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

<title>Daily Cartoon 1: Saturday, March 21, 2026 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Daily Cartoon 1: Saturday, March 21, 2026

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

Clair McFarland

Government & Politics

Politics

After vocal Green River residents shut down the city’s attempt to secure grant funding for a license plate reader camera project, a police sergeant speaking on his own behalf Tuesday urged the council to reconsider.

Green River Mayor Pete Rust and Councilman Gary Killpack had speculated at a July 7 meeting that the group opposing the cameras drowned out a silent, alternate movement in their favor.

 against the $112,000 federal grant for the project, which had been slated for putting Motorola license plate reader (LPR) surveillance cameras at town entrances.

Green River Police Sgt. Brad Dodson, who said he was speaking for himself and not the department, brought that alternate view to the council’s regular Tuesday meeting.

“While I recognize that decision, I was a little disappointed you didn’t listen to the chief a little bit more and maybe take more time to reevaluate that decision,” Dodson said during the public comment section.

 the grant was characterized as an anti-terrorism effort, but he said the cameras would also be a tool in helping find missing and vulnerable people, as well as answering other real-time investigations.

Dodson told the council the department recently responded to a stolen vehicle incident, and was able to use LPRs from other areas.

In another stolen- vehicle attempt last week, “a license plate reader would have been great to have” to track down the vehicle, he said.

“This is something people ask, something people maybe even expect us to have,” Dodson said.

He urged the council to consider the camera project if it surfaces again, and said he’s happy to offer any information people seek.

“I’m happy to dispel some fear, some concerns, or maybe just give another side of the story,” Dodson said. “Especially from someone who’s on, essentially, the front line trying to solve these crimes for the citizens of this community essentially every day.”

Killpack delivered comments toward the end of the meeting to rebut what he described as an email from a Laramie resident on the topic, calling him dumb and dishonest.

He said he’d take the dumb critique but the “dishonest” claim is slander and “unacceptable.”

The people who opposed LPRs two weeks ago, said Killpack, “they don’t understand what happened.”

Killpack said if any of those people go to Salt Lake City, “they’ve been picked up” by the camera and their plates logged into the system.

Salt Lake City has LPRs. It also paused a plan to expand its system in December over privacy concerns, 

Killpack said the people in the audience two weeks ago also didn’t understand the council’s nay votes killed the grant, though not necessarily some later decision to raise cameras.

Marshall Burt, a former, and first, Libertarian state lawmaker for Wyoming bristled at that in a Wednesday interview with Cowboy State Daily.

[{"type":"text","text":"He said Killpack was “blaming people for being stupid and confused.”"}]

“Now I’m going to have to wait for the next city council meeting, show up and argue again,” said Burt, who rallied people via social media ahead of the July 7 meeting.

Dennis Laughlin, vice-chair of the Libertarian Party and a business owner in Green River, also protested at the July 7 meeting.

“Yeah I would say Killpack doesn’t understand what the people of Green River obviously want,” Laughlin said.

Laughlin said he had a qualm with the federal funding, and it’s wrong for people to believe that’s free money. But most LPR opponents were against the installation of the cameras alone, and lobbied against the grant as a means to prevent that, he said.

“People are seeing this constant encroachment on their liberties. It’s like being pecked to death by a duck, and one peck doesn’t hurt – but eventually you die,” Laughlin said.

[{"type":"text","text":"Laughlin said he’s glad Killpack is not running for council again."}]

Green river license plate reader 7 7 26

<title>Green River Police Sergeant Urges Reconsideration Of License Plate Cameras | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A police sergeant urged the Green River City Council Tuesday to reconsider license plate reader cameras, two weeks after vocal residents blocked the project. He said they are a valuable tool in helping find missing and vulnerable people.

Green River Police Sergeant Urges Reconsideration Of License Plate Cameras

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

Andrew Rossi

Around Wyoming

Many Wyoming ranchers are struggling with an existential problem that’s completely out of their control. Hay has become harder to find, harder to grow, and more expensive to buy.

With the lack of rain and ongoing drought, it’s harder to grow hay for feeding Wyoming’s cattle, horses and other livestock. Ranchers who have historically harvested their own hay might have to purchase it to keep their animals fed, and prices are constantly creeping upward.

In the short term, it’s enough to make ranching difficult. In the long term, some say, it could hasten the end of many family farms and ranches that can’t afford to feed their animals.

“If it’s not a problem now, it’s going to be,” said Dennis Sun, publisher of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. “Some people are looking to sell cattle because they’re afraid they can't get the hay to feed them.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Not A Hay Day"}]

Meeteetse resident Mitchell Huene works with Cowboys with a Mission, a nonprofit that runs two annual Bible schools teaching kids to ride, brand, lay irrigation pipes, and understand “where their food comes from.”

“Whatever anybody needs us to do, we'll do,” he told Cowboy State Daily. “To facilitate that, we've got 43 horses we need to feed.”

In the past, Cowboys with a Mission got its hay from the Pitchfork Ranch. Huene learned in May that the ranch wouldn’t be able to supply them this summer.

“Because of how bad the winter was, nobody in the area has any grass,” he said. “They're grazing their hay fields at the Pitchfork.”

They found a new supplier near Powell that had enough hay in their price range. However, that deal fell through last week.

“There wasn't as much hay coming off the fields as he thought, and he had other customers to take care of first,” Huene said. “That was a bit of a problem for us, because we had about 10 days’ worth of hay left at that point.”

When Huene first arrived in Meeteetse 12 years ago, he was paying $100 per ton of hay. Last summer, it was $150 per ton.

This summer, finding hay for less than $200 per ton is a bargain, and even that’s a rare find.

“We’re seeing hay going for $300 to $350 per ton on Facebook Marketplace,” Huene said. “There was some hay down in Thermopolis posted for $450 a ton this morning. We're a nonprofit, so we're not exactly rolling in dough, and that’s three times what we were paying last year.”

Huene has heard similar stories from ranchers across Wyoming. They either can't produce enough hay or are worried about affording enough hay.

“One hay producer in the area said he got 250 tons off a field last year,” he said. “He got 100 off of it this year.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"No Hay, No Way"}]

Hay is essential to Wyoming’s agricultural industry. Animals need it, and ranchers need to make sure they’re amply supplied to feed their livestock throughout the year.

[{"type":"text","text":"The year so far has been a struggle for ranchers across the state."}]

“Most ranchers produce their own hay,” Sun said. “When there’s a drought, there’s not much going on.  I'm hearing that ranchers aren’t getting enough water to put up their usual amount of hay.”

By Sun’s estimate, a 1,000-pound cow needs at least 20 pounds of hay every day, assuming it’s grazing and has its diet supplemented with other sources such as grain or corn.

[{"type":"text","text":"A cow that isn’t grazing will need around 25 pounds of hay per day."}]

Many ranchers have reliably produced enough hay to keep their livestock well fed. Anything extra can be sold or stored.

That hasn’t been the case this summer. Sun has heard reports of ranchers who’ve only had a quarter of their usual tonnage.

“They'll either have to start selling livestock or buying hay,” he said. “It’s better when you can buy at $100 or $150 per ton, but you're not going to see any hay like that this summer.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"It Gets Worse"}]

Jason Watts, co-owner of HayWerks in Buffalo, has been crunching the numbers. Overall, they aren’t good.

“Overall assessment for hay in Wyoming is down 60-70% of a normal year over a 10-year period,” he said. “Certain areas in Wyoming are much worse than other areas where snow packs were moderate this spring.”

One of Watts’s largest customers is the HF Bar Ranch near Buffalo. They typically order between 250 to 275 tons of hay per year to feed 200 horses.

[{"type":"text","text":"On July 1, they ordered an additional 300 tons of hay."}]

“They began feeding their horses in late June this year because the pastures were too dry to graze during the summer months,” Watts said. “Now, take this example of one customer and how they are handling the hay situation and multiply this across Wyoming.”

Watts managed to meet the HF Bar Ranch’s order by studying drought maps and finding an area that had enough moisture to grow a surplus of hay. He found growers in North Dakota that could meet the ranch’s needs.

“Delivered prices this year are $125 a ton higher over 2025 prices,” he said. “I arranged transportation and began shipping hay (from Fargo, North Dakota) to the HF Bar Ranch. That’s 625 miles, one way.”

That’s a hefty cost for any ranch, but larger ranches have an easier time footing the bill. That usually isn’t an option for smaller ranches, or even people with small acreages with a handful of horses.

Watts said he works in a “small hay world,” selling only a few thousand tons of hay each year. That’s why he finds the current situation so concerning.

“I cannot imagine, on a state level, how much hay is needed to feed privately owned livestock,” he said. “Customers are scrambling to dig deep into their bank accounts to buy hay and keep the livestock they own.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Grass Isn’t Greener"}]

According to Watts, the HF Bar Ranch needed hay because there was no grass in its pastures. That, too, is a universal problem and growing concern.

“In a lot of places, there's no grass in the hills for the cattle to winter on,” Sun said. “If there’s no grass, you’re going to have to feed them more hay.”

It’s particularly bad for areas recovering from recent wildfires. Sun knows of several ranchers who have little to no hope of seeing any grass this year.

“If they got really affected by the fires last summer, there’s no new grass coming in where the fire was,” he said. “That’s going to make hay even more expensive.”

Even if a rancher can only buy at $450 per ton, they’ll be paying much more. According to Sun, that money covers the hay only.

“That doesn't cover the high cost of trucking it in from some place that does have hay,” he said. “For ranchers in droughty areas, it doesn’t look good at all, and that’s probably over half of Wyoming.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Kitchen Table Decisions"}]

Right now, the hay feeding Wyoming’s livestock is probably from out-of-state. Watts said importing hay from neighboring states “might” be enough to stabilize Wyoming, if only temporarily.

“Folks in Montana and North Dakota ship hay into eastern Wyoming,” he said. “Eastern Idaho has hay that will likely end up in western Wyoming. It’s the central and southeastern area of Wyoming that I cannot predict how they will improve on hay supply.”

Central and southeastern Wyoming are struggling because they’re competing with Colorado, Watts said, adding that Colorado is “pulling a lot of hay from multiple surrounding states” to cover its own crop losses.

While the pressure is certainly being felt now, Watts said he thinks the severity of Wyoming’s hay situation will come to a head this fall.

“When calves are taken to market, the decision to buy hay or sell (livestock) will be the topic at many kitchen tables,” he said.

That will be the reality unless something changes. And something can still change to improve the outlook.

“There's not going to be much improvement unless we get some of these monsoon rains,” he said.

Sun referred to 2025 as an example of a recent turnaround. The rains “stopped” in July and August, and it stayed dry until October.

“I had pastures with six inches of green grass in them in October,” he said. “These things can happen at any time, but they need to happen.”

Monsoonal rains are in Wyoming’s forecast, but favorable weather is never guaranteed. Sun is looking at this week’s forecast with increasing concern.

“If we don't get it here in the next few days, and it goes back to 98 degrees during the day next week, that’ll be a problem,” he said. “You don't want to stop doing your rain dances.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"“It’ll Break Us”"}]

Faced with a growing shortage of hay, Huene turned to Facebook to see if anyone had anything extra that they’d be willing to sell at a reasonable price.

“The worst they can do is say no or ignore you,” he said. “They can't take away your birthday, right?”

Cowboys with a Mission has found a hay supplier in Bozeman, Montana, able to deliver for $310 per ton. Huene said that’s the best they can do for now, but he knows it isn’t sustainable.

“If that's the route we're going to have to go, it’s pretty well going to break us,” he said. “If anyone wants to help a registered nonprofit, we’re still hurting for hay. It’s brutal.”

Hay wyoming 7 22 26

<title>'It's Brutal': Wyoming Can't Grow Hay, So Ranchers Pay Big Bucks Or Sell Livestock | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Wyoming ranchers are struggling with an existential problem out of their control. Hay has become harder to find, harder to grow, and more expensive to buy. Some say this will hasten the end of family farms and ranches that can’t afford to feed their animals.

'It's Brutal': Wyoming Can't Grow Hay, So Ranchers Pay Big Bucks Or Sell Livestock

Heinz mark

Mark Heinz

Outdoors

Wildlife

A hiker probably couldn't have done anything more to save himself when he surprised a grizzly at close range in the dark in Glacier National Park on May 3 and was subsequently killed, a seasoned bear-country trekker told Cowboy State Daily on Wednesday.

Anthony Pollio, 33, of Davie, Florida, used bear spray at some point during the attack “but it is unknown if and where the spray contacted the bear,” according to an incident report from the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee. 

The attack likely occurred between 9:15 and 10 p.m., when Pollio was hiking down the Mt. Brown lookout trail, the report states. He suffered fatal bit wounds to his head. 

“Darkness and deadfall on the trail would have prevented the bear and Mr. Pollio from seeing each other until they were very close,” according to the report. 

Pollio might have been using his cell phone light to illuminate his path, but it isn’t known whether he was making any noise before encountering the bear, the report says. 

Outdoor adventurer Michael Hodges was in Glacier at the time, and said he avoids hiking before dawn or after dark whenever possible. 

“I’m not saying he (Pollio) did anything wrong,” said Hodges, a novelist and internet personality.

He said Pollio, who was described by friends and family as an experienced outdoorsman, probably didn’t set out with the intent of staying out past dark. 

Letting the day get away while enjoying the backcountry and hiking out later than planned is a mistake even experienced outdoors people sometimes make, Hodges said.   

Running into a grizzly on a narrow trail in the dark is a “worst-case scenario,” Hodges said. “That’s a nightmare scenario.” 

“No bear spray, no gun is going to save you in a situation like that,” he added. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Brief, Intense Attack"}]

The Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee includes officials from the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, the National Park Service and other agencies. 

The committee’s report on the investigation of the site where Pollio’s body was found May 6 indicate 

, by an adult male grizzly, was brief and intense. 

His body was found about 69 feet below the trail and about 2.5 miles from the trailhead. 

During the attack, Pollio “fell or was thrown downhill” off the trail about 93 feet during the initial contact with the bear, according to a detailed incident report from the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee. 

“His path was littered with personal effects beginning 10 ft (feet) below the trail. We believe the bear followed Mr. Pollio downhill, continuing the attack. Spatters of blood increased in frequency and volume down the hill,” according to the report. 

One of Pollio’s ears was found about 40 feet downslope and a large pool of blood marked the end of his descent, the report states. 

“Based on blood marks and the orientation of branches, it appears as though Mr. Pollio managed to climb back up slope approximately 18 ft, at which point the bear re-engaged and inflicted the fatal bites to Mr. Pollio’s head,” the report states. 

There was no evidence of “predation” on Pollio’s body and the bear apparently left immediately after the attack, the committee reported. 

Pollio’s last known communication was a text message sent to girlfriend at 8:20 p.m. May 3 from about .9 miles up the trail from the attack site, according to the report. The text indicated that he expected to make it back to the trailhead around 11 p.m.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Bears Use Trails Too"}]

Bears are smart enough to “take the path of least resistance,” so they like using hiking trails, Kim Titchener, founder of the Bear Safety and More organization in Canada, told Cowboy State Daily. 

Bears like to avoid people and will use hiking trails at times when people typically don’t, such as before dawn or after dark, she said.

That’s can make hiking on trails during those times particularly dangerous, she said. 

The trails in Glacier  have “lots of switchbacks” and blind corners with thick vegetation, she said. 

That can make surprise close encounters more likely, and bears might react defensively in those situations, Titchener said. 

Grizzlies usually attack to “neutralize a perceived threat” and will stop once they realize a person is no longer a threat, she added. 

In many cases, “playing dead” will stop a grizzly attack, she said.

It’s best to hike during the daylight, in groups, “making lots of noise,” Titchener said. 

Hodges agreed that bears in Glacier like using hiking trails at odd hours, usually in the dark, and so he tries to avoid being on the trails at those times. 

The attack on Pollio was most likely the result of bad circumstances, he said. 

But he’s observed other hikers in Glacier displaying bad behavior. 

“They’re spending 10 minutes filming themselves out hiking and not paying attention to what’s going on around them,” he said. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Glacier is no place for that, Hodges said."}]

“This is a national park that has the same number of bears as Yellowstone, in an area that’s about half the size of Yellowstone,” he said. 

Glacier grizzly v2 7 22 26

<title>"Nightmare Scenario": Victim Of Glacier Grizzly Attack Likely Surprised Bear In The Dark | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Officials concluded Tuesday that a 33-year-old man likely surprised a grizzly in the dark before he was killed in Glacier National Park in May. Running into a bear in the dark is a “nightmare scenario,” said an outdoorsman who was in the park at the time.

"Nightmare Scenario": Victim Of Glacier Grizzly Attack Likely Surprised Bear In The Dark

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Crime & Courts

Courts

A Jackson man is accused of twice blasting another driver in the face with bear spray during a road rage showdown, leaving the victim temporarily blind and gasping for air.

Police say the second burst is what turned an angry traffic dispute into a felony.

Leonardo Enrique Dominguez was arrested Sunday and charged with aggravated battery after investigators allege he intentionally caused serious bodily injury, as stated in a probable cause affidavit filed Monday in Teton County Circuit Court.

Prosecutors have charged Dominguez with aggravated battery, claiming he intentionally caused serious bodily injury "under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to human life."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"A Road Rage Call"}]

The confrontation unfolded shortly before noon Sunday near the Loaf 'N Jug gas station along West Broadway Avenue in Jackson.

Police responded to reports of a road rage assault involving bear spray and found a man kneeling beside his white Dodge Caravan.

The affidavit says the man was coughing violently, his eyes were burning and he was unable to answer officers' questions. Mucus and tears streamed down his face as emergency responders treated him before transporting him to the hospital.

Witnesses told police they had been driving behind the man when a gray Toyota Tacoma pulled alongside his stopped van.

They said someone inside the truck sprayed bear spray through the passenger-side window of the van, the affidavit says. As the man stood in the doorway of his van, they said he was sprayed a second time directly in the face before the truck sped away.

Officers later noted the interior of the man's van still reeked of bear spray, which made one of the corporal's "eyes burn" and caused them to cough, according to the affidavit.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Pulled Over "}]

At the hospital, the man who had been sprayed told investigators the road rage encounter began after another truck tried merging into his lane, nearly forcing him onto the sidewalk.

He said he pulled over simply to ask the other driver what he was doing. Instead of an explanation, he said he was immediately blasted with bear spray.

The man denied threatening the other driver and said he had never seen him before.

A request for further comment from the driver of the van was not returned by publication. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Self Defense Argument"}]

Investigators reviewed surveillance video and license plate camera data that led them to a gray vehicle registered to Dominguez.

Officers found the truck parked outside his apartment later that afternoon, the affidavit says.

Dominguez agreed to speak with police and acknowledged spraying the man twice, but insisted he acted in self-defense.

The affidavit says Dominguez claimed the man sped up to block him, brake-checked him, yelled profanities and aggressively approached his driver's window.

He said he displayed the bear spray first as a warning before using it, the affidavit says.

Dominguez admitted spraying the man once through the driver's window of the van and a second time after he returned to his own vehicle, saying he feared the confrontation was continuing.

He also told officers he didn't call police because he believed surveillance cameras had captured the encounter and assumed officers would eventually contact him.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Felony Charge "}]

When officers located Dominguez's vehicle, they reported seeing rags inside "as if the vehicle had been cleaned,” the affidavit says. 

They also observed tactical gear, flashlights, a knife and patches mounted throughout the truck's interior.

Dominguez told investigators his truck was equipped with a dash cam that may have recorded the incident.

The investigating officer wrote that bear spray is intended to stop bears — not people — and can cause severe eye injuries, swelling, airway constriction and potentially life-threatening respiratory complications when used at close range.

Police concluded there was probable cause to arrest Dominguez after considering witness statements, the alleged victim's account and Dominguez's own admission that he sprayed the man a second time.

Investigators say that second burst came after Bilen had already returned to his own vehicle, leading them to conclude the use of force was no longer justified and supported a charge of aggravated battery.

Dominguez made his initial appearance Monday afternoon before Teton County Circuit Court Judge Erin Weisman, who set his bond at $5,000 cash. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 31.

Jackson Loaf N Jug green sign 7 21 26

<title>Jackson Man Accused Of Blasting Driver With Bear Spray In Road Rage Showdown | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A Jackson man is accused of blasting another driver twice with bear spray during a Sunday road rage showdown, leaving the victim struggling to breathe. He admitted using bear spray on the other driver, but told police it was self-defense.

Jackson Man Accused Of Blasting Driver With Bear Spray In Road Rage Showdown

Days after a religious clash exploded on the Wind River Indian Reservation, the Northern Arapaho Tribe’s government says it has adopted a new policy requiring ministry and charitable groups to get tribal authorization for their work on the reservation.

The Northern Arapaho Business Council (NABC), which is the tribe’s six-person leadership board, posted an announcement about the new policy to social media Monday.

The announcement says the policy is “reaffirming the Northern Arapaho Tribe’s inherent sovereign authority to require consultation and governmental authorizations seeking to conduct recurring ministries, charitable services, outreach programs, and other organized activities on lands under the jurisdiction of the Northern Arapaho Tribe.”

This controversy started July 5, when Christian pastor Sarah Lucas, of Foundations for Nations, preached 

against some of the tribe’s Sundance ceremonies

 involving a pipe relic as a prayer centerpiece. She had indicated praying "to pipes" is idolatry. 

She had said, “a pipe cannot hear your prayers,” and “we know that Jesus is enough.”

Foundations for Nations falls within the exterior boundaries of the Wind River Indian Reservation but it sits on private, not tribal land. It has been ministering in Fremont County for nearly a decade, and runs a food pantry in town as well as kids' programs. 

. Lucas refused, telling Cowboy State Daily she’s sorry the sermon came off as an attack, but not sorry for preaching from the Bible.

[{"type":"text","text":" “Jesus is the only way,” she said."}]

The board’s announcement says that the tribe’s records department reviewed records to see if Foundations for Nations had ever received authorization from the tribal government “to conduct recurring organized ministry or outreach activities on the Reservation.”

Daily Cartoon 1: Saturday, March 21, 2026

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