Your source for news in Hot Springs County
Your source for news in Hot Springs County
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Easter weekend is upon us, a weekend traditionally dedicated to quality family time. It doesn’t matter if you’re spending Easter Sunday in church, on the river or at the lake, or just having lunch with your loved ones, there is no doubt Easter is a special day. The little ones have a chance to meet the Easter Bunny on Saturday out at Champ’s Chicken starting at 10 a.m., and at Thermopolis Rehabilitation and Wellness at 2 p.m. There is also the Annual Lion’s Club Easter Egg Hunt on Sunday starting at 2 p.m. in Hot Springs State Park. This is...
The voice of the town, county and state agencies has been heard, as over the past couple weeks several letters went out to the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality in response to a proposed DEQ permit to allow water carrying several tons of oilfield pollutants into Boysen Reservoir. That permit came with the idea that the pollutants would not degrade the water quality. Unfortunately for us here in Thermopolis, there was no notice given about this permit and the deadline for any comment we could give — likely in writing or email, as t...
Wyoming is our home. It is a pristine piece of heaven in the middle of our Nation, mostly untouched and sparsely populated, and that’s the way we like it. Apparently, the Department of Environmental Quality doesn’t see it like that. Millions of gallons of tainted water, 8.27 million per day in fact, is slated to be dumped into Boysen Reservoir along with 2,161 tons of dissolved oilfield pollutants per month from the Moneta Divide oilfield if Aethon Energy gets their permit. The company is expanding to 4,250 wells between Shoshoni and Mon...
This past year has seen a lot of change in our community. Familiar businesses are shutting their doors while new ones are popping up or coming under new ownership. Among the changes has been the loss of the annual health fair at Thermopolis Middle School. The event, with its variety of booths for young and old, provided opportunity to get educated and involved about one’s health and wellbeing. Sadly, both the fair and the regularly scheduled blood draws associated with the event won’t be happening this year, nor has there been any word as to...
In Wyoming we really have just three seasons, not four – fall, winter and construction season. In Hot Springs County we do manage to sneak in another one, rockslide season. Things have been heating up in the rockslide arena the last couple of weeks with a huge boulder dropping onto the highway from above one evening and then a good slide near the dam on Tuesday morning. If you’ve lived in this area for any length of time, you’ve probably been through Wind River Canyon hundreds of times in all kinds of weather, but rockslide season can be the m...
A major step towards governmental transparency happened this past week, as Governor Gordon signed into law Senate File 57. This establishes a deadlines for when public records must be made available and sets up a governor designated ombudsman to receive complaints regarding violation of the Public Records Act. The law doesn’t take effect for a few more months, but when it does it will provide the public with more power to hold their government accountable. We regularly publish public notices, such as meeting minutes, notices of sales and, in t...
In like a lion, out like a lamb. We’ve heard that old saying forever in reference to how the weather is going to be during the month of March. With that in mind, it looks like we’ll be going out like a lion this year. Sure, it was cold last Friday as March arrived, but there was no storm to go with the freezing temps, so chances are we’ll get hit at the end of the month with a snowstorm. Old wives' tales generally have a touch of the truth to them, like ‘snakes don’t come out until after the first thunderstorm.’ If you do a little research, i...
This past Sunday, what could’ve been a deadly incident was averted thanks to the vigilant and valiant effort of law enforcement — and not just one agency. It took the combined efforts of local and state agencies to keep the peace in our streets. The incident calls to mind a common theme heard during the election season — a desire for law enforcement agencies to work together toward a common goal rather than butting heads all the time. And this week’s stopping of a potential Sunday shooter is just the latest example of what our officers can do...
As you flip through the pages of this week’s edition of the Independent Record, you’re sure to notice that the Thermopolis Bobcats had an incredible week and we sure are proud of these young people. The boys basketball team played a scorcher against our age-old rival, Worland, and came out on top. The wrestling team took a 15 man team to their regional contest, came home with first in 2A and all 15 of the young men are now qualified for state. The robotics team had their state competition over the weekend and not only did well on their own...
As your newspaper, one of our primary responsibilities is to make sure people can read about and enjoy what is happening in our community. Pictures, editorial content and advertisements all go to meet this goal. While it would be nice to be all-knowing so nothing got missed, the reality is that we don’t know everything that’s going to happen in a given week, and unfortunately that leads to us and our readers missing out on seeing some great things, particularly at the schools. Many activities happen at the regular morning assemblies at the mid...
Perhaps Wyoming’s State Appropriations Committee is learning you don’t mess with our elderly. Last week, in a last minute, last ditch effort, Representative Donald Burkhardt of Carbon County introduced a bill that would have eliminated state funding for the Wyoming Pioneer Home. HB0295 went immediately to the Appropriations Committee where, fortunately, it died, not getting out of the Committee of the Whole. This is the third attempt at either closing the doors to the facility or selling it off to a private company in three years. This time the...
As a newspaper, our primary goal is to inform our readers of what’s happening in the world, not just locally but on the state and, if necessary, national level. In recent weeks, we’ve been keeping you updated on what’s happening in the Legislature. However, it is this same Legislature that has made not one, but three attempts at keeping us at doing our jobs when it comes to keeping our town and county leaders accountable. The first of these attempts came from House Bill 146, which would take out requirements that names be published with the s...
Imagine how hard it must be to look for “something” when you really have no idea what that “something” looks like. Take the situation at our high school and the JUUL. Do you know what it is? Do you know what it looks like? This takes the proverbial needle in a haystack to a completely different level when you’re not even sure what that needle looks like. As parents and grandparents we are often woefully behind the times when it comes to the latest trends with teens. We’re fairly on-point when it comes to things we can see, like telling tha...
When the New Year rolls in, it’s often accompanied with the hope that this year will be better than the last. Unfortunately, a new year doesn’t mean all the bad news from the previous gets suddenly whisked away and we start over with a clean slate. It seems lately that there’s been more and more bad news in the national and, unfortunately, quite a bit on the state and local level. There’s trouble in the schools, on the borders, at the capitol. But, as the saying goes “things are always the darkest before the dawn,” and we can help bring that...
Earlier this week Thermopolis and Hot Springs County experienced a changing of the guard of sorts with the swearing in of all the new folks elected last November. With this new year we are also looking at a new chance to come together for the betterment of our community. We have new people in top positions in law enforcement. New judges donning black robes. While the faces aren’t new, there has been some shuffling of those in charge or working in different departments in the courthouse and Town Hall. No community is perfect, but with these c...
What a week it’s been. Aside from the dump of snow we got for the New Year, as well as the resulting drifts, here at The Independent Record we’ve had a storm of a different kind. Last week, a town employee presented us with Contribution Report documents regarding a political candidate and accused us of making illegal campaign contributions. The accuser also feels a local business made illegal contributions as well. The Independent Record has not, did not and will not make campaign contributions to any candidate. The small business being acc...
In a few short days we will be faced with a book filled with blank pages – 2019. Each new year is our chance to leave behind the previous year and fill those blank pages with new memories. Some of us will make resolutions with the finest of intentions, like losing weight, stopping smoking or even making amends with family and friends. Of course, there is also the portion of us that, while we may have good intentions, will let those resolutions slide before January is even over. We need to keep in mind that forgetting about our New Year’s res...
We’re sure you’ll notice a little extra bulk in your paper this week, thanks to our annual printing of the Letters to Santa. While it’s quite a busy time at the Thermopolis Independent Record getting all those letters typed up — mistakes and all — before they’re shipped on to the North Pole, it’s also one of the best. Reading over the wishes of our community’s youth helps revive some of that Christmas Spirit when it’s less than a week from the big day and holiday shopping has run us down. Even though our fingers might get tired, our hearts get...
As we begin hanging our stockings with care, wrapping presents and dreaming of a white Christmas, there are those right here in our community that will not be having a Merry Christmas without our help. The Department of Family Services (DFS) has a tree at Thermop Hardware filled with tags from our children who are in dire need of some Christmas gifts. When it comes to our friends and family, we have no problem spending our hard-earned dollars to make sure they have the newest technology, an expensive sweater or maybe a new piece of jewelry....
The leftovers of turkey and sides have dwindled and the snow’s sticking around a lot more, sure signs that we are well into the holiday shopping season. For those who put off fulfilling those wish lists until the few remaining weeks of the year, you don’t need to worry about travelling along busy and sometimes treacherous highways to get what you need. Sure, the official Shop Small Saturday has already come and gone, but there’s still plenty of time to take advantage of what we have locally before heading to the big box stores. And recen...
Old Man Winter certainly set the weather forecasters on their ear Saturday, proving once again that you can predict all you want to, but the reality is an inch of snow can turn into way more if you live in Wyoming. Now is the time to remember “patience is a virtue” as we wait for streets to be cleared. Although the Town of Thermopolis crews were out doing their best on Saturday afternoon, there was just so much snow at once that it made things difficult at best. Yes, there are piles of snow all along Broadway from the stop light to the rai...
The annual celebration of the turkey is upon us and hopefully this week finds you with friends and family, whether it’s at home or on the road, to share in this wonderful holiday. While the day is one to be excited for, with the promises of gut-busting meals, football games and those infamous Black Friday crowds, one need only look at the holiday’s name to know what it’s made for — giving thanks. Though thankfulness is something we should express in our day-to-day, even if it is just for something as simple as getting through another day, Th...
Where are we supposed to park? That’s been the mantra the last few days as a high profile case out of Natrona County moved into the Hot Springs County Courthouse and is expected to be here well over a week. Yes, its a little inconvenient for us locals to have to walk a bit to get to the courthouse or the post office or the bank, the library or Public Health, but the upside to the situation is it isn’t costing us anything but a little inconvenience. Because this trial was moved to Hot Springs County, Natrona County is footing the bill for eve...
If you’re like us here at the Independent Record, last night you were anxiously awaiting the General Election results. This week’s front page gives a look at what our local numbers were. Some race results were certainly a surprise, while others went as predicted, but the one thing they all have in common is that they’re over. All of the disagreements over who is best for the town, county and state can be put to rest. Mind you, this isn’t something that will happen overnight. Those voted in will be cheered by some, while also being scrutin...
We are on the final lap with the finish line in sight. Tuesday, Nov. 6 is the General Election and we urge everyone to get out and cast your vote. This edition of the Thermopolis Independent Record includes our election section, filled with a good deal of information to help you make your decision next week when you head to the polls. This election season has been an interesting one with plenty of candidates tossing their hats in the ring, wanting to help make things better for our community, our state and our country. At the Independent...
