OCW-2026-08-13-WEB - Oil City News - Casper tennis courts and Indian relay races

Oct 3, 2026

Upload by Aditya

News coverage from Oil City News detailing a Casper, Wyoming project and upcoming events. Casper Parks and Rec officials celebrate newly completed Washington Park tennis courts after years of planning and multiple partner contributions, with funding distributed across city support, grants, and outside contributions. A separate report announces the Mandan Hidatsa Arikara Indian Horse Relay Races for Sept. 19–20, describing schedule structure and team divisions. Additional political reporting examines anonymous mailers targeting Wyoming Republicans and outlines relevant state campaign finance disclosure rules.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages16

Reading Time40 min

AccessFree to download

Casper tennis courts completion

Project timeline and funding

Tribal traditions: Indian relay races

Event dates and structure

Dark money mailers targeting Republicans

Disclosure rules and enforcement

FREE! BUSINESS A4 ELECTIONS A5 PUZZLE A8 CALENDAR B1 OPINION B4 PEOPLE B5 CLASSIFIEDS B6 OFFLINE BY DESIGN AUGUST 13-21, 2026 REDOICALCIRTPEYTNEVEEWNTS/! FOR A MORE INFORMED AND CONNECTED COMMUNITY MORE AT OILCITY.NEWS | ACE SERVE | | | --- | --- | | Casper christens new Washington Park tennis courts

BY TOMMY CULKIN CITY REPORTER | | | CASPER, Wyo. — On Thursday, Aug. 6, local tennis enthusiasts and Casper officials celebrated the completion of the city’s newest tennis courts, a project that was roughly four years in the making.
“This has been a long time coming because pretty much as soon as I became the Parks and Rec director, members of the Casper Community Tennis Association came to meet me at my office and said,‘We need todo something about the condition of the courts in Casper,’” Casper Parks, Recreation and Public Facilities Director Zulima Lopez told Oil City News at the ribboncutting ceremony.
According to Lopez, the existing tennis courts at Washington Park, which were decades old, were falling into disrepair to the point of being unsafe to play on.
As the project got underway, the City of Casper worked with several organizations —including USTA Wyoming, the Land and Water Conservation Fund, the Daniels Fund and the Natrona County Recreation Joint Powers Board — for planning and funding purposes.
While the total cost of the project was roughly $1.5 million, the city only funded about 28% of that, Lopez said, with the rest coming from grants and outside contributions.
Now, Washington Park sports
TENNIS CONTINUES ON PAGE A8 | | | TRIBAL TRADITIONS | | | Casper to host new Indian relay races in September | | | | BY TOMMY CULKIN CITY REPORTER | | | | CASPER, Wyo.— Though it was announced last year that the Indian Relay Championship of Champions would be leaving Casper in 2026, the Oil City will still enjoy the popular horse races this year under a different banner, as it was recently announced that the Central Wyoming Fairgrounds will host the Mandan Hidatsa Arikara Indian Horse Relay Races in September. The races are scheduled for Sept. 19 and 20, beginning at 2 p.m. each day. Central Wyoming Fairgrounds marketing director Angela Berry said the event will be structured similarly to the races in years past, with several teams broken into different divisions and championships on the final day. Though final numbers are not yet set in stone, she added that the September event is currently slated to feature hundreds of riders on dozens of teams. Currently, there are about 25 men’s teams, 10 women’s teams and 10 junior teams. “As far as the format of the races is concerned, it should be similar to years past,” Berry said.“If you’ve been before, this will be very familiar.” Widely considered America’s first extreme sport, Indian relay racing is deeply rooted in tribal traditions spanning generations. In the races, riders must leap off a moving horse and onto afresh one mid-stride with no RACES CONTINUES ON PAGE A2 DARK MONEY WHO’S BEHIND MAILERS TARGETING THREE WYOMING REPUBLICANS? The paper trail points to Wisconsin Casper City Councilor Kyle Gamroth, Reps. Chip Neiman and John Bear appear on a mailer sent from the Freedom Forward Alliance. (Illustration by David Dudley, Oil City News) BY DAVID DUDLEY ELECTION & POLITICS CASPER, Wyo. — An anonymous group calling itself Freedom Forward Alliance has spent months, and untold sums, sending political mailers across Wyoming attacking three state Republicans. Two are Freedom Caucus leaders running for the Legislature: Rep. John Bear, R-Gillette, and Speaker of the House Chip Neiman, R-Hulett. The third, Casper City Councilor Kyle Gamroth, isn’t on any ballot this year. The mailers list no funder, and a search of public records in the Wyoming Secretary of State’s campaign database atthe time of publication revealed no registration or expenditure disclosures under the name Freedom Forward Alliance. Oil City New

FAQs

What prompted the tennis courts project at Washington Park in Casper?

The existing courts were decades old and fell into disrepair to the point of being unsafe to play on, leading Parks and Recreation officials to pursue a new project.

When are the Mandan Hidatsa Arikara Indian Horse Relay Races scheduled?

The races are scheduled for Sept. 19 and 20, beginning at 2 p.m. each day at the Central Wyoming Fairgrounds.

What campaign finance disclosure requirements apply to political mailers in Wyoming?

Wyoming law requires organizations spending more than $1,000 on independent expenditures or electioneering communications to file an itemized statement naming both the group and the person acting on its behalf, with specific deadlines tied to when the spending occurs.

Oct 3, 2026

Upload by Aditya