Latest Wyoming News

VACANT HOUSE SEAT-APPLICATIONS

8 people apply for vacant House seat in Wyoming district

GILLETTE, Wyo. (AP) — Eight people have submitted applications for a vacant House seat after Gillette Republican Rep. Roy Edwards died from COVID-19 on Nov. 2, the day before the general election. The Gillette New Record reported that Chris Knapp, Tom Murphy, Thomas Rothenbuehler, Nichole Shelstad, Joshua Dillinger, Joel Marquiss, Terry Sjolin and Kimberly Zehner have put their names forward as potential replacements. Officials say applicants must be Republican, at least 21 years old and live in House District 53, which includes Gillette. The Republican precinct committee is scheduled to select three finalists on Thursday. The finalists’ names will then be forwarded to the Campbell County Commission, which will select Edwards’ replacement.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-WYOMING

Wyoming Senate president tests positive for COVID-19

CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — Wyoming Senate President Drew Perkins has announced that he has tested positive for COVID-19 after he was heard coughing on screen during a remote committee meeting. The Casper Star-Tribune reports that the Republican lawmaker was coughing while asking a question during the meeting Monday with the Select Committee on Capital Financing and Investments. Perkins told committee members after asking the question that he was still struggling with the virus. Perkins becomes the third lawmaker whose COVID-19 diagnosis has been made public in the state. Republican Sen. Jim Anderson announced he had tested positive earlier this year. Republican Rep. Roy Edwards died earlier this month after contracting the virus. 

WYOMING BUDGET

Wyoming governor seeks another $500M in cuts to state budget

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Wyoming’s governor will ask lawmakers to slash $500 million from the state budget in response to weak revenue from the coal, oil and natural gas industries. Gov. Mark Gordon says the proposed cuts would lay off 62 state employees and eliminate 44 vacant positions. State lawmakers approve a supplemental budget in the in-between year of Wyoming’s two-year budget cycle. The supplemental budget used to be a chance for state agency directors to score extra funding, but not this year. Wyoming has been facing a $400 million shortfall even after Gordon cut 10% from state agencies last summer.

TROOPER SHOOTS MAN

Montana Highway Patrol trooper shoots, kills man on I-90

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A Montana Highway Patrol trooper shot and killed a Wyoming man on Interstate 90 west of Columbus, after a pursuit in which the man was throwing flaming objects from a car window, starting brush fires. Several law enforcement agencies were following his vehicle when he finally stopped. The patrol says the driver refused to cooperate and during a confrontation the trooper shot him once. The driver, 38-year-old Charles Craig Meeks of Pinedale, Wyoming, died at the scene. The officers involved are on paid administrative leave while the shooting is investigated.

WESTERN ENERGY LEASES

Judge blasts US agency’s ‘sloppy’ climate work in oil case

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A federal court has again blocked officials from issuing new oil and gas drilling permits on public lands in Wyoming. U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras in a Friday ruling rebuked the Trump administration for a “sloppy and rushed” environmental analysis that failed to look closely enough at climate change impacts from oil and gas development. Contreras had first blocked drilling on the parcels that cover 500 square miles (1,295 sq. kilometers) in 2019. At the time, he ordered officials to consider cumulative greenhouse gas emissions from fuels extracted on public lands including in neighboring Colorado and Utah. President-elect Joe Biden’s administration has pledged to ban new oil and gas leasing on public lands and waters.

TRUMP-LAST-MINUTE ROLLBACKS

Trump pushes new environmental rollbacks on way out the door

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Down to its final weeks, the Trump administration is working to push through dozens of rollbacks that could weaken century-old protections for migratory birds, expand Arctic drilling and hamstring future regulation of public health threats. The pending last-minute changes that benefit oil and gas and other industries deepen the challenges for President-elect Joe Biden, who made restoring and advancing protections for the environment, climate and public health a core piece of his campaign. Asked about the last-minute push, an Environmental Protection Administration spokesman says the agency is continuing to advance its regulatory agenda.