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

Drinking Wyoming: Pine Bluffs Distillery’s Coming-Of-Age Whiskey And Spirits

Pine Bluffs Distillery is Chad Brown’s American dream, creating his own unique whiskey and spirits in a town with more elevation than people. It’s an all-around Wyoming coming-of-age story.

Renée JeanJune 15, 2024

Traffic is heavy in Alpine, Wyoming, on Wednesday morning with people commuting from Idaho to Jackson for work. This photo was taken at about 8:30 a.m. heading north on Highway 89.

Wyoming-Idaho Commuters Say Teton Pass Detour Is Brutal

Commuters who live in Idaho and work in Jackson report the four-hour — or longer — round-trip detour after Saturday’s collapse of Highway 22 on Teton Pass is brutal.

Renée JeanJune 12, 2024

A “catastrophic failure” of Wyoming Highway 22 over Teton Pass overnight Friday saw a huge section wash down the mountain. A long closure of the “lifeline” between Jackson and Victor, Idaho, is expected.

"We're Still Open!" Businesses Concerned Over Impression Jackson Closed

The Wyoming Office of Tourism and the Town of Jackson are fighting the mistaken impression that the collapse of Highway 22 over Teton Pass means the whole area is closed to tourists. Millions of dollars in tourism revenue are at stake.

Renée JeanJune 11, 2024

Work is going quickly at the S curve that failed on Teton Pass over the weekend.

Teton Pass Collapse Also ‘Catastrophic’ For Jackson’s Out-Of-Town Workforce

The collapse of Highway 22 over Teton Pass has not only cut off a lifeline between Idaho and Wyoming, it’s also severed the main way to and from work for a huge segment of Jackson’s out-of-town workforce.

Renée JeanJune 10, 2024

Rusty Parrot, Jackson Boutique Luxury Retreat Destroyed In Fire, To Reopen July 1

A giant, 4-foot-tall rusty parrot folk art piece inspired the name of one of Jackson’s first boutique luxury hotels. It burned down in 2019, but has been rebuilt and will reopen July 1.

Renée JeanJune 10, 2024

Eastern Wyoming College welding student Dayton Tillman can expect to earn six figures when he graduates because he has a highly coveted skill in a profession that has a huge shortage of people.

Huge Shortage Of Workers Makes Welding A Lucrative Profession In Wyoming

Thanks to a huge shortage of welders, those skilled in the profession in Wyoming can make six figures right out of school. Underwater welders, meanwhile, can make more than $300,000 a year.

Renée JeanJune 09, 2024

Steam flies at a busy Kemo Sabe store in Jackson, where workers are putting the right shape on hats for waiting customers.

Cowboy Fashion Is Hip Again And People Will Spend Big Money To Look The Part

TV shows like Yellowstone and Longmire and stars like Beyonce have helped to make cowboy fashion popular again. That's good for Wyoming stores as tourists are spending big money on hats, art and all things western.

Renée JeanJune 09, 2024

The Kudar Cabins from the outside are channeling a 1930s vibe.

100 Years Of Gangsters, Priests And History At Jackson’s Iconic Kudar Cabins

It was nearly 100 years ago that a pair of baseball-playing brothers stumbled into Jackson Hole and were smitten. That led them to build the Kudar Log Cabins, a property that has 96 years of history in the heart of Jackson

Renée JeanJune 09, 2024

Jessica Sell Chamber's tenants have been putting signs in their cars to let Jackson, Wyoming, police know they live in the homes they're parked in front of and are not just tourists camping out.

Jackson Town Councilwoman Gets Ticket For Parking In Front Of Her Own House

Jackson Town Councilwoman Jessica Sell Chambers learned she didn’t understand Jackson’s complicated parking rules when she got a ticket for parking in front of her own home. The rules prohibit parking the same vehicle within a single block area for more than 72 hours

Renée JeanJune 08, 2024

High Country Suites in Pinedale, Wyoming (via Google)

Polarizing Billionaire Joe Ricketts Buys 'Haliburton Hotel' In Pinedale

The High Country Suites in Pinedale — known to locals as the Haliburton Hotel — was sold to billionaire Joe Ricketts last month, just after his purchase of White Pines Ski Resort. Ricketts has drawn criticism for wanting to rename the town of Bondurant to "Little Jackson Hole."

Renée JeanJune 05, 2024

The lot where Mega Mogul proposed building a massive 360,000-square-foot hotel has landed in limbo after the Jackson Town Council approved a 120-day moratorium on large developments.

Jackson Council Halts Massive 360,000-Square-Foot Mega Hotel For 120 Days

Mogul Capital’s proposed 360,000-square-foot mega hotel at the north end of Jackson has landed in limbo for at least 120 days after the town council put a moratorium on large development projects.

Renée JeanJune 05, 2024

The massive 1-meter telescope seems immovable. Until, like an alien robot, it suddenly moves.

Bill Nye, Hundreds Of Others Starstruck Over Jackson’s Giant New $8M Planetarium

Bill Nye the Science Guy was among the attendees on Saturday to see Snow King Mountain Resort’s new $8 million planetarium. The giant 1-meter telescope is the second largest in Wyoming.

Renée JeanJune 03, 2024

Other Authors

Audra's Copper Cool in Thermopolis, Wyoming.

Eating Wyoming: Eclectic Wyoming Coffee Shop All About Mocktails And Shaggy Cows

An eclectic coffee shop in Thermopolis is known for its coffee-based mocktails -- drinks that get their kick from coffee, not from liquor. They also have an obsession with their pets, Scottish Highland coos -- otherwise known as shaggy cows.

Renée JeanJune 02, 2024

Steve Bang finishes the swim part of the triathlon in the Adriatic Sea.

Riverton Swim Coach Finishes One Of The World’s Most Extreme Triathlons

Riverton's Steve Bang, the high school swim coach and retired surgeon, just finished one of the world's most difficult races, the X-Out Extreme Triathlon in Montenegro, Spain. The race had an actual "executioner" who eliminated the slowest participants.

Renée JeanJune 02, 2024

The new $25 million, 30,000-square-foot Horse Palace at Swan Ranch, just off the High Plains Road exit on Interstate 25 about 4 miles north of the Colorado border, is getting closer to being ready to open.

Huge $25M, 30,000-Square-Foot Wyoming Horse Palace Targets Colorado Players

Wyoming Horse Racing’s new huge $25 million, 30,000-square-foot Horse Palace near the Colorado border will open sometime this summer and target customers from Colorado. It will also employ a celebrity chef who used to cook for Oprah Winfrey.

Renée JeanJune 02, 2024

At Brahma Mama's Bucking Bulls Ranch in Worland, people can learn to ride a bull like a real Wyoming cowboy.

Want To Ride A Bull Like A Real Wyoming Cowboy? There's A School For That

Bull riding has been called the most dangerous 8 seconds in any sport. If you want to learn how, it helps to have a good teacher. Last weekend, Professional Bull Riders Champion Mike Lee taught people how to do it at Brahma Mama’s Bucking Bulls Ranch in Worland.

Renée JeanJune 02, 2024

Pilot Kevin Garcia flew the Tizzy Lish to its new home in Lovell, Wyoming.

Famous Tizzy Lish Biplane Lands In Lovell To Be Centerpiece Of New Restaurant

Tizzy Lish, a famous biplane that once graced the cover of Sport Aviation magazine, has landed in its new home in Lovell and new a restaurant called The Overlook.

Renée JeanJune 02, 2024

A trailer in a UPS warehouse in the eastern part of the United States is stuffed with what the company calls the rural deferment for the day. That is, the packages on rural routes that were supposed to be delivered that day but for whatever reason weren’t. Center front of the trailer is a white Styrofoam container that was supposed to be a next day critical health care delivery. This photo was provided to Cowboy State Daily by a UPS driver.

More UPS Drivers Speak Up, Say Rural Food, Medicine Deliveries Sit, Spoil In Hot Warehouses

Responding to Cowboy State Daily articles on late UPS deliveries to rural Wyoming addresses, UPS drivers from across the country said food and critical medicines addressed to rural addresses often spoil in hot warehouses.

Renée JeanJune 01, 2024

The Brewery in Green River is one of three buildings that used to comprise the Sweetwater Brewery that once made the "beer that made Milwaukee jealous."

Drinking Wyoming: Historic Green River Brewery Once 'Made Milwaukee Jealous'

At its height in 1907, the Brewery In Green River was bottling 18,000 bottles of its medal-winning lager beer each day, boasting it was so good it put Milwaukee’s famous brew to shame.

Renée JeanJune 01, 2024

The MineOne Chinese bitcoin operation ordered by President Joe Biden in early May to shut down and sell off is staging to clear out with large turcks and storage pods at the site, which is about a mile from F.E. Warren Air Force Base.

Former F.E. Warren Commander Says U.S. Right To Be Worried About China

The former commander of F.E. Warren Air Force Base said the shutting down a Chinese-owned cryptocurrency mine next to the base is just one example why the U.S. is right to be worried about China’s efforts to infiltrate.

Renée JeanMay 28, 2024

A scene from the 2017 National Championship Air Races in Reno, Nevada.

No National Air Race Championship For Casper But Town Could Get Other Races

Casper won’t be the new home for National Championship Air Races, but the racing association plans to expand with other racing events, and says Casper is on the short list for one of those.

Renée JeanMay 27, 2024

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