Kroger and Albertsons would unload 91 grocery stores in Colorado if the companies prevail over lawsuits and regulators’ opposition to a merger of the two large supermarket chains.
The stores on the list of ones that would be sold to C&S Wholesale Grocers are spread across the state, ranging from Alamosa and Cortez to Fraser and Frisco with several in metro Denver. Two Albertsons stores are on the list of those to be sold. The rest are Safeways. That’s the bulk of the 105 Albertsons and Safeways in the state.
A dairy plant, an entire distribution center and part of another one in Denver would also be part of the deal with C&S Wholesale grocers.
Wyoming is the nation’s top coal mining state, but Republican Gov. Mark Gordon is a leading voice on climate-friendly energy projects. Amid pushback, Gordon has set a net-negative emissions goal.
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A disabled Army Reserve veteran played dead as a grizzly (not the one pictured here) mauled him in Grand Teton.
Photo by Zdeněk Macháček via Unsplash
New details have emerged that reveal how an army veteran who surprised two grizzlies in Grand Teton National Park walked away from the attack — seriously injured, but alive.
“Just as the larger bear made contact with him, he intentionally fell to the ground on his stomach to attempt to play dead,” park chief of staff Jeremy Barnum told Buckrail.
The bear bit him several times and ran off after it chomped down on a canister of bear spray that burst in its face, the AP reported.
The 35-year-old man was visiting the Wyoming park from Massachusetts the afternoon of Sunday, May 19, when the “surprise encounter” occurred near Signal Mountain Summit Road, McClatchy News previously reported.
The wildlife photographer was looking to photograph a Great Grey Owl on Signal Mountain, which he had heard was a “hot spot for the species,” Shayne Burke said in an Instagram post describing the encounter.
He was running behind on meeting his wife back at the parking lot and was rushing back when he started to get “a really uncomfortable feeling,” he said in the post.
“I was breaking branches, singing and talking to myself aloud. These are something’s that can help prevent a ‘surprise encounter’ with a brown bear,” he said.
He was “walking through a thick wooded area in a valley” when he noticed a bear cub running up a hill in front of him, he said.
“I knew this wasn’t good, I unholstered my bear spray and saw the mother bear charging,” he said. “I stood my ground, shouted and attempted to deploy the bear spray but as I did she already closed the gap.”
When the mother bear pounced, Burke said he turned around so his back would take the brunt of the attack, he said. He got down on his stomach in the prone position and “braced for the ride, interlocking my hands behind my neck to protect my vitals.”
Burke screamed when she bit into his right shoulder, he said. She stepped on his back, bit one of his legs and picked him up and slammed him onto the ground several times, he said.
She continued biting his legs until he screamed again, which turned her attention to his head, he said.
“I believe she went in for a kill bite on my neck,” he said. “As she bit my hands (on) the back of my neck she simultaneously bit the bear spray can and it exploded in her mouth. This is what saved my life from the initial attack.”
The bear ran off, and Burke took the opportunity to escape, he said. He spoke with his wife as he applied “improvised tourniquets,” which he made by cutting his back pack straps, camera straps and fanny pack straps, to his legs. Then he laid down — with his knife and his back to a tree — to wait for the rescue helicopter, “just hoping the bear wasn’t to return.”
“In this moment, I accepted on that small hill top that I very well could die,” he said. “I recorded a short video telling my people that I loved them.”
The bear didn’t return, and rescuers took him to a hospital in Jackson.
“The number one thing that kept me alive during the attack was reading and understanding what to do in the event of a bear attack and being prepared with the bear spray,” he said. “Though I am not sure if I got to spray any at the bear, having it on me and keeping it in my hands while protecting my vitals 100% is the only reason I am telling my story now.”
Later, Burke said he begged park rangers not to kill the bear since she was defending her cub.
“What happened up on Signal Mountain was a case of wrong place wrong time,” he said.
As a disabled veteran in the Army Reserve, Burke said he’s been shot at, mortared and has experienced improvised explosive device explosions. But the bear attack “was the most violent thing” he has ever experienced, he said.
“We are not considering any management actions,” Barnum told the outlet. “It’s pretty clear in talking to the person who was injured and based on the site investigation that this was a surprise encounter and that the bear, likely a sow, responded defensively because she had at least one cub.”
The attack was the first grizzly attack reported in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem so far this year, the outlet reported.
Attacks in Grand Teton are especially rare, and this was the first since 2011, when a grizzly attacked a hunter in the park’s fall elk hunt, the outlet reported.
Brooke (she/them) is a McClatchy Real-Time reporter who covers LGBTQ+ entertainment news and national parks out west. They studied journalism at the University of Florida, and previously covered LGBTQ+ news for the South Florida Sun Sentinel. When they’re not writing stories, they enjoy hanging out with their cats, riding horses or spending time outdoors.
A grizzly that accidentally inflicted itself with a burst of pepper spray while attacking a hiker in Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park won’t be captured or killed because it may have been trying to protect a cub, park officials said in a statement.
While mauling a hiker on Signal Mountain, the grizzly bit into the man’s can of bear repellent and was hit with a burst of it, causing the animal to flee. The 35-year-old Massachusetts man, who’d pretended to be dead while he was being bitten, made it to safety and spent Sunday night in the hospital.
There was no word when Signal Mountain or a road and trail to its 7,700-foot (2,300-meter) summit would reopen after being closed because of the attack. Such closures are typical after the handful of grizzly attacks on public land in the Yellowstone region every year.
The decision not to pursue the bears, which officials determined behaved naturally after being surprised, also was consistent with attacks that don’t involve campsite raids, eating food left out by people, or similar behaviors that make bears more dangerous.
Rangers track and study many of the Yellowstone region’s 1,000 or so bears but weren’t familiar with the ones responsible for the attack Sunday afternoon, according to the statement.
The attack happened even though the victim was carrying bear-repellant spray and made noise to alert bears in the forest, the statement said.
Speaking to rangers afterward, the man said he came across a small bear that ran away from him. As he reached for his bear repellant, he saw a larger bear charging at him in his periphery vision.
He had no time to use his bear spray before falling to the ground with fingers laced behind his neck and one finger holding the spray canister.
The bear bit him several times before biting into the can of pepper spray, which burst and drove the bears away.
The man got to an area with cell phone coverage and called for help. A helicopter, then an ambulance evacuated him to a nearby hospital.
A Grizzly bear named “399” walks with her four cubs along the main highway near Signal Mountain on June 15, 2020 outside Jackson, Wyoming.
George Frey / Getty Images
Investigators suspect from the man’s description that the smaller bear he saw was an older cub belonging to the female grizzly that attacked. Mother bears aggressively defend their offspring and remain with them for two to three years after birth.
Park officials didn’t release the victim’s name. He was expected to make a full recovery.
Recent grizzly attacks
The attack in Grand Teton National Park came just days after a man in Canada suffered “significant injuries” after being attacked by a grizzly bear while hunting with his father.
Last fall, a Canadian couple and their dog were killed by a grizzly bear while backpacking in Banff National Park. Just weeks before that, a hunter in Montana was severely mauled by a grizzly bear.
Also that month, a 21-year-old woman who was planting trees was seriously injured by a bear in British Columbia. Canadian officials could not locate the animal but believe it was a grizzly bear that attacked the woman.
Grizzly bears in the 48 contiguous states are protected as a threatened species, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Last month, the U.S. National Park Service announced it was launching a campaign to capture grizzly bears in Yellowstone Park for research purposes. The agency urged the public to steer clear of areas with traps, which would be clearly marked
DENVER — A wildfire burning west of Cheyenne in Wyoming prompted the Colorado Department of Transportation Saturday to shut down northbound Interstate 25 at the state line.
The northbound lanes are closed at mile marker 281 due to wildfire concerns, CDOT said. Traffic is being diverted onto Owl Canyon Road and over to Highway 287.
The Wyoming Highway Patrol said in a Facebook post that first responders are working quickly to get the fire under control. No other details are known at this time.
A red flag warning is in place until 6 p.m. Saturday along I-25 and the northern plains up to the Wyoming border for dry, windy conditions, according to the National Weather Service in Boulder.
A fire weather watch will be in place on Sunday near I-25 and the adjacent foothills as low humidity and warm, breezy weather returns.
The NWS reported wind gusts from 60 to 70 mph occurring north of Wellington to the Wyoming border. They are urging travelers on I-25 to be prepared for dangerous cross winds.
There is no estimated time on when the highway will reopen.
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First, meet Ukraine’s civilian resistance fighters. Then, a look at Wyoming’s climate-
friendly green energy plan. And, Novak Djokovic: The 60 Minutes Interview.
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Wyoming is the nation’s top coal mining state, but Republican Gov. Mark Gordon is a leading voice on climate-friendly energy projects. Amid pushback, Gordon has set a net-negative emissions goal.
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Representatives from nearly every nation have met this week at an annual climate summit, searching for agreements on how to curb the rise of global temperatures. The summit is being held in the oil-rich United Arab Emirates, and that has dismayed activists who believe that the only way to really address the climate crisis is to walk away from fossil fuels.
For the moment at least, the world and the United States need both fossil fuels and renewable energy, and the best proof of that may be found in the state of Wyoming.
It is the country’s leading coal producing state, and very conservative politically, yet its Republican governor, Mark Gordon, is emerging as a leading voice promoting climate-friendly energy projects and action to address the climate crisis.
Essentially, Mark Gordon is trying to prove that it is possible to be both red and green.
Gov. Mark Gordon: We needed to be aggressive. And we needed to really address this issue.
Bill Whitaker: So you tell the people of Wyoming that climate change is real?
Gov. Mark Gordon: I do.
Bill Whitaker: And that it’s urgent, it’s an urgent crisis?
Gov. Mark Gordon: I have said that. And I’ve gotten– I’ve gotten some pushback from that as well.
Bill Whitaker: I bet you have. (laughter)
Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon on the cattle ranch where he grew up
60 Minutes
In September, we met Mark Gordon, who’s in the middle of his second term as Wyoming’s governor, on the cattle ranch where he grew up.
Gov. Mark Gordon: This is my dad’s old saddle.
His family still owns this ranch, and he and his wife also operate another about 40 miles away.
Bill Whitaker: How did growing up here affect your worldview?
Gov. Mark Gordon: I think growing up here gave me a– an enormous appreciation for the world around us, and– and the ecological processes, and the weather. You just are exposed to it on a regular, on a regular basis.
Mark Gordon is also a mountain climber who has seen glaciers receding due to a warming climate. He says that helped convince him to set a goal of making Wyoming not just carbon neutral when it comes to CO2 emissions, but eventually, carbon negative.
Bill Whitaker: You first made this pledge of– net negative CO2 emissions at a 2021 State of the State speech. How did that go over?
Gov. Mark Gordon: I think some people probably resented it. I think generally it’s been well-respected. It was, to– to some degree, a bold move, and– and one that was intended to make a difference in that discussion about energy in the future.
After Gordon repeated his net-negative emissions goal at an appearance at Harvard in October, Wyoming’s Republican party passed a vote of “no confidence” in him. But he says heat from the right won’t deter him from pursuing what he calls an “all of the above” energy policy.
Gov. Mark Gordon: Whatever you’re going to do in energy, probably you’re going have something to do in Wyoming. We have tremendous wind resources. We have the largest reserves of uranium, important for nuclear energy, the largest coal producer, we’re number eight in oil, number nine in natural gas. 83% of our energy is exported.
That will soon include nuclear power from a next-generation reactor to be built in Wyoming with a $500 million investment from Bill Gates. Huge wind farms already dot Wyoming’s landscape, with the biggest one yet on the way.
Bill Miller: Because the wind blows basically 24/7, 365 days a year.
Huge wind farms dot Wyoming’s landscape
60 Minutes
Bill Miller is president of the Power Company of Wyoming, which is beginning to build what will be the largest wind farm in the continental United States, in the middle of a geographic break in the Continental Divide.
Bill Miller: All the winds which blow from west to east pretty much are funneled through this part of the country.
Miller drove to the top of a place called Chokecherry Knob to give us a taste of the wind.
Bill Whitaker: So when this is up and running, how many turbines will be out here?
Bill Miller: Current plan calls for 600 turbines.
Bill Whitaker: And how much energy will that generate?
Bill Miller: They’ll generate around 12 million megawatt hours of power a year.
Bill Whitaker: And that’s– and that’s enough to power how many homes?
Bill Miller: Million, a million-two.
Wyoming doesn’t have anything close to that many homes – it has the smallest population of any of the 50 states – so the plan is to build a new 800 mile-long transmission line to send that power to California, which needs and wants it.
Bill Whitaker: What’s this going to cost?
Bill Miller: The wind farm will be something north of $5 billion. Transmission line will be something north of $3 billion capital investment.
Bill Whitaker: That’s a big investment.
Bill Miller: Yes.
The project is bankrolled by billionaire Philip Anschutz, who owns the company Bill Miller runs, and who first made his fortune in oil.
Bill Miller: Society has spoken. That’s what this country is going to go to, is renewable energy. More importantly, it’s a project that contributes to the zero-carbon initiatives that– we strongly believe in. It’s going to happen. And this is the best place for it to happen.
bill Miller, president of the Power Company of Wyoming
60 Minutes
At this past summer’s windy groundbreaking ceremony for the transmission line, Bill Miller was joined not just by Republican Gov. Mark Gordon, but also by two members of President Biden’s Cabinet.
Gov. Mark Gordon: The way we’ve tried to navigate this is to find something for everyone. And– I think that’s the–
Bill Whitaker: Is that possible?
Gov. Mark Gordon: Yeah. I think it is. Honestly, I think if– if people are going to embrace how we get to a carbon neutral, carbon negative future, it has to be by saying, “We’re all going to be a little bit better by embracing innovation.”
If a single picture can capture Wyoming’s energy past, present andfuture, this may be it: a fully loaded coal train passing in front of a huge wind farm. Remember, this state still produces more coal than any other, by far.
Dr. Holly Krutka: The likelihood that we will truly as a world move away from fossil fuels is very low.
Holly Krutka runs the School of Energy Resources at the University of Wyoming. Before shifting to academia, she worked for Peabody, the largest coal company in America.
Dr. Holly Krutka: 82% of– our global energy consumption is fossil fuels.
Bill Whitaker: 82%?
Dr. Holly Krutka: 82%. It has not changed.
Because of that stark fact, Krutka and her colleagues are focused on taking the CO2 out of fossil fuels like coal before it reaches the atmosphere, with a technology called carbon capture and storage.
Dr. Holly Krutka: There are carbon capture and storage projects in America working right now. There’s just not enough. The capture side, we’re there. Today.
Bill Whitaker: You can do it now?
Dr. Holly Krutka: Right now. Yes.
Dr. Holly Krutka
60 Minutes
Bill Whitaker: The technology is there, but is it economically feasible?
Dr. Holly Krutka: It will always be cheaper to do nothing than to add carbon capture and storage. If you want to reduce emissions, this is part of the solution. We have to decide, is it worth the cost.
At the huge dry fork coal-fired power plant near Gillette, the University of Wyoming is operating what it calls the Integrated Test Center. Some of the flue gas that would otherwise go up the smokestack is siphoned off into labs like this one, where the Japanese company Kawasaki is testing methods for making carbon capture more economical. Wells, 10 thousand feet deep, have also been drilled to show that captured CO2 can be stored underground, forever.
Bill Whitaker: How big a deal would it be to find– an affordable way to capture carbon at the point of emission– say, in power plants– around the world?
Gov. Mark Gordon: It would be a game changer, for certain.
Bill Whitaker: You know there are a lot of naysayers who say that this is a pipe dream.
Gov. Mark Gordon: Uh-huh (affirm).
Bill Whitaker: It’ll never happen. What do you say to them? How do you convince them?
Gov. Mark Gordon: Well, I say we’re trying it. And I know people will say, “Well, you’re just trying to extend the life of the coal mines.” I am. But I am also trying to do that in a way that is going to do more for climate solutions than simply standing up a whole bunch of wind farms or sending up a whole bunch of solars.
With his “all of the above” approach, Mark Gordon is trying to put every kind of energy project on a fast track, including Bill Miller’s huge wind farm.
Bill Whitaker: How long did you think it was going to take when you started?
Bill Miller: When I originally started, I thought we could probably get this entitled and under construction within five years.
Bill Whitaker: And it’s been 17?
Bill Miller: 17.
Bill Whitaker: Why so long?
Bill Miller: Primarily, the permitting process, the bureaucracy of the federal government.
Bill Whitaker: You told me, coming up here, that the– the process was kind of like a nightmare.
Bill Miller: It was difficult. (laugh) Maybe, “Nightmare,” is a little bit too strong. But– it was a very difficult process.
Bill Whitaker: So how important is it to reduce regulatory and permitting barriers?
Gov. Mark Gordon: I think it’s massive. Permitting reform I think is one of our biggest challenges at a federal level. It is something that’s being embraced– by both sides.
Both the Biden administration and congressional Republicans have endorsed the idea of streamlining permitting for energy projects. Actually doing it is another story. In Wyoming, Gov. Gordon has done what he can.
Cully Cavness: One thing I can share is that it’s a state that’s very welcoming to innovators in the energy space.
Cully Cavness is co-founder of a company called Crusoe Energy Systems. About five years ago, it decided to tackle the problem of “flaring,” when gas produced at oil wells is simply burned into the atmosphere.
Cully Cavness, co-founder of a company called Crusoe Energy Systems, speaks with Bill Whitaker
60 Minutes
Cully Cavness: If you could capture it all it would power about two-thirds of Europe’s electricity. It’s a very large amount of waste.
Bill Whitaker: And we’re just burning it off.
Cully Cavness: We’re burning it off because there’s no pipeline there.
Cavness and his colleagues came up with the unconventional idea of putting a small electricity-generating power plant right where that gas was being flared and wasted.
Cully Cavness: What we do is we tap into that gas line. We bring the gas over to a power generation system, and then that generates electricity, and we take that electricity directly into our onsite data center to power hundreds or thousands of computers, and then we network the computers to the outside world with fiber or satellite internet to get it offsite.
Bill Whitaker: So you take a– data center and just basically put it on top of the wellhead.
Cully Cavness: Exactly. It’s a modern data center in every way when you’re standing inside of it. And then you step out the door and you’re in an oil field.
Crusoe Energy first used those electricity-gobbling data centers to mine bitcoin; Now most of that computer power is being used by artificial intelligence companies. The first place to let them try this, in 2018, was Wyoming.
Cully Cavness: That’s not necessarily an idea that everyone’s going to embrace automatically right off the bat before it’s been done before. Wyoming was. They invited us to come do it for the first time here. We did it at a small scale. We proved that it could work. And that helped us attract the funding and the other projects that had helped us scale to where we are today.
Bill Whitaker: How many of these– centers do you have up and running currently?
Cully Cavness: We’re approaching 200. By the end of the year, we’ll have about 200 of our modular data centers deployed throughout the United States and now internationally.
Bill Whitaker: So how do you assess your environmental impact?
Cully Cavness So today we’re operating at a scale of more than 20 million cubic feet of gas per day that would have otherwise been flared and wasted. We’re preventing that flaring. It’s on the order of several hundred thousand cars per year being taken off the road in terms of the avoided emissions impact.
Bill Whitaker: Are you trying to send out a message to the rest of the country and even the rest of the world? “If you have a renewable or a climate-friendly idea, bring it here, bring it to Wyoming.”
Gov. Mark Gordon: Love to. We, we want to be part of the solution. There are some really remarkable things that if we– stop talking about what we shouldn’t do and start talking about what we can do and how we can embrace that future. And that’s what we’re dedicated to here in Wyoming.
Produced by Rome Hartman. Associate producer, Sara Kuzmarov. Broadcast associate, Mariah B. Campbell. Edited by Jorge J. García.
Last spring, a disabled Wyoming 8-year-old was assaulted by a school resource officer, who pinned the boy facedown on the floor of a school conference room seemingly unprovoked. According to a lawsuit filed by the boy’s family last week, after the incident, the resource officer deleted body camera footage showing the most egregious parts of the attack and even accessed the child’s private school records without his parents’ or school administrators’ knowledge.
Last February, an 8-year-old with a “diagnosed neurodivergent disability” was sitting in the principal’s office of Freedom Elementary School in Cheyenne, Wyoming, during the school’s lunch period. The boy, named in the suit as “J.D.,” had been doing this for days, in accordance with his Individualized Education Plan (IEP). The complaint states that Principal Chad Delbridge and another faculty member began to quietly speak to J.D. about comments he made to a school cafeteria cashier and whether he should apologize to the cashier. Deputy Benjamin Jacquot, the school resource officer, was standing nearby during the discussion. J.D. was calm during this period.
According to a report later filed by Delbridge, when J.D. stood up to return to class moments later, Jacquot grabbed J.D.’s arm. Delbridge had not asked for Jacquot’s assistance in any way.
“J.D. was not a threat to himself or to anyone else. There was no reason at all for Deputy Jacquot to become involved with J.D. during this interaction with Principal Delbridge,” the lawsuit notes. “Deputy Jacquot, nevertheless, forcibly wrestled J.D. into a nearby conference room using an armlock where the assault grew violent.”
The suit claims that Jacquot repeatedly “slammed” J.D.’s face into the conference room floor, causing numerous lacerations and bruises. The undeleted portion of Jacquot’s body camera footage shows the 250-pound Jacquot pinned on top of 68-pound J.D.
“At this point, J.D. is bleeding from wounds on his face, and his smeared blood is visible on the video,” the complaint reads. “As shown on the video, Deputy Jacquot is out of control, pinning J.D. by his arms face down to the ground in a prone restraint position and yelling threats at J.D. J.D., meanwhile, is struggling to breathe, and is coughing.”
According to the suit, Jacquot screamed at J.D.: “Do you understand me! I should be taking you to jail!”
Eventually, Delbridge called J.D.’s father, Ishmael DeJesus, to pick him up. When he arrived, DeJesus asked Jacquot why he grabbed J.D. even though the boy wasn’t causing a disruption.
“Because, as a law enforcement officer, that’s my primary function,” Jacquot replied.
The complaint further alleges that “immediately after his assault on J.D., Deputy Jacquot went to his vehicle, and, upon information and belief, destroyed evidence by deleting his body cam video which showed the most violent portion of the assault, as well as the footage of his improper intervention into and escalation of this situation.”
Later, Jacquot obtained J.D.’s “private and protected” school records and included excerpts of those records in the police report of the incident. An investigation from the school later concluded that Jacquot had “no need to access these records in his work with this situation.”
In addition to his physical injuries, the lawsuit says that the incident has led to long-term psychological consequences for J.D., including the need for psychological treatment and J.D.’s transfer to a school for children with emotional disturbances.
In all, the suit argues that Jacquot’s use of excessive force violated J.D.’s Fourth Amendment rights and violated the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“Deputy Jacquot failed to employ reasonable interventions with respect to J.D. such as crisis intervention, de-escalation, patience, and waiting, which would have been consistent with J.D’s status as a disabled child as well as his IEP,” the lawsuit reads. “J.D. suffered and continues to suffer physical pain, emotional pain, psychological injury, trauma, and suffering.”
Wyoming-born musician Ian Munsick is leading a revival of country-western music. Munsick broke onto the scene with his song, “Long Live Cowgirls.” Now he is honoring the West in his music. CBS News’ Jan Crawford sat down with Munsick at his home outside of Nashville to discuss growing up on a ranch and with a disability.
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The iconic Yellow Pages, a staple in homes and businesses for decades, owes its existence to a happy accident. In the late 19th century, when phone directories were a novel concept, these business listings were simply a part of the regular phone book printed on standard white paper.
However, a paper shortage at a Cheyenne, Wyoming-based printer led to an improvisational moment that would mark the beginning of a global phenomenon.
The Birth of an Icon
During a routine printing run, the publisher ran out of white paper. In a bid to continue production without delay, the printer resorted to using yellow paper as an alternative. This unexpected choice not only solved the immediate problem but also led to an unforeseen advantage.
The Yellow Pages stood out distinctly from the rest of the phone book, making it easier for users to flip directly to the business listings.
The Rise of the Yellow Pages
The yellow hue offered more than just visual differentiation. Users found that the softer, warmer yellow was easier on the eyes compared to the starkness of white pages. This enhanced readability significantly improved the user experience, encouraging more frequent use of the business listings.
The immediate popularity was not lost on the publishers. Recognizing the potential, they quickly branded this section of the phone book as the “Yellow Pages.” This branding was a stroke of marketing genius. It not only gave them an identity separate from the white pages of personal listings but also made it a household name.
The success of the Yellow Pages quickly caught on, and publishers around the world adopted the yellow hue for their business directories. The distinct color became synonymous with business listings. The brand grew to represent reliability and comprehensiveness, turning into the go-to source for finding businesses and services.
The Yellow Pages Today
With the advent of the internet and digital technology, the Yellow Pages faced a significant shift. The bulky physical directories began to seem outdated in the face of online search engines and digital directories. However, the brand adapted, transitioning its vast database of business listings to online platforms. This digital transformation allowed them to maintain relevance in the modern age.
Despite the decline in the usage of physical directories, the legacy endures. The term “Yellow Pages” is still used colloquially to refer to business directories, even in the digital realm. The brand’s transition to online platforms ensures that it continues to serve its fundamental purpose – connecting consumers with businesses.
A Testament to Adaptability
The story of the Yellow Pages is a testament to adaptability and the power of branding. What began as a makeshift solution to a paper shortage evolved into a globally recognized brand, one that has skillfully navigated the challenges of a digital world. It stands as a reminder that sometimes, the most enduring innovations come from unexpected places and circumstances.
It may no longer be the physical directory that once graced every household, but its spirit lives on in the digital directories we use today. Its journey from yellow paper to digital screens is a fascinating chronicle of innovation, branding, and adaptation in the ever-changing landscape of technology and business.
America’s national grasslands certainly aren’t as popular as our national parks. But that can work to your advantage when traveling with pets! Actually, national grasslands are the perfect place to explore with your dogs.
A field of grass—uh, really? What am I supposed to do there? And, more importantly, how am I going to entertain the dogs? These were my thoughts as I scoured the map for fun pit stops on our road trip through the Midwest.
I was on the hunt for dog friendly places with room to explore on our impromptu trip. But the national and state park campgrounds were already full. So I booked a campsite at Pawnee National Grassland. And when we arrived, the dogs and I realized we’d stumbled upon a gem!
The grasslands were originally home to native tribes and vast herds of bison, elk, and other wildlife. In the 1860s, European settlers arrived and saw these expansive prairies as prime locations for hunting and agriculture. The farmers, however, were not accustomed to managing the arid soils of the grasslands, particularly during years of drought.
Without the native grasses to hold down the thin topsoil, the dry, sandy dirt simply blew away. This triggered the Dust Bowl period of the 1930s, when 20,000-foot walls of blowing dust and sand ripped across the Midwest.
Finally, the government stepped in during the Great Depression to purchase the land from farmers. This helped the families with financial troubles and benefited the land as efforts began to restore the original ecosystem.
The national grasslands are now managed by the Unites States Forest Service. And that is great news for those of us traveling with dogs, because the Forest Service tends to be very pet friendly! They work to maintain the natural ecosystem, while making the land accessible to us all to enjoy.
There are 20 national grasslands totally almost 4 million acres across the United States. Most are located west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, in an area commonly referred to as “The Great Plains.”
Copyright: David Burns at https://www.fasttrackteaching.com/
Visit the National Grasslands website for details on each of the grasslands listed below and the contact information for the Forest Service Ranger District managing each location.
California — Butte Valley National Grassland – California’s only national grassland, Butte Valley’s 18,425 acres are located in the southern Cascade Range in northern California.
Colorado — Comanche National Grassland – Located in Baca, Las Animas, and Otero counties southeastern Colorado, the preserve covers more than 440,000 acres.
Colorado — Pawnee National Grassland – Covers 193,060 acres in northern Colorado (35 miles east of Fort Collins).
Idaho — Curlew National Grasslands – Beginning in a wide valley near Snowville, Utah, this 47,000-acre grassland spreads in a checker board pattern of public and private land north into Idaho.
Kansas — Cimarron National Grassland – Located within Morton and Stevens Counties in southwestern Kansas, this grassland covers 108,175 acres.
New Mexico, Oklahoma & Texas — Kiowa and Rita Blanca National Grasslands – Encompassing 230,000 acres, these grasslands are intermingled with privately-owned land in six counties within New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma.
North Dakota — Sheyenne National Grassland – The only national grassland in the tallgrass prairie region of the United States, Sheyenne covers 70,180 acres in southeastern North Dakota. It provides habitat for greater prairie chickens in North Dakota as well as several other sensitive species, like the Dakota skipper and Regal Fritillary.
North Dakota & South Dakota — Cedar River and Grand River National Grasslands – Combined, these two grasslands cover more than 160,000 acres in southwestern North Dakota, and northwestern South Dakota.
Oregon — Crooked River National Grassland – Located within a triangle between Madras, Prineville and Terrebonne, Oregon, this 173,629-acre grassland is popular for hunting, fishing, boating, hiking, rock climbing, and OHV riding.
South Dakota — Buffalo Gap National Grassland – This national grassland is divided into two areas in southern South Dakota. One area is in the Black Hills, near Hot Springs. The other is near Badlands National Park.
South Dakota — Fort Pierre National Grassland – Extends over 116,000 acres south of Fort Pierre, South Dakota and north of Interstate 90.
Texas — Caddo and Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) National Grasslands are located in two areas, one to the northeast and one to the northwest of Dallas-Fort Worth. They are popular destinations for hiking, camping, fishing, hunting, horseback riding, mountain biking, wildlife viewing, and photography.
Wyoming — Thunder Basin National Grassland – Encompasses 547,499 acres in northeastern Wyoming in the Powder River Basin between the Big Horn Mountains and the Black Hills.
You and your dog can experience these national grasslands through a variety of activities: hiking, mountain biking, camping, fishing, sightseeing, and more. And keep in mind that these lands are more than just a field of grass! Many contain rivers, lakes, canyons, and badlands.
If you and your dog like to explore, the national grasslands are perfect as either a pit stop to stretch your legs, or spend several days enjoying.
Cool Whip, Hercules, and I explored two grasslands in particular: Pawnee and Buffalo Gap. We camped and hiked along buttes and badlands, and relaxed with some of the best sunsets and sunrises we’ve caught in a long while.
As you leave the pavement for a few long dirt roads, driving to Pawnee National Grassland feels like you’re heading into the middle of nowhere. After crossing the cattle guards (and possibly waiting for a herd of cows to mosey by), follow the signs to Pawnee Buttes Trailhead. Cresting a hill, the buttes jutting up from this otherwise smoothly flowing landscape appear suddenly. It’s almost a surprise, even when you’re expecting them.
At the trailhead, you’ll find bathrooms, picnic tables, and a sign with general trail and landscape information. Head out with your dog for a relatively easy 4-mile roundtrip hike to see Pawnee Buttes up close. Or, for a shorter hike, just walk to the viewpoint, which is about 1 mile, roundtrip.
If you’re planning to spend the night, there are several locations along the trailhead road suitable for dispersed camping. Or opt for the campground. It’s about 45 minutes away at the Crow Valley Recreation Area in the eastern section of preserve.
Buffalo Gap National Grassland – South Dakota
Buffalo Gap National Grassland wind across the southwestern corner of South Dakota in a stretched-out S-shape. The northern portion hooks around Badlands National Park and is just a few minutes from the National Grasslands Visitor Center in Wall, South Dakota.
Make a point to stop by the Visitor Center before you head into the grasslands. They can provide maps and suggestions for making the most of your visit.
This is also a great place to camp if you’re visiting Badlands National Park, but want more freedom for your dog. The views combined with the peace and quiet make for outstanding camping.
National grasslands are wonderful places to visit with your dogs — especially when you respect the rules and keep your dog under control at all times. This is not just for the safety of other visitors and local wildlife, but also for you and your dog.
The tall grasses can hide cliffs and small cacti, which you don’t want to stumble into. Also, certain areas of the grasslands are used for livestock grazing, so you never know when you’ll wake up to find a cow has stopped by for morning coffee.
Keep an eye on your furry adventure pals and have a pawsome visit!
A woman who set fire to a Wyoming abortion clinic was sentenced to five years in prison on Thursday.
Lorna Roxanne Green, 22, faced up to 20 years in prison for the May 2022 arson of the Wellspring Health Access clinic in Casper. Along with her five-year sentence, Green will also have to pay restitution in an amount to be determined at a later date, The Associated Press reported.
U.S. District Judge Alan Johnson said during her sentencing hearing that the amount will be “well over $280,000.”
“While I deeply regret my actions, I accept complete responsibility for what I have done,” Green told Judge Johnson at the time.
The state’s only full-service abortion clinic had its opening delayed by nearly a year due to the damage, and opened in April.
Green told investigators that she opposed abortion, and used a rock to smash the clinic’s glass door before pouring gasoline into aluminum pans throughout several rooms before setting them on fire.
Teton County in Wyoming is home to the widest income divide in America, with a median house price of more than $5 million and an average income of $318,000. Correspondent Ben Tracy looks at how the wealthy, drawn to the state’s picture-perfect settings, have been squeezing out the middle class – the very people needed to keep the community running. (An earlier version of this story originally aired October 16, 2022.)
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new video loaded: Fed Will ‘Proceed Carefully’ on More Rate Increases, Powell Says
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Fed Will ‘Proceed Carefully’ on More Rate Increases, Powell Says
Jerome H. Powell kept the door open to future interest rate increases during his speech at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City’s annual Jackson Hole conference in Wyoming.
It is the Fed’s job to bring inflation down to our 2 percent goal, and we will do so. We have tightened policy significantly over the past year. Although inflation has moved down from its peak, a welcome development, it remains too high. We are prepared to raise rates further, if appropriate, and intend to hold policy at a restrictive level until we are confident that inflation is moving sustainably down toward our objective. At upcoming meetings, we will assess our progress based on the totality of the data and the evolving outlook and risks. Based on this assessment, we will proceed carefully as we decide whether to tighten further or instead to hold the policy rate constant and await further data. Restoring price stability is essential to achieving both sides of our dual mandate. We will need price stability to achieve a sustained period of strong labor market conditions that benefit all. And we will keep at it until the job is done.
We look at how the state of California is taking a step towards reparations for descendants of enslaved people. Then in Wyoming, we visit the more than 100-year-old family-owned resort, Dornans, inside the Grand Teton National Park. Watch these stories and more on “Eye on America” with host Michelle Miller.
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While enrollment is down at the nation’s public colleges, state funding for higher ed is up — and students have been footing less of the bill for their education over the last four years.
State and local support for higher ed increased nearly 5 percent in the 2022 fiscal year, according to the latest State Higher Education Finance report, published on Thursday by the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association. States allocated more money for higher education both in the form of financial aid, which increased 2 percent, and general public operations, which increased 7 percent. (The report adjusted those proportions for inflation.)
The SHEF report, released annually since 2003, is a data set detailing state and local funding for both two- and four-year higher-education institutions, as well as tuition revenue and enrollment. The association measures state support and net tuition revenue per student by considering enrollment on the basis of full-time-equivalent students, or FTE.
The growth in higher-ed funding since the pandemic-related economic downturn of 2020 bucks a historical trend, according to the report. Recessions traditionally lead to lower state support for public higher education, which prompts colleges to raise tuition and other costs for students.
In the 2022 fiscal year, the “student share” — which the association defines as the percentage of total revenue that comes from tuition for each full-time student — decreased in 32 states and Washington, D.C. In Connecticut, Kansas, Louisiana, and New Jersey, the student share has fallen below 50 percent of total revenue in each of the last five years.
The report’s authors, Kelsey Kunkle and Sophia Laderman, attributed that trend to three factors: the national enrollment decline, increasing commitments at the state-government level to higher-education funding, and some federal stimulus money given to states for higher education during the pandemic.
Still, Kunkle told The Chronicle, students’ tuition and fees continue to make up far more of public colleges’ revenue — nearly 42 percent — than in 1980, when that share was just 21 percent.
Robert Kelchen, a professor in the department of educational leadership and policy studies at University of Tennessee at Knoxville who studies higher-education finance with a focus on state funding, said the report is significant because states and colleges often use it as a barometer with which to compare one another.
“There have been states and universities that use this to try to advocate for more funding,” he said. “And then there are some states that try to match their peers.”
Here are three other key takeaways from this year’s report.
Some states are reinvesting in higher ed, but others are still cutting.
States’ higher-ed funding over all has recovered to levels not seen since before the 2008 recession. In 28 states, however, the funding remains lower than it was before 2008. From 2008 to 2018, public-college funding dropped 9.1 percent.
Finances have generally begun to recover from pandemic pressures, Kunkle said. “State budgets were hurting in 2021, but they’ve gotten a bit better,” she said.
State financial aid, which accounted for nearly 10 percent of all higher-ed appropriations, was at a high of $990 per full-time student in 2022.
The state with the largest funding increase was Nevada, with a 27-percent jump — in part due to money in the federal appropriations bill that passed Congress in March 2022. It contained $22 million for Nevada public colleges.
The largest decrease, at more than 28 percent, was in Wyoming, whose Legislature cut $31.3 million in June 2021 from the University of Wyoming, the largest higher-ed institution in the state and the only public four-year college.
Nationally, public-college revenue per full-time student — from both state appropriations and net tuition revenue — totaled $17,393, another record high. But the trend doesn’t hold in most of the country; only 11 states hit record highs.
Federal pandemic relief provided one last windfall.
State and local funding for higher education totaled $120.7 billion in the 2022 fiscal year, with $2.5 billion — or about 2 percent — coming from federal stimulus money. In the future, colleges won’t be able to count on that support: Pandemic-relief funding has nearly run out.
Thirty-nine states used some stimulus funding for higher education in 2022, according to the report.
The money both covered general state costs from the pandemic, preventing higher education from taking a hit from spending in other budget areas, and raised operating appropriations for higher education.
Some states … are already feeling a fiscal cliff now that federal stimulus is waning.
In Vermont, more than 42 percent of state appropriations for higher education came from federal stimulus money. In the previous year, both Vermont and Colorado used federal stimulus dollars for around half of their higher-education appropriations, but this year Colorado returned to regular state funding.
“We’re really trying to hit home that it’s really important for states to prioritize and continue committing to funding higher education,” Kunkle said. “Because right now we do have some states that are already feeling a fiscal cliff now that federal stimulus is waning.”
Enrollment challenges will be a long-term problem for public higher ed.
From 2021 to 2022, public-college enrollment declined 2.5 percent, the second-largest decrease since 1980. The year before, public higher ed experienced a 3-percent drop.
The report emphasizes that the bleeding is worse at community colleges. Net tuition revenue declined 7 percent at two-year institutions, compared with a fraction of 1 percent at four-year institutions in the last year.
A grizzly bear that appeared to have been killed was found near Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, prompting an investigation from federal officials.
Photographer Amy Gerber spotted the bear along North Fork Highway early Monday near the city of Cody, and her photos of the dead animal went viral on Facebook. One post received more than 1,000 shares and hundreds of comments, mainly from people angered that the bear was possibly killed. Images of the bear appear to show a bloody and disfigured face.
A representative for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service confirmed to CBS News they are investigating the incident, saying “due to the nature of ongoing investigations we are unable to comment further at this time.”
There was speculation a bear had been hit by a car in the area, according to the Cowboy State Daily, but Gerber told local publication she believes the bear she saw was shot.
“This was a big bear,” she said. “I’m guessing at least 500 pounds. If it had been struck by a car, especially the way cars are built these days, there would have been car parts all over the highway.”
Since 2018, grizzly bears in the Yellowstone area have been protected under the Endangered Species Act, according to the National Parks Service. The animal has made a recovery in the area — from just about 136 in 1975 to about 1,063 in 2021. There is a currently a conservation strategy in the area to help remove them from the threatened species list.
The National Parks Service urges people visiting Yellowstone to expect bear encounters. People should remain at least 100 yards from the bears and should not approach them to take photos and never feed them.
If a bear does approach, drivers should honk and drive away. If a bear approaches while you are hiking, do not “play dead,” run, shout or make sudden movements. Instead, avoid startling the bear and try putting distance between yourself and the bear. Carrying bear spray in the area is also advised.
The share of Americans who volunteer their time to help charities build houses, serve food, do environmental cleanup, and much else has been on the decline nationwide but nowhere as sharply as in Florida, where only 16% of residents donate their free hours to local organizations, according to the latest available statistics.
That’s a drop from the nearly 23% of residents who volunteered in 2017.
Florida’s volunteer rate slumped in large part because of the pandemic, which made it especially risky for older Americans — who are among the most loyal and regular part of the volunteer population in Florida and elsewhere — to interact in public settings.
The loss of those volunteers is painful for many nonprofits, which are stretched to provide needed services and programs because they face a tight job market for paid workers and increased demands for help.
“What’s happening now is actually the staff is wearing multiple hats, as many nonprofit staff members do, to make up for the gap of volunteers,” says Sabeen Perwaiz Syed, CEO of the Florida Nonprofit Alliance, which represents charitable organizations across the state.
Meanwhile, Wyoming was the only state in the country to chalk up an increase in volunteering. Nearly 40% of residents volunteer, according to the latest figures available, compared with slightly less than 33% in 2017. The growth is in part because its open spaces made it easier for volunteers to keep working safely during the pandemic, and now nonprofits are seeking to capitalize on people’s growing interest in giving their time.
Those figures are part of an AmeriCorps analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data for 2017, 2019, and 2021, the latest year available.
The challenge of finding ways to attract and keep volunteers is not a new issue facing nonprofits, although it has been worsened by the pandemic.
Nathan Dietz, a researcher at the University of Maryland’s Do Good Institute, says charities that didn’t focus on retaining volunteers during the pandemic may find it difficult to get them back.
“There were some organizations who, during the pandemic, they just said, ‘We don’t know how we’re going to do volunteer management or volunteer engagement, and we don’t really have time to figure it out because we have bigger problems,’” Dietz said. “When people disengage from that kind of regular activity, it’s hard to re-engage them even if you’re trying to actively do that.”
Wyoming, known for wide-open spaces, including Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, had fewer restrictions and closings than many states throughout Covid-19. That kept more volunteer opportunities open and minimized disruptions to volunteers’ routines.
The Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation, a conservation nonprofit near Grand Teton National Park, relies on volunteers to collect local wildlife data and remove fencing that’s harmful to animals. The organization says more people wanted to volunteer during the pandemic than in past years.
Steve Morriss, a longtime volunteer with the foundation and other local nonprofits, says volunteer work in the outdoors was especially appealing for retirees like him during the pandemic because it allowed them to socially distance but still interact with others and do good.
The Heart of Wyoming Habitat for Humanity chapter, which relies on volunteers to build homes in Natrona County, saw an uptick in volunteering interest after re-opening its construction sites during the pandemic. Companies that previously provided financial support, in particular, began to give their employees time off to volunteer at Habitat.
The Wyoming Community Development Authority, a housing lender, is one financial supporter whose employees spent two days last year working on a Habitat construction site.
“Now it was no longer enough to make a gift, which we very much appreciate,” says Tess Mittelstadt, the nonprofit’s executive director. “But they wanted to see what that gift meant, and they wanted to see what that meant for people in our community.”
Jody Shields of the Wyoming Nonprofit Network says since the pandemic, she’s noticed increased interest from companies looking for volunteer opportunities because they allow employees both to bond with one another and to support local causes.
Mittelstadt says the organization is seeking to keep volunteerism high by providing volunteers with information about the specific families they’re helping by building houses. Habitat also invites volunteers to events celebrating completed homes.
Data suggests all the effort is paying off. Volunteers spent 57% more hours building new homes during the nonprofit’s last fiscal year compared with the previous year, according to Mittelstadt.
“Everybody knows somebody in our community, and everybody’s willing to lend that helping hand,” she says.
Even as the pandemic has receded, volunteerism is not rebounding in Florida, says Perwaiz Syed of the Florida Nonprofit Alliance.
“Nonprofits have had a lot of volunteers stop,” she says. “They have not returned. Many of them are seniors. They’re putting their health first and have not re-engaged in person.”
A study of 2,300 nonprofits by the alliance found that 40% of nonprofits reported they needed more volunteers and 25% of nonprofit employees said they were feeling overworked as they took on tasks previously done by volunteers.
The Manatee Literacy Council, which provides adult literacy tutoring, employs three part-time staff members and has 60 volunteer tutors, mostly retirees, available year-round. It lost 75% of its volunteers during the height of the pandemic. The program was able to move some of its work online, but it still can’t meet demand. The center currently has a waiting list of 100 people in need of tutoring.
To recruit more volunteers, the group sends representatives to community events to talk about its work, says Michelle Deveaux McLean, the council’s CEO.
She also says she is working hard to keep volunteers returning by organizing monthly meet-ups and creating a supportive environment. It continues to be a struggle.
“I’m lucky if I have five volunteers every month. We’re just perpetually upside down,” McLean says.
Other Florida nonprofits are turning more to online volunteering and enlisting companies to urge employees to volunteer.
For instance, Office Depot, based in South Florida, includes volunteerism as part of its professional development for employees. Since 2017, the company has sent workers to help charities do landscaping, paint murals, prepare meals for youths in Florida, and more.
Even as nonprofits work on a variety of ways to try to expand the number of volunteers, doing so may take time.
“I do think that Florida’s numbers will increase over time as we stabilize a bit from the pandemic,” Perwaiz Syed says. “I don’t think you’re going to see us in the top 10 because that’s just not possible to go that far that quickly. But I do think it will increase a little bit.”
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This article was provided to The Associated Press by the Chronicle of Philanthropy. Kay Dervishi is a staff writer at the Chronicle. Email: kay.dervishi@philanthropy.com. Yesica Balderrama is a data reporter/producer at the Chronicle. Email: yesica.balderrama@philanthropy.com. The AP and the Chronicle are solely responsible for this content. They receive support from the Lilly Endowment for coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.
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.jpg "A disabled Army Reserve veteran played dead as a grizzly (not the one pictured here) mauled him in Grand Teton.")
