Renée Jean
Renée Jean is the business and tourism reporter for Cowboy State Daily and is based in Cheyenne. Previously, Renée spent seven years covering energy and agriculture in North Dakota and Montana. She has won many writing awards over a 30-year career, and has written magazine articles for Guideposts.
Latest from Renée Jean
How An Inch Wide, Mile Long Fence Saved Crops In Sundance From Crickets 84 Years Ago
As Edgerton, Wyoming, battles millions of Mormon crickets today, farmers in the Sundance area were successful saving their crops 84 years ago through an ingenious and quite low-tech solution.
Renée Jean4 min read
Megabus Wants To Make A Big Splash In Wyoming In Partnership With Express Arrow
Megabus wants to make a mega splash in Wyoming with its announcement of daily bus service routes from Cheyenne to Douglas, Wheatland, Greeley and Denver, as well as biweekly service to Cody, Casper, Thermopolis and other Wyoming stops.
Renée Jean3 min read
Wyoming Looks At Utah Model For Ideas To Make It Easier For Business Innovators To Operate Here
Wyoming is losing out to its neighbors in capturing new business, says Senate President Ogden Driskill. That has lawmakers looking at Utah’s example for ways to lighten the regulatory burden for businesses.
Renée Jean7 min read
Cheyenne Brings In 500 Goats To Battle Weeds
Five hundred cashmere goats are in Cheyenne to eat up huge volumes of weeds. They’re part of a traveling army of gypsy goats and will eat collectively over 1,000 pounds of every day.
Renée Jean8 min read
From Tractors To Fine Dining, Frackleton’s New Owners Resurrect Favorite Sheridan Restaurant
Andy Ward used to manage the local John Deere dealership, now he and his wife own Sheridan fine-dining favorite Frackelton’s, which has reopened after a fire, just in time to celebrate its 10th anniversary.
Renée Jean8 min read
Wyoming History: Who Was Lakota Medicine Man Black Elk?
Black Elk, a Lakota medicine man, was not as famous during his own time as he has since become. Born in Wyoming, he survived Wounded Knee, converted to Catholicism and performed in Buffalo Bill Cody’s “Wild West" show.
Renée Jean11 min read
How Wyoming’s Brinton Museum, Home To World-Class Indian Art, Was Saved By An American Candy Tycoon
When the Brinton Museum was on the verge of closing, a neighbor not only saved it, he elevated the Brinton into a world-class museum of Indian and Western art and artifacts. That neighbor was American candy magnate Forrest E. Mars Jr.
Renée Jean10 min read
Buffalo Bill Cody Loved The Sheridan Inn So Much, He Held Auditions For His ‘Wild West' Show There
Twenty-two rooms in the Sheridan Inn offer 22 windows on iconic Wyoming history. The historic inn, saved from demolition in the 1960s, is where Buffalo Bill Cody lived while he was in Sheridan, and where he auditioned performers for his “Wild West” show.
Renée Jean9 min read
Lucky Chukar Ranch In The Bighorns Lives Up To Its Name After Spectacular Back-To-Back Rainbows — Including A Double
Rainbows are not more common in the Bighorn Mountains, Cowboy State Daily Meteorologist Don Day says, but they’re still a beautiful sight, especially with a more-generous-than-usual wildflower bloom in progress.
Renée Jean6 min read
Taco Tuesday War Brings Huge Global Publicity For Wyoming-Based Taco John’s
Lebron James, Jack In The Box and Gov. Mark Gordon all have waded into the World Taco War with publicity stunts mocking one side or the other. In the meantime, Taco John’s has enjoyed huge global publicity.
Renée Jean5 min read
SEC Commission Suspends Registration Of Wyoming’s First Legally Registered DAO
Wyoming’s first legally registered DAO, American CryptoFed, has run into trouble with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which has suspended its effort to register with the agency.
Renée Jean5 min read
Teton County Has Affordable Housing Choices: 45 Free Acres? Buy 5 Acres for $28 Million? Or Both?
Housing in Jackson has long been tight, expensive and over-complicated. The recent purchase of a 5-acre parcel for $28 million has advocates of a project involving a 45-acre donation of land for affordable housing wondering why their project is delayed.
Renée Jean11 min read
Wyoming Lines Up With Top Experts As It Wrestles With How To Regulate ChatGPT and AI
Wyoming is getting one-of-a-kind access to the nation’s top experts in all things digital thanks to being out in front of a fast-growing business sector — despite antagonistic federal pushback.
Renée Jean7 min read
Cheyenne's Historic Hitching Post Inn Was The Place To Be For Wyoming’s Movers And Shakers
Part One of a Series: Cheyenne’s Hitching Post Inn, once dubbed the 'Second Capitol' of Wyoming, was destroyed by fire in 2010. When Cowboy State Daily wrote about the revitalization of the land where the Hitching Post once stood, many shared their memories of the place, a testament to a legacy of the legendary hotel.
Renée Jean13 min read
Laramie Brewery’s New Wyld Amber Ale Is First Co-Branded Product To Support Wyoming Wildlife
Wyldlife For Tomorrow has another innovative idea for supporting wildlife — and it’s delicious. Wyld Amber Ale created in Laramie at Altitude Chophouse & Brewery donates a portion of sales to support the effort.
Renée Jean5 min read
Explore Wyoming: Garden Creek Falls Near Casper An Easy Spring Hike — And Excuse For A Picnic
Garden Creek Falls is a gem of a waterfall found at the base of Casper Mountain. In May, with the snow melting, it’s at its strongest and is a photo magnet for prom-goers and graduates.
Renée Jean6 min read
Mental Fitness A Key To Success For Wyoming’s L & H Industrial As It Builds Biggest Machines On Earth
Mike Wandler, CEO of Gillette-based L & H Industrial, founded the Travis Ramsey mental fitness program after suffering panic attacks while deep-sea diving. It was so life-changing, he brought it to his company, and now the world.
Renée Jean7 min read
Wyoming Lawmakers Turn To Experts To Stay Ahead Of AI Curve, Even As ChatGPT4 Passes Bar Exam
Wyoming's Select Committee on Blockchain met in Jackson this week to go over emerging developments in the digital sector. The smarter the AI is the more potentially harmful it can be if it doesn’t have appropriate guardrails, John Nay, a fellow with the computer department at Stanford University told legislators.
Renée Jean8 min read
Gordon Horks Down Food While Supporting Wyoming-Based Taco John’s In ‘Taco Tuesday’ Fight
Gov. Mark Gordon on Thursday horked down some Taco John's while stating he supported the Cheyenne-based restaurant chain in its battle to keep the trademarked phrase "Taco Tuesday."
Renée Jean5 min read
Taco Bell Fights To Use Trademarked Phrase ‘Taco Tuesday’ Owned By Cheyenne-Based Taco John's
Taco Bell has filed a petition with the U.S. Patent Office that seeks to quash Wyoming-based Taco John’s 34-year trademark on the phrase “Taco Tuesday.” Taco John's has survived every prior legal challenge over the phrase.
Renée Jean8 min read
Wagon Box DAO Owner Holds Town Hall In Front Of Packed House In Story
The Wagon Box Inn’s new owner, Paul McNiel, addressed more than 150 residents of Story, Wyoming, on Saturday to discuss his plans to set up a "digital time-share" and if his plans were going to change the fundamental character of Story.
Renée Jean11 min read