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Wyoming DEQ: Keep an eye out for bacteria blooms in waterways

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Wyoming DEQ: Keep an eye out for bacteria blooms in waterways


JACKSON, Wyo. — As the temps rise and more people head toward the water to recreate, the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (WDEQ), the Wyoming Department of Health (WDH) and the Wyoming Livestock Board (WLSB) sent out an annual reminder to avoid harmful cyanobacteria blooms (HCBs).

According to the WDEQ, cyanobacteria is also known as blue-green algae and can form HCBs that pose risks to human and animal health. HCBs usually appear in mid-to-late summer and can occur in streams, rivers, lakes and reservoirs. They can vary in appearance — they can be green, tan, brown or blue-green, and can float in or on the water, producing cyanotoxins and other irritants. HCBs can often look like spilled paint, clumps, grass clippings or scum. They can also stick to surfaces underwater like rocks or plants.

If a person or animal is sick after exposure to a cyanobacteria bloom, seek medical attention or a veterinarian. More information on the health risks and symptoms can be found on WDH’s website. The WDH will follow up on all HCB illnesses reported, and the WDEQ will investigate potential blooms to determine if they are harmful. The WDH will also issue different levels of advisories for bodies of water where HCBs could pose a risk to people and animals.

To view a webmap of current and past advisories, to view answers to frequently asked questions, or to report a suspected bloom or bloom-related illness, visit the WDEQ webpage here.

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If a suspected bloom is present, the WDH and WLSB recommend the following:

  • Avoid contact with water in and around the bloom, especially in areas where cyanobacteria are dense.
  • Do not swallow water from the bloom. Boiling, filtration or other treatments will not remove toxins.
  • Rinse fish with clean water and eat only the fillet portion.
  • Avoid water spray from the bloom.
  • Do not allow pets or livestock to drink water near the bloom, eat bloom material or lick fur after contact.
  • If people, pets or livestock come into contact with a bloom, rinse off with clean water as soon as possible.

Monica is a Staff Reporter who studied journalism at Syracuse University and has been in the valley since 2015. She loves writing about the local food and bev scene, especially craft beer. When she’s not on the clock, you can find her paddle boarding, sewing, or whipping up a new recipe at home.

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Wyoming

Slick roads, snow hamper morning commute in southeast Wyoming

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Slick roads, snow hamper morning commute in southeast Wyoming


CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Drivers in Cheyenne and throughout southeast Wyoming face slick road conditions and falling snow this morning, with winter weather expected to impact travel throughout the day.

The Wyoming Department of Transportation reports high-impact conditions on several routes surrounding the capital city. Interstate 25 and U.S. Highway 87 are slick with snowfall from the Colorado state line to Cheyenne. North of the city, drivers on I-25 will encounter slick spots, strong winds and blowing snow up to Exit 29 at Whitaker Road.

The Wyoming Department of Transportation’s road map showing conditions in southeast Wyoming at 6:30 a.m. (WYDOT map)

Travel on Interstate 80 and the Cheyenne Service Road is also affected. WYDOT lists conditions as slick with snow and limited visibility between Exit 335 at Buford and Exit 348 at Otto Road. Other local routes, including U.S. Highway 85 and Wyoming Highway 210, are reported as wet and slick in spots with snowfall.

According to the National Weather Service in Cheyenne, a round of light snow will continue to move through the area this morning. Most locations can expect a dusting to an inch of accumulation, though higher amounts are possible between Rawlins and Cheyenne.

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Temperatures remain well below average for early December. The NWS forecast calls for a high near 27 degrees today, with wind chill values between zero and 10. Snow is expected to taper off by this afternoon as a cold front brings drier air into the region.

The cold will deepen overnight, with low temperatures dropping to around 10 and wind chills dipping as low as 5 below zero.

Looking ahead, the NWS predicts a sunny but breezy day Thursday, with westerly winds increasing to 20–25 mph and gusts as high as 35 mph. The long-term forecast calls for an active weather pattern, bringing periods of high winds and chances for light snow through the weekend, followed by a gradual warming trend into early next week.

Detailed Forecast

  • Today: A 40% chance of snow, mainly before 11 a.m. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 27. North wind 5–10 mph becoming east in the afternoon.
  • Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 10. Wind chill values between zero and 10. Southeast wind 5–10 mph becoming west after midnight.
  • Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 37. Wind chill values between minus 5 and 5. Breezy, with a west wind 10–15 mph increasing to 20–25 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 35 mph.
  • Thursday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 22. Breezy, with a west wind 20–25 mph, with gusts as high as 35 mph.
  • Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 38. Breezy, with a west northwest wind 10–20 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.
  • Friday Night: A 20% chance of snow showers after 11 p.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 22.
  • Saturday: A 30% chance of snow showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 40. Breezy.
  • Saturday Night: A chance of snow showers. Partly cloudy, with a low around 22.
  • Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 41. Breezy.
  • Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 26.
  • Monday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 46. Breezy.
  • Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 28.
  • Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 50. Breezy.

More on the weather is available at the National Weather Service website.



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Wyoming Troopers find kidnapped Wisconsin teen

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Wyoming Troopers find kidnapped Wisconsin teen


























Wyoming Troopers find kidnapped Wisconsin teen | News | wyomingnewsnow.tv

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I moved my family to a tiny Wyoming town for 2 years to save money. Despite the drawbacks, our brief sacrifice paid off.

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I moved my family to a tiny Wyoming town for 2 years to save money. Despite the drawbacks, our brief sacrifice paid off.


The moment my wife and I finished earning our college degrees, we were ready to leave Utah.

We’d been living in Orem, a city with about 95,000 residents, while attending school nearby. Now that we weren’t tied down to the area, we wanted to move elsewhere — ideally, someplace cheaper.

I’d started working as a remote freelance writer, so we were flexible on location and interested in seeing where my modest income would stretch furthest.

Most of all, we wanted to live somewhere that would help us save for a down payment on our first home. Eventually, these goals led us to a tiny town in Wyoming.

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Wyoming’s Bridger Valley offered lower rent, taxes, and gas prices


Author Christian Allred pushing stroller near grass

Moving to a smaller, more rural town was a great move financially, but it came with trade-offs.

Christian Allred



After learning about our moving plans, my wife’s aunt suggested looking in Bridger Valley, where she and her husband lived. We’re glad we did.

Located on the southwestern tip of Wyoming by the Utah border, the area had a lot of relatively affordable rentals, and we settled on an apartment in its small town of Mountain Valley.

Our rent was $650 a month — nearly half of what our existing lease would’ve renewed at for about the same living space. Both apartments were two-bedroom, one-bathroom units in a fourplex.

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Over the next two years, we discovered other financial benefits of living in Wyoming, such as not having to pay a state income tax or sales tax on most groceries. Even gas was significantly cheaper here than it was in Orem.

As a result, we were able to save more of our income each month.

But living in a small Wyoming town also had its drawbacks

Mountain View has a population of just over 1,000, and many residents work at one of the nearby trona mines, making them a hardy group. I felt like an outlier as a remote worker, and I only met one other person who worked from home while we lived here.

Meanwhile, though we were only a two-hour drive from my wife’s family in Utah, it was far enough that we saw them much less — maybe five or six times a year.

Compared to Orem, there were also fewer amenities: We had a gas station, a grocery store, a bowling alley, a tiny library, a handful of restaurants, and little else. However, we didn’t mind much, especially since we made good friends at church and in the community.

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The hardest part was the cold. Winter weather in the area basically lasts half the year, from about November to April, and temperatures regularly drop below freezing.

On occasion, the freeway connecting Mountain View to Utah was even closed due to dangerously icy road conditions. We stayed indoors a lot and missed Utah’s milder winters.

After 2 years, we’d saved enough to buy land in Washington, where we plan to build our first home


Author Christian Allred fishing

There’s a lot to like about small-town living, including how much we were able to save.

Christian Allred



Our move ultimately paid off.

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During our time in Wyoming, we saved $20,000 to put toward just over an acre of land near my family in rural Washington.

Today, we own the land outright as we prepare to have our first home built on it. In the meantime, we’re living in my parents’ newly renovated ADU nearby.

Looking back, those cold Wyoming winters and quiet weekends were worth it. We traded convenience and proximity to family for financial breathing room — and in two years, that breathing room helped us buy real estate.

Plus, we came to love so much about remote small-town living, like its slower pace of life and the friends we made. For us, it was exactly the sacrifice we needed to make homeownership possible.

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