Wyoming
Cowboy State Daily Video News: Friday, August 9, 2024
It’s time to take a look at what’s happening around Wyoming, for Friday, August 9th. I’m Wendy Corr, bringing you headlines from the Cowboy State Daily newsroom – brought to you by the Wyoming State Fair! Beginning August 13th in Douglas, the Wyoming State Fair has something for everyone. For more info visit WY-STATE-FAIR dot com”
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A Cody newspaper reporter resigned Friday after a reporter at a nearby newspaper exposed his apparent use of artificial intelligence in his reporting.
Aaron Pelczar resigned his position at the Cody Enterprise on August 2nd, after CJ Baker, a veteran reporter at the Powell Tribune, pointed out the fabricated quotes in a number of Pelczar’s articles.
An artificial intelligence ethics expert told Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland that the scandal has turned Wyoming into “ground zero” for AI ethics discussions in journalism.
“County 10 has been using AI, and what they basically do is they’ll plug a recording into the AI system. It spits out a transcript of the recording and a summary pointing out what it believes are building blocks for stories… I pointed that out to the AI expert Alex Mahadevan… He called county 10s method ethical and a reflection of something AI actually can do. And the Cody enterprise reporter Aaron Pels method, he said it’s not ethical and it also reflects an AI weakness.”
Chris Bacon, editor of the Cody Enterprise, said he is still trying to figure out how many of the quotes were fabricated in Pelzcar’s stories. He said he’s traced fabricated quotes as far back as July 8 so far, but is still searching.
Read the full story HERE.
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The campaign arm of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus has returned a $25,000 donation made to it by the Crook County Republican Party.
Cowboy State Daily’s Leo Wolfson reports that the move comes after Ogden Driskill filed a complaint and requested a state investigation into it.
“Wyoming law states that political parties cannot give to candidates during the primary election. The Freedom Caucus pack has not endorsed any one specific candidate, but it has endorsed a slate of candidates that are all participating in contested Republican primary races.”
Driskill told Cowboy State Daily on Thursday that the Freedom PAC made a “great” decision by returning the money and that he applauds the move. He considers the donation “unethical at best.”
Read the full story HERE.
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The parent group of several rural electricity cooperatives operating in Wyoming has reached a major milestone in a complex energy transition plan that it hopes will hold the line on wholesale power rates with a boost coming from a growing supply of green power.
Cowboy State Daily’s Pat Maio reports that Colorado-based Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, a supplier of electricity to cooperatives across the Western United States, has launched a new power buying program to help keep the lid on rates.
“The concept is that, you know, it’s the program called Bring your own resources. Is, the concept is to keep a lid, keep keep it, keep it. You know, be able to tamp down on some of the rising power costs for in rural Wyoming. Rural Wyoming, like Torrington, Big Horn, where else? Just a lot of rural communities here in in Wyoming, and you’re looking at, you know, a couple 1000s of members, you know, who buy, who get the power rolled to them over the transmission lines.”
Tri-State is optimistic that its new power buying program that relies on green power will keep wholesale rates in check.
Read the full story HERE.
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A Laramie City Council candidate is facing a felony charge after allegedly disabling Wyoming Public Radio’s transmitters, and remote access to them, when he worked there in 2022.
Paul Montoya, who is running for one of the two open council seats for Ward 1 in Laramie, is facing one felony charge of committing crimes against computer users, according to Cowboy State Daily’s Leo Wolfson.
“I spoke to Laramie vice mayor and city council member Sharon Cumbie, who is also running against Montoya… She said that in this instance, Montoya sought revenge and was very concerning in his actions, especially when considering that it knocked the station off the air and that the station airs emergency alerts such as Amber Alerts and weather weather notices as well.”
Based on the dates of the candidate filing period, Montoya would have had to file his campaign on the day of his arrest, or in the days immediately afterward.
Read the full story HERE.
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Elk hunters in Wyoming, as well as Montana, Idaho and Oregon, are finding themselves in a frustrating quandary. In many places, there’s more elk now than at any time in living memory – but getting to them can seem impossible, reports Cowboy State Daily’s Mark Heinz.
“People are starting to come up with some innovative solutions… Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Montana started a pretty, I think, interesting program that Wyoming might want to see if they can replicate. They have a master’s hunting program where, basically, they take elk hunters and maybe people that do a little bit of elk hunting but aren’t really good at it, and they just get them to hone their skills, hone their marksmanship, hone their tracking and things like that. So they can, you know, act, act as a go between, between them and the ranchers.”
In some areas, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department will compensate ranchers for forage lost to elk, with the stipulation that they allow “reasonable access” to hunters.
Read the full story HERE.
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In 1877, Gen. Philip Sheridan marched from Fort Brown to the site of Gen. George Armstrong Custer’s fateful downfall at the Little Bighorn.
The herds of buffalo and fields of larkspur were recorded by Major George Forsyth in a small diary he kept as part of Sherman’s company – a diary that today is hidden away in a bank vault at the Hot Springs County Museum and Cultural Center in Thermopolis. Cowboy State Daily’s Jackie Dorothy actually transcribed Major Forsyth’s diary for the museum.
“Not only did it detail all of the beauty that he saw – the 4000 buffalo, but also. the fact that it’s preserved here in Wyoming, and it’s an amazing story in itself. This journal survived a fire. The museum was actually burned down shortly after they obtained the diary. And I don’t know if it’s my imagination or if I want it to be, but when you pick up that diary, you can actually see little soot marks around the edges, and so it is a miracle that we still have it.”
The plain brown journal detailing the trip was on its way to the Smithsonian in 1960 when Charlotte Lance of Pennsylvania, who had inherited the journal from her husband, decided it belonged in Wyoming instead.
Read the full story HERE.
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On paper, the Clearwater fire burning in rugged terrain in northwest Wyoming about 11 miles west of Wapiti may not seem a major incident at less than 2,000 acres with slow growth.
But there are nearly 160 firefighting personnel working the fire that was sparked by lightning June 19. Cowboy State Daily’s Jackie Dorothy went on-location with the fire crews this week.
“Even though the fire is remote and in almost inaccessible places, you can still see the smoke from the highway and you could see burn areas… and the historic UXU is in danger, and so they have put in perimeters. They’ve got sprinklers everywhere. They have trenches dug. They’ve cleaned off the roofs, cleaned out the gutters, and just did everything possible to protect the ranch, and at the ranch, it’s business as usual. You wouldn’t even know that there was a fire just over the ridge.”
The Clearwater fire hasn’t grown much in the past week, but remains only 10% contained.
Read the full story HERE.
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A 36-year-old contract employee working in Grand Teton National Park is accused of choking out his girlfriend after an argument about breaking her necklace.
Jose Benitez faces up to 10 years in prison on the charge of assault by strangulation – an assault that his girlfriend caught on video.
But in a larger context, Cowboy State Daily’s Clair McFarland spoke to Greg Jackson, former deputy chief of the NPS division of law enforcement, security and emergency services, about the number of high-profile crimes committed just this summer by national park service contract employees.
“He said, Look, you can’t just broad brush concessionaire workers, even though it seems like we’re having a lot of violent incidents among them this year, to include a fatal shootout. He said there are other factors, like they are stuck with their coworkers day and night. They sometimes are without normal comforts like Wi Fi, depending on where they land, and it’s always a mixed bag, depending on how easy it is for the concessionaire to hire that year.”
Jackson discouraged broad-brushing concessionaire workers for the crimes of a few.
Read the full story HERE.
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Nearly 100 times a year, members of the Natrona County United Veterans Council Honor Guard prepare for another “brother’s” passing.
Honor guard members are mostly Vietnam era veterans from the Marines, U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force. Cowboy State Daily’s Dale Killingbeck reports that the Guard members devote whatever time it takes to giving their fallen military brothers and sisters a proper, honorable last salute.
“These guys are really dedicated, most of them are Vietnam veterans. And they spend at least sometimes four times a week, maybe five times a week, couple of hours at each session making sure that they say they want to give honor to the veterans that are passing away in Wyoming.”
Members say the team’s goal is to communicate the appreciation of a nation and help the family come to closure on a loved one’s loss.
Read the full story HERE.
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And that’s today’s news! For a deeper dive into the people and issues that affect Wyoming, check out The Roundup, conversations with the most interesting people in the Cowboy State. A new episode drops tomorrow, when I have a conversation with longtime Wyoming Cowboys broadcaster, Kevin McKinney. You can find the link on our website, on our YouTube Channel, and wherever you get your podcasts. And of course, you’ll find it in our FREE daily email newsletter!
Thanks for tuning in – I’m Wendy Corr, for Cowboy State Daily.
The Platte County Attorney’s Office has nearly doubled the possible penalties for a Wyoming reporter accused of forging exhibits in an environmental case tied to her staunch opposition to a wind farm.
The 10 new counts against April Marie Morganroth, also known as the Wyoming-based reporter Marie Hamilton, allege that she convinced her landlords that she’d been approved for a home loan to buy their property, and grants to upgrade it.
Hamilton was already facing 10 felony charges in a March 9 Wheatland Circuit Court case, as she’s accused of submitting forged documents and lying under oath before the Wyoming Industrial Siting Council.
That’s an environmental permitting panel that granted a permit to a NextEra Resources wind farm, which Hamilton has long opposed. She’s also reported on NextEra’s efforts and the community controversies surrounding those.
Then on Wednesday, Platte County Attorney Douglas Weaver filed 10 more felony charges: five alleging possession of forged writing, and five more alleging forgery.
The former is punishable by up to five years in prison and $5,000 in fines; the latter by up to 10 years in prison and up to $10,000 in fines.
Hamilton faces up to 65 years in prison if convicted of all charges in her March 9 case. The March 25 case would add up to 75 years more to that.
Both cases are ongoing.
Hamilton did not immediately respond to a voicemail request for comment left Thursday afternoon on her cellphone. She bonded out of jail earlier this month. The Platte County Detention Center said Thursday it does “not have her here.”
The Investigative Efforts Of Benjamin Peech
Converse County Sheriff’s Lt. Benjamin Peech investigated both cases at the request of Platte County authorities, court documents say.
When he was investigating evidence that Hamilton submitted forged documents and lied under oath for Industrial Siting Council proceedings, Peech also pursued Hamilton’s claim that she owned property on JJ Road, and that she’d bought it with a U.S. Department of Agriculture loan.
The property, however, is registered under Platte County’s mapping system to a couple surnamed Gillis, says a new affidavit Peech signed March 19, which was filed Wednesday.
Peech spoke with both husband and wife, and they said they had the home on the market to sell it, and Hamilton contacted them in about July of 2025.
Hamilton told the pair that she and her husband wished to buy the property and were pre-qualified for a USDA loan through Neighbor’s Bank, wrote Peech.
But the property didn’t meet the standard of the loan, Hamilton reportedly continued. Still, she’d been approved for a USDA grant to work on the problems with the property and bring it up to the standards to qualify for the loan, she allegedly told the homeowners.
Papers
Hamilton provided the couple and their realtor with letters from USDA showing her loan pre-approval and grant approvals, the affidavit says.
During the lease period that followed, Hamilton was late “often” with rent and didn’t provide the couple with work logs until pressed, Peech wrote.
In early 2026, the lieutenant continued, the homeowners became concerned and asked Hamilton about her progress improving the property.
Hamilton reportedly sent the homeowners two invoices from contractors, showing she’d paid for work to be done. She said the wind had delayed that work, wrote Peech.
The affidavit says the Gillis couple sent Peech the documents Hamilton had reportedly given them, along with supporting emails showing those had come from one of Hamilton’s email addresses.
The Loan approval documents showed the respective logos for USDA Rural Development and Neighbor’s Bank at the top of each page, the lieutenant wrote, adding that the documents assert that Hamilton and her husband had been approved for the loan.
“There was then a list of items that needed to be completed — 14 items — prior to Final Loan Approval,” related Peech in the affidavit.
A signature at the bottom reportedly read, “Sincerely, USDA Rural Development Neighbors Bank Joshua Harris Homebuying Specialist.”
Grant Document
The documents purporting Hamilton had received a grant also showed the USDA Rural Development logo at the top of each page, with the names of Hamilton and her husband, other boilerplate language and a description of a $35,000 home buyer’s grant.
The project was about 65% complete at the time of review, the document adds, according to Peech’s narrative.
Peech describes more documents: a January notice, an invoice bearing the logo and name of “Cowgirl Demolition and Excavation, LLC,” and another invoice bearing the logo and name of “Pete’s Builders Roofing and Restoration.”
Real Estate Agent
Peech spoke with the Gillises’ real estate agent, Kay Pope, and she said she’d tried to verify the USDA grant and pre-approval by calling Susan Allman, who was listed in the documents as the Casper-based USDA agent. Pope left several messages without response, the affidavit says.
Pope spoke with Hamilton’s real estate agent, and he said he’d spoken to Allman, and he gave Pope a phone number.
Cowboy State Daily has identified Hamilton’s real estate agent and tried to contact him for further clarification.
Pope called that number and left messages without response, wrote Peech.
Peech then called a USDA Rural Development office and spoke with a Janice Blare, deputy state director, he wrote.
Peech sent the three USDA letters to Blare and gave her “all of Hamilton’s names and aliases,” he added.
The lieutenant wrote that Blare later told him the USDA investigated the letters and determined no evidence existed to show the USDA had issued them.
No records existed either, of Hamilton “using all her alias permutations” or her husband within either the USDA loan program or grant program, wrote Peech.
The USDA didn’t have an office at the address listed in two of the letters. The address pertains, rather, to a dirt lot. The USDA Rural Development office didn’t have a program titled “Rural Communities Home Buyer Program” as listed on two of the letters.
On Nov. 6, 2025, the date of the first letter purporting Hamilton had been approved for the grant program, all U.S. government offices including USDA were on furlough, noted Peech from his discussion with Blare.
A person named Susan Allman didn’t appear in USDA’s employee records, Blare reportedly added.
The Phone Call
Peech called the cellphone number one of the letters listed for Allman, “and this was disconnected,” he wrote.
The number Hamilton’s real estate agent had given was a voice over internet protocol number that Bandwidth LLC operates but is assigned to Google, added Peech.
Meanwhile, Converse County Investigator Amber Peterson spoke with the construction and roofing companies listed in the documents.
Chad Derenzo of Pete’s Roofing confirmed the logo and name listed on the documents were his company’s own — but said his company hadn’t issued the bid listed in those documents, according to the affidavit.
“Their company had never contracted to do work for Hamilton or at the… JJ Road address,” the document says.
The invoice also bore an address in Torrington, Wyoming, and his company doesn’t have a Torrington office, said Derenzo, reportedly.
Jessica Loge of Cowgirl Demolition and Excavation gave similar statements, saying the documents bore her logo, but her company hadn’t issued the bid or contracted with Hamilton.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
Wyoming
Wyoming State Parks announces pause on potential visitor center project at Sinks Canyon State Park
Wyoming
Coyote Flats Fire near containment as critical fire danger hits Black Hills, Wyoming counties
RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) – The grass is starting to return in the Black Hills, but the damage left behind by last week’s wildfire is still visible beneath the surface. The Coyote Flats Fire is now almost completely contained, but fire officials say the work for crews who battled the flames is far from finished.
“It’s been a long week,” said Gail Schmidt, fire chief for the Rockerville Volunteer Fire Department. Schmidt said firefighters worked the Coyote Flats Fire for multiple days as the blaze forced hundreds of people to leave their homes.
Schmidt also warned the timing is concerning.
“It’s early,” she said. “It’s early — and that’s the more concerning part. We haven’t even hit summer yet.”
Some of the same crews, Schmidt said, have moved from the Black Hills to a second wildfire — the Qury (pronounced “Koo-RAY”) Fire. That fire has burned nearly 9,200 acres and was holding at 70% containment as of Monday.
Between multiple wildfires and routine emergency calls, Schmidt said the pace doesn’t slow down.
“The world does not stop just because there was a fire,” she said. “Life continues. We still have our day jobs that we need to go take care of.”
Another challenge arrives Wednesday, with critical fire danger forecast across the Black Hills and into parts of Wyoming, including Sheridan, Campbell, Crook and Weston counties. Forecast conditions include wind gusts up to 40 mph and humidity as low as 12%.
Schmidt said she believes fire lines are in good shape, but she’s watching the weather closely after recent high-wind events.
“Saturday night, 50 mile an hour winds — that was multiple days ago, and there’s been a lot of work done since,” she said. “I personally am pretty confident that we’re going to be able to hold this fire through today.”
While spring is typically the region’s wetter season — which can help reduce fire behavior — Schmidt urged residents not to become complacent as wildfire season ramps up.
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