Former Montana utility regulator will lead the $4 billion federal power-marketing agency serving the Pacific Northwest U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright announced Travis Kavulla as administrator and CEO of the Bonneville Power Administration, putting the former Montana utility regulator in charge of the agency that markets wholesale power across the Pacific Northwest. “Travis Kavulla’s Read More…
The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare has released its first round of funding opportunity overviews under the Rural Health Transformation Program, marking a significant step forward in the state’s effort to reshape healthcare delivery in underserved communities across Idaho. The funding opportunity overviews are designed to give stakeholders an early look at the expected Read More…
The Justice Department announced a final settlement with the state of North Dakota in the case of North Dakota v. United States, resolving litigation stemming from the violent and disruptive protests surrounding the Dakota Access Pipeline in 2016. While the federal government disputed the district court’s legal analysis of North Dakota’s claims and its own Read More…
(The Center Square) – In a reversal, Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson has ordered that surveillance cameras be turned on during the FIFA World Cup Tournament. Wilson said in a statement Friday that the decision to activate the cameras followed updated information from Seattle police and the FBI “on the current global and local threat environment.” Read More…
CHEYENNE – Native Americans in Wyoming soon will receive more recognition in statewide K-12 education. During the 2017 session, the Legislature passed Enrolled Act 119, which requires the Wyoming Department of Education and State Board of Education to update the state’s social studies standards to include Native American history, cultural heritage and contemporary contributions. READ Read More…
It was a windy week in Casper, appropriate given the number of wind stories that ended up in the paper since last Monday. Each came from the same conference, a two-day forum about wind development at the University of Wyoming. It’d be overkill to lay out each of the topics from that conference for a newsletter. In Read More…
MINNEAPOLIS — Xcel Energy has proposed splitting its utility operations in North Dakota and Minnesota, telling regulators that widening policy differences between the two states over clean energy have caused stresses that might best be resolved through a breakup. But a consultant for the North Dakota Public Service Commission is arguing against the separation, saying Read More…
The Albany County Genealogical Society is helping people who have taken a DNA test learn more about their family histories and use the test results to find family members they have been separated from, Genealogical Society President Dicksie May said. “Some of the people I have been involved with recently (were trying to find their) Read More…
Raise a beer this weekend to toast Wyoming’s status as Kiplinger’s Most Tax Friendly State. When you do, you’ll be paying the lowest tax on beer in the nation. When compared with South Dakota, the nearest neighboring ‘most tax friendly’ state, Wyoming’s average sales tax is 5.42, while South Dakota’s is 6.39 and includes many Read More…
RAWLINS — The Bureau of Land Management office in Rawlins decided to curb the number of wild horses at the Red Desert Complex. The BLM faced lawsuits from Sweetwater County ranchers and the state of Wyoming in opposition to the decision made by the BLM. The state of Wyoming filed suit against the BLM, claiming Read More…
The U.S. Small Business Administration awarded $18 million in funding to 44 State international trade agencies through SBA’s competitive State Trade Expansion Program (STEP), to support export growth among U.S. small businesses. The Wyoming Business Council was awarded $221,431 to assist small businesses in Wyoming expand their market through exporting. STEP is designed to increase Read More…
LARAMIE – Wyoming entrepreneurs can “WIN” access to capital financing through a new a new state program using crowdfunding opportunities, Secretary of State Ed Murray told those attending the Wyoming Working Together Conference on Friday. Murray outlined the Wyoming Invests Now (WIN) program for members of the Wyoming Economic Development Association (WEDA) and the Wyoming Read More…
It didn’t take long for a company founded by a UW graduate student in 2011 to grow big enough to have an international reach and reputation. Bright Agrotech’s six-year growth surge was capped off this week by being featured in a cover story for Bloomberg Businessweek. Bright Agrotech and its founder, Nate Storey have been Read More…
Miss North Dakota 2017 Cara Mund has been crowned Miss America. Mund is the first North Dakotan ever to win the Miss America crown. She was asked during her interview question what is on her bucket list. She said it was to make it past the Top 10 on Miss America because only 3 other Miss North Read More…
CHEYENNE – A Cheyenne filmmaker is preparing to travel to a Louisiana film festival, where his latest project will be up for an enormous cash prize. Paul Petersen is an actor, screenwriter and producer. His new film, “An Aria for Albrights,” is set to compete in the It is the third time he and his Read More…
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) – Cheyenne Regional Medical Center officials say the hospital has regained its standing with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services after losing its deemed status over a complaint. The hospital had an important federal certification taken away after the Wyoming Department of Health found problems with the way the hospital discharged Read More…
The University of Wyoming is on track to welcome its largest freshman class ever just months after sending off its largest-ever graduating class. The result will be overall enrollment numbers that look roughly the same as 2016’s, said Mary Aguayo, interim associate vice president for enrollment management. “We graduated out 5 percent more students than Read More…
Inc. Magazine has doubled the number of Wyoming companies in its list of the 5000 fastest growing companies in the United States. In 2016 the list included the telecom company Mammoth Networks of Gillette and Fund&Grow, a financial servies firm based in Cheyenne. This year, both companies appeared again, with Mammoth climbing 272 positions in Read More…
CODY, Wyo. –Photo exhibitions all over America are getting people excited about a new book called, “People of Yellowstone.” The book explores the lives and passions of people who help protect Yellowstone National Park. The book features dozens of people, including a park horse wrangler, a backcountry cook, and three Yellowstone Park Superintendents, including Dan Read More…
Wyoming Conservation Corps (WCC) members Chris Folsom and Lola Philips work on the Casper Rotary Club Park trail on Casper Mountain, one of the first WCC projects of this summer. (WCC Photo) Projects ranging from building trails in the Shoshone and Bridger-Teton national forests in northwest Wyoming to building a yurt at Glendo State Park Read More…
A couple of large data problems from the U.S. Department of Education recently came to the attention of U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo. One of those errors uncovered billions of dollars in student loan costs, of which Congress was previously unaware. The other affects potential college students’ ability to make an informed decision about what Read More…
The Microsoft Data Center outside of Cheyenne is “by far the biggest customer on the grid,” Michelle Patron, Microsoft’s director of sustainability policy explained in a recent post on the Microsoft Green Blog. “We needed more energy and wanted to use wind power to satisfy our growing demand, but didn’t want the local utility or Read More…
Grizzly bears near Wyoming schools got national attention after Donald Trump’s Education Secretary nominee mentioned them in a Senate hearing. She suggested teachers in Wapiti, Wyoming, near Cody, may need guns to fend off bears. Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, was asked in a Senate hearing Tuesday, “You can’t say today Read More…
Renewable energy and Wyoming jobs received a boost Wednesday as the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) approved the first 500 wind turbines for the Chokecherry Sierra Madre (CCSM) Wind Energy Project. The BLM action followed the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Record of Decision (ROD) indicating that it would issue an Eagle Take Permit Read More…
Drivers throughout the country are expected to pay more at the pump in 2017 than they did in 2016, according to GasBuddy’s new 2017 Fuel Price Outlook. GasBuddy, a company that tracks gasoline prices, forecasts the price of gas will climb to a national average of $2.49 a gallon this year. The average price in Read More…
The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), Storage Tank Program (STP) reported the highest underground storage tank (UST) operational compliance rates in the country to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) during federal fiscal year 2016. STP regulates the installation and operation of regulated storage tank systems (such as gas stations) and oversees cleanup Read More…
Auto manufacturers that sell cars directly to customers, like Tesla Motors, would be permitted to operate dealerships and sell vehicles directly to Wyoming residents in the state under a bill before the state Legislature. Tesla, which manufactures electric vehicles, has a nontraditional business model in which they sell cars directly to customers, bypassing third-party dealerships. Read More…
Cattle prices have risen slightly since the beef market bottomed out in mid-October, but they’re expected to plateau for the rest of the marketing season. North Dakota State University livestock economist Tim Petry tells The Bismarck Tribune (http://bit.ly/2hEJzX5 ) that there’s been “a good spark,” but the rally isn’t likely to continue. From News Center Read More…
North Dakota’s largest power plant is making operational changes to remain competitive in a changing market. The Coal Creek Station will be able to ramp its electrical output up and down more quickly depending on whether the wind is blowing and more renewable energy is available, The Bismarck Tribune (http://bit.ly/2i4qZLx ) reported. Most of Read More…
A recent report by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) highlights the critical role that high-tech innovation plays in Wyoming’s economy. ITIF, the leading U.S. think tank for science and technology policy, examined 20 indicators of the innovation-driven high-tech economy—both traditional economic data such as technology exports and newer metrics such as broadband Read More…
President-elect Donald Trump says he will repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, a national health care reform measure also known as Obamacare. “On day one of the Trump administration, we will ask Congress to immediately deliver a full repeal of Obamacare,” information on Trump’s website says. So what do his plans mean Read More…
There will be lots to talk about at the Central Wyoming Economic Forecast in Casper on Dec. 13 at the Parkway Plaza; and the Wyoming Business Report has assembled an impressive slate of speakers to cover every angle. Kicking off the event will be UW economics professor Anne Alexander, who will provide the low down Read More…
Microsoft Corp. has announced its largest wind power deal to date: 237 megawatts (MW) that will power their data center outside of Cheyenne. This will bring Microsoft’s total investment in wind energy projects to more than 500 MW. This deal will combine a 178 MW from the Bloom Wind project in Kansas with a long-term Read More…
The Wyoming Business Alliance and Wyoming Heritage Foundation have created a new initiative where business people across the state will be able to help improve public education. Wyoming Excels was officially launched during Gov. Matt Mead’s Business Forum at Cheyenne. “Wyoming Excels is about business engaging with educators,” said Fred von Ahrens, the Read More…
As a part of the Wyoming Lottery’s goal to give back to Wyoming, WyoLotto made a third transfer of revenue to the state on Oct. 7. This revenue transfer, totaling $797,638, brings the lottery’s total revenue transfer amount to $2,832,638 since April of this year. WyoLotto looks forward to building on the success that has Read More…
Members of the Eastern Shoshone Tribe are marking the return of buffalo to their reservation in central Wyoming more than a century after the animals were wiped out. The tribe is holding a ceremony Thursday marking the release of 10 genetically pure buffalo from a federal refuge in Iowa. The National Wildlife Federation and U.S. Read More…
State education officials are a step closer to revamping the delivery of education statewide. The Wyoming Department of Education recently released the 2017-2021 Digital Learning Plan. “This comprehensive five-year strategic plan was written around the importance of incorporating digital learning and education technology into the classroom and addresses the need for equitable access to educational Read More…
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. (AP) — The Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma has donated $10,000 to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North Dakota to support its fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline. The Cherokees say they presented a check last week in addition to providing three truckloads of firewood for those camping out to protest construction of Read More…
The State of Wyoming recently released its annual MACRO report detailing the state’s economy, and while the report paints a gloomy picture, there are signs of hope on the horizon. “I think there’s a couple of causes for optimism, the worst may be over for the state,” Jim Robinson, principal economist for the economic analysis Read More…
Gov. Jack Dalrymple is bestowing North Dakota’s top honor on the late entrepreneur and business leader Eugene Dahl. The Gwinner native is the 43rd recipient of the North Dakota Theodore Roosevelt Rough Rider Award, the state’s highest commendation for citizens. Dahl is credited with leading the growth of several equipment manufacturing businesses in North Dakota, Read More…
Instructor Matt Dunlevy probably didn’t have to remind his University of North Dakota students that they’d be sharing the airspace as they stood in a field preparing their drones for flight as the sun set one recent afternoon. “Welcome to the drone business, where you will be eaten alive by bugs,” Dunlevy said, as the Read More…
Vail Resorts, Inc. has announced that the company’s CEO Rob Katz and his wife, Elana Amsterdam, founder of Elana’s Pantry, made personal contributions totaling $2 million to 12 local non-profit organizations in the communities where the company operates. Each of the contributions will be directed toward programs that support the welfare and education of children Read More…
When Landis Benson, president of the Wyoming Association of Realtors was asked if he thought there a Wyoming real estate bubble — when market prices rise rapidly due to high demand (as they did in the state during the energy boom in the early part of the decade) until they reach unsustainable levels, prompting a Read More…
A report released earlier this week by finance website WalletHub said Fargo is the ninth fastest-growing midsize city based on a study that compared 515 cities on 14 different factors, including population growth rate, college-educated population growth and unemployment rate decreases. Fargo ranked 13th overall in the study, which looked at growth between 2009 and Read More…