Wyoming
One Dead After Fiery Semi Crash On Interstate 80 Near Rawlins
Update 6 p.m.: Interstate 80 has reopened after the eastbound lanes had been closed at Rawlins most of Saturday. This story has been updated with the latest information available.
Update 5:30 p.m.: The Wyoming Department of Transportation has lifted most of the closure notices for eastbound I-80, but the highway remains closed between Rawlins and exit 235 at Walcott Junction. Also, part of the reason for the closure is for fire crews to put out grass fires started by the crash. This story has been updated to reflect the latest information available.
Update 3:10 p.m.: The Wyoming Highway Patrol confirms one person died when two semitrailers collided Saturday morning and one became engulfed in flames. This story has been updated to reflect the latest information available.
Eastbound Interstate 80 at Rawlins has reopened after being closed for more eight hours Saturday after a fiery and fatal crash involving two semitrailers. The crash backed up traffic for miles and kept a host of University of Wyoming football fans from the team’s home opener.
Not much information about the crash has been available, but what has been reported is that it happened about 9:30 a.m. Saturday at about milepost 223 and had the interstate’s eastbound lanes under a rolling closure from exit 111 west of Rawlins and a full closure through exit 235 at Walcott Junction for most of the day, the Wyoming Department of Transportation reports.
As of 6 p.m., the last of the closures had been dropped and eastbound I-80 was open again.
Along with cleaning up the wreckage, the highway closure was extended because crews were also working to put out grass fires along the interstate caused by the crash, the Wyoming Department of Transportation reports.
The Wyoming Highway Patrol continues to investigate the crash, which killed an occupant of one of the trucks, WHP Trooper Jason Simmer told Cowboy State Daily.
After they collided, one of the commercial vehicles “was engulfed by fire,” according to a WHP report.
“Crews are working diligently to reopen the roadway; however, due to the heavy damage to the vechicles, it’s taking time to remove them safely from the highway,” the WHP report said.
That information corroborates what another WHP officer told Cody Lane at the Stinker I-80 Travel Plaza near Sinclair, where many of the stranded drivers waited for the highway to reopen.
“The Highway Patrol said there was at least one fatality, and that was all he was authorized to give out,” said Lane, an attendant at the truck stop.
A call to the Carbon County Coroner’s Office for more information about the crash fatality wasn’t returned.
Hurry Up And Wait
Lane said he’s used I-80 being closed for one reason or another, but it’s usually during winter for weather-related reasons.
“Honestly, we’re not too busy right now,” he told Cowboy State Daily. “Mostly the travelers come in and ask if there’s another way around. The last time the Highway Patrol was in here he said it’s going to be another three hours.”
He said travelers have reported various details about what they observed driving past the crash scene, but much of it is conflicting.
For example, Lane said he’s been told the crash may involve two semis, while another motorist said it looked like a semi had hit a smaller parked car.
“We don’t really know. We just know there was a big-old fire,” Lane said, adding he climbed on top of the truck stop to get a better view. “There was a big-old bunch of black smoke.”
Those who stuck around around and waited for the highway to reopen got a little hungry as the time passed, Lane said.
“They’re buying mostly snacks, like Cheez-Its, meat sticks, Gatorade and other snacky stuff,” he said.
Many of those waiting were UW Cowboys fans, he said, who had to listen to the game on the radio or try to stream a broadcast. The Cowboys lost 17-13 to the University of Idaho.
“Most of the travelers, yes, they say they were on the way to the game,” he said.
Others reported being stuck for hours in the bumper-to-bumper wall of semitrucks and other vehicles, posting their experiences to the popular Wyoming Road and Weather Conditiuons Reports Updates Facebook page.
“My kids have bene stuck out there for over six hours,” posted Robin Britt-Layton. “Thankfully they don’t ahve the babies with them.”
One of those who couldn’t get to the UW game was Lauri Shoopman, who posted that, “We tried getting to Ft. Steele every which way, didn’t happen. We just came home instead of traveling to the game.”
“I’m so glad I’m not stuck there anymore,” added Kellie Whitzel. “Two and a half hours was long enough.”
Jennifer Nelsen of Green River showed her relief when she posted “Finally!!!!” after waiting for hours for traffic to start moving.
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This screenshot from a WYDOT webcam at the exit just east of Sinclair, Wyoming, shows a long line of cars waiting for the highway to reopen. (WYDOT)
Greg Johnson can be reached at greg@cowboystatedaily.com.
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.”
Related
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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