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[{"type":"text","text":"When the anchor trolls the weatherman...."}]

Mix Collage 24 Sep 2025 03 54 PM 3439

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

<title>Bonus Video 2: Thursday, September 25, 2025 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

When the anchor trolls the weatherman....

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Guest Column

Guest Columnists

When the Wyoming Freedom Caucus took control of the House, its leaders promised big changes. Speaker Chip Neiman famously declared to Politico: “We have 42 of 62 votes. We’re going to do big things.”

Wyoming voters deserve to ask a simple question:

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"What were those big things?"}]

Leadership should be measured by results — not press releases, social media posts, or political rhetoric.

After two years of Freedom Caucus control, the record raises serious concerns.

The House budget proposed deep reductions to state government, including eliminating the Wyoming Business Council, cutting funding for the University of Wyoming, reducing support for Native American health care programs, denying market-based raises for state employees, killing fire relief funds and shifting costs to local communities. 

Many of these proposals were rejected or significantly changed by the Senate because legislators from both chambers believed they would do more harm than good.  

Speaker Neiman’s leadership team had to suspend the rules and add an extra day to cram 200 plus amendments ti the budget down house members throats. 

Pressure from the public forced them into the public’s will.  The Neiman led Confrence committee folded to the Senate position in less than 30 minutes.. 

The Freedom Caucus also opposed putting significant surplus revenue into Wyoming’s Permanent Mineral Trust Fund and other long-term savings. 

Wyoming has built its financial strength by saving during prosperous years to protect future generations during downturns. Choosing not to save when revenues are strong is a major departure from decades of conservative fiscal policy.

This Legislature also failed to pass a supplemental budget—the first time in decades Wyoming went without one. Instead of resolving issues collaboratively, legislative leaders allowed political gridlock to replace practical governance.

Education became another battleground. The recalibration process, led by Freedom Caucus leadership, drew criticism from school districts across Wyoming. 

Local officials warned about unintended consequences, reduced local flexibility, and funding formulas that ignored real operating costs. Rather than listening to those concerns, the Freedom Caucus led recalibration committee doubled down.  

Their actions significantly took local control away and consolidated the power in Cheyenne  

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Economic development also suffered. "}]

Proposals to eliminate the Wyoming Business Council would have jeopardized programs that help recruit employers, expand existing businesses, and create jobs in rural Wyoming. Conservatives should always demand accountability, but eliminating an agency without a transition plan is not reform—it’s abandonment.

Throughout the session, the focus often seemed to be on ideological fights instead of solving Wyoming’s most pressing challenges: keeping communities strong, supporting local governments, maintaining infrastructure, improving health care access, diversifying the economy, and preparing for the next energy transition.

Conservatism has traditionally meant careful stewardship of taxpayer dollars, planning for the future, supporting private enterprise, and making government work efficiently. It has never meant governing through constant conflict or measuring success by the number of headlines generated.

Wyoming deserves leaders who ask not, “How much can we cut?” but “What produces the best value for taxpayers?” There is a difference.

The real measure of legislative leadership is whether Wyoming is stronger when you leave than when you arrived.

They also brought in one of the biggest scandals in Wyoming history — "Check Gate" — tarnishing the entire legislature — forcing even more rules.  

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"So the question remains:"}]

If the Freedom Caucus promised to do “big things,” are Wyoming families better off today? Are local governments stronger? Are schools better prepared? Is the economy more diversified? Have permanent savings increased? Has the Legislature become more productive?

Those are questions every voter should answer based on the record—not the rhetoric.

Because in Wyoming, results still matter more than slogans.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Sen. Ogden Driskill"}]

Driskill represents Senate District 1 in Wyoming and lives in Devils Tower

Ogden driskill headshot 7 30 26

<title>Guest Column: What Has Wyoming’s Freedom Caucus Actually Accomplished? | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Sen. Ogden Driskill writes, "When the Wyoming Freedom Caucus took control of the House, its leaders promised big changes. Speaker Chip Neiman famously declared to Politico: 'We have 42 of 62 votes. We’re going to do big things.' What were those big things?

Guest Column: What Has Wyoming’s Freedom Caucus Actually Accomplished?

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

Politics

Nineteen Republican state leaders, including a former Wyoming governor, have endorsed Steve Friess for U.S. House, the candidate’s team told Cowboy State Daily on Thursday.

Friess is in the final three weeks of a fiery race for the Republican nomination to the House seat Rep. Harriet Hageman is leaving to run for U.S. Senate.

Of the 14 endorsers Cowboy State Daily was able to reach Thursday for interviews, all touted Friess’s merits. A minority of four specifically voiced a desire to see someone beat Secretary of State Chuck Gray, who is one of Friess’s eight GOP opponents.

Former Gov. Jim Geringer said he’s endorsing Friess “because he’s the right guy.”

Geringer also pointed to Gray’s upbringing in California and said, “I don’t see him as being connected and aware enough of national issues to be able to handle what Steve Friess has already done.”

Friess has said that he organized a group of top Washington, D.C., attorneys to craft ready-made executive order proposals for President Donald Trump ahead of his first inauguration in 2017. The Friess family also kick-started Charlie Kirk’s group Turning Point USA and a host of other conservative groups and causes.

Gray was elected to the state Legislature in 2016 and served for six years. He was elected Secretary of State in 2022 and has repeatedly pushed the Legislature for election reform, resulting in the passage of several new election laws.

[{"type":"text","text":"Both men point to pro-life victories."}]

Gray and Friess also face state Senate President Bo Biteman, Casper businessman Reid Rasner, former Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow, former legislator Keith Goodenough, singer/actor Richard Dodson, and military veterans David Giralt and Kevin Christensen.

[{"type":"text","text":"The primary election is Aug. 18."}]

“Steve has a lot of skill. ‘Hochma’ is the word in the Old Testament: wisdom,” said former legislator Nathan Winters. 

Winters said that wisdom manifests in Friess’s four children, whom he cast as well-educated and thoughtful.

“As I’ve watched Steve, he’s just a remarkable person to run for that office,” said Winters.

Winters runs a Christian-issues advocacy group, Wyoming Family Alliance. But he said he gives his endorsement in his private capacity, not in connection with any group.

Most of the endorsers matched Winters’ attitude of praise. A minority of four added negative comments about Gray.

“Oh, I mean I’m not going to get into personal attacks,” said former Senate President Tony Ross, a Republican from Cheyenne, when saying why he wants someone to beat Gray. “I mean I think it’s self-evident. Jeez-Louise.”

Former state Rep. Elaine Harvey, a Big Horn County Republican, went further. On the one hand, she praised Friess on a nuanced policy level, saying she agrees with his approaches to public-lands management, health insurance and energy policy.

On the other hand, Harvey said she’s “disgusted” with Gray, in particular for his recurring spats with Gov. Mark Gordon in state board meetings.

[{"type":"text","text":"The other endorsers are:"}]

The four who voiced specific desires to see someone beat Gray were Geringer, Ross, Harvey and Ron Micheli. The rest were silent on that topic, sticking to Friess’s merits.

[{"type":"text","text":"‘Tired Class Of Political 1% Insiders’"}]

Gray in a Thursday text message called the endorsers a “tired class of political 1% insiders.”

“It’s not a surprise that Jackson Hole socialite Steve Friess is receiving the support of the same 1% insiders who want woke data centers and woke wind projects,” wrote Gray.

Not all of Friess’s endorsers have voiced a position on wind farms and data centers. Dockstader was one of seven Senate Republicans who voted against 

giving tax breaks to large data centers in 2010

Gray has come out against data centers, while Friess has said state and county governments – not Congress – should lead data center permitting decisions in ways that protect Wyomingites.

[{"type":"text","text":"Both men tout a pro-traditional-energy stance."}]

“Jackson socialite Steve Friess has rounded up the same tired class of political 1% insiders who have spent years trying to stop the silent majority and who are upset that I’ve been so successful in advancing common sense election integrity measures,” Gray continued.

Bebout rebutted that, saying "I call B.S." Bebout said he dislikes wind farms insofar as they're associated with government subsidies; and he approves of much of Gray's advocacy for election reform. He said he disapproves of Gray's approach to state land boards, where, Bebout said, he'd "try to make a stand or try to be, just ridiculous. And he doesn't fit." 

Gray alleged a “silent majority of Wyoming will see through this attempt by the insiders, with their media allies at Cowboy State Daily – which is owned by Friess allies in Jackson – to get behind a Jackson based insider candidate.”

Gray asserted that Friess is trying to “manufacture” momentum but “isn’t even in 2nd place in this race.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Then Give The Jackson Money Back, Says Friess"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Friess countered in his own interview."}]

“Now isn’t Chuck the insider, with the new GOP trying to put the thumb on the scale for him?” he asked.

One of Gray’s recent slogans has been for people not to “let Jackson buy” the race.

Friess had the biggest war chest as of July 1 with $2.5 million, followed by Rasner at $2 million and Gray at nearly $1.4 million. Each of those three has loaned himself more than $1 million.

“I’m curious then, if he’s interested in returning the checks he’s received from donors in Jackson Hole,” said Friess. “If Jackson money is a bad thing.”

Donations from Jackson residents to Gray’s campaign committee as of July 1 totaled $59,000, or just over a quarter of his individual contributions, according to the U.S. Federal Election Commission (FEC).

[{"type":"text","text":"But Not Tom Lubnau"}]

Former House Speaker and Cowboy State Daily columnist Tom Lubnau didn’t join the list of Friess endorsers.

He speculated that for an endorser list that big to emerge suddenly, someone is purposefully coordinating endorsements for Friess.

Lubnau theorized that Friess is trying to benefit from an “Anyone-but-Chuck” mantra that’s surfaced within the past couple weeks among some Wyomingites.

 last week that he and Gray are tied in the polls and it’s a “two-man race.” 

 that Friess’s argument is, “hold your nose and vote for me, or else your U.S. Representative might be Chuck Gray.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Lubnau clarified in a Thursday interview."}]

“It wasn’t a comment about Steve Friess. I was commenting on what the campaign tactic looked like – by coming out and saying ‘We’re (Friess and Gray) both at 16% so vote for me.’”

[{"type":"text","text":"Lubnau said he hadn’t seen that strategy used in a statewide campaign."}]

Even in the 2016 primary election where Liz Cheney narrowly won the nomination to U.S. House against eight other Republican contenders, Lubnau said, he can’t remember one of the candidates using a unite-against-Liz strategy.

To the columnist, Friess’s messaging looks like, “Abandon your affection for the candidate you’re in love with and vote for me – as part of the ABC (anyone-but-Chuck) movement.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Lubnau called it an “interesting tactic.”"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"So We Asked Friess"}]

Friess doubled down in his interview, saying his polling shows a vote for anyone other than him is a vote for Gray.

“I really want to unite the Republican Party and then to focus on making lives better in Wyoming,” he said.  

“I need the 70% of Republicans who are not fans of Chuck to consolidate, and we will win in a landslide,” added Friess.

He voiced gratitude to his endorsers, and disappointment in the state Republican Party for picking sides among its own registrants before the primary election by endorsing Gray last week.

When the party started the vetting process, Friess said he believed it was about vetting and exposing any unsavory candidates – similar to when the Republican National Committee galvanized against white supremacist David Duke.

“I was stunned when (party leadership) came out with a singular selection,” said Friess.

While the Wyoming Republican Party leaders are endorsing Gray as a candidate, they’re also suing his office – to overturn a state law that bars the party from financially backing one Republican over another in the primary election.

Some interpret that ban as a ban on endorsements, since it bars both direct and indirect financial backing. It’s unclear if the ban goes that far.

The party argues that the ban violates its First Amendment rights, and has produced case law to support its point. That case is ongoing.

Mix Collage 30 Jul 2026 03 01 PM 2190

<title>Friess Gets 19 High Profile Endorsements, Gray Calls Them Tired Political 'Insiders' | Cowboy State Daily</title>

U.S. House candidate Steve Friess received 19 endorsements Thursday by Republican lawmakers, former legislators, energy industry leaders and Gov. Jim Geringer. Chuck Gray called them "a tired class of political 1% insiders" who support "woke wind projects."

Friess Gets 19 High Profile Endorsements, Gray Calls Them Tired Political 'Insiders'

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.

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<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."

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