NEWS BRIEFS for Friday, Feb. 21, 2020
News in Brief from across the Cowboy State
Updated: 16 hours ago
Former teacher pleads not guilty to sexual abuse
CASPER — The former middle school teacher accused of sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl he met while teaching pleaded not guilty Thursday morning to the three felonies he faces.
Updated: 16 hours ago
Assaults at state hospital down, but still a problem
EVANSTON — Although assaults at the Wyoming State Hospital (WSH) hit a six-year low in 2019, violence there has continued to traumatize staff and at least one patient, who reached out to the Uinta County Herald after he was assaulted multiple times by another patient, ending up at Evanston Regional Hospital on one occasion.
Updated: 16 hours ago
UW announces finalists for presidency
LARAMIE — The University of Wyoming board of trustees have selected three finalists to be the university’s next president: Gregory W. Bowman, dean of the West Virginia University College of Law; Edward Seidel, vice president for economic development and innovation for the University of Illinois System; and Daniel M. White, chancellor of the University of Alaska-Fairbanks.
Updated: 16 hours ago
Committee approves bill dividing Frontier Days, Cheyenne
CHEYENNE - After discussing it at length earlier in the week, lawmakers advanced a bill Thursday morning that has divided officials from the city of Cheyenne and Cheyenne Frontier Days.
Updated: 16 hours ago
Grand Teton launches goat cull
JACKSON — A second shot at eliminating nonnative mountain goats from the Teton Range was to begin Friday.
Updated: 16 hours ago
NWC Shooters Aim for National Championship
POWELL — Before coming to Northwest College, Sasa Starkjohann had never even held a gun, let alone taken a shot. Then she joined the school’s trap and skeet club — and is now preparing to head to the national Collegiate Clay Target Championships.
Updated: 1 day ago
NEWS BRIEFS for Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020
News in Brief from across the Cowboy State
Updated: 1 day ago
Conditional sales tax advances with eye on fiscal ‘armageddon’
CHEYENNE – With significant tax increases defeated once again this session, prominent House lawmakers are pushing a conditional sales tax increase to confront a looming fiscal cliff.
Updated: 1 day ago
Sage grouse, pronghorn concerns spark lawsuit over gas field
JACKSON — Environmental attorneys have their sights set on a 3,500-well gas field that overlaps with the state of Wyoming’s only recognized sage grouse winter concentration area and a migration path that’s used by pronghorn that dwell in Jackson Hole.
Updated: 1 day ago
Johnson County settles tax dispute
BUFFALO — On Tuesday, Johnson County settled a multi-million dollar property tax dispute with energy companies Carbon Creek and Powder River Midstream that has dragged on for more than three years.
Updated: 1 day ago
NTEC says ‘a lot of push and pull’ in coal tax deal
GILLETTE — Campbell County Commissioners hope that they’ve found a good partner in the Navajo Transitional Energy Co.
Updated: 1 day ago
Legislators try to regulate Internet
CHEYENNE — Wyoming may be a frontier state, but it sure loves its fences.
Updated: 1 day ago
Lawmakers take first steps to amend biennial budget
CHEYENNE — Lawmakers got their first chance to propose changes to the state's roughly $3.2 billion budget for the 2021-22 biennium Wednesday, but there is a long road ahead before any final decisions are made on such amendments.
Updated: 1 day ago
DEQ says Aethon violated pollution limits at Moneta Divide
FREMONT COUNTY – Aethon Energy violated environmental regulations as it dumped Moneta Divide oilfield wastewater into Fremont County creeks above Boysen Reservoir, the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality asserts in a letter.
Updated: 2 days ago
Senator contests new DEQ restrictions of oilfield pollution
CHEYENNE – A powerful state senator chided environmental regulators Thursday after they proposed tightening the amount of pollutants a company can release from the Moneta Divide gas- and oilfield.
Updated: 2 days ago
Campbell County, NTEC have deal for back coal taxes
GILLETTE — After extensive negotiations and legal wrangling, Campbell County finally seems to be on track to begin receiving tens of millions of dollars in unpaid coal production taxes.
Updated: 2 days ago
Wyoming crime stats are wrong; here’s why
JACKSON — If you look up how many domestic violence calls to law enforcement there were in Teton County in 2018, the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation’s website will tell you nine.
Updated: 2 days ago
House eyes new way to fund education
CHEYENNE — As Wyoming begins dipping into its savings to cover the cost of its K-12 education system, state lawmakers have begun to reckon with the question of what happens when the state’s “rainy day fund” — the Legislative Stabilization Reserve Account, referred to as the LSRA — runs out.
Updated: 2 days ago
House committee advances bill instituting 48-hour waiting period for abortions
CHEYENNE – A bill that would require a 48-hour waiting period before a woman could receive an abortion in Wyoming was advanced Thursday afternoon by the House Judiciary Committee.
Updated: 2 days ago
Gordon, top lawmakers eye massive land purchase in southern Wyoming
CHEYENNE — In what could be a historic step for Wyoming, Gov. Mark Gordon and several top lawmakers announced Monday the state will explore the possibility of buying a million acres of land owned by Occidental Petroleum Corporation in southern Wyoming.
Updated: 3 days ago
Bills to protect coal workers move forward
CHEYENNE — Half a dozen bankruptcies have rocked Wyoming coal country since 2015, the latest of which ground two of the nation’s largest coal mines to a temporary halt last summer. State lawmakers on Monday advanced a pair of bills drafted in direct response to the bankruptcy of coal operator Blackjewel and others in the Powder River Basin.
Updated: 3 days ago
DEQ Moneta Divide plans protested
RIVERTON — People attending a public meeting last week in Riverton spoke against a revised permit that inflicts tighter restrictions on the proposed Moneta Divide natural gas field east of town.
Updated: 3 days ago
Yellowstone expected to feel impacts of coronavirus
POWELL — Whether or not novel coronavirus itself makes its way to Wyoming, experts say businesses across the greater Yellowstone ecosystem will feel the effects of a lack of Chinese visitors.
Updated: 3 days ago
NEWS BRIEFS for Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2020
News in Brief from across the Cowboy State
Updated: 3 days ago
NEWS BRIEFS for Monday, Feb. 17, 2020
News in Brief from across the Cowboy State
Updated: 4 days ago
Bill could put $1 billion in carbon capture onto electric bills
Newly introduced legislation backed by Gov. Mark Gordon would force utilities to implement carbon capture, and then allow them to pass up to $1 billion in investments on those technologies onto consumers’ electrical bills.
Updated: 4 days ago
Gov: Wildlife migration order makes competing bills moot
Gov. Mark Gordon said Thursday his executive order protecting wildlife migration routes makes competing legislation unnecessary.
Updated: 4 days ago
Guinness rejects Gillette sparkler claim on technicality
GILLETTE — Gillette’s attempt in August to set a Guinness World Record for the most lit sparkler event ever was not recognized due to a technicality.
Updated: 4 days ago
FAA clears helicopter tours of Jackson Hole
JACKSON — Wind River Air LLC — the company aiming to offer scenic helicopter tours from Jackson Hole Airport — has been cleared for takeoff by federal aviation officials.
Updated: 4 days ago
UW spent $42,000 in lawsuit over Nichols records
The University of Wyoming paid private attorneys more than $42,000 in an unsuccessful attempt to block the release of records outlining the board of trustees’ investigation and decision to part ways with former president Laurie Nichols, records released last week show.
Updated: 4 days ago
Coal plant legislation clears committee
CHEYENNE — The latest coal production rates confirm what many tied to Wyoming’s mineral-rich Powder River Basin already know: Demand for coal is waning nationwide.
Updated: 4 days ago
Albany County residents ask for moratorium on wind projects
LARAMIE — Residents of Albany County and Laramie business owners gathered at the county Planning and Zoning Commission Board meeting last week to encourage the board to vote for a moratorium on wind energy applications in Albany County.
Updated: 4 days ago
Bill limiting Guard deployments fails, despite Rand Paul visit
CHEYENNE — Despite a rally for the legislation earlier that day led by U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., a bill that would have required a congressional declaration of war for Wyoming National Guard troops to be deployed failed to be introduced Friday afternoon.
Updated: 4 days ago
After Nichols records release, criticism greets UW’s handling
In the wake of revelations about the University of Wyoming board of trustees’ investigations into former president Laurie Nichols, ex-trustees, lawmakers and others questioned why the board did not give Nichols a chance to respond to allegations against her.
Updated: 2 weeks ago
NEWS BRIEFS for Thursday, Feb. 6, 2020
News in Brief from across the Cowboy State
Updated: 2 weeks ago
Lawmakers advance bill to create gaming commission
CHEYENNE - Though the final version may look different, lawmakers advanced a bill Thursday morning that would establish a gaming commission to provide regulations that some say are sorely needed for the growing industry.
Updated: 2 weeks ago
Trustees give themselves ability to revoke honorary degrees
LARAMIE — At its January meeting, the University of Wyoming Board of Trustees amended its regulations to add a process for revoking honorary degrees.
Updated: 2 weeks ago
As tribes eye med marijuana, prosecutor vows ‘discretion ’ in enforcement
RIVERTON — Responding to a new push for medicinal marijuana legalization on the Wind River Indian Reservation, United States Attorney Mark Klaassen was non-confrontational. “The United States Attorney's Office recognizes and respects the sovereignty of Native American Indian Tribes in their self-governance,” read a statement from the U.S. Attorney's office in Cheyenne. “(We) will continue to work with them to uphold the rule of law on tribal lands."
Updated: 2 weeks ago
After Iowa chaos, Wyoming Democrats reaffirm confidence in upcoming caucus vote
CASPER — As chaos reigns in the Iowa caucuses this week, the Wyoming Democratic Party wants to be perfectly clear: A similar debacle will not be happening on its turf.
Updated: 2 weeks ago
NEWS BRIEFS for Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020
News in Brief from across the Cowboy State
Updated: 2 weeks ago
Governor’s office previewed controversial PSC letter
The chairwoman of the Wyoming Public Service Commission sought the approval of Gov. Mark Gordon’s policy staff before sending a letter to federal utility regulators that subsequently drew criticism, documents reveal.
Updated: 2 weeks ago
Panel abandons griz depredation comp model, awards ranch $339K
An arbitration panel ruled Jan. 27 that Wyoming Game and Fish Department should pay a Hot Springs County rancher $339,927 for stock killed by grizzly bears and mountain lions, almost four times the offer that Wyoming Game and Fish Commission regulations allowed.
Updated: 2 weeks ago
Energy school had ‘informal’ budget-pitch meeting with JAC
While drafting the state’s budget, a majority of the Joint Appropriations Committee traveled to the University of Wyoming for an unscheduled and apparently unannounced Saturday meeting with leaders of the school’s energy programs.
Updated: 2 weeks ago
Economic, existential angst mark start of utility investigation
KEMMERER—One by one last Tuesday evening, active and retired coal workers, small business owners and local politicians voiced deep economic anxiety and called on the Wyoming Public Service Commission to stave off an energy transition some here see as an existential threat.
Updated: 2 weeks ago
Groups seek faster end to feeding at elk refuge
JACKSON — The National Elk Refuge was less than a week into its first-ever modified supplemental feeding season when environmental groups sued, asking a judge to stiffen the plans to speed up a phase out.
Updated: 2 weeks ago
Prosecutors will not try Casper businessman again
CASPER — Prosecutors on Tuesday announced they will not again try Tony Cercy, a prominent Casper businessman, on an allegation of sexual assault.
Updated: 2 weeks ago
Powder River Basin coal production at historic low in 2019
GILLETTE — With two of the nation’s largest coal mines shut down for nearly four months last year, it wasn’t a revelation that overall production at Wyoming’s 12 Powder River Basin mines was down 8.3% in 2019.
Updated: 2 weeks ago
Nichols probe came after reports of ‘abusive’ behavior
LARAMIE — Investigatory records released Tuesday morning indicate that, before former University of Wyoming President Laurie Nichols was demoted, numerous university employees reported that Nichols had subjected them to “abusive conversations” in late 2018 and early 2019.
Updated: 2 weeks ago
Firearms seized from man convicted of game violation
SHERIDAN — The case against Gregg Lambdin, who was convicted of 11 counts of wanton destruction of a big game animal in October, concluded in 4th Judicial Court Jan. 30 when Lambdin’s firearms were forfeited to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.
Updated: 2 weeks ago
Schools will require $222 million transfer
RIVERTON — A structural deficit in Wyoming’s K-12 school system will require a $222 million transfer from savings in the coming biennium, forecasters have informed the Joint Appropriations Committee.
Updated: 2 weeks ago
Legislator proposes hunting, firearm safety classes
CHEYENNE — A Republican state lawmaker has introduced a resolution that would encourage the Wyoming Department of Education to offer voluntary gun and hunting safety classes in the state's high schools.
Updated: 2 weeks ago
NEWS BRIEFS for Monday, Feb. 3, 2020
News in Brief from across the Cowboy State
Updated: 2 weeks ago
Bill aims to protect workers from coal bankruptcies
CASPER — A wave of coal company bankruptcies has dragged Wyoming through years of economic turbulence. Half a dozen coal bankruptcies have shaken the state since 2015, the latest of which ground two mammoth coal mines temporarily to a halt last summer. As coal operators reorganize their finances, they often can erase outstanding tax, labor and reclamation liabilities during court proceedings, leaving counties and taxpayers to pick up the pieces.
Updated: 2 weeks ago
Bill would change schedule for mineral tax payments
CHEYENNE — With energy companies in some counties owing millions of dollars in unpaid ad valorem taxes, Wyoming lawmakers advanced a bill Friday aiming to reduce the lag time between when mineral extraction occurs and when companies must pay.
Updated: 2 weeks ago
UW confirms Nichols investigation, won’t appeal court order
LARAMIE — The University of Wyoming announced Friday that its board of trustees will not appeal a court decision that requires the university to publicly release numerous documents regarding former UW President Laurie Nichols’s departure from the university.
Updated: 2 weeks ago
State offers matching grant program for rural Internet enhancement
CHEYENNE — Imagine you’re a cattle rancher in rural Niobrara County, where only 4.3% of the population has access to broadband internet speeds of 25 megabits per second (Mbps) or faster.
Updated: 2 weeks ago
NEWS BRIEFS for Friday, Jan. 31, 2020
News in Brief from across the Cowboy State
Updated: 3 weeks ago
Delegation pursues ‘coal-to-products’ bill
GILLETTE — Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyoming, is carrying a bipartisan coal-to-products bill in the U.S. House that, if approved, will require the U.S. Department of Energy to ramp up its efforts for finding ways to diversify coal into a feed stock for manufacturing.
Updated: 3 weeks ago
Medicaid expansion discussed in forum
CHEYENNE — With a little more than a week until the Legislature convenes, lawmakers and health care experts got a chance to talk about the nuances of Medicaid expansion Thursday during a panel discussion organized by the Wyoming Liberty Group.
Updated: 3 weeks ago
Utah man implicated in 2001 Evanston murder
EVANSTON — A nearly 20-year-old unsolved murder may finally be nearing resolution.
Updated: 3 weeks ago
‘Bolts Beanery’ fosters acceptance at Gillette school
GILLETTE — As special education students wheeled a cart filled with cookies, coffee and lemonade around Thunder Basin High School, their customers stood in line and exchanged a few polite words with the young sales staff.
Updated: 3 weeks ago
Three-string ‘Loog’ lets small hands strum
JACKSON — Children’s tiny hands have long kept them from playing the guitar until they reach the upper years of elementary school, but a Jackson music studio is trying to change that using a new type of instrument.
Updated: 3 weeks ago
Competitors face decline in chariot racing
DOUGLAS — A flurry of commotion surrounds her at every angle. Stepping out of the door of her horse trailer, Lara Skelley is immediately met by her children with boundless energy giddily zig-zagging around the barren, sagebrush-filled landscape. In the distance, an auctioneer rambles as fast as his tongue will allow in an effort to garner the highest bids for the day’s races.
Updated: 3 weeks ago
NEWS BRIEFS for Thursday, Jan. 30, 2020
News in Brief from across the Cowboy State
Updated: 3 weeks ago
BLM lease of public lands sparks excitement, protests
POWELL — Tens of thousands of acres of local public lands — running through Badger Basin to the Montana border and west to the Chief Joseph Highway — were leased last month for potential energy exploration.
Updated: 3 weeks ago
Plan to allow armed teachers in Campbell Co. wins initial approval
GILLETTE — School trustees have unanimously approved a policy and regulations that would allow educators to conceal carry handguns in six rural schools in Campbell County.
Updated: 3 weeks ago
Court won’t let Laramie, Albany County join Lake Hattie lawsuit
LARAMIE — Without out offering an explanation, three judges for the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected at attempt from Albany County and the city of Laramie to join a lawsuit regarding the amount of water that the Pioneer Canal-Lake Hattie Irrigation District can put into Lake Hattie.
Updated: 3 weeks ago
Police say more victims in case of Casper teacher
CASPER — A part-time middle school teacher accused of sexual abuse of a child had multiple victims, a Casper police spokeswoman said Wednesday morning.
Updated: 3 weeks ago
Bill would let children have unserved school food
CHEYENNE — One out of every six children in Wyoming struggles with hunger. But a bill filed last week for consideration in the upcoming legislative session aims to improve those statistics.
Updated: 3 weeks ago
NEWS BRIEFS for Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2020
News in Brief from across the Cowboy State
Updated: 3 weeks ago
Game and Fish documents first agency trap-related grizzly death
Wyoming Game and Fish department staff discovered a dead grizzly bear in one of the agency’s baited traps early Sept. 30 — a first-of-its-kind capture-related fatality that nevertheless sparked dismay among conservations and other bear advocates.
Updated: 3 weeks ago
Grizzly conflicts, deaths down in 2019
Far fewer Yellowstone Ecosystem grizzly bears were captured, killed or confirmed dead by wildlife managers in 2019 than the previous year, according to recently released state and federal reports.
Updated: 3 weeks ago
ACLU: State elected officials’ disregard of ICE jail is unlawful
By refusing to regulate a private immigration jail planned outside Evanston, Wyoming’s five statewide elected officials leave the state vulnerable to litigation and immigrants to poor treatment, the American Civil Liberty Union of Wyoming says.
Updated: 3 weeks ago
Solar farms sprout in southwest Wyoming
JACKSON — A new type of industrial activity is rising from the sagebrush and pastureland in western Wyoming: utility- scale solar farms.
Updated: 3 weeks ago
Attempted murder trial delayed for mental evaluation
GILLETTE — The attempted second-degree murder case against Joseph Cruzen has been suspended while he undergoes a court-ordered mental evaluation.
Updated: 3 weeks ago
Pharmacy to pay $1 million to settle drug law violation allegations
CASPER — A Casper pharmacy will pay $1 million to settle allegations of violations of federal drug law, the federal government said Tuesday afternoon.
Updated: 3 weeks ago
Former travel agent seeks new location for theft trial
CHEYENNE — The former travel agent accused of stealing thousands from customers hopes to have his case heard somewhere outside of Laramie County.
Updated: 3 weeks ago
Laramie lawmaker reintroduces anti-child marriage bill
CHEYENNE — After a bill banning child marriages narrowly failed in the Legislature last year, a Laramie representative has introduced a similar bill that would effectively prevent any child in Wyoming under the age of 18 from getting married.
Updated: 3 weeks ago
NEWS BRIEFS for Monday, Jan. 27, 2020
News in Brief from across the Cowboy State
Updated: 3 weeks ago
Shoshoni mushroom plant sold to church
RIVERTON — It might seem to be a paradox — growing mushrooms, which require a humid, mild climate — on the wind-swept plains of Eastern Fremont County, but it’s about to be tried for the third time.
Updated: 3 weeks ago
Gordon: Coal still has role to play
CASPER — Like a near-consensus of the world’s scientific community, Gov. Mark Gordon believes in climate change. Like many across the planet, Gordon believes the problem is a man-made one, and that something needs to be done about it.
Updated: 3 weeks ago
Plea agreement reached in case of student planning school attack
GILLETTE — A former Sage Valley Junior High School student who took two handguns to school and expressed an intent to shoot other students and a teacher won’t spend the rest of his life in an adult prison.
Updated: 3 weeks ago
Trustees allow UW to appeal records decision
LARAMIE — During Friday’s meeting of the University of Wyoming Board of Trustees, the trustees authorized UW General Counsel Tara Evans to “proceed with the necessary legal proceedings, including filing of any notice of appeal” regarding the Jan. 3 ruling from Albany County district court Judge Tori Kricken, who ordered the university to publicly release numerous records related to the departure of former UW President Laurie Nichols.
Updated: 3 weeks ago
Lawmakers look to revive federal background check bill
CHEYENNE — After a bill failed in committee that would have required Wyoming to share disqualifying mental health information of potential gun owners with the FBI, lawmakers are looking to revive a similar version during the upcoming legislative session.
Updated: 4 weeks ago
New Blackjewel owner misses first tax payment
CASPER — One of the newest companies to take over coal mines in the Powder River Basin has defaulted on its tax payments.
Updated: 4 weeks ago
Wyoming ranks 21st in chances for student success
GILLETTE — Wyoming improved from 28th in the nation a year ago to 21st now in a new national ranking of chance for student success in state education systems.
Updated: 4 weeks ago
NEWS BRIEFS for Friday, Jan. 24, 2020
News in Brief from across the Cowboy State
Updated: 4 weeks ago
‘Leftover’ school enjoys success
GILLETTE — Bertine Bahige keeps a framed copy of Rawhide Elementary School’s red-shaded failing state report card from 2015-16 on the wall of his principal’s office.
Updated: 4 weeks ago
Cheyenne woman sews kangaroo pouches
CHEYENNE — As bushfires rage across Australia, Eloisa Michelle is hunkered down in her Cheyenne-based hobbit hole, repeating the phrase “time is of the essence” to the tune of her sewing machine’s hum.
Updated: 4 weeks ago
Equity and Access Cafe stimulates conversation at high school
JACKSON — Of the many changes Jackson Hole High School halls have undergone in the past couple of years, one of the most noticeable was unveiled last week.
Updated: 4 weeks ago
NEWS BRIEFS for Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020
News in Brief from across the Cowboy State
Updated: 4 weeks ago
Sleeping Giant to close next season
CODY — As it stands today, Sleeping Giant Ski Area will bring its chairlifts to a halt next season, suspending its winter operations.
Updated: 4 weeks ago
Man convicted of wife’s murder to appeal
POWELL — A jury convicted a Wapiti man of first-degree murder for killing his wife and a judge ordered the 77-year-old to spend the rest of his life in prison. But Dennis K. Klingbeil is hoping that the Wyoming Supreme Court will see his case differently: Klingbeil’s attorneys filed notice last month that he is appealing his sentence.
Updated: 4 weeks ago
Wyoming close to finalizing hemp rules
CASPER — The Wyoming attorney general said her office is close to gaining approval from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for a statewide hemp-growing plan amid mounting pressure from growers around the state, who have expressed concern they would miss out on the 2020 growing season following the USDA’s previous rejection of an earlier plan.
Updated: 4 weeks ago
Two groups plan to sue over Upper Green grazing plan
JACKSON — Two coalitions of environmental advocacy groups say they intend to take the federal government to court over a Bridger-Teton National Forest grazing plan expected to cause up to five-dozen grizzly bear deaths over the next decade.
Updated: 4 weeks ago
NEWS BRIEFS for Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2020
News in Brief from across the Cowboy State
Updated: 4 weeks ago
Report: Shakiest coal companies have most mine cleanup left
Wyoming’s shakiest coal operators have the biggest outstanding reclamation obligations, according to a new report — just one indication, the authors say, that declining coal markets could overwhelm the system designed to ensure mining companies clean up their mess.
Updated: 4 weeks ago
DEQ backs off plan to dump more oilfield pollutants into Boysen
The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality has backed off a plan to allow Moneta Divide oilfield operators to increase pollutants they dump into creeks above Boysen Reservoir, and proposed new monitoring of existing salty effluent.
Updated: 4 weeks ago
Laramie begins effort to reduce or ban plastic bag use
LARAMIE — The Laramie City Council largely supported the first step in a likely multi-year long process to reduce and potentially ban retail-use plastic bags.
Updated: 4 weeks ago
Mine operations threatened by shovel dispute
GILLETTE (WNE) — Three months after being called back to work at a pair of shuttered Powder River Basin coal mines, the jobs of hundreds of workers at the Eagle Butte and Belle Ayr mines hang in the balance as Eagle Specialty Materials spars with Komatsu Mining Corp. over a pair of industrial shovels.
Updated: 4 weeks ago
Tutor accused of abusing former student
CASPER — The Natrona County School District says it can’t comment on anything related to the arrest of a Dean Morgan tutor accused of sexually abusing a former student. Police, meanwhile, say there could be more victims, and parents were split on the district’s handling of the incident.
Updated: 4 weeks ago
Wyoming challenges Washington coal port blockage
CHEYENNE — Gov. Mark Gordon announced Tuesday morning that Wyoming has joined Montana in asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a challenge to Washington state’s denial of a proposed coal export terminal permit.
Updated: 4 weeks ago
NEWS BRIEFS for Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2020
News in Brief from across the Cowboy State
Updated: 1 month ago
Marchers walk, sing in remembrance of Dr. King
CHEYENNE — Rows of shiny patent leather black shoes stood perfectly aligned as the local ROTC high school students marched rhythmically out of the Cheyenne Depot Plaza and onto Capitol Avenue.
Updated: 1 month ago
Man rescued from Yellowstone canyon was treasure seeker
POWELL — An Indiana man who illegally rappelled into the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone this month before being pulled out by rescuers says he was searching for hidden treasure.
Updated: 1 month ago
Findings of UW scientists could improve mine cleanup
CASPER — New scientific findings could transform the way Wyoming reclaims, or cleans up, its roughly 90,000 acres of land disturbed by surface mining.
Updated: 1 month ago
Legislators’ UW budget close to Gordon’s after mark-up
LARAMIE — After spending a week marking-up the state’s budget last week, the Joint Appropriations Committee’s budget for the University of Wyoming looks pretty similar to the one Gov. Mark Gordon recommended in December.
Updated: 1 month ago
Teton goat gunning a go despite G&F condemnation
To protect imperiled bighorn sheep, Grand Teton National Park will try to gun down invading mountain goats from the air — despite a Wyoming Game and Fish Commission resolution condemning the plan.
Updated: 1 month ago
Impact assistance growth ‘extraordinary,’ officials say
RIVERTON — State revenue forecasters say the growth of Wyoming’s impact assistance program has been “pretty extraordinary” this year.
Updated: 1 month ago
Regulators revise Moneta Divide permit
CASPER — After months of public outcry, state regulators revised a permit for a major oil and gas firm operating at Moneta Divide in central Wyoming. Subject to public comment, the permit will maintain existing limits on discharged water at the facility and impose routine water sampling requirements to prevent pollutants from fl owing into the nearby Boysen Reservoir Basin.
Updated: 1 month ago
Critics say MLK holiday should be updated
JACKSON — Three decades after the state of Wyoming finally adopted the holiday that commemorates Martin Luther King Jr., some question why the date can’t be dedicated solely to the slain civil rights leader.
Updated: 1 month ago
UW professor announces run as Democrat for U.S. Senate seat
CHEYENNE – Merav Ben-David, a University of Wyoming ecology professor for the past 20 years, announced her candidacy Saturday for the U.S. Senate seat that will be up for grabs in the 2020 election.
Updated: 1 month ago
Police chief: UW gun ban not enforced in ‘open spaces’
LARAMIE — A regulation banning firearms on the University of Wyoming’s campus, which has become the subject of a high-profile lawsuit, isn’t as restrictive as it might appear at first blush, UW Chief of Police Mike Samp said in court this week.
Updated: 1 month ago
NEWS BRIEFS for Friday, Jan. 17, 2020
News in Brief from across the Cowboy State
Updated: 1 month ago
Cheney won’t run for U.S. Senate
CASPER — Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney announced Thursday she will not be making a bid for the U.S. Senate, initiating a reelection campaign some predict could one day lead to her becoming Speaker of the House.
Updated: 1 month ago
Game and Fish Commission condemns aerial shooting of goats
JACKSON — State wildlife officials are blasting Grand Teton National Park’s decision to lead off its mountain goat eradication efforts with aerial gunning.
Updated: 1 month ago
Wind farm proposed south of Laramie
LARAMIE — The views enjoyed while driving along U.S. Highway 287 south of Laramie could include an array of wind turbines if the Rail Tie Wind Project is completed as planned.
Updated: 1 month ago
Supreme Court hears arguments in fair board lawsuit
CHEYENNE – For the first time in more than 80 years, Wyoming Supreme Court justices sat in the Historic Supreme Court Chamber in the state Capitol, hearing oral arguments from two high-profile attorneys representing the Laramie County Board of Commissioners and the Laramie County Fair Board.
Updated: 1 month ago
Jackson illustrator’s art spotted in space
JACKSON — Diane Kaup Benefiel’s art career has been launched into space.
Updated: 1 month ago
Powell man celebrates birthday in middle of trans-Atlantic row
POWELL — In the middle of the Atlantic Ocean last week, Carl Christensen couldn’t believe his crew members were singing happy birthday to him after presenting him with a cake they’d hid in the bottom of their boat for more than a month.
Updated: 1 month ago
Riverton resident remembers blizzard of 1949
RIVERTON — There’s no shortage of information about the famous blizzard of 1949, probably the most famous weather event in Wyoming history -- but Don Strube's story stands out.
Updated: 1 month ago
NEWS BRIEFS for Thursday, Jan. 16, 2020
News in Brief from across the Cowboy State
Updated: 1 month ago
Ramaco receives millions for ‘coal to product’ development
CHEYENNE — Wyoming’s current economic story is centered around the fact that the coal industry is in an inevitable downward spiral. But one Sheridan company is working to change that narrative by converting one of the state’s most abundant resources into other products with exponential market value.
Updated: 1 month ago
Powell farm cleared to raise sage grouse
POWELL — A Powell game bird farm has been given a green light to move to the next step in raising greater sage grouse by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, with plans to collect grouse eggs this spring.
Updated: 1 month ago
Campbell County trustees to vote on arming teachers
GILLETTE — Campbell County school trustees will consider a proposal on first reading Jan. 28 that would allow armed educators, carrying concealed weapons, in public schools to supplement safety measures already in place.
Updated: 1 month ago
Feds reject plan to reduce air ambulance costs
CASPER — Wyoming’s effort to curb air ambulance costs was dealt a blow earlier this month when the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services rejected the plan outright.
Updated: 1 month ago
UW gun case sent back to district court
LARAMIE — Albany County circuit court Judge Robert Castor sent the legal case regarding the legality of the University of Wyoming’s gun ban back to his downstairs neighbor in the courthouse, district court Judge Tori Kricken, after a Wednesday hearing.
Updated: 1 month ago
NEWS BRIEFS for Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2020
Statewide news from across the Cowboy State
Updated: 1 month ago
Dominon will work ‘expeditiously’ to protect ducks
After it fired an employee who saved ducks from oilfield ponds near Rock Springs, Dominion Energy said it will strive to “better protect” animals that run perilously afoul of its facilities.
Updated: 1 month ago
Renowned GOP enviro figure had outsize impact on Wyoming
William Ruckelshaus was a widely admired, nationally prominent Republican with a reputation for incorruptibility and a penchant for environmental work. He was the first administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, a hero of the Watergate scandal and a staunch advocate for using collaboration to solve the kind of thorny issues so often stymied by partisan fighting.
Updated: 1 month ago
‘Cops investigating cops’: Tension builds over officer-involved shootings
Tensions have run high in recent years over officer-involved shootings around Wyoming.
Updated: 1 month ago
Two prized Jackson Hole streams identified as polluted
JACKSON — Two cherished streams draining the most central, developed parts of Jackson Hole are now listed as “impaired” by environmental regulators due to fecal bacteria pollution.
Updated: 1 month ago
Gordon expresses support for programs in budget
CASPER — As the Legislature’s Joint Appropriations Committee begins the process of taking a scalpel the state’s biennial budget this week, Gov. Mark Gordon has thrown his support behind a number of programs he considers to be priorities under his first budget as the state’s chief executive.
Updated: 1 month ago
Laramie joins federal water storage case
LARAMIE — City of Laramie Attorney Bob Southard joined Albany County Attorney Peggy Trent in filing an amicus curiae brief that asks for the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider a December decision that jeopardizes the authority of the Pioneer Canal-Lake Hattie Irrigation District, which has 47 water-users, to fill Lake Hattie.
Updated: 1 month ago
Cheyenne school to pilot anti-bullying effort
CHEYENNE — McCormick Junior High’s new principal, Justin Conroy, doesn’t want to end up like his predecessor.
Updated: 1 month ago
NEWS BRIEFS for Monday, Jan. 14, 2020
News in Brief from across the Cowboy State
Updated: 1 month ago
State, local partnership leads to SkyWest service
SHERIDAN — A United Express flight that arrived at Sheridan County Airport Sunday afternoon marked the beginning of SkyWest Airlines’ tenure as the airport’s commercial air service provider, inaugurating a partnership local and state officials believe will accelerate the development of local air service.
Updated: 1 month ago
Cheyenne schools eyed for Medicaid test
CHEYENNE – Wyoming could soon join the rest of the country and use Medicaid to cover K-12 special education services, and the new funding model could get a test run in Laramie County School District 1.
Updated: 1 month ago
Legislator proposes way to boost funding for small towns
RIVERTON — Small communities in Wyoming could get a larger portion of the state's local government distribution through an amendment State Sen. Eli Bebout, R-Riverton, proposed recently during a Joint Appropriations Committee meeting Cheyenne.
Updated: 1 month ago
Oil prices spike with Iranian action, effect likely temporary
CASPER — Crude prices spiked over the weekend after the U.S. assassinated a top Iranian military official Friday in Baghdad, bringing additional volatility to the oil-rich region.
Updated: 1 month ago
Settlement reached in crash that hurt trooper
POWELL — A regional food distributor has agreed to a settlement with a former state trooper, who was seriously injured in a 2015 collision with one of the company’s trucks in the Wapiti area.
Updated: 1 month ago
Trial begins in sex abuse case involving 12- 13-year-old
LARAMIE — A felony trial against Laramie man Steven Oliver Nelder began this week in Albany County’s district court. The 22-year-old has been charged with one count of first-degree sexual abuse of a minor and three counts of second-degree sexual abuse of a minor for “inflict(ing) sexual intrusion” on two children, aged 12 and 13.
Updated: 1 month ago
NEWS BRIEFS for Friday, Jan. 3, 2020
News in Brief from across the Cowboy State
Updated: 1 month ago
Elk Refuge to begin feeding cutbacks in spring
JACKSON — With some last-minute changes being made to satisfy the state of Wyoming, the National Elk Refuge is moving forward with a 5-year plan to start whittling down its historic elk-feeding program.
Updated: 1 month ago
Meeting attendees differ on livestock stops
PINEDALE – A mixed group of horse people and cattle ranchers visited the Pinedale Library on Dec. 30, curious about a proposed discussion of the county’s enforcement of state brand inspection laws.
Updated: 1 month ago
Delegation signs on to call for Roe v. Wade review
CASPER — All three members of Wyoming’s delegation in Washington have signed on to an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to consider overturning Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court case protecting the right to have an abortion without excessive restriction from the government.
Updated: 1 month ago
Group wants to end the death penalty in Wyoming
CHEYENNE — Hoping to put an end to the death penalty, an advocacy group with chapters in 11 other states has set its sights on Wyoming.
Updated: 1 month ago
Therapeutic riding center to open in Rock Springs
ROCK SPRINGS — Did you know horses can help people heal?
Updated: 1 month ago
Therapy dog changes attitudes at Gillette school
GILLETTE — Ruby, wearing her red vest, lay on her puppy bed in the classroom of her companion and owner.
Updated: 1 month ago
Thermopolis store claims largest hot sauce selection in state
THERMOPOLIS — The Discover Thermopolis shop located in downtown Thermopolis now has the largest selection of hot sauces in the state of Wyoming, according to owner Howie Samelson.
Updated: 1 month ago
Grand Teton elk hunt not grizzly lure, officials say
JACKSON — Federal wildlife scientists have put to rest the idea that the late-season elk hunt in Grand Teton National Park draws in and concentrates large numbers of grizzly bears.
Updated: 1 month ago
Legislator proposes using protected funds for schools
CASPER — A Campbell County lawmaker has introduced a bill that, if passed, would add $43 million in previously untouchable funding to Wyoming’s public education system.
Updated: 1 month ago
NEWS BRIEFS for Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2020
News in Brief from across the Cowboy State
Updated: 1 month ago
Bighorns, bears and bad blood: grazing vs. wildlife on Owl Creek
On Sept. 22, veteran Wyoming Game and Fish Biologist Bart Kroger climbed into a helicopter for an unwanted mission — to shoot eight wild bighorn rams from the air.
Updated: 1 month ago
On the road with The Country Skillet
On the frozen plains just across the South Dakota state line, Laramie musician Shawn Hess slowed his Subaru Forester and pulled into the first turnoff he could find.
Updated: 1 month ago
2020 could be a big year for Wyoming wind
CASPER — Onshore wind energy capacity in the U.S. has continued to climb, reaching over 100 gigawatts in 2019 — enough energy to power about 32 million homes.
Updated: 1 month ago
Powell robotics team heading to national competition
POWELL — Students in the Robotics Club at Powell Middle School are blazing past the competition this year, and one team has been selected to represent the whole state in a global competition.
Updated: 1 month ago
Senator grants extension request for salary info
JACKSON — The Wyoming Department of Education has extra time to deal with a large public records request sent at the end of November.
Updated: 1 month ago
Department changes transportation payments for students
SHERIDAN — Several Wyoming school districts have begun reimbursing parents who have to transport their children to bus stops for just one round trip daily rather than two after the Wyoming Department of Education removed the portion of its rules dealing with the payments over the summer.
Updated: 1 month ago
NEWS BRIEFS for Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2019
News in Brief from across the Cowboy State
Updated: 1 month ago
Wyoming second for drunk driving fatalities
SHERIDAN — Wyoming is one of the four most dangerous states in the U.S. based on drunken driving prominence, according to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Updated: 1 month ago
Some fuming over change in smoking age
GILLETTE — Some Gillette residents say the federal government’s recent move to immediately raise the legal age limit for tobacco products — including e-cigarettes — from 18 years old to 21 is another example of overreach in an area that should be left alone.
Updated: 1 month ago
Population increases slightly after three years of decline
CASPER — After three straight years of decline, Wyoming’s population saw a slight increase in its population during the second half of 2018 and first half of 2019, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimate — though those numbers cut off right before dramatic changes occurred in Wyoming’s coal industry. The state’s population still has significant ground to gain to reach a peak population achieved in 2015.
Updated: 1 month ago
Salt-licking goats hit by cars
JACKSON — For photographers and wildlife lovers in Star Valley and beyond, the sight of mountain goats coming down off the slopes of Ferry Peak is a seasonal delight.
Updated: 1 month ago
Three charged with murder in August death
RIVERTON — Charged earlier this year with possessing a firearm despite being a felon, Seth Blackburn now could face life in prison for first-degree murder – along with Peter Joseph Blackburn, also known as Homer Blackburn, and Brent Jordan Gould.
Updated: 1 month ago
NEWS BRIEFS for Monday, Dec. 30, 2019
News in Brief from across the Cowboy State
Updated: 1 month ago
Attorney says Albany County court should decide on UW gun ban
LARAMIE — Albany County circuit court Judge Robert Castor should make a ruling on the legality of the University of Wyoming’s gun ban, Albany County Attorney Peggy Trent said in a Friday court filing.
Updated: 1 month ago
Officials travel to Washington to urge Greater Little Mountain preservation
ROCK SPRINGS — Some people are willing to travel great lengths to protect and preserve something they love while encouraging others to come alongside them in the effort.
Updated: 1 month ago
Email studied in case of businessman accused of stealing from clients
JACKSON — A new email that surfaced in the massive theft case against Michael Lynch has investigators questioning whether the sender is the defendant himself.
Updated: 1 month ago
Supreme Court overturns sex assault conviction
CASPER — The Wyoming Supreme Court on Friday overturned Casper businessman Tony Cercy’s sexual assault conviction. Prosecutors will now need to decide whether to take the case to trial a third time.
Updated: 1 month ago
NEWS BRIEFS for Friday, Dec. 27, 2019
News in Brief from across the Cowboy State
Updated: 1 month ago
NEWS BRIEFS for Thursday, Dec. 19, 2019
News in Brief from around the Cowboy State
Updated: 2 months ago
Teton helicopter tours in limbo after crowd shows opposition
A pilot is uncertain whether he will try to operate helicopter tours from the airport in Grand Teton National Park after a former park superintendent called his plan “incompatible and inappropriate.”
Updated: 2 months ago
Students disciplined for wearing white hoods, robes to school
CASPER — Two Riverton High School students were disciplined Wednesday after coming to school in white hoods and white robes, a school district official said.
Updated: 2 months ago
Sage grouse order delays work on West’s ranch
CODY — A variance request put forth before the Park County commissioners on behalf of Kanye West has been withdrawn in response to Gov. Mark Gordon’s sage grouse executive order.
Updated: 2 months ago
Legislators want more details on UW budget requests
LARAMIE — Discussion of the University of Wyoming’s budget request for the 2012-2022 biennium accounted for most of the Joint Appropriation Committee’s work on Wednesday, with legislators ultimately telling UW officials they want more information about how an increase to the block grant would be spent.
Updated: 2 months ago
Cheney votes against impeachment
CHEYENNE — The House of Representatives voted to move forward with the impeachment of President Donald Trump on Wednesday, but Wyoming’s sole delegate in the House, U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, was among the Republican minority that voted against the charges.
Updated: 2 months ago
Kanye West to bring footwear business to Cody warehouse
CODY — Kanye West recently announced that he’d moved the headquarters of his shoe and apparel business, Yeezy, to Cody. Now, he and his partners are preparing to open a manufacturing facility on the city’s north side.
Updated: 2 months ago
West to build shoe ‘sample lab’ in former Cody Labs building
CODY — City planning and zoning board members will review a site plan on Tuesday for the Adidas Yeezy Cody Sample Lab on Forward Cody’s property at 119 Road 2AB.
Updated: 2 months ago
Wind Energy
Lawmakers on the Select Coal/Mineral Bankruptcy committee have advanced a bill to give the Wyoming Attorney General’s office the authority to represent counties in pursuit of state taxes during energy company bankruptcies.
Updated: 2 months ago
Politicians or professionals? Sheridan tackles statewide question
SHERIDAN — The atmosphere during the run-up to November’s special election in this northern Wyoming community was about what you’d expect: yard signs, impassioned pleas on social media and even more impassioned debates in local bars.
Updated: 2 months ago
Bankruptcy fixes take shape, meet skeptics
A legislative committee formed in response to energy industry bankruptcies has identified weakness in state worker-protection and tax laws and is drafting corrective bills in response.
Updated: 2 months ago
Jackson man arrested in large drug trafficking ring
JACKSON — Jackson resident Bryan Jones has been the subject of a federal investigation for five years for running what officials are calling a large drug trafficking organization.
Updated: 2 months ago
Campbell Co. schools lose almost $1 million on lunches
GILLETTE — The Campbell County School District is losing nearly $1 million a year through its school lunch program, something that’s not unique in Wyoming.
Updated: 2 months ago
Tribal judge defends self against allegations
CASPER — Wind River Reservation leaders came one step closer to potentially removing their top judge on Monday by holding a hearing where she said she was being treated unfairly.
Updated: 2 months ago
NEWS BRIEFS for Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2019
News in Brief from around the Cowboy State
Updated: 2 months ago
Inmate sues over assault conviction
JACKSON — Wyoming inmate Joshua Black is suing Teton County and former Deputy Prosecutor Becket Hinckley for $2 million.
Updated: 2 months ago
Officials prepare for climate-caused disasters
CODY — Officials in the region are planning for the local effects of global climate change.
Updated: 2 months ago
Community colleges seek $30 million
POWELL — Wyoming’s community colleges are hoping to get $30 million in state funding to support their operations, which was proposed to Gov. Mark Gordon but not included in his budget.
Updated: 2 months ago
Former secretary of state arrested for DUI
CHEYENNE – Former Wyoming Secretary of State Ed Murray was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol at 12:39 a.m. Friday at his residence.
Updated: 2 months ago
NEWS BRIEFS for Friday, Dec. 13, 2019
News in Brief from across the Cowboy State
Updated: 2 months ago
Magistrate says brand inspection traffic stop was unreasonable
PINEDALE – A deputy’s June 27 stop of a Rock Springs man who was then cited for not having brand inspections was an “unreasonable” and “warrantless seizure,” according to the Dec. 10 decision by a Sublette County Circuit Court magistrate.
Updated: 2 months ago
Video shows driver paying deputy for ticket, sheriff says practice is allowed
EVANSTON — A video posted to YouTube on Friday that accuses a Wyoming sheriff’s deputy of racism and has been viewed nearly 200,000 times, isn’t what it appears to some viewers, Lincoln County Sheriff Shane Johnson said.
Updated: 2 months ago
Officials: Blackjewel still owes workers
CASPER — When the coal operator Blackjewel shuttered the gates of two mines in the Powder River Basin this summer, the insolvent company had already withheld wages and other benefits from its miners, a state office claims.
Updated: 2 months ago
Plans to restore Morris statue move forward
CHEYENNE — The statue of Esther Hobart Morris that stood outside the state Capitol for years will soon be restored to its original quality after the Capitol Building Restoration Oversight Group passed a motion to fund it during its final meeting Wednesday afternoon.
Updated: 2 months ago
Tribe, state look for ways to improve child protective services
CASPER — Northern Arapaho leaders and state officials are looking for ways to improve a child protective services program that the tribe says needs more money from the state to be more effective.
Updated: 2 months ago
State works to prevent mussel invasion
CODY — They are barely an inch long, but the tiny aquatic invasive species could produce mountain-sized headaches.
Updated: 2 months ago
Technical team takes over sage grouse plan
BUFFALO — In 2017, Montana wildfires spread into Wyoming. Ultimately, it torched more than 15,000 acres of sagebrush steppe, cutting a thick slice through the North Buffalo Connectivity Area, a corridor of critical Greater Sage-grouse habitat.
Updated: 2 months ago
Wing data indicates sage grouse population slide will continue
There’s little prospect for Wyoming’s greater sage grouse population to grow next year and reverse a three-year slide, new data from Wyoming Game and Fish Department suggests.
Updated: 2 months ago
NEWS BRIEFS for Thursday, Dec. 12, 2019
News in Brief from across the Cowboy State
Updated: 2 months ago
WY Lit founders promote evidence-based reading instruction
CHEYENNE — Kari Roden is a veteran teacher with a master’s degree in reading, so when her 5-year-old daughter struggled with reading, she started looking for answers.
Updated: 2 months ago
Sheridan woman named one of Forbes ’30 Under 30’
SHERIDAN — There is a “healthy” number of people focused on renewable energy in the U.S., but few who are dedicated to improving sustainability on the fossil fuel side, Whitney Wickes said. Wickes, Rocking WW Minerals co-founder and recent Sheridan transplant, was named to Forbes 30 under 30 top entrepreneurs for 2020 in the energy sector this month.
Updated: 2 months ago
Student inventor says he’s just getting started
GILLETTE — Hunter Chase isn’t one to rest on his laurels.
Updated: 2 months ago
NEWS BRIEFS for Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2019
News In Brief from around the Cowboy State
Updated: 2 months ago
Homeowners try to lease mineral lands beneath home
PINEDALE — After two harrowing rounds of state lease auctions that invited bids for the mineral estates under their home beside the New Fork River, a local couple is applying for the 240-acre lease in the state’s “over the counter” option.
Updated: 2 months ago
Yellowstone continues war against lake trout
CODY — Yellowstone National Park is still the king of lake trout slayers in Yellowstone Lake as officials keep up the relentless pressure on the invasive species in attempts to save cutthroat trout.
Updated: 2 months ago
Agency says coal workers need more bankruptcy protection
CHEYENNE — According to the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services, coal workers in Wyoming need more protections when it comes to bankruptcy filings in the industry.
Updated: 2 months ago
During budget presentation, Gordon says he’s willing to look at lodging tax
CASPER — Gov. Mark Gordon told lawmakers Monday that he would be “willing” to consider a statewide lodging tax if it came across his desk this winter.
Updated: 2 months ago
NEWS BRIEFS for Friday, Dec. 6, 2019
News in Brief from across the Cowboy State
Updated: 2 months ago
CoreCivic presents ICE facility plans to packed room
EVANSTON — The Portland Rose Room at the Roundhouse was filled to capacity — 260 people, plus others standing in doorways and outside the room — for a special three-hour Uinta County Commission meeting at which CoreCivic, a private prison company that hopes to build and operate an immigration detention center in Evanston, presented its plans.
Updated: 2 months ago
Wyoming officials working to improve election security
CASPER — In 2016, the Russian government successfully hacked America’s elections. It hijacked messaging, assisted certain candidates and, in some cases, even managed to breach a state’s voter registration system.
Updated: 2 months ago
Witness tells what he saw when man shot by Riverton police officer
RIVERTON — Resistance from the county’s top prosecutor and, possibly, law enforcement entities to the public inquest into the Sept. 21 shooting death of Anderson Antelope by a Riverton Police Department officer stems in part from the vulnerability of eyewitnesses, Fremont County Attorney Patrick LeBrun said Thursday.
Updated: 2 months ago
Sixth-grader devotes herself to helping others
GILLETTE — As she explained her desire to spend her year’s allowance on giving food to the needy, sixth-grader Audrey Carlson looked at a poster about the law of cause and effect hanging in the hallway outside her classroom.
Updated: 2 months ago
Exhibit featuring UW paleontologist on display at Smithsonian
LARAMIE (WNE) — A photography exhibit and film that premiered at the University of Wyoming more than two years ago are now on display at the Smithsonian.
Updated: 2 months ago
Veteran finds answers in memoir
CASPER — Doug Chamberlain did not tell anyone about an order he was forced to carry out in Vietnam until about two years ago, while he was working on his memoir, “Bury Him.”
Updated: 2 months ago
NEWS BRIEFS for Thursday, Dec. 5, 2019
News in Brief from around the Cowboy State
Updated: 2 months ago
Plan to put Wi-Fi in historic park buildings criticized
JACKSON — When Yellowstone wrapped up its telecommunications plan a decade ago, the park specifically designated historic buildings like the Old Faithful Lodge and Lake Hotel cabins as places that wouldn’t be modernized with Wi-Fi technology.
Updated: 2 months ago
Judge criticizes Blackjewel bankruptcy expenses
CASPER — A federal judge has ordered bankrupt coal firm Blackjewel to provide additional details on $73,583 of expenses that company attorneys accumulated over three months while coal miners awaited back pay.
Updated: 2 months ago
Handyman shop owner disputes AG claims
CHEYENNE — Despite the defendant’s strong arguments to the contrary, the state’s attorney general said Wednesday she stands by the allegations contained in a 12-page complaint filed last month.
Updated: 2 months ago
Lawmakers seek assistance for lost beet crop
LOVELL — Sen. R.J. Kost, R-Powell, Rep. David Northrup, R-Powell, as well as Reps. Lloyd Larsen, R-Lander, and Mike Greear, R-Worland, have signed a letter to Gov. Mark Gordon to request assistance for local farmers after a suspended harvest has left 31 percent on local beets in the ground.
Updated: 2 months ago
Wind farm gets permit for 277 turbines
LARAMIE — Wyoming’s Industrial Siting Council has approved a permit for a 277-turbine wind farm that’s planned for construction on the border of Albany and Carbon counties.
Updated: 2 months ago
Several factors contribute to risky roads, officials say
DOUGLAS — Wyoming roads have always been risky with long distances between cities and higher speeds, but signs this year are pointing to them becoming more dangerous than anytime in the last few decades.
Updated: 2 months ago
Hunting, reducing animal concentration strategies in CWD plan
JACKSON — Wyoming wildlife managers may intensively hunt down mule deer and hold populations low for long periods of time in areas where chronic wasting disease threatens to become prevalent.
Updated: 2 months ago
Lawmakers seek to develop more school trust lands
Facing diminishing fossil-fuel income, lawmakers want Wyoming to take a proactive approach to develop some of the state’s 3.6 million acres of trust lands, and recently backed a bill to jump-start that initiative.
Updated: 2 months ago
Taking back ‘Tumbleweeds:’
In an explosion of creativity this fall, Jackson actor and playwright Andrew Munz wrote a one-man play called “Tumbleweed.”
Updated: 2 months ago
Sheridan students repair school devices as part of class
SHERIDAN — Two computer science classes offer Sheridan High School students the chance to receive practical skills and aid the school district they attend.
Updated: 10 months ago