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
Turkish Company Offers $285 Million To Buy Interest In Huge Wyoming Trona Mine
Sisecam, a Turkish company, is offering $285 million to buy out a minority stake in one of Wyoming’s huge new trona mines.
Renée JeanDecember 02, 2024
Tipping In Wyoming: Even Some Bartenders Are Saying It's Out Of Control
According to one poll, 72% of U.S. adults feel that tipping is expected in a lot more places today than five years ago. And while most are fine with tipping in a sit-down restaurant or a bar, only a fraction believe tipping in a coffee shop or a fast food joint is OK.
Renée JeanNovember 30, 2024
Life On The Farm: Raising Turkeys and Yaks In Albany County, Wyoming
When Michigan HOA rules wouldn't allow Corinna and Patrick Schade to grow at least some of their food, they moved to Wyoming. Now they've raised more than 350 heritage turkeys alongside a growing herd of yaks in Albany County.
Renée JeanNovember 30, 2024
Drinking Wyoming: Melvin Brewing, State’s Largest Brewery, Is About To Get Bigger
A merger between Melvin and Roadhouse Brewing in Jackson in 2022 has positioned Wyoming’s largest brewery to grow even more. The brewery is already beating national sales trends, and it’s looking to add more new products and keep growing.
Renée JeanNovember 29, 2024
Cheyenne Mom Has Turned Tragedy Into A Crusade For Safer Streets
Janelle Jones lost her son Mak when a distracted driver hit him in a Cheyenne crosswalk. Janelle has since been on a crusade for safer streets and stricter penalties for distracted drivers.
Renée JeanNovember 28, 2024
Wyoming Boy Born Without Complete Heart Finally Home After Successful Transplant
Ayden Skillman of Greybull was born without a complete heart and has spent much of his young life in hospitals. Now the 18-year-old is back home after a successful heart transplant and doctors say he's doing extremely well.
Renée JeanNovember 28, 2024
Rival Cheyenne Basketball Teams Donate 12 Truckloads Of Food To Local Shelter
The basketball coaches and players for Cheyenne East, South and Central high schools are rivals on the court. Off it, they teamed up to collect enough Thanksgiving food for a local shelter to fill 12 trucks.
Renée JeanNovember 27, 2024
BLM Outlaws Coal In Powder River Basin; Gordon Says Prepare For A Fight
The BLM has made it official Tuesday — it’s ending new coal leases in the Powder River Basin, with an eye to producing no more coal after 2041. Gov. Mark Gordon says those are fighting words.
Renée JeanNovember 27, 2024
Wyoming-Based Crypto Founder Slams State Over Stable Token Bid Process
Wyoming rancher Charles Hoskinson has one of the top 10 cryptocurrency platforms in the nation, but he’s not eligible to bid to be a vendor for Wyoming’s stable token. He’s blasting the state over its bidding process, calling it unfair.
Renée JeanNovember 26, 2024
Bill Gates-Backed TerraPower Strikes Deal To Get Laser-Enriched Uranium
Bill Gates-backed TerraPower and the nuclear plant it's building in southwest Wyoming have secured another potential source of uranium. It’s struck a deal to get laser-enriched uranium.
Renée JeanNovember 24, 2024
F.E. Warren Air Force Base Exploring Geothermal Power To Boost Resiliency Against Catastrophe
Cheyenne’s F.E. Warren Air Force Base, which houses the nation’s nuclear missiles, is exploring geothermal energy to build up the military base’s resiliency. Geothermal power could ensure the base is functional, even if the overall power grid goes down.
Renée JeanNovember 23, 2024
Meet The Baby Boomer Wyoming Grandma Who Breaks The Mold Of A Cybertruck Owner
The typical Tesla owner is an upper-middle-class man in his 50s. 75-year-old Karen Meister-Emerich, a grandma from Cheyenne, doesn't fit that demographic but loves her Cybertruck, which she bought because she missed out on buying a DeLorean.
Renée JeanNovember 23, 2024
Wyoming’s Only Gold Mine Gets Green Light From State
Wyoming’s only gold mine near Curt Gowdy State Park has gotten a green light from state regulators. It’s a step closer to actually pulling gold out of the ground. US Gold believes the site could hold 1 million ounces of gold.
Renée JeanNovember 20, 2024
Olympic Gold Medalist Bryan Clay Shares Playbook For Being A Champion In Life
Bryan Clay won the gold medal in decathlon at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in China. He was in Wyoming this past week sharing his playbook for not only being a champion in athletics, but in life.
Renée JeanNovember 18, 2024
TikTok-Famous Jackson Dogsled Business Started With A Dog And A Dream
Call of the Wyld dogsled tours has become a popular destination for Jackson visitors, driven by its popular TikTok channel. Customers say her TikTok stream made them decide to book. They've since doubled the size of its operation more than once, and they own 75 sled dogs.
Renée JeanNovember 17, 2024
Food Freedom Act Saved Star Valley’s Last Remaining ‘Little Switzerland’ Dairy
Jody Shumway had grit, stubbornness and creativity. But it ultimately took the Food Freedom Act to save Star Valley’s last "Little Switzerland" dairy. Shumway Farms now sells premium products direct to consumer, saving their 5th-generation farm.
Renée JeanNovember 17, 2024
Modular Homes Could Be An Answer To Busting Wyoming’s Housing Crunch
One estimate shows Wyoming needs more than 38,000 homes. Economic developers say it's hampering efforts to attract new businesses and workforce to the state. Modular homes could be the solution if the stigma can be overcome.
Renée JeanNovember 16, 2024
Wyoming Has Lost 10,000 Mining, Oil And Gas Jobs Over Past Decade
Wyoming has lost 10,000 jobs in the natural resources and mining sector over the past decade, UW economist Anne Alexander said. Other job categories have stayed close to the same, or increased, but the mining category -- which includes oil and gas jobs — has dropped precipitously.
Renée JeanNovember 16, 2024
Carbon Storage Planned Under Wyoming’s Historic C.B. Irwin Ranch, And Others
A group of Wyoming ranchers, including the historic C.B. Irwin Ranch where Steamboat once lived, have joined forces to attract companies to store carbon dioxide emissions under their ranches. Collectively, they have 102,000 acres available.
Renée JeanNovember 13, 2024
Trump Presidency Gives Hope To Crypto Community In Wyoming
Wyoming’s digital asset laws have been praised as innovative and ground-breaking, but have faced difficulties under the Biden Administration. President-elect Donald Trump has promised to be friendlier to digital assets.
Renée JeanNovember 12, 2024
Enhanced Oil Recovery Is Coming To Wyoming To Unlock Trapped Oil and Gas
Oil and gas wells typically leave behind 85% or so of available resources. Enhanced oil and gas recovery is key to more economical wells, and several companies are eyeing field tests in Wyoming for that.
Renée JeanNovember 12, 2024
Worland’s Grant Ujifusa, Who Changed Reagan’s Mind And Was Knighted By Japan, Dies
Grant Ujifusa helped persuade President Ronald Reagan to support reparations for Japanese Americans interned at camps like Heart Mountain during World War II. Ujifusa, who grew up in Wyoming, has died and will be buried in Worland. He was 82.
Renée JeanNovember 11, 2024
Wheels Motel In Greybull Gets Modern Update For A New Generation Of Visitors
Since taking over his parents’ motel in Greybull, Chris Harwood and his wife Roxana have turned the Wheels Motel into a homey, modern stop. The young couple didn't think they would ever live in Greybull but now can't think of a better place to raise their family.
Renée JeanNovember 10, 2024
Drinking Wyoming: Sheridan’s Frackelton’s Is Back— Again — With Elevated Cocktails
Frackelton’s has struggled to find a footing in an ever-tighter market, but the Sheridan favorite appears to be well and truly back now. And its bar scene is stronger than ever with elevated cocktails.
Renée JeanNovember 10, 2024
Drinking Wyoming: The Mint Bar Has Come To Life Every Night For 117 Years
If there's one bar in the Cowboy State that says "Wyoming," it might just be The Mint. The legendary neon bucking horse and cowboy has lit up Sheridan's Main Street since 1938 and has been a fixture in the state since 1907.
Renée JeanNovember 09, 2024
Following Wyoming Example, Feds Limit Foreign Crypto Mines Near Military Bases
The U.S. Department of Treasury has moved to limit businesses like foreign-owned crypto mines near sensitive locations. The change follows the forced closure of a Chinese-owned crypto mine near F.E. Warren Air Force Base.
Renée JeanNovember 08, 2024
$9M For Mesa Solutions Expansion Could Unlock $20M Annual Impact For Casper Area
A $9 million grant from the Wyoming Business Council will allow Mesa Solutions to expand its footprint in the energy sector. It also could unlock a $20 million annual impact for the Casper area.
Renée JeanNovember 07, 2024
More Details Emerge About Blockbuster Anschutz PRB Oil And Gas Deal
Occidental Petroleum has offered more details to Cowboy State Daily about the blockbuster oil and gas deal that has Anschutz acquiring Oxy/Anadarko assets in the PPB. Occidental says it’s keeping 150,000 acres it considers “core."
Renée JeanNovember 07, 2024
Trump Signals Huge Support For Oil & Gas During Victory Speech, Wyoming Industry Leaders Thrilled
It didn’t take long for former President Donald Trump to hype up America's oil and gas industry after he won the 2024 presidential election Tuesday. Wyoming industry leaders say Trump's victory is also a win for U.S. oil and gas.
Renée JeanNovember 06, 2024
House District 10: Eklund, R, Rolls To Easy Win To Retain Seat In Legislature
John Eklund, R-Cheyenne, won reelection to his House District 10 seat Tuesday with a huge margin of nearly 2,000 votes over his challenger, Timothy Forbis.
Renée JeanNovember 06, 2024