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
Cheyenne’s Historic C.B. Irwin Barn Once Stabled Steamboat
Cheyenne’s historic C.B. Irwin Barn, about a block from the Wyoming Capitol and now home to Cowboy State Daily, once stabled the legendary Steamboat.
Renée JeanMay 27, 2024
Getting Wyoming’s Iconic 1 Million Pound Big Boy Locomotive Ready For Summer Tour
The race is on to get Wyoming’s iconic Big Boy locomotive ready for its summer 2024 tour. It takes a lot of work for the largest operating steam engine on the planet at more than 1 million pounds.
Renée JeanMay 27, 2024
100 Years Of Driving Through Spectacular Wind River Canyon
At $1 million, building the Yellowstone Highway through Wind River Canyon in 1924 was the most expensive American road project ever. What’s followed has been a century of breathtaking views and nearly unbelievable stories.
Renée JeanMay 26, 2024
Wyoming Man Says Becoming A Certified Beer Judge Harder Than Masters In Biology
Paul Dey of Cheyenne has an enviable hobby — he’s a certified beer judge. And he said earning that certification was harder than getting his Master of Biology degree.
Renée JeanMay 26, 2024
Eating Wyoming: From Bangkok To New York To Thermopolis
Authentic Bangkok Thai cuisine in Thermopolis? Yup. Tanon “James” Thapphum grew up in Thailand, had a food cart in Bangkok, went to cooking school in New York, and then set up shop in downtown Thermopolis.
Renée JeanMay 26, 2024
Wyoming UPS Drivers Call Out Company On Rural Delivery Practices
One current UPS driver told Cowboy State Daily UPS falsifies delivery records for rural customers. A former UPS driver said many times medications and frozen food sat in warehouses for so long they thawed out and went bad, but were delivered anyway.
Renée JeanMay 25, 2024
Engine 4420 Helped Save Evanston 100 Years Ago, Now Evanston Saving Engine 4420
Engine 4420 is a workhorse of a switch steam locomotive that helped saved Evanston in the 1920s. Now it’s 4420’s turn to be restored to its former glory.
Renée JeanMay 25, 2024
After Wyoming-Based Custodia Bank Denied By Feds, State May Step Into Fight
After Wyoming-based Custodia was denied by the Federal Reserve and federal judges their own master account for its digital bank, Wyoming legislators say they may step into the fight against what they say is political bias against the state.
Renée JeanMay 24, 2024
Casper Loses Out On Being Home For $100 Million National Championship Air Races
Casper made a huge push to be the new home to the world-famous National Championship Air Races, but learned Thursday it lost out to Roswell, New Mexico. The lucrative event could have a $100 million impact for Roswell.
Renée JeanMay 23, 2024
Wyoming Retirees On Fixed Income Have Homeowners Insurance Yanked After 42 Years
A retired couple on a fixed income in rural Wyoming had the homeowners insurance on their mobile home yanked after 42 years, and they’re not alone.
Renée JeanMay 23, 2024
Family Of Cheyenne’s Historic Hitching Post Inn Wants Affordable Housing Near It
Hitching Post Inn family member Stephanie Smith still owns half the land where the famous Cheyenne hotel was located. She hopes to attract an affordable housing project on part of it.
Renée JeanMay 20, 2024
So Far, So Good: Gillette Native Battling Cancer For A Third Time (And Winning)
Gillette native Nathan Kissack likes to joke that he’s done fentanyl 25 times, and he’s even done fentanyl and heroin together. The drugs were all legal, however, part of what is now a third — and so far successful — fight with cancer.
Renée JeanMay 19, 2024
Eating Wyoming: Buffalo’s Lukainka Sausages Have A 100-Year History In Wyoming
The Lukainka sausages served last weekend at Gillette’s third annual Sheepherders Festival have a long history for one Buffalo family that goes back well over 100 years.
Renée JeanMay 19, 2024
Jackson’s Vertical Hydroponic Farm Goes National With First-Of-Its-Kind Urban Farm Model
Vertical Harvest in Jackson is North America’s first vertical hydroponic greenhouse. Because of its success, it is opening a 51,000-square-foot vertical farming facility in Maine and will break ground on another in Detroit.
Renée JeanMay 19, 2024
Wyoming Convenience Store Grandma Won't Ever Retire But Says She's OK With That
Rebecca Burnett of Gillette has decided to never retire, so she eagerly pulls night shifts at a Big D Kwik Shop convenience store in Gillette and considers herself everyone’s grandma.
Renée JeanMay 19, 2024
Drinking Wyoming: Party Like A Viking At Gillette’s Big Lost Meadery
Sam Clikeman’s Big Lost Meadery in Gillette is an interesting bar. It's named after his friend who got mauled by a leopard in Namibia. It has a firefighter museum in it. And Sam sometimes serves his mead in horns -- as a salute to Vikings.
Renée JeanMay 18, 2024
Massive 362,000-Square-Foot Mega Hotel Planned For Downtown Jackson
Jackson changed its zoning laws years ago to refresh its downtown. Now it’s looking at a 362,000-square-foot mega hotel that far exceeds anything the town imagined at the time. The former mayor says she's "aghast" at the project.
Renée JeanMay 18, 2024
Good News: Hitching Post Sign Saved. Also, Man Found Living In Sign!
When construction workers were digging up the concrete foundation for the gigantic Hitching Post sign in west Cheyenne, they saw a foot sticking out. Turns out someone was living in the sign. Also, the sign will be saved.
Renée JeanMay 15, 2024
Postal Service Will Temporarily Halt Plans To Move Mail Processing Out Of Wyoming
A plan that would move essentially move all mail processing in Wyoming to other states and significantly slow mail delivery times has been temporarily halted. The Postmaster General said he would pause the plan until January 1, 2025.
Renée JeanMay 14, 2024
Biden Orders Chinese-Owned Cryptocurrency Mine Near F. E. Warren To Shut Down
Tucker Fagan, former commander of F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, said the decision to shut down the Chinese-owned cryptocurrency mine near the base was the right call. “We live in a very dangerous world and it's not getting safer” he said.
Renée JeanMay 14, 2024
Thermopolis Locals Fear New Hot Springs State Park Operators Will Price Them Out
Dozens of Thermopolis-area residents peppered a Wyoming State Parks official Monday about their worries that a new operator will price out locals who enjoy Wyoming’s most popular state park.
Renée JeanMay 14, 2024