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Daily cartoon 2 6 20 26

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

<title>Daily Cartoon 2: Saturday, June 20, 2026 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Daily Cartoon 2: Saturday, June 20, 2026

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

Clair McFarland

Politics

Government & Politics

The doctor whom Gov. Mark Gordon sought to remove from the Wyoming Board of Medicine over the doctor’s outspoken advocacy for a ban on child sex changes has won his appeal – halfway.

 in the governor’s personal and official capacity for three alleged free-speech and petition violations, all stemming from Cubin’s advocacy for “Chloe’s Law” – a proposed ban on sex-change treatments for kids that ultimately became law.

Cubin, a Casper radiologist, was pushed off the board because of things he said while lobbying state lawmakers to pass Chloe’s Law while he was a member of the Board of Medicine. 

This came after his multiple failed efforts to try and convince Wyoming Medical Society leadership to change its opposition to the bill.

In a letter to state legislators, Cubin called the Medical Society, of which he was a member, “woke” and taken over by “extremely liberal” members.

“I urged our legislators to be circumspect about the information they were being provided and cautious about what they allow physicians to do to kids in our state — something that is now the law across Wyoming,” Cubin said at the time.

[{"type":"text","text":"Gordon wrote to Cubin to remove him from the Wyoming Board of Medicine."}]

The governor told Cubin the doctors the board governs should “have confidence that board members prosecute their responsibilities on the board in an objective and unbiased way.”

[{"type":"text","text":"But Cubin resigned instead."}]

Then he sued the governor in both his official and personal capacities. For the official claims, Cubin wanted the court to make Gordon restore Cubin to his seat on the board, and to declare that Gordon had violated Cubin’s First Amendment rights.

For the personal claims, Cubin sought “monetary damages” against Gordon “in an amount to be determined at trial.”

U.S. District Court Judge Scott Skavdahl pronounced the whole lawsuit insufficient for court and dismissed it.

The judge found that Cubin had failed to show the governor unconstitutionally retaliated against him for his speech because, in Skavdahl’s view, Cubin’s speech didn’t rise to the level of “public concern” and the government’s interest in “promoting efficiency” on the board outweighed Cubin’s expressive rights.

Skavdahl also concluded that for the personal-capacity claims, Gordon has qualified immunity.

A panel of three 10th Circuit Court of Appeals Judges disagreed, saying Cubin’s speech does rise to the level of public concern.

Their Tuesday order sends the case back down to the Wyoming-based federal court for further review – and revives Cubin’s claims against Gordon in his official capacity.

Cubin's attorney Brendan Philbin, of the Liberty Justice Center, said he and Cubin are "thrilled with the result" of the appeal. 

"I think the court really nailed it on what this case is about, when they said that speech on matters of democratic debate is of paramount public importance," said Philbin. "We’re rally happy the court saw that Dr. Cubin was participating in the legislative process and really exercising the rights that we hold dear, to participate in representative government. And we’re excited now to go back to the district court and continue to seek justice for him."

[{"type":"text","text":"Philbin also called the remand a win for Wyomingites. "}]

the governor remains confident that the merits of this case will show he did not infringe on Cubin’s freedom of speech.

“The Governor is confident that he will also prevail in his official capacity upon remand to the District Court,” said Edmonds. 

[{"type":"text","text":"A Matter Of Public Concern"}]

A person is likelier to prove that his government employer retaliated against him for his speech if his speech was a matter of public concern.

Cubin’s complaints about the Wyoming Medical Society cut against that claim because that’s a private group, wrote 10th Circuit Court Judge Nancy Moritz in the Monday remand order. But he was clearly lobbying for legislation, on a matter of high public concern, the order also says – which cuts in his favor.

“Gordon urges us to view Cubin’s frustrations… as personal grievances with the internal dynamics of the Society, a private organization,” wrote Moritz. 

“On the other hand,” the order counters, “Cubin raised these concerns in opposition of the Society’s 

facts characteristic of ‘the type of core political speech the First Amendment was designed to protect.’”

Cubin’s speech was a matter of public concern, so his retaliation claim against Gordon as an official is revived, the order says.

[{"type":"text","text":"Balancing Disruption Vs. Speech"}]

Gordon had explained his decision to remove Cubin as a safeguard against people questioning the board’s impartiality, and against disruption of “at least some of the Board’s core functions.”

Government employers have an interest in regulating their employees’ speech, but courts also balance that interest against employees’ rights.

Skavdahl’s court hasn’t seen enough evidence for the judge to side with Gordon on that one, the 10th Circuit decision says.

[{"type":"text","text":"Just Sue The Government Though"}]

The Monday order upholds Skavdahl’s ruling that Gordon gets qualified immunity for his attempt to remove Cubin.

[{"type":"text","text":"That means Cubin can’t sue Gordon for money in his personal capacity. "}]

A key tenet of qualified immunity holds that government officials – such as police officers, governors or other public employees – would have to break a clearly-established right to face lawsuit liability as individuals.

Though Cubin showed a strong enough case for retaliation to revive his official-capacity claims, he didn’t prove that Gordon was violating a clearly-established right, the appeals court ruled.

“It was not clearly established that Cubin’s email (complaining about the Medical Society) addressed a matter of public concern,” the order says. “And Gordon is entitled to qualified immunity in his personal capacity.”

10th Circuit Court Judge Richard Federico and a Utah-based U.S. District Court Judge filling in on the case - Ann Marie McIff Allen – also joined Mortiz’s ruling.

Eric Cubin and Gordon 8 29 24

<title>Doctor Who Lobbied Against Child Sex Changes Wins Second Chance In Court | Cowboy State Daily</title>

The doctor Gov. Gordon sought to remove from the Wyoming Board of Medicine for advocating a ban on child sex changes has won his appeal – halfway. A Tuesday ruling sent the case back to federal court, reviving First Amendment claims against Gordon.

Doctor Who Lobbied Against Child Sex Changes Wins Second Chance In Court

Heinz mark

Mark Heinz

Outdoors

Wildlife

While grizzlies might evoke the most fear among tourists visiting national parks in the Rocky Mountain West, it's actually elk they should be watching out for, according to an extensive study of wildlife attacks.

Researchers from the University of York in the UK studied records from 2010 to 2023 in Canada parks involving "aggressive encounters" between humans and elk, grizzlies, black bears, coyotes and mule deer.

The study, published in Frontiers in Conservation Science, found that elk were involved in 62% of the aggressive encounters, establishing a huge lead over all the other species.

Parks Canada wildlife management specialist David Gummer said that while tourists might regard elk as docile herbivores, they sometimes learn the hard way that isn't the case.

"Elk are massive, and they've got those hard hooves,

 he told Cowboy State Daily. "They can inflict serious damage with those stomps and kicks."

Common elk attack injuries include broken bones, lacerations and concussions, said Gummer, who helped collect data for the study.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Stay Back"}]

The study didn't delve into what factors might have contributed to the aggressive encounters, Gummer noted.

But going by what he's seen during his career, human-wildlife conflicts in Canada's national parks mirror those in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks in Wyoming.

In most cases, trouble started when people get too close to wildlife, he said.

The safe-distance rules in Canada's parks are the same as those in Yellowstone and Grand Teton. Tourists are admonished to stay 30 meters — or about three bus lengths — away from elk, deer and moose, and 100 meters (roughly 100 yards) away from wolves and bears, Gummer said.

He also said that what counted as an aggressive encounter for the study didn't always entail a physical attack on a human.

"It might be evidence of the animal expressing its frustration (with people). The elk might be stomping its feet or racking its antlers on stuff nearby," Gummer said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Crowds, Plus Elk, Equal Trouble"}]

The prevalence of elk attacks doesn't necessarily mean that elk are any meaner than other wildlife, Gummer said. There might be more elk in crowded places, increasing the odds of things going badly with people.

Elk are drawn to greenery in developed parts of national parks, as well as golf courses and townsites, he said.

"They like open habitat where they can watch for threats,

 Gummer said. "Often, those are places with lots of green grass. Plus, the crowds might deter natural predators from coming in."

That's similar to situations in the United States, such as in Estes Park, Colorado, where herds of elk essentially take over the town during migrations to and from Rocky Mountain National Park.

Most of the aggressive encounters with elk happen during the fall or spring, he said.

During spring calving season, "cow elk are protective of their young," he added.

In the spring of 2024 in Estes Park, two children were hurt in separate incidents after cow elk perceived threats to their calves.

During the fall rut, or mating season, bull elk might not like people "getting too close to them, or getting between them and their potential mates," Gummer said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Keep 'Em Separated"}]

As park officials do in Wyoming, Parks Canada focuses mostly on the human side of the equation and tries to keep people and wildlife separated, Gummer said.

Usually, that entails constantly reminding tourists about the safe distances, he said.

In some places, fences are installed to keep elk and admiring crowds from making direct contact, Gummer said. Sometimes, wildlife officials haze elk away from crowded areas.

That might entail "rolling up on them in trucks," or wildlife agents getting out on foot and "making themselves look bigger" to spook elk away, he said.

In some cases, personnel will use paintball guns loaded with balls of chalk to drive elk away, he said.

They usually try shooting the ground near the elk, hoping the exploding chalk will scare them off, he said. In rare instances, they'll actually shoot the chalk balls directly at the elk.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"'Born And Raised Around People'"}]

Outside Grand Teton and Yellowstone, Wyoming elk are shy of people, said Ron Dean of Etna, who is retired from the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, where he ran the elk feeding program for 33 years.

Even on elk feedgrounds, "if you jumped off that sled, they'd start headed to the mountains," Dean told Cowboy State Daily.

"I don't ever recall a situation of elk being aggressive at a feedground," he said.

As Dean sees it, that's probably because Wyoming's elk are hunted across most of their range, so they've developed a wariness toward humans.

He recalled that once during a vacation to Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada, he noticed that the elk there had a different attitude.

"Especially those bull elk, during the rut, they were mean," he said.

Any animals that "were born and raised around people," such as town deer in some Wyoming communities, can be more aggressive than those that live out in the wild and are hunted, he said.

There was an example of that in Evanston in 2022, when a woman was hospitalized after being gored by a buck mule deer in her driveway.

Aggressive elk near Mammoth Wyoming Keith Crowley via Alamy 7 21 26

<title>Study: In Tourist Areas, Aggressive Elk Attack Far More People Than Grizzly Bears | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Aggressive elk attack far more people than grizzlies, black bears, coyotes and mule deer — especially in tourist areas, according to an extensive study. Elk "can inflict serious damage with those stomps and kicks,” said a wildlife specialist.

Study: In Tourist Areas, Aggressive Elk Attack Far More People Than Grizzly Bears

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Jory Thomas, 14, was absent-mindedly flipping loops with a rope while visiting his grandparents' campground on the Yellowstone River over the Fourth of July weekend when he heard someone start screaming for help.

Within seconds, the Montana ranch kid emptied his pockets, splashed across a side channel and waded chest-deep into the river.

[{"type":"text","text":"Then he did something he'd spent the past year practicing on calves."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"This time, he roped a drowning man."}]

The July 5 rescue unfolded so quickly that by the time the first Sweet Grass County Sheriff’s Office deputy arrived three minutes after Jory's father called 911, everyone was already safely on shore.

"My opinion, Jory saved the individual's life, 100%," Sweet Grass County Sheriff Alan Ronneberg told Cowboy State Daily. "Had Jory not acted, I believe the chances of this individual not making it to shore were very slim.”'

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"A Boat Hits A Bridge"}]

The Thomas family lives on a ranch about a dozen miles outside Big Timber, directly across from a campground where Jory's grandparents had been staying for the week.

Jory wandered over to visit with his parents and grandparents that afternoon, a rope already in his hand as he casually practiced throwing loops.

"All of a sudden he heard some yells for help," Jory's father, Jase Thomas, told Cowboy State Daily.

A boat had struck a bridge pillar, throwing its occupants into the Yellowstone River.

Three people fell in, but only two managed to get out, leaving one person alone in the swift current, desperately clinging to a cooler.

[{"type":"text","text":"Jory didn't hesitate."}]

Somehow, said his father, he convinced the drowning man to let go of the cooler. Then he threw the rope, catching the man around the neck and one arm. 

Jory and another bystander then pulled the man safely to shore before emergency responders arrived. 

In the moment, Jory didn’t think about any potential danger to himself, he just acted on instinct, the teen told KTVQ television in Billings, Montana, which first 

"This current was pretty fast then, and he was moving pretty quickly," he told the outlet. "Only thing I could focus on was helping him get out of the water because I didn't want to see anyone go in front of me.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'Let Me Have My Son Back'"}]

Jory's father has spent three decades on the Big Timber Volunteer Fire Department and immediately called 911.

Dispatch records show the call came in at 5:39 p.m. A deputy arrived just three minutes later and reported everyone was already out of the water. 

[{"type":"text","text":"Watching the rescue unfold wasn't easy for the elder Thomas. "}]

He knows that stretch of river, and that it becomes more dangerous just downstream, where swift current, deep holes and logjams create deadly hazards.

"My biggest concern was to let me have my son back," he said before taking a long pause, reflecting on the potential for Jory to also get caught up in the current.

"He understands water, but I don't think he understands what could happen,” Jase said. "I mean, he does, but he had one thing in mind, which is great, and he got it done." 

Jase believes the man his son rescued likely wouldn't have survived much longer.

[{"type":"text","text":"Sheriff Ronneberg agrees."}]

"I'm not sure how close the individual was to being 'lost,' but in my experience such things happen faster than you might guess they can," he said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'He Loves Roping' "}]

Although the rescue looked almost unbelievable, it wasn't blind luck. Jory has spent the past year immersing himself in roping.

He practices on roping dummies in his spare time and started roping calves from horseback during local brandings, his father said.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"He's always had a rope,\" Jase said. \"He loves roping.\" "}]

Outside of ranch work, he's an avid hunter and is spending this week showing a steer and a pig at the county fair. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'That's Just Who He Is'"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"To his family, the rescue wasn't entirely surprising."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Jase said his son has always been the first person to help someone else."}]

"We'll be in town at the grocery store, and you'll see an elderly person," he said. "They can't pack the groceries, and he never says a word. He goes over and gets their groceries and packs them out. That's just who he is." 

Ronneberg said the rescue is a reminder that courage often appears in ordinary moments.

"Jory saw another in trouble and acted, not for himself but for another," Ronneberg said. "He didn't pull out a phone, but a lariat. He didn't watch what was happening but intervened."

"Jory is a lesson for all of us in this day and age and showed us what is courageous and right.”

Montana lasso teen 7 21 26

<title>14-Year-Old Ranch Kid Ropes Drowning Man On Yellowstone River, Saves Life | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A 14-year-old ranch kid from Big Timber, Montana, had a rope in his hand when cries for help erupted from the Yellowstone River. He sprinted into the water, threw one loop and caught a struggling man around the arm and neck, pulling him safely to shore.

14-Year-Old Ranch Kid Ropes Drowning Man On Yellowstone River, Saves Life

Daily Darwin

[{"type":"text","text":"How Trevor got banned from the golf course......"}]

Darwin 7 20 26

<title>Daily Darwin: Monday, July 20, 2026 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

How Trevor got banned from the golf course......

Daily Darwin: Monday, July 20, 2026

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

Renée Jean

Public Lands

The moment a hiker or biker walks into the Atlantic City Mercantile on a hot July summer day, Carl Freeman can instantly tell which ones are coming in from Wyoming’s Red Desert on the Continental Divide Trail.

“They are so happy to be here,” Freeman told Cowboy State Daily. “There’s no water out there. No trees for a hundred miles.”

Ice cream is a popular choice for the hikers and mountainbikers coming in from the Red Desert. But they’re also buying lots of high-protein, high-calorie foodlike burgers and fries to fuel up for the next leg of the trail. And copious amounts of their favorite fluids.

“It’s put Atlantic City on the map in that community,” Freeman said of those who travel the trail. “We’ve become known. They’ve told us that it’s within their community. 

“Apparently, they have some type of apps that they all communicate with.”

On that app, he’s been told there are dozens of reviews advising fellow hikers and bikers, “You’ve got to stop for a burger at the Merc.”

The traffic from that rave review is hit and miss, Freeman said. 

But every bit helps a small restaurant located in a community that has roughly 60 people in it. 

“We’re also in a book of 1,000 places to see before you die,” Freeman added with a chuckle. “It’s a good customer base. They come through and they’re looking for a lot of fish, a lot of chicken, a lot of liquid. They tank up and then they’re gone.”

Trail Towns Are Lifelines For Hikers, Bikers

Atlantic City isn’t the only community along the trail’s 510 miles through Wyoming that’s getting a big boost from Continental Divide hikers and bikers. 

Farther south, trail towns like Encampment, Riverside, and Rawlins have quietly become lifelines for hikers and mountain bike riders — aka bikepackers — moving along the Continental Divide Trail and the parallel Great Divide bike route.

Long distance hikers will typically spend $8,000 to $9,000 over the course of a through-hike, Wyoming Pathways Executive Director Mike Kusiek told Cowboy State Daily. 

A big chunk of that change lands in smaller Wyoming towns, where it’s spent on food, gear, lodging, and the occasional celebratory splurge.

A recent CDT Trail Coalition Survey that included 200 business owners along the entire 3,028-mile trail from the U.S.-Mexico border in New Mexico to the border with Canada in Montana found that 88% of communities along the trail report significant business growth the last five years thanks to the Continental Divide Trail. 

And 58% also said the trail had directly grown their businesses. 

Kusiek said he's not surprised Atlantic City is seeing the benefits. 

“Atlantic City was one of the early adopters for both the cyclists and the hikers,” he said. “They are aggressively marketing for those folks to stop, and they’re accommodating them with lodging, mail delivery, showers, and meals. 

"And they really try to go out of their way, too, because some of (the hikers and bikers) are heading into the Red Desert.”

Pinedale and Lander, too, have embraced the Continental Divide trekkers, whether on foot or bicycle.

That welcoming attitude is something Kusiek believes can make a difference for towns along the way.

“When you’re known as a community that endorses the trip, you’re telling the hikers we look forward to you coming to town,” he said. “We’re going to make it easy for you. We’re going to accommodate you.”

Kusiek knows of people who have hitchhiked into town specifically to go to the Wild Iris to buy new shoes and other gear that’s worn out on the trail.

“There’s some pretty neat statistics on how many pairs of shoes the CDT hikers go through,” he said. “They’re going through roughly five to seven pairs of shoes per hiker, and those shoes they’re buying are typically $140 to $180 a pair. So that’s $700 to $1,000 in footwear per hiker.”

The Laundromat That’s Like A Living Room

In Lander, one of the most beloved trail stops isn’t a bar or a gear shop, but a laundromat.

Sophel Thompson’s On Site Laundry has become an unofficial living room for Continental Divide hikers and Great Divide bikepackers rolling through town. 

Inside, weary travelers can wash away a week’s worth of trail dust from their clothes, grab a hot shower while they wait, and access WiFi to message family and friends with a beer or a boba tea, as well as finger foods like gyoza or shrimp tempura.

“To have a shower-laundry place is spectacular for us,” Haleigh Swabowicz told Cowboy State Daily as she munched on a plate of chicken fingers and fries. 

Swabowicz and her trail friend, Willie Hammond, found the laundromat on an app that lists water sources, good camping sites, and other helpful resources for people doing the Continental Divide Trail. 

“I saw quite a few comments about this place,” Swabowicz said. “Because hikers are stinky. We go along time in between laundry and shower. So I was in need of that. And there were a bunch of comments about this place. 

"Super convenient. You can get coffee, you can get ice cream, chips and salsa, and also do shower and laundry for a pretty reasonable price, which we love.”

Hammond said it was the first time he’d seen a place like the laundromat, where so many needs are met all in one place.

“Boba, beer, food, sugar — everything,” he said. 

“We went to a bunch of laundromats, but it’s just your typical boring laundromat,” Swabowicz added. “This is really cool. We’re having fun hanging out here. The showers were really nice, too.

“Usually, if you’re paying for a shower somewhere it’s kind of gross, but this was clean and there was soap, shampoo and conditioner, and towels. Everything you need.”

Atlantic City didn’t have many resupply options, Hammond added, so that’s one reason the duo decided to skip that town in favor of Lander.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Meet Me Halfway In Rawlins"}]

If Atlantic City and Lander show what happens when individual businesses have embraced Divide hikers and bikepackers, Rawlins shows what happens when an entire town does.

Rawlins sits on what local boosters call “the X” — a rare crossroads where the transcontinental rail corridor, the Lincoln Highway, the old transcontinental airmail route, the Continental Divide Trail and the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route all converge in one place.

It’s an incredible intersection of history and recreation, Rawlins tourism officials have previously told Cowboy State Daily. It’s a place where people can follow old rail and highway stories while hikers and cyclists can trace the spine of the continent.

It’s other claim to fame along the trail is that it’s the halfway point, which lends itself to celebration for these adventurers.

“There’s only three towns that the Continental Divide Trail goes through a downtown, and of those three, we are the halfway point,” Rawlins Downtown Development Director Pam Thayer told Cowboy State Daily. “So, it’s a pretty amazing intersection.”

For decades, that fact has been mostly trivia, but Thayer sees a tourism strategy written all over it. 

“I remember as a kid going to the Four Corners, which was four states at the same time,” she said. “I had one foot on each, and so this is kind of that same feeling.”

She said she hopes people will be attracted to the quirky nature of standing in a community with so many crossroads and plan to make Rawlins a stop — whether they’re hiking or biking the Continental Divide or passing through on Interstate 80. 

From burgers and ice cream in Atlantic City to showers in Lander to Thai food in Rawlins, hikers on the Continental Divide Trail are giving small Wyoming towns a big economic boost. “It’s put Atlantic City on the map,” said one local business owner.

Daily Cartoon 2: Saturday, June 20, 2026

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