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
Rural Cheyenne Residents Fed Up With Drivers Taking Out Their Mailboxes
When drivers kept taking out her mailbox and leaving without so much as an “I’m sorry” note, a rural Cheyenne woman took her complaint public. Turns out others in her neighborhood are also fed up with drivers plowing into their mailboxes.
Renée JeanOctober 21, 2025
Historian Says She's Traced Wyatt Earp’s First Gunfight To Orin, Wyoming
A Wild West historian says she uncovered evidence in a family diary suggesting Wyatt Earp’s first gunfight happened near Orin, Wyoming, not Illinois. That could reshape Earp's early legend and add a new chapter to Wyoming’s Wild West legacy.
Renée JeanOctober 21, 2025
Unique Whiskey Made From Ancient Grain Grown In Wyoming Called Emmer Debuts
A new whiskey debuted on Saturday made from emmer wheat grown in Powell, Wyoming. Nels Wroe, who grew up in Douglas and is the owner of Dry Land Distillers, said they're the only company making a true 100% emmer whiskey. "It's the only one like it in the world," he said.
Renée JeanOctober 19, 2025
Cheyenne Clinic Uses Wearable Tech To Protect Moms And Babies
A Cheyenne clinic has just added a remote blood-pressure monitoring program for high-risk pregnancies. It’s just the latest example of wearable health technology entering the medical field in Wyoming.
Renée JeanOctober 19, 2025
Drinking Wyoming: The Drinks At Lander Bar Come With A Taste Of Western History
The historic Lander Bar was a saloon when it first opened in 1907, and has also been a brothel and hotel before operating as a popular hangout for years. In the 1990s, a ski patrolman stopped in for a beer, and with two buddies decided to buy and restore the place.
Renée JeanOctober 19, 2025
Part-Time Doctors Have Full-Time Impact For Rural Wyoming Patients
Health care clinics in rural America have long struggled to recruit specialists to serve low-population, wide-open regions. A new model called fractional medicine lets them recruit part-time doctors and surgeons for hard-to-fill jobs.
Renée JeanOctober 18, 2025
Wright At 50: A Half-Century For The Wyoming Town That Coal Built
As one of Wyoming's youngest towns, Wright is celebrating its 50th year in existence this year. It may have started as a camp for workers at nearby coal mines, but Wright has grown into its own.
Renée JeanOctober 18, 2025
Luxurious Hideout Ranch In Shell, Wyoming, Lists For $14.95 Million
The Hideout Ranch in Shell, Wyoming, famed for its mustang horses and luxury guest experience, has hit the market for $14.95 million. Its owners are selling after two decades of global acclaim.
Renée JeanOctober 18, 2025
Flitner Family Buys Bighorn Mountain Ranch Back From Kanye West
Members of the Flitner family have bought their family’s ranch near Greybull, Wyoming, back from Kanye West. All the historic buildings, including Baldridge Cabin, are intact.
Renée JeanOctober 18, 2025
Public Service Commission To Appeal Ruling That RMP Customers Owe Utility $23.5M
The Wyoming Public Service Commission and Wyoming industrial electric consumers say they will appeal a recent ruling that Rocky Mountain Power customers owe the utility $23.5 million.
Renée JeanOctober 16, 2025
Hot Carbon Markets Boost Wyoming Ranchers’ Capture Project
A group of Wyoming ranchers is building a massive carbon storage project on their land. The project aims to store carbon dioxide underground, creating new income and supporting the local economy.
Renée JeanOctober 14, 2025
Wyoming’s Data Center Boom Sparks Fears Of Soaring Electric Rates
Wyoming’s growing sector of artificial intelligence and data centers have collectively announced 12.8 gigawatts worth of processing power so far. That has sparked concerns about rising power bills, but not everyone is worried.
Renée JeanOctober 14, 2025
South Pass City’s Chilling 1875 Murder Still Haunts Wyoming With Unsolved Secrets
South Pass City was rocked by the mysterious 1875 killing of George McOmie, a crime never solved. Decades later, ghost stories and unanswered questions still haunt the old Wyoming gold town. Modern day sleuths tried (and failed) to solve the mystery last weekend.
Renée JeanOctober 12, 2025
Discovery Channel's “Ghost Adventures” Looks For Casper’s Haunted Underbelly In Season Premier
The ghost hunters in Discovery Channel's “Ghost Adventures,” says Casper is a supernatural hotspot. A crew of 17 spent six days exploring ghosts, witches, and aliens in Casper for the season premiere of the show which debuts on October 15.
Renée JeanOctober 12, 2025
Taylor Sheridan's “Wind River” A Top Pick On Netflix Again As Fans Await Sequel
It appears fans are anxiously awaiting the sequel to Taylor Sheridan’s "Wind River," a 2017 thriller set in Wyoming's Wind River Range. That’s making the first movie one of the most-watched on Netflix again, although Wyomingites might struggle with the many inaccuracies
Renée JeanOctober 12, 2025
Wyoming Sugar Beet Growers Say Ozempic Isn't To Blame For Plunging Sugar Prices
Unlike a national report that blames weight loss drugs, like Ozempic and Wegovy, for plunging sugar prices, Wyoming farmers say the real issue is "sugar dumping," where countries subsidize the product, then take it to market at cut-rate, below-market prices.
Renée JeanOctober 12, 2025
Of Buffalo Bones And Bison Dreams — Life On Wyoming’s Biggest Bison Ranch
Growing up on the state’s largest bison ranch south of Gillette, Wyoming, Erin Flocchini had a unique childhood. At 55,000 acres and a herd that has ranged as high as 5,000 head at times, Wyoming’s Durham Ranch is among the largest and oldest bison operations in America.
Renée JeanOctober 11, 2025
Lavish Wyoming Property In Daniel Goes To Virtual Auction Block
Wyoming hasn’t typically sold a lot of high-end properties in online auctions, though it’s a rising trend. On October 16, one auction will sell a particularly luxurious home that way in Daniel. Starting bids are in the $4.5 to $6 million range, which boasts 11,337 square feet of living space, 9 bedrooms and 12.5 bathrooms.
Renée JeanOctober 11, 2025
Nobel Prize Winner Misses Big News While Off-The-Grid in The Wyoming Wilderness
The world was calling Fred Ramsdell to tell the California researcher that he’d won a Nobel Prize. He was blissfully unaware, backpacking at 8,000 feet in the Wyoming mountains, until he discovered a flood of messages.
Renée JeanOctober 10, 2025
Casper Lands Massive 1.5-Gigawatt Data Center Project on Nearby Ranch
Cheyenne has been stealing all the limelight of late when it comes to large data center announcements. But Casper is about to land one as well, with a huge 1.5-Gigawatt project to be located on a nearby ranch. They say it could employ as many as 600 people.
Renée JeanOctober 09, 2025
$1.2 Billion Data Center Breaks Ground In Cheyenne, CEO Stresses Low Water Impact
At a ceremony to break ground on a $1.2 billion data center in Cheyenne on Tuesday, the CEO of Related Companies stressed that the 184,000-square-foot facility will have a minimum impact on water. "We only build self-contained cooling systems that do not use water,” he said.
Renée JeanOctober 07, 2025