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
Renee Jean: Prison Gave Pete Bass A Second Chance In Life
Renee Jean writes, "Pete's lived a life that sounds like it came from a movie, and I was immediately hooked into listening. It starts with him running away from home to Hollywood, where he was almost raped. "That scared him back home, but didn’t scare him straight. Eventually, his drug addictions landed him in prison. "But remarkably, he’s not bitter about any of that. He sees that as God’s way of offering him a second chance in life. A chance that he embraced."
Renée JeanDecember 24, 2025
Despite Aggressive Facebook Hype, No Evidence NVIDIA Is In Or Coming To Kemmerer
An investment broker is flooding Facebook with ads insinuating NVIDIA may be in or coming to Kemmerer and that the small Wyoming town is ground zero for minting the nation’s next millionaires. A Wyoming finance watchdog says don’t bet the farm on it.
Renée JeanDecember 24, 2025
Cheyenne’s Historic 1892 Pumphouse Saved From The Wrecking Ball — For Now
Cheyenne’s Historic 1892 Pumphouse is getting a reprieve from the wrecking ball, with the Cheyenne City Council replacing a resolution that set a deadline for its demolition with one that calls for restoring it to use again.
Renée JeanDecember 24, 2025
Holding A Whiskey-Tasting In A Glass Box In The Middle Of The Wyoming Wilderness
Kentucky-based Buffalo Trace Distillery is holding a whiskey-tasting in a custom-built room with floor-to-ceiling glass walls in the Wyoming wilderness near Yellowstone this summer. They say the secret location will be in the middle of a bison herd.
Renée JeanDecember 21, 2025
Go Pokes! Despite Death Of Steamboat's Owner, Lighted Wyoming Santa Rides On.
For more than two decades, thousands of people each year drive by a Cheyenne house to see a lighted 10-foot Santa riding Steamboat, Wyoming's iconic bucking bronco. Despite the death of its owner earlier this year, her family continues the "Santa Go Pokes!" tradition.
Renée JeanDecember 20, 2025
Wyoming Awards $100 Million To BWXT For Nuclear Fuel Plant In Gillette
Gov. Mark Gordon on Friday announced that $100 million in matching funds will be awarded to BWXT to build a nuclear fuel plant in Gillette. He said the award is about ensuring Wyoming is competitive with other states that are also vying for these projects.
Renée JeanDecember 20, 2025
With New Sublette County Helium Plant, Wyoming Will Supply 30% Of World's Helium
A new helium plant in Sublette County will boost Wyoming’s share of global helium output to about 30% and generate nearly $2 billion in taxes and royalties. The plant begins construction on May 1, 2026.
Renée JeanDecember 19, 2025
Five Wyoming Measles Cases Linked To Out-Of-State Travel
Wyoming health officials are urging people to protect vulnerable children and those who have compromised immune systems from the measles, following five new cases identified in Fremont County. The new cases were traced to out-of-state travel.
Renée JeanDecember 19, 2025
Wind-Whipped Fire Forces Cheyenne Families To Abandon Homes, Christmas Presents
Families scrambled to evacuate themselves and their pets after 70 mph winds sparked a fire south of Cheyenne on Wednesday evening threatening two subdivisions. More than 100 firefighters converged to put out the grassfires and 40 homes remained evacuated.
Renée JeanDecember 18, 2025
EPA Launches Final Cleanup Push at Laramie’s Long-Polluted Metals Site
Decades after arsenic contamination shut down the Nedlog and Williams Strategic Metals plant south of Laramie, the EPA is moving ahead with a plan to finally finish removing arsenic and mercury from the site.
Renée JeanDecember 17, 2025
Historic Rock Springs Church Faces Closure After A Century Of Worship
A historic 100-year-old Catholic church in Rock Springs has been closed and is to be put up for sale to help fund a new parish campus. Parishioners have formed a nonprofit to try to buy and preserve it as a sacred, historic church.
Renée JeanDecember 17, 2025
Inside A Jackson Hole Family's Fight To Keep The Diamond Cross Ranch Going
A Wyoming family shares an inside view of their struggles to ranch in pricey Jackson Hole and pass their ranch on to the next generation. It’s part of a new eight-part Cowboy Channel documentary that started Sunday.
Renée JeanDecember 16, 2025
Just Off I-25 In Chugwater, It’s Too Windy Even For A Cup Of Coffee
Wyoming’s infamous winter wind was in full force this week, leaving dozens of blown-over semitrailers littered across the state’s highways. Just off I-25 in Chugwater, it was too windy even to pour a cup of coffee.
Renée JeanDecember 13, 2025
Cattle Ranchers Revive Nebraska Town With Bold Producer-Owned Beef Plant
Nebraska’s new producer-owned packing plant opened in May and is among the first to be built in America in a generation. It’s also an experiment that’s already rewriting the future for a small western town that was once the fastest shrinking community in Nebraska.
Renée JeanDecember 13, 2025
Longmire Author Craig Johnson Embarks On Annual Christmas Story Tour
A real-life skunk encounter inspired Wyoming author Craig Johnson’s annual ‘Longmire’ Christmas story this year. Johnson will read the story at libraries across Wyoming and Montana, a tradition more than 20 years old.
Renée JeanDecember 12, 2025
Conservation Group Sues, Claims Feds Hiding Wyoming Wind Turbine Eagle Deaths
The Albany County Conservancy is accusing U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service of concealing eagle deaths in Carbon County. A biologist on the ground says golden eagle deaths are soaring due to wind farms.
Renée JeanDecember 11, 2025
Hoskinson Takes Issue With Governor’s Comments On Gillette Construction Layoffs
Cryptocurrency billionaire Charles Hoskinson says the construction company formed to build a 75,000-sq.-ft. health clinic in Gillette did not lay off all of its employees, nor should the timing of the 136-person layoff have been a big surprise to anyone.
Renée JeanDecember 10, 2025
Cheyenne Foundation Purchases Outlaw Saloon, Will Turn It Into Rec Center
The future of Cheyenne’s Outlaw Saloon, Wyoming’s largest bar, is settled. The Maury and Bonnie Brown Foundation purchased the building and will turn it into a rec center. Peaches Tyrrell, who's overseeing the project, says it will be a "YMCA on steroids."
Renée JeanDecember 10, 2025
Riverfront Jackson Hole Lodge Lists For $39.5M With Grand Teton Views
A 21-acre Jackson estate in a coveted neighborhood has just hit the market for $39.5 million. It offers private Snake River frontage, as well as winding creeks full of trout, cinematic views and serene wilderness. Plus, it's just 5 minutes from downtown.
Renée JeanDecember 08, 2025
It's Over: Wyoming History Groups Finalize Split, Chart New Independent Paths
Two of Wyoming’s most influential historical organizations say they have finalized their split with the Wyoming Historical Society. The Wyoming Historical Foundation and WyoHistory.org say they will move forward together without the society.
Renée JeanDecember 08, 2025
Frontier Brewing Co. In Casper Closes, Could Be A Sign Of Gen Z Just Not Drinking
Saturday was the last day of operation for Frontier Brewing Company and Taproom in downtown Casper, one of the city’s first craft breweries. Co-owner Shawn Houck says national trends like people drinking less alcohol is a significant factor in the closure.
Renée JeanDecember 07, 2025