2019 - A look back at the year in Hot Springs County

We published the first half of the Hot Springs County year in review in the December 26 edition of the Independent Record. Here is a look back on July-December.

July

July 4, 2019

The bright blue summer sky dimmed quickly, shortly after 1:30 p.m. Monday afternoon. As the town sirens sounded and a rapid series of alerts was issued across radio and cell networks, it was clear that this particular thunderstorm wasn’t just going to skirt around the town and was gunning for Thermopolis.

Winds estimated at 50-60 miles per hour and a severe temperature drop were the first signs of the storm’s arrival. Warnings advised people to remain indoors, which of course sparked a natural curiosity as to what the skies looked like and whether a tornado was coming as well. Those who ventured outside didn’t stay for long, though, as wind-driven rain and hail lashed through the town. Though it only lasted 20-30 minutes, it certainly made an impact.

July 11, 2019

The hail and wind storm that ravaged Hot Springs County July 1 caused severe damage to area homes, businesses and vehicles.

Contractors, automotive, and roofing businesses are flocking to Thermopolis to help us repair. Many have set up temporary business locations in town to better serve the community.

Local businesses are also scrambling to repair the seemingly endless amount of damage.

Initial estimates put damages well over a million dollars, unlike anything we've experienced in Hot Springs County for several decades.

July 18, 2019

Oil production numbers for Hot Springs County were released recently, showing a 9.5% increase in value from 2018.

Total value to the county is $85,985,988 with oil coming in at an average of $40.85 a barrel.

Production is slowly coming back after a dip in 2016 of 54% and 23% in 2017.

July 25, 2019

The Thermopolis Police Department responded Monday, July 22 to a report of a phony $100 bill used at a business.

Chief Julie Mathews noted the bill certainly appeared to be legitimate, even to where the hologram was fairly close in accuracy. However, there were some telltale signs the bill was a fake.

The edges of the bill, Mathews said, were uneven, and the paper used didn’t feel right, as she couldn’t feel the fibers common in paper money.

Further, there was no security code visible on the bill when it was held up to the light.

August

August 1, 2019

On July 19 at the 36th annual Wyoming Coaches Association and Wyoming Sports Official Association Hall Of Fame Banquet, Joe Doak was inducted in to the Wyoming High School Activities Association (WHSAA) Hall of Fame for his contribution to the youth of Wyoming through his years of service as a sports official in football and basketball.

The WHSAA presented Doak with a gold lifetime pass and a hall of fame ring, and a pictured plaque of Doak will be on display at the Casper Events Center.

Doak is in his 43rd year of officiating, having started in 1977.

August 8, 2019

During their Tuesday night meeting, the Thermopolis Town Council approved rate increases for water and sanitation, as well as landfill charges.

Council approved Resolution 555, which amends Ordinance No. 841 to raise the base rate from $18 to $18.90 per month for all in-town and out of town users for each single unit and per single unit in a multiple unit.

Resolution 556 was also approved, setting the monthly charge for sanitation services in the form of solid waste collection for a residential dwelling unit at $22 per month. The last increase, Crosby said, was in November of 2017, and this increase is only $1 for residential.

August 15, 2019

There’s plenty happening at what was formerly the southeast lawn of Hot Springs County Memorial Hospital as the new addition is well into its construction.

Hospital CEO Margie Molitor said Monty Wardell, superintendent of Sletten Construction, has about four different areas for the project and he’s very coordinated. Steel is still going up in one area, and walls will be put up in the next couple weeks of the operating room area. The last area completed will be the emergency room.

August 22, 2019

At the Thermopolis Town Council’s Aug. 6 meeting, council approved an emergency ordinance raising landfill charges from $7.35 per cubic yard to $12.

Mayor’s Assistant Fred Crosby explained the town’s Sanitation Enterprise Fund — which covers things like landfill and trash pickup — ended the fiscal year on June 30 with about $130,000 in the red, mainly due to overhauling the track loader and $82,000 in tire shredding.

“Those costs are normal costs,” Crosby said. “They just came at an unanticipated time.” Already starting out the 2019-20 fiscal year in the red, with the hailstorm damage the landfill is receiving hundreds of cubic yards of construction debris a day. On a smaller scale, debris from the hospital construction is also taken to the landfill. That means the landfill cell that was expected to last another is filling up quickly and a new cell will have to be dug soon.

August 29, 2019

Some changes will be coming to one of our local businesses as Reese and Ray’s IGA has been sold to Superfoods.

The company has actually purchased all three Reese and Ray’s stores in Wyoming to add to their holdings in Dubois, Glenrock and other Wyoming towns.

It is unknown at this time whether or not the store will drop the IGA brands or what other changes may be in the store’s future, but the official “switch over” should be completed by the end of September.

September

September 5, 2019

The Thermopolis Middle School football team came out strong last Friday with a 28-6 win at home against Shoshoni.

Coach Shane Corpening said, “I thought we were ahead of where you’d expect your team to be in the first game, so that’s always encouraging. I think we also dominated the line of scrimmage. I thought our offensive and defensive linemen came to play, established the line of scrimmage and played really well.”

September 12, 2019

Hugh and Mary Sue Vass, as well as Norman Sanford, of Hot Springs County will be inducted as members of the Wyoming Cowboy Hall of Fame (WCHF) Class of 2019 at the Casper Events Center September 22, during the First Annual Wyoming Cowboy & Cowgirl Legacy Week.

September 19, 2019

When a friend or loved one is in jail, those precious minutes visiting them through a glass window, using a telephone to talk, can mean a lot. But often there are circumstances that make it difficult or impossible for visitation at the Hot Springs County Detention Center.

Making things easier is the addition of the center’s new video calling service. Sergeant Detention Administrator Beth Price noted the regular visiting room will still be available, but the new service allows people to visit with inmates via computer or handheld device.

September 26, 2019

The Bobcat golf team was welcomed home by family, friends and the fire department Saturday night as they returned to town as back-to-back State Golf Champions in 2A.

The State Tournament was held in Lusk this year with the Cats coming out on top with a two-day total of 721, a full 35 strokes ahead of the number two team, Big Horn.

Hardy Johnson garnered the number one spot individually for the second year in a row with a two-day total of 144, coming out ahead of Nick Summers of Tongue River by 20 strokes.

October

October 3, 2019

Building inspectors came in and took a look at all of the roofing on county properties and declared the Senior Center, museum and annex roofs are all good. The library and the courthouse, however, will need to be re-roofed.

Its going to take some engineering since the roof of each off the buildings is a bit complicated, but an engineer will need to take a look at them to ensure the bid specs are correct before putting them out.

The commissioners decided they wanted an engineer to do an inspection of the roof on the fair building as well since the insurance adjustor indicated it would need replaced as well.

October 10, 2019

According to a report released last month by the Economic Analysis Division of the Wyoming Department of Administration and Information, Hot Springs County was among the six counties in the state to see a decrease in taxable sales, coming in at 5.9 percent less for the second quarter in 2019 compared to the second quarter of 2018. The previous years saw a 12.3 percent increase, and information provided in the report is based on sales and use tax collections.

October 17, 2019

The second annual Wyoming Singer Songwriter Competition has concluded with a Thermopolis resident winning the title of overall champion.

Rob Weimann, who took second place in last year’s event, was named Wyoming’s best singer-songwriter of 2019 in voting by both a panel of musicians and by audience members at the final round of the annual competition held at the Ten Sleep Brewing Co.

October 24, 2019

Its time for everyone, both young and old, to pull out those Halloween costumes for a fun afternoon hiking the newly completed trail to the top of T Hill.

The grand opening for the new trail will be this Saturday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. with candy and prizes at the top of the trail.

The new trail takes you two miles round trip and the trailhead is near the parking lot of the new Hot Springs County Parks and Rec disc golf course.

October 31, 2019

The high school girls returned from the 2A State Championships in Afton with a second place win — Wyoming Indian placed first — and individual runners taking high spots in the top 10. Tahja Hunt finished fifth with 22:06.47; Hallie Martinez seventh with 22:14.22; and McKenna Bomengen eighth with 22:24.96.

Hunt, Martinez and Bomengen were also recognized by the Wyoming Coaches’ Association as 2019 WCA All-State athletes.

November

November 7, 2019

Locals need to be prepared for the closing of another business in Thermopolis with the recent purchase of IGA from the Super Foods Corporation.

IGA’s employees were informed Tuesday morning that their doors would be closing November 25 and contents of the store would be liquidated.

Eric Mackay, owner of Mack’s Market, is the new owner of the building.

November 14, 2019

The Bobcats fought a tough battle against the defending state champs Friday night in the 2A Wyoming High School State Football Semifinals, but in the end, Buffalo proved too strong. Bobcats ended their season defeating five different 2A opponents.

Coach McPhie had this to say about the season “It’s a bitter ending to an excellent season. We are very proud of not only the excellent team these guys became, but the young men and citizens they have become off the field.”

November 21, 2019

Two members of the Lady Bobcat volleyball team were named to All State and All Conference teams for 2019.

Sesi Jensen was chosen for the 3A West All Conference team along with Ashley McPhie.

McPhie was also chosen for the 3A All State Team for this season.

“Both Sesi and Ashley were captains on our team and constantly led by example on the court,” head coach Shannon Hill said. “They were a part of a group of four seniors we had this year that were such positive leaders in our program and were constantly expecting their teammates to step up to their level of play and it showed with our overall competitiveness this year in our conference.”

November 28, 2019

Bobcat Robotics hosted 20 teams from around the state and over 120 students for the Thermop Throwdown scrimmage Nov. 16. Nearly every team in the state was represented.

All teams were able to compete in five matches each and they had a chance to test out and refine their robot designs and programming.

Bobcat teams made progress on their robot designs and coding.

Teams were able to go through mock judging that will be similar to the judging and interviews they experience at state tournaments and other competitions.

December

December 5, 2019

Rwanda Nyarusiza Station, roasted locally at Jackrabbit Java, was selected as the No. 29 coffee on Coffee Review’s list of the Top 30 Coffees of 2019 and received a score of 93.

The blind assessment of this coffee was described as crisply sweet, floral-toned. Orange blossom, blackberry, cooked taro root, cacao nib, cedar in aroma and cup. Sweetly savory structure with gentle, rounded acidity; full, creamy mouthfeel. A pleasing sweet starchiness akin to taro root surfaces in the finish, integrated with rich floral and fruit tones.

December 12, 2019

The Hot Springs County High School Drama Club recently participated in the Wyoming State Thespian Festival (previously named Wyoming State Drama Competition) and returned as State Champions in 1A/2A for the second year in a row.

Twenty-four students went to the festival and were entered into 15 different categories.

They brought home 18 AllState Medals and 11 Honorable Mention Certificates.

December 19, 2019

An educator in the Hot Springs County School District has been named one of six finalists in Wyoming to receive the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST).

Aimee Kay, a seventh and eighth grade science teacher at Thermopolis Middle School, was nominated by Jessica Lippincott.

This is the highest recognition an educator may receive in mathematics, science or computer science in the country and the awards are facilitated by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the National Science Foundation.

December 26, 1019

The Thermopolis Police Department recently conducted alcohol compliance checks of area businesses. Every business checked passed and there were no citations issued for any violations.

The checks are conducted to help ensure alcohol is not being sold to minors.