Your source for news in Hot Springs County
Your source for news in Hot Springs County
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Wednesday marked the final day of this session of the Wyoming State Legislature. Representative John Winter reported on a few of the bills the house has looked at this past week as senate files moved to the house. SF0041, the County Fair Endowment bill passed the house on third reading, allowing counties to establish an endowment fund that will let them accept various grants and other monies to place in a special account to not only pay for fair expenses but construction and repairs as well as...
Senator Wyatt Agar has been keeping busy the past couple weeks with budget negotiations, but reported Tuesday afternoon that it has been finalized and both chambers voted for it. Agar noted the House added about $9 million over what the Joint Appropriations Committee — of which he is a member — had proposed, with the Senate cutting about $20 million from the committee’s recommendation, though following further negotiations both chambers wound up with about the same amount the joint commi...
Another busy week in the Wyoming State Legislature saw a lot of movement of bills out of committees and even some being forwarded to the Governor. One of the most important bills was Wyoming support for delisting the grizzly bear, a joint resolution between the two houses requesting a swift delisting of the grizzly under the Endangered Species Act. “I sponsored this joint resolution, along with co-sponsores Representatives Salazar, Sommers and Senator Agar,” Representative John Winter said, “re...
This past week in the Wyoming Legislature has seen the transition of bills from one house to the other as Senate Files begin hitting the floor in the House. One house bill, HB0169, has moved on to the senate for approval. The Life Time Fishing Licenses for permanently disabled persons was passed on all three readings in the house before moving to the senate. A bill that would require the reporting of any gunshot wounds or stab wounds failed in the house on its third reading. Representative John...
Tuesday morning, Senator Wyatt Agar reported House Bill 295 “never made it out of committee and the steam behind the subject seems to have dissipated,” meaning the bill was, in essence, killed for the current session. The bill was introduced last week as another attack on the Wyoming Pioneer Home, which had previously survived two legislative attempts to privatize the facility, and this late session bill took a different tactic with attempting to eliminate its annual state subsidy. The bill was...
Things are starting to move right along in Cheyenne with the legislature going through myriad bills and each session getting longer. The priority this past week was the supplementary budget process where each amendment is individually reviewed, debated and then voted upon. The budget bill, HB0001 was approved and received in the Senate. HB0295, which would remove state funding from the Pioneer Home, popped up unexpectedly last week on the last day bills could be introduced. The bill did not...
A Go Fund Me page has been set up online to help save the Thermopolis Golf Course (TGC) from closing. According to the page, there have been rumors the course will be closing, however, the golf course board is committed to keeping it alive. “In an effort to save money, the TGC Board will operate the golf course without a club professional, and we will hire a greens-keeper and summer help,” the page says. Infrastructure repairs and maintenance on water pumps, irrigation systems and a failing und...
After two failed attempts at relieving the State of Wyoming of the burden of the Wyoming Pioneer Home through privatization, the legislature is now making and end run at the facility by proposing to eliminate its annual state subsidy. A bill was referred to the Appropriations Committee on Tuesday morning, HB0295, sponsored by Republican Representative Donald Burkhart of Carbon County that would eliminate the state subsidy of $1.4 million per year to the Pioneer Home. They would continue to... Full story
Senator Wyatt Agar reported Tuesday morning that he was busy working on the second reading of the budget bill on the floor. Agar noted both chambers did first reading of the mirror budget bill yesterday in which no amendments are allowed, but in this second reading is when changes can be seen within the chamber. “I have spent the morning looking at what the Senate body wants to do with the budget,” Agar stated. “In our body you will see the budget return to the basic Governor’s recommendations,...
Another week is in the books with the 2019 State of Wyoming Legislature in Cheyenne. Several bills have moved quickly through the process, including Senate File 93, which references Grizzly Bear hunts in the state, sponsored by Wyatt Agar and co-sponsored by John Winter. “Wyatt (Agar) did an excellent job in presenting this bill to the committee,” Winter said. “I testified in the Senate Committee from the standpoint of an outfitter and as to the importance of the bill to outfitters and the resid...
Senator Wyatt Agar reported that the budget debate had reached something of a standstill last week and was picked up again Tuesday. The issues, Agar explained, stem from the House wanting $75 million for capital construction projects in Laramie and Cheyenne. The Senate voted against it, instead proposing $200 million be set aside in a separate account to impact the upcoming $250 million structural deficit in education. Naturally, Agar said, the Senate’s proposal was voted down so both the H...
Representative John Winter checked in from Cheyenne this week after taking action on several bills, including the grizzly delisting resolution, shed antler legislation, regulation of hunting methods, lodging tax and Board of Outfitter and Guides civil penalties. All of the aforementioned bills passed the House on third reading and will now head to the Senate for consideration. One of the bills making the rounds this past week was HB0066, a statewide lodging tax bill. The bill calls for a 5...
Last week, Senator Wyatt Agar reported an 11-1 vote effectively killed a bill related to the Wyoming Pioneer Home. Specifically, the legislation sought to have the the department of health conduct a study and develop recommendations on the financial benefits cost savings and programmatic impacts of transferring state ownership of the Pioneer Home and Wyoming Retirement Center to another health care provider. Ager also reported that within the Appropriations Committee they are having hearings...
The 2019 session of the Wyoming State Legislature is well underway, and our Representative John Winter is in full swing. "This new role is very interesting, to say the least," Winter said, "and I am still on a learning curve. The bills are just starting to come out of committee for voting, so last week was just the beginning." Winter is a member of the Travel, Recreation and Wildlife (TRW) Committee as well as the Agricultural Committee in the house, so he will be voting on the various bills...
by Mark Dykes and Cindy Glasson The 65th Legislature for the State of Wyoming will convene on Tuesday, Jan. 8, and our Senior Legislator, Wyatt Agar, noted his move to the Appropriations Committee is a big one as it is the first time, to anyone’s recollection, a first term senator from the majority party has been placed on the committee. He further added it would be an interesting move, as senators typically wait two to three years to get on Appropriations, and he considers it a huge honor. Agar will focus on responsible use of tax dollars i... Full story
The 65th Legislature for the State of Wyoming will convene next month and our legislators for Hot Springs County, Wyatt Agar and John Winter, have received their committee assignments for the 2019-2020 session. Agar is now our Senior Legislator and he has been assigned to the Appropriations Committee, a good spot for him since that is the committee making financial decisions, including the fate of the Wyoming Pioneer Home. Winter is our Junior Legislator and he has been assigned to a number of committees for his first year. Those committees...
Shortly before 8 p.m. Tuesday night, unofficial election results were released from the Hot Springs County Clerk's office. The results will put a few new faces in local offices come January, while we will see some familiar ones stay on board. Wyoming will have a new Governor in January as Republican Mark Gordon won the race in something of a landslide. A majority of the other state races came out pretty much as predicted. John Barrasso will continue in the US Senate, Liz Cheney was elected US... Full story
Jack Baird, Sonja Becker and Tom Ryan are seeking two available seats on the Hot Springs County Commissioners. Jack Baird Life-long Hot Springs County resident, Jack Baird, knows the county inside and out, and as a land owner and self-employed rancher, has covered much of the 233 miles of county roads on a regular basis. A straight talking, hard worker, Baird is dedicated to the county. Owning a successful business for over 20 years, he knows how to budget and operate within the good years and the lean years. He said he will listen to all the...
by Cindy Glasson Teachers, parents and community members gathered Tuesday night for a Candidates Forum featuring the six people who are vying for three seats on the School Board. Kendi Heinze, Daniel Pebbles, Sherman Skelton, Jennifer Axtell, Rick Englebrecht and Ronda Freel were on hand to answer a series of questions created by the Wyoming Board of Education. Each of the candidates were given the time to introduce themselves and give their reasons for running for one of the open seats....
The Hot Springs County chapter of the Wyoming Education Association will be hosting a candidate’s forum featuring those running for school board. The forum will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 23, starting at 6:30 p.m. in the Community Center behind the Community Church. Moderator for the evening will be Elise Robillard, the NW Region UniServ Director of the Wyoming Education Association. Candidate statements will be heard at 6:30 p.m., followed by an issues forum and a reception with drinks and light snacks where the public will have the o...
Monday night saw a candidates forum at the Thermopolis Middle School Commons, with general election candidates at the federal, state, county and town level provided two minutes to speak about themselves, though there was also time before and after the forum to visit with each individual. Hot Springs County Attorney Two attorneys are vying for the Hot Springs County Attorney's seat, incumbent Jerry Williams and newcomer, Jill Logan. Jill Logan - A University of Wyoming graduate with a bachelor's...
A Meet the Candidates public forum has been scheduled for Monday, Oct. 8 at 6:30 p.m. in the Thermopolis Middle School Commons. All candidates who are registered to run have been invited, and each candidate will have two minutes for introductions. There will be time to visit and refreshments following the forum....
The following citizens have their names on the ballot for special districts in Hot Springs County. The general election will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 6. Hot Springs County School District #1 Board of Trustees: Jennifer Axtell, Kelli Odell-Bloedel, Richard (Rick) Engelbrecht, Ronda Freel, Kendi Heinze, Daniel Pebbles and Sherman Skelton. Three trustees at large open, four year terms. Hot Springs County Conservation District Rural Supervisor: Kevin Dickey and Jim Wilson. Two trustees open, four ye... Full story
If you are looking for another choice for Wyoming’s Governor, Rex Rammell may fit the ticket. Rammell will be on the ballot in November under the Consitution Party. He has been a Republican for years, but this year he waited to see how things went with all the Republican candidates in the primary race before jumping in with both feet. A veterinarian from Rock Springs, Rammell grew up near Jackson and has been in politics for 16 years. His platform matches that of the Republican party, h...
Though the Primary Election decided a lot of races locally and statewide, some on the town and county level are still undecided. Primary Election results show Mike Chimenti won the Mayor of Thermopolis race with 449, but because this is a nonpartisan race the top two candidates will move on to the General Election. That means incumbent Mike Mortimore, who received the next highest number of votes with 273, will be on the General Election ballot. Similarly, the Thermopolis Town Council race is... Full story
