Your source for news in Hot Springs County
Your source for news in Hot Springs County
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Students and parents alike begin stressing out this time of year – PAWS testing is coming to Ralph Witters Elementary (RWE) and Thermopolis Middle School (TMS) starting next week. RWE will be having testing for third and fourth graders only with math, reading and science that will run until March 24. They will be having a small kick-off party today (Thursday) in conjunction with Dr. Seuss Day celebrations, starting at 3:15 p.m. In addition, on Monday, they will have a “High Five Parade” throu...
Students from Thermopolis Middle School recently competed at Northwest College in Powell in the Mathcounts program, both individually and as a team. The 10 students competed against Lander, Lovell, and Powell in four different rounds, the Sprint, Target, Team and Countdown. Josiah Butler, a seventh grader, scored sixth overall and will be moving on to the state level in Laramie this Saturday, March 4. Each of the different rounds is slightly different and has differing time constraints. The...
Emma Lea looks over the fire damage that ruined her childhood home and destroyed a lifetime of memories in the early hours of Tuesday morning. The home belongs to her mother, Pam Stevens, who not only lived there for the past 30 years, but ran a day care out of the home. Firefighters were on the scene around 2:30 a.m. and spent four hours attempting to save the home while winds whipped the flames and smoke filled several blocks. A fund has been set up by the Day care Association to help Stevens...
State Representative Nathan Winters began his first day back after the President’s Day Holiday in the judiciary committee. While in committee, they passed a bill, 8-1, that covers sexual assault from a position of power, creating stiff penalties for offenders. Winters said they heard heart-wrenching testimony from women who have suffered this type of assault, generally from a coach or a teacher when they were younger. “This happens more than we think,” Winters said. A similar bill was propo...
Hot Springs County’s Land Use Planning Commission met last week to consider a land use change from residential to commercial on a plot of land near Kirby Creek. The land in question is owned by Leslie Branin on the northeast side of East River Road. Branin built a duplex on the property that is advertised as “cabins” for short-term rental, otherwise known as the Kirby Creek Cabins. Branin had the cabins built, held a grand opening and has rented them out occasionally before asking for the land u...
The Thermopolis Volunteer Firemen held their annual banquet on Saturday night, prior to the Fireman's Ball at the VFW. During the banquet, fire chief Mark Collins presented service pins to those firefighters on the team from five to 25 years....
We all have childhood memories we cherish and sometimes a certain smell, a particular song or even a “comfort food” will bring those memories rushing forward. For me, it seems to always be that comfort food. That also might explain the three different sizes of jeans in my closet, too. I didn’t grow up in a financially prosperous household, but I grew up in one with a lot of love and three generations, so dinners together in the kitchen are some of my most vivid memories. When my grand...
Risen Son Southern Baptist Church held their annual Men's Outdoorsman Banquet Saturday, providing food, fun and a variety of silent auction items for gentlemen in the community to bid on. Many brought their children to enjoy the fun....
The Hot Springs County Commissioners are considering a draft resolution that would be in effect from Aug. 15 to Aug. 31, 2017 only, covering the timeline for the upcoming solar eclipse. The draft, which may be amended before approval in March, would allow for short-term rentals, such as private homes, apartments, bedrooms and similar residential units during the listed time frame. In addition it would allow for short-term rental of recreational vehicle sites for self contained RV’s and allow f...
Adiposse-WYTU, a sub-chapter of the Wyoming Trout Unlimited group, did a clean up of the Bighorn River on Saturday from the Wedding of the Waters to the Kirby Ditch access area. The group had a total of seven boats on the river pulling up all sorts of trash, from old tires to beer cans, 55-gallon drums to lost fishing equipment, enough to nearly fill a dump truck donated by Big Horn Ready Mix. According to Adiposse member Hans Odde, the group would like to make this an annual event along the...
The Lady Bobcats had a 58-51 win on the road Friday as they took on the Lady Outlaws in Rawlins. Coach Cory Sova said the girls were down by 10 late in the third quarter, but didn't panic and didn't give up, deciding to work their way through one play at a time. "There was no blame for digging the hole," Sova said, "we just had to keep playing hard and doing the little things better." They had a quick run against the Lady Outlaws toward the end of the third quarter, out scoring them 8-0 before...
The Wyoming Public Lands Initiative (WPLI) has been crafted by Governor Matt Mead’s Office and the Wyoming Association of Counties (WACO), in an attempt to resolve issues over federal lands that have been designated as possible wilderness areas for the next 25 to 30 years. Each affected county in Wyoming is now forming their own WPLI committee to review the lands during 2017 to make recommendations on the lands within their boundaries. The committees will have representatives from a...
The Wyoming State Legislature will be considering a bill, SJ9, which could greatly impact the educational system throughout the state. In a nutshell, SJ9 removes education as a priority, allowing the legislature to determine what enough spending is for school districts. If it passes, it will go before the public for a final vote. The Wyoming Constitution set education as first priority at its inception. Representative Nathan Winters said he has not really looked into the bill as yet, but seeing...
Sub-committees are now being formed within the solar eclipse planning committee to fast-track some of the items before the celestial event coming August 21. Hot Springs County Emergency Management Coordinator Bill Gordon dispersed a special event plan to members of the committee last week that included a list of action items, suggesting sub-committees could work on the individual pieces quicker and more in depth, reporting back to the main group at each of the monthly meetings. One of the...
Last Thursday night marked Senior Night for the Bobcat girls basketball team, an evening where the girls play on their home court for the last time. Unfortunately, the evening didn't go well for the Lady Cats, dropping the game to Worland, 59-32. "They got off to a very rough start during the game with the high emotions making it very difficult for them," coach Cory Sova said. Lady Cats putting numbers up on the board included Haley McDermott with 14, Ashlynn Weber with six, Korey Smith, five,...
The freshman/sophomore Lady Cats basketball team finished their regular season with an 8-7 record for the year. The past two weeks have seen them 2-2, winning against Wheatland (44-31) as well as school rivals, Worland (42-27). They had a tough loss to Torrington (45-50) and finished things up with a loss to a talented Buffalo team on Saturday, 21-49. Ashley McPhie led the girls in scoring against Wheatland with 14 points. Coach Ernie Mecca said the team had their most balanced scoring effort...
Each of the elected officials for Hot Springs County met with the county commissioners on Tuesday to discuss the upcoming budget and what it may mean to each of their divisions. “We all know what it was like last year,” commission chairman John Lumley said. “We had to cut more than a million dollars. Where’s it going this year? It’s not looking good.” Lumley told the group a lot is going to depend on what the county assessor’s numbers are for the year, but right now there is a possibility o...
The clock is ticking down on this year’s legislative session in Cheyenne and bills are passing and failing in quick succession according to the latest report from Representative Nathan Winters. “Things are moving very quickly,” he said. “We’re to the point we’re trying to get through as many bills as possible so time at the podium is short.” One of the bills that failed and failed miserably, was HB 0046 calling for permanent absentee voter status. Winters said there was lengthy discussion on...
Kindergartner Dominic Langelier had a fabulous time counting out 100 fruit loops to make a necklace in honor of the 100th day of classes for students at Ralph Witters Elementary. Dominic is a student in Bethany Webber's class....
More than 60 people attended the public meeting Tuesday night to hear more about the upcoming solar eclipse on Aug. 21. Chamber Director MeriAnn Rush led the meeting that included information on what locals should expect in the days leading up to the celestial event such as the 6,000 visitors that are expected. Emergency Management Coordinator Bill Gordon talked about some of the things his department along with entities such as the National Weather Service, NASA, local first responders and...
On the Record policy It is the Independent Record’s policy that all people arrested or cited under the “Accidents,” “Sheriff’s office” or “Police department” in the On the Record section are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Sheriff’s office Tuesday, January 31 1:22 p.m. Report from Bobcat Lane of a neighbor’s pigs which keep getting out. The owners were contacted and said they planned to pen up the animals better. Wednesday, February 1 7 a.m. A civil standby was perform...
Thermopolis Rehabilitation and Care Center (TRCC) recently announced a change in ownership for the facility from Apple Rehab to EmpRes Healthcare. Bill Miller, chief operations officer for EmpRes, an employee owned company, was in Thermopolis on Wednesday touring the facility with center manager Toby Homi. Miller said the company has 60 facilities across the northwest, from Oregon and Washington to California, Montana, Idaho, Nevada and now, with the acquisition of TRCC, five facilities in...
I’ve been going to all the solar eclipse meetings, you know, the one coming Aug. 21 that might very well double the number of people in Hot Springs County for several days. Some people might call me crazy, but I am really excited about the opportunity to not only see my community packed with happy people waiting for a celestial event, but the memories I’m sure to have during that week. When I was young, my grandfather made sure that I was witness to everything possible happening in the sky. Fro...
The Hot Springs County Commissioners held the first of their two monthly meetings on Tuesday, covering a lot of ground from airport business to the Youth Alternatives program and even received a pat on the back from the National Weather Service in Riverton. Nate Messenger, CFO at the Hot Springs County Airport said he has been keeping an eye on some minor drainage issues around the property now that we've seen some warmer weather melting the snow. One of the issues is water seeping under the...
The Lady Bobcat basketball team lost a pair of games over the weekend on their home court, losing to Wheatland's Lady Bulldogs on Friday, 60-40 and to the Lady Trailblazers of Torrington on Saturday, 45-36. Coach Cory Sova said shots from the free-throw line on Friday against Wheatland were decent at 64%, but the girls struggled with two- and three-pointers throughout the night. "We had numerous good looks," Sova said. "The girls were moving the ball well and running their offenses, but 26% over...
