CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon is praising Peabody Energy’s successful pilot shipment of Powder River Basin coal to Vietnam, calling the export an important step toward expanding international markets for the state’s coal industry. The shipment moved coal from Wyoming through the United States and Mexico using Union Pacific and Ferromex rail networks Read More…
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Applications are open for Wyoming residents seeking a seat on the Wyoming Main Street Advisory Board, a volunteer panel that helps guide efforts to strengthen downtowns and support local businesses across the state. The seven-member board works alongside Wyoming Business Council staff on the services and priorities of the Wyoming Main Street Read More…
Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon said a new state Supreme Court ruling provides clearer direction on the Legislature’s constitutional obligations for public-school funding while preserving lawmakers’ authority over how the state meets those requirements. The Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part a lower-court ruling in a long-running dispute over education funding. The Read More…
South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley announced the state will receive a $104,976.64 settlement with Credit Acceptance Corporation to provide cash and debt relief to consumers in connection with their car loans. South Dakotans affected by the settlement will be eligible for individual debt relief. The state’s share of the settlement will go to the Read More…
Edward Seidel, who touted economic development and the university’s role in enhancing the state’s economic well-being, has been unanimously selected to be the 28th president of the University of Wyoming. Currently the vice president for economic development and innovation for the University of Illinois System, Seidel was one of three finalists for the position. The Read More…
BUFFALO — Johnson County is cowboy country – the land of the Virginian, Butch Cassidy and Sheriff Walt Longmire. But soon those Western heroes will have company. A new congregation of cowboys and cowgirls will descend on the county soon, courtesy of the Buffalo High School English department’s annual January Jubilee program. The jubilee, which Read More…
Wyoming isn’t typically known for being on the cutting edge of technology, but when it comes to 3D printing, research about and usage of the slowly maturing technology has already found a home. For instance, ceramic-printing research at the University of Wyoming could someday allow people to fly farther for cheaper. In Jackson, inexpensive prototyping Read More…
CASPER, Wyo. (Wyoming News Now) Dan White, the last University of Wyoming finalist, started his forum showing some photos of his outdoor travels to a group that came to listen. “We are winter people,” White said. He said he never goes into a conversation without being willing to change his mind. “If you go into a Read More…
WING — After 10 years in education, Wing Public School District Superintendent David Goetz began to notice a trend. Students and teachers would begin the school year in August feeling refreshed and motivated to learn. But by the end of the school year, everyone felt burned out, and it was a slog to get through Read More…
CASPER, Wyo. — A Tyler, Texas resident is reportedly deceased, after leaping from a moving vehicle, while leading Highway Patrol troopers on a pursuit. According to the Wyoming Highway Patrol, on Friday, February 21st, 2020 Wyoming Highway Patrol troopers were notified of a suspected drunk driver in the area of Sheridan, Wyoming. Troopers report that Read More…
North Dakota regulators on Wednesday approved expanding the Dakota Access pipeline, despite concerns from environmentalists and Native Americans who said the plan makes an oil spill more likely. The 3-0 vote by the Public Service Commission clears one hurdle to double the pipeline’s capacity to 1.1 million barrels of crude oil per day, but the proposal needs additional permits and Read More…
WASHINGTON (RELEASE) – U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao announced Wednesday that the U.S. Department of Transportation will award $7.2 million in airport safety and infrastructure grants to 10 airports in Wyoming. This investment in Wyoming’s airports is part of a $520.5 million national investment in America’s airports that was announced today by Secretary Chao. Read More…
GRAND FORKS — A former Grand Forks County correctional officer facing charges for having an inappropriate relationship with an inmate allegedly had an incident of a sexual nature with a second inmate, according to documents obtained by the Herald. Criminal charges were brought against Savannah Marie Martin as the result of a search of Li’Von Read More…
While wineries in California are spending money on giant refrigeration rigs to cold-stabilize their wine, Jackson Hole Winery just opens its doors. Anthony Schroth, founder and vintner of the winery, believes making wine in a colder climate provides many benefits. In addition to the fact that it is cheaper to cold-stabilize the wine, low Read More…
BOISE — The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has become the first circuit in the nation to order a state to pay for an inmate’s gender confirmation surgery, ruling Monday that a three-judge panel decision will stand. Idaho Gov. Brad Little said he will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case. Read More…
(KUTV) — A cellphone belonging to missing Idaho teen Tylee Ryan was found in her mother’s possession, CBS News reports. Ryan and her 7-year-old brother Joshua “JJ” Vallow were last seen in September. Their mother, Lori Vallow, was found in Hawaii last month with her new husband Chad Daybell. CBS News reports that Ryan’s phone has been used several times after Read More…
Craig Bjorland didn’t get to see his stepdaughter graduate from military basic training in 2017. “I flew to Texas to go to her graduation and I wasn’t allowed on base because of my marijuana charge,” he said. Instead, he drove around Dallas in a rental car to kill time. In 2010, Bjorland was pulled Read More…
BOISE, Idaho — The business manager and fundraising program developer for the Idaho Military Division faces eight felony counts of possessing child porn. Kenneth Coulter, 72, of Boise was booked into the Ada County Jail about 11 a.m. Tuesday, charged with possessing sexually exploitative materials. The military division is the umbrella agency for both the Read More…
BISMARCK — Tribal casinos in North Dakota are taking a hit. Since the 2017 state Legislature legalized electronic pull tabs — a casino-esque game where players touch a screen to reveal winnings — tribal nations have been losing money as charities are seeing the benefits. “It’s no small thing for us,” said Mark Fox, Chairman Read More…
DICKINSON, N.D. — Throughout the succession of failed bond referendums for a new high school with a career and technical education facility, community members in Dickinson have asked, “What about the Legacy Fund?” Dickinson got an answer sooner rather than later — and straight from the top. During a meeting with The Dickinson Press, Read More…
CHEYENNE — Imagine you’re a cattle rancher in rural Niobrara County, where only 4.3% of the population has access to broadband internet speeds of 25 megabits per second (Mbps) or faster. You want to trade your cattle online, but you have to go to the public library in Lusk to access internet fast enough, leaving Read More…
Gillette, Wyo. once produced 40% of all U.S. coal, but is now losing half its jobs as coal demand plummets. A nearby town survived a bust in the 1950s and offers lessons. ARI SHAPIRO, HOST: The state that produces 40% of America’s coal is trying to figure out a new future for itself. Gillette, Wyo., Read More…
JACKSON — A new type of industrial activity is rising from the sagebrush and pastureland in western Wyoming: utility- scale solar farms. Three such developments have already been constructed or will soon be built in the Green and Bear river basins. The introduction of photovoltaic renewable energy technology figures to help replenish county coffers and Read More…
Wyoming Medical Center has signed a letter of intent with Banner Health, the first step in a potential future affiliation deal between Wyoming’s largest hospital and one of the most significant health care organizations in the region. The agreement is nonbinding, according to an announcement sent Tuesday by WMC, and allows both organizations to “conduct Read More…
FARGO, N.D. – Officials in North Dakota say it’s time for property owners in flood-prone areas of the Red River Valley to think about buying flood insurance. Flood preparation meetings with state and federal officials are scheduled this week in Fargo, Grand Forks and Jamestown. Those sessions will focus on insuring homes and other structures. Read More…
PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — If a South Dakota Senator has his way, the Board of Regents will combine the administration of Spearfish-based Black Hills State University and Rapid City-based South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. A bill introduced Tuesday by Sen. Ryan Maher (R-Isabel) would require the Board of Regents to develop a plan Read More…
Training sessions on new electronic pollbooks are planned throughout the next week and a half for North Dakota election officials. The new devices — 990 of them — will be distributed to North Dakota’s 53 counties for use at polling locations after being delivered to the state in February. Pollbooks are records of voters Read More…
USDA says eight percent of corn and two percent of soybeans still need to be harvested in the country. The weather does not help and continues to be a focus in the Northern Plains. Farmers in North Dakota saw dangerously low temperatures over the weekend. It’s one problem after the next as the state’s farmers Read More…
JACKSON, Wyo. — Third quarter Wyoming economic summary report was released this week indicating growth is slowing worldwide and in the Cowboy State as well. Wyoming continues to rebound from the severe downturn in 2015-16 but the pace slowed somewhat in after the first quarter of 2019. Total employment grew by 1.2 percent (3,570 jobs) Read More…
North Dakota will again enlist the help of Hollywood actor Josh Duhamel to help promote tourism in his home state. North Dakota’s tourism department confirmed Tuesday to The Associated Press that the star of several “Transformers” movies will be paid $175,000 to be the face of the state’s tourism campaign for the next two years. The state Read More…
The 2010s brought dramatic changes to North Dakota’s energy landscape as “the Bakken” became a household name, wind turbines grew bigger and the coal industry doubled down on research efforts. The development of the Bakken shale play came just as the recession of 2008 left many Americans unemployed or in debt. The promise of high-wage Read More…
FARGO — North Dakota’s average annual economic growth rate of almost 5.8% led the nation during a decade that witnessed the beginning and end of the boom in the Oil Patch. The growth of North Dakota’s economy and population from 2010 through 2019, in fact, was so significant that the decade can be thought of Read More…
In a letter to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the CEOs of Wyoming’s two largest hospitals and the head of Children’s Hospital Colorado urged the government to reject an effort by the state Department of Health that seeks to lower the cost of air ambulance trips, lodging a complaint that a state Read More…
The plan would utilize hunters to remove the herd of about 20 sheep by offering more licenses and ewe tags that would require hunters to take female sheep in Unit B1 of the southern Badlands, said Jeb Williams, wildlife chief for the North Dakota Game and Fish Department in Bismarck. Details are a work in Read More…
PINEDALE, Wyo. — A Sublette County Sheriff’s deputy was driving through Pinedale on his way to training when he saw an unusual call to action. A deer had become stuck in a pond that was partially iced over. Deputy Justin Hays radioed to dispatch and was soon joined by Deputy Peterson, who activated his body Read More…
HOUSTON, TEXAS – A North Dakota soldier was honored in the NFL’s Salute to Service at the Houston Texans’ stadium and his son shared this video of the moment with us. Master Sgt. Al Herda Jr., of Devils Lake, and his 8-year-old grandson, Ben Herda, got to stand on the sidelines of Sunday night’s Texans – Read More…
FORT WASHAKIE – A Wyoming tribe is looking to hemp and medical marijuana as potential ways to bolster the Wind River Reservation economy and treat illnesses, an approach more and more tribes view as potentially lucrative. In late September, the Eastern Shoshone Tribe’s General Council voted to approve a resolution to have a group Read More…
Kanye West has been denied a permit to build an amphitheater on his ranch in Wyoming. The Park County Planning and Zoning Commission made the decision Tuesday after the rapper changed his plans for the structure near Cody. West told county officials he now wants to include residential space. READ FULL STORY
LARAMIE, Wyo. — The board of trustees at the University of Wyoming has voted unanimously in approval of several new educational programs. The Laramie Boomerang reports voting, which took place during the board’s November meeting, granted approval for a new computer science education certificate, a master’s in “environment and natural resources in society,” and go-ahead for a neuroscience and Read More…
In October of this year, the BLM released an environmental assessment for adding more wind turbines to Wyoming’s Chokecherry and Sierra Madre Wind Energy Project. BLM Rawlins Field Manager Dennis Carpenter, was quoted then in a BLM press release when he said, “The project fulfils many of the agency’s priorities, including sustainably developing energy resources, modernizing Read More…
FARGO — After a year of construction, the 18-story Block 9 building in downtown Fargo reached its full height of 235 feet when the roof was poured Thursday, Nov. 14. The structure that is changing the city’s skyline is now the second-tallest building in the state behind the state Capitol. A flag has been hung on the Read More…
CASPER – Gov. Mark Gordon said he “firmly supports” the state Health Department’s director amid allegations that a 2015 Medicaid fraud investigation was obstructed by various government officials, a charge that has been denied by those involved. “The Governor firmly supports Mike Ceballos, the Director of the Wyoming Department of Health and his ability to Read More…
The head of North Dakota’s Commerce Department has personally retained an attorney amid a criminal investigation into audit findings of potential state law violations. Commerce Commissioner Michelle Kommer appeared Wednesday before the Legislature’s Audit and Fiscal Review Committee to answer lawmakers’ questions related to audit findings that agency officials mishandled appropriations and also skirted public Read More…
MEXICO CITY — A Williston, N.D., woman and four of her children were among those killed during a series of brutal attacks in northern Mexico on Monday, Nov. 4, according to a family member’s Facebook post. The onslaught has sent shock waves through two countries and prompted impassioned responses from political leaders. Kenny LeBaron Read More…