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

An app on this cellphone shows what appears to be a ghost child dancing or walking around in front of the library's DVD section.

Built On An Old Graveyard, Sweetwater County Library Is Wyoming’s Most Haunted

Built on an old graveyard, the Sweetwater County Library in Green River embraces a haunted history that includes finding old bodies, reports of apparitions, moving objects, and other unexplained happenings.

Renée JeanOctober 30, 2023

Michael and Karmin Pace at Cheyenne Frontier Days

Why Michael And Karmin Pace Take 600 People To Cheyenne Frontier Days Every Year

A trip in his early 20s started a lifelong love affair with Wyoming and the West for Pace-O-Matic founder Michael Pace. That’s why his company flies 600 people to Wyoming every year for Cheyenne Frontier Days.

Renée JeanOctober 29, 2023

The Virginian is as iconic Western Wyoming as any place in the Cowboy State. Author Owen Wister got the idea for his famous novel of the same name while sleeping across the street, which inspired naming the hotel.

The Virginian Hotel Has been A Wyoming And Western Icon For More Than A Century

The Virginian Hotel, inspired by the famous Owen Wister novel "The Virginian," is a Wyoming and Western Icon that’s been run by four generations of the same family for more than a century.

Renée JeanOctober 29, 2023

Hangin' out with Hoot, the most famous owl on the planet, at the Fort Bridger Rendezvous.

On The Road With Renee: An Epic 24,000-Mile, 100-Day Marathon Wyoming Road Trip

Now that the snow is flying, Cowboy State Daily writer Renée Jean’s epic 24,000-mile, 100-day summer road trip is over. She turned out dozens of uniquely-Wyoming stories featuring hundreds of local people.

Renée JeanOctober 29, 2023

Strange things have reportedly happened at The Main Bagel in Gillette.

Haunted Wyoming: Spirits At Gillette Bagel Shop Make Themselves Known In Loud And Obnoxious Ways

A pair of Gillette restauranteurs say strange things started happening at the bagel shop they owned after a family friend died, including unexplainable loud banging and a visible ghostly handprint.

Renée JeanOctober 28, 2023

Maggie Imman, a University of Wyoming student, attended Thursday's Wyoming Public Service Commission meeting in Cheyenne dressed as a bald eagle to comment on the costs of electricity in the state and the toll wind turbines take on eagles.

UW Student Dressed As Eagle Pleads For Birds During RMP Rate Hike Hearing

University of Wyoming student Maggie Immen showed up dressed as an eagle for Thursday’s Wyoming Public Service Commission meeting to draw attention to eagles and other birds that are killed by wind turbines.

Renée JeanOctober 27, 2023

BLM Backs Off Approval Of Albany County Wind Transmission Line

In response to a lawsuit claiming the agency didn’t give proper public notice of its plans to build a wind transmission line through Albany County, the BLM has backed off and agreed to give it a closer look.

Renée JeanOctober 26, 2023

State Sen. Cale Case testifies to the Wyoming Public Service Commission on Wednesday about proposed Rocky Mountain Power rate hikes that add up to nearly 30%.

Part Of Huge Electricity Rate Hike Is To Pay For Washington State Carbon Tax

The Wyoming Public Service Commission got an earful Wednesday that Cowboy State residents shouldn’t be on the hook to pay a state of Washington carbon tax on a gas-fired power plant.

Renée JeanOctober 26, 2023

Wyoming Could Still Meet Deadline To Issue Digital Stable Token By End Of Year

Wyoming Stable Token Commission’s new executive director recommends using Ethereum for initial development of its stable token as the race is on to issue at least one Wyoming stable token by the end of the year.

Renée JeanOctober 24, 2023

The new Barnes & Noble store in Cheyenne at 5116 Frontier Mall Drive #400.

Cheyenne Book Lovers Buzzing For Return Of Barnes & Noble With A New Local Focus

Cheyenne book lovers have been buzzing for the reopening of the Cheyenne Barnes & Noble book store, which will happen Wednesday with a new focus on catering to local tastes and trends.

Renée JeanOctober 24, 2023

Ohana Sips was the people's choice at a recent food truck rally in Rawlins.

Foodies Flock To Rawlins For Wyoming’s Most Fabulous Food Trucks

Wyoming’s fast-evolving food truck culture was the main attraction for 1,000 foodies who flocked to Rawlins for the recent Wyoming Food Truck Festival.

Renée JeanOctober 23, 2023

Ronni Roemmich makes a batch of brownies in the kitchen at Sweet Surprises.

Wyoming People: Riverton’s Cupcake Lady Doesn’t ‘Do Anything Average’

Sweet Surprises owner Ronnie Roemmich made a name for herself as Riverton’s Cupcake Lady by not doing “anything average” at her bakery, which scratch makes everything from quiche to cappuccino.

Renée JeanOctober 22, 2023

Other Authors

Cheyenne’s Iconic Downtowner Hotel Rises From Central Plaza Ashes

Balconies were falling off the Central Plaza Hotel and concrete corners crumbling away when Corey Lynn and Carter Ward bought it. But today is a new day and Cheyenne's 88-room Downtowner is a new hotel.

Renée JeanOctober 22, 2023

Western Star Ranch in Jackson Polo Club Community For Sale For $10.95 Million

The eight-acre Western Star Ranch, in an exclusive Jackson community that features a polo club, has been listed for $10.75 million. It’s not limited to horse lovers, but horse culture is at its core.

Renée JeanOctober 21, 2023

An epic cake competition needs an epic trophy. This one was made by the woodworking and welding classes at Carbon County Higher Education Center. The whisk actually spins around in the mixing bowl on top of a cake slice made by welding students.

It Took High-Tech Pastry, Theatrics To Win Wyoming's Debut Cake Wars Competition

It took more than just baking a great cake to be crowned the Wyoming Cake Wars champ. Judges expected to be wowed by technology, technique and theatrics -- and they were.

Renée JeanOctober 21, 2023

A yard full of cemetery stones with funny sayings on them is part of the usual Halloween decor for Desiree Ross, who's proud to be Worland's "Queen of Halloween."

Wyoming People: Desiree Ross Is Worland’s Queen Of Halloween

Desiree Ross, Worland’s Queen of Halloween, lives in the perfect place for a haunted house. Her home was Worland’s very first hospital where 3,000 babies were born.

Renée JeanOctober 21, 2023

Wyoming’s Famous Hell’s Half Acre Could Soon Re-Open To The Public

A plan is in the works to renovate and re-open Wyoming’s famous Hell’s Half Acre, an otherworldly landscape made famous in movies like the cult classic “Starship Troopers.”

Renée JeanOctober 21, 2023

Sheridan Shocked With Sudden Closure Of Popular Frackelton’s Restaurant

Frackelton's, a popular dining and social scene in downtown Sheridan with a lot of local history, closed without warning Tuesday “until further notice.”

Renée JeanOctober 20, 2023

Signs outside an oil well site in Wyoming in this file photo.

Can Wyoming Retrieve 200 Million Barrels Of Untapped Oil?

The State of Wyoming is placing a $2.5 million bet that, working with UW, it can help industry figure out how to tap into the 200 million barrels of oil reserves in the tricky Mowry Shale of the Powder River Basin.

Renée JeanOctober 18, 2023

Sitti’s Table In Cody Latest Wyoming Joint Featured On ‘Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives’

A place that quickly became a favorite go-to spot in Cody has found its way onto the Mayor of Flavortown’s radar. Sitti’s Table will be featured on the Food Network show “Diners Drive-Ins & Dives” on Friday.

Renée JeanOctober 17, 2023

For 50 Years, Nobody In Rawlins Goes Hungry At Michael’s Big City Steakhouse

If anyone is down on their luck, restaurant owner Michael Lujan will not send them away hungry. That’s something he learned from his parents. As part of that philosophy, Lujan serves a free Thanksgiving meal for the community. Last year, he cooked 85 turkeys.

Renée JeanOctober 15, 2023

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