Your source for news in Hot Springs County
Your source for news in Hot Springs County
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Scams have been circulating for many years but it seems there are always new ones popping up to try to scam people out of their money. The following is information from the Hackers Brief, put out by the CyberWyoming Alliance, on some scams circulating Wyoming. Solar Stimulus Scam Warning: Watch out for fraudsters with unfounded claims on how much solar panels will save you. If a high pressure sales person contacts you, this may be a clue that it is a scam. If you are interested in solar panels, the FTC provides guidance at h...
As if things weren’t hard enough for Wyoming’s small businesses, news comes that there are plans to claw back a chunk of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds legitimate businesses have used as a lifeline to keep their employees on the payroll. When Congress passed PPP, the legislation made it clear that these loans would ultimately be forgiven if businesses used them for approved purposes, mostly payroll. And, the law ensured — in writing — that any forgiven amounts would not be taxable, meaning that businesses could use all those funds...
The Hot Springs County Fair kicks off on Saturday, July 25 with the Horse Show beginning at 8 a.m. All events will be held at the HSC Fairgrounds. Starting on Monday, a variety of other animal shows and fun events will be held throughout the week. See the fair schedule ads on page 6 and B2 for a complete list of fair events. Although social distancing regulations have caused a few changes, there is still something for everyone at the fair. This year in place of the pig wrestling there will be an Ag Olympics where teams of six test their skills...
Greetings HSCSD #1 Patrons, I am writing with an update to our SMART Start Back to School plans for school this fall. HSCSD #1 is planning on as normal a start to the school year as possible, but will follow direction from local and state officials as the year progresses. There are many questions about what school will look like in the fall in regard to the current pandemic. The information that I share I want to stress is preliminary, and based on current recommendations. District Smart Start Plans are due to the Wyoming Department of...
by Sam Shumway State Director, AARP Wyoming In the year 2019, AARP’s FraudWatch Network reported 24 percent of all scam calls reported in Wyoming fell under the “Imposter scams,” category. That is, one which a caller pretends to be from the IRS, the Social Security Administration, or some other governmental agency demanding, and often times receiving, immediate payment. The results were $2.3 million in losses to Wyoming citizens. We know scammers look to capitalize on the news of the moment, especially if the headlines can instill fear and m...
I’m in a rather philosophical mood today. I think it started when I stepped out my back door and my feet flew out from under me and my head cracked on the bottom step. Maybe it jarred something loose. Anyway, I’ve been thinking a lot about the choices we make in life, both the good ones and the bad ones. Of course, at the time, all of our choices seem like good ones. It’s not until later that we realize we could have done something completely different and the outcome may have been amazi...
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...
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...
“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-...
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...
“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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Well, summer vacation has officially come to its close, though there’s still a few weeks left in the season itself, and Wednesday was certainly a rush at the schools with parent drop offs, kids finding classrooms and teachers working to get everything situated. I’ve heard some parenting advice two different ways. One is that it gets easier watching each successive child head to their classroom for the first official day. I’ve also been told that seeing the youngest head off on that new adven...
Well, the summer swimsuit body didn’t magically appear this year either, but I’m ready for flannel and sweatshirts with no problem. I sometimes wonder why we do this to ourselves, obsess over getting bikini ready. Sure, we can blame it on the media and all the super skinny models they have strolling the runway, on every page of the magazines we read and filling our screens with every commercial, but it really boils down to our self esteem. On the outside, most people see me as being confident an...
Fair week is always a busy one for us here at the newspaper. We’re out shooting every event that goes on all the way through the Pageant Days parade, fire department open house, Folk Festival and everything in between. If you were at the pig wrestling the other night you may have seen me covered in slick, wet Bentonite as I shot all the teams from outside the fence. I thoroughly enjoy shooting the pig wrestling because it really shows how people of all ages can have a terrific time with a pit o...
This next week will be busy with the county fair. Vehicles will be going in and out of the fairgrounds, youth and adults will go before the judges with their exhibits, and be sure to hearing plenty of noise and some very distinct aromas at the grounds as the animals start pouring in. Having lived my life in rural communities, the fair was always something I looked forward to. In my younger days, of course, it was all about the rides and strolling through the animal exhibits. Though never an...
It took a persistent persuasion to convince my dad that he needed a break from caring for my mother in the nursing home, and that the semi-annual family reunion in Kansas (his born home) would be just the break he needed. Dad was never a talker, but he was unusually tight lipped on the journey to his childhood home, and I knew he was thinking about leaving Mom “unattended” even though it was doubtful that she knew who he was anymore. The family homestead was about ten miles outside what had become in the intervening years a ghost town with an...
They say there’s no feeling like coming home again and for the Alumni of Hot Springs County High School, this weekend is their opportunity to wave the Bobcat banner once again. Sure, people root for college teams and professional teams, everything from football and basketball to cricket and polo, but nothing says pride like cheering for your home team. I guess that’s why I always look forward to this weekend and all the memories it brings with it. Of course, sometimes you have to introduce you...
What a crazy couple weeks it’s been. Golf ball and pea size hail, fireworks, changes on the horizon for Hot Springs State Park, and losing phone and internet services. It’s enough to make you want to pull your hair out and second guess where you decided to live. But, in the chaos — the good and the bad — it’s good to see the response Thermopolis gives. There’s been plenty of praise for our fire department, not only for the show they put on but for their continued efforts to promote fire safety...
Without a doubt, the political climate in our nation has been rocky at best over the past 10 years. Left, right, Republican, Democrat, it matters not which side of the aisle you’re on there is unrest in our country over which side is right. I have seen burning effigies of presidents. I have seen giant balloons depicting a presidential baby. Rumors and innuendo about both parties have run rampant during this last decade. In polite society we were taught not to discuss two things: religion and p...
