CASPER — The highly contagious delta variant of the novel coronavirus has been identified in Wyoming, according to state data.

JACKSON — Discussions are ramping up about prohibiting campfires outside campgrounds as the wildfire danger continues to climb in northwest Wyoming.

POWELL — A Bridger, Montana, man was arrested Wednesday on allegations that he started the 28,600-acre Robertson Draw Fire while off-trail on his motorcycle.

SHERIDAN — As more than 3,000 members of the Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association descend on Sheridan this week, it’s still something of a shock for Rachel Webb.

JACKSON – Despite the best efforts of public health officials, Wyoming still ranks 48th among states for the percentage of adults who have received at least one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine and 47th for those who are fully vaccinated.

The University of Wyoming will enter the 2022 fiscal year with a wide array of new financial constraints after the school’s board of trustees finalized roughly $16.5 million in reduced spending on June 16.

RED DESERT – Sitting in the verdant shade of an aspen grove on Steamboat Mountain — which rises out of the Red Desert in southern Wyoming — Jason Baldes talks about buffalo.

Bronze Chris LeDoux statue rides into CFD

Reform advocates last week pushed the Wyoming Legislature to reduce the county-by-county inconsistencies, and fill the outcome-tracking holes that have long plagued the state’s juvenile justice system.

LARAMIE –– Despite a record-high need for mental health and substance abuse services, the Wyoming Department of Health, which provides support for community mental health centers across the state, faces a $7.5 million budget reduction, effective July 1.

A two-week effort to haze a popular mother grizzly bear and her cubs away from Highway 26/287 over Togwotee Pass where they have been attracting hundreds of gawkers is showing results, a top federal wildlife official said Monday.

CASPER – The woman who accused former Casper businessman Tony Cercy of sexually assaulting her in 2017 filed a federal lawsuit against him Tuesday alleging assault and battery.

HILLSDALE, Wyo. (AP) — About 15 train cars derailed in southeastern Wyoming, delaying shipments.

CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — Drivers were caught speeding less in Wyoming last year but those who got nabbed were going faster than usual.

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. (AP) — A bison has injured a hiker in Yellowstone National Park.

Cheyenne looks at more regulation for short-term rentals like AirBnB

PINEDALE — Nearly a dozen Wyomingites from different backgrounds gathered in Lander last week for the first-ever meeting of the Wildlife Task Force.

CODY – The Robertson Draw Fire north of Clark expanded to 29,474 acres as of Sunday night with 45% containment reported. Sunday morning marked the first time since the fire started that any containment had been reported.

CHEYENNE –– It's still up in the air whether the trial of a man accused of fatally shooting two adults and injuring two children will go forward in August.

CASPER – Almost a year ago, Gov. Mark Gordon announced that hundreds of state jobs would be eliminated as part of sweeping budget cuts. Only a fraction of the cuts resulted in layoffs — most of the positions were vacant.

CASPER — As jobs in the coal industry dwindle, the central question persists: Where will its workers go?

LARAMIE — The permitting process for the proposed Rock Creek Wind Project is set to begin this summer, and if all goes according to plan, construction on the 590-megawatt project could start as soon as 2023.

Wyoming lawmakers have begun the lengthy and involved process of redrawing legislative district maps for the next decade.

RIVERTON — State legislators plan to consider allowing county clerks in Wyoming to process absentee ballots before election day.

CASPER — Lawmakers received some of the first available data on juvenile justice in Wyoming during a joint judiciary meeting last week, but large blind spots still remain.

The University of Wyoming has reached an unprecedented milestone.

A federal judge has prevented drilling and construction on 449 oil and gas leases covering 334,762 acres in Wyoming, saying the federal government didn’t examine potential effects to imperiled greater sage grouse when it leased those lands in 2017.

GILLETTE, Wyo. (AP) — Two bats from northeastern Wyoming's Devils Tower National Monument have been found with the state's first confirmed cases of a deadly fungal disease.

CASPER — Six proposed wind farms could add more than 1,600 megawatts of electricity generation capacity to Wyoming’s grid by 2024, according to an announcement this week by utility Rocky Mountain Power’s parent company, PacifiCorp.

CHEYENNE — A recent rise in COVID-19 cases in Laramie County can be traced back to a few large gatherings and still-too-low vaccination rates, said Kathy Emmons, executive director of the Cheyenne-Laramie County Health Department.

CHEYENNE — The dollars in the Wyoming Retirement System’s Fire A Pension Plan are being expended faster than they’re growing, with the account losing $42,000 a day. That means, in the minute it took you to read this paragraph, it just lost another $29.

CHEYENNE –– Gov. Mark Gordon and the Wyoming Legislature are playing the long game when it comes to American Rescue Plan relief funding, mapping out a three-pronged plan that is centered around serving future generations of Wyomingites.

Some lawmakers are worried that school districts are using federal pandemic-relief and recovery funds to add new positions and purchase equipment that might add to ongoing costs for the state.

By Victoria Eavis

CASPER –– Wyoming’s energy industry reacted with cautious optimism Wednesday to a court ruling blocking the Biden administration’s freeze on new oil and gas leasing on federal lands.

LARAMIE — The University of Wyoming Board of Trustees met early Wednesday morning to discuss a resolution that authorizes the issuance of $260 million in bonds for the construction of new housing and parking facilities on campus.

Woman dies near Steamboat Point

By Hannah Black