Wyoming
Billionaire businessman Joe Ricketts facing backlash for trying to rename small Wyoming town: ‘He’s just sucking everything up’
The billionaire owner of the Chicago Cubs is on a mission to rename a small Wyoming town where he plans to build a 56-acre high-end resort to the criticism and ire of the locals.
Joe Ricketts, the TD Ameritrade founder and patriarch of his family that purchased the MLB team in 2009, hopes to change Bondurant, Wyoming to Little Jackson Hole.
Ricketts, 82, has been on a recent push to build a 56-acre high-end resort on his 1,300-acre Jackson Fork Ranch property, according to the Cowboy State Daily.
Homestead Resort, the proposed name for Ricketts’ retreat, was described as a “premium resort experience with a mission-driven focus on protecting, preserving and enjoying the natural beauty of the Hoback region,” the newspaper reported.
During a dinner several years ago, the former stockbroker chairman pitched his idea to rename the small town Little Jackson Hole as an homage to Davey Jackson, an American pioneer and explorer with several locations in the valley named after him.
The seven-course meal where Ricketts first floated the idea included “swag bags” for all guests.
The billionaire released a study where he wanted to examine the location name “JacksonLittle Hole” along with other variants including Little Jackson Hole.
“It also was to provide authoritative documentation of the usage of ‘Jackson’s Little Hole’ within the geographical area known today as Bondurant, Wyoming,” the study said.
Bondurant had a population of 152, according to a 2022 census.
The research found Jackson had two favorite hunting spots in the valley – Jackson’s (Big) Hole and Jackson’s Little Hole.
Jackson Hole is known for its upscale ski resorts, campgrounds and picturesque views — bordered by the jagged peaks of the Tetons.
Ricketts believes the name change would make the area more marketable, based on name recognition for those who already travel to the area.
The suggestion irked some citizens of the small town, which sits in Sublette County, 40 miles southeast of Grand Teton National Park, who are angered by Rickett’s proposal for a tourist destination in the community.
“About 75% of the people all got up and left the dinner right then,” Pat Burroughs said. “They left the gift bags on the table and just walked out.”
“We are Bondurant,” she said firmly. “This is the Upper Hoback.”
Burroughs added that the change from Bondurant could bring confusion for delivery services.
“One gentleman even had trouble getting his medication,” the furious resident said. “He kept telling them he lives in Bondurant, but they were looking for someone in Little Jackson Hole.”
“It’s totally infuriating,” Burroughs said.
Richard Pearson, who claims to be the oldest lifelong resident of the Hoback Basin Valley, said the privacy of the community will vanish.
“I hate to see the change that this is going to bring to the private people who live in this valley,” Pearson told the newspaper. “You know, it’s going to be a completely different world in a few years once this, once everything gets going.”
Pearson complained that Ricketts had been buying several lands to add to his power to get the name change.
“He’s bought several places around here,” Pearson said. “It’s just like a cancer. He’s just sucking everything up. Anything that becomes available, he’s buying it.”
Apart from his Jackson Fork Ranch property, Ricketts recently purchased the White Pine Ski and Summer Resort, a 363-acre resort near Pinedale, 54 miles from Bondurant.
Last month he finalized a deal to buy the High Country Suites in Pinedale, according to the Cowboy State Daily.
Ricketts had said he wanted to ensure White Pine remains a “strong part of the community, and continues the tradition of serving local residents.” the newspaper reported.
CASPER, Wyo. — High school athletics in Wyoming could see some drastic changes in the coming years following legislative changes to the state’s education budget, the Wyoming High School Activities Association recently announced in a statement.
According to the WHSAA, Wyoming school districts are facing a projected $3.9 million shortfall in activities funding, forcing officials to consider significant cuts to high school sports and extracurricular programs.
The WHSAA shared details regarding a new “silo” funding model implemented by the Legislature, stating that the recalibrated block grant model reduced funding for student activities and extra-duty responsibilities from $46.3 million to $42.4 million, an approximately 8.4% decrease statewide.
WHSAA Commissioner Trevor Wilson said the restructuring also restricts district access to an additional $76.2 million in previously flexible funding.
“A significant portion of the [April 28 WHSAA Board of Directors] meeting was dedicated to discussing the projected funding shortfall,” Wilson wrote.
The WHSAA is weighing several strategies to address rising costs with fewer resources. Proposed changes include eliminating regional tournaments and reducing the number of teams qualifying for state events from eight to four; limiting wrestling to two classes and restricting track and field state participants to the top 16 marks; making cuts to soccer, indoor track and field, Nordic and Alpine skiing, swimming and diving, spring golf and tennis; and reducing in-person speech and debate events by half and centrally locating All-State Music events to minimize travel. The board also recommended increasing gate admission or implementing student participation fees to offset costs.
While the WHSAA release states that no plans have been finalized and the various changes are currently just possibilities, Natrona County School District 1 Board of Trustees member Mary Schmidt criticized the WHSAA’s handling of the news at Monday’s board meeting.
“I take some issues with this, [including] the sheer fact that we as Board of Trustees members have not talked about that at all,” Schmidt said. “It is not our intent and it has not been brought to us to cut our athletics or activities budget for the upcoming school year. … I take issue with them picking sports and getting the community upset and ginning them up to be upset that this is all going to be cut when that hasn’t been discussed.”
Later in the meeting, Superintendent Angela Hensley clarified that Natrona County School District 1’s athletics and activities budget saw a reduction of roughly $550,000 in the coming year’s budget, but said the local school district does not plan to cut any sports.
“Thank you, Trustee Schmidt, for saying this, because I think people are wondering — we are not planning to cut athletics and activities for next year,” Hensley said. “We do have to take a look at our entire budget as we have talked about, as we learn more about these new rules that come in.”
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Republished with permission from Wyoming News Now, a TV news outlet covering the Cheyenne and Casper areas.
Cheyenne City Council has introduced a temporary moratorium, or pause, on new data center construction.
“The end goal is to actually have regulations in place, to have really heavy public involvement with this with data centers,” said Councilman Mark Moody.
The proposed ordinance is not a permanent ban on data centers and would not affect data centers currently under construction.
Councilman Moody says this is a bipartisan issue.
“I just want to make this clear, I’m not against data centers. We do need them from a national security perspective,” he said.
He said there needs to be more public input and regulations regarding data centers in Cheyenne.
The ordinance would require city staff to study data center impacts such as electricity usage, electricity tariffs, closed-loop cooling systems, groundwater impacts, agricultural impacts, and land value.
Cheyenne LEADS, the economic development corporation for Cheyenne and Laramie County, reported in November 2025 that there are 12 operational data centers in Wyoming, five under construction and plans for 43 data centers announced across the state.
“There needs to be more public input with this, and also to see how many we can sustain here in this community, cause there are talks of 43, and then another day 70. How many can we sustain here?” said Councilman Moody.
The proposed moratorium will now go to the Public Services Committee on Monday, May 18 at noon in the Municipal Building.
Sheridan will play in the North Regional Tournament at Gillette, while the South Regional Tournament will be played at Rock Springs.
North Regional Tournament at Gillette:
Checking record vs. highest team in the quadrant not involved in the tie, Thunder Basin gets the #1 Northeast seed over Campbell County, because the Lady Bolts went 3-1 vs. Sheridan, whereas the Lady Camels went 2-2.
Friday, May 15th:
(#1 NE) Thunder Basin vs. (#4 NW) Jackson – 11am
(#2 NW) Natrona County vs. (#3 NE) Sheridan – 11am
(#2 NE) Campbell County vs. (#3 NW) Kelly Walsh – 1pm
(#1 NW) Cody vs. (#4 NE) Worland – 1pm
Semi-Finals:
Thunder Basin/Jackson winner vs. Natrona County/Sheridan winner – 3pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Campbell County/Kelly Walsh winner vs. Cody/Worland winner – 5pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Consolation Round:
Thunder Basin/Jackson loser vs. Natrona County/Sheridan loser – 3pm LOSER OUT!
Campbell County/Kelly Walsh loser vs. Cody/Worland loser – 5pm LOSER OUT!
Saturday, May 16th:
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
2 10am winners vs. each other – 1pm 3rd Place
TBA vs. TBA – 1pm 1st Place
South Regional Tournament at Rock Springs:
Friday, May 15th:
(#1 SW) Laramie vs. (#4 SE) Torrington – 11am
(#2 SE) Cheyenne East vs. (#3 SW) Green River – 11am
(#2 SW) Rock Springs vs. (#3 SE) Wheatland – 1pm
(#1 SE) Cheyenne Central vs. (#4 SW) Cheyenne South – 1pm
Semi-Finals:
Laramie/Torrington winner vs. Cheyenne East/Green River winner – 3pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Rock Springs/Wheatland winner vs. Cheyenne Central/Cheyenne South winner – 5pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Consolation Round:
Laramie/Torrington loser vs. Cheyenne East/Green River loser – 3pm LOSER OUT!
Rock Springs/Wheatland loser vs. Cheyenne Central/Cheyenne South loser – 5pm LOSER OUT!
Saturday, May 16th:
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
2 10am winners vs. each other – 1pm 3rd Place
TBA vs. TBA – 1pm 1st Place
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