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[{"type":"text","text":"Already has 10 years of experience after 1 week on the job....."}]

Bonus vid 2 4 24 26

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

<title>Bonus Video 2: Friday, April 24, 2026 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Already has 10 years of experience after 1 week on the job.....

Bonus Video 2: Friday, April 24, 2026

 Already has 10 years of experience after 1 week on the job.....

Kerry Drake

Crime & Courts

Laramie County Sheriff Brian Kozak says stopping human sex trafficking is a new agency priority because for too long Cheyenne has been a “safe haven” for this form of modern slavery.

An undercover operation in Cheyenne led by two detectives resulted in two arrests for soliciting acts of prostitution last weekend. Kozak said the effort is the first in many years for his office, but he promised there will be more.

“People come to Cheyenne to make those (prostitution) arrangements because everyone knew there was no enforcement,” Kozak told Cowboy State Daily.

“But it’s a hard thing to recover women in the trade. Because there’s so much pressure on them, whether it’s drug addiction or physical abuse. Actually the situation that they’re in, sometimes it’s better than their real home life.”

Kozak said that 10 years ago, when he was Cheyenne police chief, his department began undercover operations to arrest human traffickers when he noticed the online activity was extremely high in Cheyenne.

“I went to my sergeant who ran the undercover unit and told him I wanted them to all go to human trafficking training because I think we have a problem in Cheyenne,” the sheriff said.

Kozak said the sergeant didn’t believe him until he did some research and looked at Craigslist and some other sites. 

“He said, ‘Oh my God, we do have a major spike here',” he recalled. “We started to make some great cases against traffickers, or what the industry might call a pimp.” 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"A Costly Operation"}]

It takes lots of time and money for law enforcement to try to stop human sex trafficking, which is rarely prosecuted in Wyoming. Often the crimes are charged as sexual assault or child abuse.

In addition to overtime, the department had to buy cameras for undercover operations, have “buy money” available for stings, and create ads online. 

“Then the investigations themselves can take us out of state as well,” Kozak said. 

Successful results are difficult to gauge.

Kozak said his office was successful in helping some women leave the sex trade, but it didn’t happen until after investigations were completed and the women came to them.

“We have the resources to help them, we have housing, and that’s the goal for these operations,” he said. 

He said the police stings ended when he left the Cheyenne Police Department because the next administration didn’t make human trafficking a priority. 

“As sheriff, I’m bringing it back again,” Kozak said.

He said trafficking spikes during Cheyenne Frontier Days, which typically brings about 200,000 visitors for the 10-day event.

“During this first (sheriff’s) operation we focused on demand reduction, or what you would call ‘johns', because it’s easier than recovering men in the sex trade,” Kozak noted. “The detectives learned a lot and will change some things when they do that type of operation.”   

But the focus will shift soon to trying to find women and young girls in the sex trade as well, Kozak said, by using "reverse stings.” Undercover officers will pose as men wanting to pay for sex acts.

“We’ve trained every single person in the sheriff’s office; all 240 including the civilian staff, have all been trained in human sex trafficking,” Kozak said. “I wanted them to know that was our goal, to reduce the problem here.” 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"All Personnel Trained"}]

Instead of sending a few detectives to training sessions, Kozak said experts came to Cheyenne. One such session was Tuesday, where assessments were made about what went right and wrong during the first sting.

“What we’re planning to do is take the money we’ve received from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and roll it back to pay for the human-trafficking enforcement,” he said.

The sheriff’s office under Kozak’s command signed controversial agreements with ICE last year to deputize local law-enforcement agencies to perform duties otherwise conducted by federal immigration agents. That included arresting and holding people in the county jail until they’re moved to a federal detention center.

In the future, undocumented immigrants arrested through agreements with ICE might be in jail in Cheyenne with sex traffickers who were captured by local law enforcement using funds from the federal agency.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Wyoming sued the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office in May, contending the agency didn’t follow Wyoming law when it signed the agreements.

The first two men the sheriff’s office arrested for alleged solicitation of an act of prostitution were David Drehbol and Christopher Miller, both of Cheyenne. The sheriff’s office identified Drehbol as a registered sex offender who was convicted in 2007 for unlawful sexual contact in Colorado.

The National Human Trafficking Hotline (NHTH) tracks sex cases in every state. The NHTH works closely with service providers, law enforcement, and other professionals in Wyoming to serve victims and survivors of trafficking, respond to trafficking cases, and share information and resources. 

Since the organization’s inception in 2007, it has 

identified 148 cases of human trafficking

Sex trafficking activity is difficult to track and prosecute. But Terri Markham, executive director of Uprising, a statewide anti-human trafficking group based in Sheridan, estimated Wyoming likely generates $12 million a year from pimp-controlled sex trafficking alone. 

Cara Chambers,Wyoming Division of Victim Services director, told the 

 that Wyoming is susceptible to this type of organized crime. She said Wyoming’s rural population and vast land mass result in many places where traffickers can set up operations undetected.

A large interweb of interstate highways also connects people to some of the biggest hubs in the West. 

“There’s a bit of a circuit that these traffickers will take their victims through to Las Vegas and up in California, and it goes through Wyoming,” Chambers said.

The Department of Homeland Security defines human trafficking as the use of force, fraud or coercion to obtain some type of labor or commercial sex act.

If you or someone you know is experiencing human trafficking, contact the national human trafficking hotline at 1-888-373-7888 or your local law enforcement office.

Kerry Drake can be reached at: Kerry@CowboyStateDaily.com

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<title>Sheriff Says Laramie County Will Stop Being ‘Safe Haven’ For Human Trafficking | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A sex solicitation sting in Cheyenne led to the arrest of two men last weekend. Laramie County Sheriff Brian Kozak says it’s the beginning of a new effort to stop human trafficking that has been ignored for too long by law enforcement.

Sheriff Says Laramie County Will Stop Being ‘Safe Haven’ For Human Trafficking

Heinz mark

Mark Heinz

Fishing

Upper Sunshine Reservoir near Meeteetse is popular with local anglers, particularly for ice fishing, but the reservoir is being drained so fishing there won't be an option for two years.

The Greybull Valley Irrigation District is draining the reservoir “to perform critical irrigation infrastructure repairs,” according to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.

Upper Sunshine is expected to be completely drained by Sept. 1, so engineers can inspect infrastructure and determine what repairs are needed.

It will start refilling Oct. 1 but will be drained again in 2027 for the repair work. Repairs are scheduled for completion by April 2028.

“Game and Fish will not stock the small pool that will form during the 2026-2027 period, as it will be drained again in the fall of 2027. Stocking to rebuild the fishery will resume in the fall of 2028, once repairs are completed and water levels stabilize,” according to the agency.

Dalton Epperson of Cody and his friend Tyler Geving of Meeteetse have fished at Upper and Lower Sunshine reservoirs for years.

Upper Sunshine is primarily for ice fishing, they said.

“It’s usually the first thing that’s frozen” in the area, Epperson said.

Upper Sunshine doesn’t have much fish variety, he added.

“It’s all suckers and cutthroats,” he said.

Meat from the suckers makes good lake trout bait, he said.

Because this past winter was so dry, Upper Sunshine Reservoir wasn’t in the best shape anyway, Geving said.

“It was pretty low during ice fishing season,” he said.

Even so, with plentiful fish and easy access, it’s remained popular, Geving said.

“Upper Sunshine is a good starter lake. It’s a good place to take somebody and teach them ice fishing because you can catch 14- and 15-inch cutthroat all day long,” he said.

The reservoirs are the site of an ice fishing derby during the first week of February.

Epperson said Upper and Lower Sunshine are go-too fishing spots for Park County locals because they're about 40 minutes from Cody.

And from Meeteetse, “locals can be there in about 10 minutes and have their boats on the water,” he added.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Long-Term Goals"}]

While the drainages and construction will tank fishing at Upper Sunshine Reservoir in the short term, the repair work should have lasting benefits for the fishery, according to Game and Fish.

“Recent sampling has indicated reduced growth rates in stocked Yellowstone cutthroat trout, likely due to an overabundance of longnose suckers competing for resources, and the drawdown will significantly reduce the sucker population,” Cody regional fisheries biologist Jason Burckhardt said in a statement from the agency.

Refilling the reservoir will release “a surplus of nutrients” from plants and soil, he added.

That will boost plankton production, so trout should grow faster and bigger, Burkhardt said.

While Upper Sunshine Reservoir is down, anglers can turn their attention to Lower Sunshine Reservoir and other waters in the region.

Some of those include Boysen Reservoir south of Thermopolis, Buffalo Bill Reservoir west of Cody, and Meadowlark Lake in the Bighorn Mountains.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Let’s Go Splake Fishing"}]

Epperson and Geving said draining Upper Sunshine Reservoir will put a pinch on their local angling opportunities. But they understand the work has to be done, and there’s no shortage of other places to fish.

“I know they’ve got to upgrade stuff and keep things fixed, to keep the reservoirs running right,” Geving said. “And Lower Sunshine is more fun to fish because it’s got lake trout and splake, and bigger fish.” 

Splake are a sterile hybrid species popular among Wyoming anglers. They’re produced in Game and Fish hatcheries by crossing male brook trout with female lake trout.

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<title>Upper Sunshine Reservoir Near Meeteetse Drained, No More Fishing For Two years | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Upper Sunshine Reservoir near Meeteetse is popular with local anglers, particularly for ice fishing, but the reservoir is being drained, so there won’t be any fishing there for two years. It’s expected to be completely drained by Sept. 1.

Upper Sunshine Reservoir Near Meeteetse Drained, No More Fishing For Two years

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

Andrew Rossi

Wildlife

 crashed along U.S. Highway 191 in Yellowstone National Park’s northwest corner. Hundreds of destroyed hives have been cleared from the highway, but the homeless bees are 

While many are concerned about the fate of the still-homeless honeybees, others worry about 

Honeybees aren’t native to Yellowstone or North America. Their presence in Yellowstone could have repercussions.

“If these honeybees get established as feral colonies, the primary concerns would be food and disease,” said Laura Burkle, a professor of ecology at Montana State University in Bozeman. “It all depends on whether or not they're going to persist in the area.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Native Vs Foreign Bees"}]

Burkle is a community ecologist. She studies bee communities and the flowers and other plants they pollinate in natural and managed systems.

While Burkle was aware of the bee catastrophe in Yellowstone, she didn’t have any specific insight into the circumstances or how many bee colonies had yet to be collected. However, she is aware of the diversity of bees in the park.

“There are hundreds of native species of bees present in Yellowstone,” she said. “Some of them are social, like bumblebees, and some of them are solitary, meaning they don’t live in a colony.”

, published by the National Park Service, said least 3,604 described species of bees inhabit North America. Several National Park Service sites, including Yellowstone and Grand Teton, were included in a cursory nationwide survey.

However, none of these bees are honeybees. All honeybees in the United States were imported from Europe and Africa, with the first colonies arriving in the 18th century.

“That’s why honeybees are considered livestock,” Burkle said. “Bringing a colony of honeybees into a national park wouldn’t typically be allowed.”

Semitrucks aren’t permitted in Yellowstone. The stretch of U.S. 191 between West Yellowstone and Big Sky, Montana, is the exception.

Burkle said honeybees are usually transported en masse to pollinate crops or to move between fields where they can collect nectar for better honey production. The hives, or honey boxes, are critical to their survival.

“Almost all the honeybees in North America go back to a hive,” she said.

Of the 20,000 known species of bees worldwide, only eight are honeybees. Nevertheless, they have been one of the most beneficial insects to humanity since they were first domesticated nearly 5,000 years ago.

That’s where the homeless honeybees could pose a threat to Yellowstone’s natives.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"A Dish (Or Disease) To Pass"}]

Because honeybees have been so thoroughly domesticated, they tend to rely on their honey boxes to build colonies, raise larvae, and produce honey. A honeybee colony that thrives without hives is what Burkle called a feral colony.

“There aren't very many feral honeybee colonies, although they do exist,” she said. “If there were any honeybees in Yellowstone, they would have to be feral colonies.”

There have been concerns about the impact of non-native honeybees on native ecosystems in North America for decades. Honeybees can be defensive and are known to compete with native bumblebees for food and territory in North America and Europe.

That would be one of Burkle’s primary concerns about the homeless honeys in northwest Yellowstone. If one or multiple colonies establish themselves as feral colonies, they could start competing with the park’s native bumblebees for food.

“Honeybees collected a lot of nectar and pollen to produce honey,” she said. “They could use up floral resources that would be needed to sustain Yellowstone’s native populations, taking food away from native bees.”

The foraging area for a single honeybee hive can extend over two miles. Foraging bees have been observed as far as four miles away from their hives.

Furthermore, bees can only forage when the temperature is right, usually between 55 and 66 degrees. With a limited window and limited resources within their foraging range, non-native honeybees could quickly start competing with native bees.

Then there’s the risk of spreading bee disease. That’s the other concern that immediately presented itself to Burkle.

“It's known that honeybees can give diseases to native bees, and vice versa,” she said. “It’s more likely that these honeybees are carrying various pathogens and parasites that Yellowstone’s native bees haven’t been exposed to before.”

Bees don’t need to come into direct contact to transmit diseases. According to Burkle, they can be shared from flower to flower.

“If a honeybee visits the flower, and then a native bee comes to that flower next, it could pick up a pathogen that was left by a honeybee,” she said.

Between competition for food and the spread of disease, the homeless honeybees could pose a serious problem for Yellowstone’s native bees.

[{"type":"text","text":"But will they?"}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Watchful Wait"}]

When colonies of honeybees are destroyed, it’s in the best interest of their owners to collect as many queens and colonies as they can. Efforts to collect the surviving bees were immediately underway after the semitruck incident.

Without seeing the scene, Burkle couldn’t say how serious the situation might be for Yellowstone’s native bees. That’s partly because not a lot is known about Yellowstone’s bees.

“To my knowledge, Yellowstone's bee populations are poorly characterized and understood,” she said. “There have been studies, not all of which are published, that are just starting to scratch the surface of which species are even present inside the park.”

That means it’s hard to say if Yellowstone’s bees are thriving or struggling.

Entomologists and biologists like Burkle are collecting data to understand the health of these native populations and to determine whether they’re affected by climate change or other environmental factors.

That said, Burkle said there are reasons to think the homeless honeybees won’t make any noticeable impact on native bees. They’re actively being collected, and even an established feral colony might struggle to survive.

“They might not be able to set up colonies, depending on the weather and how far they have to fly to find a suitable place to set up a feral colony,” she said. “They might not be able to persist where they’ve ended up.”

Also, honeybees tend to live the easy life. Their hives are placed in optimal environments, where they don’t have to expend energy foraging to find enough food to sustain themselves and produce honey.

“Big bees, like bumblebees, fly farther than smaller bees,” Burkle said. “Smaller bees might only forage 200 meters away from the hive, so they can have a pretty limited range.”

Burkle was aware that many people are concerned about how these honeybees could impact the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. While there are many potential concerns and factors to consider, there isn’t enough known to inform conclusive answers.

“I’m not an expert on all things bees, but I don’t know how concerned the National Park Service or anyone else is or should be right now,” she said. “These honeybees could be disruptive if they set up feral colonies, but I don’t have a good sense of what’s happening down there. I don’t know if I have a good answer at this time.”

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<title>Yellowstone's Homeless Honeybees Could Make Native Bumblebees Sick, Scientist Says | Cowboy State Daily</title>

There is concern that homeless honeybees that remain in Yellowstone after last week's semi crash could threaten the native bees. They are likely "carrying pathogens and parasites that Yellowstone’s bees haven’t been exposed to," one professor said.

Yellowstone's Homeless Honeybees Could Make Native Bumblebees Sick, Scientist Says

Employee kate meadows cropped

Kate Meadows

Around Wyoming

A dispute over primitive outhouses on Amish-owned property in Crook County has prompted claims that some families are leaving northeast Wyoming’s oldest Amish community, though county officials say the issue has been resolved and was never intended to drive anyone away.

Sheridan rancher Pepper Fipps said he believes county enforcement efforts over wastewater disposal in the Hulett area have discouraged Amish families from remaining in the community.

“They wind up starting a little bit of a war,” Fipps said of the commissioners. “The community is dwindling.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Crook County Commission vice chairman Bob Latham disputes that."}]

“It’s all settled now. Everything is fixed,” Latham told Cowboy State Daily.

An estate moving sale earlier this month was held for two Amish families — Abe and Elizabeth Yoder and Rudy and Irene Borntreger. Records show Abe Yoder was among the landowners involved in the wastewater dispute.

About 40 Amish families live in the Hulett area, Fipps said. Founded in 2011, the Hulett Amish settlement is one of five in Wyoming.

Cowboy State Daily attempted to contact the families but did not receive responses before publication. Amish communities have traditionally relied on the U.S. mail for communication, and many members do not use cell phones or email.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Sanitation Concerns"}]

The issue surfaced in October 2024, when Crook County officials learned some Amish landowners west of Hulett had dug pits to use as toilets without obtaining permits.

Crook County wastewater specialist Caleb Peters informed commissioners that Yoder had installed outhouses that did not comply with county regulations, according to reporting by the Sundance Times.

Latham said a hole in the ground used to collect human waste is considered an illegal outhouse because it poses a risk to groundwater.

Commissioners scheduled a hearing in January 2025, expecting Yoder to attend and discuss the matter, but he did not appear, according to the Times.

Peters and county planning director Tim Lyons determined conditions at some properties presented health concerns after observing graywater and blackwater drainage. The Times reported Peters found a chicken with its head inside blackwater drainage at one residence, along with what he described as an odor of rot. At another property, he reportedly discovered an abandoned outhouse occupied by animals.

Latham said county code requires human-waste receptacles to be portable, pumpable or connected to a septic system.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"No Fines Levied"}]

Fipps contends county officials threatened landowners with fines of up to $30,000 per day if they failed to comply with regulations.

He called the county’s rule about illegal outhouses “asinine, stupid."

“It is baffling to me because I haven’t ever seen an outhouse blow up,” he said, noting Amish families typically live on 160-acre parcels well away from town.

[{"type":"text","text":"Latham said fines were never a part of the county’s solution."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"“To my knowledge, we never imposed fines,” he said."}]

Due to the challenge of communicating with Amish residents, County Attorney Joe Baron mailed letters to the landowners, Latham said. Peters also visited properties in person several times, he added.

“Some didn't want to talk to him,” Latham said. “Some did and were very cordial. The ones who didn't found out we're not going to quit, because it's about health and safety. It's something we take very seriously.”

After being notified of the violations, some landowners installed vault toilets that comply with county requirements, he said.

He credited Peters’ persistence with resolving the issue. 

“Caleb did a heck of a job of staying on it and getting things corrected,” Latham said. “Sometimes they feel like they can follow a different path. It was a lot of education and a lot of back-and-forth.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Government Overreach Or Public Health?"}]

Fipps said he believes the county's response amounted to government overreach.

Latham disagrees, saying Crook County is obligated to enforce regulations consistent with standards established by the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality.

“Every time we have to knuckle down and say, 'This isn't right', we hear that,” he said. “We could have been a lot meaner about it. It was mainly getting an understanding of what the laws are.

[{"type":"text","text":"“Our biggest thing with that deal is their health and safety.” "}]

According to the Young Center at Elizabethtown College, Crook County is home to Wyoming's largest Amish settlement. The state's Amish population numbers roughly 500 people spread among five settlements.

[{"type":"text","text":"Smaller settlements have since formed near Newcastle, Buffalo and Powell."}]

“I've known them my whole life,” Fipps said of the Hulett settlement. “I've traded horses with them and done business with them.”

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<title>Rancher Claims Outhouse Dispute The Reason Amish Community Leaving Hulett | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A Sheridan rancher says an "asinine, stupid" outhouse crackdown is pushing Amish families out of the Hulett area. He said landowners were threatened with fines of up to $30,000 per day if they failed to comply with outhouse regulations.

Rancher Claims Outhouse Dispute The Reason Amish Community Leaving Hulett

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

Clair McFarland

Government & Politics

Politics

Wyoming congressional candidate Reid Rasner, who works as a financial advisor, was “discharged” from his broker clearinghouse company in late April on allegations that he “engaged in unapproved outside business activity,” 

Reid Rasner is also running in a 10-candidate Republican primary race to win the party’s nomination toward Wyoming’s lone U.S. House seat. Last year he announced, and later suspended, intentions to buy the tech giant TikTok amid congressional efforts to transfer the Chinese-involved company into American hands.

 also appears in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission profile, which says he started working through the investment clearinghouse LPL Financial LLC on March 1, 2019, and remained there until spring of this year.  

LPL Financial discharged Rasner on April 24 due to allegations he engaged in unapproved outside business activity, the profile says in a “disclosure” category. The disclosure doesn’t elaborate.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) profile of Rasner says he was registered previously as a broker “and is currently registered as an investment advisor.”

He’s held state registrations in New York and Wyoming, the profile says.

Before Rasner’s seven-year relationship with LPL Financial he was with Edward Jones for a year.

In 2019, the year Rasner’s work with LPL Financial began, he registered Wyoming Wealth Advisors LLC with the Wyoming Secretary of State’s office, and three years later he registered his business Omnivest LLC with the state.

“Our Website is currently under maintenance!” the banner says. “We’re sorry for the inconvenience.”

A disclosure brochure about OmniVest, dated June 15, says Rasner has a non-financial affiliated business as a congressional candidate.

“Approximately 10% of his time is spent on these activities. This does not present a conflict,” says 

LPL Financial did not respond by publication to an email inquiry to its press line.

[{"type":"text","text":"FINRA directed Cowboy State Daily to LPL."}]

Rasner, in response to an inquiry sent to his campaign team, said “Omnivest Financial is a registered RIA based in Wyoming, proudly serving veterans and clients across multiple states. In our industry, the transition of business relationships is a routine and common occurrence, particularly when professionals launch new firms.”

Rasner added, “I remain fully focused on growing my new firm, continuing to deliver exceptional service to clients, and helping bring investment, jobs, and economic opportunity back to Wyoming.”

As for what LPL Financial could have meant with the “unapproved outside business activity allegation,” Riverton-based financial advisor Mike Zirbel said, “It’s hard to narrow down.”

[{"type":"text","text":"That’s because financial advisors are tightly regulated, he said."}]

Wyoming congressional candidate Reid Rasner, who works as a financial advisor, was “discharged” from his broker clearinghouse company in late April on allegations that he “engaged in unapproved outside business activity,” federal filings say.

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