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[{"type":"text","text":"Someone didn't pay attention in physics class...."}]

Bonus vid 1 11 17 25

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

<title>Bonus Video 1: Monday, November 17, 2025 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Someone didn't pay attention in physics class....

Bonus Video 1: Monday, November 17, 2025

 Someone didn't pay attention in physics class....

Employee kate meadows cropped

Kate Meadows

Energy

Coal

As Peabody Energy has again slashed the health benefits for retired Wyoming coal mine workers, the state’s congressional delegation has so far been silent.

Multiple requests Wednesday for reaction from the offices of U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman and U.S. Sens. John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis to Peabody’s decision to terminate its Retiree Medical Allowance program weren’t answered by publication.

 that cutting the program has left them, in some cases, without hundreds of thousands of dollars they had counted on.

In the meantime, Peabody reported Wednesday that its second-quarter earnings fell short of expectations while projecting stronger cash generation later this year.

For retirees who say Wyoming’s largest coal-mining company broke promises of lifetime medical benefits, the report only deepened their questions about why it can afford to pay its CEO more than $9 million a year but not the benefits they spent decades earning.

Travis Deti, executive director of the Wyoming Mining Association, said things like the retirement benefits “are company decisions” that fall “outside of my wheelhouse” to comment on.

He also said Peabody’s production was a little lower than the mining association had hoped for in the second quarter, but that Mother Nature was largely to blame for that.

“We came out of a really mild winter,” he said, which means less power used to heat homes. “We certainly expect with a nice, hot summer that those numbers will pick up in the third and fourth quarters.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Second Quarter Earnings Report"}]

Peabody Chief Executive Officer Jim Grech said in a statement that the second-quarter report “reflected temporarily lower volumes and higher costs.”

Grech added he expects results to improve in the second half of the year, spurred by performance at the company’s flagship Centurion Mine in Australia.

"We're targeting strong cash generation for the second half of 2026, fueled by our seaborne metallurgical and thermal segments," Grech said.

[{"type":"text","text":"Those segments are in Australia."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Wyoming Retirees Scrambling"}]

Keith Schaeffer, formerly of Casper and Douglas, spent 17 years working for Peabody Energy’s North Antelope Rochelle Mine in Campbell County. 

When he retired from the company in 2016, he said he had $190,000 to use for medical expenses under the RMA program.

In 2020, Peabody announced it was it was discontinuing the program for retirees older than  65. 

That meant that Schaeffer would no longer have access to money he said he was promised. His wife, Lisa, still qualified because she was younger than 65.

Now, Schaeffer said he is preparing to look for new health insurance for his wife next year once the RMA is completely terminated.

As an employee, Schaeffer said he remembers his medical expenses being 100% covered by the company.

[{"type":"text","text":"“They treated us well. They cared about us,” he said."}]

Schaeffer said he was aware of the fine print, in which the company reserved the right to take the RMA away at any time.

“They had to keep up with times,” he told Cowboy State Daily. “I guess it’s like any other big corporate business nowadays. Everybody’s a number.”

It’s a sentiment echoed by Jim Allington of Douglas and Gloria Buell of Gillette, who also worked at the North Antelope Rochelle Mine.

Allington, who put in more than 30 years with Peabody and worked many 16-hour days, recently learned that the $260,000 he was promised for medical expenses will disappear at the end of the year.

“They took away my benefits that they promised,” he told Cowboy State Daily.

Buell recalled a meeting for employees where Peabody representatives talked about a big pot of money meant to cover health costs for company retirees.

“It would last you the rest of your life,” Gloria said she remembers hearing. “It was promised as part of your retirement.”

“They promised us everything,” Shafer said. “They took it away.” 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"RMA Support Group"}]

In Indiana, Peabody Energy retiree Don Wright last week launched the "Peabody Retirees RMA support group" on Facebook, hoping to publicize the RMA cuts and encourage Peabody retirees to share their experiences.

Wright worked at five mines in Indiana over his 25-year career with Peabody Energy.

Wright also launched a letter-writing campaign, urging lawmakers to get involved in Peabody Energy’s decision to cut retiree medical benefits.

In the letter, addressed to President Donald Trump, Wright wrote, “The reason you have a well lit up White House is directly related to our work. The reason the reflecting pool and the Washington monument are so visible at night is the coal that we have carved out of the earth.”

Wright said he hopes the letter will motivate elected officials to pressure Peabody to reverse course on its decision to terminate the RMA.

“You see at the same time that Peabody is cutting our benefits they are receiving vast sums of public money,” Wright said in an email to Cowboy State Daily. “We would like to have some answers.

“It seems to me that Peabody has a problem with keeping their word. If so, do they deserve any of this public money?”

[{"type":"text","text":"Wright said he has not received a response to his letter."}]

Peabody coal haul truck Peabody Energy Public Domain 7 29 26

<title>Wyoming Congressional Delegation Silent On Peabody's Move To Cut Retirement Benefit | Cowboy State Daily</title>

As Peabody Energy has slashed the health benefits for retired Wyoming coal mine workers, the state’s congressional delegation has so far been silent. Retirees wonder why it can afford to pay its CEO $9 million last year but not their promised benefits.

Wyoming Congressional Delegation Silent On Peabody's Move To Cut Retirement Benefit

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

Andrew Rossi

Outdoors

A 28-year-old Australian man has been found dead near Grand Teton National Park.

Teton County Search and Rescue (TCSAR) recovered the body of the unidentified man  Wednesday morning. He was found in an area known as The Wigwams on the west slope of the Tetons.

According to TCSAR, the man is believed to have died from a fall from “a steep, high-altitude ridgeline” that separates Grand Teton National Park and the Jedediah Smith Wilderness.

“TCSAR sends its sincere condolences to the family and friends of the deceased and wishes to express its gratitude to the partnering federal agencies who assisted in the investigation,” the agency said in a statement.

Cowboy State Daily could not reach TCSAR or Teton County Sheriff Matt Carr by the time of publication.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"A Difficult Search"}]

According to the information released by TCSAR, the Australian man was attempting a thru-hike of the Continental Divide Trail, a 3,028-mile route that stretches across the Rockies from Alberta, Canada, to Chihuahua, Mexico.

The victim started from Canada and headed south, keeping his family informed of his progress via a Garmin satellite device.

By July 19, he reached Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park and sent a message with his intended route through the Tetons and into the Wind River Basin. 

The last communication the family received was a check-in from his device without coordinates or a message. Along with a video he sent via Facebook, his family placed him somewhere in Grand Teton National Park.

After four days without any updates, the victim’s family contacted Grand Teton officials July 27.

Using the Garmin device, it was determined that the July 23 check-in had been sent near The Wigwams in Teton County, near but outside the western boundary of then park.

At this point, TCSAR took over the search and rescue operation. A short-haul team was assembled to reach The Wigwams via helicopter Wednesday morning.

The victim’s body was found below a ridge south of North Wigwam Peak. He was located from the air because of his bright orange backpack.

The body was recovered and transported to the Teton County Coroner’s Office.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"A Tough Trail"}]

Hiking the entire Continental Divide Trail can take between two and seven months.

Thru-hikers attempt to do it continuously, from start to end, in one attempt. They only stop to sleep or resupply in communities along the route.

Marty Lee of Socorro, New Mexico, was hiking the Wyoming section of the Continental Divide Trail when he was 69 years old. 

 how thru-hikers regularly powered past him.

“Out in the Great Divide Basin, I was making 22-23 miles a day, but thru-hikers were blowing by me," he said in July 2023.

Lee was section hiking, taking multiple years to complete the Continental Divide Trail. By July 23, he’d finished the stretches in New Mexico and Colorado, and was hoping to finish the Wyoming and Idaho sections that summer.

 of the Appalachian Trail in 2024. He was averaging 18 to 22 miles every day, and it was an ordeal.

“In the first four months I wasn't sick, I didn't twist my ankle and had no major injuries, but I ended up pushing myself to the finish,” he said. “It was like running a marathon, and on your very last corner, you crash into the drinks table, and you end up having to crawl across the finish line.”

He reached the end of the trail, Mount Katahdin in Maine, on Oct. 6, 2024. It had taken him five months to get there.

“When I made my way up to Katahdin and saw the sign, it was kind of strange,” he said. “It was a total non-event. It was like, ‘There's the sign, let's go get my pictures and get off the mountain.’ I think I was just so ready to be done.”

According to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy

, only 1 in 4 people who attempt a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail actually finish it. No similar statistics exist for the Continental Divide Trail.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"More, More, More"}]

TCSAR has been busy in 2026. Its volunteers respond to every call, but at the cost of significant impacts on personnel and resources.

Of the 4,990 search and rescue missions in Wyoming between 2009 and 2026, 1,205 were

. Lincoln County was a distant second with 583 missions during the same period.

TCSAR can recover some of its costs as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, which allows it to obtain grants and donations. Other funds are available, but they’re distributed to SAR teams throughout the state via the Wyoming Office of Homeland Security.

TCSAR’s call numbers jumped in 2021 and have stayed relatively high since. The 64 calls between Dec.1, 2024, and May 31, 2025, used to be as many as the agency got in an entire year.

That correlates with the steady growth of the outdoor recreation industry, which s

. That likely means more calls, more expenses, and more asked of volunteers going forward.

TCSAR hasn’t released the name of the Australian man who died in the Tetons, but statistics say that 72% of their calls are for males.

Demographically, 16- to 30-year-olds accounted for 33% of the rescues, followed by 31-to 45-year-olds, with 29%.

Nevertheless, TCSAR’s all-volunteer force will always mobilize as quickly as they can. No matter where or what, the job gets done.

“Rescues come in all shapes and sizes,” TCSAR Chief Advisor Cody Lockhart told Cowboy State Daily in July 2025. “We’re there to give you a hand without judgment.”

Teton County Search and Rescue

<title>Australian Man Dies Near Grand Teton While Hiking Continental Divide Trail | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Teton County Search and Rescue recovered the body of an unidentified Australian man in the Teton Range on Wednesday. The man, who was attempting a thru-hike of the Continental Divide Trail, is believed to have died from a fall off a ridgeline.

Australian Man Dies Near Grand Teton While Hiking Continental Divide Trail

As Park County undertakes its first comprehensive overhaul of land-use regulations in more than a decade, one question has emerged as a focal point of the discussion: whether — and how — the county should prepare for data centers.

Commissioners say no proposals are on the table, and they don't believe Park County is an obvious candidate for a large data center yet. But with the industry expanding across Wyoming, they want to ensure the county's zoning rules are ready if that changes.

"We're looking at everything from solar power to wind power and data centers," Park County Commission Chairman Scott Steward told Cowboy State Daily.

The county has spent months reorganizing its zoning classifications, updating industrial districts and revising land-use regulations. The process has included numerous public meetings.

"We've got a really big county," Commissioner Scott Mangold said. "We're trying to map it out."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Public Opposition"}]

The statewide debate over data centers has also reached Park County, where commissioners say they've heard overwhelming opposition from residents.

"The last thing we want is to go against what people are saying," Steward said. "Everybody's 100% no."

Mangold said he believes much of that opposition stems from uncertainty about what large-scale data centers could mean for the county.

For that reason, county officials are proposing that any heavy-load electrical user, including a data center, be required to obtain a special-use permit.

That process would guarantee two rounds of public hearings — one before the Park County Planning and Zoning Commission, followed by another before county commissioners make a final decision.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"We want people to have their say,\" Mangold said."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Not An Ideal Location — At Least Not Yet"}]

The proposed regulations treat data centers as large industrial developments.

Under the current draft, industrial zoning would be concentrated around Cody and Powell, where electrical infrastructure is already in place.

Mangold said Park County lacks many of the characteristics developers typically seek.

"I don't think Park County is ideal for a data center now because locations seem to be in transportation hubs where you have an interstate or railroad," he said.

Without either, transporting the massive amount of equipment needed to build a data center would be more difficult.

Steward agreed, adding that the county's existing industrial zones are generally too small to accommodate a project of that scale.

"I think in Park County we're in such a location in the state that I don't know we could substantially have one here," he said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Planning For The Future"}]

Even so, commissioners say they're reluctant to dismiss the possibility altogether.

Technology is changing rapidly, Steward said, and counties need to stay ahead of those changes rather than react after the fact.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"Certainly we're watching statewide to see what's going on,\" he said."}]

Steward acknowledged that even county leaders are still learning about the industry.

"A year ago I didn't know anything about data centers," he said. "I think the technology is ever-changing, but it's way too new …  We've got to stay on top of it."

[{"type":"text","text":"He added that many questions remain unanswered."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Balancing Growth And Property Rights"}]

As currently drafted, the regulations would allow data centers only in industrial districts or on larger rural parcels zoned 20 or 35 acres.

[{"type":"text","text":"Even then, Mangold said practical obstacles remain."}]

Limited electrical infrastructure, water availability and transportation access would make it difficult for a developer to build a major facility on agricultural land.

"I don't think that Park County is really attractive yet, but it doesn't mean that someone with a large plot of land couldn't make a deal with a developer," Mangold said.

At the same time, he said, county officials must balance community concerns with private property rights.

"Of course, we've got to respect personal property rights," he said. "If someone wants to talk to a data center developer, they could go ahead and do that."

Whether such a project could ultimately win approval, however, is another matter.

"It would be uphill to get a data center way out in the county," Mangold said, pointing to questions about electrical service, water and other infrastructure.

For now, commissioners and planning officials continue refining the draft regulations, with additional opportunities for public comment expected before the county adopts its updated land-use plan.

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<title>Park County Commission Says Data Centers Not Imminent And Residents Are '100% No' | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Park County commissioners say geography and other factors mean data centers aren't imminent, but they want to have regulations in place if or when the industry does arrive. Meanwhile, Park residents are telling them they are "100% no" on data centers.

Park County Commission Says Data Centers Not Imminent And Residents Are '100% No'

Heinz mark

Mark Heinz

Wildlife

Wolf advocates are offering a $10,000 reward for the the identity of any hunter shooting a member of a famed Yellowstone National Park wolf pack that recently denned outside of the park in Wyoming. 

Social-media influencer Jonas Black of Austin, Texas, told Cowboy State Daily during a telephone interview Wednesday that posting the reward is necessary to protect the Mollie’s Pack, particularly 12-year-old Wolf 1090 F. 

Those wolves have spent most of their lives in Yellowstone and aren’t afraid of people, so there’s no way it could be a “fair-chase” hunt, Black said. 

Wyoming Game and Fish Department Director Angi Bruce denounced the move in a text message Wednesday to Cowboy State Daily. 

Wyoming, Montana and Idaho have laws keeping wolf hunters’ identities confidential to shield them from doxing, harassment and stalking.

“Putting an animal before the welfare of a person is outrageous,” Bruce said. “This is the exact reason our legislators put this statute in place – to prevent harassment of our hunters.”

 that he and others are offering the reward if any of the Mollie’s wolves are shot during the season, set to begin Sept. 15. 

“Anybody harvests one of these wolves during Wyoming’s wolf season and somebody snitches? That snitch gets ten grand cash,” Black wrote.

During the interview, Black said the intent is specifically to protect the Mollie’s, not to undermine the states’ statutes protecting wolf hunters’ identities. 

The Mollie’s this summer denned and are raising pups on the Shoshone National Forest. 

During its 30-plus year history, the pack has spent nearly all of its time inside Yellowstone, where hunting is forbidden. 

So, the wolves are essentially like “zoo-type animals” insofar as having little fear of humans, Black said. 

Black said he isn’t anti-hunting and supports fair-chase hunting, when animals are actively trying to evade humans.

“I’m not going to interfere or try to interfere with state laws. But with this pack, it’s like shooting a dog. Man, it’s unreal,” Black said. 

‘I’m Going To Burn Your House Down’

Wyoming Statute § 23-1-304(d)(vi) protects the anonymity of wolf hunters. Under the statute, Game and Fish may not release any private or confidential information regarding legal wolf harvests, and that information is not a matter of public record. 

Montana and Idaho also have statutes that keep wolf hunters’ identities confidential. 

That wouldn’t stop private individuals from revealing that information to other private parties, though. 

Those statutes are there for good reason, said Randy Newberg, a prominent outdoorsman and hunting content creator from Bozeman, Montana.

Newberg featured a successful wolf hunt in an episode on his 

He told Cowboy State Daily the blowback was vicious. 

“People from all over the world were emailing me with crazy stuff. ‘I’m going to burn your house down. I’m going to kill your dogs.’ Wow,” he said. 

Newberg noted that as a prominent figure in the hunting world, “I live in a fishbowl,” and so he expected the pushback. 

But rank-and-file hunters should be spared that sort of harassment if they shoot any of the Mollie’s, Newberg said. 

“If their information got out there, I can assure you, that person is going to undergo a level of threat and intimidation that’s completely out of line,” he said. 

Black said the possibility of facing worldwide condemnation should deter anyone from even trying to hunt the Mollie’s. 

It could be similar to the global shame heaped upon the American hunter who went to Africa and killed the beloved “Cecil the Lion,” he said.  

And that’s the point of offering the reward he said. 

Black is a dog trainer who became an outspoken wolf advocate in the wake of the capture, torture and killing of a wolf by Daniel resident Cody Roberts in February 2024. 

Black has stated that his efforts, along with Wolf and Wildlife Advocates president Kim Bean and others, were instrumental in a felony animal cruelty charge being brought against Roberts, to which he pleaded guilty.  

In April, a judge sentenced Roberts to a possible 18- to 24-month prison term if he fails probation.

Black said that with the Mollie’s his beef isn’t with Game and Fish.

“This has nothing to do with Game and Fish,” he said. "I think Game and Fish is doing a great job with the Mollie’s.”  

Wolf & Wildlife Advocates’ Bean said Game and Fish, along with a rancher in the pack’s denning area, have been trying to coax the pack back into the park.

Game and Fish has kept the Mollie’s location confidential. 

However, some people have discovered the pack’s location and posted it on social media, “putting a bull's-eye on the pack,” Bean said. 

Black said some of those who have revealed the pack’s alleged location are supposedly wolf advocates. 

Publicizing the pack’s location is f***ing stupid,” he said. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘Fair Game’"}]

Montana outdoorsman and retired game warden Jeff Darrah told Cowboy State Daily he supports the statutes shielding wolf hunters’ identities. 

“There is a concerted effort by some of these eco-terrorists to find those hunters,” said Darrah, executive director of Montana Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife.

He acknowledged that emotions can run high when it comes to famous Yellowstone wolves such as the Mollie’s Pack. 

But when they pass outside the park’s boundaries “they become not a park wolf anymore but a Wyoming wolf. And they’re fair game,” he said. 

To mitigate the loss of Yellowstone wolves, Montana reduced the hunting quota to three wolves in each of the two hunt districts immediately north of the park, Darrah said.

“At one time, the quota there was up around 20 wolves,” he said. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"‘Asshats’"}]

Newberg said it’s “very disturbing to me” that advocates are trying to work their way around state laws meant to protect the anonymity of people engaged in a legal activity. 

“How do we pick and choose?” he said of which legal activities should be protected. 

Newberg added that trying to expose hunters who might happen to shoot Mollie’s wolves could undermine the advocates’ cause. 

Bean said she, Black and others have hardened their stance only because of the hardened anti-wolf stance against the Mollie’s. 

There have been “hundreds” of people bragging about deliberately trying to find and kill the pack, she said. 

“They’re threatening to kill the pack, and we’re threatening to expose them,”  Bean said. “This isn’t about anonymity, this is about a bunch of asshats out there” threatening the Mollie’s Pack. 

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<title>Advocates Offer $10,000 Bounty To Name Hunters Who Kill Famed Yellowstone Wolves | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A social media influencer and others are offering a $10,000 bounty for the identities of hunters who shoot members of Yellowstone National Park's famed Mollie’s wolf pack this fall. Game and Fish Director Angi Bruce calls the bounty “outrageous.”

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