Wyoming
Reader Question: What Are Those Broken Heart Signs Along Wyoming…
Along Wyoming’s highways, motorists will occasionally see a sign that features a broken heart and a dove.
These signs on a tall, white background over an outline that resembles a memorial marker are symbols of grief and sorrow, and healing and hope. They have been requested by families in honor of their loved ones who lost their lives in traffic crashes on state and federal highways and interstates.
Beginning in 2003, the Wyoming Department of Transportation has offered these specially designed and free memorial signs to families. It’s not uncommon to see memorials to those lost on state roadways, most maintained by friends and families featuring a cross and/or a cache of flowers and other personal items.
It’s not widely known that families also can request an official marker from WYDOT, even though the program has been around for more than 20 years.
“The Roadside Memorial Program was created because we are sympathetic to the families who want to remember their loved ones this way,” WYDOT spokesperson Cody Beers said. “We work with them so that they can place these memorials.”
The goal of the signage program is to remember the victims of traffic crashes and recognize the needs of grieving families, while still maintaining a safe clear zone along the highways.
Highway Safety
Even though people put them up, those independent memorials are discouraged.
“We don’t allow private memorials alongside of our roads,” Beers said. “One of the reasons is for safety. We try to try to keep people from stopping along the roadway and then walking across the highway.
“When we go through this memorial program with applicants, we ask them not to decorate the memorial and let the sign speak for itself.”
The sign program was created as a compromise so families could still have their memorials at the area where their loved one died, but without the danger to themselves or breaking the law.
Wyoming law prohibits any encroachment, such as advertising signs or private memorials, on highway rights of way. These private installations, according to WYDOT, can pose a danger to motorists and those who put the memorials up or stop to add to it.
By having WYDOT personnel install and maintain the breakaway signs, they meet federal safety standards. It also eliminates the dangers of family members erecting memorials beside a highway, and of having unregulated obstructions in the clear zone along the road.
Any private memorials placed in highway rights of way will be removed and held at the nearest WYDOT shop for two weeks to give family members an opportunity to retrieve them.
The Roadside Memorial Program was created as a compromise, Beers said.
Requesting A Sign
“If families want us to place a sign by where their loved one died in a car crash, we have an application process on the WYDOT website,” Beers said. “We need a copy of the application, the crash report, and then we can look into it. If it has merit, we put up a sign form at the crash site, or as close to the crash site as we can.”
After receiving the application, WYDOT will install the memorial sign as soon as it is practical, and it will remain in place for ten years. At that time, the family will have the option of having the sign removed so they can claim it, leaving the sign up without maintenance until deterioration requires it be removed or having a new sign installed for a $50 fee to cover the costs of fabrication and installation.
WYDOT makes every effort to locate memorial signs as close as possible to the site of the fatalities, but maintenance personnel have the flexibility to consider safety concerns.
“Families are thankful this program exists,” Cody said. “We only get a few applications each year in my district. I can’t speak for the other districts, but we don’t get an application for everybody who dies in a car crash. But some people are very adamant that this is the way they want to remember their family member who is important to them. The crash occurred, and we respect that.”
Jackie Dorothy can be reached at jackie@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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