Daily Smile

[{"type":"text","text":"Never gets old......"}]

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

<title>🚧 Daily Smile: Tuesday, February 24, 2026 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Never gets old......

Daily Smile: Tuesday, February 24, 2026

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

Andrew Rossi

Wyoming Life

Around Wyoming

One of Wyoming’s largest celebrities is getting another autopsy. The Emmy Award winner has been dead for 150 million years but is still disclosing the personal secrets of its life.

“Big Al,” Wyoming’s famous Allosaurus, remains one of the best dinosaur skeletons ever found. Since its discovery outside Shell more than 30 years ago, Big Al has become one of the world's most famous and iconic dinosaurs.

The exceptionally well-preserved skeleton tells a dramatic story of the life of a Jurassic predator and the painful challenges it endured. That’s why it continues to be a valuable object of scientific inquiry, with the latest effort to add to Big Al’s story underway in Montana.

“Big Al’s been featured in a BBC documentary and elsewhere looking at the life of this animal because of the record of its life and times in its bones,” said Dr. John Scannella, the John R. Horner curator of paleontology at the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman.

Scannella is leading a team of paleontologists in the latest autopsy of Big Al, as they're confident the long-dead dinosaur has a lot more to reveal.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Bumps And Oozes"}]

The biography of Big Al started about 150 million years ago during the Late Jurassic Period, when the Allosaurus lived its brief and painful life of 17 years before dying in a dried-up riverbed.

Soon after, water and sediment covered the dead dinosaur, perfectly preserving most of its bones.

In 1991, the fossilized skeleton of Big Al was found outside Shell and excavated by paleontologists from the Museum of the Rockies and the University of Wyoming Geological Museum. The skeleton was 95% complete, miraculous by the standards of paleontology.

Once excavated, it was taken to Bozeman for preparation and study. Big Al is now a permanent resident of the Museum of the Rockies and one of the museum’s most prized specimens.

Scannella said the “pivotal” study of Big Al was published by Rebecca Hanna in 2002. In her paper, Hanna identified 19 bones with preserved injuries and diseases, including several broken ribs, an injured hand and a massive pus-filled growth on the middle toe of the right foot.

Inspired by the dramatic story revealed in the fossils, the BBC produced “The Ballad of Big Al,” using CGI technology to tell the story of the dinosaur’s life and death, while highlighting Hanna’s research. The half-hour special, released Dec. 25, 2000, won two Emmy Awards and made Big Al an international celebrity.

Big Al’s battered body tells a dramatic story, but Scannella and his team believe even more of the dinosaur’s life story is waiting to be found in its fossils.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"History And Histology"}]

Since the latest research into Big Al is ongoing, Scannella and his team are staying tight-lipped about their work. But they’re looking in all the right places to find the information they need.

Scannella told Cowboy State Daily the key to the research is bone histology, where thin slices are cut out of the fossils and examined under a microscope. While the outside of dinosaur bones reveals a great deal of information, the inside provides an in-depth look into aspects of prehistoric life hidden from the naked eye.

“You can learn a lot from the outside of dinosaur bones,” he said. “The size, the shape, how big the animal was, was it eating meat or plants. By looking inside the bones there’s a lot more we can uncover. We can get into the details of the paleobiology by looking inside.”

Big Al has a history of histology, as histological samples were taken from its injured bones. The microscopic examination unlocked the origins of the injuries, revealing that even though Big Al had the durability to survive intense trauma, the subsequent healing was difficult and painful.

One thing Scannella will say about his research is that he and his team aren’t focused exclusively on Big Al’s bumps and bruises.

“We’re looking at different things, a new chapter beyond the injuries,” he said. “The more different kinds of studies we can apply to a particular dinosaur, applying different techniques and analyses, the more we can learn about that animal’s life and the world around it.”

The research team is taking histological samples from the bones they believe will give them the knowledge they seek, but the exact nature of their research is a tightly guarded secret. Everything will be revealed in an upcoming research paper, writing the next chapter in Big Al’s biography.

[{"type":"text","text":"But how exciting will that chapter be?"}]

“It depends on what we find out,” Scannella said. “But this study will help flesh out the details of this famous dinosaur’s life.”

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<title>🚧 Wyoming's Famous ‘Big Al’ Dinosaur Getting Another Autopsy | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A team in Montana is studying Wyoming’s famous Allosaurus, “Big Al.” Although it’s been extensively studied, they hope more intense research will reveal more about the dinosaur's dramatic story in Shell, Wyoming, 150 million years ago.

Wyoming's Famous ‘Big Al’ Dinosaur Getting Another Autopsy

Wolfson leo 2

Leo Wolfson

Government & Politics

Politics

A Sheridan County political controversy has been put to bed — at least for now — with naming Holly Jennings to fill a vacancy on the county commission.

Jennings was sworn into office Tuesday in front of a large audience at the county courthouse, said Sheridan resident Jeff Wallack. 

in August when Sheridan County commissioners declined to accept any of the three nominees selected by the Sheridan County Republican Party to fill the fifth seat on their board, finding none were qualified for the job.

The commissioners believed by not making a decision that under state law, it would be up to a court to decide who would fill that seat.

On Sept. 1, Fourth Judicial District Court Judge Darci Phillips issued a 

 that she would only select from the three candidates provided by the Sheridan GOP. Then on Thursday, Phillips picked Jennings for the position.

“I am truly humbled to get the opportunity to represent the people of Sheridan County,” Jennings told Cowboy State Daily.

The Sheridan County GOP, of which Jennings is vice chair, also was grateful.

“We thank Judge Phillips for her sober and expeditious ruling, and the exemplary process she used to select the nominee to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Allen Thompson,” the party said in a blog post.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Did They Screw Up?"}]

The commission’s refusal to pick one of the three candidates drew outrage from the Sheridan GOP, with some members of the party calling for their arrest. The party also has made threats that it will pursue legal action against the commissioners.

Phillips indicated in her original order that the commissioners acted legally and accepted the nomination process in her court.

[{"type":"text","text":"Wallack disagrees."}]

“I believe that the judge followed the statute after the commissioners did not,” he said. “Judge said Holly was qualified and the chair said she was not.”

Sheridan County Commissioner Chairman Christi Haswell indicated that even though the three candidates provided by the county party were technically eligible for the role, she didn’t find any qualified for the job.

Sheridan resident Gail Symons supported this opinion, citing two past situations in Wyoming where this happened. She said Wyoming law on vacancy appointments needs to be updated to include qualifying experience in addition to basic eligibility for a position, in response to the more partisan nature of current day politics.

“Real experience is no longer a criterion, adherence to the Republican Party is,” Symons said. “A county commissioner role has nothing to do with political ideology. It has everything to do with process and speech.”

While interviewing the candidates last week, Phillips verified that all three met the basic statutory requirements of the role. Then, she asked them about their prior experience and qualifications.

Symons believes the most significant fallout from this situation will come during the 2024 county commissioner elections, which she expects in Sheridan and for similar roles statewide to be extremely partisan.

“Are the voters of this state going to accept the ugliness or say enough is enough and focus on character?” Symons questioned.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Fresh Start"}]

Wallack said the other commissioners attended Jennings’ swearing in on Tuesday. Despite their previous opposition to her being elected, Jennings said she plans “to move forward and do the job with the diligence that the position requires.”

“I believe in bringing a high level of professionalism to any work environment,” she said.

Jennings was the fourth-place finisher in the 2022 county commissioner elections, one spot out of winning a seat. 

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

Jennings is the daughter of state Rep. Mark Jennings, who was one of the founders of the staunchly conservative Wyoming Freedom Caucus but is no longer an official member.

With Holly Jennings now on the county commission, she joins her father and sister Kristen Jennings, who serves on the Sheridan City Council, in a family representing three branches of local government in Sheridan.

“My family has always been very serious about public service and leading by example. I am honored to follow in those footsteps,” Jennings said.

The Jennings family isn’t the only one to have extensive ties in Wyoming politics. Cheyenne Republican state Reps. Dan and Dave Zwonitzer are both serving in the Legislature. Gillette Republican Sen. Eric Barlow’s daughter serves in Gov. Mark Gordon’s cabinet. 

Jennings said she plans to focus on listening to her constituents and will work to get the county to spend money more wisely.

“My main goal as a County Commissioner is to first and foremost be as available and responsive to my constituents as possible,” she said. “As for specific projects, I would really like to look into additional ways we can prioritize spending to help decrease the burden on the taxpayer.”

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<title>🚧 Vacant Sheridan County Commission Seat Filled As GOP Seethes Over Process | Cowboy State Daily</title>

After a highly contentious appointment process that drew threats of lawsuits and calls for arrests, Sheridan resident Holly Jennings was chosen to fill the empty county commissioner seat.

Daily Smile: Tuesday, February 24, 2026

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