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LARAMIE — Dozens of American and Blue Lives Matter flags flew at the corner of Third Street and Grand Avenue Saturday as pro-police demonstrators filled the intersections’ four corners. The demonstration was loosely organized by local citizen groups looking to show support for law enforcement amid protests against police brutality and racism that have seen supporters calling for reforms or even defunding police agencies. Brandon Homan, who led marchers from the American Legion Post 14 to the busy downtown intersection, said he and his sup...
CASPER — If Wyoming plans to double down on minerals to save its future, then trona – one of the Equality State’s most critical natural resources – is probably its safest bet. Worldwide, Wyoming stands as one of the world’s richest stores of the mineral, whose natural byproduct – soda ash – is a key ingredient in everything from the baking soda in your kitchen to the glass facades of the world’s skyscrapers. The fate of the mineral is also closely tied to the world’s GDP and, with strong domestic demand, it remains a reliable source of revenue...
LARAMIE — The University of Wyoming is expecting to have about 1,900 fewer students enroll this fall than were enrolled at the university in fall 2019. UW had 6,212 undergraduates enroll for fall 2019 and, according to preliminary headcounts, that number is scheduled to drop 18.8% this fall. The drop in number of graduate students will be even more drastic: With just 1,170 graduate and professional students scheduled to enroll, UW’s graduate student count is set for a 38.9% decline. “We called everyone who did not register that we were expec...
CASPER — Gov. Mark Gordon has signed off on more than $250 million in state budget cuts that includes furloughs and layoffs for state employees, a significant hit to senior services and a $90 million reduction to the Department of Health amid a worsening pandemic. “This is an incredibly difficult task but we must respond to the financial circumstances the state is facing,” Gordon said in a statement. “These cuts will impact families across the state, will affect the services we provide and will have an effect on dollars that flow into the pri...
By The Wyoming News Exchange The number of confirmed coronavirus cases seen in Wyoming since the illness was first detected here in mid-March grew by 29 on Tuesday. However, the number of recoveries seen in all the cases recorded since the pandemic began grew more quickly, gaining 40 to total 1,274 among patients with both confirmed and probable cases. The Wyoming Department of Health, in its daily coronavirus update, said new cases were reported Tuesday in Albany, Big Horn, Campbell, Carbon, Laramie, Lincoln, Park, Sweetwater, Teton and...
JACKSON - Eighty-eight days. That's how long Anthony Parker spent in the hospital. He first felt sick with symptoms that didn't mirror a typical cold or flu on March 30. "The last thing I remember, I drove myself to this hospital," the 61-year-old Jackson man said, sitting in the shade outside St. John's Health. "I couldn't sleep. And I said, 'Well, I gotta go see what's wrong.'" Parker finally left the hospital on June 25, ending a three-month saga with coronavirus in which he was transferred...
CASPER — Over one year ago, two of the nation’s leading coal companies proposed a plan to form a joint venture and combine operations in Wyoming. The decision came as a surprise to many in the state where the companies operate five coal mines. But this spring, the federal government moved to block the venture planned by Peabody Energy Corp. and Arch Resources Inc. over concerns the move could stifle competition and hurt consumers by hiking up prices for the commodity. Now, the coal companies behind the proposal have moved to defend their joi...
PINEDALE — Figures released Monday by the Wyoming Economic Analysis Division report Sublette County collected 42% less sales and use taxes in the first quarter of 2020 compared to the previous year. That is the largest decline experienced by any county. The state overall saw a drop of $4.2 billion or a decline of 5.7%. While decreases occurred in most economic sectors, the largest decline was in the mining sector, which includes the oil and gas industries. Retail trade reported increases in sales and use taxes largely due to new legislation t...
CASPER — Wyoming is expected to bid on 5 million combined acres of land sometime this week after the State Loan and Investment Board authorized the treasurer’s office Monday to make a play on the Occidental Petroleum property. The language of the bid process, which was approved by the state’s top-five elected officials after eight hours of deliberations, gives Wyoming Chief Investment Officer Patrick Fleming the authority to make a formal bid on the lands, which include 1 million acres of checkerboarded surface parcels in southern Wyomi...
CASPER — Wyoming ranked 16th in the country for overall children’s well-being in a national report that found the Equality State above average generally, though the state continues to struggle with youth health. Last year, the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Kids Count report ranked Wyoming 21st; in 2018, Wyoming was 18th. The rankings are based on four broad categories: economic well-being, education, health, and family and community. The data lags somewhat and is typically a year or two old. On economic well-being, Wyoming ranked 10th overa...
RIVERTON — The state will enter a “cash negative situation” by the end of 2020 unless huge budget cuts are made, revenue experts told the Joint Appropriations Committee. A 7-10 percent cut would allow the state to pay its bills through the beginning of 2021, Consensus Revenue Estimating Group co-chair Don Richards said in response to a question from Wyoming Sen. Eli Bebout, R-Riverton, who co-chairs the JAC. “There (would) be sufficient cash flow to get to the general session,” Richard said, referring to the regular meeting of the Wyoming L...
GILLETTE — The COVID-19 pandemic, health care and the future of the energy industry were among the topics addressed at the first Campbell County League of Women Voters candidate forum of the local primary election season. Most of the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives hopefuls answered questions from a panel at the Gillette City Council chambers Friday. There are 10 Senate candidates who want to replace U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyoming, who is not running for reelection this year. For the Democrats, they are Kenneth Casner, Mirav B...
CASPER — The University of Wyoming is preparing to absorb $35 million in cuts in the coming years, reductions that are expected to hit every public agency here as state revenues continue to plummet. Gov. Mark Gordon instructed agencies and the university to prepare for cuts, as the novel coronavirus and downturns in the coal and oil industries have taken huge bites out of the state’s economy. The university is preparing for a 10 percent cut in each of the next two years, which amounts to $17.5 million annually. The cuts come four years aft...
From The Gillette News Record Via Wyoming News Exchange GILLETTE — Responding to what it calls inaccuracies on local social media in response to the resignation of former Gillette city councilman Shay Lundvall, the council released a statement after meeting in executive session for more than 90 minutes Monday evening. Specifically, the statement outlines the council and Mayor Louise Carter-King unanimous agreement to ask for Lundvall to resign after learning he had liked a handful of sexist and offensive Facebook posts. “The City Council and st...
LARAMIE — The $1.25 billion that Wyoming received in the last federal stimulus cannot help local governments make up for depressed revenues, even though that is the most significant challenge facing Wyoming governments, a representative of Wyoming municipalities told the state Legislature last Tuesday. “The big thing that we can’t use CARES Act funding for is lost revenue,” David Fraser, executive director of the Wyoming Association of Municipalities, told the Joint Appropriations Committee during a hearing on federal CARES Act funding...
CASPER - More than half of Wyomingites say they're comfortable attending large outdoor events this summer, according to the latest University of Wyoming survey on the impacts of coronavirus. The study found an overall drop in support for following measures recommended to slow the spread of the virus. Still, while the number of people who are changing their routine, washing their hands and avoiding physical contact with others continues to drop, the majority of the nearly 500 people surveyed...
CHEYENNE – Cheyenne South student Isabel McClendon said when she saw the news that another black man had died at the hands of the police, she cried. The story of George Floyd – who died last week after being restrained by four Minneapolis police officers because he matched the description of a suspect in a forgery case at a grocery store – made McClendon think of her own family and the fear she carries for them. "It's horrible. If I was to bring a child into this world, I'd have to worry every...
GILLETTE — For the first time since before 1885, the annual United States energy consumption from renewable sources outpaced coal, according to a new report released Thursday by the federal U.S. Energy Information Administration. Market pressures from cheap natural gas and reduced production continues to drag down the nation’s thermal coal industry. Compared to 2018, last year’s consumption of coal in the U.S. was down nearly 15%, the EIA reports. At the same time, total consumption from renewable sources grew by 1%. Last year, coal accou...
SHERIDAN — As far as unemployment claims in the state, the worst may have passed, according to Wyoming Department of Workforce Services Director Robin Cooley. The Wyoming Legislature Joint Labor, Health and Social Services Committee addressed COVID-19 issues Friday morning, including agency response from the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services — one “tip of the spear” helping the state trudge through the pandemic, Chairman Rep. Sue Wilson, R-Cheyenne, said. The purpose of the meeting was to brief the committee on agency response since n...
CHEYENNE— HollyFrontier Corporation announced Monday that it will be laying off about 200 employees at its Cheyenne refinery over the next 18 months. The layoffs will come as part of the company’s plan to convert its Cheyenne oil refinery into one that processes diesel fuel from renewable materials. HollyFrontier CEO Mike Jennings said in a statement Monday that the challenges of high operating and capital costs, compounded by the effects of COVID-19, forced the shift in operations at the refinery. “We realize that this decision affects many...
CHEYENNE – After holding its first special session since 2004 last week, the Wyoming Legislature likely won’t have to wait another 16 years for its next one. State lawmakers are expected to reconvene sometime in late June for a second, longer special session to continue addressing the whirlwind of issues brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, along with long-term budget issues that have been compounded by the virus. A date has not been finalized for the second special session, but House Speaker Steve Harshman, R-Casper, said in a news con...
CASPER (Wyoming News Exchange) — Wyoming’s unemployment rate more than doubled to 9.2% in April, as an energy downturn and measures put in place to limit the spread of the coronavirus led to major job losses. Still, Wyoming fared better than most states, at least when comparing unemployment rates. Wyoming had the fifth-lowest rate in the nation, according to new numbers released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Nevada had the highest unemployment rate in April, at 28.2%. Connecticut had the lowest, at 7.9%. While Wyoming’s job l...
On March 1, 1992, a truck driver stopped off of Interstate-80 to change his fuel tanks discovered a woman's body 40 miles east of Rock Springs. Decades after her discovery, an arrest was made in the cold case involving a woman only known as "Bitter Creek Betty." The Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation announced an arrest related to two Wyoming cold cases, the Bitter Creek Betty investigation and a similarly unidentified woman found in Sheridan County who was dubbed the "I-90 Jane Doe." Cl...
SHERIDAN — Sex trafficking may not be the first danger that comes to mind when considering the impact of COVID-19 on individual communities, but the two are inextricably linked, according to Alexandra Stevenson, co-founder of the human trafficking prevention nonprofit Uprising. Uprising launched a new campaign for the month of May to encourage open conversation between parents and children about online safety as children spend significantly more time on devices at home. Stress, emotional challenges and financial insecurity are vulnerabilities p...
CASPER – Changes made to a federal lending program last week could open up loans to Wyoming oil and gas firms left reeling from volatile oil prices and low fuel demand during the pandemic. The Federal Reserve released new guidelines Thursday for its Main Street Lending Program, geared to provide an additional layer of financial relief to small to midsize companies, including some heavily indebted firms with low credit ratings, during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Wyoming’s oil and natural gas industry is overwhelmingly comprised of small and midsi...
