Wyoming
(PHOTOS) 'Hands off': Hundreds protest Trump admin in Casper
CASPER, Wyo. — Hundreds of local residents took to the streets of Casper on Saturday afternoon to protest the Trump administration.
The activists joined protesters across Wyoming and beyond in standing against President Donald Trump and Elon Musk as part of the “Hands Off” movement that saw similar rallies in communities across all 50 states.
In Wyoming, protests were also scheduled in Cheyenne, Rock Springs, Cody, Jackson, Lander, Laramie, Pinedale, Sheridan and Gillette.
In Casper alone, organizers said roughly 500 people took part.
“I’m overwhelmed by this turnout,” said Sandy Bouchier, one of the local protest organizers. “I’m about in tears.”
Organizer Patricia Robinson said many hours were spent behind the scenes to make the protest a reality, making the strong turnout all the more welcome.
“We really just want people to know they’re not alone,” she said. “I never would’ve expected to find so much community and people coming together in a red state like Wyoming.”
Protesters in attendance voiced anger at the federal government for a plethora of reasons, from issues of civil liberties to economic stability.
“I’m here because I have a granddaughter,” Bouchier said. “My granddaughter is 11, and now doesn’t have the same rights I had 50 years ago.”
Organizer Sunny Phifer also spoke in support of women’s rights and marginalized communities.
“I have always stood for equal rights and the LGBT [community],” Phifer said. “That’s very near and dear to me.”
Throughout the protest that spanned roughly a block of 2nd Street, several chants and signs decried the tariffs imposed on imported goods from several countries.
“I hate the tariffs and think they’re terrible. They’re something that seems good until you actually think about it,” protester Brian Nolte said.
Ire was also directed at world’s richest man Elon Musk and the Department of Governmental Efficiency, which have been making slashes to the national budget with wide-reaching effects.
Musk has been heavily involved in the cuts made by DOGE, which he says are reducing waste and fraud in the federal government.
“He wasn’t elected,” Nolte said. “We’re trillions of dollars in debt, but these cuts of $1 million here and $2 million there is just nickel-and-diming. All it’s doing is making people’s lives worse.”
“There are so many problems, and they’re all important,” attendee Beth Moxley said. “Education, immigration, the economy. This is about as bad as it can get.”
Bouchier and attendee Joey Patterson both said they felt overwhelmed by the sum total of the current administration’s policies.
“It feels like 1930s Germany. It’s ridiculous,” Patterson said.
Robinson said she believes the root problem is one of class.
“I just think our government is being led by the 1% right now and I don’t stand for that,” she said. “It’s not left vs. right or us vs. them; it’s rich vs. poor.”
Organizers agreed that more protests and events will likely be coming in the near future, though nothing is officially planned yet.
“This will continue, to be sure,” organizer Jane Ifland said, “because I don’t see that any change is coming from the Republican administration currently in control of the country and responsible for every negative thing that happens as a result of their policies.”
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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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