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.

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Latest from Renée Jean

The historic and legendary Buckhorn Bar & Parlor in downtown Laramie, Wyoming, is for sale.

Laramie’s Legendary Buckhorn Bar & Parlor Is On The Market, Listing At Nearly $5 Million

The two-headed horse, the bullet hole in the bar, and the Buckhorn Roll. There are few places 'more Wyoming' than the Buckhorn Bar & Parlor. The legendary Laramie watering hole, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, is for sale.

Renée JeanJune 10, 2023

Gov. Mark Gordon says that as Wyoming continues to push to create its own stable token, the U.S. is losing a digital currency arms race with China.

With Wyoming Stable Token Under Fire, Gordon Says US Losing Digital Currency Race With China

The banking industry told Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon it feels the state’s efforts to create its own stable token is muscling in on its territory as Gordon says U.S. is losing a digital currency arms race with China.

Renée JeanJune 07, 2023

The $25 billion merger of grocery giants Albertsons and Kroger continues to be challenged in court by a group of customers.

Albertsons - Kroger: Flurry Of Filings Seek To Dismiss Lawsuit That Aims To Stop $25 Billion Mega Merger

A trio of filings seeks to dismiss a consumer lawsuit filed against the proposed $25 billion merger of grocery giants Albertsons and Kroger.

Renée JeanJune 06, 2023

Jenn Ellis and her partner Vince Pieter, right, have made a game of. hiding teeny, tiny turtles around Cheyenne and other places they go. They call them "positivi-turtles" and have named them Tiny Tim (the green one) and Tiny Tom (yellow).

Wyoming Woman On A Mission To Spread Positivity One Tiny Turtle At A Time

A gas station attendant in Cheyenne has come up with a new idea that’s taking off on local social media. Teeny, tiny turtles hidden here, there and everywhere. She calls them “Positivi-turtles.”

Renée JeanJune 05, 2023

Wyoming bird watchers can keep their eyes open for crowned sparrows, left, and the state bird, the western meadowlark, right.

Plenty For Wyoming Bird-Watchers To See Even If Some Arriving Later Than Usual

Wyoming bird watchers report a few oddball visitors like the golden-winged warbler in Lander, but lots of the usual favorites, like mountain bluebirds, are home for the summer.

Renée JeanJune 04, 2023

Casper-Based Eggington’s Is Expanding Throughout Wyoming And Arizona

Owner Pete Fazio and partners have bought the Eggington’s restaurant in Arizona, complete with trademark, as they look to build eight to 10 Eggington’s in Wyoming and Arizona.

Renée JeanJune 04, 2023

Grant Street Grocery in Casper is 105 years old, but it almost didn't make it this far.

Casper’s Grant Street Grocery: How A 105-Year-Old Wyoming Neighborhood Grocery Store Was Saved

A group of Casper friends came together to save the historic Grant Street Grocery from falling into history in 2016, two years shy of its 100th anniversary. Their goal is to give it another 100 years.

Renée JeanJune 04, 2023

The old Cheyenne Airport Terminal building was built to resemble the old TWA terminal in New York at what is now John F. Kennedy International Airport.

Old Cheyenne Airport Gets Federal Grant To Help Keep It Alive

Cheyenne was once known as the Rocky Mountain capital of the aviation world but the old Cheyenne airport, which was modeled after the TWA terminal in New York, has sat vacant for years. Now a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts could help with efforts to save the structure.

Renée JeanJune 04, 2023

As the sun begins to go down, customers gather at Bosco's Italian restaurant in Casper, where Suzi Bosco has been cooking for 61 years.

Eating Wyoming: Bosco’s Italian Restaurante In Casper Has Had The Same Chef For 61 Years!

Suzi Bosco has been cooking in Bosco's Italian Restaurante for 61 years now. While her family members help, Suzi is a one-woman show in the kitchen. It's a juggling act, she says, but a labor of love.

Renée JeanJune 03, 2023

This short tin fence was enough to stop hoards of Mormon crickets swarming in and around Sundance in the 1930s.

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 JeanJune 02, 2023

Megabus is partnering with Express Arrow to provide, and potentially expand, bus service throughout Wyoming and the region.

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 JeanJune 01, 2023

Wyoming Senate President Ogden Driskill, R-Devils Tower, said that even with the state's business-friendly environment, surrounding states are still beating Wyoming out for new businesses.

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 JeanMay 31, 2023

Other Authors

Lani Malmberg grew up on a ranch in Lander, and now operates a small army of 500 cashmere goats that travel around the U.S. West eating weeds.

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 JeanMay 30, 2023

Frackelton's in downtown Sheridan had been a favorite go-to spot for locals for a decade before it closed in October 2023. Now its original owner is bringing it back.

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 JeanMay 29, 2023

Black Elk was born in December 1863 along the Little Powder River in territory that would become Wyoming.

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 JeanMay 29, 2023

Items from the Edith Gallatin Collection are kept in glass cases.

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 JeanMay 28, 2023

The historic Sheridan Inn oozes Wyoming and Wild West history.

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 JeanMay 27, 2023

This splendid rainbow over a colorful field of wildflower in the Bighorns inspired Victoria Haun of the Lucky Chukar Ranch in the Bighorn Mountains.

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 JeanMay 26, 2023

Wyoming-based Taco John's reports it's been the beneficiary of huge global publicity since Taco Bell challenged its 34-year-old trademark on the phrase "Taco Tuesday."

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 JeanMay 25, 2023

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 JeanMay 24, 2023

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 JeanMay 24, 2023

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