Featured Articles in Regional News

Wyoming Transportation Commission Greenlights $21.49 Million in Highway Upgrades

The Wyoming Transportation Commission allocated $21.49 million in contracts for eight highway construction projects across the state during its regular business meeting on March 20, 2025. The awards, granted to various contractors, will fund improvements ranging from concrete slab replacements to bridge rehabilitation and road resurfacing, with completion dates spanning from June to November 2025. Read More…

Jury: Greenpeace liable for hundreds of millions in damages over pipeline project protests

(The Center Square) – A North Dakota jury on Wednesday found environmental activist group Greenpeace liable for hundreds of millions of dollars in damages for its activities related to protests of construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. Dallas-based Energy Transfer sued Greenpeace over the sometimes violent protests that delayed construction of the pipeline by five months, costing the Read More…

North Dakota Commerce Department Awards Energy Conservation Grants

The North Dakota Department of Commerce has announced the award of $1,168,199 in Energy Conservation Grants (ECG) to communities across the state. These grants are part of the department’s ongoing initiative to support energy efficiency improvements in public buildings, benefiting local governments through funding for sustainable projects aimed at reducing energy costs. The ECG program Read More…

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More North Dakotans eligible for COVID-19 shots as some health units move into the next phase of vaccination

More North Dakotans are eligible for COVID-19 vaccines as at least one district health unit moves into a broader vaccination category. Right now, most of the state is in the Phase 1B category, which means, among other things, anyone 16 years of age and older with two underlying health risk conditions can get vaccinated. Phase 1C includes Read More…

Whole Foods Market makes entry into Wyoming

Whole Foods Market this week entered Wyoming, its 43rd state, with the completion of its acquisition of independent supermarket Jackson Whole Grocer. The Austin, Texas-based specialty grocery chain said the store, located at 1155 S. Highway 89 in Jackson, Wyo., will remain open during its conversion to the Whole Foods banner. The acquisition was announced Read More…

South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg facing three misdemeanors in connection with deadly crash

PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg has been charged with three misdemeanors in connection with a deadly crash in September 2020. Hyde County Deputy State’s Attorney Emily Sovell announced Ravnsborg will be charged with operating a vehicle while using a mobile electronic device, illegal lane change and careless driving. READ FULL Read More…

Wyoming governor and energy operators decry permitting delays

Gov. Mark Gordon sent a letter to the Biden administration on Wednesday criticizing a recent order that he says severely hampers oil and gas development and threatens Wyoming’s economic well-being. In a letter sent Wednesday to the Interior Department’s acting secretary, Gordon said Wyoming’s oil and gas operators faced long delays in obtaining permits and other approvals Read More…

12 North Dakota communities will be receiving upgrades

BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) – Twelve North Dakota communities will be receiving upgrades, thanks to the Main Street Initiative Vibrancy Grant. Grant funding goes to nonprofit organizations and local governments to work on projects that will make the city more vibrant. The North Dakota Department of Commerce selected Bismarck as a recipient of the funding to Read More…

Is North Dakota nearing herd immunity?

About 13 percent of North Dakotans have tested positive for COVID-19 since the pandemic began. But a study by Columbia University suggests a much higher percentage of the state may have already had the virus. So how close is North Dakota to herd immunity? Researchers at Columbia University say a computer model estimates 105 million Read More…

Legal marijuana amendment comes under fire in Pierre courtroom

PIERRE – South Dakota voters created an unconstitutional super agency that would be a fourth branch of government when they voted to legalize small amounts of recreational marijuana, a lawyer challenging the vote argued Wednesday. Amendment A conveyed broad powers to the South Dakota Department of Revenue to regulate and tax marijuana, lawyer Lisa Prostrollo told Circuit Read More…

South Dakota becomes leading example of vaccine distribution

South Dakota, a state that weathered months of criticism from the media and Democrats for how it handled the COVID-19 epidemic, has become a model for vaccine distribution while other states struggle. According to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, South Dakota is the third-most successful state in administering its provided coronavirus vaccines, following West Read More…

Foster Friess spreads ‘generosity upon generosity’

JACKSON —PAWS of Jackson Hole Executive Director Amy Moore’s four-person staff gathered in an office around the holidays to open a certified letter inbound from the Lynn and Foster Friess Family Foundation. Only one person present, PAWS Development Director David Watson, knew what was concealed within. “As we opened up the envelope, we had no Read More…

WYOMING HIGHWAY PATROL PREPARED FOR POTENTIAL ARMED PROTESTS

The Wyoming Highway Patrol says it’s prepared should any violence erupt at the Wyoming State Capitol next week. The FBI has warned of possible armed protests across the U.S. in the days leading up to President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, but WHP spokesman Sgt. Jeremy Beck says they’re “not anticipating” things to “go south.” READ FULL STORY

South Dakota Board of Regents’ lone free speech grievance: Hobo Days

PIERRE, S.D. — An annual report documenting alleged violations of free speech on public university campuses across South Dakota turned up only a single complaint, a grievance over “Hobo Days” as the name of South Dakota State University’s homecoming celebration, according to the state’s Board of Regents. Nathan Lukkes, the Board of Regents’ counsel, presented Read More…

IT’S OPEN WOLF SEASON IN SOUTH DAKOTA

It’s wolf harvest time in South Dakota. As of Jan. 4, federal protections have been lifted from gray wolves, putting management back into state hands. As a result, South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks (SDGFP) will allow sportsmen and women, trappers, landowners and livestock producers the “ability to harvest gray wolves across the state” as long as Read More…

Governor Gordon Announces County-Led Community Charitable Relief Program

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (Wyoming News Now) – Governor Mark Gordon has unveiled the Community Charitable Relief Program, which provides grant funding to nonprofit organizations that have provided public assistance or seen a decline in donations during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Governor has allocated more than $12.1 million in CARES Act funding to Wyoming counties and tribal Read More…

Idaho Falls wants Tapp lawsuit thrown out

IDAHO FALLS — The city of Idaho Falls and others sued by Christopher Tapp are asking for a lawsuit against them to be thrown out. In a motion to dismiss or strike filed last week in federal court, the city and other defendants claim Tapp’s allegations of “coerced” confessions can’t be litigated because of previous Read More…

South Dakota FFA champions named in leadership development events

South Dakota FFA’s annual state leadership development events continued this year in a new format, despite the COVID-19 pandemic. South Dakota FFA members from across the state traded an in-person state leadership development event, in Pierre, for virtual events throughout December and January. Members qualified through district competitions, advancing the top two teams and top Read More…

$100,000 closer to clean water for Pierre

The $37.5 million Pierre drinking water treatment plant — the biggest project in the city’s modern history — is $100,000 closer to reality, thanks to the Central Plains Water Development District.   “To the best of my knowledge, the drinking water treatment project is the biggest local public investment in Pierre’s history,” Pierre Mayor Steve Read More…

Board of Regents approve Paulson Center at Dakota State

The South Dakota Board of Regents approved the naming of a new program unit at Dakota State University’s campus on Thursday. The Paulson Cyber Incubator and Entrepreneurial Center is named after Matt Paulson, a former DSU alumnus, entrepreneur, private equity, investor and author. READ FULL STORY

Movement to form ‘Greater Idaho’ gains steam as two rural Oregon counties vote to consider joining Idaho

PORTLAND, Ore. — With a Democratic supermajority in the Oregon legislature and increasingly left-leaning urban areas, conservative rural Oregonians have long felt left out of state politics.   Some of these conservative Oregonians are trying to leave the state all together to preserve their values. But they don’t plan to physically move anywhere — it’s Read More…