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It's hard to blame the season on this one as there doesn't appear to be any ice....

Winter 8 12 25

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

<title>Today In Winter: Tuesday, August 12, 2025 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Today In Winter: Tuesday, August 12, 2025

 It's hard to blame the season on this one as there doesn't appear to be any ice....

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

Clair McFarland

Government & Politics

Legislature

to loosen Wyoming’s restrictions on selling raw milk and certain other home-grown foods, state lawmakers advanced a “Band-Aid” measure this week.

The proposed law change is not perfect, Sen. Bob Ide, R-Casper, conceded during a meeting of the Agriculture, State and Public Lands & Water Resources Committee, which he co-chairs.

“We are trying to put a Band-Aid on something right now,” said Ide. “But I think the Band-Aid’s probably good … and we maybe can amend it in committee before it goes to the floor.”

The bill seeks to give the director of the Wyoming Department of Agriculture the discretion to give one exemption each, for home food sellers wanting to sell products outside the designated food-freedom sale sites already in law.  

It’s an answer to outcry over the stop-sale order the Hippy Cow Creamery in Cody

 for selling raw-milk lattes out of a shop a few feet from the owners’ home kitchen.

It’s also a stopgap meant to prop up a complicated law that needs much more detailed rewriting, multiple lawmakers and advocates said in the Tuesday meeting.

Wyoming Department of Agriculture Director Doug Miamoto indicated the stopgap emerged from concern about rolling the state’s food freedom law back too much.

He said it’s hard “to figure out how you would craft that wording so that you don’t create a dumping ground out of the state of Wyoming for corporate food manufacturers that could make a claim that, you know, (their wares are) homemade food.”

Miamoto said discretion may give the department the ability to identify true local producers and their intentions for exemptions that pose “no health and safety risk.”

“I’m under no illusion we’re going to fix this overnight,” said Rep. Steve Johnson, R-Cheyenne, who brought the bill to the committee after leading a working group on the topic. “I’d like to get this bill passed, and help Hippy Cow Creamery, and anyone else that needs an exemption like that.”

But Sen. Barry Crago, R-Buffalo, worried aloud that the bill might not help Hippy Cow. 

The shop didn’t just run into trouble for selling raw-milk lattes outside the owners’ home, but also for selling coffee without a commercial license.

[{"type":"text","text":"So Give Coffee Away"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Miamoto hinted at a workaround."}]

“We have muffler shops all over the state that give away coffee,” he said. “You could do that.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Rep. Bob Davis, R-Baggs, pressed for clarification."}]

“So he (the shop owner) essentially is giving away the coffee, and then selling the raw milk?” asked Davis.

“That’s correct,” said Miamoto. “If he wanted to operate without a license we couldn’t allow him to sell the coffee itself because that requires a license.”

[{"type":"text","text":"That would leave only the location problem to exempt, indicated Miamoto."}]

Crago said he wants to help people toward food freedom, but he also voiced uncertainty toward workarounds and potential vague points in the bill.

“Let’s not make promises that are hollow,” he said. “Let’s actually get to the bottom of this and start digging into the statute itself, and figure out what we want to regulate and what we don’t.”

Crago ultimately voted for the bill, saying he was still hoping for a longer-term fix.

The committee adopted it 12-2, meaning it could go into the January 2027 lawmaking session with an edge. If it passes, the bill would not become effective until July of next year.

Davis and Rep. Karlee Provenza, D-Laramie, voted against it, both saying the policy change would offload the Legislature’s responsibility to make laws onto an executive-branch department head.

“I support the effort of what we’re trying to do,” said Provenza. “But there’s intent, and there’s impact.”

Food Freedom provenza and johnson 7 30 26

<title>Food Freedom: Legislators Advance ‘Band-Aid’ For Shutdown Of Cody Creamery | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Wyoming legislators have advanced a “Band-Aid” solution to food freedom laws that led to shutting down Hippie Cow Creamery in Cody over selling raw milk lattes. “I’m under no illusion we’re going to fix this overnight,” said one lawmaker.

Food Freedom: Legislators Advance ‘Band-Aid’ For Shutdown Of Cody Creamery

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

Andrew Rossi

Business & Tourism

Dozens of horses might have been exposed to a highly contagious disease recently at the Park County Fair in Powell.

On Tuesday, Smallwood Horses announced it was placing its Powell facility under a voluntary two-week quarantine after one of its horses presented symptoms of an infection of the bacterium Streptococcus equi, also known as Strangles.

“This horse presented no symptoms before, during, or immediately after (the) fair,” Ashley Smallwood said 

. “Veterinarians contacted about possible exposure suggest that the horses attending the fair be monitored for symptoms.”

Britt Whitt of Whitt Veterinary Services in Powell released a statement saying strangles is “a highly infectious disease” with “high morbidity and low mortality.”

“In the case of an outbreak, many animals that are exposed will develop the disease, but very few will die from the disease,” Whitt said.

Whitt was not available for additional information at the time of publication. Smallwood told Cowboy State Daily she would “absolutely not” discuss the exposure and quarantine.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"How Serious Is Strangles?"}]

Erin Brus is a Certified Equine Massage Therapist (CEMT), veterinary technician, and horse owner working in Park County. She had strong feelings about the strangles exposure at the Park County Fair.

“On a personal level, there are a lot of words I cannot use,” she told Cowboy State Daily. “On a professional level, I’m severely disappointed.”

Brus explained that strangles affects horses like a combination of “pneumonia and a really bad head cold.” Symptoms include a high fever, swollen lymph nodes, nasal discharge, lethargy, and loss of appetite.

What concerns Brus and other horse owners is how easily strangles can spread.

“It is, by far, one of the most contagious sicknesses there is,” she said. “It’s as easy as sharing a water or feed bucket with a friend, and owners can transfer it off their boots, jeans, shirts, and hands.”

Brus said she’s constantly disinfecting her equipment and herself to prevent spreading any infections to the horses she owns and works with.

“I’m a paranoid horse owner that when I heard about this, I immediately texted the vet I work with to see if I needed to do anything,” she said.

Around 75% of horses infected with strangles come out of it within two weeks and develop an immunity within three to six weeks, according to Brus. The infection can be fatal, but usually only for foals or immunocompromised adults.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Where’s The Outrage?"}]

Brus has been following the spread of strangles this summer. According to the data she’s reviewed, via 

, the impact has stretched across Wyoming.

“We have 12 confirmed cases in Wyoming across seven different counties this summer,” she said.

 said that strangles cases had been confirmed in Albany, Campbell, Carbon, Converse, Park, Sweetwater, and Weston counties.

In her statement, Smallwood said, “We can all use this as a learning experience about biosecurity when traveling,” and that “when we do take our horses places, they can be exposed to disease without knowing.”

Brus took some exception to that, calling out “the horse community as a whole" for not testing their horses before taking them to fairs, rodeos, and other events throughout the country.

“If you are taking your horse anywhere 

 the fair, across state lines, to a sale 

 you need to be doing a full panel for everything,” she said. “You need to see if your horse has any diseases, sicknesses, or issues before you do anything.”

Brus said she believes the Park County Fairgrounds and other Wyoming venues with horse-related events should implement mandatory bacterial cultures, blood tests, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests before any horses are allowed on the grounds.

If the horse comes back clean, off to the fair. If it doesn’t, the horse can be quarantined at home without the risk of infecting other horses at a high-density event like a fair or rodeo.

“It's the wisest decision, especially in (Park County),” she said. “You have rodeo people coming in and out all summer. It’s 90 days of people in and out consistently. If you’re going anywhere with your horses, more people need to do it.”

, an outbreak of equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) and EHV-4 was reported in four states. If infected animals aren’t treated, the respiratory illnesses can progress into equine herpes myeloencephalopathy, a serious neurological condition with a 75% mortality rate.

The source of the outbreak was a horse at the World Championship Barrel Racing Finals in Waco, Texas. Around 1,000 horses attended the event.

Like strangles, EHV-1 and EHV-4 can be spread by horse-to-horse contact as well as via shared buckets and people's clothes and equipment.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Better Safe Than Sorry"}]

Of all the thoughts and emotions Brus had when she heard about the strangles exposure at the Park County Fair, she wasn’t surprised.

“Professionally, I am disappointed in the horse community as a whole,” she said. “Getting horses tested needs to be at the forefront of their minds, and many aren’t doing it.”

Brus doesn’t see the strangles situation at the Park County Fair as an unfortunate accident. Even if the infected horse wasn’t showing symptoms, it clearly had been exposed to strangles at some point.

“The best way to beat this thing is when it hasn’t fully developed in their system,” she said. “If you share a water bucket with a friend, now both your horses have strangles because one of them was a carrier without symptoms. Even if you’re taking your horse to visit a friend’s house, you don’t know if they’ve gotten their horse tested.”

In Brus’ opinion, the lesson from the Park County Fair incident is the consequences of irresponsibility.

If someone’s horse is going to mingle with other horses from around the state, it should have a clean bill of health, even when it isn’t showing symptoms. Brus said that isn’t happening, which is how strangles and other equine diseases spread so far and quickly.

“If you’re smart, you’ll get ahead of it,” she said. “PCRS don’t cost that much. Microbial cultures are two-day, low-cost. When you get your horse tested, it clears everything up.

Brus also shared her concern about upcoming fairs. Several are already underway, and the Wyoming State Fair in Douglas starts Aug. 11.

Could a horse exposed to strangles at the Park County Fair show up and spread the infection at other fairs? Brus said there’s a good chance it could happen, and might already be underway.

“From what I've heard, they're keeping it under wraps because they don't want to panic the community,” she said. “Fairs are a huge thing right now, and with a Park County outbreak, we don't know what state fairs are even going to look like.”

Prevention is the best way to protect horses from strangles, she said. That’s why Brus wishes, and hopes, more horse owners will start regularly testing their horses before taking them anywhere.

“It’s like going to a walk-in clinic for a cold and getting antibiotics early,” she said. “It’s better to be safe than sorry.”

Park county fair horse 7 30 26

<title>Worry That Dozens Of Horses Exposed To Highly Infectious Strangles At Park County Fair | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Dozens of horses might have been exposed to strangles, a highly contagious equine disease, at the Park County Fair in Powell. Smallwood Horses announced Tuesday it placed its facility under a two-week quarantine after a horse presented symptoms.

Worry That Dozens Of Horses Exposed To Highly Infectious Strangles At Park County Fair

Employee kate meadows cropped

Kate Meadows

Agriculture

A sweeping class-action lawsuit accusing the nation's four largest meatpackers of conspiring to manipulate cattle and beef prices is moving forward after a federal judge in Minnesota certified several classes of plaintiffs earlier this month.

The lawsuit alleges that JBS, Tyson Foods, Cargill and National Beef coordinated to restrict beef supplies and inflate prices between June 2015 and February 2020, harming ranchers who sold cattle while forcing wholesalers, grocers, consumers, restaurants and caterers to pay more for beef.

Together, the four companies control more than 80% of the U.S-fed cattle processing market, giving them wide influence over cattle prices and the nation's beef supply.

[{"type":"text","text":"U.S. District Judge John Tunheim issued his ruling July 16."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"From The Big 12 To The Big Four"}]

For Wyoming ranchers who have watched consolidation reshape the industry over decades, the lawsuit is about far more than the five-year period covered in the complaint.

"The packers have controlled the destiny of beef for decades upon decades," Crook County rancher Tyler Lindholm told Cowboy State Daily. "It's getting to the point where people are starting to push back."

State Sen. Ogden Driskill, R-Devils Tower, said the current market is the product of decades of declining competition.

"Our federal government has allowed our federal packing industry to go from the big 12 to the big 10 to now the big four," Driskill said.

With a dozen major packers competing, coordinating prices would have been far more difficult, he said. Today, with only four dominant players, ranchers are left with few options for selling cattle.

"It really is high time for the government to step in and say we have to get a process that treats everybody fairly," Driskill said. "We're not asking for an upper hand. We're looking for everyone to be treated fairly."

Driskill blamed what he called a "very, very failed federal bureaucracy" for allowing market concentration to reach its current level.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Not Every Rancher Is Convinced"}]

Not everyone in Wyoming's cattle industry believes the allegations will hold up.

Laramie County rancher Mark Eisele said he remains skeptical that the major packers have engaged in coordinated misconduct.

"I'm not sure how I feel about this lawsuit," Eisele told Cowboy State Daily. "I would like to see what comes from this."

After decades in the cattle business, Eisele said he has never seen evidence of retaliation or deliberate manipulation by the major packers.

[{"type":"text","text":"Court filings paint a different picture."}]

According to the plaintiffs, economic modeling shows ranchers were underpaid by nearly 7% during the period covered by the lawsuit because the packers coordinated slaughter schedules and managed beef inventories to suppress cattle prices while increasing wholesale beef prices.

Lindholm said he believes market behavior itself supports those allegations.

He pointed to the Trump administration's approval of roughly 2 million additional pounds of beef imports from Argentina, saying a significant increase in imported beef should have softened domestic prices if the market were functioning normally.

"By all expectations, having an insane amount of beef imported from a country should have moved the beef prices here. It did not," Lindholm said. "Some might call that a conspiracy. But the proof is there. You can see it in the market."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"More Harm Than Good?"}]

Eisele, however, questioned whether repeated class-action lawsuits are driven more by financial incentives than by wrongdoing.

If plaintiffs prevail, attorneys could receive more than one-third of any award, he noted.

[{"type":"text","text":"Activists often follow the same pattern of suing and settling, he said."}]

He suggested that previous settlements, including one involving JBS, reflected business decisions rather than admissions of wrongdoing.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"It was a pressure point,\" he said."}]

Meanwhile, Eisele worries the industry faces another challenge altogether: shrinking cattle supplies.

Some large packing plants are already slowing production or closing facilities because there simply aren't enough cattle moving through the system, he said.

"Cattle producers need to be real careful of what they wish for," Eisele said.

If additional plants close, ranchers could find themselves with even fewer places to process cattle.

"We're starting to paint ourselves into a dangerous corner on this," he said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"A Difficult Case To Win"}]

Even if the allegations are justified, Driskill said he believes proving them in court will be difficult.

"They have deep pockets," he said of the meatpackers. "They're going to have the better lawyers."

Price-fixing cases are notoriously difficult because plaintiffs must show competitors acted together rather than making similar business decisions independently.

Regardless of the lawsuit's outcome, Driskill said Congress should revisit the Packers and Stockyards Act to strengthen protections for independent producers and smaller regional packing plants.

He would also like to see policymakers encourage enough competition to return the industry to something closer to the days when 10 or 12 significant packers competed for cattle.

"Let's break it up and get rid of these huge multinational conglomerates," he said.

Lindholm said the only way to do that is to look at the existing regulatory structure. The Federal Meat Inspection Act currently blocks states from controlling the meatpacking industry.

“What is allowing these big four to capture so much (business) under one umbrella?” Lindholm said. “That’s the key … Congress needs to go break the back of the packers.”

Driskill added that only a substantial financial penalty would change corporate behavior.

"A $30 million fine on a $10 billion company is like me getting a 10-cent speeding ticket," he said. "I would just pay the ticket and be on my way."

Cowboy State Daily reached out to JBS, Tyson Foods, Cargill and National Beef for comment. None had responded by publication.

Lindholm 7 30 26

<title>Federal Judge OKs Cattle And Beef Price-Fixing Suit Against 'Big Four' Meatpackers | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A federal judge has OK'd a class-action price-fixing lawsuit against the nation’s four largest meatpackers. "The packers have controlled the destiny of beef for decades," Crook County rancher Tyler Lindholm said. "People are starting to push back."

Federal Judge OKs Cattle And Beef Price-Fixing Suit Against 'Big Four' Meatpackers

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Crime & Courts

A Newcastle police sergeant pleaded not guilty Thursday to six charges 

 during a series of confrontations that stretched nearly a year and involved a police cruiser, a department K-9, an officer's baton and a knife threat.

One affidavit describes the allegations as escalating from verbal abuse to physical violence. 

During one encounter, Division of Criminal Investigation Special Agent Ed Rosier described allegations that escalated from verbal abuse to physical violence. 

One alleged confrontation involved Kaminski threatening the woman with a knife if she refused to get into his patrol vehicle. 

Nicholas Joseph Kaminski, 36, entered not guilty pleas Thursday in Weston County District Court to two counts of aggravated assault and battery, one count of felonious restraint and three counts of domestic battery.

Kaminski was employed by the Newcastle Police Department but is suspended pending the outcome of the criminal case, according to previous statements from city officials.

A request for comment from Newcastle Police Chief Derek Thompson was not returned.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Where It Began "}]

Rosier's affidavit shows Kaminski and the alleged victim's relationship began in early 2024.

Kaminski became verbally abusive early in the relationship, degrading the woman, criticizing her appearance and leaving bruises during confrontations, per statements in the affidavit. 

The first alleged physical incident happened in July 2025 after Kaminski became angry that another man had stayed overnight at the woman's home.

Because she did not want Kaminski around her children, she agreed to meet him at a Newcastle gun range instead.

Witnesses told investigators Kaminski pulled her from her vehicle by her arms, threw her keys into a nearby field and shoved her against the vehicle.

The affidavit notes Kaminski struck her head, back, and body against the vehicle while forcing her back inside and used his police nightstick to intimidate her.

Investigators also say Kaminski later used a department K-9 to locate the keys he had thrown into the field.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'Knifed To Death' "}]

The woman told police that five months later Kaminski demanded she meet him again, so she drove to the Newcastle Lodge and Convention Center because it was public and well-lit.

She said Kaminski followed her in a marked patrol vehicle, took her keys, ordered her into his patrol car and physically pulled her from her SUV when she refused.

Rosier wrote that Kaminski then "started cutting his own arm and told her that he would do the same thing to her if she didn't get into his cop car."

The woman later told investigators she believed Kaminski would have "knifed her to death" if she refused.

According to the affidavit, Kaminski then drove her toward the refinery outside Newcastle, where he continued screaming at her.

Those allegations form the basis for one count of aggravated assault and battery and one count of felonious restraint.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Brass Knuckles"}]

The final allegations unfolded at Weston County Health Services, where the woman worked as a nurse.

On May 10, investigators say Kaminski arrived at the hospital while on duty after transporting an unresponsive patient and demanded to speak with the woman.

Hospital surveillance video reviewed by DCI shows Kaminski grabbing the woman's arm and wrist, pulling her down a hallway and backing her into a corner while dressed in full police uniform.

Another witness told investigators Kaminski entered a room, shut the door and said, "I know there's no f*cking cameras in here."

The witness reported seeing Kaminski throw the woman into cabinets during the confrontation.

The allegations are separate from another May incident that led to Kaminski's arrest.

According to an earlier affidavit, Kaminski spent hours outside the hospital sending increasingly threatening text messages demanding the nurse come outside.

Among them were: "Hey ur f***ing ass outside. Or I'm coming in," "U have 3 minutes to either come out here or answer the phone," and "U made this worse by not coming outside."

Just before 4 a.m., the nurse was escorted to her vehicle by a law enforcement officer after finishing her shift.

Investigators say Kaminski emerged from a nearby parking lot, cursed at the officer after being told the woman did not want to speak with him and sprinted toward her vehicle as she drove away.

Thompson later stopped Kaminski and arrested him. Investigators say they found a loaded Glock 48 pistol with a round chambered tucked into his waistband, along with a folding knife and brass knuckles.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Arraignment In District Court"}]

Kaminski pleaded not guilty to all six charges Thursday, and the District Court judge set the case for trial.

[{"type":"text","text":"He posted a $35,000 bond July 10 and has remained out of jail since. "}]

During the hearing, defense attorney Ryan Titus told the court Kaminski had found new employment that requires travel to Converse County, Cheyenne, Sheridan County and even Montana. He asked the judge to modify Kaminski's bond conditions to allow him to leave the Sixth Judicial District for work.

Crook County attorney DaNece Day did not object, telling the court it was important Kaminski remain employed given the potential financial obligations if he is convicted. The judge granted the request.

If convicted on all six charges and ordered to serve consecutive sentences, Kaminski could face up to 27½ years in prison. 

Sgt Nicholas Kaminski in March 2025 6 19 26 1

<title>Suspended Newcastle Cop Pleads Not Guilty To Assault, Domestic Battery Charges | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A suspended Newcastle police sergeant pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges alleging a yearlong pattern of abuse toward a woman including threatening her with a knife if she refused to get into his patrol vehicle. He faces up to 27 1/2 years in prison.

Suspended Newcastle Cop Pleads Not Guilty To Assault, Domestic Battery Charges

What began as an act of kindness for a pregnant woman new to Casper ended in months of anonymous threats, fake phone numbers and a digital trail investigators say stretched across Facebook, Google and multiple texting apps, prosecutors say.

A Natrona County woman is accused of stalking the foster mother who once drove her to prenatal appointments, took her grocery shopping and later cared for her infant son while she received mental health treatment.

Daji Carter, 27, was bound over to district court Tuesday after a preliminary hearing on two felony counts of stalking and two misdemeanor counts of violating a stalking protection order. She posted a $3,500 surety bond July 15 and was released from custody. 

Investigators say Carter spent months using anonymous texts, fake online accounts and spoofed phone numbers to continue contacting Ashley Monroe and members of her family after a court ordered Carter to have no contact with her.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'She Was My Friend'"}]

For Monroe, the allegations are especially painful because the relationship began with compassion.

[{"type":"text","text":"She met Carter in June 2024 while Carter was pregnant and new to Casper."}]

After taking in a friend's baby, a Casper foster mom says her family became the target of anonymous threats by the biological mother, who is charged with two stalking felonies. "I didn't even feel safe letting my kids go to school," Ashley Monroe said.

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