Heinz mark

Mark Heinz

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

Renée Jean

Jen kocher

Jen Kocher

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily editor Justin George

Justin George

Mac Watson

Daily Video News

It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming for Tuesday, June 30th.  I’m Mac Watson

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Winter is back in Wyoming as a late June snowstorm closed the Beartooth Highway and Yellowstone's Dunraven Pass. Cowboy State Daily’s Andrew Rossi reports that at 9,400 feet, the Top of the World store recorded three inches of snow. 

“Several inches of snow was reported on the Bear Tooth Highway and in the interior of Yellowstone National Park. It's a significant amount of snowfall, but that's not unusual, especially at high elevations, people forget how high Yellowstone is, let alone the Bear Tooth Pass, which is getting close to 11,000 feet up there. So, when you get a cold front moving in with moisture that manifests as snow, and you're hard pressed to pick any month of the year where there isn't at least a possibility of snow in Yellowstone and on the Bear Tooth Highway.”

Lance VandenBoogart with the National Weather Service office in Riverton said that’s not unusual for northwest Wyoming or Yellowstone, even in the last days of June.

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A 75-year-old Goshen County man told investigators he shot a pair of Rottweilers and dumped them in the North Platte River because he feared for his livestock. Cowboy State Daily’s Greg Johnson reports that a neighbor told authorities why they disposed of the dogs in the river.

“The guy claims that they were threatening his livestock, they're threatening his neighbor's livestock, and he said that he shot one of the dogs, and then another dog, he said, came after him, so he shot it as well. However, the officer in charge of the investigation wrote his affidavit saying that the facts don't really support that, and what was interesting is that there was an accomplice who told police that they put the dogs in the river because they were quote ‘too lazy’ to bury them.”

David Cronk made his first court appearance Friday on two charges each of felony animal cruelty and misdemeanor unlawful disposal of a dead animal so as to pollute.

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An older Colorado couple have been identified as the two people killed in a Friday multi-vehicle crash west of Casper. Cowboy State Daily’s Kolby Fedore reports that a Jackson woman who was among those who stopped to help the couple and others hurt in the crash, telling Cowboy State Daily, “We made sure she wasn't alone.”

“74-year-old James Cox and 69-year-old Susan Cox were coming from Golden, Colorado, on their way to their house in Ennis, Montana, when they got into a crash about 45 miles northwest of Casper on Friday afternoon.  The Natrona County Coroner, James Whipps, confirmed that they were dead on Monday afternoon. Krista Nethercott from Jackson is a funeral director and a mortician. She arrived at the crash site just moments after the collision happened. She said that James Cox was behind the wheel. He was dead immediately. Susan Cox was still alive, and Nether Cot said all she could do was offer some comfort, and made sure she was not alone for her final moments.” 

By the time emergency crews reached U.S. Highway 20/26 near mile marker 58 Friday afternoon, two people were dead, seven others had been injured, and strangers were comforting survivors, checking on children, searching for fire extinguishers and handing out bottled water.

A new political group called the 'Common Sense Republicans' have erected six billboards urging voters to “STOP The Freedom Caucus Agenda.” Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that Rep. John Bear, a well-known member of the Freedom Caucus, says he “loves” the billboards.

“The Freedom Caucus fired back with them being against a lot of the popular things, you know, like protecting women's sports and an election integrity and keeping illegal aliens out of the country, and the pack came back and said no, we're focused on really local stuff like funding EMS. one of the members of the PAC said that, you know, indicated that the Freedom Caucus doesn't like the billboards, and Bear came back and said, 'No, we love this, we love talking about our agenda, and so you've got this, it's a very direct political battle.”

Casper-based attorneys Emily Madden and Scott Ortiz co-founded the Common Sense Republicans for Wyoming political action committee (PAC) in March. The PAC has raised six billboards across larger Wyoming towns urging people to “STOP The Freedom Caucus Agenda” and vote in the Aug. 18 primary election.

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

Cowboy State Daily News continues now….

Abe Yoder moved his Amish family from Wyoming to Iowa after he says Crook County officials threatened him with stiff fines and removing his children over outhouse permits. Cowboy State Daily’s Kate Meadows reports that county officials deny those claims and say they only sought wastewater compliance.

“Abe Yoder is really at the center of this. There was one other family who left, and they went to Wisconsin. The rest of the community, the people whose outhouses were found to be not in compliance, did end up complying and following regulations, doing what the county asked them to do.  Yoder told Cowboy State Daily that he's more disappointed in the community itself not taking a stand and not fighting back than he is in the county being persistent with its regulations.”

Yoder recently moved to Iowa, selling off much of his Hulett-area estate and taking his wife and nine of his 11 children with him.

It has already been a busy year for human-bear conflicts in Wyoming, Montana, and across the West. Outdoors Reporter Mark Heinz reports that bear observers say it could get worse thanks to drought and other factors.

“One of the people I spoke with was our friend Ken Fisher up in Alberta, she's a human bear conflict specialist, and in monitors things not only in Canada, but you know, kind of all through bear territory, even down here in the lower 48 and she said, ‘Yeah, it could be, you know, that because of dry conditions and more people going out, just there's more potential for conflict, we could be seeing a little bit more.’”

Large carnivore specialist Dan Thompson tells Cowboy State Daily, that from

the Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s perspective, it’s essentially been a normal year.

Sweetwater County School District No. 1 apologized Saturday for what it called the error of a staff member.  Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland reports that the staffer released a campaign message for gubernatorial candidate Eric Barlow through the ParentSquare messaging app. 

“It was addressed to a group of students that are involved in studying public services, and so the my understanding is that they, that it was presented, or it was understood as a volunteer public civic engagement opportunity, and then when it hit, there was this reflection, like, oh, maybe that was political, since it singled out one candidate.”

Former state House Speaker and now-Sen. Eric Barlow is running for the Republican primary nomination for governor against Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder, retired Marine Col. Brent Bien, and Curt Blake of Centennial. 

Greta, a German shepherd with a platform of “more belly rubs for all,” is getting huge support in Park County since a “Vote For Greta” sign went up in Cody. Cowboy State Daily’s Greg Johnson reports that one voter says, “She certainly can’t be worse than, like, half the people running.”

“I did talk to the Park County clerk, who said that, despite being a dog, and Greta actually is deceased now, he missed the deadline to register as a candidate doesn't say what office she's running from, but it doesn't matter to some, some of the people I talked to, they said it doesn't matter what office I'll vote for her, because she's better.”

Greta was the beloved pet of Elizabeth Jenkins’ parents, who said she made up the campaign sign as a joke. She put it out near the Cody Post Office along Stampede Avenue in Cody late last week with a host of other signs from political candidates. Then she posted a photo of the sign to a local Facebook page.

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

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

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

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

<title>Cowboy State Daily Video Newscast: Tuesday, June 30, 2026 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Tuesday's headlines include:
* Winter Ain’t Done In Yellowstone 
* Witnesses Crushed By Horrific Crash
* Bear-Human Conflicts Continue To Increase

Cowboy State Daily Video Newscast: Tuesday, June 30, 2026

Wildlife

As June draws to a close, it has been a lively year for human-bear conflicts, with several people getting attacked, one fatally, and bears being killed, or captured and relocated.

Some observers worry it’s going to get worse if dry conditions push more bears looking for food toward settled areas.

Recently, a woman and her dog were approached and circled by a grizzly bear near Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada. The woman and dog escaped without harm, 

Similarly, in near Golden, Colorado on June 21, a black bear scratched a woman’s leg, and then 

 for about 30 minutes, despite her shouting and throwing rocks and sticks.

“It just seems to be that left, right and center, things are going on,” said Kim Titchener, president of Bear Safety and More, told Cowboy State Daily.

However, she noted that “20 or 30 years ago, we didn’t have phones with cameras.”

Now sketchy bear encounters are frequently caught on video, such as the woman’s run-in with the grizzly in Alberta, Titchener said.

And the videos blow up on social media, which can create an out-sized perception of problems with bears compared to the past, she added.

Despite recent rainstorms, including in Alberta where Titchener lives, it’s been a dry year overall in many places.

That’s led to questions over how bears’ natural food sources are being affected. And how that, in turn, might drive more conflicts, she said.

“Are there going to be berries (this year)?” she asked.

Regarding the grizzly moving in on the woman and her dog in Alberta, the consensus seems to be that the bear showed great interest in the dog, Titchener said.

In a video the woman took of the encounter, she repeatedly and sternly shouts at the bear, which gets just a few feet a way a couple times but never attacks the dog.

“It (the bear) was absolutely a threat to her and the dog,” Titchener said.

Some have questioned why the woman didn’t carry bear spray.

Spray is highly recommended in bear country, and Titchener said that two her knowledge, the woman has experience living and working around bears.

Apparently that day, “she was just taking her dog for a quick walk” and didn’t think to take her bear spray, Titchener said.

The incident highlights the need to never take for granted when a bear might appear, and being prepared with a defense mechanism, she said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Ruckus In Grand Teton"}]

Grant Teton National Park spokeswoman Emily Davis said the uptick in human-bear conflicts in Grand Teton seems to be about a month ahead of schedule this year.

A 3-year-old female black bear was killed by wildlife agents on June 15 because it had been getting human-sourced “food rewards” in the Jenny Lake area, Davis said.

“I’m not sure that anyone was necessarily feeding it” directly, Davis said.

Instead, the bear might have gotten food from unattended backpacks, coolers and the like, Davis said.

The black bear “was approaching people too closely,” so the decision was made to euthanize it, she said.

Heather Reich, a biologist and bear conflict management expert, told Cowboy State Daily that bear activity and conflicts are up across the West, probably because of an abnormally warm winter.

, a breed originally from Finland that specializes in harassing and chasing bears away.

In 2023, the Reichs founded Bear-ier Solutions, based in Nevada.

They were recently called to Grand Teton to drive a young grizzly named Miracle away from the crowded Colter Bay area.

“The dogs gave it a good chase, and I think that was a very novel experience for that little kid (Miracle), Heather said.

However, that still wasn’t enough to convince Miracle to leave the area for good.

 Thursday and relocated to a remote site in the park, the first such relocation in Grand Teton since 2021.

From the Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s perspective, it’s essentially been a normal year, large carnivore specialist Dan Thompson told Cowboy State Daily.

“I feel like things have been steadily busy with bears and conflicts, but nothing necessarily out of the ordinary,” he said.

“There were some higher-profile situations in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks that garner a great deal of media attention but aren't emblematic of conflict potential everywhere,” Thompson said.

Game and Fish works to prevent conflict through education, he said.

“The current dry state of the state is not lost on us, and what it may mean as the summer progresses for conflict potential between bears – black and grizzly – and people, he said.

“But we are prepared to deal with conflicts as necessary and continue our outreach and education across the state to inform the public on ways to reduce the potential for conflict with bears and other wildlife,” Thompson added.

Nobody has been mauled in Grand Teton this year. In May, there were grizzly attacks in Yellowstone National Park and Glacier National Park in Montana.  

 since 1998 when the body of Florida resident Anthony Pollio, 33, was found May 6 two days after he was reported missing.

His body was found about 50 feet from the trail he’d apparently been hiking.

 when they were attacked by a female grizzly with cubs near Old Faithful in Yellowstone.

A California man, Daniel Crago, said he was 

 by a grizzly before it finally let him go in an attack he sustained late last month in Glacier.

And on May 26, a man running on a trail in British Columbia was attacked by a female black bear with two cubs.

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It’s been tough keeping up with bear incidents in Durango, Colorado, and surrounding La Plata County, local resident Bryan Peterson told Cowboy State Daily.

Because of drought, “bears at lower altitudes don’t have anything to eat,” said Peterson, the director of Bear Smart Durango.

“It’s too early for their fall foods to be impacted. I don’t know how great acorn production and berry production is going to be in August,” he said. “Unless we get a ton of rain, July is gong to be super interesting, and this fall could be nuts.” 

Many of the conflicts are driven by bears raiding garbage cans and dumpsters, Peterson said.

There’s been a steady increase of bear conflict reports in Durango and the county over the past five years.

As of June 28, there are 77 reports, he said, compared to 35 on the same date in 2025, 25 in 2024, 40 in 2023, 53 in 2022 and 49 in 2021.

Of the 77 reports, 39 have involved bears getting into trash, Peterson said.

“Those have resulted in two citations and $100 in fines,” he said.

Peterson said that frustrates him because as he sees it authorities should be cracking down on people who leave garbage accessible to bears.

A fatal black bear mauling took place in the area in 2021, he added.

“A woman was out walking her dogs, and what happened (during the attack) nobody knows,” he said.

The attack was thought to involve a female bear with cubs, he said.

“At all the local retail stores, after that incident, their sales of bear spray skyrocketed,” Peterson said.

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<title>Human-Bear Conflicts Up Across West Could Signal More Attacks, Removals Coming | Cowboy State Daily</title>

It has already been a busy year for human-bear conflicts in Wyoming, Montana and across the West, with people getting mauled and bears being euthanized or relocated. And it could get worse thanks to drought and other factors, some bear observers say.

Human-Bear Conflicts Up Across West Could Signal More Attacks, Removals Coming

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Public Safety

What first appeared to be an ordinary construction delay on a lonely stretch of highway west of Casper quickly turned into one of the 

 many of those involved had ever witnessed.

On Monday, the Natrona County Coroner's Office identified the two people killed as James Faris Cox, 74, and Susan Horn Cox, 69, of Golden, Colorado.

"That was my aunt and uncle killed in the wreck Friday," their nephew Lee Wolfe told Cowboy State Daily. "They were on the way to their house in Ennis, MT. They lived in Golden, CO."

[{"type":"text","text":"He said the couple was traveling alone."}]

"It was just my aunt and uncle in their truck, no survivors," he said. "My two cousins and their families were heading up there at a different time thankfully."

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The Wyoming Highway Patrol said the crash involved multiple vehicles, including a semi-truck.

"Two confirmed fatalities. Seven injured. Seventeen people involved, two flown by helicopter, the others were taken to Wyoming Medical Center by ambulance," Wyoming Highway Patrol spokesman Aaron Brown said. "This is still an active investigation." 

As of Monday afternoon, investigators had not released a preliminary cause of the crash, and no criminal charges had been filed.

The Natrona County Coroner's Office said it is investigating the fatalities along with the Wyoming Highway Patrol and Natrona County Sheriff's Office.

[{"type":"text","text":"Krista Nethercott of Jackson never saw the crash itself."}]

She had been traveling toward Casper with a neighbor after taking her son to enroll in college when traffic suddenly came to a stop.

[{"type":"text","text":"At first, she assumed the delay was caused by nearby road construction."}]

"There were these pylons on the right-hand side that kind of tell you there's construction," she said. "But there wasn't anything alerting you to slow down. There wasn't a flagger."

After waiting several minutes, she said she couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

She stepped out of her vehicle and walked toward the front of the traffic backup.

"That's when I could see there were cars on both sides of the road," she said. "I was like, 'Oh my goodness.'"

Nethercott said she immediately ran toward the wreckage to make sure someone had called 911 and to offer whatever help she could.

She said she told him, "I'm a funeral director. I'll help you. I'm not scared to see death." 

Working with another bystander, she checked on the occupants of one of the most severely damaged vehicles — the Coxes' pickup.

"The gentleman was immediately deceased," she said. "The lady probably lived a couple minutes."

[{"type":"text","text":"She said both appeared to have been wearing seat belts."}]

The truck was crushed so badly, she said, that she believed rescuers ultimately would need the jaws of life to remove the couple.

"If the woman had lived longer, I don't think this gentleman and I could have ever taken her out of the vehicle," she said. "That's how crushed it was."

Despite witnessing the aftermath firsthand, Nethercott said she has no idea what caused the collision.

"I don't know if the semi-trailer didn't slow down and ran into people, or if somebody was trying to pass too many vehicles. I couldn't ascertain that at all. It was just mass metal and cars," she said. 

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The crash occurred about 45 miles northwest of Casper, and Nethercott estimated it was roughly 30 minutes before ambulances and fire crews reached the scene.

"It seemed like it was a long time to see paramedics," she said. "But considering you're out in the middle of nowhere, I don't think they could have gotten there any quicker."

Long before emergency vehicles arrived, however, strangers had already organized themselves.

Nethercott estimated around 10 people got out of their vehicles and immediately began helping.

One man walked the line of stopped traffic asking whether anyone had a fire extinguisher. Another, who identified himself as working at a pediatric clinic, examined a young child who remained safely strapped into a five-point car seat while the boy's injured father tried to comfort him.

Others brought camping chairs for survivors to sit in while Nethercott handed out bottled water from her vehicle.

"There were people left and right getting out of their vehicles and trying to find anything that could be used," she said. "Whether it's water, an emergency medical kit or a fire extinguisher."

[{"type":"text","text":"The scene itself was almost impossible to comprehend."}]

"There was debris all over the place," she said. "Food, toilet paper, paper towels ... it looked like somebody had been camping. There was glass everywhere, bumpers everywhere."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"'The Wyoming Way'"}]

The Natrona County Fire District described responders arriving to "a very chaotic scene" involving multiple damaged vehicles, a large debris field, numerous victims and a large bystander presence.

The response included firefighters from the Natrona County Fire District, ambulances from Mills Fire Department, Banner Wyoming Medical Center and Evansville Fire/EMS, Wyoming LifeFlight, Guardian Flight, the Natrona County Sheriff's Office, Wyoming Highway Patrol, WYDOT crews, dispatchers and road construction personnel.

[{"type":"text","text":"Fire officials said 17 people were directly involved in the crash."}]

In a statement, the department singled out the motorists who stopped to help before first responders arrived.

"Crews would like to send a heartfelt thank you to all the bystanders who assisted victims immediately after the crash, while waiting for help to arrive, as well as while responders were on-scene, offering shelter during the passing of a thunder cell, emotional support and minor patient care," they wrote. 

[{"type":"text","text":"\"The true spirit of the 'Wyoming Way' was in full force this day.\""}]

Nethercott said, "There were people left and right getting out of their vehicles and trying to find anything that could be used. They didn't sit around and wait for somebody else to do it."

[{"type":"text","text":"The moment she has replayed most, however, involved Susan Cox."}]

Although there was little anyone could do medically, Nethercott said she wanted to make sure the woman did not spend her final moments alone.

"We told her help was coming,” she said. "We don't know what happens when people are unconscious, but we wanted her to know somebody was there."

Only after that did she turn her attention to survivors who still could be saved.

Among those survivors is Kensi Van Patten. A 

 campaign organized on her behalf says she suffered serious injuries in the crash and faces a lengthy recovery while her family copes with mounting medical expenses. 

The fundraiser asks for donations to help with medical costs and lost income during her recovery.

The Wyoming Highway Patrol, Natrona County Sheriff's Office and Natrona County Coroner's Office continue to investigate the crash. 

Double Fatal Crash Go Fund Me 6 29 26

<title>Witnesses Describe Chaos, Compassion After Wyoming Crash That Killed Colo. Couple | Cowboy State Daily</title>

An older Colorado couple have been identified as the two people killed in a Friday multi-vehicle crash west of Casper. "We made sure she wasn't alone,” said a Jackson woman who was among those who stopped to help the couple and others hurt in the crash.

Witnesses Describe Chaos, Compassion After Wyoming Crash That Killed Colo. Couple

Employee kate meadows cropped

Kate Meadows

Around Wyoming

The Amish man at the center of a Crook County 

 has confirmed that the issue prompted him and his family to leave the state and says what was required of him by county officials is unconstitutional.   

Abe Yoder called Cowboy State Daily from a community phone near his property in Weldon, Iowa, on Saturday.

[{"type":"text","text":"The Amish historically do not use email or cellphones."}]

“It does very much have to do with our sovereignty and rights,” he said.

Scott Pomerenke of Sundance, a friend of Yoder’s, put it this way: "They’re moving because they were pressured.”

[{"type":"text","text":"County officials say that was never the intention."}]

Yoder told Cowboy State Daily the county had threatened to fine him $10,000 per day per outhouse on his land that did not have a permit, threatened to take away his children, and asked him to sign a contract giving county officials permission to inspect the outhouses at any time.

County officials told Cowboy State Daily they did invoke financial incentive to get Yoder to comply with county regulations. They also point to a blanket clause on all county paperwork that asks for permission to inspect property. 

[{"type":"text","text":"But they vehemently deny anyone threatened to take away his children."}]

“There was no such thing,” said Caleb Peters, Crook County wastewater treatment specialist.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"How It Started"}]

The dispute began in October 2024, when Crook County officials discovered several Amish property owners west of Hulett had built pit-style outhouses without the permits required under county wastewater regulations.

[{"type":"text","text":"Peters said he became aware of the issue through satellite imaging."}]

Some outhouses were not sealed or properly vented, he told Cowboy State Daily.

“There was a compilation of a whole bunch of things,” he said, which led him to reach out to the property owners.

While he did not have an exact number, Peters said he guessed about 20 outhouses did not comply with county regulations.

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

“You have to build them correctly and permit them,” Crook County commission chair Fred Devish said.

Upon learning about the codes and permitting regulations, all but two families complied, Peters said.

Those families were the Abe and Elizabeth Yoder and Rudy and Irene Borntreger, he said. An estate moving sale was held for both families earlier this month. The Yoders moved to Iowa, the Borntregers to Wisconsin.

[{"type":"text","text":"Yoder told Cowboy State Daily he felt targeted and strong-armed."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Sovereignty And The Law"}]

Abe Yoder moved his Amish family from Wyoming to Iowa after he says Crook County officials threatened him with stiff fines and removing his children over outhouse permits. County officials deny those claims and say they only sought wastewater compliance.

CSD Staff

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