Opinion
News
Tom Lubnau: Chuck Gray’s Professional Campaign Commercial for Congress
Columnist Tom Lubnau writes, "If Chuck Gray’s opening video for his campaign is any indication, Wyoming voters will be treated to a long season of glossy, high-dollar advertising characterized by slick packaging, careful curation, and designed less to inform than to sell."
Tom LubnauJanuary 08, 2026
Clair McFarland: Trying To Raise A Kid Who Can Make His Own Cannons
Clair McFarland writes, "Middleborn grinned. The secret, he explained, is jamming a too-big spud into the cannon’s mouth with a broom handle so the combustion chamber doesn’t leak gas."
Clair McFarlandJanuary 07, 2026
Dave Simpson: Forty Years Later, But It Seems Like Yesterday
Columnist Dave Simpson writes, “The coolest families when I was growing up all had daughters. Life. Mystery. Excitement. I grew up with older brothers, but then having a daughter of my own made our house a much more fun place to be.”
Dave SimpsonJanuary 05, 2026
Cassie Craven: Communism's Mass Graves Aren't Warm and FuzzyÂ
Columnist Cassie Craven writes, “Mamdani is something different. Something more dangerous. Happiness is a warm gun. Don’t mistake disconnect and distance with the illusion of freedom and ease.”
Cassie CravenJanuary 05, 2026
Gail Symons: The GOP's Priorities For The Budget Session Don't Include... The Budget
Columnist Gail Symons writes: "Just this week, the Wyoming Republican Party released its list of top priorities for this year's budget session. Notably absent: the budget. That omission matters."
Gail SymonsJanuary 05, 2026
Joan Barron: Don't Get All 'Cheugy' About New Words
Columnist Joan Barron writes, “With the new year we have new words to ponder, like 'sportocrat,' and 'fleek.' The German word 'Backpfeitfengesicht' means 'a face that deserves to be slapped or punched.'”
Joan BarronJanuary 03, 2026
Bill Sniffin: Wyo Economy Last Year Was Wonderful - Looking Ahead, 2026 Might Be Better
Columnist Bill Sniffin writes: “By all accounts, 2026 could be a watershed year for Wyoming when it comes to energy development and overall good times. Let’s hope so.”
Bill SniffinJanuary 03, 2026
Dennis Sun: A Good Year For Agriculture
Ag columnist Dennis Sun writes, "As long as the U.S. doesn’t open the southern border to Mexican cattle, cattle prices should stay high, and even if they do, some Mexican cattle producers have found other places to feed and process their cattle."
Dennis SunJanuary 02, 2026
Jonathan Lange: Take Comfort - God Takes Oaths Of Office Seriously
Columnist Jonathan Lange writes, “As James Madison noted, the oath of office has a purpose for those who do not fear God. They may not think much of God. But He nevertheless thinks about them. An oath to God always matters to God. He will take it seriously long after the oath-taker has forgotten it."
Jonathan LangeJanuary 02, 2026
Scott Clem: Why Balanced Regulation Beats Environmental Absolutism
Columnist Scott Clem writes, "Across the country, coal plants are being shut down not because they’re worn out, but because regulation has made these paid‑off assets more expensive to operate. With proper maintenance, many could run for decades."
Scott ClemJanuary 01, 2026
Tom Lubnau: How to Ruin Wyoming on Purpose — A Practical Guide for the Ambitiously Foolish
Columnist Tom Lubnau writes, "History shows us that many kingdoms have fallen not by the sword, but by the arrogance of their own legislatures. Here’s a ten-step plan to effectively dismantle our beloved state – and it concerns me several legislators are advancing the plan of destruction."
Tom LubnauDecember 31, 2025
Dave Simpson: A New Electronic Gizmo To Sync Up? Oh No!
Columnist Dave Simpson writes, “I somehow need three remote controls when all I want to do is turn on the TV and watch 50-year-old episodes of 'Gunsmoke.'”
Dave SimpsonDecember 30, 2025
Cassie Craven:Â My Hot Takes On The Wyoming Political Scene
Columnist Cassie Craven writes, “If you are in a split race and every indication tells you that you’ll lose, quit. It’s not a loss, it is a pivot. Better yet, work alongside those next to you to broaden the mission instead of focusing on the race."
Cassie CravenDecember 28, 2025
Gail Symons: Wyoming Is A Quilt And Politics Are Its Stress Test
Columnist Gail Symons writes: "Wyoming has never depended on uniformity. Its strength comes from variety held together by simple fidelity. Politics, then, is not the fabric of Wyoming. It's the stress test."
Gail SymonsDecember 28, 2025
Bill Sniffin: Looking Back At 2025 – Prominent Deaths & Continuing Energy Boom
Columnist Bill Sniffin writes: “This past year was full of incredibly good economic news and a lot of horrible news with the many deaths of important people plus more than our share of tragic deaths.”
Bill SniffinDecember 27, 2025
Joan Barron: Chances Dimming For A Woman Governor
Columnist Joan Barron writes, "The office of governor always has been regarded as the best political job in Wyoming. I always thought Lummis would be the one to become the first woman elected governor on her own merits. Even after her announcement, supporters are urging her to run."
Joan BarronDecember 27, 2025
Dennis Sun: The Need to Support
Ag columnist Dennis Sun writes, "As 2025 comes to an end, those in the ranching business are looking forward to 2026, as we recognize policies implemented by President Donald Trump are changing the West for the better."
Dennis SunDecember 26, 2025
Jonathan Lange: Federal Judge Vindicates Wyoming Family’s Rights
Columnist Jonathan Lange writes, “Teachers are hired to supplement the education that parents provide, not to supplant it. Now, a federal judge has ruled that supplanting parental rights violates Due Process, Free Exercise of Religion and Free Speech rights.”
Jonathan LangeDecember 26, 2025
Dale Killingbeck: Mystery And History, Where Did This Wooden Airplane Propeller Come From?
Dale Killingbeck writes, "History and mystery are two of my favorite things. Who doesn’t love a cool mystery especially when it involves an airplane? "So, when I received an email about a wooden propeller found in the middle of nowhere and gifted to a woman and her husband in return for their kindness, I was intrigued."
Dale KillingbeckDecember 24, 2025
Renee Jean: Prison Gave Pete Bass A Second Chance In Life
Renee Jean writes, "Pete's lived a life that sounds like it came from a movie, and I was immediately hooked into listening. It starts with him running away from home to Hollywood, where he was almost raped. "That scared him back home, but didn’t scare him straight. Eventually, his drug addictions landed him in prison. "But remarkably, he’s not bitter about any of that. He sees that as God’s way of offering him a second chance in life. A chance that he embraced."
Renée JeanDecember 24, 2025
Andrew Rossi: "Wyoming's Dinosaur Mummies" Was My Favorite Story Of 2025
Andrew Rossi writes, "I immediately knew that this story was special. I wanted to do a story on "Wyoming's dinosaur mummies" since I started at Cowboy State Daily, and here was an exciting new discovery from Lusk, published by Paul Sereno and his colleagues in Chicago. I had to cover this one."
Andrew RossiDecember 24, 2025
Clair McFarland: The Byron Tragedy Was The Most Significant Story Of My Life
Clair McFarland writes, "I drove to Bryon to interview people about the mother who'd shot her daughters, then herself, in their snowclad home. Her husband voiced a grim resolve to tell me the truth so that at least - at least - the gaping public would have the most accurate account of this already-exposed tragedy."
Clair McFarlandDecember 24, 2025
Jen Kocher: A Drug Runner For Pablo Escobar Or A Wyoming Kid Gone Bad
Jen Kocher writes, "I scanned the pages about Richard’s story that read more like a spy novel full of action-packed moments of flying planes feet above the ocean in the dark dodging radars, outwitting bandits and drug lords hellbent on stealing his loot, and years in a Mexican prison where he was simultaneously tortured then allowed to start a fitness equipment business. "In short, the life of a drug runner for the notorious cartel head, Pablo Escabar, during the height of the cocaine epidemic in the 1980s. "I immediately messaged my source back: 'This a Wyoming guy????'" "'Yeah, Thermopolis,' he replied. 'A Wyoming kid gone bad.'"
Jen KocherDecember 24, 2025
David Madison: The Wyoming Guy Who Killed The Unlimited Speed Limit In Montana
"Rudy Butch Stanko was a complicated character with traits ranging from heroic to pioneering to puzzling. He was a bare-knuckle fighter in life and in the courtroom. "When he got out of prison, he was clocked driving over 121 mph in Montana, which had no speed limit at the time. "And he ended up putting an end to the Montanabahn — that glorious era of no-speed-limit travel under the big sky."
David MadisonDecember 24, 2025