HELENA, Mont. — A quote from Wyoming’s governor and a local prosecutor were the first things that seemed slightly off to Powell Tribune reporter CJ Baker. Then, it was some of the phrases in the stories that struck him as nearly robotic.
The dead giveaway, though, that a reporter from a competing news outlet was using generative artificial intelligence to help write his stories came in a June 26 article about the comedian Larry the Cable Guy being chosen as the grand marshal of the Cody Stampede Parade.
“The 2024 Cody Stampede Parade promises to be an unforgettable celebration of American independence, led by one of comedy’s most beloved figures,” the Cody Enterprise reported. “This structure ensures that the most critical information is presented first, making it easier for readers to grasp the main points quickly.”
After doing some digging, Baker, who has been a reporter for more than 15 years, met with Aaron Pelczar, a 40-year-old who was new to journalism and who Baker says admitted that he had used AI in his stories before he resigned from the Enterprise.
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The publisher and editor at the Enterprise, which was co-founded in 1899 by Buffalo Bill Cody, have since apologized and vowed to take steps to ensure it never happens again. In an editorial published Monday, Enterprise Editor Chris Bacon said he “failed to catch” the AI copy and false quotes.
“It matters not that the false quotes were the apparent error of a hurried rookie reporter that trusted AI. It was my job,” Bacon wrote. He apologized that “AI was allowed to put words that were never spoken into stories.”
Journalists have derailed their careers by making up quotes or facts in stories long before AI came about. But this latest scandal illustrates the potential pitfalls and dangers that AI poses to many industries, including journalism, as chatbots can spit out spurious if somewhat plausible articles with only a few prompts.
AI has found a role in journalism, including in the automation of certain tasks. Some newsrooms, including The Associated Press, use AI to free up reporters for more impactful work, but most AP staff are not allowed to use generative AI to create publishable content.
The AP has been using technology to assist in articles about financial earnings reports since 2014, and more recently for some sports stories. It is also experimenting with an AI tool to translate some stories from English to Spanish. At the end of each such story is a note that explains technology’s role in its production.
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Being upfront about how and when AI is used has proven important. Sports Illustrated was criticized last year for publishing AI-generated online product reviews that were presented as having been written by reporters who didn’t actually exist. After the story broke, SI said it was firing the company that produced the articles for its website, but the incident damaged the once-powerful publication’s reputation.
In his Powell Tribune story breaking the news about Pelczar’s use of AI in articles, Baker wrote that he had an uncomfortable but cordial meeting with Pelczar and Bacon. During the meeting, Pelczar said, “Obviously I’ve never intentionally tried to misquote anybody” and promised to “correct them and issue apologies and say they are misstatements,” Baker wrote, noting that Pelczar insisted his mistakes shouldn’t reflect on his Cody Enterprise editors.
After the meeting, the Enterprise launched a full review of all of the stories Pelczar had written for the paper in the two months he had worked there. They have discovered seven stories that included AI-generated quotes from six people, Bacon said Tuesday. He is still reviewing other stories.
“They’re very believable quotes,” Bacon said, noting that the people he spoke to during his review of Pelczar’s articles said the quotes sounded like something they’d say, but that they never actually talked to Pelczar.
Baker reported that seven people told him that they had been quoted in stories written by Pelczar, but had not spoken to him.
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Pelczar did not respond to an AP phone message left at a number listed as his asking to discuss what happened. Bacon said Pelczar declined to discuss the matter with another Wyoming newspaper that had reached out.
Baker, who regularly reads the Enterprise because it’s a competitor, told the AP that a combination of phrases and quotes in Pelczar’s stories aroused his suspicions.
Pelczar’s story about a shooting in Yellowstone National Park included the sentence: “This incident serves as a stark reminder of the unpredictable nature of human behavior, even in the most serene settings.”
Baker said the line sounded like the summaries of his stories that a certain chatbot seems to generate, in that it tacks on some kind of a “life lesson” at the end.
Another story — about a poaching sentencing — included quotes from a wildlife official and a prosecutor that sounded like they came from a news release, Baker said. However, there wasn’t a news release and the agencies involved didn’t know where the quotes had come from, he said.
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Two of the questioned stories included fake quotes from Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon that his staff only learned about when Baker called them.
“In one case, (Pelczar) wrote a story about a new OSHA rule that included a quote from the Governor that was entirely fabricated,” Michael Pearlman, a spokesperson for the governor, said in an email. “In a second case, he appeared to fabricate a portion of a quote, and then combined it with a portion of a quote that was included in a news release announcing the new director of our Wyoming Game and Fish Department.”
The most obvious AI-generated copy appeared in the story about Larry the Cable Guy that ended with the explanation of the inverted pyramid, the basic approach to writing a breaking news story.
It’s not difficult to create AI stories. Users could put a criminal affidavit into an AI program and ask it to write an article about the case including quotes from local officials, said Alex Mahadevan, director of a digital media literacy project at the Poynter Institute, the preeminent journalism think tank.
“These generative AI chatbots are programmed to give you an answer, no matter whether that answer is complete garbage or not,” Mahadevan said.
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Megan Barton, the Cody Enterprise’s publisher, wrote an editorial calling AI “the new, advanced form of plagiarism and in the field of media and writing, plagiarism is something every media outlet has had to correct at some point or another. It’s the ugly part of the job. But, a company willing to right (or quite literally write) these wrongs is a reputable one.”
Barton wrote that the newspaper has learned its lesson, has a system in place to recognize AI-generated stories and will “have longer conversations about how AI-generated stories are not acceptable.”
The Enterprise didn’t have an AI policy, in part because it seemed obvious that journalists shouldn’t use it to write stories, Bacon said. Poynter has a template from which news outlets can build their own AI policy.
Bacon plans to have one in place by the end of the week.
“This will be a pre-employment topic of discussion,” he said.
Wyoming is full of unusual, surreal places, but among the strangest are the Killpecker Sand Dunes in the Red Desert about 30 miles north of Rock Springs.
Covering 109,000 acres, it’s the second-largest active dune field in the United States and the largest where you can drive motorized vehicles.
Although the overall largest sand dune field in the U.S. is in western Nebraska and the tallest dunes are in Colorado, these Wyoming dunes are absolutely magnificent.
First, where did that crazy name come from?
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Nearby is Killpecker Creek, which was named by early pioneers. The creek is full of saltpeter which can diminish a man’s potency.
Yes, that is really where the name comes from.
After mentioning my desire to ride the dunes in a column about my Wyoming Bucket List dreams, a desert rat from Lander named Pat White said he would like to be my guide.
So, on the last day of July, Pat, his son Shane, his friend Perry Roberson of Shoshoni, and I headed out to the desert southwest of Lander.
We first drove 70 miles to Farson, and then 10 miles south on Highway 191, and then we turned off on a nice gravel road and headed for the dunes.
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Our first stop was the impressive Boar’s Tusk, a 400-foot-high volcanic monolith that serves as a landmark for the extreme western portion of Red Desert and overlooks the 55-mile long stretch of sand dunes.
This Boar’s Tusk and Devils Tower in northeast Wyoming are considered to be somewhat similar center cones of long-extinct volcanoes. Both are in Wyoming, 412 miles apart.
Some of the sagebrush was taller than the four-wheelers on the trails near Steamboat Mountain. (Bill Sniffin, Cowboy State Daily)
Now, About That Sand
Scaling 15-story-high sand dunes in a side-by-side has been on my bucket list for more than 50 years.
This year I finally got to experience this amazing adventure.
White leads tours by folks who drive these off-road-vehicles across deserts and over mountains in western Wyoming. On this day, he was driving a very nice Polaris General that probably cost more than $35,000. It even had air conditioning.
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His friend Perry had a Honda version of the same machine.
After looking over the Boar’s Tusk up close and personal we headed over to a huge parking lot that was well equipped with restrooms, some camping areas and plenty of space for club or family gatherings.
You could see the dunes stretching out to the north and the east. They actually run for more than 55 miles.
Pat has been visiting all parts of the desert for 30 years and says the dunes have moved considerably (over a mile) during that time.
My original request had also been to go to the summit of Steamboat Mountain, the biggest mountain in the desert. My old friend Dave Kellogg had always planned to take me there but unfortunately passed away two years ago.
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The Sand Sings
The sand dunes are immense and made up of very, very fine sand.
The sand grains are famous for “singing” in the wind. They are so small and perfectly polished that they emit a singing noise when that perennial wind blows across them.
On this day, the wind kicked up late in the day and was as fine as snow.
We were able to drive almost to the summit of the biggest dune.
I wanted to walk to the top, so we struggled up the side. It was a hard slog and we held on to each other as we balanced on the fine, narrow edge on the top.
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The sand seemed like a mixture of newly poured cement and the heaviest wet snow you ever saw. What an experience.
Experts say these dunes were formed over millennia by sand washed from the Big and Little Sandy rivers left behind during glacial melt, then driven by prevailing westerly winds through the volcanic Leucite Hills to pile up into a swirling, whirling sea of sand.
Within the Killpecker Sand Dunes Open Play Area, roughly 11,000 acres are designated for motor use. Dune buggies, ATVs, dirt bikes, and side‑by‑sides can roam widely, but strict rules apply.
All vehicles must have a whip mast and red or orange safety flag, and must drive under 15 mph within 500 feet of access roads. Glass containers are prohibited, and Wyoming state trail registration is required on ORVs.
The dunes host a fee‑free campground, located at the terminus of Chilton Road near the open play area.
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The Killpecker Sand Dunes Open Play Area Campground offers fire rings, picnic tables, and ADA‑accessible features. No reservations, vault toilets, first‑come, first‑served for stays of up to 14 days.
Guides for the trip were, from left, Shane White, Perry Roberson and Pat White. This view is from the summit of Steamboat Mountain. The Oregon Buttes can be seen in the distance. (Bill Sniffin, Cowboy State Daily)
Shane and Pat White help Bill Sniffin get to the summit of one of the tall sand dunes. (Bill Sniffin, Cowboy State Daily)
The vast Killpecker Sand Dunes are visible from the top of Steamboat Mountain. Boars Tusk is visible in the distance. (Bill Sniffin, Cowboy State Daily)
Pat White struggles to find his footing on top of a big dune. (Bill Sniffin, Cowboy State Daily)
Steamboat Mountain And The Spanish Gold?
I first heard about Steamboat Mountain from the late Randy Wagner of Cheyenne, who was a former head of the state travel commission and an expert on South Pass and the Oregon Trail.
He said he had always heard stories about a mysterious cave in the vicinity where an old sheepherder had discovered some Spanish helmets and other items.
He left them there, but told some folks. When some archeologists went to check on it, the cave was there but the artifacts were gone.
Had the Spanish come this far north with Montezuma’s Gold? That was a question that Randy was always hoping to find an answer to.
On this day, we drove through 10-foot-high sagebrush over some old trails and worked our way to the top of the mountain.
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We could see the famous buffalo jump that was used for millennia by early members of Indian tribes, according to St. Stephens Indian Mission Foundation.
The Shoshone Tribe that occupies the Wind River Indian Reservation roamed these areas for millennia, according to historians. The Northern Arapaho Tribe moved onto the reservation in the 1870s and probably did not participate in those early buffalo jump hunts.
The summit of Steamboat at 8,683 feet is the highest point in the vast Red Desert, which some folks claim is over 9,320 square miles.
The view looking back toward the dunes and the Boar’s Tusk is magnificent, and it was possible to even see the tall smokestacks of the Jim Bridger coal-fired power plant off to the southeast.
Tri-Territorial Marker, Animals
Northeast of Steamboat Mountain and back on good roads, drivers come up to the Tri-Territorial Marker, which marks a spot where the Continental Divide and the 42nd parallel intersect.
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It shows where the Louisiana Purchase, the Oregon Territory, and the Mexican territory meet at one agreed-upon spot among the different countries.
Wild horses are abundant in the Red Desert and can be found in most parts of the vast area. They usually are found in small herds headed by a big stallion.
Watching them on the gallop kicking up dust is a sight to see.
Much harder to see are members of the famous Red Desert Elk Herd. These are usually mountain animals in the rest of Wyoming, but this solitary herd rules anyplace in the desert it chooses to reside in. On this day, we saw one elk.
The White Mountain petroglyphs are incredible as they are located in an area just north of Rock Springs that also features rocks which appear to have hand holds carved into them.
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Some observers think these were birthing areas where indigenous women would hang on while giving birth.
Well Worth The Trip
Visiting the Killpecker Sand Dunes and its surrounding areas in the Red Desert should be on everyone’s bucket list. These are amazing sights and sites to see in Wyoming.
I am so glad to finally experience them up close, although it took me 55 years to get the job done.
CODY, Wyo. — The Wyoming Game and Fish Department recently welcomed Adam Stephens as the new terrestrial habitat biologist for the Big Horn Basin. Stephens steps into this vital role following the retirement of Jerry Altermatt, who dedicated 33 years of service to the department.
Stephens will spearhead critical habitat enhancement projects benefiting wildlife across the Big Horn Basin. His responsibilities include assessing needs, proposing and planning habitat projects, securing funding, managing on-the-ground initiatives throughout the region and continuing habitat restoration work through the translocation of beavers.
Stephens began his professional career as a rangeland management specialist with the Bureau of Land Management. He previously worked in Nevada and Utah, and most recently in Cody, bringing extensive experience to his new role.
“I am excited for the opportunity to contribute to the enhancement of Wyoming’s wildlife habitat and be a part of the Game and Fish team,” Stephens said. “I’ve always been passionate about enhancing and restoring riparian and upland vegetation to benefit valuable wildlife habitats. Having lived and worked in the Big Horn Basin with the BLM for the past nine years, I feel fortunate to also have been a part of numerous working relationships and partnerships with a variety of stakeholders in the region, which I am eager to continue.”
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Stephens earned a bachelor’s degree in Rangeland Ecology and Watershed Management from the University of Wyoming in 2009. Outside of work, Stephens enjoys spending time outdoors with his family, valuing the sense of connection to nature these adventures provide.
“I look forward to working alongside our dedicated partners and stakeholders, and contributing to wildlife habitat enhancement efforts in the region,” Stephens said.
The start of the 2025 Wyoming High School football season is a mix of games and scrimmages during Week 0. WyoPreps will post game scores, but we will not be ‘live tracking’ due to various circumstances. All Class 4A teams play their first game of the season. The other four classes have the option to play an official ‘game’ or not. Eight Class 3A teams will play, and a handful of Class 2A and 1A 6-man teams will play games. Several teams will scrimmage, and a few will continue with practice.
2025 WYOPREPS WEEK 0 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
WyoPreps confirmed with the Wyoming High School Activities Association (WHSAA) that 6-man games against Guernsey-Sunrise or St. Stephens will not count in the standings.
Here is the Week 0 schedule. If you encounter an error, please email david@wyopreps.com.
Out-of-State Opponent
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Final Score: 3A Jackson 24 Linfield Christian (Temecula, CA) 22 – Cooper Kintzler had a TD run and a TD catch for the Broncs.
Class 4A
Final Score: #1 Sheridan 59 Cheyenne South 0
Final Score: #2 Cheyenne East 55 Laramie 0
Final Score: #4 Campbell County 28 Kelly Walsh 10
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Final Score: Cheyenne Central 32 Rock Springs 6
Final Score: #3 Natrona County 37 #5 Thunder Basin 14
Class 3A
Final Score: #3 Riverton 52 #5 Powell 14 – Wolverines scored 6 TDs and 1 FG on 7 first-half possessions.
Class 1A 6-Man
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Final Score: Casper Christian 28 Kaycee 14
Final Score: #3 Encampment 29 #2 Burlington 8
Final Score: H.E.M. 60 Midwest 12
Interclass
Final Score: 2A Burns 48 3A Rawlins 3
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Out-of-State Opponent
Final Score: Malad, ID 6 2A Lyman 0
Final Score: 3A #1 Star Valley 33 Shelley, ID 7
Final Score: 3A Evanston 53 Ben Lemond, UT 6
Final Score: Gering, NE 42 3A Torrington 15 – game shortened due to lightning in the 3Q
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Final Score: Mitchell, NE 44 2A Wheatland 14 – game was delayed by weather for 90 minutes.
Class 1A 6-Man
Dubois at Riverside, noon
Interclass
3A Green River at 2A #2 Mountain View, 11 a.m. – Mylocalradio.com Watch Live
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Non-Varsity Opponent
2A Tongue River at Sheridan JV, 9 a.m.
St. Stephens at 1A 6-man Ten Sleep, 5 p.m. (does not count in the standings)
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WyoPreps Coaches and Media Preseason Football Poll 2025
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