," Perkes said. "They can go in there and sit at a machine and B.S. with their neighbors."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Nearby Residents Remain Opposed"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Not everyone is convinced the project is a good idea."}]

Wendy Kelly, who lives near the proposed site, said neighbors remain concerned about increased traffic, noise and diesel exhaust from trucks that may idle in the parking lot.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"Needless to say, we're not happy,\" Kelly said."}]

She also questioned whether Evanston needs another gambling facility so close to the existing Horse Palace Gateway.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"We can't foresee that the town needs this,\" she said."}]

Kelly acknowledged she always expected the long-vacant property would eventually be developed.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"But another casino, opposite the other one?\" she said."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"A Familiar Use"}]

City planners noted that off-track betting has operated near Exit 3 for decades.

According to the staff report, the Planning and Zoning Commission approved a conditional use permit in 1989 allowing Ladbroke Racing Wyoming Inc. to offer simulcast wagering at what was then the Weston Super Budget Inn on Harrison Drive, now the High Country Inn.

Several other off-track betting permits have been approved in the commercial corridor since then.

The city's Engineering and Planning Department reported receiving no complaints regarding off-track betting uses within the Highway Business district.

The City Council will have the final say on whether Wyoming Downs receives permission to move forward with construction.

Evanston and Wyoming downs inset 8 5 26

<title>Evanston Locals ‘Not Happy’ With Horse-Betting Parlor In Residential Neighborhood | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A proposed horse betting and bar facility in a residential are of Evanston has cleared a key hurdle this week, but not without some vocal opposition from locals. "Needless to say, we're not happy," said one angry resident.

Evanston Locals ‘Not Happy’ With Horse-Betting Parlor In Residential Neighborhood

Coy Knobel

Don Day Weather

Sunny, smoky in Wyoming on Wednesday and smoky overnight. Highs from the upper 70s to near 90. Lows from near 40 to upper 50s.

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

Areas of smoke, sunny today with a high near 88 mostly clear overnight with areas of smoke and a low near 52.

Areas of smoke, sunny today with a high near 90 and mostly clear overnight with widespread smoke mainly before 8 p.m. and a low near 53.

  Areas of smoke, sunny today with a high near 89 mostly clear overnight with areas of smoke and a low near 55.

  Patchy smoke, sunny today with a high near 83 and mostly clear overnight with patchy smoke and a low near 46.

  Patchy smoke, sunny and breezy today with a high near 86 and wind gusts as high as 25 mph. Mostly clear and breezy overnight with areas of smoke, a low near 50 and wind gusts as high as 25 mph.

 Areas of smoke, sunny today with a high near 84 and wind gusts as high as 21 mph. Mostly clear overnight with areas of smoke and a low near 39.

 Areas of smoke, sunny and breezy today with a high near 79 and wind gusts as high as 23 mph. Mostly clear and breezy overnight with areas of smoke, a low near 42 and wind gusts as high as 24 mph.

 Areas of smoke, sunny today with a high near 84 mostly clear overnight with areas of smoke and a low near 45.

  Areas of smoke, sunny and breezy today with a high near 82 and wind gusts as high as 22 mph. Partly cloudy and breezy overnight with patchy smoke, a low near 39 and wind gusts as high as 24 mph.

 Areas of smoke, sunny and breezy today with a high near 78 and wind gusts as high as 26 mph. Mostly clear and breezy overnight with areas of smoke, a low near 46 and wind gusts as high as 26 mph.

  Areas of smoke, sunny today with a high near 83 mostly clear overnight with areas of smoke and a low near 44.

Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park

:  Widespread smoke mainly before 8 a.m., sunny today with a high near 75 and mostly clear overnight with areas of smoke and a low near 41.

Areas of smoke, sunny today with a high near 88 and mostly clear overnight with areas of smoke, a low near 56 and wind gusts as high as 20 mph.

:  Widespread smoke mainly before 2 p.m., sunny today with a high near 83 and mostly clear overnight with areas of smoke and a low near 56.

  Widespread smoke mainly before 8 a.m., sunny today with a high near 82 and mostly clear overnight with areas of smoke and a low near 52.

   Areas of smoke, sunny today with a high near 81 and mostly clear overnight with areas of smoke and a low near 56.

  Patchy smoke after noon, mostly sunny today with a high near 88 and mostly clear overnight with patchy smoke and a low near 50.

:   Patchy smoke after 9 a.m., mostly sunny today with a high near 86 and mostly clear overnight with patchy smoke and a low near 52.

Areas of smoke, sunny today with a high near 82 and wind gusts as high as 20 mph. Mostly clear overnight with areas of smoke, a low near 54 and wind gusts as high as 20 mph.

   Areas of smoke, sunny today with a high near 80 and wind gusts as high as 16 mph. Mostly clear overnight with areas of smoke and a low near 56.

:  Areas of smoke, sunny today with a high near 82 and wind gusts as high as 17 mph. Mostly clear overnight with areas of smoke, a low near 54 and wind gusts as high as 17 mph.

  Patchy smoke, mostly sunny today with a high near 82 and partly cloudy overnight with patchy smoke before 9 p.m. and a low near 58.

  Patchy smoke, mostly sunny today with a high near 81 and partly cloudy overnight with patchy smoke before 11 p.m. and a low near 54.

  Areas of smoke, sunny today with a high near 87 and wind gusts as high as 21 mph. Mostly clear overnight with areas of smoke, a low near 53 and wind gusts as high as 20 mph.

   Patchy smoke, mostly sunny today with a high near 80 and partly cloudy overnight with patchy smoke before 7 p.m. and a low near 53.

  Patchy smoke, sunny today with a high near 81 and partly cloudy overnight with patchy smoke and a low near 49.

  Patchy smoke, mostly sunny today with a high near 82 and partly cloudy overnight with patchy smoke and a low near 47.

   Patchy smoke, mostly sunny today with a high near 82 and partly cloudy overnight with patchy smoke and a low near 53.

   Patchy smoke, mostly sunny today with a high near 84 and partly cloudy overnight with patchy smoke and a low near 46.

   Patchy smoke, mostly sunny today with a high near 81 and partly cloudy overnight with patchy smoke and a low near 50.

Daycap 8 5 26 small

<title>Don Day's Wyoming Weather Forecast: Wednesday, August 5, 2026 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Sunny, smoky in Wyoming on Wednesday and smoky overnight.  Highs from the upper 70s to near 90. Lows from near 40 to upper 50s.

Don Day's Wyoming Weather Forecast: Wednesday, August 5, 2026

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Crime & Courts

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Good car dealer 6 12 26

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

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

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

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

Greg Johnson

Courts

A 34-year-old Upton man denies allegations he pulled a gun on a group of people at a Gillette hotel and threatened to “put a bullet in everybody’s head.”

That’s what Gillette Police Department investigators allege a reportedly intoxicated Dakota Adams did during a Saturday confrontation with his girlfriend while their children were present at the National 9 Inn on the east side of the city.

Police were contacted by a bystander at the hotel who reported Adams, who “appeared to be intoxicated and extremely aggravated” and arguing with a woman, while another man and her older children were behind her, according to an affidavit of probable cause written by GPD Officer Kimberly Hockman.

“Dakota had a revolver in his hand and threatened to ‘put a bullet in everybody’s head,’” the affidavit says.

The witness “explained it appeared to be a family dispute between Dakota and a female,” Hockman wrote, adding that Adams and the woman were in a five-year relationship, but that she wanted out.

In fact, she was at the hotel with another man, identified in the affidavit as her new boyfriend.

By the time police arrived at the National 9, Adams had “placed the revolver in his waistband and left the area in a gray Ford Edge with no rear plate … (and) with two children in the back seat,” the affidavit says.

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

Because Adams may have been armed and the children in the back of the car — which belonged to his father, and who was in the car with Adams — police were prepared to conduct a “high-risk stop,” Hockman wrote.

They wouldn’t need to, as Adams pulled into a gas station, where police caught up to him, according to the affidavit.

Hockman then arrived with the girlfriend, who “explained she had come to Gillette to cash her paycheck,” and that her “vehicle was parked outside of the National 9 because her new boyfriend resided there,” she wrote.

The woman had been getting repeated phone calls and text messages from Adams, then he spotted her car at the hotel, the affidavit says.

“When (the woman) came outside to roll up her windows, Dakota was in the passenger seat of (his father’s) vehicle watching her,” the document continues. “Dakota got out and started walking towards (her) and her two older children.”

Believing Adams was trying to get to the two older children to take them with him, the girlfriend told police that he “repeatedly said, ‘Get the f*** out of my way’ and tried pushing past (the woman),” according to the affidavit.

She said she told Adams to leave because of how he was behaving and she didn’t want him scaring their kids.

Adams eventually retreated back to his father’s car, then emerged with a gun.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Not The First Time"}]

The woman told police that she heard his father say, “Cody, don’t,” and explained that they all sometimes would call Adams “Cody.”

That’s when she “looked back and saw Dakota pointing the gun directly at her,” the affidavit says. “Dakota said something to the effect of, ‘Why don’t I just cut everybody in this mother f***er down’ while waving the gun around.”

Adams allegedly backed off when he realized that others were watching the confrontation and that at least one bystander had called police.

The woman also said that Adams “was a chronic alcoholic and this was not the first time Dakota had become belligerent and aggressive towards her,” Hockman wrote, “even stating this was not the first time he threatened her with a gun.”

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

For his part, Adams denies threatening anyone and initially claimed he didn’t pull a gun. He later admitted he did get a gun from the car and had it in his hand, but denied pointing it at anyone, the affidavit says.

“Dakota advised he was in town from Upton with his father and two children to do some grocery shopping and to run a few errands,” the affidavit says. “One of those errands was shopping at Gun Traders, where he stated he purchased a ‘defective’ Taurus handgun revolver.”

[{"type":"text","text":"He also said the gun wasn’t loaded."}]

Adams knew his girlfriend was at the hotel because she was having trouble cashing a check and was there.

The woman “came outside yelling at him, saying she wanted to end their relationship,” according to the affidavit. “While (she) was yelling at Dakota, she ‘nudged’ him away; however, Dakota never expressed that he felt threatened.”

The Upton man also told police that “he realized what he did was ‘dumb’ and put the gun back,” the affidavit continues.

The man who initially called 911 told police that Adams allegedly confronted him about calling police and that he “believed he may be shot by Dakota at this time,” Hockman wrote.

That’s when Adams then opened the cylinder on his revolver and said there were no bullets in it, got into his car and left the hotel.

Adams was arrested Saturday and had his first appearance in Campbell County Circuit Court on Monday.

A preliminary hearing to determine if there’s enough evidence to continue with a felony prosecution is set for Monday.

If convicted of aggravated assault, Adams could face a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $10,000, or both.

National 9 Inn Gillette 8 4 26

<title>Upton Man Denies Pulling Gun, Threating To ‘Put A Bullet In Everybody’s Head’ | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A 34-year-old Upton man denies he pulled a gun on a group of people at a Gillette hotel Saturday and threatened to “put a bullet in everybody’s head.” Police say the threat was made during a confrontation with his girlfriend and her new boyfriend.

Upton Man Denies Pulling Gun, Threating To ‘Put A Bullet In Everybody’s Head’

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

Clair McFarland

Politics

Numerous Wyoming Republicans are propping their messaging this election season on trans sports bans. 

Which has prompted a debate about who gets credit for the Wyoming’s set of bans on transgender athletes in girls’ and women’s school sports. 

The reflexive answer is the bills’ sponsor, Sen. Wendy Schuler, R-Evanston. But Schuler in her Tuesday phone interview chuckled at her fairness-in-sports-bills becoming high-profile campaign fodder for others, and said, “it takes a village.” 

Her first blanket trans sports ban failed the state House of Representatives in 2022. Her second ban, for grades 7-12, passed the Legislature with 79 Republican lawmakers in favor. 

[{"type":"text","text":"So did her third girls’ sports bill extending the ban to college. "}]

[{"type":"text","text":"What The Candidates, Or The PACs, Are Saying"}]

Secretary of State Chuck Gray has campaigned on sports fairness in at least one YouTube video in his bid for the GOP nomination to U.S. House. 

Also the Protecting Wyoming Values PAC, which backs Gray, dispatched a mailer this summer noting he co-sponsored one of the fairness bills. 

As of July 29, that PAC had raised nearly $1 million and was funded exclusively by Gray’s father, 

The mailer shows a heavyset, hairy male with an ample chest, wearing a crop top, grimacing down at a soccer ball while smaller females frown behind him. 

It also says Gray “made banning biological males from women’s college sports a top priority” and notes that Gray “blasted” politicians who didn’t sue over President Joe Biden’s trans-friendly reinterpretation of federal education laws. 

Wyoming sued over those rules in August 2024, three months after Gray lamented it hadn’t. 

A message from the campaign of Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder, who is running for governor, says she championed Wyoming’s ban on transgender athletes from high school into college. It also notes she led Wyoming’s 2024 litigation against the Biden administration over its reinterpretation. 

And the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, which comprises a controversial group of Republican state House legislators, wrote in a Facebook post this week: “We protected women’s sports from men.” 

In context, Gray did not mobilize Wyoming’s enacted trans-athlete bans directly because the successful versions passed once Gray was in the executive branch, overseeing elections and business filings.

[{"type":"text","text":"Degenfelder has not served in the Legislature."}]

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

Daily Smile: Tuesday, April 29, 2025

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