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Studies have shown that putting your car in Park when you're not in it, can be beneficial.....

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Daily Darwin: Monday, September 9, 2024

Even the East German judge had to score this one a 10....

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Daily Darwin: Sunday, September 8, 2024

The party hasn't started until your Cheeze Whiz can catches on fire....

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Daily Darwin: Saturday, September 7, 2024

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Daily Darwin: Friday, September 6, 2024

There are many barriers in life, it's how we deal with them that matters....

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Daily Darwin: Thursday, September 5, 2024

Great news! We have excellent water pressure!

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Daily Darwin: Wednesday, September 4, 2024

Don't worry, the phone was not damaged....

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Daily Darwin: Tuesday, September 3, 2024

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Daily Darwin: Monday, September 2, 2024

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Daily Darwin: Sunday, September 1, 2024

To this day, perhaps the greatest wedding ceremony of all time....

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Daily Darwin: Saturday, August 31, 2024

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Daily Darwin: Friday, August 30, 2024

Apparently there were no brakes on the bike.....

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Daily Darwin: Thursday, August 29, 2024

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

Andrew Rossi

Law Enforcement

An armed female suspect surrendered to law enforcement after a multi-hour standoff on Cody's upscale south side Wednesday afternoon.

Dawn Blaylock, 41, was arrested and charged with criminal trespass, property destruction, and interference with a police officer.

At 1:20 p.m., the Cody Police Department alerted residents of an active law-enforcement situation in the 700 block of Meadow Lane Avenue, near the Olive Glenn Golf Course.

“We responded to a residence following a report of criminal trespass,” Lt. Juston Wead with the Cody Police Department told Cowboy State Daily. “When officers arrived, they made contact with (Blaylock), who had entered the residence unlawfully and then barricaded herself in a portion of the residence armed with a firearm.”

Several streets in the area were blocked by vehicles from multiple responding agencies, including the Park County Sheriff’s Office, the Wyoming Highway Patrol, and the Cody Volunteer Fire Department.

The Cody PD’s ballistic armored tactical transport vehicle, or “bearcat,” was on the scene as of 1:30 p.m. Officers in tactical gear and carrying firearms surrounded the residence, and an EMS crew from Cody Regional Health was on standby.

Meanwhile, locals were told to avoid the area and neighbors were told to shelter in place.

After several hours of negotiation, Blaylock surrendered and was taken into custody without incident around 4:45 p.m. Wead confirmed there were no injuries.

[{"type":"text","text":"“That was what we were hoping for,” he said."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"No other details were available at publication."}]

Cody standoff 6 24 26

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

<title>Armed Woman Arrested Near Cody Golf Course After Multi-Hour Standoff | Cowboy State Daily</title>

An armed female suspect surrendered to law enforcement after a multi-hour standoff on Cody's south side Wednesday afternoon. Dawn Blaylock, 41, was arrested and charged with criminal trespass, property destruction, and interference with a police officer.

Armed Woman Arrested Near Cody Golf Course After Multi-Hour Standoff

Wildlife

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Employee kate meadows cropped

Kate Meadows

Around Wyoming

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

He credited Peters’ persistence with resolving the issue. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rancher Claims Outhouse Dispute The Reason Amish Community Leaving Hulett

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Courts

A Casper teen accused of attacking his mother led police to a hidden cache of stolen firearms tucked behind a secret wall in his bedroom. 

Honor Jason Wickert, 17, appeared Tuesday afternoon in Natrona County Circuit Court, where he was formally charged with four felonies and several misdemeanors, including interference, domestic battery, carrying a concealed weapon, and being a minor in possession of tobacco products. 

Natrona County District Attorney Dan Itzen confirmed Wednesday morning that prosecutors are charging Wickert as an adult.

Court documents paint a picture of a family dispute that escalated into a foot chase through Casper neighborhoods and ended with police uncovering several stolen firearms, credit cards, and more. 

The four felony theft charges alone carry a combined maximum penalty of 40 years in prison if served consecutively. Additional jail time could be imposed for the misdemeanor charges.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Family Fracture"}]

According to an affidavit, police were called June 20 after Wickert's mother reported her son had assaulted her during an argument over a cellphone.

She told investigators she was increasingly concerned about what Wickert was hiding inside his locked bedroom.

Days earlier, she forced her way into the room and found vape pens and what she believed could be a credit-card skimming or cloning device, according to court records.

Afterward, Wickert reportedly installed a new locking knob on the bedroom door.

The situation boiled over June 20 when the woman attempted to take his cellphone, says the affidavit submitted by Casper Police Officer Colton Lewis. 

The woman told investigators Wickert pushed her to the ground, pinned her with a knee to her back and caused injuries to her face, elbow and back. 

Officers documented bruising and redness consistent with her account, the affidavit states.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Backyard Sprint"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Wickert called the police himself."}]

According to court records, he reported that his mother was accusing him of stealing her belongings and kicking doors inside the home.

[{"type":"text","text":"Officers instructed him to wait for law enforcement."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Instead, he took off running."}]

Police allege Wickert fled through multiple backyards near South Forest Drive and Seminole Street, tossing two backpacks as officers searched for him.

One backpack contained a Springfield Armory 9mm handgun later confirmed stolen, along with ammunition, vape devices, gloves and a flashlight.

Another contained a wallet holding multiple bank and credit cards belonging to other people.

[{"type":"text","text":"Among the items recovered was a handwritten note that read:"}]

"Hi my sweet boy," the note read. "I don't know if you're gonna go to jail, but I want you to know that I will wait for you."

[{"type":"text","text":"Officers eventually took Wickert into custody. "}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Hidden Arsenal"}]

With his mother's consent, investigators later searched Wickert's bedroom.

According to the affidavit, officers noticed an access panel in a wall that appeared unusual because several screws were missing.

After removing the panel, they discovered a pillowcase wrapped around a pipe inside the wall cavity.

Inside, police found four handguns, loaded magazines and ammunition, Lewis wrote. 

Investigators identified the firearms as two Ruger LCP pistols, a Springfield Hellcat Pro pistol and a Glock 43.

Three of the firearms were confirmed to have been stolen. Investigators said the Glock was believed to have been stolen as well.

During Tuesday's hearing before Judge Nichole Collier, bond was set at $50,000 cash or surety.

[{"type":"text","text":"Wickert remains in custody at the Natrona County Detention Center."}]

His case is pending in Natrona County Circuit Court. He is expected to next appear for a preliminary hearing within about 10 days. 

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<title>Casper Teen Charged As Adult After Fight With Mom Leads To Cache Of Stolen Guns | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A Casper teen accused of attacking his mother led police to a hidden cache of stolen firearms and credit cards tucked behind a secret wall in his bedroom. Honor Jason Wickert is being charged as an adult with four felonies and several misdemeanors.

Casper Teen Charged As Adult After Fight With Mom Leads To Cache Of Stolen Guns

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily reporter, Jackie Dorothy.

Jackie Dorothy

Wyoming Life

They have been dubbed by historians as the Arapaho Five, warriors who found themselves fighting against the cavalry in the Battle of the Little Bighorn 150 years ago this week. In the spring of 1876, these young bucks, as they called themselves, snuck off from the fort where their band was camping and became part of history. 

[{"type":"text","text":"Their names were Left Hand, Yellow Eagle, Yellow Fly, Water Man and Sage."}]

In 1919, Tim McCoy, actor and adopted member of the Arapaho tribe, was sitting in a powwow with several Arapaho friends on the Wind River Indian Reservation along the Little Wind River. 

He later related the story to Darryl Ponicsan in a June 1977 article for the American Heritage magazine, 

“High Eagle The Many Lives Of Colonel Tim Mccoy

“They started telling me that Old Water Man was in that fight,” McCoy said. “I sort of scoffed at it because every Indian and his brother was in that fight. Practically all of them killed Custer.”

However, when McCoy began asking Water Man questions, the old Arapaho answered them all accurately. Determined to have the old men tell the stories themselves, McCoy arranged for separate interviews with Water Man and Left Hand in nearby Riverton by 1920. 

The other three warriors had already gone to the “great mystery” according to Left Hand and 

. However,  Sage, was still living near St. Stephens under the name of Sherman Sage. Only remnants of Sage's own story were ever recorded.

The two warriors McCoy knew about agreed their stories needed told.

Five young Arapaho braves snuck off from Fort Robinson 150 years ago this week and fought the 7th Cavalry at Little Bighorn, where General Custer met his demise. They later told their story to actor and adopted member of the Arapaho tribe, Tim McCoy.