Business and Tourism Reporter

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.

Find Renée Jean

Latest from Renée Jean

Steve Bang finishes the swim part of the triathlon in the Adriatic Sea.

Riverton Swim Coach Finishes One Of The World’s Most Extreme Triathlons

Riverton's Steve Bang, the high school swim coach and retired surgeon, just finished one of the world's most difficult races, the X-Out Extreme Triathlon in Montenegro, Spain. The race had an actual "executioner" who eliminated the slowest participants.

Renée JeanJune 02, 2024

The new $25 million, 30,000-square-foot Horse Palace at Swan Ranch, just off the High Plains Road exit on Interstate 25 about 4 miles north of the Colorado border, is getting closer to being ready to open.

Huge $25M, 30,000-Square-Foot Wyoming Horse Palace Targets Colorado Players

Wyoming Horse Racing’s new huge $25 million, 30,000-square-foot Horse Palace near the Colorado border will open sometime this summer and target customers from Colorado. It will also employ a celebrity chef who used to cook for Oprah Winfrey.

Renée JeanJune 02, 2024

At Brahma Mama's Bucking Bulls Ranch in Worland, people can learn to ride a bull like a real Wyoming cowboy.

Want To Ride A Bull Like A Real Wyoming Cowboy? There's A School For That

Bull riding has been called the most dangerous 8 seconds in any sport. If you want to learn how, it helps to have a good teacher. Last weekend, Professional Bull Riders Champion Mike Lee taught people how to do it at Brahma Mama’s Bucking Bulls Ranch in Worland.

Renée JeanJune 02, 2024

Pilot Kevin Garcia flew the Tizzy Lish to its new home in Lovell, Wyoming.

Famous Tizzy Lish Biplane Lands In Lovell To Be Centerpiece Of New Restaurant

Tizzy Lish, a famous biplane that once graced the cover of Sport Aviation magazine, has landed in its new home in Lovell and new a restaurant called The Overlook.

Renée JeanJune 02, 2024

A trailer in a UPS warehouse in the eastern part of the United States is stuffed with what the company calls the rural deferment for the day. That is, the packages on rural routes that were supposed to be delivered that day but for whatever reason weren’t. Center front of the trailer is a white Styrofoam container that was supposed to be a next day critical health care delivery. This photo was provided to Cowboy State Daily by a UPS driver.

More UPS Drivers Speak Up, Say Rural Food, Medicine Deliveries Sit, Spoil In Hot Warehouses

Responding to Cowboy State Daily articles on late UPS deliveries to rural Wyoming addresses, UPS drivers from across the country said food and critical medicines addressed to rural addresses often spoil in hot warehouses.

Renée JeanJune 01, 2024

The Brewery in Green River is one of three buildings that used to comprise the Sweetwater Brewery that once made the "beer that made Milwaukee jealous."

Drinking Wyoming: Historic Green River Brewery Once 'Made Milwaukee Jealous'

At its height in 1907, the Brewery In Green River was bottling 18,000 bottles of its medal-winning lager beer each day, boasting it was so good it put Milwaukee’s famous brew to shame.

Renée JeanJune 01, 2024

The MineOne Chinese bitcoin operation ordered by President Joe Biden in early May to shut down and sell off is staging to clear out with large turcks and storage pods at the site, which is about a mile from F.E. Warren Air Force Base.

Former F.E. Warren Commander Says U.S. Right To Be Worried About China

The former commander of F.E. Warren Air Force Base said the shutting down a Chinese-owned cryptocurrency mine next to the base is just one example why the U.S. is right to be worried about China’s efforts to infiltrate.

Renée JeanMay 28, 2024

A scene from the 2017 National Championship Air Races in Reno, Nevada.

No National Air Race Championship For Casper But Town Could Get Other Races

Casper won’t be the new home for National Championship Air Races, but the racing association plans to expand with other racing events, and says Casper is on the short list for one of those.

Renée JeanMay 27, 2024

The finished C.B. Irwin Barn, which now houses the offices of Cowboy State Daily and a loft apartment above.

Cheyenne’s Historic C.B. Irwin Barn Once Stabled Steamboat

Cheyenne’s historic C.B. Irwin Barn, about a block from the Wyoming Capitol and now home to Cowboy State Daily, once stabled the legendary Steamboat.

Renée JeanMay 27, 2024

Big Boy at the Union Pacific Steam Shop in Cheyenne.

Getting Wyoming’s Iconic 1 Million Pound Big Boy Locomotive Ready For Summer Tour

The race is on to get Wyoming’s iconic Big Boy locomotive ready for its summer 2024 tour. It takes a lot of work for the largest operating steam engine on the planet at more than 1 million pounds.

Renée JeanMay 27, 2024

The Yellowstone Highway, left, runs along the Wind River through Wind River Canyon with the railroad on the opposite side. The highway is marking its 100th anniversary in 2024.

100 Years Of Driving Through Spectacular Wind River Canyon

At $1 million, building the Yellowstone Highway through Wind River Canyon in 1924 was the most expensive American road project ever. What’s followed has been a century of breathtaking views and nearly unbelievable stories.

Renée JeanMay 26, 2024

Paul Dey, official and certified beer judge, enjoying a Jeremiah Johnson Brewing Co. beer at The Safari Club restaurant in Thermopolis.

Wyoming Man Says Becoming A Certified Beer Judge Harder Than Masters In Biology

Paul Dey of Cheyenne has an enviable hobby — he’s a certified beer judge. And he said earning that certification was harder than getting his Master of Biology degree.

Renée JeanMay 26, 2024

Other Authors

Exterior of Bangkok Thai in Thermopolis, which is run by two brothers form Thailand.

Eating Wyoming: From Bangkok To New York To Thermopolis

Authentic Bangkok Thai cuisine in Thermopolis? Yup. Tanon “James” Thapphum grew up in Thailand, had a food cart in Bangkok, went to cooking school in New York, and then set up shop in downtown Thermopolis.

Renée JeanMay 26, 2024

UPS driver Wes Korczyncski delivers a food box from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service Meals to You program in August 2020 to a rural home in Texas.

Wyoming UPS Drivers Call Out Company On Rural Delivery Practices

One current UPS driver told Cowboy State Daily UPS falsifies delivery records for rural customers. A former UPS driver said many times medications and frozen food sat in warehouses for so long they thawed out and went bad, but were delivered anyway.

Renée JeanMay 25, 2024

A ladder is used to climb up to the top of 4420 during restoration efforts.

Engine 4420 Helped Save Evanston 100 Years Ago, Now Evanston Saving Engine 4420

Engine 4420 is a workhorse of a switch steam locomotive that helped saved Evanston in the 1920s. Now it’s 4420’s turn to be restored to its former glory.

Renée JeanMay 25, 2024

Caitlin Long, CEO for Wyoming-based Custodia Bank.

After Wyoming-Based Custodia Bank Denied By Feds, State May Step Into Fight

After Wyoming-based Custodia was denied by the Federal Reserve and federal judges their own master account for its digital bank, Wyoming legislators say they may step into the fight against what they say is political bias against the state.

Renée JeanMay 24, 2024

The National Championship Air Races are looking for a new home, and Casper is on the short list. It could mean a $100 million economic jolt for the area and Wyoming.

Casper Loses Out On Being Home For $100 Million National Championship Air Races

Casper made a huge push to be the new home to the world-famous National Championship Air Races, but learned Thursday it lost out to Roswell, New Mexico. The lucrative event could have a $100 million impact for Roswell.

Renée JeanMay 23, 2024

More mobile home owners in Wyoming are finding it more difficult to insure their homes, or are being dropped altogether by insurance companies.

Wyoming Retirees On Fixed Income Have Homeowners Insurance Yanked After 42 Years

A retired couple on a fixed income in rural Wyoming had the homeowners insurance on their mobile home yanked after 42 years, and they’re not alone.

Renée JeanMay 23, 2024

This parcel behind the site of the former Hitching Post Inn, left, could become an affordable housing development in Cheyenne.

Family Of Cheyenne’s Historic Hitching Post Inn Wants Affordable Housing Near It

Hitching Post Inn family member Stephanie Smith still owns half the land where the famous Cheyenne hotel was located. She hopes to attract an affordable housing project on part of it.

Renée JeanMay 20, 2024

Taken a year after Nathan Kissack was put on maintenance chemo. Kissack told Cowboy State Daily he just made up a competition for himself, to see what kind of dramatic physical change he could make happen with his body after being told by doctors not to work out.

So Far, So Good: Gillette Native Battling Cancer For A Third Time (And Winning)

Gillette native Nathan Kissack likes to joke that he’s done fentanyl 25 times, and he’s even done fentanyl and heroin together. The drugs were all legal, however, part of what is now a third — and so far successful — fight with cancer.

Renée JeanMay 19, 2024

Randy Camino keeps the Lukainka, Basque sausages, turned over a smoky grill.

Eating Wyoming: Buffalo’s Lukainka Sausages Have A 100-Year History In Wyoming

The Lukainka sausages served last weekend at Gillette’s third annual Sheepherders Festival have a long history for one Buffalo family that goes back well over 100 years.

Renée JeanMay 19, 2024

Page 36