NEWS BRIEFS for Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020
News in Brief from across the Cowboy State
Updated: 2 months ago
Advocates: Barriers to diverse voter turnout persist in the Equality State
Functional access to the polls and experience of the democratic process in Wyoming varies by demographic, some voting-rights advocates say, with the result that certain groups are still underrepresented in the Equality State.
Updated: 2 months ago
Wyoming voter turnout lags behind other states’ averages
Early voting for the Nov. 3 general election is already underway in Wyoming, and election officials expect a repeat of the unprecedented early-and absentee-voting turnout that boosted voter numbers in the August primary.
Updated: 2 months ago
Liberal Ginsburg backed a Wyo ranch owner who sued the feds
U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died Sept. 18, was renowned for her dissenting opinions, a lesser-known example of which found the liberal justice siding with a classically western-conservative cause in the case of a controversial Wyoming ranch operation.
Updated: 2 months ago
Young Douglas COVID-19 victims being bullied in person, on social media
DOUGLAS — Douglas is a can-do community – evidenced by numerous fundraisers and other charity events run by empathetic, caring volunteers time and time again – as well as those who give and help in innumerable ways to those going through unplanned medical emergencies or other unexpected hardships.
Updated: 2 months ago
Jackson residents join thousands of global COVID-19 vaccine trial participants
JACKSON — News about the dozens of COVID-19 vaccine trials can seem removed from the coronavirus outbreak in Teton County, vague science experiments with no bearing on local life.
Updated: 2 months ago
A brief relief, but Mullen Fire expanded 82,649 acres
LARAMIE — A recent cold front provided a little relief for firefighters, but not much as the Mullen Fire burning in the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest about 40 west of Laramie and just southwest of Centennial is still active and growing.
Updated: 2 months ago
Coal companies’ joint venture dead; Arch considers 'alternatives' for PRB mines
GILLETTE – A U.S. District Court decision to block a joint venture between Peabody Energy Corp. and Arch Resources Inc. could also mean the beginning of the end of Arch as a major Powder River Basin coal producer.
Updated: 2 months ago
Active cases drop for first time since Sept. 19, fall by 22
The number of active coronavirus cases in Wyoming fell Tuesday for the first time in more than a week, dropping by 22.
Updated: 2 months ago
Report details historic COVID impact to state economy
CASPER — The COVID-19 pandemic delivered historic blows to Wyoming’s economy during this year’s second quarter, according to a new report published on Monday by Wyoming’s Economic Analysis Division. The report shows the sheer scale of the economic fallout induced by the pandemic, which sparred few of the state’s industries.
Updated: 2 months ago
Increased grasshopper numbers impact ranchers
SHERIDAN — There are more than 100 species of grasshoppers in the United States, but only about 12 play the role of pest that rangeland and cropland in northern Sheridan County and Montana are currently experiencing.
Updated: 2 months ago
Health official blames relaxed attitude for COVID spike
CHEYENNE — Laramie County and most of Wyoming have seen a spike in the number of active COVID-19 cases over the past week, which one health official is partly attributing to a relaxed attitude toward safety precautions.
Updated: 2 months ago
Bill could limit CBD, hemp products
CODY — A new bill would hinder Cody resident Jacklyn Bullock’s ability to treat her lifelong pain without painkiller medication.
Updated: 2 months ago
NEWS BRIEFS for Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020
News in Brief from across the Cowboy State
Updated: 2 months ago
Two grizzlies killed in encounters with bow hunters
POWELL — Two grizzly bear conflicts in Park County have ended in one hunter being injured and two dead bears in the past week.
Updated: 2 months ago
NEWS BRIEFS for Monday, Sept. 28, 2020
News in Brief from across the Cowboy State
Updated: 2 months ago
A professor prepares his Centennial home for the Mullen Fire
Since Sept. 20, University of Wyoming Natural Resources Department Chairman Jason Shogren has been working to prepare his home just west of Centennial for a wildfire.
Updated: 2 months ago
ESM, feds still in talks over unpaid leases
GILLETTE — Almost a year after buying and reopening the Eagle Butte and Belle Ayr coal mines in Campbell County, Eagle Specialty Materials hasn’t secured federal leases for the operations.
Updated: 2 months ago
Fire in Medicine Bow grows by more than 32,000 acres
LARAMIE — There were no doubts the critical weather conditions and natural fuels feeding the Mullen Fire burning in the mountains about 40 miles west of Laramie went from bad to worse from Thursday to Friday.
Updated: 2 months ago
Experts discuss health impacts of oil, gas drilling
CHEYENNE — A pair of public health experts spoke on the effects of oil and gas drilling development in Wyoming and Colorado during a locally organized panel recently.
Updated: 2 months ago
NEWS BRIEFS for Friday, Sept. 25, 2020
News in Brief from across the Cowboy State
Updated: 2 months ago
State Board of Education considers suspending testing performance accountability this year
CHEYENNE — Wyoming’s 48 school districts might not be held accountable for their students’ performance on state standardized tests this school year.
Updated: 2 months ago
Report: State missed out on billions in oil and gas taxes
CASPER — Wyoming taxpayers lost billions of dollars in potential revenue from oil and gas lease sales over the past decade due to outdated royalty and lease terms, according to a new report published Thursday by Taxpayers for Common Sense, a nonpartisan organization dedicated to protecting American taxpayers.
Updated: 2 months ago
Gordon: Expect more public health orders to loosen
GILLETTE – Although there's been a recent statewide surge in active COVID-19 cases in Wyoming, residents can expect “significant changes” and loosening of some of the state’s public health orders put in place to help mitigate the pandemic.
Updated: 2 months ago
Thursday second day in a row with more than 100 new coronavirus cases
A second day of increases of more than 100 in new confirmed coronavirus cases around Wyoming pushed the state’s number of active cases to new highs Thursday.
Updated: 2 months ago
Wyoming virtual school sees large increase in enrollment
SHERIDAN — When Samantha Bublich made the decision to keep her kids at home this school year, she did so with reservations. She believes in public schools, in-person learning and classrooms where students interact with other learners on a regular basis.
Updated: 2 months ago
Gillette chorale singers adjust to year without shows
GILLETTE — Sad is a word to describe the mood of Vicki Gilmour and Karen Clarke in July as they sat around Gilmour’s backyard patio table signing cards.
Updated: 2 months ago
Cheyenne teenager is Wyoming’s first woman Eagle Scout
CHEYENNE — If you’ve noticed the new fishing line boxes at some of Cheyenne’s popular lakes and parks, you can thank Taylor Merriman-Fish.
Updated: 2 months ago
Weston commissioners take next step against state health mandates
NEWCASTLE — At its Sept. 15 meeting, the Weston County Board of County Commissioners took the next step in taking a stand against state COVID-19 health mandates when the commissioners passed a “resolution to refrain from health-related mandates” and expressed their intent to move forward with drafting and requesting a countywide variance to the state health orders.
Updated: 2 months ago
NEWS BRIEFS for Thursday, Sept. 24, 2020
News in Brief from Across the Cowboy State
Updated: 2 months ago
Medicine Bow fire grows to 14,600 acres
LARAMIE — The Mullen Fire increased in size to 14,653 acres and is now taking aim at the Platte River Wilderness with activity picking up as of Wednesday evening.
Updated: 2 months ago
Senators: Advance Trump’s Supreme Court nominee
CASPER — Roughly half a year before the 2016 presidential election, Sen. John Barrasso justified Republicans’ decision to block a vote on then Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland by saying the American people should “consider it as part of deciding who to support in November.”
Updated: 2 months ago
NEWS BRIEFS for Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2020
News in Brief from across the Cowboy State
Updated: 2 months ago
Park sees uptick in visitors for August
CODY — Tourism has taken a rather meandering path in Cody this summer.
Updated: 2 months ago
Lawmaker claims ‘ systemic racism ’ after caution on decorum in meeting
RIVERTON — The aftermath of a tense encounter with Fremont County’s top prosecutor was what State Rep. Andi Clifford, D-Ethete, called evidence of race-based thinking within the Wyoming Legislature.
Updated: 2 months ago
Masks are “key” to keeping schools open, Laramie County health officials say
CHEYENNE – After at least one teacher and one student at McCormick Junior High School tested positive for COVID-19 last week, the Cheyenne-Laramie County Health Department is urging continued use of face masks among all students and staff.
Updated: 2 months ago
Bankruptcy settlement could pay coal workers $17.3 million
GILLETTE — Some 1,700 employees of a bankrupt coal mining company would get up to $17.3 million in back pay under a proposed class-action settlement.
Updated: 2 months ago
NEWS BRIEFS for Friday, Sept. 18, 2020
News in Brief from across the Cowboy State
Updated: 2 months ago
Seidel hopes to resume Cowboy football
CASPER — More than a month after what he described as a “strong, strong consensus” among Mountain West presidents to postpone football and other fall sports indefinitely, University of Wyoming President Ed Seidel said the school is trying to resume competition in those sports sooner rather than later.
Updated: 2 months ago
Protestors gather at state Capitol in opposition to mask mandate in schools
CHEYENNE – Roughly 30 Wyomingites gathered on the grounds of the state Capitol at noon Thursday to protest against the requirements for children to wear masks in school.
Updated: 2 months ago
Bill giving tribal cops more authority over non-Indians revisited
RIVERTON — Public transparency and control by local officials were obstacles identified in the revival of a defunct 2013 legislation that would give jurisdiction over non-tribal members to Bureau of Indian Affairs police officers.
Updated: 2 months ago
Growing sage for grouse; Honor Farm seedling, transplant program expands in its second year
RIVERTON – After a successful debut last year, the Wyoming Honor Farm in Riverton has expanded its sagebrush-growing efforts to enhance habitat for the greater sage grouse.
Updated: 2 months ago
Virtual but not alone, Oban pounds out the 26.2 miles for the Boston Marathon
DOUGLAS — When Allie Oban qualified for the Boston Marathon on her first try, it was one of the biggest accomplishments of her life. When the in-person event was postponed, then cancelled, due to the coronavirus pandemic, it threatened to ruin the milestone she worked years to achieve. Instead, friends and family rallied around her, giving her an experience that not even Boston could provide, and all from her adopted hometown of Douglas.
Updated: 2 months ago
Gillette Sage Hoppers seek to involve local kids in aviation
GILLETTE — The wind whipped through a recent cool Saturday morning as about 20 people gathered at the Sage Hoppers RC Club’s annual Fly-In at its airfield east of Cam-plex in Gillette.
Updated: 2 months ago
NEWS BRIEFS for Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020
News in Brief from across the Cowboy State
Updated: 2 months ago
Wyoming's first cryptocurrency bank approved by state board
CHEYENNE – In a crucial step in the state’s efforts to become the national leader in blockchain technology, a cryptocurrency company had its bank charter approved Wednesday by the Wyoming Banking Board.
Updated: 2 months ago
Big Horn County School District staff: policy on use of personal devices violates civil rights
GREYBULL — Big Horn County School District No. 3 staff members say a proposed policy that would make any personal electronic devices that they use to conduct school business subject to a search is a violation of their civil rights.
Updated: 2 months ago
Sparks fly at tribal relations committee session
RIVERTON — While contemplating tribal and non-tribal law enforcement jurisdiction legislation on Tuesday, State Rep. Andi Clifford, D-Ethete, sparked warnings on decorum when she criticized the county’s top prosecutor for his handling of an officer-involved shooting death last year.
Updated: 2 months ago
Wyoming refineries stung by decision; Barrasso rebukes administration after EPA denies relief
CASPER — The Trump administration delivered another blow to Wyoming’s oil refineries when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency denied relief to several small operators struggling to meet biofuel standards this month.
Updated: 2 months ago
More than 100 new confirmed coronavirus cases reported Wednesday.
With several counties reporting double-digit increases in lab-confirmed coronavirus case counts, the state’s total of confirmed cases seen since the disease was first detected in Wyoming in March went up by 104 Wednesday, the biggest increase since the pandemic began.
Updated: 2 months ago
NEWS BRIEFS for Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2020
News in Brief from across the Cowboy State
Updated: 2 months ago
‘Decade of the elk’ for hunters as herds top goals by 32%
As elk hunters begin the general rifle season they’ll pursue animals that the Game and Fish Department found to be 32% above its population objective in the bulk of the state’s herds.
Updated: 2 months ago
A cautious governor confronts an ‘unprecedented time’
At Gov. Mark Gordon’s January 2018 inauguration ceremony, Sheridan musician David Munsick sang the song “Forever West.”
Updated: 2 months ago
A rally for the 'good cops': Group gathers on Town Square for pro-police rally
JACKSON – A black-and-white American flag with a centered blue stripe rose above the gathered crowd Sunday to show support for local police funding. A few dozen people stood on the corner of Town Square, backdropped with “Trump 2020” banners, waving signs to energize passing pedestrians and drivers.
Updated: 2 months ago
Wyoming oil rig boom a matter of perspective
DOUGLAS — Wyoming’s rig count skyrocketed by the end of last week, with four operating — a significant turnaround from not so long ago when the rig count hit zero, but still a far cry from the height of the most recent boom last year.
Updated: 2 months ago
About 100 Cheyenne junior high school school students told to stay home after staff member tests positive for COVID-19
CHEYENNE – Roughly 100 students from Cheyenne’s McCormick Junior High were told to stay home Tuesday after a staff member at the school tested positive for COVID-19 over the weekend.
Updated: 2 months ago
NEWS BRIEFS for Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020
News in Brief from across the Cowboy State
Updated: 2 months ago
Lawmakers look to overhaul notary laws
CHEYENNE — Wyoming lawmakers took an initial look Friday at replacing the state’s existing notary laws to allow for more signings to be done virtually and by some out-of-state residents.
Updated: 2 months ago
Shoshone Forest seeks input on travel plan
CODY — The Shoshone National Forest has released a travel management plan that could close popular snowmobiling areas and transition many roads to trails.
Updated: 2 months ago
Tribal leader says reservation COVID patients turned away
CASPER — Emergency room staff at the SageWest hospital in Riverton allegedly turned away potential COVID-19 patients from the Wind River Indian Reservation at the start of the pandemic, Northern Arapaho Business Council Chairman Lee Spoonhunter told state lawmakers Monday, leaving tribal members to figure out their care on their own.
Updated: 2 months ago
Survey says women hit hard by COVID
CHEYENNE — The social and economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have hit Wyoming women especially hard.
Updated: 2 months ago
Spending cuts could cost state more in future
CASPER — Even before COVID-19, most state leaders already understood that Wyoming would be unable to cut itself out of its current budget crisis.
Updated: 2 months ago
Man sentenced to jail in wrestling club embezzlement
GILLETTE — A former treasurer of two youth wrestling clubs in Gillette will serve 30 days in jail and pay $50,000 in restitution for money he stole from them.
Updated: 2 months ago
Bridger-Teton grows by 240 acres
JACKSON — The Bridger-Teton National Forest just got a little bigger. Two hundred and forty acres bigger, to be exact.
Updated: 2 months ago
Wyoming oil, gas companies receive most royalty cuts
CASPER — Oil and gas companies operating on public land in Wyoming reaped the vast majority of royalty and lease relief from the federal government during an aid program spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Updated: 2 months ago
Sage grouse researchers endure summer heat to gauge nest survival
POWELL — Insensitive to those laboring below, the sun bore down on the shadeless Chapman Bench.
Updated: 2 months ago
Forest protection officer ensures safety, compliance during a busy summer
BUFFALO — Already on the morning of Friday, Aug. 22, the road leading to the West Tensleep Trailhead was littered with vehicles, and the dispersed campsites along the road were all occupied.
Updated: 2 months ago
NEWS BRIEFS for Thursday, Sept. 10, 2020
News in Brief from across the Cowboy State
Updated: 2 months ago
Weston commissioners back away from public health orders
NEWCASTLE — The Weston County commissioners took a stand against COVID-19 health orders by voting 2-1 on Sept. 1 to rescind the chairman’s signatures from state/county health orders presented by Dr. Mike Jording, the county’s health officer.
Updated: 2 months ago
Campbell Co. releases community college application after WCCC refuses
SHERIDAN — The Wyoming Community College Commission would not release a copy of the Campbell County application seeking to form a new community college district, saying in an email last week that it would be made public when a contract with an outside surveying group to assemble the feasibility study was set.
Updated: 2 months ago
Study says federal land drilling ban would hurt economy
CASPER — A new study published by the Petroleum Association of Wyoming and the American Petroleum Institute found instituting a ban on leasing federal land to oil and gas operators would have grave economic consequences for the entire country, but especially for Wyoming.
Updated: 2 months ago
Gordon: Public health orders may be relaxed
GILLETTE — Gov. Mark Gordon is hopeful that the state’s COVID-19 public heath orders will relax some next week.
Updated: 2 months ago
UW extends ‘pause’ on plans to resume in-person classes
LARAMIE — The University of Wyoming will continue its campus pause, which was initiated last Wednesday due to positive COVID-19 tests by students, until Sept. 14, the school announced Wednesday in a news release.
Updated: 2 months ago
NEWS BRIEFS for Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020 Wyoming News Exchange newspapers
News in Brief from across the Cowboy State
Updated: 2 months ago
Volunteers begin Grand Teton National Park goat shoot Monday
Grand Teton National Park has selected 70 teams of volunteer wildlife shooters and is ready to launch a mountain goat culling operation Monday.
Updated: 2 months ago
Gov, EPA outline plans to boost carbon capture, delay plant closures
Wyoming is collaborating with the Trump administration to develop strategies to extend the lives of the nation’s aging coal-fired power plants — the primary customers of the state’s coal mining industry.
Updated: 2 months ago
Bighorn Forest hunting case appealed again
SHERIDAN — Clayvin Herrera, the Crow tribal member cited with taking big game animals out of season back in 2014, has again appealed his case, postponing the answers to several questions regarding tribal hunting rights in and around the Bighorn National Forest.
Updated: 2 months ago
Proposed land swap angers landowners, legislators
GILLETTE — An oil and gas company’s proposal to trade land with the state has angered landowners in southern Campbell County.
Updated: 2 months ago
Legislators struggle with school funding
CASPER — Lawmakers alternatively poked and chafed Tuesday at the boundaries of Wyoming’s education system and the court decisions that protect it as they look to solve a yawning revenue deficit and stay on the right side of the state’s Constitution.
Updated: 2 months ago
Teton County Latinos see higher COVID rate
JACKSON — One group is taking the brunt of the coronavirus outbreak in Teton County, and it’s not young people.
Updated: 2 months ago
Man climbs 36 Wyoming peaks in 45 days
Sarah Meiser and Teresa Gergen completed climbing all 36 peaks in Wyoming above 13,000 feet in 2015.
Updated: 2 months ago
Man climbs 36 Wyoming peaks in 45 days
Sarah Meiser and Teresa Gergen completed climbing all 36 peaks in Wyoming above 13,000 feet in 2015.
Updated: 2 months ago
Powell woman hunts top predators alone
POWELL — Having identified the tracks of black bear, grizzly and wolf on a trail at the base of a rock slide, Tessa Fowler knew she was in the right place.
Updated: 2 months ago
NTEC lays off 80 previously furloughed Antelope mine workers
GILLETTE — When he got the call Thursday, Aaron McAllister was hopeful he’d be going back to work nearly three months after being furloughed from the Antelope coal mine.
Updated: 3 months ago
Warden explains novel coronavirus procedures at prison
RAWLINS — A prison is like a small, contained city. In normal times, inmates go to work, do activities, attend church services and have access to mental health and substance abuse programming.
Updated: 3 months ago
Budget cuts could throw State Public Defender's office back into constitutional crisis
CHEYENNE — Just a few months removed from a Supreme Court decision forced by heavy caseloads and understaffing for the agency, the Wyoming Public Defender’s office could soon be thrust into another constitutional crisis, thanks to the 10% budget cut announced last week.
Updated: 3 months ago
Crowds flock to Wyo public lands during COVID summer
Christian Vivet stood beside his camper at a riverside campground in central Wyoming’s Sinks Canyon State Park, peering through binoculars at the limestone cliffs above — a landscape vastly different from his home state of Florida.
Updated: 3 months ago
Mine cleanup program offers glimmer of hope for Wyoming
CASPER — In one of few bright spots for Wyoming’s economy, environmental regulators say cleanup projects at abandoned mine sites have been in full swing across the state, not only producing much-needed jobs, but funneling millions of dollars into local economies.
Updated: 3 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: 1 year ago