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Most sheriff cruisers are designed to blend into a fleet, but the newest cruiser in the Laramie County Sheriff's Office fleet was designed to do the exact opposite.

It not only stands out, “it looks pretty badass,” said Laramie County Sheriff Brian Kozak.

Covered in Western artwork featuring a cowboy on horseback racing forward with purpose on a white background, the new Dodge Durango LCSO SUV is pure Wyoming.

That it turns heads is exactly what Kozak said he was going for in commissioning the look of the department's new recruiting rig.

It squats low and mean with a wild-eyed horse charging across its sides, mane whipping viciously in the Cowboy State wind. 

[{"type":"text","text":"Clint Eastwood-Inspired Cruiser"}]

When it came time to create the design, Kozak called on Cheyenne mural artist Jordan Dean, whose giant wild horse mural transformed the city's towering water tanks north of town.

Dean has become one of the state's most recognizable mural artists, painting everything from large public art installations to massive water tower projects that require boom lifts, projectors and specialized industrial paint.

[{"type":"text","text":"Kozak had a simple request for Dean."}]

"I wanted a high plains drifter, Clint Eastwood kind of cowboy hard charge-in graphic,” the sheriff said.

[{"type":"text","text":"Dean delivered."}]

The result is a rolling Western mural that has already been drawing attention from residents and fellow law enforcement officers.

[{"type":"text","text":"Kozak said he keeps hearing, \"That is the coolest car we've ever seen.\""}]

The cruiser's first major public appearance in Cheyenne was Saturday during a downtown summer event, where families were able to climb inside, check out the lights and meet members of the sheriff's office.

[{"type":"text","text":"Wyatt Earp On Wheels"}]

Dean said his relationship with the sheriff's office began years ago when Kozak called looking for an artist to paint murals inside the Laramie County Detention Center. 

When he was done with that, he told the sheriff, "I would love to take a crack at your vehicles. I've always just thought it would be the coolest thing to design a law enforcement vehicle." 

The artist said early discussions centered on creating something inspired by a Wyatt Earp-style lawman — part frontier sheriff, part larger-than-life Western character. 

"I wanted something that had action, had motion to it," Dean said. "I wanted the horse and rider to fit in the space but kind of take up the whole width of the car.

 "It's the Laramie County Sheriff's Office," he continued. “So, the Western theme just fit, and I love that style." 

If the art causes people to stop and take a second look at the local hero's, Dean says he's done his job. 

[{"type":"text","text":"More Than A Cool Paint Job"}]

As eye-catching as the vehicle is, the sheriff's office didn't build it simply to show off.

The cruiser is assigned to Cpl. Heather Wilson in the agency's hiring unit and is intended to function as a rolling recruiting tool.

"The whole motivation was for people to ask, 'Hey, what's with this car?'" Kozak said.

[{"type":"text","text":"Once the conversation starts, deputies can begin talking about careers."}]

The vehicle is packed with recruiting features, including a pull-out television screen that can play hiring videos during public events.

The sheriff's office will soon hook up a PlayStation loaded with a pursuit-driving game so kids can climb into the back and try it out.

"It's just a vehicle to attract attention and spark up a conversation," Kozak said.

[{"type":"text","text":"Lights, Sirens, Western Swagger"}]

The cruiser also comes loaded with what Kozak described as an almost absurd amount of emergency lighting.

Then there are the novelty features. Push the right buttons and the vehicle can play the famous “Bad Boys” theme from the television show "Cops."

[{"type":"text","text":"It can also blast the national anthem."}]

The sheriff's office has only had the vehicle about a week, but it's already been getting attention beyond Wyoming.

[{"type":"text","text":"Kozak said Wilson recently drove it to a leadership training in Colorado."}]

"All the Denver law enforcement officers that went to this leadership training just thought it was the best car ever that they've seen," he said.

[{"type":"text","text":"The attention is exactly what the sheriff hoped for."}]

Like many agencies nationwide, Laramie County is constantly recruiting new employees as veteran deputies retire or move on.

Kozak said the agency employs about 240 people and generally maintains around a 10% vacancy rate, leaving roughly 10 to 15 positions open at any given time.

His hope is that a cruiser people can't stop staring at might help start conversations that eventually fill those openings.

In the meantime, it might simply be the most “badass” law enforcement vehicle in Wyoming.

Or at least the most likely one to make somebody stop, point and say, "Now 

New Sheriffs cruiser 710020639 1299237672391254 5317509438597465883 n copy 6 6 26

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

<title>Wyoming Sheriff Orders "Clint Eastwood High Plains Drifter" Look For New Cruiser | Cowboy State Daily</title>

When Laramie County Sheriff Brian Kozak wanted a new design for the newest SUV in the fleet, he asked a local artist to create a "Clint Eastwood High Plains Drifter" look. "It looks pretty badass," Kozak said, noting he's received many compliments.

Wyoming Sheriff Orders "Clint Eastwood High Plains Drifter" Look For New Cruiser

Christopher Culler looked forward to son Raydon Bowen wearing the matching King’s Camo outfit and boots he got the boy for Christmas as they set out on their annual spring bear hunt.

Instead, the 7-year-old Canyon Elementary School student in Kemmerer spent hunting season in the hospital following a diagnosis of an extremely rare genetic condition. 

The disorder has left him without vision and fighting for life in Salt Lake City’s Primary Children’s Hospital.

“He is obsessed with bear hunting with me,” Culler said. “We have a good time usually. It’s more about crushing some Mountain Dew and snacking then it is hunting.”

Culler, 38, and wife Bailey Bowen, 30, now are now on a mission that has them on family leave from their jobs at PacifiCorp/Rocky Mountain Power and praying for a boy who seemed normal and active until a little more than a year ago.

At first, Raydon’s condition didn’t seem that serious. He started struggling in school, had trouble focusing, and was having emotional outbursts. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"His parents suspected ADHD. "}]

But at the start of the year, his behavior problems became worse and they went to the pediatrician looking for medication help. Nothing seemed to work.

As Easter arrived, Raydon was acting abnormally and the family wondered if it was his medication.

“On Easter Sunday we were at an Easter egg hunt, and all the kids were getting ready and they are doing a countdown,” Culler said. “Everybody runs out and starts picking up eggs, and Raydon just kind of walked out there passed 20 eggs and just kind of looked around and wasn’t excited.”

Culler said the first grader was instead tripping and stumbling. 

He and his wife were unsure what was going on, but sent him to school the next day. They got a call from the school that he was having problems going up and down the stairs.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Trip To Utah"}]

They called their pediatrician from work, who told them to take him to the local emergency room. Then she called them back and told them to take him Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City.

Culler with Bowen, then 38-weeks pregnant, headed for Utah. 

At the hospital they were told Raydon would have to stay overnight for more tests. The next day an MRI scan showed areas of his brain that were white that were not supposed to be white.

Doctors told them Raydon had adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD), a rare genetic disorder that attacks the membrane that protects nerve cells in the brain and spinal chord. 

The condition keeps the brain from communicating properly with other parts of the body, which was the reason for Raydon’s stumbling and other issues.

Raydon also was recently diagnosed with Addison’s disease that typically accompanies ALD and means he has a cortisol deficiency that will need to be medicated for the rest of his life. 

Culler said it’s “frustrating” that they were chasing ADHD and has since found out that many other parents go down the same road because there was no newborn screening for the genetic disorder in their state.

“I’m like, ‘Why hasn’t anything changed? Why aren’t people screening for this?'” Culler said. “When Raydon was born, Wyoming didn’t do newborn screening for ALD, and a lot of states didn’t. 

"Now there’s a few holdout states that still don’t, but most places do, and Wyoming does now.”

Once the couple learned the diagnosis, doctors also told them that there is no cure, but a bone-marrow transplant can freeze the destruction where it is at. 

Raydon stayed in the hospital a week for more tests, and then the family came home as the hunt for a bone marrow donor began.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"New Baby"}]

The family stayed in Kemmerer about three weeks. Bowen decided she needed to bring the baby into the world to prepare for Raydon’s next hospital stay. 

Their son Porter arrived through an induced birth on April 21.

Meanwhile, Raydon’s eyesight got worse as he rode his bike, but still he seemed to be enjoying time to play and try and be normal again.

Culler and Bowen have a blended marriage, and he used the time to prepare his 17-year-old daughter for the reality of he and Bowen having to go back to Salt Lake City. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Grandparents stepped up to help."}]

They kept in close contact with doctors and Primary Children’s Hospital as Raydon’s speech and vision were getting worse. 

They then received word from their doctor that instead of a bone marrow transplant, Raydon would get an infusion of stem cells from umbilical cord blood.

The family went back to the hospital on May 4, and Raydon received nine days of chemotherapy to destroy his immune system. Then the stem cells were transplanted into his bone marrow.

Friday marked the 22nd day after the infusion. 

His dad said Raydon spends his days laying in his hospital bed, unable to see or speak.

“It’s really hard to watch,” Culler said. "He’s to the point where it's kind of hard for him to do anything.

"There’s so much pain involved with doing that to a young body and agitation and anxiety that is astronomical.”

Culler said sometimes Raydon will try and feel for his mom’s ring or feel for his beard. Sometimes he reaches for a hand to kiss it.

“That’s kind of how we know that he’s still there,” he said.

Doctors and parents are waiting for “engraftment,” the process when donor stem cells start making new blood components. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"In Raydon’s case it may take 30 days."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Hospital Living"}]

For now, Culler watches their newborn baby at the hospital’s Ronald McDonald House every night while Bowen stays with Raydon. 

They switch places during the day, and the past month is a blur.

Culler said he thinks about the future and possibility of needing a new home to handle a son who cannot see or may have other physical limitations. 

He said his wife and Braydon’s grandparents are living in the moment and trying to make sure everything “is OK now.”

 that has been started on their behalf and for fundraisers such as a hunting and fishing expo that is doing a 50-50 raffle for them, sales of T-shirts that say “Raydon Strong,” and a Utah-based company called Rise and Shed that is doing a fundraiser to help the family with their medical bills.

Culler said he has never been a person who has asked others for help.

“But we’re looking down this road, and we don’t know how long it’s going to be,” he said. 

Culler’s mind goes to when he will return to work, the needs ahead, and more.

Raydon’s elementary school classmates have sent him cards and letters. Culler hopes that one day soon they will be able to read them to him.

Doctors have told the parents that the stem cells may be able to bring back some of the function that Raydon has lost. Time will tell.

Culler said his wife “just wants her boy back” and regrets the times she didn’t make the extra effort to read him that one more story that he was asking for or going to his room to play with him when Raydon asked.

Culler thinks back to the hunting trips, and how he was planning to teach him things this year. 

For Raydon, the trips are mostly about the Mountain Dew that he could only get on special occasions.

“I told him we can have Mountain Dew when we’re in the mountains, when we’re hunting, or when we’re doing ‘dude’ stuff,” Culler said. “He says, ‘Come on, we’re mountain dudes, we gotta drink Mountain Dew.’ That was our thing.”

Raydon Bowen Mix Collage 06 Jun 2026 07 09 AM 6478 6 6 26

<title>Rare Genetic Condition Took Kemmerer 7-Year-Old's Eyesight, Threatens His Life | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A Kemmerer couple is on medical leave taking care of a newborn and their 7-year-old son who has a rare genetic condition that took his eyesight. All the little boy wanted to do was go hunting this year, instead he's fighting for his life.

Rare Genetic Condition Took Kemmerer 7-Year-Old's Eyesight, Threatens His Life

Business & Tourism

Business

CHEYENNE — Patricia Miller was helping another customer when a smooth-talking gentleman came in and quickly grabbed some crystals that he said were a gift for his mom. 

“He was trying to small talk with me about how wonderful of a person he was, because he’s getting them for her,” Miller told Cowboy State Daily. “And he’s going to print out information about each one of them, and all this other stuff.”

Miller thought that was sweet and said so, but what happened next was anything but sweet.

“He handed me this $100 bill, and I could feel that something was different,” she said. “And I was looking at it, and I’m like, ‘Well, maybe it’s old?'”

That prompted the man to helpfully add that the bill was from 1996.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"That’s when things clicked for Miller."}]

“Like, who knows what year the bill is that you’re handing a cashier?” she said. “So that’s what really triggered my mind to be like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is counterfeit.’”

Not wanting to falsely accuse the man — or ignite a confrontation — Miller took a different tack. 

“I said to him, ‘I”m sorry, but I don’t have change for this. You’re going to have to maybe get change and come back. Do you have anything smaller?’" Miller said. “And he said, ‘No, I’ll go to Bomgaars and get change.’”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"The man never returned for his items. "}]

Later, looking at the store’s video surveillance, Miller saw the man had several recognizable bags with him. When she visited those other stores, it confirmed her suspicion that the $100 bill had been fake. 

The same man with the same story and multiple copies of the same $100 bill, all sharing the same serial number, had hit all of the stores.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Same Serial Number All Over Town"}]

Miller’s social media post about the experience drew jeers from some skeptical online commenters who accused her of overreacting. 

She posted the bill so others would know what was happening, to prevent anyone from getting duped.

A manager at a discount store on South Greeley Highway in Cheyenne, who asked that her store not be named for corporate reasons, confirmed she’d encountered both the same man and the same $100 bill as Miller. 

The man came to the store on South Greeley between the hours of 3:30 and 4 p.m., she said, trying to buy some baby wipes and a gallon jug of water with the $100 — a classic, small-purchase, big-change tactic.

The cashier felt something was off with the bill, but couldn’t identify what. She used a traditional counterfeit detector pen. If the iodine ink, which reacts with starches in standard, wood-pulp paper, remains black, that’s supposed to indicate that a bill is real. 

But the manager has learned a different trick to identify counterfeits lately. 

“I swabbed it with rubbing alcohol, and the ink smudged,” she said. “So I told him it was fake and we were not going to accept it.”

When the cashier told the man the bill was fake, he said, “Keep it,” and walked out, by then visibly trying to hide his face from the camera.

“That confirms to me that it was fake,” the manager said. 

The bill has been turned over to Laramie County Sheriff’s Office for further investigation.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Bleached Bills Fool Counterfeit Pens"}]

The discount store manager said counterfeiters have come up with a smart strategy to fool the traditional iodine counterfeit detector pens.

What they do is bleach a $1 bill, and then print a $100 bill over the top of it. Because it’s genuine currency paper, the iodine pens won’t catch that the bill is fake. 

“The counterfeit pens are garbage,” the manager said. “You can write on that and it won’t catch it because it is in fact money paper, just not the right denomination.”

She prefers that her employees use rubbing alcohol to test the ink. If it smudges, that’s a huge red flag.

She also has them hold the bill up to the light, to look for water marks and other security features that $100 bills have that $1 bills do not.

The last check is the texture of the bill itself, which is slightly changed by the bleaching process. 

“When we held it up, it did not have a water mark in it,” she said. “It did not have a face in it, and I felt no texture on the bill itself.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"A Prop Money In Riverton"}]

In Riverton, meanwhile, funny money has taken a slightly different tack, with Hollywood-style prop bills circulating around town.

At Blossoms and Boba Cafe, owner Jesica Fritz told Cowboy State Daily a group of children roughly ages 10-13 came in for a shopping spree with what they thought was a genuine $100 bill, given to them by a friendly stranger who had encouraged them to spend all of the money in one place. 

“One of the girls who works for us thought it was real at first,” Fritz said. “It did look very realistic, unless you read it and looked closely at it.

"The other girl, my daughter, was like, ‘No, absolutely this is not real. Look, it doesn’t even say, ‘In God we trust.”

Instead the bill said, “In Prop we Trust,” and elsewhere, in tiny fine print, it identified the money as a film prop, not for legal tender.

Fritz said her cafe does use counterfeit detection pens and also trains staff to hold bills up to make sure the paper shimmers correctly, and to look closely at fine print and seals.

“If you’re slammed and super busy and someone just hands one of these to you, I can totally understand why some people would take it as regular money,” she said. “It looks very realistic.”

The children had already paid for their Boba teas before trying to use the fake $100 for extra items. When told the bill wasn’t real, they were crestfallen, but cooperative.

“The kids legitimately believed they had real money, and were super stoked about it,” Fritz said. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Staying Ahead Of Funny Money"}]

Fritz turned the bill over to the Riverton Police Department. 

The department did not return Cowboy State Daily’s request for comment, but Fritz said they told her that several other businesses in town had also seen prop money circulating.

Cheyenne police, meanwhile, said it has seven reports of counterfeit bills being passed around at local businesses so far this year. 

“The counterfeit bills we encounter the most are $20 and $100 denominations,” said department spokeswoman Alexandra Farkas. “Many of the fake $100 bills are novelty bills intended for film production and are marked with the phrase, ‘For Motion Picture Purposes.’”

That can be easy to overlook during a busy transaction, Farkas acknowledged.

“If counterfeit currency is seized and is not associated with an active local investigation, our Property and Evidence Division will send it to the U.S. Secret Service for further investigation,” she said. “For more information about identifying counterfeit bills, the Secret Service offers educational resources online at 

By policy, businesses are supposed to try to retain suspicious bills and turn them over to police. But both Miller and the discount store manager admitted they considered their own personal safety first and foremost. 

Fake 100 bill inset 1 6 6 26

<title>Fake $100 Bills Making The Rounds In Wyoming, Counterfeit Pens Don't Detect Them | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Counterfeit $100 bills are getting passed throughout Wyoming and store clerks say iodine counterfeit detector pens won't detect the fake bills. “The counterfeit pens are garbage,” said one store manager

Fake $100 Bills Making The Rounds In Wyoming, Counterfeit Pens Don't Detect Them

It’s a scene that feels like it belongs in a sepia-toned, black-and-white movie, but it’s living color at Slack Elementary School near Parkman, Wyoming. 

Students there begin and close out their school year by riding their horses to the one-room schoolhouse on horseback.

Picture a dozen or so kids, legs swinging in sometimes too-big stirrups, strung out along a narrow ranch road. 

For the last day of school in May, the Bighorn Mountains might still hold a streak or two of snow while ahead a tiny, white schoolhouse awaits. 

The horses plod along at a slow walk — by strict family decree — helping create a moment of what feels like suspended time. 

“If you let one horse start trotting, then you’re going to have a horse race on your hands,” ranch mom Jill Kerns told Cowboy State Daily with a chuckle. 

Three of her four children have been young enough to participate in the tradition. 

“It usually takes about 10 to 15 minutes,” she said. "Honestly, it takes longer to catch the horses and saddle them than it takes to ride down there.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"One-Room School That Still Works"}]

The end point of the horse parade is the historic Slack Elementary School, one of about a couple dozen remaining one-room schoolhouses in Wyoming. 

The Slack School opened in 1890, giving it 136 years of history in this ranching community. The present building was buildt in the 1930s, after the original schoolhouse burned down. 

Although no one is quite sure when the first- and last-day horseback rides began, they are a cherished community tradition, one that honors the school’s heritage in a ranching community and salutes the history of the American West.

Teachers at Slack use the activity to throw open a window to local history and lifestyles, pointing out there was a time when the ride wasn’t ceremonial at all. 

Jill’s father-in-law Krayton Kerns remembers when the school used to have an old barn for people to put their horses in during the day.

“It was pretty well used up by the time we got here in ’65,” he told Cowboy State Daily. “And I’m not sure when it got torn down the rest of the way, but prior to my time at Slack School, the generation before, they rode to school because that was their only transportation.”

Krayton, meanwhile, walked to school every day. 

“Dad mentioned to me that he always walked to school,” he said. “So I decided I was going to do that, too, even though we had a bus driver who ran a Suburban van that hauled a bunch of kids to school.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"Big Brother, Big Sister Teaching Method"}]

Slack might seem on the surface like it’s some kind of throwback. But there’s more value in this old-fashioned approach than people realize, and parents say they see their children earning a leg up in key areas like reading.

“The teachers have told me when the Slack kids get to Tongue River, they tend to be a little bit ahead,” Jill said. “By the time they leave Slack, they’re very well prepared, if not ahead.”

Jill’s son Henry, who had one year at Slack, told Cowboy State Daily he was able to work at his own pace, which meant he didn’t have to wait on learning new material. 

“You get to just keep going if you’re ahead on stuff,” he said. “You learn a lot more that way.”

In a classroom with just a few kids per grade, there’s also no hiding in the back row. Everyone is going to get called on, and that means everyone better be on their toes.

Older students also help the younger ones, and everyone has chores to do around the school. Those things have made the students more tightly knit together, more like family than a typical school. 

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"}],"text":"'Great Way To Grow Up'"}]

Krayton, who is a veterinarian, believes Slack School gave him the best possible foundation for his future career. 

He never felt, as he was pursuing his doctorate, that the one-room school had disadvantaged him in any way. 

Kids who attend the one-room school near Parkman, Wyoming, still ride horses to their schoolhouse on the first and last days of class. “If you let one horse start trotting, then you’re going to have a horse race on your hands,” one ranch mom said. 

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