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[{"type":"text","text":"When the mailman is your best friend....."}]

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

<title>Daily Smile: Tuesday, June 2, 2026 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

When the mailman is your best friend.....

Daily Smile: Tuesday, June 2, 2026

 When the mailman is your best friend.....

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's business and tourism reporter, Renée Jean

Renée Jean

Government & Politics

Cheyenne’s Public Service Committee has advanced a measure that could put two multimillion-dollar Derby Club locations out of compliance with city rules. 

Two committee members, meanwhile, signaled unease with the idea and said they want to revisit the matter latter.

At issue is a proposed regulation that would prohibit gaming centers like historic horse racing from locating within a 500-foot radius of schools, churches, parks, and licensed child care centers. 

The measure follows in the wake of legislation approved earlier this year that gave cities and towns more authority over where historic horse racing terminals are located. 

Senate File 45 gave cities and towns local authority to deny simulcasting permits. 

Prior to that, municipalities had little say over where facilities could be as their locations were permitted through the relevant county commission. 

Cheyenne has 10 historic horse racing facilities that have been permitted under that old procedure. Two of those 10 are located within 500 feet of a licensed child care facility.

Drawing A New Map For Historic Horse Racing

Planning staff had originally crafted the 500-foot buffer to apply only to standalone child care centers operating in their own buildings. 

That provision was broadened during a May 18 Planning Commission meeting to include any licensed child care center, even if tucked inside a larger, multi-tenant commercial building.

Cheyenne Planning and Development Director Charles Bloom told the Public Service Committee on Monday afternoon that the change, if allowed to stand, would have a dramatic impact for two Derby Club facilities, making them ineligible to come back for reapprovals under a new special-use process. 

One is the flagship Derby Club on Pershing Boulevard, which is within 500 feet of a child care facility located in Gold’s Gym. 

The other is the Derby Club at Ridge Road and Pershing, where there’s a child care center in a storefront near the Albertsons shopping center.

Under the city’s proposed ordinance, existing facilities that don’t meet the city’s new standards must come back to the city for special use approval by Dec. 31, 2027. 

The intent of that is to “mirror” sunset provisions in the state statute for existing county-approved licenses for historic horse racing facilities, Bloom said, and “require all of those uses essentially to come back to the city for approval this time in front of the governing body instead of the Board of Adjustment.” 

The only exceptions to that would be those who are in an overlay district that the city is also creating. 

Called a regional entertainment overlay district, these would include the 15th Street Railcar Experience between Capitol and Reed avenues, as well as the West Lincoln Corridor, the Hitching Post area on the south side of Lincolnway, and areas out west toward Little America and the High Plains Road Interchange.

Every existing facility could reapply for their permits, Bloom said, except those falling within the 500-feet buffer.

“The way this is set up is it requires any use that would not be allowed to reapply,” Bloom said. “Then we would have to review them, subject to the development standards, including that buffer. That would not give two of the facilities … the ability to reapply.”

Traci Lacock, general counsel for Wyoming Downs and 307 Horse Racing, told the Public Service Committee that her clients support the zoning overhaul, but asked the committee to consider reverting back to how the ordinance was presented prior to the May 18 Planning Commission changes, which make two Derby Club locations non-compliant.

“Both our facilities went through the conditional use process that’s currently in place, and was approved,” she said. “The city has already considered the location of these existing businesses and approved them to operate.”

The investment in the two facilities has not been insignificant, she added.

“Pershing facility, we invested about $20 million to make that facility what it is,” she said. “It’s pretty impressive. And the Ridge Road location, we just spent a little over $4 million to date.”

The Pershing facility renovated the old Montgomery Ward facility, which was empty, adding to it a bowling alley, an arcade, a children’s play area, laser tag, and escape rooms. 

The activities are meant for all ages, Lacock added, but without the off-track betting (OTB) facility, those amenities would not be possible. 

“Our OTB in our simulcasting facility is completely separated, and only 21 and older is allowed in that,” she said. “And we do monitor it very closely. We’ve had no issues with that.”

Lacock said the facility has worked hard to maintain a good working relationship with the Cheyenne Police Department and said that, so far, any issues at either facility have been “fairly insignificant.”

“I think it’s important to note the Ridge location operated as a bar for many, many years, and then we took it over,” she said. “And the Office Bar and Grill, which has a smoking and cigar lounge in the back, operates even closer to that child care center that’s at issue in Gold’s Gym.”

Wyoming Downs and 307 Horse Racing President Kyle Ridgeway told Cowboy State Daily that the company was required by the city to put more than $2 million into parking, landscaping, and access improvements to obtain its conditional use permits with the city. 

Blocking the businesses from renewing their approvals under the city’s new framework would raise questions about grandfathering, he suggested, even as he reaffirmed the company’s overall support for Cheyenne’s efforts to clarify where historic horse racing facilities can operate.

Sponsor Would Prefer To Lose Broader Language

Councilman Mark Moody, who sponsored the measure imposing a 500-foot buffer between gaming parlors and schools or day cares, also spoke during the hearing, telling the Public Service Committee he would prefer it reverted to its original form. 

Councilman Larry Wolfe suggested that the measure might best be tackled in a work session.

“Just sitting here listening to this — and I’m not a sponsor of this — I haven’t heard really anything about this,” he said. “It strikes me that this is a very important and complicated issue. 

"You’re going to have to educate some other people on the council about it, me included.”

A work session would offer both councilmen and the public to have a chance to provide their input into “these really significant decisions,” he added.

“I guess my point is, we’re going to need to hear a lot about this,” he said. “These designations of these restricted areas alone have obvious consequences for these companies, and maybe other companies. We’ve heard no discussion about that at all.”

Public Service Committee members signaled that they do see problems with the buffer as it stands in the ordinance, saying it's still a work in progress.

Councilman Mark Rinnie talked about the rationale for the buffer zone before it was put to a vote. 

“At the time, there were seven historic horse racing venues in Cheyenne, nine in the county, and of those seven only six were zoned properly,” he said. “The other six had gone through our processes and received a conditional use permit from the Board of Adjustments, which is an appointed board. They’re not elected like we are.”

Rinnie said he and other council members received a significant number of emails asking why Cheyenne was allowing “all these” gaming facilities.

“At the time, state statute did not give us control over where these went,” he said. “Senate File 45, which was approved during the budget session, does allow municipalities to have some input into the decision.”

The other problem with how it was done in the past, Rinnie added, is that the matter never came before the City Council at all. 

“A couple other parts to this is that these are going to be handled just like liquor permits,” Rinnie said. “They will be reviewed periodically. That review is based on the state Gaming Commission, which allows their approvals to last up to three years. 

"So our ordinance kind of mirrors that as well. So that’s the rationale behind the ordinance. It does bring the control a little more to the city.”

With the overlay area for selected entertainment districts, it’s also encouraging the development to locate in particular areas where the facilities are more encouraged than in others. 

Rinnie said he supports reverting back to the original form of the measure and not incorporating the Planning Commission’s May 18 recommendations, but called for voting on the measure, so that it continues to move ahead in a timely fashion. 

Councilwoman Kathy Emmons, meanwhile, pressed Bloom on whether the ordinance would grandfather existing businesses and also asked for a rationale as to why licensed child care centers should have special separation from gaming centers but not bars or liquor stores. 

Bloom said applying the same buffer to bars or liquor stores might be a logical extension, but that fell outside the scope of what his office had been asked to do.

Emmons, like Rinnie, said she would vote for the measure but said she wants to revisit the child care issue.

“I’m not prepared to do that today, but I do want to bring that back,” she said. “At least give it some more attention, and make sure that either we are giving them 500 feet or we’re figuring out what to do about those people who are already in play.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"The Road Ahead"}]

The committee unanimously approved a motion recommending the measure to the Cheyenne City Council. 

From there, the measure heads to the June 8 City Council meeting for a second reading, after which it returns to the Public Service Committee on June 15 for detailed review and potential amendments.

After that, it will return for a projected third and final reading on June 22.

Amendments to the measure can be introduced at any of those stages.

For now, the two Derby Clubs remain in compliance. 

But under the ordinance as written, both would be barred from renewing their permits once state sunset deadlines hit — despite millions of dollars already invested.

Derby Club IMG 6426 6 1 26

<title>Proposed Rules Could Block Two Cheyenne Gaming Locations From Renewing Permits | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A Cheyenne City Council committee on Monday advanced a measure that could put two multimillion-dollar gaming establishments out of compliance with city rules. It would prohibit gaming centers from being within 500 feet of day care centers and schools.

Proposed Rules Could Block Two Cheyenne Gaming Locations From Renewing Permits

Julie Mankin

Crime & Courts

A Wyoming barrel racer was stunned to learn that the 17-year-old girl accused of stabbing three horses during a major rodeo event in Las Vegas over the weekend was the same rider who tried to borrow one of her horses.

“About a month ago, I got a message from a girl asking if I had a horse she could run,” said Lora Nichols of Pavillion. “I said no, and she kept asking about each of my specific horses. 

“This weekend I looked to see if it was the same girl they arrested. It was! It makes my skin crawl to realize she was stalking my horses, too. It could have been me just as easily.”

Nichols, who has earned more than $400,000 competing on the half-brother brother of one of the stabbed horses, said she’s especially horrified by the attack.

Along with Nichols, Wyoming’s rodeo community is shocked and appalled by the Tonya Harding-like violent rampage that left the three barrel racing horses stabbed multiple times.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"What Happened"}]

Las Vegas police report that the 17-year-old barrel racer was arrested in connection the attack on the horses of competitors.

The girl is accused of stabbing each of the horses multiple times inside their stalls during 

the NBHA Professional’s Choice Vegas Super Show at the South Point Equestrian Center.

The attack came just hours after one of the horses — a 6-year-old gelding named Saaul Good — had carried 20-year-old Hailey Krahenbuhl to a first-place paycheck of $1,805. 

The horse, which Krahenbuhl calls “Sully,” has shattered arena records this season and racked up $238,388 in earnings in less than four years competing. 

“Sully was stabbed multiple times last night,” Krahenbuhl posted to her Facebook page on Saturday. “I have no words. He is stitched up and in recovery.” 

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department reports that officers received a report at around 2:07 a.m. Saturday that a horse had been injured inside a South Point barn. 

When officers arrived, they learned three horses had been “intentionally injured with a sharp object” believed to be a knife, police say.

Veterinarians reportedly cleaned and sutured deep blade lacerations to Sully’s flank and shoulder. 

Another competitor named Keira Weisbart confirmed on social media that her horse, Rocket, was stabbed three times and had other “stab attempts around his body.” 

That horse was reportedly treated and released at the scene.

A third stabbed horse, however, underwent emergency surgery to repair muscle tissue damage. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Detail’s Ordeal"}]

Southern California barrel racer Arielle Phillips owns that third horse, a mare she calls Detail was stabbed multiple times.

, Phillips described the arrested teen as “a crazy obsessed stalker who has been following me on social media for a long time, obsessing over Detail, obsessing over meeting me.”

Phillips said she’d arrived back at the South Point barn to find the suspect hosing off Detail’s wounds.

“Cameras verified her entering our stalls,” wrote Phillips. “I can’t even put into words the pain I feel for my mare and for Hailey’s Sully.”

She said the attack has also affected her horse.

“Detail is traumatized,” Phillips wrote. “Every time she runs away from the approach of my hand, I burst into tears. This is my best friend. An innocent sweet horse was brutally tortured for no reason.”

While all three horses are expected to recover, they are sidelined for the near future and aren’t able to compete.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Champion Lineage"}]

Krahenbuhl, the daughter of a Las Vegas landscaper who grew up about 15 minutes from The Strip, had plans to hit the rodeo road with Sully — whose sire Winner’s Version has produced earners of more than $7 million — and make an NFR run in 2027. 

“We were a match from the beginning and my dreams became reality, all thanks to him,” she wrote prior to the attack from Globe Life Field during the $3 million American Rodeo. 

 to help with at veterinary for all three of the horses.

Nichols said she knows those other girls and is heartbroken for them and their horses.

“I’ve competed alongside Hailey a lot, and she’s an amazing human being,” said Nichols. “I think of the raw emotion and just the blood, sweat and tears she’s put in ­— you know, how hard she’s worked to get there. 

“When I heard it was her horse, I was just sick to my stomach.”

According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, detectives located the suspect at a nearby hotel and took her into custody.

“She was transported to Clark County Juvenile Hall, where she was booked on 12 counts of willful or malicious killing, maiming or torturing of an animal and three counts of felony malicious destruction of private property over $5,000,” investigators told KTLA 5 Morning News.

Because of her age, official law enforcement sources have not identified the suspected publicly.

Veteran barrel racers have over the years heard rare rumors of winning horses being poisoned, but a brazen rash of stabbings is a first. 

Nichols said the incident makes her think of a made-for-TV movie in which the stalker ends up booked for murder. 

She’s also grateful the suspect wasn’t targeting the girls themselves.

“I just think we’re sheltered from that so much in our world,” added barrel racer and Gillette College rodeo coach racer Casey Rae Sellers. “The youth in our industry are pretty dang good kids. This is so out-of-character for the Western industry.”

Horses stabbed Krahenbuhl and Sully at The American 6 1 26

<title>Wyoming Barrel Racer Says She Was Targeted By Alleged Horse-Stabber | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A Wyoming barrel racer was stunned to learn that the teen girl accused of stabbing three horses in Las Vegas over the weekend tried to borrow one of her horses last month. “It makes my skin crawl to realize she was stalking my horses, too,” she said.

Wyoming Barrel Racer Says She Was Targeted By Alleged Horse-Stabber

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

Clair McFarland

Politics

This year's election climate could make the perfect storm for Libertarian candidate Shawn Johnson to win Wyoming's U.S. House seat, politicos say. That is, if he courts conservatives, and if the winner of the crowded GOP primary is hugely unpopular. 

Johnson, a Thermopolis-based attorney, two-term Casper City Councilman, and former combat medic earned the Wyoming Libertarian Party’s 

 to run for U.S. House, and is slated to appear on the general election ballot Nov. 3.

He’ll face the lone survivor of a hotly contested 10-person GOP primary contest, and the winner of a two-way Democratic primary election. Both major party primary elections are set for Aug. 18. 

“Of course it all depends on who comes out of the Republican primary,” said Tim Stubson, who served in the Wyoming House for nine years and ascended to two leadership positions as speaker pro tempore and majority whip. 

“But there are some candidates in the Republican primary with substantial negatives that could win. I think it could be a real contest going into the general.”

Stubson also campaigned in a fraught, nine-candidate race for the 2016 Republican nomination for U.S. House, which former Rep. Liz Cheney ultimately won.

This year, the winner of the 10-way GOP primary election could secure the “R” nomination with a mere 10.01 percent of the vote.

, however, that leaves 91,967 people willing to vote against him or her, based on the past 10 years’ election averages in Wyoming.

That figure translates to 39.2 percent of the general election turnout – more than enough for a third-party candidate to win a three-way race. 

If one assumes, however, that half the Republicans who were willing to vote against primary winner will swallow their disaffection and vote for him or her in the general election, then that gives the GOP nominee a solid 70,431 votes going into the general, and just 45,983 primary-election voters eager to vote against him or her.

[{"type":"text","text":"But the general election has nearly twice the turnout of the primary."}]

If one applies the same standard and assumes that half of the Republican-voting Wyomingites who skipped the primary but participated in the general will vote against the GOP nominee, then that buoys the “against” vote by 66,452.

That means a third-party candidate could capture 112,435 votes. The figure represents 47.9 percent of the general election turnout, based on the last decade’s averages.

“And that assumes that all of the Democrats stay home,” said Stubson. “I’m not sure that’s a safe assumption.”

This is especially true, Stubson added, if Secretary of State Chuck Gray wins the primary election. 

Gray has immense name recognition, but has also been involved in numerous controversies throughout his tenure. 

about-face on a widely publicized gravel pit

 project, and a decision to hand Wyoming voters’ identifying information 

“I think if you have a legitimate race – even though the Democrats might not agree with Johnson on many of the issues – Chuck Gray’s negatives are so low that if they (Democrats) think there’s a chance to beat him in the general, you could see (Johnson) peeling off votes from all sorts of people you wouldn’t expect,” he said.

The GOP contenders are Gray, state Senate President Bo Biteman, Teton County philanthropist Steve Friess, former Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow, Casper-based veteran Kevin Christensen, veteran David Giralt, Casper businessman Reid Rasner, former legislator Keith Goodenough, Moran rancher Frank Chapman, and Richard Dodson. 

[{"type":"text","text":"On ‘Wasting’ Votes"}]

 waste their votes on a third-party candidate in the general election.

But the past 10 years’ election data for Wyoming’s general election indicate that, even if a solid half of Republican voters broke ranks to vote for a Libertarian in the U.S. House race, the Democratic candidate is still highly unlikely to win. At least, not without an unprecedented blue shift.

Wyoming voting data in the past decade of U.S. House races has been shifting red, not blue.

The Democratic House candidates from 2016 to 2024 have a maximum vote ceiling of 30.76 percent in the general election – and an average ceiling of 26.6 percent.

Republican House candidates in that same timeframe have won an average 67 percent of the vote and a maximum of 70.6 percent.

That’s more than two thirds, meaning, splitting the vote across two candidates with conservative appeal is unlikely to yield a Democrat win, the data indicate.

[{"type":"text","text":"That’s even true for the election year of 2016."}]

The Republican candidate scored 62 percent of the vote that year, which is less than the two-thirds threshold. But the Democratic candidate only won 29.9 percent in that race, so, still not enough to win by unity alone, had a Libertarian split the GOP vote.  

[{"type":"text","text":"Minor-party candidates earned a collective 7.7 percent in that election."}]

Gail Symons, an analyst of state voting data and Cowboy State Daily political columnist, said the numbers show a path for Johnson.

[{"type":"text","text":"“It’s a dark horse. But it’s a possibility,” she added."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"The rest depends on how well he courts conservative voters, she said."}]

“If he starts getting his name out there and is seen as rational Wyoming, like a real Wyoming person – because the Libertarian Party nationally is kinda whacko,” said Symons with a laugh. “But if he presents himself as a Libertarian with conservative leanings, and pulls into the areas that traditional, neighbor-type Republicans have gone for, I think he could pull it.”

The Wyoming Republican Party is fractured, between the more outcome-oriented, socially-conservative Freedom Caucus wing and the more process-oriented conservatives who often voice dislike toward meddling with local governments. 

This could make the GOP ripe for third-party capture, both Symons and Stubson said.

The Freedom Caucus-aligned wing of the party is in accord generally with President Donald Trump. Wyoming ventured a higher concentration of Trump votes than any other state in the past two elections. The president is pro-energy, which is a huge draw in the fossil fuels-mining state.

But Wyomingites also resist federal overreach and “really want to not have DC crammed down our throats,” Symons said.

Stubson said Johnson will need to amass monetary backing and name recognition – quickly. 

[{"type":"text","text":"Respect The ‘R’"}]

Rod Miller, longtime political columnist and former congressional candidate, said he doubts Johnson can pull it off.

“All those stats are right,” said Miller. “But that does not mean a third-party candidate, Libertarian or Constitution or Independent, will win the general election.”

It’s not that Republicans are loyal to the “R.” It’s that they’re complacent about it, he said.

If Johnson wants any hope of winning, he’ll have to “really blossom and pop out,” said Miller.

“I don’t think any of these people are capable of doing that. I just don’t,” he added.

Still, said Miller, for Johnson to wage a battle, he’ll have to capitalize on some voters’ disfavor toward the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, he’ll have to show charisma, and courage, and “enough balls” to take a firm stand against the Freedom Caucus wing of the party. 

[{"type":"text","text":"This Time, Says Bru"}]

The Libertarian candidates in those five general elections netted an average 3.35 percent of the vote.

From 2018 to 2024, the Libertarian House candidate was Richard “Bru” Brubaker, of Riverton.

Brubaker told the Libertarian convention on Sunday that he’s not interested in running this year.

He told Cowboy State Daily, “We’ve got a legitimate candidate this time.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Stubson agrees."}]

“(Johnson) has held elected office before,” said Stubson. “And he is a legitimate candidate.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Are Major Parties Going Fringe? "}]

Wyoming Libertarian Party Chair Zachary Padilla theorized that the political scene has reached a point at which the major parties have headed off the rails, and the Libertarian ethic now represents the reasonable approach.

Padilla gave Cowboy State Daily a phone interview Monday on his own behalf, not speaking for the party.

“He has the most sound logic,” said Padilla of Johnson. “The best ability to project the right message, you know, freedom; individual freedom, limited government, fiscal responsibility. He can articulate that in a way that I think will resonate with most Wyomingites.”

On the party’s behalf, Padilla said, “The American political system is rigged against the American people. They are forced to pick between two parties who are two sides of the same coin.

“In the past people haven’t voted Libertarian because the Republican Party lied to them about being fiscally conservative and limited government.”  

[{"type":"text","text":"In his own interview Monday, Johnson said he’s in it to win."}]

His goal is to vault into public view,” so people know there’s a viable alternative to the Republican, and the Libertarian vote is not a wasted vote. And that I am a viable candidate,” he said.

“I don’t back down from a challenge,” said Johnson. “When I’m fighting for something, I’m going to go until the bloody end.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Buckle Up: More Numbers"}]

From 2016-2024, the average primary election turnout for the U.S. House race was 131,946 – or 58.5 percent of the general election turnout.

So, the general election is nearly double the size of the primary election.

The year 2022 skews that data. Its primary election tally for that race was 92 percent of the general election total.

That was the year now-U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman challenged then-Rep. Liz Cheney in the Republican primary and won.

In that same timeframe, Republicans have gained ground, winning a near-steady climb in U.S. House races from 62 percent of the vote in 2016 to 70.6 percent of it in 2024.

Never in that timeframe did the primary election ballot feature 10 Republicans for U.S. House.

But it came close in 2016, when Cheney beat eight contenders for the nomination with 35,043 votes – or 39.7 percent of the total.

[{"type":"text","text":"In This Simulation"}]

In the five past general elections, the GOP landed an average of 67 percent of the U.S. House vote. 

Splitting that average in half between an imaginary Republican and an imaginary Libertarian gives each candidate 33.5 percent - which puts each of them still 3.5 points above the Democratic candidates’ highest tally and 7 points above the Democrats’ average tally.

If the Libertarian candidate in this scenario won that half plus the historic Libertarian average of 3.35 percent to one of those conservative half-tallies, he would win 36.87 percent. Again, well over the one-third threshold for a three-way race victory. 

It’s unclear what could happen to the Constitution Party’s average tally of 2.3 percent. That isn’t factored into this simulation. 

The Libertarian Party gained a seat in Congress when Rep. Justin Amash changed party in 2020. That same year, the town of Green River sent the Wyoming Legislature its first Libertarian Delegate, Marshall Burt. 

[{"type":"text","text":"Burt served one term. "}]

In the central-Wyoming town of Riverton, Libertarian candidate Bethany Baldes came within about 50 and about 30 votes of beating her Republican opponents in 2018 and 2020, respectively. 

This year's election climate could make the perfect storm for Libertarian Shawn Johnson to win Wyoming's U.S. House seat, politicos say. That is, if he courts conservatives, and if the winner of the crowded GOP primary is hugely unpopular. 

Daily Smile: Tuesday, June 2, 2026

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