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.
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The city passed health and safety standards for Laramie rentals, establishing a registration system for landlords and a complaint system for tenants. The new regulations were passed three years after a similar effort had failed. They arrive now amid growing awareness and frustration surrounding Laramie’s rental landscape. Tenant horror stories and vocal support from community nonprofits helped the ordinance pass. The city manager estimates the new standards will be in place and ready to be enforced within the year.
Reading status: Open access
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The University of Wyoming announced it will not test returning students and employees, reversing an earlier plan to do just that. The institution said in a news release that it will not be able to stop omicron from spreading through campus and that UW must shift from “containment” to “management.” A public health researcher called the plan absurd and said the transmissibility of omicron was no excuse not to test.
Reading status: Open access
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Albany County Schools returned from the holiday break last week with relaxed expectations around masking. The Albany County School Board voted in December to do away with its mask mandate, deciding that face coverings would be “strongly recommended” rather than required. The school board cited then-low case counts and the increased availability of pediatric vaccines as reasons for the change.
Reading status: Open access
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Wyoming’s “brain drain” might have slowed down during the pandemic, but there’s no signs the pattern will come to an end. WyoFile reports that even as millennials have become the largest living generation in the United States, Wyoming’s millennial population is decreasing. At least half of all young people raised in Wyoming leave the state in the decade following high school graduation. Part of the exodus stems from a lack of job opportunities. Additionally, many find that the dominant culture in the Equality State is opposed to millennial norms surrounding climate action, LGBT rights and drug laws.
Reading status: Open access
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The Laramie City Council passed an ordinance allowing denser housing in some of the city’s residential zones. The move is designed to increase the stock of affordable housing. Developers are currently incentivized to build larger – and therefore more costly – houses on lots they own. By shrinking the dimensional standards required for residential units, the city is hoping to encourage the construction of townhomes and apartment buildings in zones where that was previously legally impossible.
Reading status: Open access
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Local residents hosted a vigil last week, honoring those who died during and after the January 6 U.S. Capitol attack one year ago. Pro-Trump rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol Building, seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Five individuals, including a rioter and a police officer, died that day. Four U.S. Capitol Police officers died by suicide in the months that followed. Vigil organizer Jackie Ziegler said American democracy is fragile and needs to be defended.
Reading status: Open access
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A University of Wyoming researcher is investigating psychedelics – specifically their potential to treat addiction. Wyoming Public Media reports UW School of Pharmacy assistant professor Ana-Clara Bobadilla is dosing nicotine-addicted mice with compounds derived from psychedelic mushrooms. She said neuroscientists are taking greater interest in psychedelics for their perspective-shifting effects.
Reading status: Open access