Week 36: The pandemic in Wyoming from Nov. 14-20
Most counties seek mask mandates as spike continues. Gov. Mark Gordon tightens restrictions on group gatherings but doesn’t issue mask order.
Main Content
Game & Fish advances power-trap ban, select trail setbacks
Agency and commission will ask lawmakers for authority to require trapper education for some, but don’t act on requests to require daily trap checks.
Critics: Lawmakers’ solar-bill switch ‘silenced’ public
A committee makes a last-minute switcheroo leaving 78 would-be public commenters, waiting to testify on what was advertised, holding an empty bag.
Wyoming losing care options as COVID floods region’s hospitals
Surges in neighboring states are exacerbating the challenges of Wyoming’s response and further straining already scarce healthcare resources.
Drones, mites, electromagnetic energy — Wyo’s war on invasives
Battling invasive species in a state as vast as Wyoming comes with huge hurdles. Researchers are finding innovative ways around them.
Wyo GOP passes resolution opposing state of emergency
As COVID-19 kills record numbers of residents and overwhelms the state’s hospitals, the Wyoming GOP demands Gov. Mark Gordon rescind the legal underpinning for public-health orders.
The Drake’s Take
‘Clean Energy Revolution’ offers lifeline to Wyo economy
Opinion
By 2 CommentsState’s leaders, however, must be willing to embrace renewable energy and let go of fossil fuel dependence, Drake writes.
Dodson’s Doctrine
President Biden, prove yourself to Wyoming
Opinion
By 13 CommentsThe president-elect can support policies that will help coal communities while not running afoul of his party’s platform, Dodson writes.
Op-eds
Clean water in Wyoming is too precious to pollute
Opinion
By 5 CommentsWyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission decision to permit Aethon Energy to pump millions of gallons of pollutants into an underground aquifer near Shoshoni is wrongheaded, guest columnist Maria Katherman writes.
It’s time for Wyo electeds to acknowledge the presidential winner
Opinion
By 25 CommentsTop Wyoming lawmakers have remained silent on the results of the election, writes Trauner. Doing so is a dereliction of duty.
Photo Friday
Food for thought
In a show of unity and forgiveness, the University of Wyoming’s Black 14 football players delivered hundreds of pounds of food to Cathedral Home for Children in Laramie on Monday.
Arts & Culture
Contemporary fiber art show tackles fashion’s pressing problems
Georgia Rowswell’s exhibit at The Nic makes a creative statement about the clothing industry.
In Case You Missed It
State hears request to pump Moneta pollutants into aquifer
Today’s Wyo. Oil and Gas Conservation Commission hearing will consider 110 letters objecting to the plan by Aethon Energy, plus Aethon’s own justifications for the request.
Week 35: The pandemic in Wyoming from Nov. 7-13
Wyoming reached a critical point in its battle with COVID-19 this week as patient loads overwhelmed hospitals, healthcare workers and contact tracers, prompting the governor to announce plans to tighten health orders for the first time since spring.
Virus infections
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.