One More For The Road

[{"type":"text","text":"Never drink on the job on fine china delivery day!"}]

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

<title>One More For The Road: Tuesday, December 16, 2025 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Never drink on the job on fine china delivery day!

One More For The Road: Tuesday, December 16, 2025

 Never drink on the job on fine china delivery day!

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

Clair McFarland

Government & Politics

Legislature

one of the most prominent members of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, has a primary election opponent.

Doug Moore told Cowboy State Daily on Wednesday that he decided to challenge the Republican House District 31 

in this year’s Aug. 18 primary election after numerous 

Moore, 55, is a business owner and a transportation manager for two coal mining companies.

[{"type":"text","text":"Bear, 60, also owns local businesses and is a Navy veteran."}]

Both men are Republicans who live in Gillette

both tout strong favor toward the coal industry and conservative ideals. Each man is married and has grown children.

“I’m not looking to make a big name for myself,” he said. "I don’t see myself being a career politician that’s going to climb the ladder and end up in D.C. someday. 

"I’m a local kid that grew up here, and I want to make sure my community is taken care of — and Wyoming in general. That’s what’s important to me.”

Bear in his own Thursday interview countered that the rebuttal to those statements is, “the proof is in the pudding.”

“I’ve had opportunities to go for higher office and I’ve declined,” Bear added. "I’m already fighting for Wyoming, and have the most conservative record possible."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Freedom Caucus"}]

The Wyoming Freedom Caucus is a populist-leaning group of Republicans in the state House that has backed property tax cuts, pro-life legislation, a reworking of the funding model for K-12 public schools and other measures.

The pro-life legislation is a mixed bag: those bills are generally popular among Freedom Caucus and non-Freedom Caucus Republicans. 

 the Legislature’s pro-life laws, while Gov. Mark Gordon has urged lawmakers to

 on the matter to voters instead of passing more bills.

Moore told Cowboy State Daily that he’s very conservative, but he will not join the Freedom Caucus because he believes the group’s members get directions from its national umbrella group, the State Freedom Caucus network.

Wyoming Freedom Caucus members discuss and coordinate their floor maneuvers via a group text with their Wyoming-based network director, 

Bear had inadvertently countered Moore’s point in a Thursday email about his bid for reelection, writing, “My family and friends are the primary reason I wish to serve the people of Campbell County.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"About Moore"}]

Moore is a licensed aviation mechanic, has an 

 degree in mining technology and has worked in the coal sector for 30 years. He was born in Michigan and moved to Wyoming with his family as a child in 1978.

[{"type":"text","text":"“I’ve got more Wyoming blood in me than anywhere else,” said Moore."}]

He said he’s a Republican because he’s conservative and doesn’t believe in high taxes or big government.

“I believe in keeping control at the lowest level of government,” said Moore.

 coal that could reinvigorate the waning industry, and said he wants to help the state guide new developments “responsibly.”

“I want to look at who wants to come (build a business in the community) and why, and make sure they’re not just looking for a lot of handouts,” said Moore.

Tech giants have been building multiple data centers in Wyoming in recent years.

With business booms come housing affordability issues, which is another concern Moore said he’d like to address, primarily by streamlining regulatory processes and “red tape.”

He said Wyoming should diversify its economy while also consider keeping more minerals for in-state use and the state’s own economy.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"About Bear"}]

a former Freedom Caucus chair and remains 

one of its most prominent voices — and one of its most powerful members.

He co-chairs the Joint Appropriations Committee, which writes the second draft of the state’s two-year budget. The governor writes the first draft, and the full Legislature writes the third and subsequent drafts until the budget becomes law in about March of every even-numbered year.

“I have been representing the hard working people of Gillette for three terms. I’m a Christian and veteran naval officer,” said Bear in a Thursday email. “I married my college sweetheart Sage. We raised two children in Gillette, and our daughter lives here with her family.”

Bear said families within his House district face inflation that cuts into their budgets every day.

“I am a proven conservative who has championed real solutions for working families,” wrote Bear, adding that, “I am the only conservative in this race.”

[{"type":"text","text":"He pointed to his work in helping to pass property tax relief bills."}]

“I firmly believe that those families know better how to spend their hard-earned money that the government does,” said Bear. “I will continue to work to limit the government's burden on families in Campbell County.”

During Bear’s chairmanship of the Appropriations Committee ahead of this past session, he was a 

During the session, Bear broke ranks to vote against several of his Freedom Caucus colleagues in opposing what he has called “corporate welfare” tax breaks or grants for large businesses.

Bear voted nay, for example, on the Energy Dominance Fund — a bill funneling severance taxes for one year into a grant and loan program to boost 

[{"type":"text","text":"Bear has lived in Wyoming for 20 years, he said. "}]

In his email he pointed to his work in passing a bill ensuring only 

citizens can vote in Wyoming, a 25% property tax cut, the elimination of most gun-free zones and a prohibition on red flag gun seizures, and pro-life bills.

“I’ve spoken to voters in House District 31 and will continue to answer questions and present my work for the people on social media, visiting at their doorsteps, as well as town halls throughout my time in office,” Bear said.

Bear and Doug Moore capitol 6 18 26

<title>John Bear, One Of The Freedom Caucus’ Most Powerful Members, Has A Challenger | Cowboy State Daily</title>

John Bear, one of the most powerful members of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, has a GOP challenger for his Gillette House district. "I don’t see myself being a career politician,” said Doug Moore. “I am the only conservative in this race,” countered Bear.

John Bear, One Of The Freedom Caucus’ Most Powerful Members, Has A Challenger

Heinz mark

Mark Heinz

Outdoors

Wildlife researchers seemed poised to settle once and for all the debate over whether Wyoming pronghorn are actually faster than cheetahs in Africa.

But the pronghorn, commonly called antelope, apparently weren’t interested in doing their part.

A buck and a doe antelope were captured this spring near Pinedale by Wyoming Game and Fish researchers. The animals were outfitted with high-tech speed tracking collars and set loose.

Instead of kicking it into high gear and wowing researchers with documented speeds that could put cheetahs to shame, the antelope more or less just ambled about.

During the test period, the buck hit a top speed of 27 mph, and the doe topped out at 19 mph.

The pronghorn speed tests are the brainchild of Uinta County Lance Neeff. And despite the pronghorns’ lackadaisical response, he and Game and Fish aren’t ready to give up.

It’s hoped that another test can be conducted this winter.

The rub will be figuring out how to nudge the pronghorn into an all-out sprint, without unnecessarily harassing or stressing them.  

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Do Cheetahs Deserve Speed Crown?"}]

It’s long been accepted that cheetahs are the world’s fastest land animal, purported to reach speeds of nearly 70 mph in short bursts.

Pronghorn are said to top out at somewhere around 55 mph.

The “speed goats,” as Wyomingites sometimes affectionately call pronghorn), could claim only the endurance title, as they can hold their top speed over several miles, while cheetahs burn out quickly. 

It’s also thought that pronghorn developed their speed capabilities long ago, trying to flee from a now-extinct North American 

Neeff disagrees that the speed contest between cheetahs and pronghorn has been adequately decided in the cheetahs’ favor.  

He said there is at least some anecdotal evidence of pronghorn holding steady at 65 mph while paralleling vehicles on Wyoming roads – and he’s convinced that they can go even faster.

And the speed tests on cheetahs date back to the 1960s, using rather crude methods, such as dangling bait meat out of the back of a speeding Range Rover and letting a cheetah chase it, he said.

He has hoped for years to get pronghorn 

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

Neeff first approached Game and Fish about speed testing pronghorn in 2024, Devin Gearhart, the agency’s fence ecologist, stated in an email to Cowboy State Daily.

There weren’t any pronghorn research captures planned that year. The test was postponed until March 7, when Game and Fish had planned to capture and collar 40 pronghorn for general research purposes.

The speed tests were performed in the Pinedale Anticline Project Area, a natural gas field south of Pinedale.

Gearhart and Game and Fish wildlife technician Dalton Brauer agreed to also put speed-testing collars, provided by Neeff, on two of the pronghorn.

The collars feature “Spektrum GNSS wireless GPS speed meters, typically used for RC motorsports,” Gearhart said.

The speed-detecting collars were programmed to drop off the test subjects within 2 to 3 hours.

It was hoped that the pronghorn would at least go into a high-speed burst immediately upon their release, but that didn’t happen.

“Since we know pronghorn can reach top speeds much greater than what was recorded, we believe this would only occur under more stressful conditions, such as predation or prolonged human/vehicle presence,” Gearhart said.

Neeff said that on the day of the tests, the captured pronghorn were slung under a helicopter for transport to the collaring site.

So, he’s suggested that next time, researchers should try chasing pronghorn with the helicopter, to push the animals to their top speeds.

He doesn’t think that would be too stressful or create too much risk for injury in a species designed to flee danger at high speed.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Let’s Keep Trying"}]

Neeff and Game and Fish are staking their hopes on further testing.

During a telephone interview, Game and Fish Director Angi Bruce told Cowboy State Daily that she likes the idea of speed-testing pronghorn, to see if they really are faster than Cheetahs.

It could put one of Wyoming’s most “overlooked” species in the spotlight, she said.

Bringing more attention to pronghorn could also help boost conservation efforts, such as protecting the species vital migration routes, Bruce said.

Neeff said providing the data that could get pronghorn crowned as the fastest land animal alive could also give Wyoming tourism a huge boost.

Wyoming has more pronghorn than any other state. And officially naming them the world’s fastest animal would boost the state’s prestige, he said.

Toward that end, he’s calling for donations to help fund more pronghorn speed tests.

Though the matter of whether cheetahs or pronghorn are the fastest remains unsettled, “we intend to refine our methods and continue our efforts,” Gearhart said.

“We’ve already discovered new technology that would allow us to collect more data over a longer period of time,” he added.

That’s a device called the “Lotek Activity Logger,” he said.

It can collect “small-scale movement data, including acceleration, and it can have an expected life of many months to years," Gearhart added.

The activity loggers might provide top-speed data. And they can also track pronghorns’ movements across great time and distance, providing better information about how they respond to human structures and activity, he said. 

Pronghorn test 1 6 18 26

<title>Ultimate Test: Wyoming Antelope vs African Cheetah To See Which Animal Is Faster | Cowboy State Daily</title>

What a drag! A long-awaited speed test to see whether Wyoming pronghorn are faster than Africa’s cheetahs was a bust. The pronghorn didn’t feel like running and never went faster than 27 mph. Officials are hoping to do another test in the winter.

Ultimate Test: Wyoming Antelope vs African Cheetah To See Which Animal Is Faster

Guest Column

Guest Columnists

The following is a guest column from the Jackson High School Speech and Debate Team

 Lights blaze as the top placers walk up. Finally, gold is announced. The crowd erupts in cheers, and the winner is in tears, having just won their event at the Wyoming State SkillsUSA Convention. 

This scenario repeats annually. It is a very real situation for many Wyoming students, including Nadia Bear, a senior from Cheyenne South High School, who got to live that dream during the 2026 State Leadership and Skills Conference.

“When they called my name, I was shocked, excited, and really proud at the same time,” Bear said. “It felt rewarding knowing that all my hard work paid off and that I was able to use something meaningful from my own life to help educate others about healthcare.”

This feeling is not exclusive to SkillsUSA. Champions in every event the Wyoming High School Activities Association sponsors get to revel in their achievements. From soccer to FFA to speech and debate to All Northwest Musicians, Wyoming has a long history of excellence. Besides outstanding students, these activities all have something else in common: WHSAA proposed financial changes that would fundamentally rewrite the way that students are able to participate.

“[The budget cuts] will directly impact students by limiting what they can participate in, underclassmen could have JV programs cut, other activities like drama, speech and debate, FFA programs will lose funding,” Cody High School senior Wade Bower said. “Cutting these things won’t just have an effect on students, but on the whole community because our sports and activities allow our community to come together.”

The budget cuts Bower mentions are currently only proposed; however, if passed as written, as Bower said, Wyoming students will suffer. Students across the state fear losing the opportunities high school activities provide to pursue their passions.

“I have learned to use my voice, to be a leader, to manage my time, to travel, and I have made so many friends,” Natrona County High School sophomore Tayler Zanolli said. “If these opportunities are taken away or limited, I may not be able to keep advancing these skills, or worse, other students may not get the opportunities I did.”

Zanolli references the variety of activities that she participates in, which describes the perfect example of a Wyoming Student. Of each student polled, almost every single one was involved in more than one activity, which only adds to the students' fears about losing their communities.

“The activities this targets is a community that has grown together,” Hot Springs County High School Sophomore Clayton Lee Keller said. “These activities are a safe space for some people, so targeting these activities hurts the connection and takes away the safe space that has been formed.”

One of the communities that will be significantly damaged would be Wyoming’s Career and Technical Student Organizations, specifically SkillsUSA and FFA. In the proposed changes, these organizations would be required to “eliminate overnight travel.” The primary concern with this is centered on where these activities host their events. SkillsUSA’s state conference is in Casper, Wyoming, and FFA hosts theirs in Cheyenne.

“Cheyenne is six hours away,” Powell High School sophomore Rylan Gillette said. “Without overnight travel, this would deeply affect state FFA, as FFA is multiple days long. Northern students cannot travel back and forth.”

In the same realm of travel, another proposed change removes students' ability to travel to national contests. Specifically, student council, Speech and Debate, All-Northwest Music, SkillsUSA, FCCLA, and FBLA travel face major changes. 

“The only thing that can possibly stick out as much as other applicants that are blessed with overwhelming opportunities like national competitions, regional competitions that are nationally recognized, regional awards programs, national level workshops that you qualify [for], access to in-person lessons/coaching, etc., in well-populated states… is competing on a national level,” Cheyenne Central High School junior Royce Madayag said. 

“I know many other people in theatre, speech and debate, music, and athletes that want to compete or pursue this in college or even have a career in it. Cutting funds and stripping us of the already little opportunities we have as Wyoming residents will be detrimental to our futures and competitiveness we have as college applicants.” 

This theme resonates with many students across the state. They are scared that these cuts will affect their scholarship applications and their ability to attend college. And statistics lend credence to their concerns. The Afterschool Alliance released a study in 2024 about this. 

The report said, “After-School All-Stars, a nationwide program with 19 chapters serving 78 cities in 13 states, providing free comprehensive afterschool programming to children from low-income families, reported that during the 2021-2022 school year, 100 percent of 12th graders participating in their program graduated. Additionally, more than 8 in 10 of these seniors (83 percent) were enrolled to take part in college, vocational/technical school, or the military after graduation.” And Wyoming students agree.

“Opening college classes, scholarship opportunities, and school-funded programs help keep students on track of graduating and going to college,” Worland High School junior Alayna Moore said. “With less trips being accessible to the schools, that leads to a decrease in opportunities for students to be sought out by colleges or make their names known to colleges to better their futures, ultimately taking away from the very principles that the school had worked towards.”

And beyond future impacts, there could be some immediate impacts on communities. According to the United States Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, “Violent crimes by youth occur most frequently immediately following the close of school on school days.” Where are most students at the end of school on school days? After-school activities.

“I can confidently say that by taking away these opportunities, there will be more behavioral issues within our district, and more crime reports,” Natrona County High School junior Izzey Lloyd said. “Sports are sometimes kids' only reason to keep good grades and behave well, and even just stay in school. I know many kids who, the minute their sport is done, they begin to get in fights and grades drop, and their behaviors turn from good to bad.”

Wyoming has a legacy of champions. Our students are smart, kind, a strong future workforce and good current and future leaders of this great state. By limiting what they can achieve, we limit who they are. However, despite the major proposed losses, they are still appreciative. When asked what she wanted to say to legislators, Cheyenne Central High School sophomore Martha Hoover said this:

“This bill hurts the people who want to be sitting in your seats someday. We appreciate you for the effort that you put in, and want you to know that we are so much more than high school students. We are the future.”

Jhsdt 6 19 26

<title>Guest Column: The Cost Of Cutting Champions | Cowboy State Daily</title>

The Jackson Hole Speech and Debate team writes, "From soccer to FFA to speech and debate to All Northwest Musicians, Wyoming has a long history of excellence. Besides outstanding students, these activities all have something else in common: Proposed financial changes to the Wyoming High School Activities Association would fundamentally rewrite the way that students are able to participate."

Guest Column: The Cost Of Cutting Champions

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Wyoming Life

A Montana police officer spotted the giant banana rolling through Billings on Wednesday afternoon and did what countless law enforcement officers have done before him.

[{"type":"text","text":"He turned around and pulled it over."}]

For Steve Braithwaite, owner, builder and full-time driver of the 23-foot-long Big Banana Car, the stop was less of a surprise than a tradition.

"I would see a police car going the other way and get my documents ready," Braithwaite told Cowboy State Daily from Seattle on Thursday morning. "I knew they were going to loop around and pull me over." 

After 15 years, more than 250,000 miles and enough roadside conversations to fill a produce aisle, Braithwaite has learned that driving a giant banana attracts attention.

[{"type":"text","text":"Especially from cops."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"\"They always find a reason to pull me over,\" Braithwaite said. "}]

in this case it was an issue with the license plate, but ultimately he was not given a ticket.  

Braithwaite figures he may have spent the better part of a decade as one of the most frequently pulled-over drivers in America.

[{"type":"text","text":"Not for speeding, but simply because he was driving a giant banana."}]

"For the first eight or nine years I was the most pulled-over man in America," he said. "It was constant."

[{"type":"text","text":"Often officers simply wanted photographs."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Other times they invented reasons to start a conversation."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"His favorite stop happened in a small mountain town in West Virginia."}]

A traffic light turned red. Braithwaite stopped. The light turned green and he made a leisurely turn through the intersection.

[{"type":"text","text":"A few moments later, flashing lights appeared behind him."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"A police officer marched up to the banana and delivered the news."}]

"'The reason I pulled you over, that light back there, you peeled out.'"

[{"type":"text","text":"For a moment, Braithwaite didn't know if he was being serious or not."}]

"He said it so straight-faced," Braithwaite recalled. "And I'm like, 'Oh yeah.'"

[{"type":"text","text":"The banana jokes, he said, are \"never-ending.\""}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Fortunately, so are the laughs."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"How It All Started"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"The whole thing began in a gas station in 2008."}]

Braithwaite, a lifelong hot-rod enthusiast, had become bored attending car shows.

Then he watched an episode of the British television show "Top Gear" featuring bizarre custom-built vehicles, including a street-legal garden shed and a drivable couch.

[{"type":"text","text":"For the next month, his brain worked overtime."}]

"Everything I looked at, I thought, 'can I turn that into a car?'" he said. "My drill, my neighbor's lawn mower, everything."

Then one day he found himself standing beside a bowl of fruit in a gas station. 

[{"type":"text","text":"On top sat a banana."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Not the curved cartoon banana he'd always pictured, but a straighter one."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Suddenly, he could see it."}]

"The windshield would go there. The wheels would go there."

[{"type":"text","text":"Then came the moment that changed everything."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"\"I pictured it driving down the road and died laughing,\" he said."}]

The image captivated him so completely that the checkout line moved without him noticing.

"The lady directly behind me had to tap me on the shoulder," he said. "They must have been thinking, 'Oh my God, is that the first banana he's ever seen?'"

[{"type":"text","text":"His rule was simple."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"\"If it makes me laugh now, I'm going to do it.\""}]

[{"type":"text","text":"It still made him laugh."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"So he built it."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"What he expected to be a parade novelty became his daily driver."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"The truck beneath the banana has now traveled more than 250,000 miles."}]

"I didn't think I'd be driving it anywhere near as much as I am," he said.

[{"type":"text","text":"Roaming In Wyoming"}]

Braithwaite didn't stop in Wyoming on this trip. He was headed west toward Washington.

[{"type":"text","text":"But Wyoming still occupies an important place in banana history."}]

Several years ago, while crossing the state, the Big Banana Car suddenly died alongside a lonely stretch of highway.

"I hadn't realized the distances between towns," he said. "I was in the middle of nowhere."

Parked beside the highway, luggage scattered around him. He "managed to get it running again."

By then he was running out of time to get to Los Angeles for a TV appearance, so he left in a hurry. 

[{"type":"text","text":"But he says there's a chance he might come back."}]

Braithwaite wants to race the famous Oscar Mayer Wienermobile, and why not in the Rockies?

He has already challenged it, but he says he thinks Kraft won't go for it. 

Sooner or later, he figures, some reporter would ask a dangerous question.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"Instead of which is the quicker vehicle, which is the healthier food?\""}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Then he laughs."}]

For 15 years, Steve Braithwaite has driven a 23-foot banana across the country and, on Wednesday, just like hundreds of times before, he was pulled over by law enforcement. "They always find a reason to pull me over," Braithwaite said.

One More For The Road: Tuesday, December 16, 2025

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