Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 2305
It’s legal in Wyoming to chase coyotes and run over them with snowmobiles, but recently, a man used his snowmobile to run down a wolf until it was disabled. Then he taped the wolf’s mouth shut and paraded the animal around a local bar, taking photos to commemorate the event. Finally, he killed the wolf. According to news reports, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department fined the man $250. His only crime: possession of a live wild animal. The more we learn, the worse this disturbing story gets. Most recently, one news outlet released video foo...
State utility regulators on Thursday denied a request by Rocky Mountain Power to relitigate its recently resolved request for a rate hike, commenting they were “offended” by one of the utility’s allegedly misleading arguments. The company had hoped to add two charges to its Wyoming customers’ bills, despite those increases having been tossed in December following months of intense debate. Rocky Mountain Power, Wyoming’s largest electric utility, filed an application for “rehearing” portions of two 2023 rate cases, which began with a reques... Full story
People here in Wyoming take the Code of the West very seriously. Whether it is called "The Code of the West," "10 Principles to Live By," or "Cowboy Ethics," the concepts are the same. While the Code itself was never put to print until Zane Grey's 1934 novel, "The Code of the West," it was the centerpiece of culture for the brave souls who pioneered the vast forests, mountains, and plains of the American West. Elements such as integrity, hard work, self-reliance, loyalty, and respect were paramo... Full story
Cancer center receives WBCI grant A grant for $7,350 recently was awarded to Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County's Sweetwater Regional Cancer Center by the Wyoming Breast Cancer Initiative. The grant provides money for a Navigation and Wellness Program. The program includes helping breast cancer patients with gas cards, hotel vouchers, and offering classes to patients and survivors to help with physical, mental, emotional and social well-being. Those classes will include a six-week yoga... Full story
While a majority of the senate voted for a special session, a majority of the Wyoming House voted against. As a result, taxpayers will be spared the likely $700,000 expense of a 20-day special session in 2024. We take pride in Wyoming’s history of a citizen legislature, deeply rooted in its connection to the people and in stark contrast to a professional political class. Safeguarding this institution is paramount and more important than any single bill. The prospect of a third special session in four years presented significant practical c... Full story
POWELL - Kendell Cummings isn't sure what he'll do when he returns home after graduating from Northwest College, but he'll be taking a rare medal with him when he goes. The Trapper wrestler who grabbed a grizzly bear by the ear to save his friend has now been honored for his heroism. He was recently announced as one of the latest group of heroes who will receive the Carnegie Medal for Heroism, North America's highest honor for civilian heroism. The medal is given to U.S. and Canadian citizens...
SHERIDAN — Starting July 1, gender-affirming care for minors will be banned in Wyoming. While signing the bill, Gov. Mark Gordon was critical because the bill may contradict other bills passed by the Legislature to enhance parental rights in education. “I signed SF99 because I support the protections this bill includes for children, however it is my belief that the government is straying into the personal affairs of families,” Gordon said in a statement. “Our legislature needs to sort out its intentions with regard to parental rights. While i...
Last week, in the aftermath of Governor Gordon’s veto of Senate File 54, the Department of Revenue conveyed to us that the veto would effectively halt any additional legislative efforts toward property tax relief in 2024. However, on Monday, the Department of Revenue informed us that property owners could be notified of the exemption in their September tax bills, although it may lead to some confusion for the taxpayer. This information made us take a second look at whether we would recommend a special session. In the end, we think a special s...
March is Women's History Month, and the Sweetwater County Historical Museum is recognizing one of the most groundbreaking women in Wyoming history - Nellie Tayloe Ross, the first woman governor in the United States. Nellie Ross was born in Missouri in 1876. She became a kindergarten teacher and married lawyer William Bradford Ross in 1902. Later, the Rosses moved to Cheyenne, where Ross established a law practice and served as Laramie County's prosecuting attorney. He became involved in... Full story
The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust has granted $551,594 to the Memorial Hospital Foundation to purchase six new ultrasound machines for the Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County as part of a statewide ultrasound initiative across Wyoming. The initiative includes nearly $13.9 million to help Wyoming hospitals and health centers purchase ultrasound imaging devices and boost sonography and point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) training opportunities across the state. "The Leona M. and... Full story
CHEYENNE — A budget to fund Wyoming state government for the next two years was signed into law Saturday morning by Gov. Mark Gordon, hours before the midnight deadline. The governor had the final say on which amendments would be vetoed in the 2025-26 biennium spending plan, since the Wyoming Legislature submitted the budget on the last day of the session, March 8. In a typical budget session, the final week is used to submit a budget to the governor, and he usually has three days in which to sign it or use his line-item veto authority. On t...
POWELL - The Bureau of Land Management released a draft Thursday of an updated sage grouse management plan that places species protections back on track after several years of disruptions to the historic 2015 sage grouse plan. That was then credited for halting plans for costly protections for the species under the Endangered Species Act. Following 2019 court orders overturning Trump administration changes to the historic collaborative plans, the BLM has been managing sage grouse habitat...
On Friday evening we gaveled a close to the 67th Budget Session in the Wyoming Senate and House. It was a tumultuous budget year. Yet, despite political differences and policy disagreements, the Legislature passed a conservative, balanced budget that addresses our state's needs and invests in the future. Those investments include funding for nursing homes, preschool for developmentally disabled children, and home services for senior centers. The budget supports mental health efforts and funds... Full story
There's a lot of hope, and maybe some hype, for commercial-scale rare earth element mining in Wyoming, which is home to one of the largest proven high-concentrated deposits in North America. That interest comes at a time of increasing demand for rare earths, which are essential components for modern technologies but are mined almost exclusively outside the U.S. If the hope becomes reality, it could mean a potential new, billion dollar mining industry for Wyoming. The Bear Lodge deposit near... Full story
A federal appeals court has overturned an Obama-era moratorium for new coal mine leasing on public lands - an "unequivocal win" for Wyoming's coal industry, according to Gov. Mark Gordon. Yet the decision, which the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals handed down on Wednesday, likely will not result in a rush on new federal coal leases in Wyoming. The three-judge panel even noted an apparent "de facto moratorium" dictated by markets that has all but erased demand for major new federal coal tracts - a... Full story
Becoming an annual event, the Sweetwater County Library System has included the Green River High School art students in the exhibit calendar for February and March this year at the Sweetwater County Library in Green River. "Green River High School Art Department is once again proud to display artwork for the public to enjoy. The artwork on display is from Mr. Steiss's advanced painting and pottery classes and will be up through March 30th. All the students who have art on display have worked... Full story
CHEYENNE — Federal regulation around gun laws has prompted some Wyoming lawmakers to work to preserve gun rights for residents at the state level. Three bills were forwarded to the Senate floor by members of the Senate Agriculture, State and Public Lands, and Water Resources Committee on Tuesday. These bills would broaden access to gun ownership in the state, with one or two taking a stance against gun law regulation by the federal government. Two years ago, federal lawmakers urged banks to adopt a new merchant category code for credit card p...
CHEYENNE — The Wyoming House of Representatives and Senate approved mirror budget amendments Monday that would allow the state to send $2 million to Texas or provide resources like personnel to secure the U.S.-Mexico border. If the amendments in both chambers are, in fact, identical, and no additional changes are made to this amendment on third reading of the budget bills, the allocation will be automatically adopted in the state’s 2025-26 biennium budget and would not be up for negotiation in a joint conference committee. On both sides of the...
By Representatives John Bear (HD 31), Scott Heiner (HD 18), Ben Hornok (HD 42), and Tony Locke (HD 35) In late 2023, Governor Gordon submitted his state budget. The Governor described his budget as ‘disciplined,’ ‘business like,’ ‘forward-thinking,’ ‘fiscally conservative,’ ‘realistic,’ ‘practical,’ ‘balanced, ‘prudent,’ ’sustainable,’ and ‘living within our means.’ The Wyoming Freedom Caucus has thoroughly reviewed the Governor’s budget and would ourselves describe it as UNAFFORDABLE and UNSUSTAINABLE. This is the largest budget in the history...
Nancy planned on cross-country skiing at Happy Jack in southeast Wyoming on Jan. 19, but forgot her ski jacket. Instead of waiting in the car while her husband skied, she decided to go for a stroll in the woods with her Uggs and knee-length brown parka. "I'll just take a nice little hour-long walk," she said. Nancy talked with WyoFile on the condition that her last name remain anonymous. (No word on whether she was concerned about retribution from a certain hooved critter.) The trails at Happy... Full story
Land use planning does not usually grab a lot of headlines. It tends to happen out of the public eye; its terminology can be confusing and hard for the layperson to understand; and its impact – while significant – can seem removed from our daily lives. That’s all changed over the past few months. You can hardly open a paper or go online these days without coming across a story about BLM’s draft land use plan for the Rock Springs area. Members of the public are clearly engaged and paying attention in ways that they haven’t before. This is t...
More and more Wyoming students aren't getting vaccines. These aren't the much-maligned and distrusted COVID-19 vaccines, though. They're long-utilized inoculations against diseases like polio, diphtheria and measles, Wyoming Department of Health data shows. Wyoming requires a range of vaccines, but since 2020, the number of K-12 students securing exemptions has grown from 714 to 1,224 - an increase of 71%. There were 130 more in just the last year. The vast majority of students still get... Full story
SARATOGA — Despite the advent of the internet and social media, Wyoming newspapers still serve as an important avenue for public notices — at least according to Governor Mark Gordon, who spoke at the 125th Annual Wyoming Press Convention in Casper on January 19. Over the past several years, the Wyoming Legislature has seen a number of bills introduced which would remove public notices from the pages of Wyoming newspapers. They were proposed despite the fact that 86% of Wyoming adults cite newspapers as their most trusted source for public not...
CHEYENNE — A Laramie lawyer has appealed the dismissal of his attempt to bar former President Donald Trump and U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., from the Wyoming ballot to the Wyoming Supreme Court. On Jan. 4, U.S. District Judge Misha Westby granted Secretary of State Chuck Gray’s motion to dismiss the case, Newcomb v. Chuck Gray, on the grounds that the lawsuit is “not yet ripe.” Laramie-based lawyer Tim Newcomb, who filed the lawsuit against Gray in November, submitted an appeal of the district court’s dismissal to the Wyoming Supreme C...
Fifty years ago, the Endangered Species Act was signed into law by President Richard Nixon with the intention of establishing a clear process for recovering species on the verge of extinction. In the years that have passed since its enactment, this well-intended law has taken on a life of its own and has dramatically shifted from its original purpose to the point where it does far more harm than good. Since its passage, the ESA has become a weapon wielded by the Left to appease environmental activists that has punished landowners and...
