Wyoming
USDA ends grant program that helped the Food Bank of Wyoming partner with local producers – KHOL 89.1 FM
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Back in 2023, the Food Bank of Wyoming received over half a million dollars of funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA). The money helped buy food from small-scale Wyoming producers and distribute it to folks in need across the state.
But the agency recently announced that it’s sunsetting the program. No more funding will be available after the current two-year grant cycle ends in July this summer.
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According to Food Bank of Wyoming Executive Director Jill Stillwagon, the grant money has gone toward purchasing and distributing about 200,000 pounds of food from Wyoming ranchers and growers since 2023. That includes beef, beans, grains, oats and produce like cucumbers, carrots, onions and peppers.
“ We were hoping we’d have the opportunity to apply for the next round, which would’ve started probably in August,” said Stillwagon. “But since we’re no longer able to apply because the program has been terminated, we were definitely disappointed.”
At the end of 2024, the USDA announced that it would invest over a billion dollars into another round of funding for the LFPA program as well as Local Food for Schools programs.
But in a statement to the news outlet Politico, a USDA spokesperson confirmed that continued funding after the end of the current grant cycle “is no longer available and those agreements will be terminated following 60-day notification.”
Stillwagon said the termination of the grant comes at a time when the organization has seen an uptick in people experiencing food insecurity. The Evansville-based nonprofit got groceries to more than 55,000 people and distributed roughly 10 million meals this fiscal year. That’s a 25 percent increase from the number of meals distributed last year.
“ We’re seeing the highest level of food insecurity that we’ve seen in the last ten years,” said Stillwagon. “We know that food insecurity is not decreasing here in Wyoming. It’s only continuing to increase.”
According to Feeding America’s 2024 Map the Meal Gap study, one in seven adults and one in five children in Wyoming are food insecure.
Stillwagon said the grant’s termination also means a loss in revenue for the producers and growers that the Food Bank partnered with for the LFPA program.
“ Supporting local food programs isn’t just about hunger relief, it’s about keeping American farms strong and independent,” she said. “We’re encouraging people to purchase from a local producer or grower in their community, knowing that they still need people to purchase from them.”
Stillwagon said she’s hopeful that new programs will be created under the new administration that accomplish similar goals of addressing food insecurity and supporting local growers. But in the meantime, the Food Bank is talking with potential funders and community members to help fill in the gaps.
“ [This grant] has allowed us to do so many neat things and have an impact on not only growers and producers, but the people here in Wyoming,” said Stillwagon. “We’re continuing to advocate for programs and advocate for Wyoming people that are facing hunger to help raise those dollars to continue our mission.”
Looking forward, the Food Bank hopes to add stops to its FRESH Express Route in Albany, Carbon and Goshen Counties. That expansion will bring the program to every county in Wyoming, which delivers fresh produce throughout the state. The organization just delivered its millionth pound of produce using the route this month after launching in 2023.
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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