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Worst slide of all time goes to this guy....

Sports 5 28 26

Today In Sports: Thursday, May 28, 2026

This is what the baggage tunnels at DIA look like now. It is repurposing portions of its existing underground baggage tunnels to create pedestrian walkways.

Aviation 5 27 26

Today In Aviation: Wednesday, May 27, 2026

Bonus vid 2 5 27 26 no play

Bonus Video 2: Wednesday, May 27, 2026

We're suckers for the "other dogs vs our dog" videos.....

Mix Collage 26 May 2026 12 21 PM 2530

Bonus Video 1: Wednesday, May 27, 2026

Today in reflexes 5 27 26

Today In Reflexes: Wednesday, May 27, 2026

Parenthood 5 27 26

Today In Parenthood: Wednesday, May 27, 2026

Not all heroes wear capes, but they do wear green polos, as narrated by MMA announcer, Steve Inman....

Inman 5 27 26

Steve Inman: Wednesday, May 27, 2026

You still here 5 27 26

You Still Here? Wednesday, May 27, 2026

Husband attempts to wash car. But wife keeps squirting soap on it when he's not looking.....

Relationships 5 26 26

Today In Relationships: Tuesday, May 26, 2026

How come when you want things in order, they call it a disorder??

Mental health 5 26 26

Today In Mental Health: Tuesday, May 26, 2026

Father son bonding moment takes a turn.....

Today in parenthood 5 26 26

Today In Parenthood: Tuesday, May 26, 2026

Bonus vid 2 5 26 26

Bonus Video 2: Tuesday, May 26, 2026

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

Renée Jean

Government & Politics

Most of the Cheyenne Planning Commission members backed parts of Microsoft’s sweeping 3,200-acre southside expansion plans Monday night during a marathon five-hour hearing. 

But only one part of the plan — assigning agricultural zoning to the 3,050-acre Highlands area if it is annexed — will reach the June 8 City Council meeting with a recommendation to approve.

The remaining items — future land-use and zoning map amendments for two parcels in the vicinity of Laramie Community College — failed to get the four “yes” votes required by state law to give the land-use changes a formal thumbs up from the planners.

With two of seven commissioners absent, and the chair voting only in case of a tie, a single “no” was enough to flip majority support for the Highlands-related measures into a recommendation to deny. 

A majority, meanwhile, voted to outright deny changes for the nearby Read Property, which is already inside city limits.

That meant the future land-use map amendment and zoning map amendment for the largest parcel failed — even though three of the five commissioners present voted in favor of them. 

They will thus both head to the council with formal recommendations to deny. 

Plan Fits Long-Range Vision, Utilities Can Keep Up

During deliberation of the measures, city staff framed the changes as consistent with long-range planning for Cheyenne’s economic development. 

The staff emphasized that these areas could be served by city water and sewer and folded into the urban service boundary with appropriate infrastructure, including possible lift stations and extensions.

“The subject property is suitable for industrial development, noting the impacts of the industrial development will be minimal on the large vacant surrounding properties and the proposed amendment is consistent with the goals and policies within Plan Cheyenne,” Cheyenne Planner Connor White said.

 “The transportation network because this wasn’t part of the Urban Service Boundary, there really isn’t a transportation network for this area,” White added. "That would be developed over time.”

The property would eventually connect into Bison Business Park as it develops over time, which would involve subsequent applications that would go before the Planning and Zoning Commission.

Water and sewer lines would have to be extended to the location, which is up for annexation consideration at the June 8 council meeting.

The area’s county zoning already allows some light industrial uses, and there’s already a gravel pit and oil wells in the area, White added.

Commissioner Questions Scale, Impact Of Project

Commissioner Meghan Connor was first to question the project.

“This is about 18% of the city’s current size, nearly one-fifth,” she said. “How in the world can you even begin to understand the impact it’s going to have … when you can’t even fathom the size of this compared to the city? It overtakes the city.”

She wondered how it was concluded that the site is beneficial to the community.

“I’m really failing to understand that,” she said. “How do we know long-term impacts if we don’t even have one going? How can you determine that something one-fifth the size of the current city is going to be an appropriate fit for our community?”

Planning and Zoning Development Director Charles Bloom told Connor that from a long-range planning standpoint a majority of the area in question is already occupied by railroad lines.

“So it may seem artificially inflated,” he said. “There really are only small pieces that are available, excluding a couple of existing industrial parks like Swan Ranch.”

The additions Microsoft has requested, meanwhile, are what the company perceives as a need at this time, Bloom said. 

“Really, anything regarding how or why they’re looking at this large area, what their intent would be, I would just refer that to the applicant,” Bloom said. 

Connor also asked questions about how the city would know if a data center is polluting an aquifer or the air, or making too much noise.

“That’s a great question,” Bloom said. “One of the safeguards here is that this would be a development that will be located within the city limits. So it will be required to connect to city water and sewer.”

Cheyenne has is able to monitor data centers connected to its systems electronically. 

The city is also requiring that the data center not directly connect its closed-loop cooling system to the city’s wastewater treatment system, which means there’s no direct access.

Actual water use by data centers was another topic of discussion. Connor said she’s heard several times the “five households” figure bandied about. 

But she and Commissioner Amy Hernandez, both, said they’d like to know the figure in gallons, as well as how much water, overall, Microsoft is proposing to use on that 3,050-acre or so parcel.

Frank Strong, with the Board of Public Utilities, said it’s difficult to say how much overall water will be used, given that Microsoft itself has not yet developed any detailed plans for the parcel. Microsoft is billing the Highlands parcel as part of a long-range, 10-year-plus commitment to doing business in Cheyenne.

An individual household typically uses 80,000 gallons a year, he said. If one guessed that the 3,200 parcel would one day have 40 data centers — a round number Strong selected for ease of calculation — the overall gallons would be 16 million. 

“Where we are right now, we have a surplus of 2.7 trillion gallons,” Strong said. “So it’s a very small drop in the bucket of what we have.”

The amount of water all of Cheyenne’s existing data centers are now using, meanwhile, doesn’t equal out to the 2 million gallons of water HollyFrontier used to use for refining petroleum products. 

That’s put BOPU actively looking to sell more water, so that the economics continue to support the water system without requiring increased user fees.

“All the data centers that are online right now used about 93 million gallons last year, which is around a little over 2% of our water sales,” Strong said.

Connor also wondered about water use for power generation, questions Strong said he could not answer.

While some power generation methods use significant amounts of water, there are also newer approaches, with closed-loop cooling, that use much less water than power generation of old.

Resident Decries Outdated Maps, Misrepresentation

Residents also pushed back against the developments.

Heather Madrid, who has been circulating a petition that calls for a moratorium on data centers, chastised the city for relying on outdated plans and maps to make sweeping changes, and urged them to “consider the people who live here and have lived here for years over people and developers who do not live here.”

Madrid also questioned bringing the Highlands property into the city with an agricultural zoning, when clearly the intended purpose for the land is not agriculture.

“That seems like a very intentional misrepresentation of the intent,” she said. “And it’s kind of in line with — and worsening — this idea that there is not transparency. And it’s led to panic, quite frankly, and extreme hypervigilance within the public to even be willing to argue for almost two hours over landscaping. 

"This is very concerning to me. This isn’t a little bit of land, and the final intended use is actually not even remotely aligned with the future land-use map, which to my understanding is, again, grossly outdated,” Madrid added. 

“I don’t know why we continue to rely on that map for these massive annexations and projects,” she continued. “Which are, as someone stated earlier, locking the city in and preventing future growth in a diverse way.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"What About Infrasound?"}]

Charles Miller, meanwhile, agreed with Madrid’s criticism of outdated maps and called the overall approach to the project a massive “deception.”

“We are debating a 3,000-acre industrial expansion, about 18% of the current size of the city of Cheyenne,” he said. “Yet staff is attempting to characterize this as a minor incremental increase in utility demand. 

"However, the Board of Public Utilities just admitted that this parcel was never on their master plan and requires significant new infrastructure, including a dedicated lift station to even function,” Miller said. "You cannot reconcile the reality of a 3,000-acre industrial footprint with the claim that it will have a minimal impact on Cheyenne’s utility or water future."

The lack of a detailed design for the campus, meanwhile, means the city would be authorizing a zoning change for something that doesn’t yet exist on paper.

“You have no site plan, no traffic mitigation, no finalized utility plan,” Miller said. “To recommend approval of a ghost project of this magnitude is a total abdication of this commission’s fiduciary duty to Plan Cheyenne.”

Miller also questioned whether the annexation was an attempt to escape review of the project by the Wyoming Industrial Siting Council.

“That state-level process is the only mechanism designed to force developers to fund and mitigate impacts on schools housing, and roads,” he said. “By rezoning to Business park, you are knowingly creating a void that strips this community of its right to state-mandated impact mitigation for infrasound liability.”

Infrasound refers to low-frequency sound waves below 20 hz. While that can’t be heard by human ears, Miller said studies are showing it can still have negative impacts for both humans and wildlife.

“Director Bloom admitted on record that the city currently lacks forensic data to evaluate or regulate low frequency infrasound from these facilities,” he said. 

“You’re being asked to recommend a massive industrial expansion for a project known to generate these impacts, while the city openly admits it is still investigating the hazard.”

City, LEADS Have Already Wrestled With Many Of The Questions

Betsey Hale with Cheyenne LEADS told commissioners many of the concerns being raised are things Cheyenne officials have already wrestled with over the last decade or so. 

“You have planning commissioners who have been thoughtful about this for 14 years,” she said. “And that’s why these projects are in business parks, because we have conditions, covenants, and restrictions.”

Putting them in business parks and connecting them to the city’s water and sewer system gives the city more enforcement capability, Hale suggested. 

As far as providing power, that’s accomplished through Black Hills Energy, which conducted a three-year study of transmission and their ability to provide power through a large-load tariff.

“For 14 years, we have done everything we can to protect the citizens of Cheyenne, the residents of Cheyenne, the ratepayers of Cheyenne, the water resources, the sewer capabilities,” Hale said. “I think we should actually celebrate the fact that in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Laramie County, we’ve kind of done it right.”

Hale added that she appreciates Madrid and other commenters helping the city better understand their concerns so that they can ensure more of the community’s needs are really being met.

Part Of Microsoft’s Long-Range Plan In Cheyenne 

Microsoft’s representative, Rachel Irwing, told the Commission the rezoning is a “critical step in advancing a strategically planned data center campus and are intended to work together to ensure consistency between land use, zoning and long-term planning.”

The property is in the process of being acquired, she added, with a timeframe sometime this summer.

“Given the early stage of this effort, Microsoft has not yet advanced detailed designs for the campus,” Irwing said. “While we may not have all the answers today, regarding a specific design element or timing, we remain committed to being open and transparent with community, as we have been with our other local projects.”

Irwing said the company intends to ensure its projects continue to be consistent with Cheyenne’s “long-term growth vision and land-use planning objectives.”

“This will allow us to move forward in a coordinated way with infrastructure,  utilities, and development standards under city jurisdiction,” she said. “Together, the proposed business park zoning, the future land-use amendment, and the eventual annexation into the city provide a cohesive framework to guide development of the site in a way that aligns with the city’s planning goals.”

The planned infrastructure investments Microsoft will make, meanwhile, will support long-term economic development goals for the region.

“We recognize this is just the first step in a broader, multi-phase process that will include detailed engineering and additional opportunities for public review and input,” Irwing said. “We want to emphasize that Microsoft approaches projects like this with a long-term commitment to the communities where we operate.”

Ultimately, however, all the reassurance didn’t lead to approving recommendations for any of the measures, outside of the recommended agricultural zoning for the large, 3,050-acre Highlands parcel if it’s annexed into the city.

Still, it is the City Council who will make the decision on whether to annex the property and whether to approve the land and zoning use changes. That body has already rejected a moratorium on new data centers, amid rising questions and opposition in the community. 

Councilman Larry Wolfe, who was among councilmen who listened in on the entire session, said that for him, his vote will come down to Microsoft providing better answers for why it wants to annex such a large parcel of land into the city right now, if they don’t have development plans for it looking out 10 years or more.

Without that, “they can’t answer any of the important issues: water, energy, even the number of buildings because everything will have changed from a technology standpoint,” Wolfe told Cowboy State Daily. 

“What is the benefit to the city if we annex now, unless they are going to do some substantial things for the residents?” he asked. “Making (Sen. Cynthia) Lummis a lot richer is not a compelling reason. They failed to persuade the Planning Commission on the zoning changes.” 

Lummis’ family owns the 3,050-acre Highlands parcel that’s part of Microsoft’s future data center expansion plans.

Microsoft meeting 20260601 185712 6 2 26

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

<title>Cheyenne Planners Recommend Denial For Most Of Microsoft’s Data Center Expansion | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Cheyenne planners are recommending denial of most of the provisions in a huge 3,200-acre Microsoft data center expansion. “This is about 18% of the city’s current size. It overtakes the city,” said one resident during a marathon five-hour hearing Monday.

Cheyenne Planners Recommend Denial For Most Of Microsoft’s Data Center Expansion

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

Clair McFarland

Politics

A Cheyenne-based attorney who filed a complaint calling for a criminal investigation against Secretary of State Chuck Gray for releasing sensitive voter data to the federal government, asked the Wyoming Supreme Court on Tuesday to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the matter.

George Powers also asked the high court to issue an order “commanding” Wyoming Attorney General Keith Kautz and the AG’s office to recuse themselves from investigating whether Gray could have committed a crime.

[{"type":"text","text":"The Journey Here"}]

Powers started filing public records requests after news broke that Gray had released sensitive voter data to the U.S. Department of Justice last year. The department had asked Gray’s office to hand over Wyoming voter rolls including driver’s licenses or partial Social Security numbers.

Powers, an attorney who beat the Wyoming Department of Education in a different public records challenge in 2023, has pointed repeatedly to a state law that says election records containing portions of Social Security numbers and driver’s license numbers are not public record.

He filed a formal complaint against Gray with the Wyoming Attorney General’s Office on April 13 alleging “there is a reasonable basis to believe” that Gray violated the state’s election law.

Gray has said repeatedly in public comments that he released the rolls after  “close consultation” with the AG’s office. He’s also told reporters the AG approved the release of voters’ information.

Because of that attorney-client relationship, Powers has said that the AG has a conflict of interest and cannot investigate Gray for potential criminal culpability himself, but should task a judge with appointing a special prosecutor.

It is unconfirmed whether Wyoming Attorney General Keith Kautz has appointed a special prosecutor.  

His deputy AG Mackenzie Williams parried with Powers initially on whether Gray has waived his attorney-client privilege to keep any advice the AG’s office gave on this matter private.

Powers had requested documentation of that advice, in public records requests.

Williams pointed to cases indicating that Gray hadn’t waived attorney-client privilege. Powers pointed to cases indicating that he had.

[{"type":"text","text":"The Final Letter"}]

Then Kautz, who is also a former Wyoming Supreme Court justice, told Powers in a May 4 email that the matter would be handled, but that it wouldn’t be a public display.

“This response is not an invitation for further communication,” wrote Kautz, according to the Tuesday petition. “A prosecutor’s investigation and exercise of prosecutorial discretion are not conducted in the public square. I previously told you that your complaint would be addressed in accordance with our office policies, the law and the Wyoming Rules of Professional Conduct for Attorneys at Law.”

Powers sent Kautz “one final letter” on May 20, saying once again that Kautz cannot investigate Gray for potential wrongdoing in this matter, and warning that, “if necessary, (Powers) may seek a writ of mandamus concerning AG Kautz and the AG’s office to recuse themselves from investigating this complaint against Secretary Gray should AG Kautz and the AG’s office continue to refuse to do so voluntarily.”

Cowboy State Daily has not seen evidence that Kautz is investigating Gray himself.

Powers’ petition says that based on Kautz’s final, May 4 email to him, “Mr. Powers understands and believes” that the office is still processing, reviewing or investigating Powers complaint against Gray – “despite the conflict of interest here.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Kautz declined Tuesday to comment on the petition."}]

Gray did not respond by publication to a text message request for comment.  

A writ of mandamus is a request for a court to make an official perform a duty that the law "specifically" requires from that office.

A relevant case also says this mechanism is meant to command the performance of a "ministerial duty which is plainly defined and required by law," and that the function only works when the duty is "absolute, clear, and indisputable. The law must not only authorize the demanded action but require it."

Casper-based attorneys Rob Shively and Ryan Semerad filed the writ Tuesday on Powers' behalf. 

[{"type":"text","text":"Some More History Stuff"}]

The DOJ last June asked Gray for information about Wyoming’s compliance with federal election laws. It also asked for Wyoming’s statewide voter registration list, public documents show.

Gray wrote the federal agency back July 24, 2025. He described Wyoming’s handling of election security and maintenance measures, and said a public-facing copy of the voter rolls had been uploaded into a federal database.

U.S. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon voiced dissatisfaction with that in an Aug. 14 response to Gray.

“We have received Wyoming’s statewide voter registration list,” wrote Dhillon. “However, as the Attorney General requested, the electronic copy of the (voter rolls) must contain all fields, including the registrant’s full name, date of birth, residential address, his or her state driver’s license number or the last four digits of the registrant’s social security number.”

[{"type":"text","text":"Dhillon said that was required under the Help America Vote Act."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Gray wrote back in an Aug. 28 letter."}]

“We are satisfying this request,” he wrote. “Upon review of the provisions cited in your letter, and discussion of the applicable provisions of the Civil Rights Act with the Wyoming Attorney General, we agree that disclosure of the requested records is proper under the Civil Rights Act.”

Gray referenced “assurances” from Dhillon that federal privacy protections would apply.

Powers’ complaint says the DOJ had no authority to demand the voter rolls under the Help America Vote Act, and the DOJ didn’t make any claim Wyoming had violated the act in the first place.

Dhillon had also hinged her demand on the National Voter Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act of 1960. 

Powers noted in his complaint that Wyoming is exempt from the National Voter Rights Act (NVRA), and he asserted that the Civil Rights Act (CRA) of 1960 doesn’t authorize the DOJ’s demand.

He said the DOJ is trying to “bootstrap” a broad investigative provision in the Civil Rights Act to requirements found in laws Congress passed much later, though the Civil Rights Act “was intended to address racial discrimination.”

“When Congress wrote the CRA, it could not have intended the CRA to serve as a vehicle to mandate disclosure of information in voting records … developed years later,” wrote Powers. 

He also claimed that Wyoming’s voter rolls don’t fit the description of shareable documents under the relevant part of the Civil Rights Act.

Many states, including multiple Republican-led states, are fighting the DOJ to keep their non-public-facing voter rolls private. Numerous cases on the matter are ongoing, and courts in Massachusetts, Oregon, Rhode Island, Arizona, California, Maine, Michigan, and Wisconsin have found that the DOJ lacked legal authority under any federal law to compel the states to release those unredacted voter rolls.

[{"type":"text","text":"Powers has emphasized Wyoming statute 22-2-113(d), which says:"}]

“Election records containing Social Security numbers, portions of Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, birth dates, telephone numbers, tribal identification card numbers, e-mail addresses and other personally identifiable information other than names, gender, addresses, unique identifying numbers generated by the state and party affiliations are not public records and shall be kept confidential.”

[{"type":"text","text":"A Word From Gray"}]

Gray is currently running a campaign for the state's lone U.S. House representatives seat. He faces nine contenders in the Aug. 18 Republican primary, as well as whoever wins the Democratic primary election that same day - and Libertarian Party nominee Shawn Johnson. 

Gray in a Tuesday text message called the petition a "clear attempt by Leftist attorney George Powers to weaponize the legal system against a conservative for my work on election integrity during a campaign, just like the radical Left did against President Trump." 

"I stand by our office's election integrity work with the Trump Administration," wrote Gray. "We have maintained compliance with the law and these actions have been carried out in close consultation and approved by the Attorney General."

Gray said 20 states have worked with the top law enforcement agency "on this election integrity work," including Utah, "making almost every single red state in the nation to engage in this important work that is in compliance with the law." 

Utah has not capitulated fully, and its lawsuit with the DOJ is ongoing. The state has, however, completed an audit of its voter rolls that revealed found 27 confirmed noncitizens, whom clerks have since removed from the voter rolls, says a 

by the office of Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson. 

Idaho continues to fight the DOJ's push for sensitive voter data, though its case is stayed while the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals evaluates the law in other, similar cases. 

This story has been updated to include a post-publication comment by Secretary of State Chuck Gray. 

Kautz powers 6 2 26

<title>Attorney Asks Wyoming Supreme Court For Special Prosecutor To Investigate Chuck Gray | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Cheyenne attorney George Powers, who filed a complaint calling for a criminal investigation against Chuck Gray for releasing sensitive voter data to the federal government, asked the Wyoming Supreme Court on Tuesday to appoint a special prosecutor.

Attorney Asks Wyoming Supreme Court For Special Prosecutor To Investigate Chuck Gray

Heinz mark

Mark Heinz

Outdoors

Wildlife

A young grizzly called Storm wasn’t prepared for an aggressive sandhill crane when she got too close to the crane’s nesting site.

Drawing itself up to its full height, the crane towered over Storm with its wings spread wide in a display of aggression during their close encounter on Saturday in Yellowstone National Park.

Storm made a couple of pensive moves toward the crane, but the gangly bird was having none of it. Eventually, the baffled grizzly had enough and scrambled away.

Wildlife watcher and photographer Linda Ghent captured video of an encounter that typically would end very badly for the crane.

“What cracked me up was the crane’s little hop at the end. That little victory dance,” she told Cowboy State Daily.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Upcoming Famous Grizzly"}]

Storm belongs to a famous Yellowstone grizzly lineage. She’s the daughter of Snow, one of the park’s most visible bears.

And Snow in turn is the daughter of Raspberry, likely Yellowstone’s most famous grizzly.

 for about a year and is feared by many of her fans to have died.

At age 2 last year, Storm split from Snow, who is now 3 and newly out on her own.

Ghent said that the bear’s youth and inexperience probably played in the crane’s favor during the encounter.

Ghent said she spotted Storm coming down off a slope on Saturday and settled in from a safe distance for what she assumed was going to be a typical grizzly-watching session.

However, the bear apparently got just too close for comfort to the crane’s nesting site, and the bird was all business as it came at Storm.

“They did their little ‘Sugarplum Fairy’ dance," Ghent said, referencing the familiar passage from Tchaikovsky’s holiday classic “The Nutcracker Suite.”

A young grizzly called Storm got too close to a sandhill crane’s nest in Yellowstone, but the crane was having none of that and drove Storm off. "I'd put my money on the crane,” said a bird biologist about how protective sandhill cranes can be.