Sorted by date Results 126 - 150 of 485
Gov. Mark Gordon let a crossover-voting ban go into effect without his signature earlier this year because he was worried the bill’s ambiguity could deny participation to eligible voters. An agreement to work on clarifying the bill before the 2024 election dissuaded Gordon from a veto, but lawmakers have yet to settle on a solution. Instead, they opted Thursday to delay a decision after the secretary of state questioned whether a legislative fix was necessary.. The Joint Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions Committee met in D...
Nesting falcons, development concerns and loud local opposition bedeviled a proposal to build a via ferrata in Sinks Canyon State Park. But it was an engineering cost that finally spelled its end, according to Wyoming State Parks. State Parks recently announced it is pulling the plug on the effort to build a via ferrata - a series of cables and rungs strung up a cliff that offers users protection while climbing. After spending considerable time determining a site that most people found...
The state's top energy office has recommended two energy projects for a combined $19 million in support from a Wyoming taxpayer-funded program established to provide matching dollars for federal energy and carbon capture grants. Some $9.1 million would go to the Sweetwater Carbon Storage Hub in southwest Wyoming, and $10 million would support a "nuclear microreactor" effort to assess the manufacture and deployment of small-scale nuclear reactors in the state and beyond, according to the Wyoming...
New estimates show that more than 10,000 people have lost Medicaid or Kid Care CHIP coverage since the start of a Wyoming eligibility review and removal process in April. That’s compared to about 9,000 who’s coverage was renewed for the government programs. While about 600 of those removed no longer qualify, the Wyoming Department of Health writes, more than 10,000 lost coverage for “procedural reasons.” Those reasons could include not returning or not completing forms. Three quarters of those procedural terminations involved children, accordi...
Lorna Roxanne Green, 22, pled guilty to arson of a building used in interstate commerce, specifically the Wellspring Health Access Clinic located in Casper, Wyoming. Green entered her guilty plea before U.S. District Court Judge Alan B. Johnson on July 20. She was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service following the hearing. At the hearing, Green admitted that she set fire to the clinic on May 25, 2022, which was under construction at the time and planned to offer OB/GYN services, gender-affirming care, and abortion procedures....
With thousands of people facing food insecurity every day, there’s no reason fresh, quality food should go to waste. Over 119 billion pounds of quality food is discarded in the U.S. each year equating to a shocking 40% of all food in America going to waste. Food Bank of Wyoming is combatting this waste through their Grocery Rescue Program, which connects local pantries and grocery stores so fresh food can go to people, not to the landfill. The single largest amount of material sent to landfills in the U.S. comes from food waste. To reduce this...
The Bureau of Land Management Kemmerer Field Office is seeking public comment on a right-of-way for the proposed Sweetwater Carbon Storage Hub CO2 Sequestration project. If approved, Pond Field, LLC would sequester carbon dioxide (CO2) in up to 44,570 acres of sub-surface federal pore space in Uinta, Sweetwater and Lincoln counties. This proposal to permanently store carbon in underground rock formations will reduce atmospheric carbon. The proposal follows a June 2022 BLM policy update authorizing rights-of-way on public lands for the geologic...
CASPER — U.S. Senator John Boozman sat opposite a group of more than 20 Wyoming farmers, ranchers, government officials and nonprofit leaders in a cold conference room on the third floor of Casper’s Thyra Thomson State Office Building. Addressing his audience in a quiet, unhurried voice, the Arkansas congressman told them he was there to listen — and to ensure their concerns wouldn’t fall on deaf ears in D.C. “I believe very strongly that the answer to our problems needs to come from the bottom,” Boozman said. The Friday roundtable discussion...
CASPER — The Sweetwater County parents suing a southern Wyoming school district for allegedly concealing their child’s gender identity and contributing to their child’s “social transitioning” have updated their lawsuit after a judge’s order to focus their legal case on parental rights and freedom of religion claims. Ashley and Sean Willey sued Sweetwater County School District No. 1 and several district administrators in April. They accused the district of violating their parental rights by following their child’s requests to use a male name a...
CASPER — About a dozen people spoke at a Rock Springs meeting earlier this month about a historic rate hike proposal brought by Rocky Mountain Power — Wyoming’s largest electricity provider. Though more than 70% of Rocky Mountain Power’s customer base consists of industrial users, most of the people who spoke at the public hearing were typical residential customers and community members who fear the impact these cost increases could have on their lives. Rock Springs Mayor Max Nicholson said the rate increases could threaten lives; those w...
Wyoming's largest electric utility, Rocky Mountain Power, wants to hike prices by nearly 22%, a request that's primarily driven by volatile natural gas and coal markets, according to the company. It's the largest rate increase request the regulated-monopoly utility has made in more than a decade, and it would result in an additional $16.42 per month for the average household customer, according to the company. A hearing on the matter, including an opportunity for public comment, will take place...
WIND RIVER RANGE FOOTHILLS-Kristy Wardell dawned rain gear though the skies were clear. The lifelong rancher was dressed in protective garb to guard against manure and urine that 366 ewes and 442 lambs had discharged along the wheeled journey around the Winds. On her hands and knees, the 59-year-old crawled into the bowels of a big rig she'd driven to flush out the animals, which will summer on Jim Magagna's pasture land along the banks of Lander Creek. Not used to being trucked, the band "had a...
After 15 years of planning and permitting, construction will begin this year on the TransWest Express high-voltage transmission line - a milestone expansion of Wyoming's electric power export industry to markets in the American Southwest and one of the largest transmission upgrades to the western grid in decades. The Bureau of Land Management granted TransWest Express LLC a "notice to proceed" in April, culminating years of work and millions of dollars invested in a "vision" to bring Wyoming's...
GILLETTE - Two years ago, Heidi Nation was looking for a purpose in life. She had moved out to the Oriva Hills subdivision in the spring of 2021 after years of living in Gillette. "We came out here, and there was, like, nothing," said Nation, the owner of Spirit Nation Alpacas. But even before the move, "I was in the same kind of predicament," she said. She needed something to do, she needed someone to take care of. Then one day, Betty White, Gary Busey, Kevin Hart and Wanda Sykes walked into...
KEMMERER - Cpt. Scott Montefusco is driving down the road in a restored 1952 Korean War Willys Jeep, with a picture of Horatio Nelson Jackson - the first person to travel across the United States in an automobile - taped to the dashboard. He is wearing a jet-helmet and throwing out the occasional "Woohoo!" He told the Gazette that he refuses to put the windshield up, no matter what the weather throws his way. He compares the experience to a scene in "Forrest Gump" where Lt. Dan braves the storm...
CANYON VILLAGE - Photographer Kenneth Keifer nearly missed both shots. But persistence paid off and serendipity kissed the Mooresville, Indiana resident, enabling him to get stunning photographs of two landmark waterfalls. His pictures of the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River in Yellowstone National Park and Harrison Wright Falls in Ricketts Glen State Park, Pennsylvania, appear on two new U.S. Postal Service stamps. Sixteen years ago, Keifer visited Yellowstone bent on capturing the Lower...
CHEYENNE (WNE) — On Thursday, Gov. Mark Gordon provided testimony to the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources regarding the Bureau of Land Management’s Conservation and Landscape Health proposed rule and in favor of a bill to withdraw that rule. According to the BLM, the proposed Public Lands Rule, announced in late March, would provide tools for it to: . Restore critical wildlife habitat and clean water . Protect healthy public lands in the face of increasing drought, wildfire and climate impacts . Ensure responsible development backed by...
SHERIDAN — Sens. John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis, both R-Wyoming, recently discussed the bill that suspended the U.S. debt ceiling and what it’s like to navigate a hostile political environment. Barrasso and Lummis, who both voted against the bill, spoke about it during a visit to Sheridan last week. U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyoming, also voted against the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023. Wyoming Senators’ review of Fiscal Responsibility Act President Joe Biden signed the Act June 3. The bill suspends the U.S. debt ceiling until Jan 1, 2...
The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded $40.5 million to the University of Wyoming to advance a "large-scale" commercial carbon storage hub in the southwest corner of the state. It's the latest show of federal support for cleaner energy projects in the state, and comes as a result of years of foundation laying in the sector. The Sweetwater Carbon Storage Hub - part of the federal CarbonSAFE Initiative - will be located near Granger, west of Green River, according to a UW official. Texas-based...
WYOMING RANGE-At nearly 14% body fat, mule deer F14 was plump in the rump, and expecting two fawns, going into this most recent winter. The 8-year-old doe's dual pregnancy was par for the course - F14 was prone to birthing twins. She was good at raising them, too. Four of her eight previous fawns had survived to independence. "F14 was a really good mom," University of Wyoming ecology PhD candidate Tayler Lasharr recalled. No track record of success could save F14 and her peers from the brutal...
GILLETTE - Dozens of athletes were at the Thunder Basin High School track Friday afternoon, running, walking, throwing and rolling. Jordi Stewart, 9, ran to grab a Powerade for Lander Special Olympian Nick Eisnnicher, who just completed the 30-meter slalom on the track, swerving his wheelchair in and out of cones as eighth-graders from Sage Valley Junior High timed him. Jordi, a Buffalo Ridge student, also helped over the weekend with the basketball skills competitions, which included...
KEMMERER- When a 16-inch diameter ductile-iron municipal water pipeline failed this spring, a crew dug in for repairs. They found that the 40-year-old line was so brittle that repressuring it after patching it up created more breaks 100 yards away. The crew chased and patched leaks over several days until they ran out of repair "bands" and had to find a manufacturer to build new ones. Forty-seven homes were without potable water for days as the community pitched in with water deliveries and...
At approximately 3:53 a.m. Friday morning, May 5, Sweetwater Combined Communications was notified of a structure fire on E 4th South Street. Green River Fire Department Units were dispatched at 3:54 a.m. and were on scene at 4 a.m. Upon arrival there was heavy smoke coming from the structure. Green River Police Department officers notified neighbors of the incident while Castle Rock Ambulance was on standby at the scene to back fire crews in case of injury. Fire crews entered the structure and...
Multiple fire agencies, first responders, and law enforcement officers responded together to a grass fire near Telephone Canyon in Green River Monday afternoon. Around 3:27 p.m. on Monday, May 1, the Green River Fire Department was dispatched to a wildland fire near the water treatment plant. "Upon arrival it was observed that the fire was in heavy greasewoods with winds blowing 15 – 20 miles per hour, shifting directions," GRFD explained in a press release. It took crews several hours to f...
On April 14, 2023, around 9:30 p.m. the Wyoming Highway Patrol (WHP) was notified of a crash at the intersection of Interstate 80 and US 191 near Rock Springs, Wyoming. WHP Troopers learned through the investigation that the driver of a Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) truck failed to stop and yield to oncoming traffic at the intersection. The truck collided with a Green River Police vehicle passing by the intersection headed south on US 191. The occupants of both vehicles were transported to area hospitals for injuries sustained...
