Your source for news in Hot Springs County
Your source for news in Hot Springs County
Sorted by date Results 626 - 650 of 1326
It began as the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, with people dressing in costumes and lighting bonfires to ward off ghosts more than 2,000 years ago, but over time its developed into a night of fun for the young and young at heart, complete with tricks and treats. It is Halloween. Along with costumes for the kiddies, 20 percent of the population is now buying costumes for their pets, too. Its a lot of fun to see entire families dressed up together to take the young ones door-to-door looking for goodies. We don’t see much of the ...
I’ve been following the controversy over keeping chickens in town. I am not a Thermopolis resident, but I own property in Hot Springs County and live in the city of Cody. My husband and I have chickens. Cody never passed an ordinance outlawing livestock in City limits. Instead we have a nuisance ordinance that extends to animal complaints. Occasionally loose dogs attack someone’s chickens or other animals, and the police are involved. Otherwise Codyites coexist just fine with poultry, horses, sheep, goats, donkeys, cattle and potbellied pig...
For those of you who haven't heard yet, this will be my last official personal column at the Thermopolis Independent Record. My wife and I made the decision earlier this month to return to our home state of Nebraska. It’s something we’ve been discussing for some time now, and things started falling into place in such a way that we knew we had to decide. In case you’re wondering, the choice was made based on being closer to family. Being four to six hours away makes it difficult for visits with g...
It doesn’t seem like it should be nearly November already, but here we are. Nearly all the leaves have changed or fallen, sports seasons have or will be wrapping up soon and we’ve already had a touch of snow. Though times of change may seem like things are going too fast for us to handle, there’s always something positive to them. Though season closers mean nearly a year to wait for fall sports to start up again, the performance of our students has been amazing these past few months. Our volleyball and football teams have had some amazi...
I’ve been pretty lucky to be “tech savvy” up to this point. Sure, I’ve had to ask my kids initially how to use all the cool stuff on some of my phone apps, like Snapchat, but for the most part, a little common sense on how stuff works has done me well. Until now. If you’ve ever seen me at a public meeting, you’ve probably noticed I carry around a laptop to take notes on rather than doing it by hand. It’s so convenient for me and besides, I type a lot faster than I write and I can look at whome...
Freedom of the press, of speech, of religion, of assembly and to petition the government are woven, like stars in the flag, into the fabric of the First Amendment. The blood of patriots is the seed of the Republic. The founders and those who followed in their footsteps invested their lives in this country. They assured there would be freedom of religion, and from religion, so the government could neither bless nor ban what anyone believes, as occurs under radical theocracies and communist regimes. The founders secured freedom of speech, to...
“I ordered a chicken and an egg from Amazon. Now I’m just waiting to see which one comes first.” Whether or not the Town Council allows chickens within the city limits seems to be a recurring theme on our pages, so maybe its time to take a look at both the pros and the cons of having Chicken Little living next door. No one can deny one of the pros to having your own brood in your backyard is the ability to have fresh eggs just about any time you want them. A fresh egg definitely beats a mass-...
Questions that often come up from time to time when you work in the newspaper industry are “How do you remain objective in your writing?” or “How do you keep from putting your personal opinion in a story?” With there being so much emphasis on bias in the national media, it can be easy to want to go after local outlets as well and accuse them of leaving out facts to satisfy our own agendas, or keep out our names and those of family members. At the Independent Record, our main priority is bringing you the news happening here in the county...
I wish to express my condolences to the family of Ruth Clare Yonkee. For the 54 years we lived in Thermopolis, Ruth Clare was my dearest and best friend. I visited her many times in her home and later was a steady visitor to her at the rehabilitation center — until we moved to Laramie. We corresponded regularly and shared occasional phone calls. I admired Ruth Clare greatly, as did the community where she was always busy in outstanding and dedicated service. All who knew her and loved her will treasure the many wonderful memories. May she r...
I wanted to note a clarification regarding my Youth Alternatives monthly report to the Commissioners as reported in last week’s paper. There were not three TMS expulsions, but rather a single expulsion. Two additional program participants received suspensions but have returned to school. I would like to provide a brief overview of Hot Springs County Youth Alternatives. The Youth Alternatives Diversion Program is designed to provide a second chance for juveniles charged with misdemeanor criminal or status offenses. The program stresses a...
I have something of a love-hate relationship with snow. On one hand, I really don’t like driving in it, something that I’ve noticed has gotten worse as I’ve gotten older. In my younger days it was no problem to hop in the car and head back to college in the midst of a blizzard, following the truck in front of me, navigating the road by following his taillights. Now, though, I put off leaving for any winter road trip until I’ve checked the roads, the weather forecast and had at least three c...
In the current political climate in the United States its sometimes hard to discern what is real and what isn’t. I don’t just mean the difference between real news and fake news, but all of the items tossed at us through social media that insist they are the “right” answer to everything. Most of us were required to take a government class in high school to prepare us for the scary world outside those four walls, but how many of us really remember what documents like the Constitution actually say? Chances are, you haven’t actually looked at a co...
“The sky’s blue again!” These were the excited words of my boys as they headed out to the car Wednesday morning. And, yes, there was one small patch of blue up there in the gray but it was enough to brighten the morning. The past week has seen plenty of gray above our heads — a sure sign that our summer days are over — and those brief glimpses of blue and full-on sunshine are something to treasure. The gray sky and temperature drops don’t mean an end to the fun outdoor activities we’ve been...
On the front page of this edition, you might notice we toot our own horn a bit, as we’re partnering with Hot Springs Travel and Tourism to distribute our annual visitor guide. Though the guide is only put out once per year, it’s something we work on for more than just a few days. In our day-to-day, we might have an idea pop up or a picture taken that won’t see print until it’s in the guide. The partnership with Travel and Tourism is one of the bigger steps in that improvement process, as it helps to share the story of Thermopolis to more of...
On Sept. 13 my son was t-boned on Broadway by an out of state driver that just didn’t understand the intersection. My son was hit in the driver’s side door and was pined in the car for almost an hour. Right after the collision a woman ran out of her office and immediately began to hold my son’s head. My son thinks she was an off-duty EMT who stayed with him until the ambulance could take him to the ER. We appreciate all the firemen and EMT’s, but a very special thanks to the mystery woman. We don’t know who she was, but what she did means the...
I think one of the biggest lies we tell ourselves as adults is, “after this week things will slow down and I’ll be able to get this or that done.” Nope, sorry, it doesn’t really work that way. It started for us when we were in school and had a big paper due. “As soon as I have this paper done I can get caught up on TV.” Then in college it was, “Boy, as soon as this test is over I can take a break and go out with my friends.” Along comes parenthood and its, “Once he’s sleeping through th...
Homecoming football games have been a decades long tradition for Hot Springs County High School, and this Friday night marks another as the Cats take on Moorcroft at 6 p.m. It’s interesting to look back on that history. For instance, in 1948 they sold Season Tickets for the five home games. You could pick one up for $3 for adults and $2 for students. If that was a bit out of reach, you could attend a home game for 75 cents for adults, students paid just 50 cents and children could get in for a...
There’s something to be said about a flag at half-staff. It certainly is noticeable when we see our stars and stripes flying not as high as they should. It gives us pause, time to think and to reflect. Though there is no doubt as to why our Broadway flag, as well as the magnificent display from the Thermopolis Volunteer Fire Department, was at half-staff for September 11 there are often times when the Flag is seen at this post and we may not know why. Thankfully, having search engines literally on hand, we can quickly look up why. Though w...
I believe fall is my favorite season of the year. I can pull out my sweaters and other snuggly, soft clothes, the air simply smells differently and for some odd reason, fall is when the “Betty Crocker” in me goes into full swing. Right now, the focus in my kitchen is zucchini. Zucchini cookies, zucchini bread, zucchini boats filled with sausage, onions and peppers, topped off with smoked provolone. I’m shredding zucchini to freeze for use this winter and making slices and dices of the green gian...
By Tuesday most residents in Hot Springs County probably realized the smoke from various fires in the state had worked its way to us. The biggies are the Fishhawk fire, which is on the North Fork near Cody, the Saddle Butte fire at Jackson Hole and the Pedro Mountain fire at Casper, east of Pathfinder Reservoir. Depending on wind direction, we could be having hazy days for days. This, of course is the result of a beautiful, wet spring and temperatures that didn’t really reach the triple digits, but the air was definitely dry. Consequently, gras...
It’s amazing what you can accomplish when you put in the love, patience and time. This past summer we chose to cut down the weeds in our back yard, till the soil and try our luck at planting an actual lawn. Who would’ve thought those initial steps would be the easy part? Though the grass is well established, it’s taken a few Saturdays of weeding to make sure it doesn’t get taken over. But, as a reward, I can look out the back door and see the results of that work, as well as understand why my gr...
Labor Day is certainly an interesting name for a holiday, considering how many people actually have the day off from work, but it’s not necessarily our own labors we are celebrating. Celebrated on the first Monday in September, Labor Day was begun with the growth of the trade union and labor movements; Oregon was the first to recognize it as an official public holiday in 1887. The day is set aside to celebrate labor, i.e. work, though picnics and relaxing during the three-day weekend have become more of the standards for celebration. Whether y...
There were a few mornings this week when we all awoke to temperatures in the 50-degree range. Some of our days were only in the 70’s, too, but have you noticed how much different 70 degrees is as we ease our way into September than it was going into May? In May, we couldn’t wait to get the shorts out when it hit 70, but this week I’ve been tempted to toss on a sweater here and there. I’ll admit my grasp of science isn’t always the greatest, so I’ve come to the conclusion that temperature...
We have come to the “Dog Days” of summer when the mornings are cool and the afternoons so hot you just want to sit on the porch with the pups and enjoy something cool to drink. It also marks the start of school and before long it will be crisp leaves, flannel shirts and football. These are some of the days we cherish the most as we kiss the beauty of summer good-bye. We really have been lucky in Hot Springs County this summer. Other than a few small grass fires here and there, and the current fire on the Arapahoe Ranch, we have had no maj...
The recent hailstorm and the damage it brought with it brought to mind similar storms I grew up with in the Nebraska Panhandle as a boy. They were a common occurrence, and farmers typically were happy to only lose one out of three crops to hail. But it had been years since I had been in a genuine “window buster.” So as I stood in our home and watched the roof of our garage take a beating, years slipped away and once more I watched baseball size ice balls fall to ground. I visualized the wheat fields with barely the occasional stems still standi...
