News

Yellowstone National Park is seeking public comment on the possible impacts of a wifi expansion plan to historical properties. The proposal would connect areas like staff dormitories, administrative buildings, and high traffic tourist attractions like Old Faithful to wireless internet, or improve existing connections.

After months of refining their business plans, the Wind River Startup Challenge's five finalists pitched a panel of judges on Saturday. Each of their tribally-owned businesses was awarded a portion of the challenge's $25,000 seed fund, but the big winners were a hair salon and a fencing company, which received $10,000 each in debt-free capital.

The National Park Service has partnered with Grand Teton National Park Foundation to improve access to the Snake River.

As major summer events throughout the state get canceled, one more has been added to the list. The Longmire Days festival in Buffalo has called off its in-person activities this year.

The annual festival celebrates the books and subsequent television show about the fictional Wyoming sheriff Walt Longmire. The books' author Craig Johnson based the town of Durant, Wyoming on Buffalo.

HollyFrontier Corporation, a Texas-based independent petroleum refiner, announced it plans to transform its Cheyenne Refinery to focus on a new product and reduce its overall workforce by about 75 percent. Rather than producing conventional diesel, it will now look to renewable diesel.

The Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) is receiving around $28 million from the Federal Transit Administration to distribute to local agencies stay afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Around $6 million will go to transit systems in Casper and Cheyenne. Forty-one other local transit authorities, like the START bus program in Jackson and the Wind River Transit Authority, will share $12.3 million to help fund their programs for the rest of the year.

What was supposed to be the 90th celebration of the Sheridan WYO Rodeo has been canceled. The cancelation comes in conjunction with several other major rodeos in the state opting to shut down this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Some outdoor gatherings of up to 250 people will be permitted in Wyoming this summer. Gov. Mark Gordon announced the revision to a state public health order during a press briefing on Wednesday.

Cheyenne Frontier Days, the world's largest outdoor rodeo, has been cancelled for the first time in its 124-year history.

Wyoming's unemployment rate more than doubled in a just month, increasing from 3.8 percent in March to 9.2 percent in April. The largest job losses were seen in the leisure and hospitality industry, with Teton County being hit the hardest at 18.3 percent due to their dependency on tourism.

The Joint Revenue Committee began a discussion on how to transition to a monthly ad valorem tax collection schedule. During this year's budget session, legislators voted to slowly shift mineral producers from an 18-month lag in collection to a monthly schedule in order to reduce tax delinquency.

Wyoming legislators were told that state revenue projections are down $1.5 billion from January led by a huge drop in projected oil prices. 

Summer is almost here and for those living with domestic violence, this could be a reason to worry. Studies suggest that as the weather gets warmer, domestic violence rates tend to increase.

Central Wyoming College in Riverton has had an increase in new student applications, but a dip in returning students enrolling in classes. Since March 30, the community college has been teaching classes online to help curb the spread of COVID-19. CWC is worried the stressful semester has taken a toll on returning students.

The state legislature's Joint Transportation, Highways and Military Affairs Committee met this week to discuss revenue issues facing the state's transportation department.

The Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) presented a potential solution to its revenue shortfall: a road user charge. That's when drivers, both commercial and personal, pay a fee for the miles they drive on state roads and highways. Several states, including some in our region, are working on similar ideas.

The Equality State Policy Center wants the 2020 elections to be safe and widely accessible.

State and federal agencies are seeing an increase in requests for relief by oil and gas producers in Wyoming. The Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) online records system finds 69 requests have been approved for lease suspension in May.