Your source for news in Hot Springs County
Your source for news in Hot Springs County
Sorted by date Results 651 - 675 of 1309
Sometimes its good to let the mind meander back to the “good ol’ days” when life was more simple. It shows us how far we have come, how much we have progressed and allows us to dream about what the future may hold. In the good ol’ days summers were filled with children riding their bikes downtown, Crazy Days when all the business people dressed up in costumes and brought their best bargains out on the street, parades that had dozens of tissue covered floats and streets lined with people to enjoy the show. Our busy lives have taken away the sim...
If you were anywhere around town this past weekend, you knew where all the action was, as the Hot Springs County Fairgrounds was again home to the Thermopolis Cowboy Rendezvous PRCA Rodeo. As much fun as the rodeo is each year — it always has a way of taking me back to rodeos with my folks when I was a kid — the true spectacle is watching how our local fairgrounds transforms into a spectacle of people from all over North America, and the parking lot takes on the look of a bazaar with all of the...
This past week there’s been a lot of talk about marketing Thermopolis on more than just the local level, hitting the international market and partnering with other communities in the Bighorn Basin. Though these are viable options and could be the economic boon we’re looking for, they should be pursued with a sense of caution and the understanding that they won’t be financially lucrative right away, perhaps not even within the first year. During the monthly meeting of Hot Springs Travel and Tourism, Mathias Jung with Rocky Mountain Inter...
How do you experience your world? Is the glass half full or half empty? Do you observe the worst in a situation or the best? Do you justify identifying only negatives by claiming you are being realistic? Two people can experience the exact same event and yet have radically different perceptions. Why do some people always escape unscathed regardless of what befalls them while others seem to be problem magnets? Perception defines reality. Perception is controlled by attitude. You control your attitude. Therefore, you control your reality. Since...
This weekend marks a very special day for millions of men across the world – Father’s Day. Its sometimes hard for us to come up with just the right words to tell our fathers how much they have meant to us as we’ve gone from taking our first steps to heading off to college or starting a family of our own. Sure, you could go with the same ugly tie or more tools, even stuff for his master grilling on Saturdays, but what do those really say? Your dad was the one who taught you to be silly because he was more than willing to act like a little kid w...
This Sunday marks one of two days throughout the year recognizing our parents, with Father’s Day. It’s the seventh one for me, and I look forward to seeing what my wife and boys have up their sleeves this year. But, special as these days are, both Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are only a small recognition of the time, dedication and effort that goes into being a parent. The sacrifices men and women give to raising children the best that they can, whether those children are theirs, fostere...
No doubt if you’ve glanced through the pages of this week’s edition you noticed one of our younger employees smiling back at you. Read a little bit more and you’ll see that in about a month we’ll be increasing prices for the Thermopolis Independent Record. It’s no secret that inflation affects everything you buy, from groceries to clothing. And while most of the time these products see price hikes on a weekly and even daily basis, most times without warning, we’re going on 16 years without a per paper price hike and providing ample time for yo...
Father’s Day began when a young woman wanted to honor her dad. In May of 1909, Sonora Smart Dodd of Spokane, Wash., sat in church listening to a Mother’s Day sermon. She decided she wanted to designate a day for her dad, William Jackson Smart. Dodd’s mother had died in childbirth, and Dodd’s father, a Civil War veteran, had taken the responsibility of singlehandedly raising the newborn and his other five children. The following year, Sonora wanted to celebrate Father’s Day on June 5, her father’s birthday, and petitioned for the holiday to...
This week marks the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the one that allows women the right to vote. Numbers like this always fascinate me. It’s hard for me to grasp that women were given a voice just 44 years before I was born. I grew up knowing I could vote, that my voice would be heard once I reached that magic age of 18. Women stood up, walked out and said “no more” until they were given the rights they deserved. Segregation in our schools ended just nine years...
A couple of days of sunshine are a welcome respite from the recent deluge of rain, but that doesn’t mean we’re out of the woods yet. Keep in mind the ground is completely saturated at this time and the possibility of mud slides and rock slides in the canyon are a real possibility. Even our county roads could become dangerous with water running over them or beside them. As we do every year about this time, we need to be ever aware of our surroundings as things can change at any moment. Tuesday night a culvert on Cottonwood Creek Road became uns...
Hello my friends. Hope ya’ll are up for a few good recipes today. Yessiree, Granny’s got some mighty good recipes to share with you. Some are so old, I have had to make substitutions for the ingredients that can no longer be found. After you read through these few I am sharing, I would like to hear from you. If you have a few favorite dishes and want to share the recipe with all the readers, please let me know. If you have a comment or a complaint, I want to hear these also. If you do not wish to have your name used, let me know. It will not...
With Memorial Day weekend approaching, as with every year at this time, thoughts turn to the men and women who have fought for this country and gave their lives for it. It seems one can’t turn on the news or pick up a periodical these days without hearing of some new conflict overseas or even along our own borders, and while it is important to remember and pray for those who continue the fight, Memorial Day is not for them. This sacred day is for us to remember those who laid down their lives to defend our rights, our privileges. As an n...
I was lying on the couch the other night and looked down at my feet. I swear my feet are becoming webbed between my toes. Don’t get me wrong, I love the rain, but it does raise concerns for me when it comes to driving through Wind River Canyon. It hasn’t been that many years ago when we had the enormous slide that covered the road and kept the canyon closed for a few days while they cleaned it up. I know there have been slides in the canyon since the road was chiseled out, but I pay closer att...
Some 13 cities and towns in Wyoming are reeling after the closure of one a main local business outlet. Shopko closed its general stores in Wheatland, Torrington, Newcastle, Greybull, Lander, Mountain View, Thermopolis, Worland, Powell, Buffalo, Douglas, Green River, and Afton in recent months, leaving customers in those towns scratching their heads about where are they going to go now for shopping and other needs? To cities the size of Cheyenne, Rock Springs, Laramie, or Sheridan, or Gillette, such a closure would be a problem but not a calamit...
On Sunday, we will be watching the graduating class of 2019 cross the boards into their new lives as high school graduates. These days we hear a lot of disparaging news about teens in our country – Tide pod eaters, drug users, drinkers, inexperienced theorists. What we see, however, are young people who are genuinely concerned with political issues, the future of our planet and making things better. The students we see wearing those caps and gowns are future doctors, scientists, educators and farmers, ranchers and veterinarians, mechanics a...
I’m not happy about the pollutants coming our way if Aethon greatly expands its Moneta Divide operation. From what I’ve read I gather it will be mostly salt. While drinking a glass of salty water now and then won’t kill us, do we really want our water to be saltier than it already is? Also, at the web site “Sciencing” I found this information: “When saltwater enters the soil the plant tries to absorb it through its roots like normal water. However, salt water does not allow for osmosis through the plant tissues ... the salt solution ac...
This Sunday marks the graduation for the Hot Springs County High School Class of 2019. It’s been quite a year in the district with accomplishments both academic and extracurricular, and we should all be proud of our Bobcats. It never fails that whenever graduation nears I’m taken back to those final days I spent as an Alliance, Neb. Bulldog, ready to take on the next steps of life whatever they bring. I could spend time writing advice about what the graduates should consider as they walk thr...
It seems like every week of the year gives us something to celebrate, whether it’s personal milestones such as birthdays or anniversaries, up to statewide and national celebrations May is no exception, recognizing our teachers, law enforcement and nurses nearly all at the same time. May 6-12 is both Nurse Appreciation Week and Teacher Appreciation Week. In the grand scheme of the job market, these can often be some of the hardest positions and the least recognized. Both require an extreme amount of patience and care shown fellow human b...
During a conversation with a friend a few days ago, we agreed that there were times that it was difficult to tell the truth without hurting the feelings of one you might not want to hurt. The inevitable question, “Honey, does this dress make me look fat?’ for example. There’s really no way to escape from the consequences of whatever your answer might be. As I thought about the difficulty of being truthful in all situations, about how diplomatic one can be and still convey the truth to someone who matters, it occurred to me that the hardest thin...
I know we’re all getting a little tired of the rain, but you cannot beat this time of year when all those showers not only bring flowers, but all of the green that rambles over our red hills. The lawns in Hot Springs State Park are already looking spectacular and a drive through the buffalo pasture shows the green grasses filling in nicely. Of course, that also means we have to find time to mow our own lawns as the rain is definitely making them grow at a ridiculous pace. Finding just the r...
We have unfortunately been seeing a number of businesses in Thermopolis closing their doors of late. On social media we see posts from people who haven’t felt welcomed into our little community and have made the decision to leave. Our unemployment rate has gone down, but so has our population. What we’re seeing is not unusual for a lot of small towns across America. The question is, what do we do about it? When you ask folks what they would like to see in town, the most common answer is one of the fast food chains. Variety is the spice of lif...
My wife Lindsay and I are fans of the game of golf. She grew up in a family where golf was important. Honestly, her love of the game is one of the things that helps make our relationship work. Golf is an activity we enjoy doing together. We now have a son and have aspirations of golf being a regular family activity in our lives. With that in mind, I recently accepted a seat on the board of the Thermopolis Golf Course. I see the game of golf as an integral part of our family’s future. English writer/poet, Gilbert K Chesterton once said that, “go...
A report in the Thermopolis Independent Record stated tons of sludge (tainted water) from 4,250 oil wells may be dumped into Badwater Creek drainage. Small creek beds, dry most of the year, could carry an estimated 8.27 millions of sludge into Boysen Reservoir. According to the report. What problems can we expect from 2,000-plus TONS of oilfield pollutants carried from Boysen into the Big Horn River every month? Can any study estimate the livestock, deer, antelope, small wildlife and vegetation poisoned by such a huge amount of gunk? What...
Ah, snow. It can be so magical. It makes Christmas feel complete, gives a late night cup of coffee or hot cocoa a little extra something and creates some pretty magical designs in the branches and along the ground. But then there’s stuff like what dropped on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, instantly turning to slush once it hits, making driving a bit more challenging and giving those who venture out with their shovels some real heavy lifting. It seems like winter is taking an extended stay i...
It feels like spring has finally arrived. Leaves are sprouting from buds, plants are pushing through the ground and newborn animals are exploring this wide world. If you’ve been reading the paper or just taking a look around town, you know there’s a spring in our local businesses as well. Old buildings are getting new owners and new life, others thought dead are re-opening and well-established stores are getting new owners. It’s been really amazing these past few weeks to see and hear — even if they are just rumors to start — about the growi...
