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[{"type":"text","text":"Getting old sucks...."}]

Comedy 5 6 25

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

<title>Today In Comedy: Tuesday, May 6, 2025 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Getting old sucks....

Today In Comedy: Tuesday, May 6, 2025

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

Greg Johnson

Crime & Courts

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

Coy Knobel

Don Day Weather

Sunny, smoky in Wyoming on Friday. Mostly clear with areas of smoke overnight.  Highs from the mid 80s to upper 90s. Lows from the upper 40s to mid 60s.

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

Areas of smoke before 7 a.m., sunny, hot and breezy today with a high near 98 and wind gusts as high as 24 mph. Mostly clear overnight with a low near 61.

Areas of smoke before 7 a.m., sunny and hot today with a high near 98 and wind gusts as high as 20 mph. Mostly clear and breezy overnight with a low near 58 and wind gusts as high as 23 mph.

  Areas of smoke, sunny and hot today with a high near 99 and mostly clear overnight with areas of smoke and a low near 59.

  Patchy smoke before 9 a.m., sunny today with a high near 92 and partly cloudy overnight with a low near 54.

  Patchy smoke before 7 a.m., sunny and breezy today with a high near 96 and wind gusts as high as 24 mph. Mostly clear and breezy overnight with a low near 59 and wind gusts as high as 24 mph.

 Patchy smoke before 7 a.m., sunny and breezy today with a high near 91 and wind gusts as high as 25 mph. Mostly clear and breezy overnight with a low near 55 and wind gusts as high as 24 mph.

 Patchy smoke before 7 a.m., sunny and breezy today with a high near 89 and wind gusts as high as 23 mph. Mostly clear and breezy overnight with a low near 51 and wind gusts as high as 21 mph.

 Patchy smoke before 7 a.m., sunny today with a high near 93 and mostly clear overnight with a low near 53.

  Patchy smoke before 7 a.m., sunny and breezy today with a high near 89 and wind gusts as high as 21 mph. Mostly clear overnight with a low near 48 and wind gusts as high as 20 mph.

 Patchy smoke before 7 a.m., sunny and breezy today with a high near 86 and wind gusts as high as 29 mph. Mostly clear and breezy overnight with a low near 54 and wind gusts as high as 23 mph.

  Patchy smoke before 7 a.m., sunny today with a high near 91 and mostly clear overnight with a low near 52.

Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park

:  Areas of smoke before 7 a.m., sunny today with a high near 84 and mostly clear overnight with a low near 48.

Areas of smoke before 7 a.m., sunny and hot today with a high near 98 and mostly clear overnight with a low near 64.

:  Areas of smoke before 7 a.m., sunny today with a high near 93 and mostly clear overnight with a low near 65.

  Areas of smoke before 7 a.m., sunny and hot today with a high near 97 and mostly clear overnight with a low near 60.

   Areas of smoke before 7 a.m., sunny today with a high near 92 and mostly clear overnight with a low near 65.

  Areas of smoke, partly sunny and hot today with a high near 96 and mostly clear overnight with areas of smoke and a low near 55.

:   Patchy smoke, partly sunny and hot today with a high near 95 and mostly clear overnight with areas of smoke and a low near 57.

Areas of smoke, mostly sunny today with a high near 94 and wind gusts as high as 23 mph. Mostly clear overnight with areas of smoke before midnight, a low near 60 and wind gusts as high as 20 mph.

   Areas of smoke, mostly sunny today with a high near 90 and wind gusts as high as 21 mph. Mostly clear overnight with areas of smoke before midnight, a low near 63 and wind gusts as high as 21 mph.

:  Areas of smoke after 9 a.m., sunny today with a high near 91 and wind gusts as high as 16 mph. Mostly clear overnight with areas of smoke before 9 p.m., a low near 60 and wind gusts as high as 17 mph.

  Areas of smoke, sunny and hot today with a high near 96 and mostly clear overnight with areas of smoke, a low near 60 and wind gusts as high as 25 mph.

  Areas of smoke, sunny and hot today with a high near 97 and mostly clear overnight with areas of smoke and a low near 59.

  Areas of smoke before 7 a.m., sunny, hot and breezy today with a high near 97 and wind gusts as high as 24 mph. Mostly clear and breezy overnight with a low near 60 and wind gusts as high as 21 mph.

   Areas of smoke, sunny and hot today with a high near 93 and mostly clear overnight with areas of smoke and a low near 61.

  Areas of smoke, sunny and hot today with a high near 90 and mostly clear overnight with areas of smoke after 8 p.m. and a low near 56.

  Areas of smoke, sunny and hot today with a high near 93 and mostly clear overnight with areas of smoke and a low near 63.

   Red flag fire warning from 11 a.m. today until 8 p.m. tonight. Areas of smoke, sunny, hot and breezy today with a high near 93 and wind gusts as high as 30 mph. Mostly clear overnight with areas of smoke and a low near 59. 

   Red flag fire warning from 11 a.m. today until 8 p.m. tonight. Areas of smoke, sunny and hot today with a high near 92 and wind gusts as high as 25 mph. Mostly clear overnight with areas of smoke and a low near 55. 

   Patchy smoke before 7 a.m., sunny and breezy today with a high near 91 and wind gusts as high as 21 mph. Mostly clear overnight with a low near 54.

Daycap small 8 7 26

<title>Don Day's Wyoming Weather Forecast: Friday, August 7, 2026 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Sunny, smoky in Wyoming on Friday. Mostly clear with areas of smoke overnight. Highs from the mid 80s to upper 90s. Lows from the upper 40s to mid 60s.

Don Day's Wyoming Weather Forecast: Friday, August 7, 2026

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily political columnist, Rod Miller.

Rod Miller

Opinion

CSD Columnists

It was a hot, sultry night in the Red Desert, without a breath of cooling breeze. 

All that could be heard was the grumbling of the exhausted cowboys - and rattlesnakes copulating in the sagebrush. 

Our crew of stalwarts had been gathering that rough and vacant country south of Wamsutter for three weeks straight, sleeping on the ground in their grimy soogans and eating nothing but Cookie’s scorched frijoles and biscuits. 

“I stink so bad,” growled Sourdough, “iff’n I fell off my horse dead, the damn coyotes would starve before they took a bite o’ my carcass.” 

He spat a stream of Copenhagen juice into the dying embers of the campfire.

Goshen Gus held his nose and replied, “Pard, we’re all walkin’ talkin’ scratch n’ sniff advertisements fer industrial strength deodorant. Somethin’s gotta change, an pronto!”

“Cheer up, fellers,” chimed in Rawhide Ricky from Rawlins, “there’s an election comin’ up. That oughta change things.”

Sweetwater Slim shook his sweaty Stetson and replied, “Change ain’t always good. I read a book by this dead Italian feller, Mac Avelli, an’ he said change is risky.”

“Hold on there, Slim,” Deacon from Dayton said, “s’posin’ yer horse is bedrocked an’ you jes climb on a fresh one. You gotta admit, that’s a good change.”

Slim stiffened, rising to debate, and said, “Okay, smart guy. S’posin’ you go to sleep under a clear, starry sky on a warm night, an’ you wake up in a whiteout blizzard, covered with snow an’ freezin’ your cojones. Do you call that a good change?”

Deacon chuckled and retorted, “About as good a change as when you dumped yer wife an’ married Butcherknife Lil, that dance hall gal.”

“Hold yer horses, pards,” chimed in Panhandle, “this here’s serious stuff. Iff’n we don’t like what’s goin’ on in this country, we can change things. I’m purty shore that’s wrote down somewheres in our constitution.” 

Tuckered heads nodded around the ol’ campfire at Panhandle’s political wisdom.

He continued, “Take Trump, fer instance. We was goin’ to hell in a handcart, what with the commies an’ all, an’ we elected Trump an’ he changed things.”

“Iff’n ya call a reflectin’ pool that won’t reflect a good change,” this from Rawhide Ricky, “then I have a surfside cabana in Wamsutter I wanna sell ya.”

[{"type":"text","text":"A fierce Socratic debate raged around the ol’ campfire. "}]

Caballeros who embraced change argued that it was a law of the universe. Without change, entropy would take over and we would spiral slowly into a cold, dead state.

Bronc peelers who hated change countered that the status quo is always kinder to humanity. They defended the “old ways” by pointing out that, in their lifetimes, change had offered civilization nothing but street riots, miniskirts and disco.

Just as the rhetorical pot was fixin’ to boil over, Trail Boss stepped into the circle of firelight. He addressed the crew with, “Fellers, we’re gonna make some changes around here.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Half the cowboys looked hopeful, the other half looked skeptical."}]

Trail Boss continued, “I got word from headquarters. Y’all get to change underwear!”

Whoops of glee erupted around the ol’ campfire, Stetsons were tossed in the air and rancid cowboys patted each other on the back.

When the tumult died down, Trail Boss added, “Panhandle, you change with Slim. Gus, you change with Rawhide. Sourdough, you change with me.” And so on.

Rod Miller can be reached at: RodsMillerWyo@yahoo.com

Rod miller headshot scaled

<title>Rod Miller: Changes Around The Ol’ Campfire | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Columnist Rod Miller writes, "It was a hot, sultry night in the Red Desert, without a breath of cooling breeze. All that could be heard was the grumbling of the exhausted cowboys and rattlesnakes copulating in the sagebrush."

Rod Miller: Changes Around The Ol’ Campfire

Wyoming Sunrise

Today's Wyoming sunrise was captured by David Osmundsen. David writes, "Sunrise over Circle Park Road in the Bighorn Mountains. I woke up and sat sipping hot coffee to this view every morning  while at camp."

[{"type":"text","text":"To submit your Wyoming sunrise, email us at: News@CowboyStateDaily.com"}]

NOTE: Please send us the highest-quality version of your photo. The larger the file, the better.

[{"type":"text","text":"NOTE #2: Please include where you are from and where the photo was taken."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"NOTE #3: Tell us about your sunrise. What do you like about it?"}]

NOTE #4: We prefer horizontal photos. We can use vertical but horizontal is preferred.

Sunrise small 8 7 26

<title>Your Wyoming Sunrise: Friday, August 7, 2026 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Your Wyoming Sunrise: Friday, August 7, 2026

Heinz mark

Mark Heinz

Wildlife

A Yellowstone bull bison with a gigantic abscess on its right rear quarter probably isn’t suffering much pain and will likely survive, one of the county’s top bison ranchers says.

But the recovery process is going to be good, said Ken Klemm, past president and a lifelong member of the National Bison Association.

After seeing a photo of the bison, taken early Wednesday in Yellowstone National Park’s Lamar Valley, Klemm said a gushing rupture of the abscess is imminent.

“It looks like a 5-gallon bucketful of stuff will come out of that one,” Klemm, who has managed some of the world’s largest bison ranches, told Cowboy State Daily.

The abscess probably formed around a wound, he said.

The bison rut, or mating season, is on in Yellowstone. The bull might have suffered a puncture during a fight with another bull, Klemm said.

Lauri Foster lives just outside of New York City and loves coming to Wyoming to visit Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks.

Early Wednesday, she was on a wildlife-viewing drive through the Lamar Valley when she spotted the bull sporting a huge, bulbous mass near its backside.

Foster works with horses and is familiar with injuries to large animals, so she knew what she saw on the bison must be something serious.

“I thought it had to be a hematoma or an abscess,” she told Cowboy State Daily.

Foster couldn’t see any visible cuts or sores that might indicate exactly where it was wounded, she said.

To keep safe, Foster stayed in her vehicle to photograph that bull and other bison.

The bulls were raising a ruckus as they competed for mating rights.

“They were headbutting each other and chasing each other down,” Foster said.

The bull with the abscess was taking a break, though she surmised he had probably been recently wounded in a fight.

She added that despite how hideous that abscess looked, the bull didn’t seem sick or weak.

“He was walking along normally,” she said.

The rut has made bull bison extra agitated lately. In the most dramatic incident, a bison flipped and seriously injured Washington state resident Carl Isom-McDaniel, 65, in July.

Foster said at one point the bull walked up the middle of the road and stopped directly in front of her vehicle, giving her the stink-eye.

“I was thinking, ‘this is a little intimidating,’” she said.

Bull elk are known for getting into epic battles once their rut starts, usually in September.

Bison take it to another level, Klemm said.

“They’re worse than elk. If the loser doesn’t get away, the other bull will kill him,” he said.

The National Park Service has a general policy of letting nature take its course with animals’ injuries.

Klemm said the bull with the super-sized abscess has a good chance of making it.

“The infection is just raging in there,” he said. "The immune system is keeping that bison from dying, just from walking around with that much infectious material in its body.

“I suspect it will burst fairly soon and he’ll get over it. Bison have unbelievably good immune systems for things like this.” 

Bison abcess 8 6 26

<title>Bison Rancher: Yellowstone Bull With Gigantic Abscess Will Be OK Once It Gushes | Cowboy State Daily</title>

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.

Bison Rancher: Yellowstone Bull With Gigantic Abscess Will Be OK Once It Gushes

Employee kate meadows cropped

Kate Meadows

Around Wyoming

Legislature

Students in Lincoln County School District No. 1 will have to leave their smartphones, smartwatches and other internet-connected devices behind during the school day starting this fall — and those who repeatedly violate the rule could end up paying for it.

The district's board of trustees has adopted a Smart Device Policy for the 2026-27 school year that prohibits students from possessing smart devices on campus during school hours. 

Students caught violating the policy three times will face a $25 fine, a provision district leaders say is intended to change behavior rather than generate revenue.

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.

“In education, you have to be able to gain and keep students’ attention for them to learn,” said Shawn Rogers, principal of Kemmerer Junior-Senior High School. “When you’re competing with a cellphone, you’re going to lose every time.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Legislature Puts Districts in Charge"}]

The move comes as schools across the state consider how to monitor smart-device usage.

Campbell County School District in June approved a ban for K–8 students between opening and end-of-day bells, with high school students allowed to use their cellphones between class periods and during lunch.

Cody High School in Park County School District 6 also implemented a total ban.

Last year, Cowboy State Daily reported on 

a total ban implemented at Evanston High School

EHS English teacher Laura Clarito said the ban changed the attitudes of students.

“Since cellphones were disallowed, I have seen more engagement in coursework and more conversation during downtime,” Clarito said. “Kids aren't phone zombies now, they are humans.”

Both Rogers and Dearden said Lincoln County School District No. 1’s new policy is a direct result of the recent legislation.

“There was a need for it,” Rogers said. “We were really happy that our Legislature finally gave us something to go on. We feel like we battle with those phones so much it’s definitely a distraction.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"The $25 Fee"}]

Rogers said school administrators and board members researched what other states were doing to implement smart-device policies. In Texas, they learned, some districts are imposing fines for policy violations.

As the Lincoln County district considered how to change behavior, leaders thought a fee on a third offense made sense.  

“On the third offense, the behavior’s not changing,” Rogers said. “We would hope that it doesn’t get to that point.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Student Council To Receive Money"}]

Dearden said any fines collected will be deposited into the district’s student council fund.

[{"type":"text","text":"Rogers said he hopes the council won’t see much money from this source."}]

“I’m hoping it’s not going to be that big of a deal,” Rogers said. “Even if the fund collects $300, that means 12 students pushed it to three offenses.”

[{"type":"text","text":"That, he said, would signal a larger problem."}]

“I would hope that parents would make kids pay their own fine if it gets to that level,” he added.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Community Feedback"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"The policy has generated spirited debate within the community."}]

Discussions on social media revealed sharply divided opinions, though no one spoke directly to Cowboy State Daily when asked to share their thoughts.

Some argued a ban on smart devices violated personal property rights. Others questioned how students would contact their parents in an emergency such as a shooting.

Others said the school office should be in charge of communicating with parents as necessary. Many supported the policy, saying students have the right to an education, not a right to a cellphone.

“Everyone I’ve spoken to is in support of it,” Rogers said, “though I’m not naïve enough to believe there aren’t naysayers.”

Dearden said no community members have spoken publicly at board meetings about the policy. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘Win Back Education’"}]

The Lincoln County district’s policy points to research showing the mere presence of a cellphone reduces cognitive capacity.

 suggesting that banning smartphones in schools has a positive impact. She also shared a 

study from the National Library of Medicine

 that explored the impact of smartphone use on a student’s understanding of course material and psychological well-being in the classroom.

The policy declares Kemmerer Junior-Senior High School a “smart device free zone” from the first bell to the final bell.

It defines a smart device as “any portable electronic tool capable of connecting to external networks (including but not limited to Wi-Fi, cellular data or Bluetooth) or possessing independent processing power to store, record, or transmit data. This includes, but is not limited to, cellular phones, smartphones, smartwatches, tablets, e-readers, handheld gaming consoles, and wearable technology.”

Students can leave their devices in a locked vehicle or place them in a secure lockbox at the front office before school begins.

A first violation results in confiscation of a device until the end of the school day. A second offense requires a parent or guardian to retrieve it from the school.

[{"type":"text","text":"A third violation carries the $25 fine."}]

The policy also includes what administrators call a "burner device" provision. Students who place a dummy or decoy phone in a lockbox while secretly keeping their primary device will automatically receive a third offense.

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

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