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
Some Claim Foreign 'Dark Money' Is Funding Anti-Data Center Sentiment Across U.S.
A new study traces $39 million in foreign funding behind anti-data center campaigns across the U.S. Betsey Hale, the CEO of Cheyenne Leads, is concerned about it. "No one has complained about data centers until about the last month and a half,” she said.
Renée JeanMay 05, 2026
Rocky Mountain Power Joins Western Energy Market, Says It Could Lower Rates
After years of steep rate hikes in response to higher-than-expected energy costs, Rocky Mountain Power has joined a regional Western market to buy power. "Potentially, it could lower costs for Wyoming customers,” says state Sen. Cale Case about the deal.
Renée JeanMay 05, 2026
With Up To 70 Cheyenne-Area Data Centers In The Works, Petition Calls For Pause
With dozens of Cheyenne-Area data centers in various stages of discussion — one city councilman put the number at as many as 70 — some residents want to hit the brakes. A petition is circulating, calling for a data center moratorium.
Renée JeanMay 04, 2026
Entrepreneurs Say It's Easier To Do Business In Wyoming
The business community is bullish on Wyoming as the state is seeing more start-ups and venture capital deals — even without data centers. “Things are easier to do in Wyoming versus the rest of the world," said one business owner who relocated here.
Renée JeanMay 03, 2026
Riverton Inventor Building Device That Can See Your Heart Attack Coming
An accomplished inventor living in Riverton is building a wearable medical device that can see your heart attack coming before it happens. “You wear it as a patch … I don’t even feel it,” he says about the Bio Chest, which also can alert doctors.
Renée JeanMay 03, 2026
Wyoming Lands Rare Super Magnet To Power Up Advanced Rare Earths Research
Wyoming has landed one of only three super magnets of its kind in the U.S. that will power up advanced research on rare earths and trona. It's a room-sized contraption that can generate a magnetic field a million times stronger than Earth’s.
Renée JeanMay 03, 2026
Rural Tourism: Torrington’s Short-Term Rentals Take 97% Leap, Other Small Towns Spike Too
Teton County is the king of Wyoming tourism, but rural Wyoming towns are showing a spike in visitors. Torrington officials are stunned by the town’s 97% increase in visitors — much of that driven by archaeology. Rawlins and Powell are seeing it too.
Renée JeanMay 02, 2026
Wyoming Jobs: What James Lambert Has Learned After Driving A UPS Truck For 33 Years
For 33 years, UPS driver James Lambert has delivered much more than boxes on his UPS route, the last 15 in a remote section of Laramie County. He’s turned a sometimes rough-and-tumble job into friendships, snowy rescues, and laughter-filled memories.
Renée JeanMay 02, 2026
Wyoming In Dire Need Of Large-Animal Veterinarians
In Wyoming, cattle outnumber people, but the number of veterinarians treating them has shrunk by 90% since World War II, and only 5% of new vets are interested in the job. One vet in Wheatland said desperate ranchers outside his area are "begging for help."
Renée JeanMay 02, 2026
Founder Of Robot Chef Wants To Move Manufacturing From China To Cheyenne
The maker of an AI-powered robot chef that will cook for you wants to move its manufacturing from China to Cheyenne. Once you load the robot with ingredients, it will drop them into the pan, stir and cook according to an app-driven recipe.
Renée JeanMay 02, 2026
Economist: Trump Pipeline OK Could Mean High-Paying Jobs, Big Tax Revenues For Wyoming
Wyoming economist Rob Godby says the state could gain new jobs and increased tax revenue after Trump's approval of the Bridger Pipeline carrying Canadian crude through Crook, Weston, Niobrara, Goshen, and Platte counties. “Pipelines aren’t minor,” he said.
Renée JeanMay 01, 2026
In New ‘Longmire’ Book, Sheriff Walt Has To Solve The Murder Of Guy Everyone Hated
Everyone Hated Pepper McKay, so when he turned up dead, Sheriff Walt Longmire had a lot of suspects to rule out in his latest “Longmire” mystery, “The Brothers McKay.” Wyoming author Craig Johnson’s 22nd “Longmire” novel is set for a May 26 release.
Renée JeanApril 30, 2026
Hotels, Convention Center And Indoor Arena Could Follow PRCA To Cheyenne
Now that the PRCA’s move to Cheyenne is official, local leaders are sketching big plans to turn the 416-acre Hitching Post subdivision into a Western "Field of Dreams" for rodeo. That could include hotels, a convention center and an indoor arena.
Renée JeanApril 28, 2026
Amazon’s Rural Push Brings Fast Deliveries — And Jobs — To Remote Wyoming
Amazon is spending $4 billion this year to expand its reach with same-day and next-day deliveries to some of America’s most remote places, including in Wyoming. For rural residents and small businesses, the fast deliveries are game-changing.
Renée JeanApril 27, 2026
Wyoming People: The 95-Year-Old Classically Trained Tenor Who Sings Opera In Cheyenne
Rick French, aka “Ricardo” when he’s singing opera, is a classically trained tenor who has performed with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. Folks in Cheyenne know the now-95-year-old for singing opera for years at a local Italian restaurant.
Renée JeanApril 26, 2026
‘AI Will Never Replace Us’: Wyoming Nurse Rides Booming Career Wave
Wyoming nurse Ashley Myers escaped hardship into a high-paying nursing career. Her success story highlights rapid wage growth in the health care sector. "AI is a great tool, but it will never replace us. We have to have people to do this work," she says.
Renée JeanApril 26, 2026
Wyoming Culinary Students Learn How To Cook James Beard Winner's Indigenous Menu
Wyoming culinary students this week learned how to prepare a celebrity chef’s Indigenous menu — only ingredients native to North America. No wheat, no sugar, no beef, pork or chicken — ingredients European settlers brought that displaced indigenous foods.
Renée JeanApril 26, 2026
Fan Of Cheyenne-Based Big Boy 4014 Pushes To Make Famed Locomotive Into LEGO Set
A superfan of the Cheyenne-based locomotive Big Boy 4014 has submitted a motorized, 3,920-piece Big Boy 4014 LEGO kit to the company. If his idea gets 10,000 votes, it will be among designs advanced to LEGO’s review pool for potential production.
Renée JeanApril 25, 2026
Secrets In the Walls: Cheyenne's Atlas Theatre Renovation Uncovers New Mysteries
If a novelist was dreaming up cool props for a haunted theater, they couldn’t beat what a renovation crew found hiding in the ceilings and walls of Cheyenne’s Atlas Theatre. The discoveries add puzzling historical details about the theatre's early days.
Renée JeanApril 25, 2026
Cheyenne's Million Dollar Real Estate Market Growing As Data Centers Fuel Growth
Cheyenne’s real estate market is heating up, with homes between $800,000 to the low $1 millions becoming more commonplace. Real estate agents credit data centers, an "extremely business-friendly environment" and the intersection of I-80 & I-25 for the surge.
Renée JeanApril 25, 2026
Food Freedom Fight: State Orders Cody Creamery To Stop Selling Raw Milk Lattes
The State Ag Dept. has ordered Cody's Hippy Cow Creamery to stop selling its popular raw milk lattes. Tyler Lindholm, the architect behind the Food Freedom Act, says the state is wrong and will push for a legislative fix. "That's just insane," he said.
Renée JeanApril 24, 2026