Sundance, Wyo.

Defunding the police: Citizens in this small town were weighing a proposal to disband their three-member police force for lack of funding this week as state assistance shrivels amid the hardship of the pandemic. For years, Sundance’s roughly 1,200 residents could supplement their small tax base with state assistance generated through taxes on the state’s oil, coal, and gas extraction industries. But this year, state aid split among Wyoming’s towns and counties will fall to just $105 million, or a level not seen since “many, many years ago,” said Mayor Paul Brooks. State

Sen. Ogden Driskill said the pandemic has hurt the state budget and that cities and towns are “low-hanging fruit.” He conceded that some may not survive. “We’re gambling on cutting police back,” said Brooks, who is planning on saving $100,000 by transferring policing to the county sheriff. He added that he hopes to double Sundance’s population so it can become “self-sufficient.”