Week 50: The pandemic in Wyoming from Feb. 20-26
As lawmakers — many vaccinated — prepare for a redesigned session amid steady infection improvements, Gov. Gordon relaxes some restrictions.
Main Content
Voter ID bill advances in Legislature
Critics call “Voter fraud-prevention” bill a trojan horse for restricting access to the polls and a solution to a nonexistent problem. Supporters say it will increase confidence in election integrity.
Ramirez’s mother seeks to make grand jury proceeding public
Lawsuit alleges Albany County officials presented biased experts to the secret panel that chose not to prosecute deputy Derek Colling for the 2018 killing of Robbie Ramirez during a traffic stop.
2020 grizzly count slips; humans involved in most deaths
Scientists estimate the Yellowstone Ecosystem population was 727 grizzly bears in 2020 in the 19,270-square-mile monitoring area in and around Yellowstone National Park, down 10 bears from the year before.
Wyo scientists study interplay of wildfire smoke and climate change
New research shows wildfire smoke may not be contributing to climate change as much as previously expected. But as fires worsen, the impact on a warming planet could increase.
Week 49: The pandemic in Wyoming from Feb. 13-19
Vaccination numbers grow, but the percentage of Wyoming residents who say they’ll receive it remains around 60%.
The Drake’s Take
Wyoming GOP embraces Trump’s phony voter fraud claims
Opinion
By 17 CommentsDespite Wyo’s solid record of safe elections, Republican group recommends misguided reforms, Drake writes. A proposed bill he expects to cruise into law just tackles a nonexistent problem, he opines.
Madden’s Measure
School finance: Lawmakers’ biggest remaining challenge
Analysis
By 2 CommentsUndertaken every five years, the ‘recalibration’ analysis and reconsideration of Wyoming’s complex public-education funding and expenditures model takes on special urgency and import in 2021.
Dodson’s Doctrine
For economy’s sake, it’s time for Wyo to cut some deals
Opinion
By 7 CommentsLatest mine closure announcement should motivate state’s federal delegation to fight for protections of those left behind by coal industry, Dodson writes.
Op-eds
Wyo’s fight against clean energy drives young people away
Opinion
By 4 CommentsFixing Wyoming’s economy, stopping climate change and embracing new approaches are all more important than the special interests of a privileged few, opines our guest columnist. That’s why she favors the Rail Tie Wind Project.
Wind project doesn’t belong in Laramie Basin
Opinion
By 13 Comments“Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got
‘til it’s gone”
– Joni Mitchell, Big Yellow Taxi (1970)
Albany County soon may learn exactly what singer/songwriter Joni Mitchell meant when she penned these words 50 …
Photo Friday
Wicked winds
Raging gusts created dangerous driving conditions, wreaked havoc in Wyoming this week.
Arts & Culture
‘Bold Wanderings’ will help you locate your place in the cosmos
In Pinedale exhibit, artists Susan Durfee and Joseph Cipro use artmaking to unearth meaning, not the other way around.
In Case You Missed It
Lawmakers, execs disclose financial interests, state contracts
Annual disclosure forms due in advance of legislative session.
Biden administration stops half-million-acre Wyo oil and gas sale
Leasing pause leads BLM to postpone first-quarter auction of hundreds of parcels across the state.
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.