Welcome to the Laramie Reporter’s “In Other News” segment, a biweekly rundown of the top news stories from Laramie and Albany County as reported by local, state and national media. Subscribe to our newsletter to get this rundown in your inbox every other week.
-
Laramie City Councilors killed a police oversight measure for fear of police resignations. In March, the council first voted on a narrow margin, 5-4, to advance the measure. But Councilor Pat Gabriel changed his mind during a recess, called for a reconsideration, changed his vote, and flipped the council’s decisions. A Laramie Reporter investigation detailed private phone calls and texts between Gabriel and other councilors, during which Councilor Fred Schmechel asked Gabriel to change his vote. Schmechel told Gabriel he was worried about the potential for resignations from the Laramie Police Department if the oversight measure went through. Neither Schmechel nor Gabriel publicly cited that worry as a reason for their votes during the meeting March 23.
Reading status: Open access
-
Following the Laramie Reporter’s publication of the story above, several residents voiced their discontent with certain councilors’ secrecy. The Laramie Boomerang reports that commenters said worries about police resignations should have taken place out in the open, not privately. Commenters included local defense attorney Linda Devine, police-community working group co-chair Tracey Rosenlund, and police transparency and accountability activist Debbie Hinkel. Police oversight in Laramie has been a heated topic for years, and advocates have often criticized the perceived lack of transparency throughout the process.
Reading status: Laramie Boomerang paywall
-
Sen. Cynthia Lummis made inaccurate and partisan statements during her commencement speech at the University of Wyoming College of Arts and Sciences graduation ceremony. Lummis appeared to deny or be unaware of the existence of intersex people when she made reference to “fundamental scientific truths, such as the existence of two sexes, male and female.” Before and after that comment, Lummis also talked about Bitcoin and the federal government’s pandemic response, but she was loudly booed by the audience when she made the ‘two sexes’ comment. Graduates said it was inappropriate for Lummis to spread falsehoods and to take their graduation and make it “all about politics and all about her.”
Reading status: Open access
-
Albany County Schools will have a new superintendent this July. Longtime Utah educator and administrator John Goldhardt will replace the outgoing Jubal Yennie as the district seeks to open a new elementary school in the fall, and as it continues to face inflationary pressures on both its construction projects and teacher salaries. Goldhardt was most recently the superintendent of New Hampshire’s largest school district.
Reading status: Open access
-
UW has received its third back-to-back $20 million five-year grant from the National Science Foundation. While the last grant focused on microbiology, the new grant is hyper-focused on climate change-driven changes to water in the west. The Laramie Boomerang reports that with increasingly common warmer years, Wyoming receives less snow. With less snow, there is less snowpack to melt through the summer and keep wilderness areas wet. Smaller amounts of snowpack also melt quicker than larger amounts, so any year’s given amount of snowpack is running out earlier in the summer than it would have previously. More frequent droughts and wildfires are the likely result.
Reading status: Laramie Boomerang paywall
-
A pair of Laramie attorneys is suing the state over its voter ID law, which was passed in 2021. The 2022 primaries this summer will be the first true test of the new law, and the attorneys’ lawsuit seeks to stop it from going into effect before then. The lawsuit argues that requiring voters to show ID at the polls represents an undue burden placed on citizens. Voter fraud is exceptionally rare and citizens already have to show their ID earlier, when they register to vote.
Reading status: Open access
-
Demonstrators circled UW’s Prexy’s Pasture following news that the U.S. Supreme Court is planning to overturn Roe v. Wade. A leaked draft decision showed that the Supreme Court currently has the votes to overturn the nation’s preeminent abortion rights precedent. Albany County residents already have to travel to Fort Collins for abortion care, but many fear further attacks on their reproductive freedoms.
Reading status: Open access
-
As Rawlins’ only hospital closes its labor and delivery unit, residents of Carbon County will be driving an hour and a half to Laramie to give birth. The Laramie Boomerang reports that Memorial Hospital of Carbon County and Ivinson Memorial Hospital in Laramie have worked out a partnership that will periodically send pregnancy specialists to Rawlins for care throughout a pregnancy. Deliveries will be directed to Laramie whenever possible, although emergency staff in Rawlins will be trained to help deliver babies when travel to Laramie is deemed unsafe.
Reading status: Laramie Boomerang paywall
-
Wyoming prisoners will soon be able to complete bachelor’s degrees while incarcerated. Wyoming Public Media reports the University of Wyoming’s prison education program, Pathways from Prison, was invited to participate in the Second Chance Pell Grant Experiment. That means prisoners can apply for grants to take and complete college courses while serving time. Pathways from Prison has previously been funded by grants, donations and volunteer time and has been offering one-off college courses for years. Research suggests offering Wyoming prisoners a college education could dramatically decrease recidivism rates.
Reading status: Open access
-
University of Wyoming graduate student Taryn Bradley has produced a docuseries focusing on the everyday, personal impacts of climate change. Bradley spoke with Wyoming Public Radio about the series’ focus and production and the response it’s received so far.
Reading/Listening status: Open access