Your source for news in Hot Springs County
Your source for news in Hot Springs County
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Wyoming legislators have been working this fall on further erosion of public notices in newspapers. This time the target is the publication of the salaries of local government employees. A bill changing state law so that those no longer have to be published is in the works. A committee passed it in September. As it stands now, our taxpayer-funded municipal governments, county governments and public school districts must, at the very least, publish a list of positions and how much the people who hold them are paid. In some cases the actual...
The late Jack Johnson’s obituary in your Aug. 27 edition gave a fine summary of a life well lived. Jack would have liked that modest treatment. I’m not going to let that modest recollection happen. I hope Hot Springs County citizens don’t either. Jack’s dedication to the county in which he spent a lifetime should earn him a plaque in the courthouse Hot Springs County Hall of Fame. The biggest reason is the Grass Creek Road, the public’s only guaranteed access to national forest lands in the county and the H Diamond W 4-H Youth Camp area. In...
by Kenneth A. Bartholomew, M.D. Albert Einstein conducted thought experiments to figure out theoretical problems. Let’s do one of our own. Suppose that you fell and broke your left leg and had to be in a cast for eight weeks. Would you expect your left leg to be as strong as your right leg when the cast was removed? Of course not. You know that muscle that is not exercised gets smaller and softer. Secondly, would you expect that, by sitting in a recliner for the next two months, your left calf would magically grow back and strengthen to w...
by Sam Shumway AARP Wyoming State Director Scammers are on the prowl with Americans’ increased anxiety over the coronavirus pandemic. This is of particular concern as we commemorate May’s Military Appreciation Month given veterans and military families are twice as likely as civilians to be targeted by con artists. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), there have been over 20,300 COVID-19 complaints carrying an estimated $15.6 million in losses since the start of 2020 – and that’s just the ones reported. U.S. service members and vet...
by Jill Kruse, DO When my mom called me and said that my dad found four N95 masks in the garage and she wanted to send them all to me since I’m a doctor – That’s love. When I reassured her that we had enough in clinic for now and that she should keep them, or at least keep two for her and dad – That’s love. When I received the box in the mail, all four masks were there, lovingly wrapped in tissue paper with a note of encouragement – That’s love. When I come home from work my children run to the top of the stairs yelling out, “Mommy’s home...
It used to be in my younger days (which were a long time ago) that November was primarily the month before December, which meant it wasn’t that much longer before Christmas. As time has passed though, and memories have been added of places and times and people which impacted my life in some way, positively or negatively, I have learned that Thanksgiving is more than the preamble to super shopping Friday or Christmas. It is truly a day when it is appropriate to spend time remembering those moments that have made such a difference in our l...
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...
By definition “grant” means to agree to give or allow. It can also be defined as a sum of money given by a government or other organization for a particular purpose. It is important to consider the meaning of the word grant when thinking about our Lights On Afterschool funding stream for HSCSD #1. Grants are one of the many ways that our federal government funds projects that provide benefits to the public service sector within local communities. Hot Springs County Lights On Afterschool Program is primarily funded through a competitive fed...
Having had several severe thunderstorms this summer has taught us a lot. Some are good things like the fact that storms seem to miss us more than they hit us. Some are bad, like hail dents cars and destroys windows and roofs and siding and chops up crops in the fields. But one thing I learned was that people need to remember the basics. Phone apps and CodeRED messages and Sirens are great tools but they will never replace being aware of your surroundings and alert for signs of danger. Thunder is often the first clue we get. You are in the...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Not only does the calendar say so, all we have to do is look outside to see touches of green and watch as the robins and rabbits are dancing and romancing, ready to welcome their babies. It's also time for the Hot Springs County Senior Center to begin our season of fun times, great food and enjoying one another’s company. Come join us. We’ve already enjoyed our first mystery trip and had a great meal in March. We have enjoyed so many wonderful outings and trips together over the past few years. I want to share with you places we’ve been and thi...
Every so often without warning, a long ago and far away memory pops up to bring back feelings that have hibernated for decades. That song that reminds you of the first time you fell in love, the time you said the worst possible thing at the worst possible time, meeting the parents of the girl (or boy) you’d like to know better, a teacher that made you think there might be some hope for you after all, and a lot of other things you wish you had done differently…better. The weather lately has brought to mind a picture of Dad welding and ere...
For government to be of, by and for the people it must be out in front of the people. The theme for Sunshine Week 2019 is simply, “It’s your right to know.” The reason it’s your right to know is that it’s your government. From the courthouse, to the statehouse to the White House, it is your right to know what government is up to. Every deliberation by city council, county commission, the General Assembly or U.S. Congress is the people’s business. Every penny spent by local, state and federal government is your money. Every document held in the...
When I was 4 or 5, we lived in a civilianized army mustering point in Great Bend, Kansas after Dad returned from the war. That development existed during WWII for those with dependents before shipping out to basic training points. It had rows of 5 apartments circled around a small convenience/grocery store. Our row was immediately adjacent (barely 15 feet or so) from a couple of sections planted in wheat. Our back yard was a mixture of weeds and scrub grass, and in late August was so dry the weeds would break off if they were stepped on. For...
If you are the mother or father of a high school athlete here in Wyoming, this message is primarily for you. When you attend an athletic event that involves your son or daughter, cheer to your heart’s content, enjoy the camaraderie that high school sports offer and have fun. But when it comes to verbally criticizing game officials or coaches, cool it. Make no mistake about it. Your passion is admired, and your support of the hometown team is needed. But so is your self-control. Yelling, screaming and berating the officials humiliates your c...
Recently I received a Christmas card from Marty (Martin when not in the wrestling room). Marty was assigned to me as a project. He was about 6’2” and weighed in at 185 lbs. He was a senior, and in three years of wrestling, he had won an average of two matches per year. Oh, and by the way, he was the only black student in the reservation school at which his mother taught, and he was in the Special Education program. We worked to provide Marty moves that would be effective for him. Repetition of a few moves helped him to be more successful, and...
Thinking back to long ago Christmas seasons which usually started about the second week of December for most families, I’ve realized that those days were as joyous as they were for more than one reason. I wasn’t quite sure of the Santa Claus thing, but I was sure that my Daddy was on his way home after four long years of prayers that my mother never missed. Though I scarcely remembered him, I knew he was very special because anyone that meant so much to Mom had to be special. His return ran a “close as a whisker” race with that newborn in Beth...
Voting is a fundamental right of our democracy. The decisions made on school boards, in city halls, at the state legislature, and in Congress impact all of us. There are many ways to influence our elected officials, but only one to determine who our officials are: by voting. On Tuesday, voters will decide which candidates will be our next representatives. Because Wyoming’s election laws allow for same-day voter registration, even people who have not yet registered to vote can go to the polls and cast their ballot on Election Day. U...
There is much to celebrate in Hot Springs County Schools as the 2018 WyTOPP results are released in Wyoming. Hot Springs County School District #1 has the best results ever recorded on the state assessment! The WyTOPP was the new state assessment rolled out in the 2017-18 school year, replacing PAWS. The new test added writing as part of the English Language Arts component and included questions in reading, math and science that required students to demonstrate learning through a series of problem solving steps, not just multiple choice. Just s...
A poem I once read and taught from spoke to the heart about a trip by the poet to the home of his youth. In it he spoke of how much smaller than his memories were the realities of the mountains, now barely hills, the river, now barely a creek, and the schools which seemed so large as he started his education, and now seemed so small as he returned from the city in which his life now unfolded. In celebration of last Memorial Day, my spouse and I drove to Torrington to visit Mom and Dad’s grave. I think of my parents often, and their r...
The 2018-2019 school year and activities lie just around the corner. It is easy to see the hard work and dedication of student-athletes and coaches during the school year, yet those involved with sports know that the majority of program improvement must take place in the off-season. Thermopolis is in a unique situation of competing at high levels with low student enrollment, which causes for some extra hurdles to success. First, student-athletes must be involved in multiple sports/activities/clubs in order for those programs to be in the...
