Hoskinson Health and Wellness Clinic announced it will close on July 31. Starting in August, Campbell County Health (CCH) will be the only large healthcare provider in the area.

CCH CEO Matt Shahan said they are evaluating whether and how the provider can absorb the primary and specialty care needs of Hoskinson patients.

“ Some of the specialty services offered through Hoskinson were services Campbell County has not always had locally,” said Shahan. “We know those services matter to patients, and we are looking at what opportunities may exist to retain as much care here as possible. At the same time, every decision has to support long-term financial stability and the future of local healthcare access.”

Some services people will now have to travel outside of the county for. But Shahan said the goal is to keep as much care in the area as possible.

CCH is in contact with Hoskinson providers who may want to try to stay in the county. Just this Saturday, as reported by Gillette News Record, CCH hosted an on-the-spot interview career fair.

As for Hoskinson’s patients, Shahan said they should start reaching out to other providers and make sure to transfer their medical records.

Hoskinson Health and Wellness Clinic opened in stages, starting in 2022. Its goal was to be different from a typical medical facility by taking care of the “whole patient,” rather than addressing health problems separately.

“We're going to really focus on how we can help you expand what we call your health span, and that's the period of time where you can be in control of what's happening with you, your lifespan. We're trying to expand the abilities that you have as you get older,” Dennis Jack, Director of Operations for Hoskinson Health and Wellness, told Wyoming Public Radio back in 2022.

The clinic offered specialities not seen in the area before, like advanced regenerative care.

Dr. Mark Hoskinson and his two sons, Dr. William Hoskinson, and Charles Hoskinson, were the driving forces behind the clinic, both of whom are former physicians with CCH. Charles Hoskinson is the co-founder of Ethereum and creator of the cryptocurrency Cardano.

In the latest Kid Count, an annual report on child wellbeing by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Wyoming ranked twelfth in the country, up from 23rd last year. That’s thanks to improvements in teen suicides and a reduction in the number of kids living in cost-burdened homes and in poverty.

This year, the number of kids living in high poverty areas went down from 1% to .5% while kids living in poverty stricken homes declined from 12% to 10%.

Micah Richardson, the associate director of policy at the Wyoming Women’s Foundation, said, “ While our numbers were really strong, we still have 12,000 kiddos who are living in poverty, so that is something we need to think about.”

The same goes for the number of teen suicides in Wyoming.

“ While I don't want to celebrate the fact that there were 31 child and teen deaths per 100,000 – that is not great. However, it is five fewer than where we were before, and any progress we can make on that front I think is incredibly important,” Richardson said.

She credited the state’s decision to fund a 988 suicide hotline and more school counseling services, as well as Gov. Mark Gordon’s mental health forums, for moving the dial.

She also felt heartened by the fact that fewer children in Wyoming are living without health insurance than previously.

But some worrisome numbers appeared in the new report as well, including an increase in the number of kids living in homes where the parents are severely cost-burdened. She said that hurts children because,  ”if you are renting and your monthly rent is going up, you are then faced with choices of where do you make sacrifices. My hunch would be that for most families, having a roof over their head is going to be number one. Number two might be the food that you put on your table.”

As with all but two states in the country, children’s educational performance declined in Wyoming. The number of fourth graders who aren’t proficient in reading and the number of eighth graders not proficient in math both increased. Richardson said Wyoming can help address the problem by getting children learning earlier.

 ”If we can support early educational opportunities for families, I think that can go a long way to building up the outcomes for our children, which we know then make stronger outcomes for communities, for our workforce, for long-term growth of Wyoming,” she said.

Wyoming wasn’t the only state in the Intermountain West near the top of the child wellbeing list: Utah came in third, Nebraska ninth, Idaho 13th and North Dakota and Colorado 14th. Richardson said that has a lot to do with the cost of living in the American West as well as investment in schools.

 ”You look at the states that have either put more money into education or continually fund education at a pretty solid level, they always tend to perform higher,” she said.

Can we end with something forward moving? Maybe the more specific report coming out or what they are going to do with this data

Tune into Open Spaces on June 12 to hear the full interview with Micah Richardson on the Kids Count results. 

Across the state, voters changed their party affiliation largely in one direction: from Democratic to Republican. The deadline for registered voters to pick or change a party was May 13, about two weeks before the deadline for candidates to file for office.

Among the dozen counties with clerks that responded to Wyoming Public Radio’s data request, the Republican Party gained more than 1,200 registrants, while the Democratic Party gained more than 200.

Wyoming has closed primaries, meaning voters will only see candidates from their political party on the ballot.

“I think that people have the right to vote for who they want to vote for. And being able to change their party is allowing them to do that,” said Albany County Clerk Kayla White.

While already registered voters used to be able to change party affiliation at the polls, lawmakers changed voting laws in 2023, citing concerns about crossover voting.

First-time voters can choose a party affiliation when they register to vote, which can happen up to and on election day.

According to White, the earlier deadline makes it easier for election clerks to prepare for the primary election.

“It's really hard to figure out how to order ballots when you don't know who your voting population is going to be registered as,” she said. “I think the positive part about having the party change not happen on Election Day is that it allows us to be able to order a better supply of ballots.”

Out of the 23 counties in the state, 12 shared data on party registration this year with Wyoming Public Radio.

In Albany County, 518 registered voters changed their party affiliation. Of those, 316 changed their registration from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party. The rest were switches to other political parties, including the Constitution Party and the Libertarian Party. Albany County also saw 121 unaffiliated voters change their registration to a specific political party.

In Teton County, 426 voters changed their affiliation to the Republican Party, while 76 voters changed it to the Democratic Party.

In Laramie County, 47% of all voters who changed their party affiliation switched from Democratic to Republican.

However, switching party registration wasn’t unique to larger counties. Niobrara County had two voters switch their registration to Republican. Carbon County had 30 voters switch to the Republican Party, one Republican switch to the Democratic Party and one Republican switch to the Conservative Party.

The positions up for election each year may play a role in driving voter registration and party affiliation changes, according to Laramie County Clerk Debra Lee.

“Generally, when you have state races and county races as well as municipal races, it does tend to drive turnout when we have the five top electeds on the ballot,” said Lee.

But party changes can make it hard to find election judges, Lee said, because they need to come from multiple parties.

“When we have a preponderance of one party, it makes it difficult to balance out that population with a third-party person, or a Democrat, in this case,” she said.

The primary election will be held on Aug. 18.

A Cheyenne tree has gained significance on multiple fronts. The Wyoming Tribune Eagle reports Rooted in Cheyenne planted its 2,000th tree in Don Morris’ yard. The program aims to grow the city’s urban canopy. That tree was also planted in memory of Morris’ friend, Samuel “Ed” Edwards. A memorial brick was laid in front of it with his name and a couple symbols representing his interests and passions.

Residents of Rock Springs will notice some familiar four footed creatures this year. The Rock Springs Rocket Miner reports goats are back to help clean up overgrown brush and prevent flooding. Mayor Max Mickelson says the animals are a cost effective way to protect the downtown district without having to navigate complicated EPA regulations.

And, according to Western & Southern Financial Group, Wyomingites are the third most financially ready for retirement.

The musical film was based on George Bernard Shaw’s play Pygmalion. President of Warner Brothers Pictures, Jack Warner, had seen My Fair Lady performed on Broadway. He was so impressed with the stage performance that he insisted on bringing it to the big screen.

Jack Warner, himself, was the producer. He threw the whole of Warner Brothers creative power behind the production. It was a pricey endeavor – with an eye-popping budget of 17 million dollars.

The film starred Audrey Hepburn as Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower seller. Rex Harrison played opposite her as the intellectually snobbish linguistics professor Henry Higgins.

See the Frank McDonald papers at UW’s American Heritage Center to learn more.

VIC, an artificial intelligence (AI) backed by Cheyenne resident Victor Miller, has been banned from registering to run for a seat in the U.S. Senate. Miller is taking that decision to federal court.

The Secretary of State Chuck Gray rejected Miller’s AI for failure to comply with the ballot name requirements under Wyoming law. That rejection was affirmed by the United States District Court for the District of Wyoming when Miller's motion for a temporary restraining order was denied. Miller amended his complaint after the motion was denied.

Miller tried to run the Chat GPT program for mayor of Cheyenne in 2024. Victor and his AI lost that election.

After the mayoral election, Miller stepped back from electoral politics to focus on the Rational Governing Alliance (RGA), an organization with the goal of “transforming democratic governance through artificial intelligence.”

Miller’s nephew, Landon, has filed to run for Cheyenne’s Ward 1 City Council seat with the same goal of getting AI into office.

“Both state and federal law are clear: to be a candidate for office, you must be a human being, not an AI bot,” said Gray in a press release. "I won't tolerate a mockery of our electoral system and will not allow our electoral system to be taken advantage of by AI.”

Miller told Wyoming Public Radio (WPR) that Gray’s ban on AI mocks Wyoming’s electoral system. Miller said he remains undeterred and said AI is on the ballot, whether Gray likes it or not.

“What he [Gray] can not do is exclude a candidate from the ballot based on those views,” said Miller. “That is the question now pending in federal court. I will have full faith in the ability of this court to see things as they are and make the correct decision.”

Open AI, the company behind Chat GPT, shut down VIC in 2024 and Miller has since worked on a custom-made AI for governance. During an interview with WPR last year, Miller talked about using AI to replace politicians. Since AI programs can’t hold office, Miller has said people will have to act as “meat avatars”, or a human acting on behalf of an AI once in office, essentially allowing AI to govern through an individual. Ultimately, that’s how Miller was able to run for mayor, and remains the primary strategy in pursuit of public office.

“The facts are clear. AI is on the ballot again. For Ward 1 Cheyenne City Council, and after our favorable judgment for U.S. Senate,” said Miller. “AI is on the ballot because of the meat avatar system, which is bulletproof and protected by the highest ideals of American freedom.”

This reporting was made possible by a grant from the Corporation For Public Broadcasting, supporting state government coverage in the state. Wyoming Public Media and Jackson Hole Community Radio are partnering to cover state issues both on air and online.

This story is part of our Quick Hits series. This series will bring you breaking news and short updates from throughout the state.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is looking into recent incidents of Indigenous rock art vandalization in northern Wyoming.

Six sites in the Bighorn Basin were damaged, according to a press release sent out by the agency on June 4. People scratched names and phrases onto and next to the petroglyphs, and shot bullets at the sites. At one location, someone lit a bonfire below the rock art, causing the rock to crack, crumble and change colors.

“This intentional damage takes away future generations’ ability to view this part of our human history and to study these sites,” said Cody-based BLM archaeologist Karina Black.

That damage is irreversible, according to the agency. All six sites are protected under the federal Archaeological Resources Protection Act and vandalizing them is illegal.

In 2025, the Wyoming Legislature also passed a law creating fines for anyone who vandalizes petroglyphs, pictographs and historical inscriptions on state land.

Anyone with tips or information about the vandalism can reach out to the BLM Cody Field Office at 307-578-5900.

The US Senate passed a $708 million immigration enforcement bill. What are your views on the ramifications of this legislation?

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The Gillette News Record reported on June 12, 1988, that Opal Butcher had graduated from the University of Wyoming in Casper. The 76-year-old went back to college to earn her bachelor’s degree in social science. She planned to use the degree as a substitute teacher in Glenrock, where she was living at the time.