Overseeing five state prisons and a biennial budget of $262 million is no easy task. But it’s a rewarding one for Dan Shannon.

Not everyone is cut out for the realities of ranching. After all, the hours are long, the weather can be problematic and the management of cattle is challenging at best.

Native American issues have made Wyoming headlines this year, whether it’s news about repatriation efforts to return hair samples of Shoshone and Arapaho people from a university museum or state legislation’s attempts to create an alert system that could help Indigenous people who go missing.

In 2021, Wyoming hit new highs for drug overdoses and suicides. Health data released in October shows that 108 Wyoming residents died from drug overdoses last year, the highest number reported since 2012. Meanwhile, Wyoming’s suicide rate also reached a record high with 189 suicides—or 32.8 suicides per 100,000 individuals, which is more than double the nationwide rate of 13.5 suicides per 100,000 people.

Grace Foulk reports on news throughout the state from Oct. 24 - Oct. 30

Growing up in Texas and South Dakota, Zach Beam, 34, never wanted to be a teacher. In fact, he initially pursued an engineering degree when he left home for Black Hills State University.

Political divisions have seeped into the education system in the United States, including in the Cowboy State.

Sergio Maldonado, Sr., 68, the Democratic candidate running for Wyoming Superintendent of Public Instruction, hopes to make history as the first person of Northern Arapaho and Mexican descent to occupy that political office.

As outdoor enthusiasts enjoy the Cowboy State’s natural landscapes and the hunting season approaches, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department shared insights about its wildlife management program.

A new gas and diesel price working group is brainstorming ways to provide relief to Wyomingites from higher prices at the pump, whether that’s introducing a tax rebate program or ramping up import capacity of energy supply. One of the members is Luke Reiner, the director of the Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT).

A recent Supreme Court ruling that limits the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to regulate carbon dioxide emissions drew applause from Gov. Mark Gordon and many in Wyoming’s energy industry. The ruling, issued June 30, stated that it is not plausible for Congress to give the EPA the authority to adopt a “regulatory scheme” that would cap carbon dioxide emissions “at a level that will force a nationwide transition away from the use of coal to generate electricity.”

The sun sets over Glossa, a hilltop village on the forest-covered Greek island of Skopelos.  While Wyoming-raised photojournalist and archaeologist Matt Stirn spends much of the year on his family's ranch near Grand Teton National Park, his interests in exploring ancient and traditional cultures often send him to far-flung corners of the globe.

Wyoming conjures images of cowboys, cattle and big blue skies, far from the rolling hills, racehorses and whiskeys of Kentucky. There hasn't historically been a tradition of whiskey-making in Wyoming. In fact, when Wyoming Whiskey sold its first bottle 10 years ago, it was the first legal distillery in the state.