Budget cuts at the Wyoming Department of Corrections over the last two years have led to big changes in the state prison system. DOC Director Dan Shannon told the Joint Appropriations Committee at a recent budget meeting that he’s uncertain he can operate the agency within this year’s $260 million target. Pictured above: File photo of Wyoming State Penitentiary. Photo by Cali O’Hare/Bigfoot 99.You can’t win them all. The U.S. Supreme Court handed down two rulings Thursday on Joe Biden’s vaccine mandates. The rulings amount to a split decision for the White House. Employees of private businesses earned a big win over their personal healthcare decisions with the court blocking federal enforcement of the OSHA emergency rule. The justices came down on the other side of the issue on the lawsuit over the mandate for healthcare facilities that accept Medicare and Medicaid. The Supremes allowed the mandate on federally funded healthcare workers to take effect nationwide.Governor Mark Gordon this week officially petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to remove the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem population of grizzly bears from the Endangered Species List. The petition takes on critics of state management of the species, Ursus arctos horribilis, which was first given federal protection in 1975. Protection made sense then. As few as 136 bears survived in the Greater Yellowstone region. The 27-page petition details the 46-year history of recovery efforts. Its narrative of a successful recovery effort is supported with charts, graphs and maps, to demonstrate that more than 1,000 grizzly bears roam the region today. File photo.Ahead of this weekend’s second annual strategic planning session, the Rawlins City Council is reviewing a 95 page document with hundreds of critiques and suggestions from Rawlins residents. The governing body will consider this feedback as it sets goals for 2022. Pictured above: File photo of Rawlins City Hall. Photo by Cali O’Hare/Bigfoot 99.
