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[{"type":"text","text":"How not to take down your Christmas lights....."}]

Darwin 4 8 24

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

<title>Today In Christmas Lights: Thursday, December 25, 2025 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

How not to take down your Christmas lights.....

Today In Christmas Lights: Thursday, December 25, 2025

 How not to take down your Christmas lights.....

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Courts

The last defendant headed for trial in one of Wyoming's most controversial wildlife-abuse cases has changed course.

For months, Justin Martin stood alone as the only man still preparing to fight charges stemming from allegations that a weakened cow moose was roped, ridden, spurred and dragged across a Uinta County ranch.

[{"type":"text","text":"Now, that trial won't happen."}]

Martin, who is listed as a Wyoming Livestock Board brand inspector for Uinta County, has entered a conditional guilty plea to one felony count of accessory before the fact to cruelty to animals, abandoning plans for an August trial while preserving his right to appeal a judge's ruling allowing prosecutors to use cellphone videos at the center of the case.

The conditional plea, filed July 22 in Uinta County District Court, is the latest development in a case alleging three men abused the sickly cow moose on the M Arrow Ranch near Evanston during a series of encounters in May 2021. 

If Judge James Kaste ultimately accepts the plea agreement, the remaining charges against Martin will be dismissed. Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 2.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'Spur That Son Of A Bitch'"}]

The case began after Wyoming Game and Fish Department investigators seized Martin's cellphone during an unrelated investigation in 2022. While searching, investigators discovered videos and screenshots that ultimately launched the moose abuse case. 

After obtaining an additional search warrant specific to the wildlife investigation, officers recovered four videos tied to the May 2021 incidents. 

 the videos showed a cow moose that appeared emaciated, elderly or sick. She told the court one eye appeared sunken, suggesting the animal might have been blind. 

One video showed Kylan Platt climbing onto the moose's back and aggressively digging his spurs into the animal while smiling.

"He doesn't seem to have an issue in participating in this activity at all," Sterling said, comparing the scene to someone breaking a horse to ride. 

Investigators said ropes were placed around both the moose's neck and one of its hind legs.

Prosecutors further alleged Martin can be heard on the video saying, "Spur that son of a bitch" as he laughed and encouraged Platt.

Sterling testified investigators found Martin had sent the video to more than 20 phone numbers. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'Done For The Sheer Joy' "}]

Another video, prosecutors said, showed Range Martin on horseback dragging the cow moose by a lariat through chest-high sagebrush until it fell while struggling to regain its footing. 

At the preliminary hearing, Uinta County Circuit Court Judge Michael Greer ruled prosecutors had presented enough evidence for a jury to decide whether the men intended to torture or torment the animal.

"When I look at the context of what appears in the screenshots of the videos and the comments made by onlookers and the photographer there at the time, this was done for the sheer joy of dominating a wild animal who appeared to be already in poor health and possibly blind," Greer said in binding the case over to district court.

, Range Martin and Platt each accepted plea agreements, pleading guilty to felony cruelty to animals. In exchange, prosecutors dismissed wildlife misdemeanor charges.

As part of those agreements, both men acknowledged Justin Martin was the person filming the videos and making statements heard on the recordings. Their plea agreements recommend deferred felony sentences, three years of supervised probation, a $1,000 fine and a prohibition on hunting, trapping and fishing while on probation, although Judge Kaste will make the final decision at sentencing.

Justin Martin was the lone defendant preparing for trial until filing his conditional guilty plea.

His plea means every defendant charged in the case has now admitted guilt to at least one offense, avoiding what was expected to be a four-day jury trial next month.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Conditional Plea "}]

Martin's attorney, Joseph August Hampton, said the guilty plea does not end the legal fight.

Instead, it preserves a single constitutional issue for appeal: whether Game and Fish investigators exceeded the scope of a search warrant when they discovered the cellphone videos.

Hampton said investigators obtained Martin's phone during an unrelated investigation under a warrant authorizing a search of data created between September 2021 and June 2022. Because the alleged moose abuse occurred in May 2021, he argues investigators should not have been reviewing material outside the warrant's authorized date range.

Under Wyoming law, a conditional guilty plea allows a defendant to admit guilt while preserving a dispositive legal issue for appeal.

"If we're successful in the appeal, then the case would be dismissed, and the conviction would be reversed," Hampton said. "If we're not successful, then the conviction sticks."

Hampton said Martin accepts responsibility for the accessory charge and regrets how the incident unfolded.

"They were just trying to get the moose off their property," Hampton said, explaining ranchers wanted to move cattle into the pasture. "Martin agrees that he didn't do it in the right way and regrets that."

Hampton said Martin has changed how he handles similar situations in the nearly five years since the incident.

He also said the negotiated plea calls for two years of supervised probation and that he does not anticipate prison time, though he acknowledged the judge is free to impose any lawful sentence.

Cowboy State Daily reached out to special prosecutor F. Gaston Gosar for comment but did not receive a response before publication.

Judge James Kaste accepted Martin's guilty plea but reserved ruling on the parties' sentencing recommendation until the Oct. 2 hearing.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"italic"}],"text":"This story will be updated."}]

Uinta moose 2 12 9 25 2026 02 20 230834 vzcw

<title>Last Holdout In Infamous Uinta Moose Torture Case Pleads Guilty, Avoids Trial | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Justin Martin, a state brand inspector accused in the infamous Uinta County moose torture case where it's alleged a weak cow was roped, ridden, spurred and dragged across a ranch, has pleaded guilty to a felony charge and will avoid trial. But he can still appeal.

Last Holdout In Infamous Uinta Moose Torture Case Pleads Guilty, Avoids Trial

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily reporter, Jackie Dorothy.

Jackie Dorothy

Around Wyoming

 in Hot Springs County that was becoming a ghost town by the time World War II broke out. 

Beginning in 1932, the once busy mines were being closed permanently and families were moving away, with only a few remaining to work in smaller private mines. Then World War II called away the young men of Gebo to serve as soldiers, many of them still teenagers.

and his friends formed the Junior Marines and

re just as dedicated as any who were serving abroad.

“We all tried to be good soldiers, and whenever any of us got out of line, you sure heard about it from the rest of the group,” Bolich, 93, told Cowboy State Daily. “I think the added discipline was good for all of us.”

Bolich said that whenever they heard of a soldier coming home on furlough, the Junior Marines would gather at the schoolhouse and march to the soldier's home to sing the Marines' Hymn.

“When the family would come outside to see what was going on, we would salute the soldier and then march back to the school,” Bolich said. “We never gave any thought to the fact that they might have been in the Army, Air Force or Navy.”

Bolich chuckled at his youthful ignorance and said that when he was older he learned the soldiers and their parents got a kick out of watching the Junior Marines perform, especially if the soldier being serenaded was not an actual Marine.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"The Teenage Soldiers"}]

The Junior Marines were inspired by two Gebo teenagers who had both enlisted on the same day. 

Stanley "Dutch" Wedlock, 18, had graduated from Thermopolis High School and volunteered in the Marines. His younger brother, Lee, also volunteered to the Marines although he was only 16.

“Lee lied about his age so he could volunteer,” Bolich wrote in his memoirs, “Gebo, Living in a Coal Camp”. “At that time, there was such a demand for manpower that the War Department did not take the time to examine everyone's birth certificate. In fact, many of the soldiers could not produce a birth certificate, so if you looked 18, you were accepted.”

After their boot camp, Dutch and Lee were assigned to different Marine divisions. They were not to see each other for the next three years.

A miraculous story about the two young soldiers was broadcast to the world by the Denver Radio Station KOA and picked up by The Associated Press in July 1944.

“A story of Gebo boys comes out of Saipan, Marianas Islands,” Staff Sgt. Hy Hurwitz, a Marine Corps staff correspondent, reported. “Two brothers from Gebo, Wyo., met here by accident today just as Marines were about to start a push over one of the heavily fortified Jap-held hills.”

Marine Cpl. Stanley Wedlock had run out of ammunition and turned for help from another ‘Leatherneck’ who was unloading supplies on the beach.

[{"type":"text","text":"“Got any ammunition?” Wedlock asked."}]

When the Marine unloading ammunition turned around, Wedlock discovered it was his younger brother, Pvt. Leland R. Wedlock, whom he had not seen since they enlisted together in August, 1941.

Hurwitz, one of the official correspondents for the 18th Marines

, wrote dozens of human-interest stories from Tarawa, Saipan, Tinian, and later campaigns. 

He was so impressed with this chance encounter that Hurwitz sent a press release and the story 

 the world, including as the first presented on a new Marine program airing on KOA radio in Denver the following Monday.

“It was a rare experience that two Marines from a little town in Wyoming should meet during a battle on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean,” Bolich said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Young Marines"}]

Their youngest brother, Bob Wedlock, 12, was instrumental in forming the Junior Marines, according to Bolich.

“As patriotic youngsters, we all decided that we would join this group,” Bolich said. “All of the boys in the camp wanted to join.”

Bolich was one of the youngest at age 10 and the other boys who joined he named as Jack Toth, Fritz Jurovich, Joe Bandich, Pete Cavalli, Kenny Halbert, Jack Bretthauer, Buddy Cammock, Jim Hughes, Ken Bolich and Jim Isbell.

“In order to be sworn in, you had to be able to sing the Marines' Hymn,” Bolich said. “Once you did your performance, they would allow you to be a Junior Marine.”

found Navy officer caps in a catalog for about a dollar. The boys all saved money so they would have their ‘uniform dress.’

“They weren’t Marine hats but were Navy officer hats, but we got them and wore them,” Bolich said. “Boy, we were something. We felt like we were helping because people we knew were in the war.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"The Rubber Gun Rifle"}]

Once accepted as a Junior Marine, the boys were required to build a rubber gun rifle they would hold against their shoulders as they marched.

The boys would draw the outline of a rifle on boards they salvaged from the houses being torn down in Gebo. Sig Nelson, the grocer in Kirby, was also recruited into their wartime efforts. He would bring them wooden boxes from his store specifically for their guns.

“We would take a small axe and chop away a lot of the wood,” Bolich said. “When that was done, we moved on to using a knife to make a nicer finish.”

When the rifle was smooth, the boys would nail a heavy piece of string to the end of the "barrel" of the rifle. Four notches 

carved on the top of part of the barrel. Their ammunitions was from old inner tubes from the inside of car tires. The Junior Marines would then cut pieces out of the rubber about an inch wide.

“One tube gave us enough ammunition for our whole squad,” Bolich said.

To fire their guns, they would place one end of the rubber across the front of the barrel, stretch it backward, and place the band into one of the notches over the string. They could pull up on the string, which released the stretched inner tube.

They used the rubber gun rifles when they played war, and if you were hit by the rubber tube piece, you were out of the fight.

“We drilled regularly in the flat area just north of the town, on the old football field, which was used by the high school before the high school was closed,” Bolich said.

They would pick teams, then head up into the hills behind Gebo Hill for their wars.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Scrap Metal Effort"}]

“Our job was to help the war situation,” Bolich said. “We were really busy.”

Aside from singing the Marines’ Hymn to returning soldiers, waging their own wars in the Gebo hills and playing basketball, the Junior Marines were salvaging iron.

“The county was directing a scrap iron drive for the war, so we, as Junior Marines, worked hard to do whatever we could to help,” Bolich said. “We always got together, and our job was to help the war effort. We went up to the mine in Gebo and started hauling stuff away.”

They got spikes out of the railroad, and would haul a rail over to the vacant lot where the old basketball gym used to be to pile up the scrap metal. Once a month, a big truck would come to Gebo to gather it all.

“Since Gebo was being dismantled as a coal mining town, there were lots of items left that people did not take with them,” Bolich said. “We went into abandoned houses, collected whatever metal was left there.”

[{"type":"text","text":"They also got the privilege of legally breaking windows."}]

“We were always aware of any house that was being torn down and obtained permission to get rocks and throw them to break windows,” Bolich said. “We would line up like baseball pitchers do and see who had the most accurate arm.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Bolich said Pete Cavalli had the best pitching arm of the Junior Marines."}]

“Since the mine was no longer working, we were very efficient in picking up pieces of metal there,” Bolich said.  

[{"type":"text","text":"They would all pitch in to carry a rail and made it a military endeavor."}]

“When we all were in position, someone would call out, ‘lift' and we would lift the rail altogether and then wait for the 'forward march, hut, hut, hut' orders,” Bolich said. “We would all march in step to take the rail to the metal stockpile. I often wonder if some Gebo people saw us and just laughed.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Proud To Be Junior Marine"}]

Bolich recalled trying to get the wheel off an ore car and being chased off by a worker who was on the tipple.

"You get the hell out of there — we use those wheels," the worker yelled. “Leave that alone!”

Bolich said he took his wagon and hurried home with what little scrap he was able to salvag

His time as a Junior Marine soon came to an end, despite the war still being fought. Bolich’s own family moved into Thermopolis when he was in the fifth grade. Despite no longer being in the Junior Marines, Bolich said their wartime efforts continued.

“When we left Gebo, my brother got a job because so many men were in the Army, Navy or Marines,” Bolich said. “Ken started washing dishes at the Manhattan Café and I shined shoes for Steve Ely because it was hard to buy shoes.

“Leather went to the military, so Steve would repair the shoes, and I would shine them up. I got a dollar a day.”

As Bolich looked back at his childhood war efforts, he said that he was proud to be a Junior Marine. He would still sing the Marines' Hymn, no matter which branch the soldier

Gebo and young marines inset 7 26 26

<title>Wyoming History: How Gebo’s Gung-Ho Junior Marines Served During World War II | Cowboy State Daily</title>

In the dying coal town of Gebo during World War II, the patriotic Junior Marines were gung-ho in their wartime efforts of gathering scrap iron, marching and singing. They were inspired by the Wedlock brothers, two teens who left Gebo to fight the war.

Wyoming History: How Gebo’s Gung-Ho Junior Marines Served During World War II

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily State Government and Politics reporter, Leo Wolfson.

Leo Wolfson For Cowboy State Daily

Wyoming Life

Sports

Wyoming businessman Matt Micheli is worried about the future of University of Wyoming athletics.

With paid deals for NCAA student athletes — often referred to as name, image and likeness (NIL) — becoming a dominating force in college sports, schools with smaller athletic program budgets and alumni bases like UW have found themselves struggling to compete for athletes.

Micheli decided to take matters into his own hands by setting up an NIL partnership with his Casper-based fly-fishing guiding company Cowboy Drifters and two premier UW athletes: football player Tote Harris and basketball player Gavin Gores. 

Like everything Wyoming does to compete at a national level, Micheli said the state must play to its strengths and make moves like these to compete in the world of NIL. 

“There’s some really cool things in Wyoming,” he said. “There’s world-class tourist opportunities. It makes sense to try and combine our great university, great athletic program, and great things about the state. 

"If we lean into our strengths we can make this something positive.”

Cowboy Drifters took Harris and Gores on a fly-fishing trip on the famous Miracle Mile of the Platte River about 50 miles outside Casper this summer. 

In addition to showing them the joys of fly-fishing, highlights from the trip will be featured in a media campaign played at UW football and basketball games and on social media this year. 

The pair had quite the day, both catching brown and rainbow trout.

“Mostly, it’s for people to see Wyoming athletes out having a great time catching really great fish in the Wyoming nature that we all love,” Micheli said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"First Time Fly-Fishing"}]

Cowboy Drifters took Harris and Gores on the Miracle Mile section of the Platte, a remote section chock full of fish, and a bucket-list destination for anglers around Wyoming and the United States.

It was a hot and beautiful sunny day on the river, the type of day many dream about all winter long. Harris said that after spending a few hours with the guides, it felt like he had known them for years.

“Good conversations, good connections, good teachers — it was nice,” he said.

Although the pair of Pokes may be highly skilled in their respective sports, it was not only the first time that either of them had held a fly rod, but for Harris it was also the first time he’d ever fished. 

He caught 16 passes for 184 yards last season on the gridiron, but Harris described catching his first fish as  “mind-blowing.”

“I felt a tug and they told me to pull like I was doing a bicep curl,” he said.

The fish broke from the line and flew straight into the boat, leaving Harris with a smile and a memory he’ll likely never forget.

It took the Cibolo, Texas, native a little time to figure out how to properly reel in a fish, but once Harris did, he was sold on the sport, vowing to bring his dad back to the scenic location.

“It shows you don’t have to be some kind of professional fly-fisherman to go out and have just an absolutely tremendous day,” Micheli said.

Gores, a native of Cumberland, Wisconsin, had fished lake walleye before, but had never tried fly-fishing.

Standing 6-foot-10, the hooper used his large frame to easily reel in his fish, while Harris said he had to tilt the reel over his shoulder to get his catch out of the water.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Wyoming Style "}]

Establishing paid partnerships like these with college athletes will be critical for businesses across the country if they hope to see competitive teams at their local universities, said Micheli, who’s also a well-known Wyoming politico and former chairman of the state Republican Party. 

Micheli believes the state is ripe with opportunities to support a healthy NIL program given the “One Wyoming” mantra UW promotes as the Cowboy State’s lone university.

“For us to be successful as a state and a university, we all need to come together,” he said. “We all need to help each other out. 

"It’s such a great way to help the university, help our athletes and to promote your business. I just think it’s a win-win for everybody.”

The college athletic landscape has been significantly altered by the presence of NIL. 

In most circumstances so far, it has widened the gap between the have’s and have-nots of college sports, with well-endowed programs becoming even more dominant and less wealthy programs less competitive since NIL was legalized.

“Anybody who’s watched college sports and watched what’s happened definitely has some concerns,” Micheli said. “We’re in Wyoming, and we’re the smallest state in the country. You worry about our ability to continue to compete.”

To fight these trends, UW Athletics earlier this year launched a Step Forward campaign to generate $500,000 for football revenue. The men’s basketball program soon followed with its own fundraising venture with a goal of $250,000.

The university also announced in April that it landed a 

, a five-year jersey patch partnership with Tallgrass, a Colorado-based energy infrastructure company that operates thousands of miles of pipelines across Wyoming.

The deal was a huge infusion for UW’s ability to expand its NIL purse by putting the Tallgrass logo on football and basketball jerseys.

At the time the deal was announced, UW Athletics Director Tom Burman said the university needs at least double that, $8 million, to be able to compete with other Division I schools.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Has To Start Somewhere"}]

Retaining incoming sophomores Harris and Gores was critical for UW as both athletes will among the most important members on their teams for the upcoming seasons. 

Gores, a forward, averaged 7.3 points and 3.4 rebounds on the hardwood. Harris, a running back, rushed for 558 yards on 100 carries last season. 

Beyond on-the-field exploits, Micheli said he picked the pair because they have a genuine love and excitement for Wyoming, seeing them both as great ambassadors for the university and his fly-fishing company.

This passion is matched by Micheli and his siblings, who also co-own Cowboy Drifters, and are lifelong Pokes fans.

“I thought this was a good opportunity for a partnership to help us support the university and help to support our athletes and help us get some word out on our new business that we just bought,” he said. 

Conversely, Harris said teaming up with Cowboy Drifters was a logical move to expand his horizons and potentially build connections with more outdoor brands in the future. 

The scenic beauty and recreational opportunities Wyoming offers, he said, is what makes this state special and where he believes the most NIL opportunities will be available to tap into.

Fly fishing NIL C3643 00 00 00 00 Still007 7 26 26

<title>Casper Fly-Fishing Guides Reel In Top University Of Wyoming Athletes For NIL Deal | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A Casper fly fishing guide company has teamed up with two top University of Wyoming athletes for a name, image and likeness deal they hope will set a precedent for supporting athletes at the school. Wyoming must play to its strengths to compete, the owner said.

Casper Fly-Fishing Guides Reel In Top University Of Wyoming Athletes For NIL Deal

CASPER — By the time Rick Knigge died last September, he had spent decades turning 20 acres outside the city into a gearhead's paradise.

He had Camaros and Chevelles. Prewar Ford hot rods. Corvettes. A 426 Hemi-powered Plymouth GTX. Monster trucks. Speed boats. Race engines. Shipping containers packed with parts.

[{"type":"text","text":"If it was loud, fast or had the potential to be, Knigge wanted it."}]

The Casper-area oil field worker spent a lifetime hauling home muscle cars, hot rods, vintage trucks, race engines and enough performance parts to fill shelves, sea cans and storage units. 

Nearly every evening after work ended the same way: he'd settle into his chair and spend an hour combing through classifieds, searching for the next great find.

"He was obsessed with it," his wife, Stephanie Knigge, told Cowboy State Daily. "That was probably an hour process every night, just going through all the ads to see if there was anything he was missing out on." 

When Knigge died unexpectedly at 65 on Sept. 10, 2025, he left behind more than memories.

He left a sprawling automotive collection so large it drew bidders from across the country to a massive July 18 estate auction near Evansville for his "Go Fast" collection.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Born To Build"}]

Long before the rows of classic cars filled his property, Knigge was working.

He started driving trucks as a young teenager after his family launched an oilfield water service business. 

Eventually, he and his brother helped build Melco Inc., an oil tank cleaning company that took them across much of the United States. He later became vice president, a role his family said he took great pride in. 

[{"type":"text","text":"Those work trips often turned into treasure hunts."}]

"He got a lot of opportunity to drive around and see what was around and collect stuff," Stephanie said. "So that's how I think it all started." 

By the time she met him in 1989, the collecting bug had already taken hold.

"That's why he started working in the first place — because he wanted parts for cars" she said. 

As the years went on, the collection evolved with whatever captured his imagination.

Some years it was 1930s-era Ford hot rods. Other times it was vintage Jeeps, Broncos or speed boats. If it looked like a bargain, Knigge usually found room for it.

"He would kind of get on a kick every now and then," Stephanie said. "He was always looking." 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Twenty Acres "}]

Things really escalated after the family moved to 20 acres outside Casper.

"He really went crazy with it," Stephanie said with a laugh, "because he had the room to park all of it." 

[{"type":"text","text":"Before long, the collection had grown so large the county took notice."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Knigge's solution wasn't to stop buying cars."}]

It was to buy shipping containers, rent storage units and devise an organizational system only he truly understood.

"His brain was pretty intense," Stephanie said. "If I would have had all of that going on in my brain, my mind would explode." 

Eventually, the property held roughly 220 vehicles, along with countless engines, body panels, race parts and automotive memorabilia.

VanDerBrink Auctions dubbed it the "Go Fast" collection. The catalog ranged from 1932-1940 Ford, Dodge, Plymouth and Chevrolet hot rod bodies to Camaros, Chevelles, Corvettes, monster trucks, Humvees, speed boats, racing engines and shelves of vintage speed parts. 

Ironically, Stephanie said her husband rarely had time to enjoy many of his favorite vehicles.

"He didn't even really have the time to enjoy it," she said. "He just worked until he died. He had all these plans." 

By the time Rick Knigge died last September, he had spent decades turning 20 acres outside Casper into a gearhead's paradise. The oilfield worker spent a lifetime hauling home muscle cars, hot rods and vintage trucks. Now they are all finding new homes.

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