Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Sorted by date Results 26 - 39 of 39
CASPER — A protracted fight to return two Powder River Basin coal mines to full operation after its owner Blackjewel filed for bankruptcy hit another snag in court Wednesday. The required transfer of mining permits and associated cleanup liabilities to the new owner, Eagle Specialty Materials, could delay the official closing of the sale by at least three weeks, according to court proceedings that concluded Wednesday morning. Eagle Specialty Materials, an affiliate of Alabama-based company FM Coal, must have sufficient reclamation, or c...
SHERIDAN — The Wyoming Legislature’s Joint Committee on Travel, Recreation and Cultural Resources voted to move forward with a bill that would dedicate more state resources toward gambling regulation. The bill would expand Wyoming’s Pari-Mutuel Commission — which regulates horse racing — into a gaming commission that would oversee all legalized gambling activities in the state. The same committee voted against supporting similar legislation in June, which concerned state law enforcement officials. Sheridan County Sheriff Allen Thompson...
Body of missing Upton girl believed found in South Dakota SUNDANCE (WNE) — Michael Campbell of Sturgis, South Dakota, appeared in court Wednesday, charged with murder in the second degree after a body was discovered in his home that was believed to be that of missing Upton resident Shayna Ritthaler. Ritthaler disappeared on Oct. 3. Moorcroft Police Department quickly asked for the public’s help in providing information about the 16-year-old, who was last seen entering a black vehicle at the Coffee Cup in Moorcroft at around 12:36 p.m. The dep...
JACKSON — High fives to our healthy Wyoming kids. According to a report released Oct. 3 by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Wyoming’s children are some of the thinnest in the country. In 2017 and 2018, the years covered in the report, just 11.8% of kids in the state qualified as obese, below the national rate of 15.3%. Wyoming has the 10th lowest obesity rate in the nation, following mostly Western states. Utah has the lowest at 8.7%, while Mississippi has the highest rate at 25.4%. The report cites mixed reviews about the country as who...
GILLETTE - On Jan. 9 this year, Jackie Franco was married to Christopher Franco. That's 1/9/19. Ten days later, on Jan. 19 - 1/19/19 - she found out she was pregnant. Fast forward exactly eight months and Vedda Rose Franco was born at 9:19 a.m. Sept. 19, 2019, weighing 6 pounds, 1 ounce. She was 19.19 inches long. The couple expected to be induced that day but arrived at the hospital at midnight when Jackie started having contractions. Labor continued through the morning until she felt the urge...
Companies receive $12.1 million to expand Wyoming broadband CHEYENNE (WNE) — Three companies will receive $12.1 million from the Federal Communications Commission to expand broadband to rural parts of Wyoming over the next decade, the FCC announced in a news release Thursday. More than 4,700 Wyoming homes and businesses that lack high-speed internet access will gain broadband support through the funds. The FCC funding will go to three companies – Inventive Wireless of Nebraska, Tri County Telephone and Union Telephone – to provide servi...
CHEYENNE – With the state facing millions of dollars worth of unmet needs for its roads and bridges, a bill to create a task force to explore ways to fund repair work failed by a narrow margin Friday in committee. The bill would have created a 15-member group, comprised of legislators, stakeholders from transportation industries, and representatives from the Wyoming Department of Transportation and the governor's office, to explore funding strategies used by other states and entities. Ultimately, the bill failed in the Joint Transportation, H...
LARAMIE — Former University of Wyoming President Laurie Nichols is hoping to weigh in on whether the university will be required to provide news reporters with a number of records regarding an investigation into Nichols’ conduct at the university, as well as records of correspondence among UW’s Board of Trustees regarding Nichols. Laramie attorney Megan Overmann Goetz filed to join the case on behalf of Nichols late Friday afternoon. A formal motion to intervene is expected to be filed Tuesday. According to an email Goetz sent to Albany Count...
CASPER — At the start of the summer, Gov. Mark Gordon sat down with top officials within the Wyoming’s economic development think tank, Endow, with orders to pare down the group’s ambitious economic development agenda into something smaller and more incremental than the grand 20- year vision crafted under the administration of his predecessor, Matt Mead. Several months later, that agenda appears to be taking shape. This week, Gov. Mark Gordon hinted at some of the early specifics for his re-imagining Endow in an appearance at an aeros...
Body found in Carbon County identified RAWLINS (WNE) — The body of a Missouri man recently discovered in Carbon County has been identified. Authorities are saying Robert Wayne Kelley, 44, Springfield, Missouri, had been missing since Aug. 16, before he was found dead in a drain culvert on Oct. 4, just six miles south of Sinclair on County Road 407. That area is currently occupied by a wind charger job site. On Thursday afternoon, Carbon County Coroner Paul Zamora confirmed with the Rawlins Times that Kelley’s dead body had been sitting in the...
A Worland man has been charged with several felonies including arson following a house fire earlier last week. Additional charges were filed following a search of the man, Ryan Tate Allen, on Sunday, when he attempted to flee. According to a press release from the Washakie County Sheriff’s Office, On Oct. 7, there was a residential fire reported at 2569 US Highway 20 in Washakie County. Emergency services and law enforcement personnel from the Worland Fire Department, Hot Springs County Fire Department, Washakie County Ambulance, Wyoming H...
LARAMIE — In a public records dispute between the University of Wyoming and Wyoming news organizations, an attorney for former UW President Laurie Nichols has asked Albany County district court Judge Tori Kricken to show Nichols the records related to her ouster that are currently being considered for public release. Laramie attorney Megan Overmann Goetz filed a motion for Nichols to intervene shortly before Kricken’s court clerks closed their office late Tuesday afternoon. In that filing, Goetz expounded on what Nichols has already told rep...
CASPER — With a month until his administration releases its first budget, Gov. Mark Gordon said all ideas to trim spending are on the table in 2020, explaining that Wyoming appears to be entering “a new period” in its history as the outlook for fossil fuels as the state’s primary economic driver grows increasingly grim. In a conference call with reporters Tuesday afternoon, Gordon said that he anticipates a number of cuts to be included in his proposed budget, setting the stage for a major funding debate in a Legislature still smarting from ma...
Officials encourage getting flu shot now CHEYENNE (WNE) — This year’s flu season is fast approaching, and according to the Wyoming Department of Health’s Immunization Unit, a flu shot is the most effective way to prevent getting the flu. For the 2019-20 flu season, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend getting vaccinated by the end of October. Children between the ages of 6 months and 8 years need two rounds of shots, which should be completed by the end of October. However, after the first shot, kids have to wait four weeks...