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

<title>Daily Cartoon 2: Saturday, March 7, 2026 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Daily Cartoon 2: Saturday, March 7, 2026

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

Clair McFarland

Politics

 the Wyoming Board of Equalization last month for its refusal to implement the state’s property tax increase caps, the board sued back Monday.

The board is asking Laramie County District Court Judge Nathaniel Hibben to declare that a state law capping residential property tax increases at 4% annually is unconstitutional, and to block its enforcement. 

This cap violates the Wyoming Constitution’s requirement that property taxes be assessed at their full value and uniformly within property classes, the board alleges in its 

Monday filing, through Davis and Cannon attorneys Amanda Esch and Cat Young. 

Gov. Mark Gordon, on behalf of the state, scored a minor win in this fight June 19, when Hibben ordered the Board of Equalization to proceed with its summertime property tax certification processes in a way that obeys the cap laws. 

These laws passed in 2024. Two members of the state Board of Equalization, Chair E. Jayne Mockler and Vice-Chair Martin Hardsocg, were gearing up to challenge the laws earlier this year, but the governor scuttled the effort, says a report the board issued last month. 

In that same report, Mockler and Hardsocg indicated they could not certify counties’ property tax assessments with the cap in place due to their constitutional concerns. 

Gordon’s office challenged the board’s refusal via the Wyoming Attorney General’s office, in a June 16 filing in Hibben’s court. 

Though Hibben indicated the state looks favored to win this constitutional battle, he’s set another hearing for July 6 to contemplate the issue – and whether he’ll keep ordering the board to honor the cap – in more detail. 

If the board loses at that hearing as well, it’ll be ordered to honor the cap as long as this case is ongoing, or unless the Wyoming Supreme Court contradicts Hibben on appeal. 

If the board wins at that hearing, then Hibben will let it disregard the cap, and the county assessors may have to rework their residential property tax assessments without it. 

Equalization gordon 6 19 26

<title>Wyoming Board Of Equalization Asks Judge To End Property Tax Cap  | Cowboy State Daily</title>

The Wyoming Board of Equalization is suing Gov. Mark Gordon back after he rejected its claims that the state's property tax caps are unconstitutional. The board is asking a judge to end Wyoming’s 4% cap on property tax increases. 

Wyoming Board Of Equalization Asks Judge To End Property Tax Cap 

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Crime & Courts

Courts

For nearly a year, the man known only by his scattered bones on a remote Wyoming mountainside remained a mystery.

Investigators found pieces of his skeleton spread across rugged country near the Sweetwater Gap Guard Station, along with a tent and personal belongings. 

An identification card hinted at who he might be, but proving it would require an investigation stretching from Sublette County to Scotland, involving Interpol, foreign police agencies and DNA collected half a world away.

On Thursday, the Sublette County Sheriff's Office announced the mystery has finally been solved.

The remains belong to John Gillies, a Scottish man who would have been 69 years old this year.

"This case is a testament to the dedication of everyone involved and the strength of partnerships that extend well beyond our county and even our nation's borders," Sheriff K.C. Lehr said in a statement.

"What began as the discovery of unidentified remains in a remote area of Wyoming ultimately brought together local, state, federal and international partners with one shared goal — to give a family answers,” he said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'Very Remote'"}]

The investigation began Sept. 6, 2025, when Wyoming Game and Fish personnel 

discovered scattered human skeletal remains

 in a remote section of the Wind River Mountains near the Sweetwater Gap Guard Station.

Authorities later described the location as "very remote," in an area that sees little traffic outside of occasional search-and-rescue missions.

Deputies found disarticulated skeletal remains, a tent, and personal belongings. At the time, authorities said foul play did not appear to be a factor.

Four days later, a 14-member search team made up of deputies, detectives, Sublette County Search and Rescue volunteers and U.S. Forest Service personnel combed roughly 20 miles of rugged terrain, recovering additional skeletal remains.

By late December, a forensic anthropologist estimated investigators had recovered about 85% of the skeleton and concluded the remains had likely been in the wilderness for about six years.

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

Among the items recovered at the scene were personal effects that eventually led investigators to believe the man could be Gillies.

With no immediate next of kin in the United States, detectives contacted Gillies' ex-wife on Sept. 16, 2025.

Although she had not yet received confirmation that the remains belonged to her former husband, she provided photographs, medical history and details about his life.

[{"type":"text","text":"One message stayed with investigators throughout the case."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"\"I wanted you to know he was more than bones\" she had said. "}]

The sheriff's office called her compassion and willingness to help "a powerful reminder that every unidentified person is someone's loved one."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Investigation Crosses An Ocean"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"The investigation soon expanded across the Atlantic."}]

Detectives contacted Saint Mary's Church in Kirkintilloch, Scotland, which helped locate Gillies' surviving relatives and assisted with an international death notification.

Through Interpol, Police Scotland and the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement International Bureau, investigators obtained DNA reference samples from Gillies’ family, the Sublette County Sheriff’s Office reports.

Those samples arrived in Wyoming on Feb. 10. The following day, investigators personally transported the family DNA and the recovered skeletal remains to the Wyoming State Crime Laboratory in Cheyenne for comparison.

On Tuesday, the lab confirmed the remains were biologically related to Gillies' surviving family members, bringing the nearly yearlong investigation to a close, along with six years of limbo overall for the family.

[{"type":"text","text":"Investigators immediately notified his family in Scotland."}]

At their request, the Sublette County Sheriff's Office and the Sublette County Coroner's Office are now working with Interpol to return Gillies' remains home for burial.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Questions Remain"}]

The sheriff's office did not say how Gillies came to be in the isolated Wyoming wilderness or whether he had been reported missing before his remains were discovered.

[{"type":"text","text":"Authorities also did not announce a cause or manner of death."}]

Instead, investigators focused Wednesday on the collaboration that ultimately restored a name to a man who had spent years missing and unidentified.

"We are grateful to everyone who played a role in helping bring John home," Lehr said.

The sheriff's office specifically thanked the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Sublette County Search and Rescue, the U.S. Forest Service, the Wyoming State Crime Laboratory, Interpol, Police Scotland, the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement International Bureau, Saint Mary's Church in Kirkintilloch and, most importantly, Gillies' family "for their patience, trust and assistance throughout this investigation.”

Missing man found inset

<title>Scattered Bones Found In Remote Wyoming Wilderness ID'd As Missing Scottish Man | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Scattered human bones found in Wyoming's rugged Wind River Mountains nearly a year ago have been identified as a Scottish man. "I wanted you to know he was more than bones,” his ex-wife said when contacted by investigators.

Scattered Bones Found In Remote Wyoming Wilderness ID'd As Missing Scottish Man

Mac Watson

Daily Video News

It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Thursday, July 2nd.  I’m Mac Watson

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

The cause of last week’s double fatal crash in remote Natrona County has been released by the Wyoming Highway Patrol. Cowboy State Daily’s Kolby Fedore reports that the WHP says the tanker truck plowed into seven vehicles, killing two.

“New details released by the Wyoming Highway Patrol on Wednesday morning show that a tanker truck driver failed to slow down or stop when traffic was queued in a construction zone on US Highway 26 This is about 45 miles northwest of Casper on Friday afternoon. The driver so far has not been identified as of Wednesday afternoon. The Wyoming Highway Patrol says this is still a very active investigation.”

The crash happened at 1:50 p.m. Friday on U.S. Highway 20/26 near mile marker 58.3, with the WHP having identified driver inattention as a possible contributing factor in the crash. As of Wednesday, no criminal charges had been announced.

Already at critically low levels, Lake Powell is close to being “dead pool,” which means water won't flow downriver anymore. Outdoors Reporter Mark Heinz reports that Wyoming cities and industries are worried that will mean more demand for water from Flaming Gorge Reservoir.

“I did connect with a couple people from the municipalities of Cheyenne and Rock Springs, of course. Rock Springs is directly in the Colorado River drainage because of the Green River. Cheyenne is indirectly because of water rights trades. Some of the water that goes into Cheyenne is actually traded for water that comes off the Colorado River. And they both said, ‘Yeah, I mean, this is not like an immediate emergency. Oh my god, we're going to run out of water this year,’ but they are saying, ‘Longer term, we've got to think of some better things, some better solutions, maybe some other sources we can go to for water, because this situation is getting dicey.’”

Wyoming state Sen. Larry Hicks, who served on the Legislature’s Select Water Committee says Wyoming may have to make some stark choices in the near future because “power generation is subservient” to irrigation water rights, he tells Cowboy State Daily.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"},{"type":"italic"}],"text":"–"}]

Wyoming voters are being inundated with attack fliers about political candidates. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that one flier targeting Lander incumbents claim they “endangered children” and “exposed women to their radical transgender agenda.”

“Make Liberty Win is generally the flyer factory in Wyoming, that's an out-of-state PAC that spends a lot of money backing Freedom Caucus aligned candidates, they've started sending out flyers showing like Senator Kail Case and Representative Lloyd Larson in sheep's clothing, and you know, claiming that they had a radical trans agenda, and both Case and Larson said no, we had nuanced, careful close-up reasons for these votes that you can't, that they're not putting on a flyer, and then on the other side, Americans for Prosperity, which is a PAC that in Wyoming takes some pride in not resorting to cartoon tactics like that. They have gone out hard against House Speaker Chip Nyman because they've endorsed Senator Ogden Driscoll, and they have a bone to pick with some of Nyman's votes.”

Make Liberty Win backs Wyoming Freedom Caucus-aligned candidates, while Americans For Prosperity backs a variety of GOP hopefuls, generally on libertarian-leaning or business-friendly credentials.

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

A 17-year-old Lander homeschooler who beat out 8,000 other students in what was billed as the “Ultimate Civics Showdown” stood beside President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on national TV on Tuesday. Cowboy State Daily’s Dale Killingbeck reports that Miriam Washut says she had one week to prepare.

“She is one of four sent to regionals in Dallas at the George Bush Library, and then is one of the top four that comes out of that, and then she goes to the Nationals in Washington, DC, where there were 20 kids she was competing against, and she came out on top with $150,000 scholarship, and got to go into the Oval Office and shake hands with President Trump. He presented her with a coin, and she said it was a great experience. She just said she never thought she'd be able to do something like that.”

Washut had to plow through more than 5,000 pages of books, foundational documents and biographies, as well as know the facts on 10 Revolutionary War battles. She then was tested at state and regional levels before the national finals competition at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

I’ll have more news from Cowboy State Daily right after this.

Cowboy State Daily News continues now….

After a rocky, two-year run for Gillette’s Hoskinson Health & Wellness Clinic, Monument Health has struck a deal to keep the facility open. Cowboy State Daily’s Renee Jean reports that the state-of-the-art facility will be plugged into the Mayo Clinic Care Network. 

“So Monument Health is going to be taking over the Hoskinson Health and Wellness Clinic, and it's kind of interesting because the Hoskinson family, when they built their clinic in Gillette, had promised they wanted this to be the Mayo Clinic of the West. Well, it's interesting to know that Monument Health is a member of the Mayo Clinic's network, and so, in a way, even though it's not the Hoskinson family that will be operating it anymore, they feel like they've fulfilled their promise.”

Monument Health, which operates five hospitals and more than 40 clinics and specialty centers in 14 communities across western South Dakota and eastern Wyoming, has direct access to Mayo Clinic expertise and resources, a connection that has now been extended to Gillette.

Fresh after socialist-backed candidates' success in New York's U.S. House primaries, Colorado Democrats nominated their own socialist House candidate Tuesday. Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that having a socialist neighbor could galvanize Wyoming's independence even more, so says one politico.

“Liz Brimmer, who's a longtime Wyoming politico, said, look, we already say don't Colorado my Wyoming, we're already pretty galvanized in like this independence that this will probably just harden that if anything, and it's it's just a different voice in the giant, the giant US House.”

Democratic socialist 29-year-old Melat Kiros, defeated 15-term incumbent U.S. House Rep. Diana DeGette in Tuesday evening’s primary election.

An 18-year-old Cheyenne man is accused of using a root beer bottle Molotov cocktail to firebomb the truck of another teen dating his ex-girlfriend. Cowboy State Daily’s Kolby Fedore reports that police say “he often left things on (her) vehicle, including a pile of ashes and a black rose.”

“Investigators say that the fire bomb, also known as a homemade Molotov cocktail, was made out of a Sprecher root beer bottle that was filled with a rag soaked in gasoline. During the investigation, detectives were able to find out that Seth Hayes had walked into a Menards earlier and bought a four pack of Spreckers root beer. They also learned that just hours before the arson occurred, he had posted Shabbosies, ‘Let It Burn’ onto his social media.”

Hayes is set for a Thursday preliminary hearing on a felony charge of third-degree arson. During his initial appearance in Laramie County Circuit Court late last week, a judge set his bond at $10,000 cash only.

A gun-friendly U.S. Supreme Court seems poised to overturn “assault weapon” bans in Connecticut and the Chicago area — and Wyoming gun dealers are all in favor. Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz reports that dealers say that could make it easier to sell to customers in Colorado and other states.

“They told me that, well, this would be good for us, insofar as we do get a lot of people coming from Colorado, which doesn't necessarily have a statewide ban, but does have some local bands as well as other states that might have statewide bans, we get customers coming to us. That's how Wyoming firearms dealers could benefit if the Supreme Court decides to do away with these bans on the national level, because it would open up a much wider market for them, and plus, you know, these guys just said on principle they just support the freedom for everybody.”

Colorado doesn’t have a statewide assault-weapons ban, although there are some local bans, such as in Denver. There’s a statewide prohibition on “high-capacity magazines” capable of carrying more than 15 rounds.

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

And that’s today’s news. Get your free digital subscription to Wyoming's only statewide newspaper by hitting the Daily Newsletter button on 

 - and you can watch this newscast every day by clicking Subscribe on our 

 channel, or listen to us on your favorite podcast app.  Thanks for watching - I’m Mac Watson, for Cowboy State Daily.

News image 7 2 26

<title>Cowboy State Daily Video Newscast: Thursday, July 2, 2026 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Thursday's headlines include:
* More Demand On Flaming Gorge
* Lander Student Wins National “Civics Showdown"
* Investigators Say Tanker Failed To Stop In Massive Crash

Cowboy State Daily Video Newscast: Thursday, July 2, 2026

Government & Politics

Media outlets gasped last week at the socialist movement’s success in the New York congressional 

That success headed west Tuesday, to Wyoming’s southern neighbor of Colorado.

Democratic socialist Melat Kiros, 29, defeated 15-term incumbent U.S. House Rep. Diana DeGette in Tuesday evening’s primary election.

Colorado Public Radio called the ouster “a stunning blow to the Democratic establishment in Denver and continuing a run of leftist victories in major cities.”

Former Wyoming Gov. Mike Sullivan, a Dvemocrat, told Cowboy State Daily on Tuesday that he wasn’t surprised at the move by Denver voters, but he doubted the proximity of a House socialist – if Kiros wins the general election – will affect Wyoming much.

“We have our own issues, and we’re certainly more sensitive to certain issues than others,” Sullivan said. “And it doesn’t necessarily divide us or make us closer to anybody else.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Could Deepen 'Don't Colorado My Wyoming' Sentiment"}]

Liz Brimmer, longtime Wyoming politico, agreed in general, but said having a socialist congressional neighbor could galvanize Wyoming even harder into a tendency it already has: spurning anything that looks like Colorado governance.  

“I think Wyoming uniformly and strongly feels, you know, ‘Don’t Colorado my Wyoming',” Brimmer said. “And I think if anything, it deepens that sentiment.”

Brimmer said the ouster speaks of “these times, where there’s no doubt an anti-incumbent strain.” But no one will know all the reasons, nor should presume too much, until the voter data return, she said.

The Republicans saw the anti-incumbent strain surface differently, with newcomers ousting President Donald Trump’s foes in GOP primary elections.

State Rep. Landon Brown, R-Cheyenne, who is finishing off his final legislative term, voiced fascination with the election outcome.

Brown, a self-described political junkie, lives about 14 miles from the Colorado border.

He said the ouster shows Denver is increasingly dictating the rest of Colorado’s fate, and that the state is growing more polarized.

On the Republican gubernatorial primary side, The 

 a half-point lead for Victor Marx as of Wednesday.

“He’s just as crazy as a democratic socialist on the left,” said Brown.

As for DeGette’s defeat, it’s not as symptomatic as one would think, he added.

“She was running a ‘Hey, I’m the incumbent and I’ve been here 30 years’ (campaign),” he said.

That hurt her. As did a growing divide on the left over Israel’s approach to its many foes — and Congress’ funding of Israeli war and defense efforts, said Brown.

Israel was also a fulcrum in the May primary loss of libertarian-leaning incumbent Rep. Thomas Massie, of Kentucky. But the Republican voters took the inverse approach on that one, nominating the candidate who supports funding Israeli war efforts.

Jack Speight, the GOP strategist who helped Wyoming Gov. Stan Hathaway to victory in 1966, told Cowboy State Daily Kiros’ win is alarming.

Speight was a Democrat when he graduated from the University of Wyoming law school. But the allure of capitalism and the prevailing logic of his good friends pulled him to the Republican side, he said in another interview last month.

The socialist victories of 2026 are “sad for this country. It may well affect the results of this fall, and nationwide,” he said. He called it a shift of California transplants into the Rockies, and a symptom of a growing entitlement.

[{"type":"text","text":"Colorado isn’t the only Wyoming neighbor with socialist momentum."}]

Sam Forstag, a smoke jumper endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, D-New York, won his primary bid for Montana’s U.S. House District 1 on June 2.

Forstag may be less favored than Kiros going into the general election: No Democrat has won that Montana House district this century.

 a “test for left-leaning politicians” who have been arguing for a populist surge in the blue party.

Melat Kiros Getty 7 1 26

<title>Win By Colorado Socialist Could Galvanize Wyoming Independence, Says Politico | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Fresh after socialist-backed candidates' success in New York's U.S. House primaries, Colorado Democrats nominated their own socialist House candidate Tuesday. Having a socialist neighbor could galvanize Wyoming's independence even more, one politico said. 

Win By Colorado Socialist Could Galvanize Wyoming Independence, Says Politico

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily reporter, Dale Killingbeck

Dale Killingbeck

A 17-year-old Lander homeschooler who beat out 8,000 other students in what was billed as an “Impossible Civics Test” won the nation’s Presidential 1776 Award, collected a $150,000 scholarship, and then stood beside President Donald Trump in the Oval Office where he gave her a challenge coin.

“I just thought it was really amazing to get to meet the president in the Oval Office, because it’s something that I never thought that I would be able to do,” Miriam Washut told Cowboy State Daily on Wednesday. “It’s just a once-in-a lifetime opportunity.”

To get there, Washut had to plow through more than 5,000 pages of books, foundational documents and biographies, as well as know the facts on 10 Revolutionary War battles. She then was tested at state and regional levels before the national finals competition at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

The finals competition was broadcast on CBS on Tuesday, but was taped a couple of weeks ago when 20 students gathered for the competition in the nation’s capital.

Washut is the daughter of Wyoming Catholic College President Kyle Washut and his wife, Erin. She said it was her dad who first saw on the competition announcement on social media, but she initially had only one week to prepare before testing for the state competition.

“I took the test the last day you could take it,” she said. “And then I had a month before regionals, so there was a little bit more time to get ready for that.”

Kyle Washut said his daughter has always been interested in history, and she was actually working as an intern during part of her study time this spring in the Wyoming Legislature where her grandfather, Art Washut, serves as a state representative for House District 36 in Casper.

The competition involved more than 8,000 students nationwide, and students took three 30-minute exams with a short break to qualify for the regionals. 

Miriam Washut said the exam questions became more difficult as she progressed through the “Impossible Civics Test.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Oval Office Handshake"}]

While in the Oval Office with the president during the short time they had with him, Trump asked her and the other students about their plans for the future, shook their hands, and then they posed for photos with him and Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon, Miriam said. 

She enjoyed seeing a copy of the Declaration of Independence there as part of the event.

It also was not lost on her that she had traveled from Lander, Wyoming, to the seat of the nation’s executive power and government.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"“Yeah, it was really cool,” she said."}]

U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman and Wyoming State Superintendent of Education Megan Degenfelder were among those congratulating Washut on her accomplishment Wednesday.

“She competed against students from all 50 states and came out on top. Wyoming is proud,” Hageman wrote in a statement.

Degenfelder praised the 17-year-old’s dedication to “understanding the nation’s foundational values.”

“In Wyoming, our students grow up with a love for America and civics education,” Degenfelder said. “Congratulations, Miriam.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Regionals In Dallas"}]

She was one of the top four Wyoming participants sent to a regional competition at the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas. 

There, competitors had two rounds of questions on anything regarding the documents that made up the competition’s “library.”

Among the documents were the “Funeral Oration of Pericles Book II,” “Polybius, The Histories,” the Magna Carta, Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, James Madison’s notes on the Constitutional Convention, Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense,” biographies on Washington, Crispus Attucks, Benedict Arnold, and much more.

She was among the top four who advanced from Dallas to the nationals at the Kennedy Center. 

While 20 students were part of the finals competition, those competitors were whittled to eight when it was shown on CBS.

Miriam said questions in the finals involved topics such as the Alien and Seditions Acts, and buzz rounds on the Declaration of Independence and Revolutionary War battles and the Constitution.

One of the questions she tackled involved “why taxation without representation is the end of liberty,” she said.

The high school senior said she really enjoys history more than civics, but appreciates civics “when you get to put it in perspective.”

As a homeschooler, she has been reading a lot of American history and took an online class on the Declaration of Independence and Constitution.

Kyle Washut said his daughter has become a fellow at The Heritage Academy, which offers online students an understanding of the nation’s founding ideals.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Pottery And Drama"}]

Additionally, Miriam has enjoyed taking pottery and woodworking classes at Lander’s high school and was involved in a play on C.S. Lewis’s Narnia book “The Horse and His Boy” while preparing for the regional competition.

“I think I just had time to read everything through once and take some notes because there was so much material and I was also really busy with softball and the play,” she said. “I gave it as much time as I had.”

Current plans call for her to finish her senior year and then attend Wyoming Catholic College. Beyond that, there are no certain career goals, yet, she said.

While in Washington as part of the competition, she and her family were able to tour the war memorials, U.S. Capitol and visit the National Archives.

“They took us there as part of the national competition, which was neat to see the documents that we’ve been reading for months,” she said. “I was able to get a Library of Congress card which was something I kind of wanted to do.” 

Kyle Washut said the family also took time to swing through Philadelphia on the way home and visit Constitutional Hall and other sites there. 

As someone in higher education, he views the competition and the students who competed as “basically doing a graduate course in American civics.”

He said he’s obviously proud of his daughter’s accomplishment and that she among the students whose “lights” are shining as they embraced their national roots.

“Miriam revealed herself to be in the top high school students in the country with her grasp of America civics,” he said. “The hours of study and thousands of pages that she read, and her deep love for the country and knowledge of what it means to be an American should give us great hope for the future.”

Miriam Washut 736621873 27230431639918737 4588156401187251718 n 7 1 26

<title>Lander Homeschooler Wins ‘Ultimate Civics Showdown,’ $150,000 Scholarship | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A 17-year-old Lander homeschooler who beat out 8,000 other students in what was billed as the “Ultimate Civics Showdown” stood beside President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on national TV on Tuesday. Miriam Washut won a $150,000 scholarship in the effort.

Lander Homeschooler Wins ‘Ultimate Civics Showdown,’ $150,000 Scholarship

A Cheyenne teen accused of firebombing the pickup of a rival for his ex-girlfriend with a Molotov cocktail built from a root beer bottle could get some serious prison time if convicted.

Court documents made publicly available Wednesday afternoon detail investigators' allegations that Seth S. Hayes, 18, threw the firebomb into another teenager's pickup after he began dating Hayes' former girlfriend.

An affidavit of probable cause filed in the case details how detectives spent weeks piecing together witness statements, surveillance video, social media activity and physical evidence before arresting Hayes nearly a month after the May 21 incendiary incident.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Black Rose "}]

Cheyenne Police Department investigators say the conflict that built up to the firebombing began months before the truck was set on fire.

According to the affidavit, Hayes and his girlfriend ended their relationship in January.

Police wrote that Hayes repeatedly contacted his ex-girlfriend after the breakup, leaving voicemails asking her to reconcile or insulting her when she refused.

"Seth often left things on (her) vehicle, including a pile of ashes and a black rose," the affidavit states.

Police also allege Hayes posted a video on social media showing himself and a friend burning one of her sweatshirts.

After she began dating another teenager, investigators say Hayes' attention shifted to him.

One of Hayes' coworkers told investigators Hayes had talked about wanting to "blow (his) truck up" several days before the fire.

According to the affidavit, the victim later told investigators he had heard Hayes make the same threat before his truck was destroyed.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'Let It Burn' "}]

The teenager told investigators he woke around 2:30 a.m. May 21 to find his pickup engulfed in flames outside his Cheyenne home.

After speaking with officers, he said he drove past Hayes' residence "to see if his car was there."

An 18-year-old Cheyenne man is accused of using a root beer bottle Molotov cocktail to firebomb the truck of another teen dating his ex-girlfriend. He also "often left things on (her) vehicle, including a pile of ashes and a black rose," police say.

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