Week of May 28, 2026
Week of May 28, 2026
At their May 19 meeting, the Thermopolis Town Council took up the issue of a draft budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2026-27. The draft budget includes raises for town employees, which were approved earlier in the year by the council. Also included in the budget are increased costs for employer provided medical insurance for town employees. In their budget discussions, the council touched upon the need, from both a recruiting and a retaining perspective, to provide increased retirement benefits for employees in the police department. Sgt....
The candidate filing period for the 2026 election ends on Friday, May 29 at 5 p.m. As of Tuesday, May 26, many local county races only had single candidates filing for office, mostly incumbents, with the exception of treasurer and commissioner. For Hot Springs County Treasurer, Jana Oliver has filed and for commissioner Phillip Scheel has filed. For town council and mayor, only two incumbents had filed as of Tuesday. File at the county clerk’s office for county offices and at your respective town hall for town offices. In next week’s...
Thermopolis Middle School handed out year-end awards last week including: 5th Grade Math: Carleigh Macie, Jayden Hanson, Lennox Flores Practice for Progress, top % turned in: Macie Ciz, Meadow Moline Practice for Progress, consistent practicers: Payton Skelton, Aiden Glasson, William McCawley, Lily Do, Halen Lahoe, Lennox Flores, Atley Benefiel, Wyatt Johnson Most Growth Math MAP: Levi Logan Overall Top Math MAP Score: Amelia Sandberg Reading: TJ Miramontes, Brailan Whitt, Macie Ciz Most Growth...
On May 19, the Hot Springs County Commissioners held their second regular meeting for the month of May. County assessor Dan Webber requested approval of the 2026 Abstract Report. The abstract is a collection of all properties, and their values, which are located within Hot Springs County. Webber reported that he had received no appeals of property assessments this year. Sitting in their capacity as the Hot Springs County Board of Equalization, the Commissioners approved the Abstract for filing with the State Board of Equalization. Once the...
Ralph Witters Elementary handed out year-end awards last week including: Kindergarten Music: Stevie Vezina, Avery Wychgram, Avalyn Market PE: Paxton Taylor, Hawthorne Sandborn, Archie Hurley Citizenship: Kuincie Jensen, Liv Snedigar, Kimber Coble Most Improved Math: Noel Layton Most Improved Reading: Paton Taylor Most Improved Writing: Essiah Goodheart Match Achievement: Lemmyton Bihr Reading Achievement: Hawthorne Sandborn Writing Achievement: Layna Stutz First Grade Music: Akelah Retana,...
Hot Springs County High School held their academic awards last week. Each class gave awards, one for academic excellence and one for Cat Culture. The academic award is based on WyTOP/ACT/OA scores or performance data while the Cat Culture award is for the student who shows 100% effort for 100% of the time. Those winning awards were: Biology: Academic Excellence, Lane Collamer; Cat Culture, Erich Van Heule Chemistry: Academic Excellence, Allyssa Hough; Cat Culture, Skye Griffin Chem 1000: Academic Excellence, Jacoby Elder; Cat Culture, Orion...
From Wyoming News Exchange newspapers McDonald’s employee gets probation for ‘dumb comments’ about shooting POWELL (WNE) — When a young McDonald’s employee told a coworker in March that he might get his gun and “air this place out,” the remark was “very stupid” and disruptive, a prosecutor said, but it didn’t amount to a felony crime. Blaine Duzan, a 20-year old Powell resident, was initially charged with a felony count of terroristic threats for the comment. Last week, however, the county attorney’s office agreed to...
There are 2,619 registered voters in Hot Springs County as of May 20. Of those, 2,217 are registered as Republicans. To serve the GOP community, two separate local events are being planned on the same evening. The Hot Springs County Republican Party Fundraiser announced earlier in May that they were hosting a Charlie Kirk Memorial Dinner on Friday, May 29 beginning at 5:30 p.m. at the Thermopolis VFW. Tickets for the event are $50 each or $90 for a couple and can be purchased at the Chamber of Commerce. The evening is described as an evening...
The Thermopolis - Hot Springs County Chamber Board held their regular monthly meeting on May 14. Long-time chamber director Meri Ann Dorman recently resigned her position. Consequently, the board has been actively seeking her replacement. The board received a number of qualified applicants, and had narrowed the selection down to two. One of those two, however, then retracted their application, leaving only one candidate for the board to consider for the position. An announcement on the selection will be forthcoming. Additionally, the chamber...
The Hot Springs High School track teams were in Casper last weekend for the Wyoming 2A State Championships. With stellar performances from both the boys and the girls teams in their final week of the regular season and at regionals in Shoshoni, the teams headed into the state championships on a high. All season long, Thermopolis had expected their main competition for a state title would be the team from Big Horn, and the prediction held true. At the end of the three-day event in Casper, Big...
Senior athlete, Jayssie Owsley, signed her commitment to play basketball for the Pirates at Peninsula College in Port Angeles, WA. Jayssie had a remarkable senior year and will matriculate to Peninsula this fall to study physical therapy and...
Rodeo clown J. T. Stevens of Utah tosses a rope around Olivia Shelly of Florida during crowd entertainment at the Whiskey Rodeo Classic last Saturday at the Hot Springs County...
Local players and many from around the state competed during the Hot City Summer Slam 3-on-3 basketball tournament hosted annually by the Hot Springs Booster Club in the Hot Springs County High School parking...
Kannon Bomengen celebrates as a bucket of water crashes over him during RWE Track and Field Day last...
Many communities proudly market themselves as champions of small business, entrepreneurship, and economic growth. They speak about opportunity, revitalization, and supporting those willing to invest in their communities’ future. But for many people trying to build something from the ground up, the reality often feels very different. Too often, “economic development” functions less as a pathway to opportunity and more as a selective system that favors familiarity, privilege, established names, and insider access. And that should concern...
Schools are wrapping up the 2025-26 school year which means our young community members will be out and about on a regular basis. Children will be going here, there and everywhere to enjoy their summer break. We ask that drivers be extra mindful and watch for youth walking, riding bikes and scooters. Children can easily get distracted and forget to look both ways before crossing the street. Let’s all do our part to keep our youth safe. Bring on summer fun! Stay...
Questions: Name the five American women who have won 10 or more Grand Slam tennis singles titles. What ancient civilization built Machu Picchu? Who composed the violin concertos known as The Four Seasons? Name the four U.S. states whose largest cities begin with the letter L. Which continents contain the Volga, Yangtze, Murray and Onyx rivers, as their longest rivers? Fun Facts: When General Mills released a new cereal in 1941, it was called “CheeriOats,” but after a trademark dispute with Quaker Oats, the name was shortened to...
On the Record policy It is the Thermopolis Independent Record’s policy that all people arrested or cited under the “Sheriff’s office” or “Police department” in the On the Record section are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. We print the names of all people upon their initial arrest. Names of minors are not printed. Information included on this page is provided to the IR by HSCSO, TPD or obtained through other agencies. Sheriff’s office Tuesday, May 19 9:38 a.m. Report of the driver of a vehicle that stuck...
