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Ogdensburg’s Jellie takes fire/EMS chief job in Wyoming

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Ogdensburg’s Jellie takes fire/EMS chief job in Wyoming


OGDENSBURG — Metropolis Supervisor Stephen P. Jellie has taken a job in Jackson Gap, Wyoming, as a hearth/EMS chief.

The Buckrail Day by day Information in Jackson Gap reported Sept. 22 that the present fireplace/EMS chief could be retiring and Mr. Jellie could be taking his place Nov. 1.

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A Bill Gates company is about to start building a nuclear power plant in Wyoming

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A Bill Gates company is about to start building a nuclear power plant in Wyoming


  • TerraPower, which Bill Gates founded, plans to build its first nuclear power plant in the US.
  • CEO Chris Levesque told the Financial Times it wants to start work on a site in Wyoming in June.
  • TerraPower says its reactor design is cheaper because they’re cooled by liquid sodium, not water.

A company cofounded by Bill Gates is about to start building next-generation nuclear power plants in the US.

Chris Levesque, CEO of TerraPower, told the Financial Times that his firm will start building at a site near a coal plant in Kemmerer, Wyoming in June, even if it hasn’t received a construction permit from regulators by then.

The company plans to bring the nuclear plant online in 2030, he added.

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TerraPower, which has raised $1 billion from backers, will use liquid sodium rather than water to cool its Natrium reactors, making them cheaper to run.

Most of the initial work at the Kemmerer site won’t be related to nuclear activity, Levesque said.

“When you use liquid sodium as a coolant instead of water it’s a game changer,” he told the FT.

“Natrium plants will cost half of what light water reactor plants cost … and we are moving our project along pretty aggressively.”

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Gates helped found TerraPower in 2006 and has been its chairman since then. The company has said its aim is to provide the world with a more affordable, secure, and environmentally friendly form of nuclear energy.

Its Natrium reactor is expected to cost $4 billion, with about half the cost being met by the Department of Energy. CRV and Khosla Ventures are among the company’s VC backers, Reuters reported.

While Russian and Chinese state-controlled companies have already managed to launch smaller nuclear reactors, progress in developing similar tech in the US has stalled in recent years.

High interest rates have made it tougher for startups to draw in funding, while Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and subsequent exclusion from financial markets has made it tougher for companies to get the uranium needed for their reactors.

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In December 2022, TerraPower pushed back the launch of its flagship project by at least two years, which Levesque attributed to the war in Ukraine hitting supplies of high-assay, low-enriched uranium.

In October last year TerraPower missed out on making the shortlisted for the next round of the UK government’s competition for small nuclear plants. Rolls-Royce is one of the leading contenders with its small modular reactor (SMR) designs and has already secured more than £200m of government funding in Britain.



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Wyoming High School Softball Scoreboard: March 19-23, 2024

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Wyoming High School Softball Scoreboard: March 19-23, 2024


High school softball teams have their first full week of action in the 2024 season. Week 2 has the first conference games of the season. The top four ranked teams will square off in Cheyenne on Friday and Saturday. Also, after last week’s Cheyenne Softball Invitational was canceled a revised one-day event will take place on Tuesday for six teams that didn’t play last weekend. The schedule is subject to change.

2024 WYOMING HIGH SCHOOL SOFTBALL SCHEDULE WEEK 2

WyoPreps Softball Standings After Week 1 2024

Cheyenne Softball Invitationalrevised and rescheduled (1-day, 6 varsity teams) – none are conference

Worland at #3 Cheyenne East, 10 a.m.

Rock Springs at #4 Cheyenne Central, 10 a.m.

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Laramie at Cheyenne South, 10 a.m.

Laramie at #3 Cheyenne East, 1 p.m.

Worland at #4 Cheyenne Central, 1 p.m.

Rock Springs at Cheyenne South, 1 p.m.

Rock Springs at #3 Cheyenne East, 4 p.m.

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Laramie at #4 Cheyenne Central, 4 p.m.

Worland at Cheyenne South, 4 p.m.

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Wheatland at Cheyenne South, 3 & 5 p.m. (conference game is 1st)

Worland at Cody, 3:30 & 5 p.m. (non-conference games)

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#1 Thunder Basin at #4 Cheyenne Central, 3 & 5 p.m. (conference game is 1st)

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#2 Campbell County at #3 Cheyenne East, 3 & 5 p.m. (conference game is 1st)

Laramie at Wheatland, 3 & 5 p.m. (conference game is 1st)

Green River at Kelly Walsh, 3:30 & 5 p.m. (conference game is 1st)

Rock Springs at Natrona County, 3:30 & 5 p.m. (conference game is 1st)

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#1 Thunder Basin at #3 Cheyenne East, 10 a.m. & noon (conference game is 1st)

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#2 Campbell County at #4 Cheyenne Central, 10 a.m. & noon (conference game is 1st)

Laramie at Cheyenne South, 10 a.m. & noon (conference game is 1st)

Green River at Natrona County, 11:30 a.m. & 1 p.m. (conference game is 1st)

Rock Springs at Kelly Walsh, 11:30 a.m. & 1 p.m. (conference game is 1st)

Report a Varsity Softball Score to WyoPreps
WyoPreps Week 1 Softball Scoreboard 2024

2023 Wyoming HS Softball State Tournament Day 2

Wyoming High School Softball State Championships Day 2 Photos in 2023

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Gallery Credit: Mikaela Settle, WyoPreps.com





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Gordon Vetoes Bill To Deregulate Mining Over Casper Gravel Pit Amendments

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Gordon Vetoes Bill To Deregulate Mining Over Casper Gravel Pit Amendments


Calling it a threat to Wyoming’s ability to generate mining revenue on state lands, Gov. Mark Gordon vetoed a bill Monday that would have allowed certain mining operations to have less state regulation.

Gordon said he supported Senate Enrolled Act 62 as originally written, but that amendments added to the bill would have given local counties authority over state lands.

“Ultimately, the flaws of Enrolled Act No. 62 as it has arrived on my desk outweigh its benefits,” Gordon writes in his veto letter.

Senate File 44 was designed to reduce regulation on non-coal mining operations in Wyoming. The bill also intended to address existing bonding deficiencies for issuing permits for limited mining operations (LMOs) by updating bonding requirements to take into account inflation and other withdrawals from reclamation funds.

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LMOs in Wyoming are now limited to various kinds of sand, gravel and rock quarries operating on 15 acres of land or less. SF 44 would have expanded that to all non-coal minerals including rare earths, essentially making it easier for small-scale energy operations to meet the lower regulation criteria offered for LMOs, and easier to make a transition to full permitting if they chose to expand in the future.

State Rep. Donald Burkhart, R-Rawlins, chairman of the House Minerals, Business and Economic Development Committee, said he was disappointed by the governor’s veto of his committee’s bill, but also saw some legitimacy to it. He said the amendments added to the bill took away from its original purpose.

“I’m disappointed, but there were some legitimate legal issues that he raised,” Burkhart said.

If the bill had passed, the only requirements needed to begin mining from the state would be that the operator receive permission to mine from the landowner and notify the Department of Environmental Quality and the inspector of mines within the Department of Workforce Services where they would be mining.

But Burkhart said an amendment added to the bill by Rep. Steve Harshman, R-Casper, on its third reading in the House altered the bill so that it gave counties some control over state mining and thus primacy over state lands.

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“Which you can’t have,” Burkhart said.

Casper Gravel Pit

There were a number of late amendments made to the bill specifically targeting development of an exploratory license that had been previously granted for a contentious gravel pit located on state lands southwest of Casper.

These amendments were added for the purpose of stopping further development of an exploratory license for the gravel pit.

Gordon said these amendments would have done nothing to resolve the gravel pit situation.

“Statutory changes are not the proper place to address specific concerns for individual operations,” Gordon wrote in his veto letter. “While Wyoming seeks to manage her state lands cooperatively with counties and their land use plans, the state is not constrained by them. State lands and minerals are important to our state’s economic well-being and need to be treated the same as other lands in the state.”

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Other Consequences

Gordon said the bill also would have had constitutional consequences as to how state lands are managed, and limited Wyoming’s ability to generate revenue from state lands and take management and decision-making authority away from the state.

The bill would have implemented an increased setback requirement of 500 feet on state lands and a new requirement for counties to review and issue conditional use permits. LMOs on private or federal lands only have to adhere to a 300-foot requirement, so Gordon said requiring the additional 200-foot setback for state land mining would make it uncompetitive.

“State lands and minerals are important to our state’s economic well-being and need to be treated the same as other lands in the state,” Gordon writes.

Burkhart said the Minerals Committee will take the bill back up during the upcoming interim session.

Five Bills Signed Into Law

Gordon also signed five bills into law Monday.

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  • Senate Enrolled Act 36 will help Wyoming judges freeze passports and issue other orders to block child abductions by parents or guardians.

  • Senate Enrolled Act 36 will authorize natural or adoptive parents or legal guardians to change a minor child’s name without giving public notice of the name change.

  • Senate Enrolled Act 44 will amend the Wyoming Stable Token Act to allow for investments in cash and government securities, and authorize the Wyoming Stable Token Commission to issue different types and amounts of stable tokens and to contract with financial service providers.

  • Senate Enrolled Act 45 will provide an exception to special district bond elections for improvement and service districts and water and sewer districts.

  • Senate Enrolled Act 31 provides a process by which special districts that have been required to dissolve for audit report noncompliance may reinstate the special district or stop the dissolution.

Leo Wolfson can be reached at Leo@CowboyStateDaily.com.



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