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Articles written by Maya Shimizu Harris


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  • A family's move highlights a different kind of migration in Wyoming

    Jordan Smith and Maya Shimizu Harris, Casper Star-Tribune|Dec 7, 2023

    Via Wyoming News Exchange CASPER - Worland is a city of less than 5,000 souls. It's the seat of Washakie County, in central Wyoming. It has, among other things, a one-street downtown, a bowling alley, several gas stations, a golf course, an Asian mini-market, a health food store, a hospital, a gun shop, an archeological museum with a model mammoth out front and a karate studio. Beyond the ends of town, the land opens to farm fields and red rock and, in the distance, the saw-toothed, snow-capped... Full story

  • Measure to incentivize rural attorneys moves on to 2024 session

    Maya Shimizu Harris, Casper Star-Tribune|Nov 16, 2023

    Via Wyoming News Exchange CASPER — Heather Jacobson is a difficult lawyer to find. She doesn’t advertise. She doesn’t have a web page. Yet, she still has to turn away clients all the time — there are simply too few lawyers to serve everyone’s needs in rural Converse County, where Jacobson practices. “Each one of those people that I have to turn away I think would also be sitting here to testify if they knew, saying that, ‘Yes, we need more attorneys in this town.’” Jacobson spoke before the Joint Judiciary Committee on Tuesday in favor... Full story

  • Rocky Mountain Power is pitching historic rate hike: Here's what it could mean for Wyoming consumers

    Maya Shimizu Harris, Casper Star-Tribune|Aug 3, 2023

    Via Wyoming News Exchange CASPER — About a dozen people spoke at a Rock Springs meeting earlier this month about a historic rate hike proposal brought by Rocky Mountain Power — Wyoming’s largest electricity provider. Though more than 70% of Rocky Mountain Power’s customer base consists of industrial users, most of the people who spoke at the public hearing were typical residential customers and community members who fear the impact these cost increases could have on their lives. Rock Springs Mayor Max Nicholson said the rate increases could thr... Full story

  • Group forms to fight book challenges

    Maya Shimizu Harris, Casper Star-Tribune Via Wyoming News Exchange|May 25, 2023

    Effort also seeks to combat vilification of Wyoming teachers CASPER - Laramie County resident Jen Solis started going to her local district's school board meetings in July of 2021, just around the time when debates at these meetings started shifting from COVID masking to school library books. Such debates - which stem from some parents' fears that their kids are being exposed to explicit content in school books - have cropped up across Wyoming and the country. Many of these books address LGBTQ... Full story

  • Lummis backs trans athlete law

    Maya Shimizu Harris, Casper Star-Tribune Via Wyoming News Exchange|Mar 23, 2023

    CASPER —In November, Wyoming’s Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis defied expectation when she chose to vote in favor of the Respect for Marriage Act — a federal law that enshrines protection of same-sex marriages. Her vote for the historic legislation was a change from her previous record on same-sex marriage and resulted in backlash from her own party. But the senator nevertheless doubled down on her decision. Lummis’ stance on other LGBTQ issues, however, hasn’t necessarily undergone a similar shift. In a Thursday press conference, Lummis to... Full story

  • Abortion critics navigate courts

    Maya Shimizu Harris, Casper Star-Tribune Via Wyoming News Exchange|Mar 23, 2023

    CASPER – Anti-abortion lawmakers in Wyoming celebrated a historic win following the U.S. Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade over the summer, vowing to further restrict the procedure by next deleting the rape and incest exemptions in the trigger abortion ban that the Legislature had passed months earlier. But more than half a year and two lawsuits later, that initial jubilation has quieted as anti-abortion lawmakers in the Equality State face the realities of a complex post-Roe landscape. On Wednesday, a Teton County judge temporarily blo... Full story

  • Gordon disappointed Legislature didn't fund suicide hotline

    Maya Shimizu Harris, Casper Star-Tribune Via Wyoming News Exchange|Mar 9, 2023

    CASPER — Gov. Mark Gordon can count many wins during this year’s legislative session. The supplemental budget bill aligned closely with what he proposed and also put away roughly $1.4 billion in savings. The Legislature boosted pay for state employees to counteract inflation and invested in the state’s economic development. But not everything went as the governor had hoped. He told reporters Tuesday that lawmakers’ decision not to provide sustainable funding for suicide prevention programs in Wyoming was “a big disappointment.” “We are the... Full story

  • Secretary of state seeks donations for ongoing lawsuit

    Maya Shimizu Harris, Casper Star-Tribune Via Wyoming News Exchange|Dec 15, 2022

    CASPER — Interim Secretary of State Karl Allred asked members of the GOP State Central Committee in an email Wednesday for donations to cover the costs of an ongoing lawsuit among Uinta County Republicans, a move that sources said is unusual for an acting secretary of state. “I am really sorry to have to reach out but we are at the end of our rope and really need any help we can get,” Allred wrote in the Wednesday email. Mountain View Republican and Representative-elect Jon Conrad, who beat out Allred by 326 votes in the House District 19 Au... Full story

  • AG authorizes trigger law's use

    Maya Shimizu Harris, Casper Star-Tribune Via Wyoming News Exchange|Jul 21, 2022

    CASPER — Attorney General Bridget Hill notified Gov. Mark Gordon on Thursday that Wyoming’s trigger abortion ban “would be fully authorized” under the U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade last month. That clears the way for Gordon to enact the ban. It is unknown when he will do so. “I have received the Attorney General’s analysis,” Gordon said in an emailed statement late Thursday afternoon. “I will give it prompt attention, review it overnight, and consult with the Attorney General before proceeding.” After Roe’s rever... Full story

  • Clinic sees appointment increase

    Maya Shimizu Harris, Casper Star-Tribune|Jun 30, 2022

    CASPER — The Women’s Health Center & Family Care Clinic of Jackson — the only clinic in Wyoming that provides abortion services — is feeling the regional impacts of abortion bans following the U.S. Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade on Friday. Giovannina Anthony, the doctor who set up the clinic’s abortion services and has been providing medication abortions there for 17 years, said in a Monday text to the Star-Tribune that the clinic was “being flooded” with abortion requests from Utah. “This has never ever happened before,” she said... Full story

  • Indian school leadership ousted

    Maya Shimizu Harris, Casper Star-Tribune Via Wyoming News Exchange|May 12, 2022

    CASPER — Tribal officials removed St. Stephens Indian School Superintendent Frank No Runner as well as other administrators and the entire board governing the school following an investigation that found “widespread wrongdoing of school leadership.” The council voted to fire the administrators and school board members after the Bureau of Indian Education found they had engaged in the use of drugs and alcohol on school property and at school functions, sexual misconduct and harassment, bullying, nepotism and financial exploitation, accor... Full story

  • Exceptions added to abortion legislation

    Maya Shimizu Harris, Casper Star-Tribune Via Wyoming News Exchange|Mar 10, 2022

    CASPER —A bill that could severely restrict abortions in Wyoming passed its second reading on Tuesday in the Senate with an amendment to exclude pregnancies that are the result of incest or sexual assault. House Bill 92 would go into effect if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade. That possibility has become more likely as the high court has moved to the right. The amendment by Sen. Cale Case, R-Lander, and co-sponsor Sen. Chris Rothfuss, D-Laramie, is nearly identical to an earlier one offered by Rep. Mike Yin, D-Jackson. Yin’s ame... Full story