Week 45: The pandemic in Wyoming from Jan. 16-22
Gov. Gordon extends mask mandate as UK variant appears in Teton County and healthcare providers struggle with high vaccine demand.
Main Content
400 seconds of tolling for 400,000 dead
Answering a call from the new president to memorialize pandemic fatalities, church bells rang out over Laramie for 400 seconds on Tuesday. The bells, and their caretaker, have a history.
Adverse solar bill advances after heated subsidies debate
Measure would charge regulators with removing “subsidization” from solar reimbursement rates. Critics claim the burgeoning industry is being unfairly targeted.
Health officials struggle to meet vaccine demand
Counties worry about resources as ambitions turn to ramping up COVID-19 vaccinations to the general public.
Food bank serves new clientele as pandemic enters 2021
Wyoming’s economy has improved over seven months, Gov. Gordon says. A visit to a Casper food bank showed many in Wyoming are still struggling, including newcomers to charity.
Dire outlook for bees raises possibility of listing
Researchers hunt for clues as western bumble bee populations plummet and face possible federal protection.
The Drake’s Take
Cheney’s ‘vote of conscience’ deserves respect
Opinion
By 35 CommentsRepublicans may not agree with congresswoman on impeachment, Drake writes, but should get off her case.
Madden’s Measure
The unsupportable cost of Wyoming’s tax giveaways
Analysis
By 4 CommentsWyoming has more than its fair share special-interest tax exemptions, and they cost the state millions it can no longer afford.
Dodson’s Doctrine
Sen. Barrasso, it’s time to make friends with Mayor Pete
Opinion
By 2 CommentsWith Democrats controlling Congress and the White House, Dodson writes, Wyoming’s senior senator should leverage his infrastructure expertise to benefit the state.
Op-eds
A modest proposal for solving Wyoming’s budget woes
Opinion
By 4 CommentsWith a budget shortfall of nearly a third of a billion dollars, satirist Mark Jenkins writes, it’s time for Wyoming to eliminate its most egregiously socialistic program: public schools.
Oil and gas industry doesn’t need another handout
Opinion
By 4 CommentsWith the state making dire budget cuts, guest columnist Bowler writes, Wyoming can’t afford to pass legislation that would give oil & gas yet another tax break.
Photo Friday
Prepared for protests
On inauguration day, all was peaceful at the State Capitol except the gusting Wyoming wind.
Arts & Culture
Contemplating the coexistence of humans and animals
Jackson exhibit mulls the challenges and realities of sharing a landscape with wildlife.
In Case You Missed It
EPA disputes ‘alternative approach’ that OK’d huge oilfield
Environmental agency objects, along with others who say faulty justifications allowed approval of Delaware-sized Converse County Oil and Gas Project.
Week 44: The pandemic in Wyoming from Jan. 9-15
Vaccinations pick up speed as COVID-19-related deaths surpass 500 and active cases rise. Many participants in Legislature’s opening day don’t wear masks.
FROM THE ARCHIVES
Stanton heralds Park Service preservation of civil-rights sites
During a time of reckoning, the first Black National Park Service chief, who started his career in Wyoming, lauds park units that preserve historic American racial struggles.