Mia Johnson
Multimedia Journalist
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From Texas to Wyoming, Mia graduated from the University of Wyoming with a degree in Journalism. She joined Wyoming News Now as a Multimedia Journalist and weekend Anchor in January, 2021. She is always interested in learning about history, art and law.
Mia is a chatty personality and loves to meet new people; naturally, she loves working at a news station.
From graduating high-school in Wyoming, Mia enlisted in the Army National Guard and served six years.
Mia's favorite activities include reading, painting and drinking coffee.
To contact Mia, you can email her at mia.johnson@gray.tv
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The Summer Food Service Program is a federally funded, state-administered program. The program reimburses providers who serve free healthy meals to children and teens during the summer months when school is not in session.
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Your input is requested to improve the Cheyenne Transit Program (CTP)!
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Two male defendants have been charged in the fatal shooting of a 14-yearold that took place on July 5, 2021 near the 1500 block of Taft Avenue.
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“The thing with criminals that is common across the board -- they don’t discriminate,” said Supervisory Special Agent James Marcy of the IRS Criminal Investigation Branch. “They don’t care who you are, where you are from, what college, town, business you run, operate or work at; their primary focus is to get your money or get your personally identifiable information to do bad things with that.
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“It is part of President Seidel’s agenda to help UW become a more digital and entrepreneurial institution,” said UW Associate Vice President of Marketing and Communications, Chad Baldwin. “Because computing is effecting every aspect of our lives, every discipline in academia, we need to make sure we are giving our students the very best experience they can have.”
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Due to safety concerns, the officer attempted to terminate the pursuit; however, Vest continued at a high rate of speed, running a red light at the intersection of North College Drive and East Pershing Boulevard resulting in a collision with three other vehicles.
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Instead of requiring all students and employees to be tested for COVID-19 Jan. 12-16, UW will offer voluntary testing for members of the campus community on those days -- with plans to resume weekly random-sample testing of 3 percent of the campus community Jan. 18.
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Mayor Patrick Collins, the Cheyenne City Council, and Wyoming’s Carbon Asset Network (CAN) have jointly announced a commitment to work on their “Climate Wellness through Soil Health” initiative. The commitment comes from an adopted City Resolution at the December 28th, 2021 City Council Meeting. The desire is that the Resolution will be equally impactful in stewarding our environment by the very people who work the land.
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Scheschi was booked into the Laramie County Jail on charges felony charges of motor vehicle theft, fleeing/eluding, reckless driving, and possession of methamphetamine.
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Understand the Risks In Wyoming, it is illegal to drive with a BAC of .08 or higher. If you are caught drinking and driving, you could face jail time, lose your driver’s license and your vehicle, and pay legal fees, fines, higher insurance rates, and lost wages.
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“We offer so many options to students at LCCC because there are so many options of students who are out there. Every student is so unique and has a different goal that we want to meet their needs as well. It is not about having students fit into what we are doing, but being sure that we are offering what students need,” said Pathway Coordinator, Carole Boughton.
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“It’s cool to be able to see the kids excited, to be able to come in and buy some presents for them and their family. A lot of times, the kids go around and buy things for their family members as well as themselves but it is just such a special time for law enforcement to be able to participate in this,” said Beck.
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“It’s just been so cool to see the kind of momentum that downtown has really experienced over the past year of our community really coming together when Covid hit and shifting their emphasis to shopping local and supporting small business,” said Haylee Chenchar, Managing Director and Vice President of the DDA.
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“There are stories that come with all of these buildings that a lot of people that are local might know, but a lot of people move in from out of town and don’t know, so it is exciting to be able to show people our history,” said City Planner and Board Liaison, Sam Crowley.
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“LCCC, and certainly Cheyenne and Laramie County, have missed out on numerous opportunities to bring major sporting events here because of the lack of a facility,” said Dr. Joe Schaffer, President of LCCC. “This change to the RAC is going to open up the doors for competitions that will range from elementary, to youth, to collegiate types of events that will bring teams, people, and hopefully, economic stimulus to the region.”
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National experts have updated their booster recommendations to allow fully vaccinated 16 and 17 year old teens to enhance and extend their protection against COVID-19, according to the Wyoming Department of Health (WDH)
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Cheyenne Regional Medical Center’s population health division has recently hired a medical legal partnership attorney who can help Laramie County residents facing housing instability.
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WYO 70 will remain closed until WYDOT crews can work to clear the accumulated snow in the spring.
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“Put the past away, let’s see what we can do in the future together,” Griffin said. “That is in essence how it came together; a bunch of former football players saying ‘let’s let bygones be bygones and see if we can create a positive out of a negative.’”
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“Our programs are accredited, which means that they have received national accreditation. So when you come to LCCC, you have been guaranteed to get a gold standard in education. We have to reach to high levels of expertise so that when students come to LCCC, they know that they are getting high quality,” said Health Sciences and Wellness Pathway Coordinator, Sheridan Hanson.
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“It is a big project that will take some time and its probably going to be complicated because when you try and retro-fit something from 1960 to today, we are probably going to be uglier before we are prettier, so we just thank people for their support and ask for their patience as we turn the property around,” said Loghry.
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As the suspect continued to force his way inside, the male occupant retrieved a firearm and shot at the suspect through the door. The suspect then fled the scene.
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Police say after a pursuit, a man left the vehicle and fled from officers. Heat from the vehicles ignited dry grass causing two patrol vehicles and the vehicle to catch fire.
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“We are always going to recommend people check in early over the holidays. People are going to want to bring gifts; it is going to take a little more time to get through TSA, and it doesn’t matter whether you are flying here in Cheyenne or anywhere else,” said Barth.
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“We have turned a tragedy into philanthropy; and that is what we are going to ride the rest of our lives, because it is important to us,” said Black 14 member, John Griffin.
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“It is a reorganization that also sets the stage to do some new things, and during a time of budget constraints that is challenging, but the President’s point is, you have to do it, the needs are there, and if you do the reorganization then you have the potential to tap other resources besides the state funding,” said Chad Baldwin, University of Wyoming Associate Vice President of Marketing and Communications.
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“But the main thing is, we are trying to get our students ready to go to work,” Perriton said. “The trades, anywhere in the United States, is destitute for workers. They don’t just need warm bodies, they need people with skills. We focus primarily on giving them skills to get them employable, and we have had a pretty good track record of getting people to work.”
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“That is my hope with all this; it is good to serve and do something with my own hands, but I hope that other people can look and see, you know, and ask themselves, ‘What can I do?’” said Luker.
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“The reason that we enjoy every single one of the blessings that we do is because brave men and women have stepped forward and put on the uniform of our nation,” said Representative Liz Cheney.
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“This year, we have expanded, and the team has grown to think about transition not only for the 120 kids that I just described, but to the 1,200 children that transition yearly into Laramie County School District 1. So our role is to try to reach out to as many of those families and those children to help them with transition activities and ideas,” said Brent Young, Preschool to School Transition Liaison.
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“It is all a wonderful celebration at the end with a 5K and that helps them to create goals throughout this ten week program that they have been training for,” said Executive Director, Cindy Bradley.
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“It is estimated that up to 42% of that is paid for by people that don’t actually live here in Laramie County; by travelers, workers, tourists - things like that. So we are honestly getting not only our residents investing with every dollar they spend, but we are getting outside investment to complete necessary projects for citizens right here in Laramie County,” said Malm.
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“All of this information is then eventually compiled into our end of the year reports and so you can see in these reports a lot of information that was contributed from hunters that helps drive the decision making that Game and Fish makes,” said DiRienzo.
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“We are really excited because that just means a whole other set of the population can be vaccinated and protected. I think we will see an impact in the schools, assuming that we see more kids getting vaccinated. I think we will see the number of kids go down, I mean that is what we have seen with adults,” said Emmons.
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“When we are up and running full, we will have ten monitors out there and we are hoping that will really enhance our ability to be out in front of the storm for the traveling public’s safety,” said Hickman.
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“It’s why we call it guided pathways. So we don’t want to say it is super prescriptive, like you start here and that is all you can do; it’s prescriptive with flexibility, so I think that is the uniqueness of it,” said STEM Pathway Coordinator, Trent Morrell.
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“Twenty, thirty years ago, the fifth penny was enough to keep up, but the cost of road maintenance has gotten so high, the fifth penny sales tax hasn’t been able to keep up with those costs. So each year, we have gotten a little bit further behind. This effort is to try to catch back up a little bit so that we can maintain the roads in the way that they need to be maintained. None of us like potholes,” said Cheyenne Mayor, Patrick Collins.
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“I have Georgia with me she is a five-year-old hound mix. She loves to play fetch and she’s an energetic girl and just look at those eyes, how can you resist?” said CAS Volunteer Coordinator, Barbara Prunty.
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“My husband came up with the idea of a haunted house where they can actually shoot their way out of, so it is an active player game play thing. It was just an idea my husband had; at first, I was like I don’t know, after we did it I was like ‘Yeah, that was a brilliant idea!’’' said Crystal Campbell of Splitting Hares LLC.
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“If that one person in your life has a stroke, then that is important enough to do something about this disease,” said Dr. Crilly.
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“We have been around since 2010. We are an afterschool enrichment program. We also offer homework assistance. We do a variety of different curriculum, we do project based learning, or PBL, and we also focus on STEM and the Arts,” said ASK Data Coordinator, Megan Blanco.
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“I think the animal shelter should be the recognized leader in the state for companion animal welfare issues, and so that is kind of where I am interested in taking this organization,” said Tennant. “That is going to take leveraging the resources and the knowledge and the expertise that we have within this institution in a way that is going to be able to help others all across the state.”
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“Review the ballot, figure out how you want to mark it before you actually go to cast that ballot. Make sure you have your ID with you when you go to the polls, and if you are not registered, you can actually do so prior to voting and that also is a very easy process, it only takes a few minutes,” said Laramie County Clerk, Debra Lee.
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The estimated reopening time is unknown. The Wyoming Department of Transportation and Wyoming Highway Patrol are still investigating the crash and damage to the signal pole.
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The broadband map will be used to provide data for the council to develop a plan of action. Some suggestions to better improve the quality of the map include an interactive time-lapse to see improvements in broadband over a period of time and to also map pending programs.
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“So while we are having our trunk or treat this weekend to try to give back to the community, you understand, there are a lot of different events and organizations out there, and we certainly encourage everyone to take every opportunity they have to go out and enjoy what people in our community are looking to do so that way our children can enjoy this Halloween,” said Pollnow.
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“You do not have to have an Ag. background to come into this pathway. We are open to students who have interest in Ag. careers and they want to go towards that. I think there is a lot of jobs in Ag., and there are going to be a lot more, it’s going to be a field and an industry that is continuously growing as we move forward. I think traditionally people think of Ag as old school farming, but there is a lot more to it,” said Shockley.
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“It’s a diversion tactic and we have several diversion tactics and composting is one of them. We banned yard waste from the landfill several years ago so instead we have the compost facility where you can take your grass, your leaves, your tree limbs, your bushes and even manure, we accept at the compost facility as well,” said Director of Public Works, Vicki Nemecek.
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“I was the Head Nurse in the Emergency Room and finally I went back and knew that patient care was my niche. I said ‘I’ll let you have somebody else do that, you can go to the meetings, and I’ll take care of patients’ and that is what I do,” said Sargent.
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Beginning Friday, October 8 through Monday, October 11, the Cheyenne Police Department (CPD) will be participating in National Faith & Blue Weekend; a collaborative initiative designed to build connections, create mutual understanding, and break down biases between law enforcement and community members.