General News
Comprehensive coverage of news and developments across Wyoming and beyond.
- Pacific Typhoon to a Snow Drift: How the Tropics Could Deliver Wyoming’s First Snow
A decaying Western Pacific typhoon recurving into the polar jet stream is initiating a massive atmospheric wave, threatening to pull Arctic air through Canada and combine with a Pacific low to deliver Wyoming's first measurable winter weather next week. - Policy is a "damn gong show:" Barlow on Pot, Taxes and Public Lands
People think about public policy as a pendulum swinging, like politics. Well, we've turned it into a damn gong show. Everybody's making a lot of noise. What we're doing is not durable. [With] the next lawsuit or the next administration, then you're going the o... - WY Vehicle Registration Taxes Drive Down New Car Sales
Because Wyoming's tax formula permanently anchors every assessment to the vehicle's original factory sticker price rather than its current market value, rapid auto inflation over the past decade has created a severe mathematical disparity between older and new... - Wyoming Officials Push Data Center Development Amid National Investment Pullback
Wall Street pullbacks, scrapped projects, and a trillion-dollar debt bubble in the AI data center market raise serious questions about Wyoming's aggressive push to attract hyperscale computing facilities. - The Muni: Top 5 Municipal Courses to Play This Fall
A municipal course isn’t Augusta National with lower green fees. It isn’t supposed to be. When the irrigation system needs work at a wealthy private club, a member can write a check. When a municipal course needs the same repair, it has to be in the budget. - Anatomy of Beef: Inside the Cartel and the Push for Local Processing
A deep look into the structural consolidation of the Big Four meat packers, the federal push to bypass industrial monopolies through direct-to-consumer sales, and the policy friction over rising foreign beef imports. - Blocked Election Reforms Backfire: $700,000 in Federal Aid to Wyoming at Risk
State officials have not yet announced whether emergency administrative rules or legislative proposals will be introduced to bring Wyoming's election procedures into compliance with the new federal directives before the full grant cycle concludes. - How to Watch the High Plains Republican Primary Debate: 5:30 PM July 16
The High Plains Republican Primary Debate begins at 5:30pm July 16, 2026. - Profiles: Carla Crayton, Sheridan Foster Parent Exchange
For Carla, these realities underscore the importance of education and prevention. She believes communities cannot effectively protect children from dangers they refuse to acknowledge. Awareness is often the first step toward intervention, and intervention can... - Candidates Set for July 16th High Plains Republican Primary Debate
The Open Range Record announces the candidates appearing at the High Plains Republican Primary Debate July 16th at the Rialto Theater in Casper. - 2026 High Plains Debates Poll Results
The Open Range Record releases the results of our month-long poll to determine the 5 invitees to our debate stage on July 16 in Casper - Steinmetz Calls for Legislative Poll on Special Session to Address Data Centers
Among the issues Steinmetz suggested lawmakers could examine during a special session are protections for Wyoming's water resources, groundwater supplies, and static water levels; electric reliability and ratepayer protections; responsibility for generation, t... - You Decide: Congressional Candidate Poll for Seats at the Debate
Holding a fair debate between 10 people is impossible—5 will be a challenge. For the month of June, we will be running a poll to determine which 5 candidates Wyoming voters want to hear from on the debate stage. Results of the poll will be released June 30. - The 24-Hour Worker: Humanoid Robots Challenge the 2026 Labor Market
The robot is performing tasks that an entry-level worker would find monotonous and repetitive. A human employee might process fifteen hundred packages during a standard six-hour shift. In contrast; this robot has processed twenty-six thousand packages in twent... - The Third Shot: How Media Saturation is Warping the American Psyche
The task of cooling the political rhetoric may be a job that the media establishment is currently unwilling to perform. For the American people, the question remains: how much longer can the republic withstand a media environment that prioritizes "rocket fuel"... - Board Application Raises More Questions for April Marie Morganroth
Another charge of forgery has been added to the 20 others Morganroth is already facing. It stems from what appears to be the same allegedly fraudulent letter she submitted elsewhere. This charge raises questions about a board application Morganroth submitted t... - An Open Letter to Senator Ogden Driskill
You said you wanted people to trust your word. The best I can tell, the main thing you’ve done to try and trick voters into doing this is by sitting under an “1880s” ranch sign during the interview. - Mission Accomplished: Kathy Russell Announces Retirement as Wyoming GOP Executive Director
The vacancy created by Russell’s departure comes at a critical time for the Wyoming Republican Party as it navigates the 2026 election cycle. However, the tone of her letter suggests that the party is in its strongest position in decades. - Mythos: Why AI Just Ended the “Safe Machine” Argument in Wyoming
In the age of Mythos, the barrier to entry for cyber interference has dropped significantly. Traditionally, advanced hacking required a rare level of specialized expertise, but ten trillion parameter models make advanced exploitation capabilities accessible to... - An Easter Miracle Happened in Iran
So how did Wyoming figure into the F-15 Easter Miracle? About three years ago, an exercise was conducted on a remote highway outside of Casper. It involved an MC-130, helicopters, and special forces that formed the same core package used to rescue the downed a... - Tyrrany of the Minority: Data Challenges the “Generation Wyomingite” Mantra
The evidence suggests that the "Old Wyoming" gatekeeping effort is being conducted by a group that is numerically shrinking. While the rhetoric focuses on 1890 roots, the state’s actual character is being directed by a majority of residents who have lived in t... - Wyoming's Data Center Dreams May Fade Away with Technology Advances
The current strategy involves millions of dollars in sales and use tax exemptions for data center equipment. However, if the "TurboQuant" revolution continues to move AI away from the cloud and onto local devices, Wyoming may find itself holding the infrastruc... - Wyoming’s Vanishing Winter: Record Heat and Solar Activity Confound Long-Range Forecasts
The unprecedented warmth has also highlighted a growing gap between traditional seasonal forecasting and the reality of a high-solar-activity environment. - Billion Dollar Dilemma: Why the Sioux Nation Refuses to Touch its Black Hills Fortune
Justice Harry Blackmun, writing for the majority, famously quoted a lower court’s scathing assessment: "A more ripe and rank case of dishonorable dealings will never be found in our history." - Profiles: Chip Neiman
Chip Neiman is the 64th person to serve as Wyoming Speaker of the House. Though, if you talked to him outside of the state house, he wouldn't strike you as being 3rd in line to the governor's chair. You'd meet a plain spoken rancher with deep Wyoming roots. - Marie Hamilton: The Names, The Resume and the Criminal Arrest
But the public record surrounding that name Marie Hamilton tells a longer and more complicated story. The earliest official records reviewed by The Open Range Record appear in Arizona under the name April M. McClellan and April Marie McClellan - "Is It Live or Is It Memorex?" How AI is Changing the Wyoming Legislature
"With younger legislators moving into the building, technology is beginning to change with the times. New programs and spread sheets, and different ways of doing research have evolved. No longer do the legislators pore over statute books in the library or carr... - County17 News Deceptively Edits Rep Pendergraft Quotation, Completely Changes Meaning
In a March 4 article, County17 news deceptively edited a quotation from Sheridan Rep Ken Pendergraft completely changing the meaning of what he said. It's not the first time he has been taken out of context but it is the most blatant by a news organization. - WATCH: The Roundup March 5
Join David as he runs down the day's events in the 2026 Budget Session. Rep Gary Brown joins the program - WATCH: The Open Range Roundup Feb 27
Join The Open Range Staff as we give you a quick run-down of the last few days - WATCH: Cowboy State Politics--The Democrats' Failed Investigation with Rebecca Bextel 8AM
Democrats Karlee Provenza, Mike Yin, Liz Storer with the help of Matt Obrecht orchestrated the check controversy from the very beginning and yesterday's Special Investigative Committee proved it. - Very Interesting: New Tech Tool Links Voting Records with Campaign Financing
The tool now provides a direct link between the Wyoming Secretary of State’s campaign finance data and individual legislator profiles. While this financial information has long been public, it was previously siloed within the state’s reporting systems. - WATCH: The Roundup Feb 24, 2026
Rep Ken Pendergraft from Sheridan joins the show to talk about Appropriations and what's been happening on the floor. Particularly, Sheridan College, what's going on with the Senate Budget bill, maybe guns and more! - WATCH: The Open Range Record Roundup Live at 7pm
Watch as David and Mark Jones discuss the gun legislation in this year's legislative session. - Profiles: Wyoming State Auditor Kristi Racines
“Everyone does better when it’s all out in the open, and for the most part, it’s all very boring. But the absence of information creates distrust." - No Fences, Only Open Range: iOS App is Available for Download
Today, The Open Range Record announces that our iOS App is available for download. This compliments the Android version we published a few weeks ago. - No Fences, Only Open Range: The Release of our Android App.
The Open Range Record is pleased to announce the release of our brand new Android App.