Latest Wyoming News

VIRUS OUTBREAK-WYOMING

Wyoming among top five states for COVID-19 infection rate

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Wyoming now ranks among the worst states for spread of the coronavirus as its residents grow weary of measures to protect themselves and state officials refrain from reimposing public-health orders to try to force compliance.. Figures from Johns Hopkins and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show Wyoming ranks among the top five states for new infections per capita. The Wyoming Department of Health says almost 3,300 people in Wyoming had tested positive as of Tuesday for the virus and have not yet recovered, up from about 500 in July. The state’s COVID-19 death toll has risen by seven in the past week to 77. 

TRUMP-PUBLIC LANDS

US land agency sued over plans for southwest Colorado

DENVER (AP) — Environmental groups are asking a judge to overturn a land use plan for southwestern Colorado approved under the tenure of a Trump administration official who was later removed from a leadership post by court order. Representatives of the Sierra Club and other groups said a Tuesday lawsuit that the U.S. Bureau of Land Management plan violates federal law because it was finalized under Deputy Director William Perry Pendley. Pendley acted as the bureau’s director for more than a year before his removal last month by a federal judge in Montana. That judge later struck down three of the agency’s land use plans in Montana.

CROW RESERVATION KILLING

Suspect arrested in woman’s killing on Crow Reservation

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Authorities say a suspect in the shooting death of a woman on Montana’s Crow Reservation forced the victim’s car off the road and then shot her while her child was present. Billings Police arrested 27-year-old Taylor Leigh Plainbull early Tuesday following a standoff at a motel along Airport Road where he had barricaded himself in. He’s due to appear in court Wednesday to face a charge of first degree murder in the killing of 26-year-old Lenita Goes Ahead on Saturday in the Blue Creek area of the reservation. The Crow Tribal Executive Branch described it as an “ambush-style” killing. 

WYOMING BUDGET

Wyoming revenue report less bleak but Gordon urges restraint

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — A new report predicts that Wyoming’s revenue from the oil, natural gas and coal industries will remain weak. Gov. Mark Gordon says that while the report shows some improvement, Wyoming is nowhere close yet to recovering from the current downturn in oil prices and the coronavirus pandemic. Gordon on Monday urged the Joint Appropriations Committee to work with him to lower spending. The Consensus Revenue Estimating Group report predicts a $451 million revenue shortfall, down from an $877 million shortfall the nonpartisan panel predicted in May. National park tourism and wind energy development have helped offset dwindling revenue from the fossil-fuel industries.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-WYOMING

Questions arise over Laramie County mask mandate enforcement

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Authorities in Wyoming have raised questions over how they would enforce a potential mask mandate in Laramie County after county health officials sought a draft of the order. The Wyoming Tribune Eagle reported that the Cheyenne-Laramie County Board of Health is scheduled to review the order Tuesday. The proposal would then need to be approved by county and state public health officers. So far, Teton County is the only county with a mask mandate. Teton County sheriff’s Lt. Lloyd Funk said enforcing the mandate has been “easy,” since violators could face misdemeanor charges. Laramie County Undersheriff Rich Hillegas and Cheyenne Police Chief Brian Kozak said their departments would take similar approaches.