Your source for news in Hot Springs County
Your source for news in Hot Springs County
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 38
A collective sigh of relief could be heard from Cheyenne all the way to Thermopolis last Friday as word came down that the Senate had killed SF112 and the House had approved funding through the biennium for the Wyoming Pioneer Home. A great effort between Representative Nathan Winters, Senator Wyatt Agar and local residents as well as folks from across the state ensured the home would be safe from privatization and funded through the next two years. The fight really began in the background a... Full story
Thermopolis Middle School was recently selected as one of three finalists for the prestigious DuFour Award, presented by Solution Tree during the Summit on Professional Learning Community At Work™ in Phoenix Feb. 20-22. Though TMS was not selected as the recipient, 5-12 principal Breez Longwell Daniels noted the school’s representatives, which included herself, Eric Kay, Cassie Hetzel and Jacob Strenger, were able to meet with representatives of the other nominated schools and discuss what the...
On Saturday, the Wyoming Republican Party State Central Committee nominated three people to fill the vacant Secretary of State office. Among the names that were forwarded on to Governor Matt Mead are Ed Buchanan of Torrington, Darin Smith of Cheyenne and Richard George of Cody. The three will be vying to fill the spot left vacant by former Secretary of State Ed Murray who resigned after two women accused him of sexual misconduct. There were initially eight applications for the position,...
"This is huge," State Representative Nathan Winters said Tuesday morning. "This is the biggest thing Hot Springs County has faced." Winters is referring to the privatization bill, SF112, that would have allowed an outside company to come in and take over the Wyoming Pioneer Home and the Wyoming Retirement Center in Basin. According to Winters, there was no doubt in anyone's mind the bill was going to pass. "It was going to go through," he said. "There was a lot of pressure to pass it. We are...
Senate District 20 representative Wyatt Agar commented on the recent defeat of the bill meant to privatize the Wyoming Pioneer Home and the Wyoming Retirement Center in Basin. Agar noted legislators from the Big Horn Basin worked hard to not only kill SF 112, but also returned funding in the budget bill and remove the study. “I am proud of how well our delegation worked together,” he said. “We as a community now need to come together and work on a path forward. This is not the last we will...
Katie Despain pushes Ryan Arends during a round of Hungry Hungry Hippos last Friday at Thermopolis Middle School. Some TMS staff members were in Phoenix being recognized as being a DuFour award finalist but other staff members and students were enjoying the opportunity to have a little fun at home....
On the Record policy It is the Thermopolis 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, Feb. 20 9:08 p.m. Patricia L. Peterson was arrested for alleged driving under the influence. Wednesday, Feb. 21 10:02 a.m. A marijuana pipe was found in the Big Springs area and turned over to law enforcement. Sunday, Feb. 25 12:27 a.m. Report of a wreck in the...
Monday afternoon in Hot Springs District Court, Jessica Bledsoe was sentenced to four years supervised probation on a charge of endangering a child — exposure to methamphetamine. The charge stems from a May 17, 2017 incident during which an officer assisting with a welfare check on juveniles observed a substance that later tested positive for meth in Bledsoe’s residence. Though sentenced to a prison term of two to four years, that sentence was suspended for the probation. A $3,000 fine aga...
For the past few years, students at Thermopolis Middle School have been kept up with the happenings at their building through the TMS Gazette. Hayden Mayne explained the origins of the publication, which began when he was in fifth grade with copies he drew up and wrote. “Mainly because I was bored,” he said, “I just wanted to have something to do on my own time.” In sixth and seventh grade, he started making print copies online, using his cell phone for pictures. It originally began as the Tea...
Parents with children who are of preschool age are welcome to attend the Preschool Roundup on Thursday, March 8 from 5-6 p.m. at the fire hall. Staff from area preschools will be on-hand to meet and answer questions. Children are welcome and light refreshments will be provided. All participants will be entered to win a basket of springtime goodies....
A traveling exhibit, “Cowboy Carnegies: Wyoming’s Historic Libraries,” is now on display at the Hot Springs County Museum and Cultural Center. The Hot Springs County Historical Society, in cooperation with the museum and the Hot Springs County Pioneer Association, through an Alliance for Historic Wyoming grant, brought the exhibit to Thermopolis through March 30. Steel magnate and philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie, began a grant program from 1886 thorough 1919 to help communities across the country build public libraries. Thermopolis’ Carnegi...
The Kirby Ditch Irrigation District will be holding their annual business meeting on Sunday, March 4. The meeting will be held at 2 p.m. in the commissioners chambers at the county annex building. A bylaw change, concerning meeting dates, will be presented and voted upon by the membership....
The Holy Trinity Episcopal Church women will host their annual pie and rummage sale and the church on Saturday, March 3 from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. From noon until 1 p.m., they will have their bag sale, with each bag $1 each. The women will supply the bags....
Local author Michael Gear visits with Belenda Willson during a signing for Gear's latest novels "Outpost" and "Flight of the Hawk: The River" last Saturday....
A large focus the past couple weeks for national news and the ever-present social media has been the Florida school shooting, with stories of heartache because of lost friends and family, calls for stricter gun laws and planned student protests. In times of tragedy such as these and the near constant online posts keeping it fresh in our minds, it can be a challenge to see the positive side to what our schools are doing. Here in Thermopolis, students in sports and other extra curricular activities, as well as just within their classrooms, are...
I’m humbled by the fine coverage of my selection to the Wyoming Press Association Foundation Hall of Fame given recently in the Independent Record by Publisher Lara Love. To twist an old adage, it takes a community to have a great newspaper. The people of Hot Springs County welcomed me as editor and publisher of the IR in 1984 and worked with me (and a bunch of fine IR team members) to make certain the IR was a newspaper doing its job. I’m especially proud of all that those IR team members have since achieved in Hot Springs County, Wyoming and...
Just like everyone else, sometimes my mornings don’t start out the greatest. Maybe I forgot to set the timer on the coffee pot or I woke up later than usual, you know, the kinds of things that make you grumpy right off the bat. I have to say, though, regardless of how my morning starts, somewhere around 7:45 I always have a smile on my face. I don’t know who she is, I don’t know her name, but she is there on the corner by the church, Monday through Friday, rain, snow or sunshine, helping our s...
Richard Marlston Bokor, 66, of Astoria, Ore., passed away peacefully in his sleep after a short battle with cancer on February 12, 2018. Richard was born in Phoenix, Ariz., in 1951. He served in the US Marine Corps during the Vietnam conflict between 1968 and 1972. The Marines was a defining part of his life and he was and will always be a Marine. Rich, Ricky, Uncle Icky, Richard was many things to many people but he will be remembered by all as a very kind, giving and compassionate person with... Full story
The Hot Springs County High School Board of Trustees received their annual audit report at their Feb. 20 meeting, courtesy of Michel, Wright and Associates. Michael Wright informed the board there were no problems with compliance with the exception of some minor issues. Compliance audits focus on federal grants. Wright indicated the district needs to work on keeping track of documentation. If there is no documentation on where grant funds were spent, the grantor assumes the money has not been...
This past weekend saw the two Thermopolis teams — Fistful of Axles and Aluminati — at the Wyoming State Championship in Casper, with Aluminati bringing home the Motivate Award. The team had previously won the Think Award at the Montana State Championships. The Motivate Award, teacher London Jenks explained, is presented to the team representing the essence of the FIRST Tech challenge competition through team building, team spirit, showing enthusiasm and connections with the school and com...
Students at Ralph Witters Elementary celebrated Dr. Seuss' birthday this week with themed days, including mustaches on Monday to recognize "The Lorax."...
Thermopolis sent eleven wrestlers to the 3A State Tournament in Casper, but after the first round of matches, only two remained in the championship brackets, junior Austin Ireland and freshman Logan Cole. Several came close. Jon Harvey was well ahead when a weak move opened the door for his opponent to turn him to his back for the pin. The Bobcats' only state placer from last year's state tourney, Cullen Becher, had mounted a strong comeback after being down by several points and gained control of his opponents legs on a "double leg shot" at a...
The Thermopolis Lady Cats had a busy weekend hosting Douglas on Friday and Newcastle on Saturday, the last home games of the season. Coach Cory Sova said they had received some scouting reports about the Douglas team – they're big and tall, strong, quick, aggressive and skilled – and the reports were true. "Our girls did a number of good things," he said, "but we couldn't keep the pace." The girls led 6-2 after the first few minutes, but Douglas immediately answered to lead by nine after the...
This weekend will see the Hot Springs County High School boys basketball team traveling to compete in the regional tournament. Their first game will be against Newcastle, an opponent they faced this past weekend. The Bobcats went up against Douglas on Feb. 23, coming away with a 57-49 loss, followed by a 69-41 loss against Newcastle on Feb. 24. Coach Kevin Gerber said the weekend was certainly interesting, as it was the boys' final regular season games and knowing for sure that they will see...
The boys JV basketball team finished up its season with a 49-45 win against Douglas last Friday and a 60-46 loss to Newcastle the next day. Coach Ryan Shaffer said the boys played well this weekend, keeping their intensity high on the defensive end. They caused 23 turnovers, had six blocks and 17 steals as a team. As for shooting, they made 33 percent from the three-point line and made 11 of 22 free throws. “Overall,” Shaffer stated, “we had a good team game against Douglas as we moved the b...
