Good morning, Casper.

A full slate of family-friendly Halloween happenings runs this week, starting today with the Cauldron Crawl downtown (4:00–8:00 p.m.), Monster Mash at Casper Children’s Museum (3:00–5:00 p.m.), and a Teen Halloween Party at the Natrona County Library, with pop-up exhibits, haunted houses, and multiple trunk-or-treats through the weekend.

Downtown shops are wrapping up the second annual Great October Ghost Hunt, a monthlong scavenger that hides ghost plushies at 11 nearby businesses and runs through Halloween with completed passports accepted through Nov.

5 and a grand-prize winner announced Nov. 6. The Dreadful Bookstore will reopen on Halloween at 148 E. Midwest Ave. (passports available at Chozen Yogurt and Bookin' It)

Metro Animal Services will hold a groundbreaking on Nov.

5 at 4:30 p.m. for a new shelter on the lot next to the current facility, replacing the deteriorated 40-year-old building; construction is expected to take about a year (completion late 2027 or early 2028).

Natrona County High School’s theatre department will present John Cariani’s romantic comedy Almost, Maine Nov.

12–14 at the high school (free to the public). Director Ryan Landmann said the lighter show follows last season’s heavier productions, and the cast and crew are eager to welcome local audiences.

Falls Ranch says its planned data center on a 940-acre site south of Interstate 25 will move forward under a new, unnamed developer after Prometheus withdrew from the roughly $500 million proposal, and public meetings are planned for 2027 while work continues on local filings and jobs and tax revenue plans.

Prometheus Hyperscale has dropped plans for a $500 million, 1.5 gigawatt AI data center on 940 acres of Falls Ranch east of Casper, officials confirmed, leaving county leaders surprised and prompting continued recruitment as power capacity and state energy rules remain hurdles.

Kelly Walsh High School Carpentry and Advanced Manufacturing teacher Kora Huffman was named one of eight national recipients of Carhartt's 2026 Steel Apple Award, and the school received a classroom grant and new student gear during a surprise celebration (recognition highlights her work guiding students into skilled trades).

Wyoming will use $205 million in year-one Rural Health Transformation funds to shore up rural hospitals and EMS, boost workforce training, expand primary and behavioral health, and modernize telehealth, with $91.8 million for emergency care, $56.3 million for workforce, $38.6 million for health programs, and $16.9 million for technology.