Hot Springs County - The year in review

There were many memorable things that happened in Hot Springs County in 2023. The following is a look back at an important, unique or interesting story that ran in the Thermopolis Independent Record each week throughout the year

January

January 5

The Hot Springs County School District’s Tech Specialist Rick Groh provided a primer to the school board on the district’s new website app. Groh reported the app had been under development since the start of the school year, and explained how it ties directly into the school district’s website, which is about two years old.

According to Groh, the calendars and announcements for the district and each of its schools, that already appear online, are also available via the smartphone app.

“Any time we send an all-call, or a push notification, from any of the schools, or from the district itself, like on snow days, it pushes directly to the app, and you get the the notification on your (phone) app,” Groh said, adding the app has been “specifically designed” for the Hot Springs County School District. “It has our logo and our colors, purple and gold.”

While Groh noted that users can turn on notifications for any or all of the district’s schools, Superintendent Dustin Hunt elaborated that the notifications extend beyond emergencies and school closures, to cover the daily news and events for each school.

January 12

At the Thermopolis Town Council meeting held January 3 at Town Hall, attorney Mike Messenger swore in Adam Estenson as the new mayor. Additionally, Messenger swore in council members John Dorman, Sr., and Rachel Hughes.

Mayor Estenson thanked Messenger for administrating the oaths of office and for Mayor Mike Chimenti for years of service. Estenson also recognized council member Tony Larson and Codes Administrator Fred Crosby for their previous work with the council.

Mayor Esteson’s first order of business was to appoint Interim Chief of Police Pat Cornwell to the position of Chief. Messenger swore in Cornwell. 

January 19

One of Wyoming’s most popular visitor destinations, the Wyoming Dinosaur Center in Thermopolis, has a new look. The Center’s paleontology museum recently underwent a makeover that includes both new exhibits and newly arranged exhibits. The changes improve the museum’s overall presentation of dinosaurs and non-dinosaur fossils, already recognized as one of the best in the country. Still anchoring the exhibits are “Jimbo” the Supersaurus—the largest, most complete sauropod found to date in Wyoming, and “Lori” the raptor—the smallest dinosaur yet found in Wyoming,

One major addition is the exhibit of the giant sea turtle, Archelon, that inhabited the great interior seaway that covered much of North America, including Wyoming, during the time of the dinosaurs. Archelon is impressively mounted elevated, stretching 14 feet in length and 18 feet across its extended, massive front flippers.

Two new young maiasaurs now join the large adult duckbill dinosaur Maiasaura from Montana that tends its hatchlings’ nest. Maiasaura is one of only a few dinosaurs that have been found with nests, hatchlings or fossilized eggs and indicate caring for the young.

Another impressive new dinosaur display is that of two therizinosaurs - Falcarius and Nothronychus. Discovered in Utah, Falcarius lived some 120 million years ago and is the most primitive therizinosaur found so far, with features much like a large raptor. Also discovered in Utah, Nothronychus is a massive, later therizinosaur with relatively short, heavy hind legs and huge claws on stout arms. It is one of the larger known members of the raptor group. 

January 26

After hosting two successful home tournaments, the Hot Springs County High School Speech Team competed at the Worlando Beach Invitational Speech and Debate Meet on 13-14 January, hosted by Worland High School. The team placed 3rd among 1A/2A schools with 18 schools in attendance and over 350 individual entries. The Bobcats also traveled to the Jackson Hole Speech and Debate Tournament on 20-21 January, hosted by Jackson Hole High School. The team placed 1st among 1A/2A schools with 12 schools in attendance and over 250 individual entries.

Senior and co-team captain Karina Lea emerged as Jackson Hole tournament champion in both Editorial Commentary and Storytelling. Sophomore Zoey Larson also captured a tournament champion medal for her first place finish in Prose at Jackson Hole.

Junior and co-team captain Julia Quintanilla continued to impress in Humorous Interpretation, finishing as a semifinalist at Jackson and in 4th place at Worland. Quintanilla was also a semifinalist in Program Oral Interpretation at Jackson. Her Original Spoken Word Poetry performance captured 4th place at Jackson as well. Additionally, Quintanilla teamed up with Larson for a successful Duo Interpretation which took 6th place at Worland and broke into semifinals at Jackson Hole.

Sophomore and co-team captain Rosalie Willson continues to improve her Lincoln-Douglas Debate skills, finishing with a record of 2-2 and in the top ten debaters at both Jackson and Worland. Co-team captain and Junior Chris Bapst also finished with a 2-2 record and top ten finish in Lincoln-Douglas Debate at Worland. Bapst also finished 2nd in Big Questions Debate at Jackson with freshmen Dean Bihr right behind him in 3rd place. Additionally, Bapst took 6th in Editorial Commentary followed closely by Willson’s 7th place finish in the same event.  

February

February 2

The Hot Springs County School District’s audit report, which was reviewed at its board of trustees’ Dec. 15 meeting, drew a reaction from the community during the board’s Jan. 19 meeting.

Jean Skelton, speaking during the Jan. 19 public comment period “as a taxpayer and accountant,” said, “It was a concern to me that you were considered a high risk auditee,” before she reviewed the four points of specific concern to her, which included both “significant” and “material weaknesses,” as well as “significant deficiencies,” which she deemed “a fairly big deal to have that many on an audit.”

The first audit point was the segregation of duties, which she conceded was “pretty normal,” even as she asserted, “There are measures you can take, in an institution that has almost $12 million going through it,” to counteract such an issue.

The second point of contention for Skelton was the budget non-compliance, about which she warned, “There’s been a lot of talk in the community about this,” even though she acknowledged that it’s a clerical issue.

“I know that funds are not missing,” Skelton said. “My concern with that would be, it was obviously changed after your July board meeting, (so) were you, as a board, informed of that change?”

February 9

Friday evening, the Bobcats varsity boys team hosted Lyman for a home game with the Cats falling 48 to 30. 

“Defensively, I felt like we played really well and did a good enough job to keep us in the ball game (it was a pretty neck and neck game before the fourth quarter). Lyman has some length that gave us some difficulty, but overall, I thought we defended them well. Offensively, on the other hand, we did a lot of good things, but we just couldn’t get a shot to fall. For the most part we were taking quality shots, but just couldn’t see one go through the hole. Obviously, as the game went along, we started to get a little more impatient and tighter on the offensive end. It was frustrating because I felt like we were doing everything right, except for the most important thing which is actually getting the ball in the basket. If we would have been given the task of shooting down the Chinese spy plane, it would still be up there,” said coach Shane Corpening.

February 16

At the February 27 Thermopolis Town Council meeting, Mayor Adam Estenson said that there was no action taken on the following presentation. Darren Butcher returned to the council and gave another presentation for his advocacy to have chickens be legal within the town’s boundaries. Butcher told a story that highlights a “difference between livelihood and lifestyle.” There were no questions asked after the presentation.

A letter to the editor from Butcher appears on page 4 of this newspaper. Butcher indicates he has a plan to introduce Limited Urban Agriculture to the city of Thermopolis.

During citizen participation, Chamber of Commerce CEO Meri Ann Dorman formally invited council members to attend their chamber meetings on the second Thursday of every month at 6 p.m. held at the Big Horn Federal conference room. Council member Bill Malloy said that he would attend.

Kim Bartlett, representing the Hot Springs County Democratic Party, invited the mayor and council to attend the second annual non-partisan community dinner for the 2023 Mardi Gras on Sunday, February 19 from 4 p.m. until 6 p.m. at the Community Hall. 

February 23

Various water district representatives met formally to reconvene the Hot Springs County Water District Joint Powers Board (HSCWDJPB) at the Annex building on Thursday, February 16. The last time the HSCWDJPB met was in 2018.

The representatives were Kent Cordingly from Lucerne Water, Tony Basko of Owl Creek Water, Tom Ryan of Hot Springs County, Quinton Hetzel of South Thermopolis Water, and Sid McDonald of the Town of East Thermopolis.

In new business, the board elected their officers. Tom Ryan is Chairman, Sid McDonald is Vice Chairman, and Tony Basko is Secretary/Treasurer.

It was noted that the Lucerne Water District might not be part of the board due to it already being a Big Horn Regional Water District member. Their participation is still being explored. Also, the members of Red Lane are still pending their membership as their water district is still being potentially formed.

Additionally, Thermopolis Mayor Adam Estenson and the Town Council were still pending their involvement at the time of this meeting.  

March

March 2

At the February 21 Thermopolis Town Council meeting, Town Engineer Heath Overfield held a discussion with the council about the Hot Springs County Water District Joint Powers Board (HSCWDJPB) regarding a possible Level 2 study to drill for water on Lysite Mountain for about $2.1 million. Council member Bill Malloy expressed his concern about upfront costs. Overfield said that the grant for it would be a 100% covered cost and if the well is successful in both water quality and quantity the HSCWDJPB could owe one-third of the cost. Overfield said they are not able to come back with a charge rate at this time. The main focus is to find out if the Lysite Mountain drill will be successful or not and go forward from there.

Concerned citizen Joe Casciato brought up concerns about the potential hard water from the well water and that surface water might be better. Overfield validated Casciato and said that his water from Lucerne is harder, but the Level 2 study will determine what they will have.

Town Attorney Marshall Keller brought Resolution #571 to the council for their potential approval that would show their involvement with the HSCWDJPB and to move forward with the Level 2 study application. 

March 9

The Hot Springs County High School Speech and Debate Team impressed with an outstanding showing at the National Qualifying Wind River District Speech and Debate Tournament at Rock Springs High School on March 3-4. 

The tournament, delayed by weather conditions the week before, hosted 17 Wind River District schools of all Wyoming school classifications, and 400 students performed and debated with hopes set on National Qualification. 

Bobcat Junior Julia Quintanilla will represent the Wind River NSDA District this June as they travel to Phoenix, Ariz., to compete against the best in the nation at the National Tournament. This is the tenth consecutive year and the twenty-first overall year the team has qualified students for the national meet.

Co-team captain and sole senior competitor Karina Lea had an outstanding showing in Informative Speaking at the tournament. Lea advanced to the final round and finished as the 1st alternate for National Qualification. Her speech, “The Coquette Tempest,” took first place in every preliminary round. 

Co-team captain Quintanilla continued success in Humorous Interpretation with a hilarious piece called “The God of Cake” by Allie Brosh. Quintanilla qualified for the National Tournament in Humor, but also broke into Duo finals and finished 3rd alternate with partner and sophomore Zoey Larson with another humorous selection, “Sunflower Street, Episode 4: Erma and Molly Get a Date” by Brian Denbo. 

March 16

At the March 7 Thermopolis Town Council meeting, during citizen participation, Darren Butcher presented his request to legalize chickens with a packet of proposed code language describing a potential new ordinance. Mayor Adam Estenson opened the floor to the council to speak.

Council member Bill Malloy expressed his concerns about having chickens, including the time needed for law enforcement to handle nuisance calls.

Malloy added, “Every time this chicken thing comes up, my telephone starts ringing and it never stops with people pleading. ‘Don’t allow chickens, don’t allow chickens’. And it has happened again in the last few weeks. I personally don’t have any problem with it, but the town also over the years that I’ve been involved in the council, we’ve done several different surveys over the years asking the people in the community what they like about the community, ways we can improve the communities and things like that. The one thing that always comes up is the number one thing on every one of these surveys is people want our town cleaned up and these nuisances taken care of. I personally feel as a councilman that it’s my duty to do what is best for the town. I think it’s common sense and my own personal feeling that we have so many nuisances as it is not just with dogs and cats, but with deer, crow, junkyards and everything else. I just hate to see another nuisance, but I have nothing against chickens. I want you to know that.”

There was further discussion about chickens within the town limits, including Rachel Hughes asking Butcher about lot sizes and other information. Mayor Estenson asked Town Attorney Marshall Keller about the process or order to move forward. Keller said he had concerns about procedural issues. After some discussion, it was decided there will be a work session where the mayor and council members, along with Keller, will nail down the final legal language of the new ordinance. Some of the ideas proposed to include in the ordinance will be proposed inspections, fees, enforcement, and the permit process. 

March 23

Jean Skelton’s third monthly address in a row to the Hot Springs County School Board on March 16 saw their differences of opinion devolve into angry outbursts on both sides, after she’d asserted the board had failed to live up to its stated collective commitments to maintain respect, transparency and honest communication.

“What I witnessed at the last school board meeting was one board member attacking another board member because of a differing opinion,” Jean Skelton said. “There was no respect or dialogue in that exchange, no striving to work with one another to gain an understanding of what the concern was. It was just an attack.”

Jean Skelton then accused the school district administration of telling board members not to speak with parents who contact them.

“That is not listening to the concerns of the parents,” Jean Skelton said. “It does not promote open and honest communication.”

Jean Skelton also insisted she had yet to see a listing of the transactions “moved from one category to another, over half a million dollars of federal tax funds on the July financial statement,” since she’d requested it more than two months ago, which she criticized as “not transparent, nor respectful or fiscally responsible.”

Jean Skelton then recounted what she said a teacher had told her more than a year ago, about how they’d allegedly spoken to the administration about a concern, then found their workload doubled, while their original concerns remained unresolved.

Hot Springs County School Board Chair Sherman Skelton addressed Jean Skelton’s timeline of correspondence with the school district, as she agreed that she’d emailed Feb. 10 asking for those transactions, to which the district responded Feb. 14 with 76 pages, supplying the entire fiscal year of 2022, along with an invitation to look at those transactions that she has not yet followed up on.

“We have also contacted our auditor,” said Sherman Skelton, who told Jean the auditor would meet with her over Zoom, either March 27 or 28 at 6 p.m., depending on her preference. 

“That meeting will be broadcast for the entire public,” Sherman Skelton said. “That’s transparency.” 

March 30

The Hot Springs County Senior Center is celebrating its 50-year anniversary on Monday, April 3. They will have an open house from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Senior Center Director Trenda Moore invites the public to “Come in, reminisce, and learn all of the importance of the center.”

Moore added, “The festivities we’re going to do at noon. We’re going to have a couple of little speeches or speakers. We’re going to decorate. We’re going to have cake, mints, ice cream, nuts, and all that good fun stuff. Punch and coffee. Nothing formal, really. Just fun.”

Senior Center Chairman Gary Holbert described some of the importance of the Senior Center and said, “Hot Springs County is the largest senior growing county in the state. You have a lot of people moving in. And for all the stuff they want to do, the full gamut of care of seniors, not needed care. They help you with Medicare, juniors, housekeeping, and meals.”

The Senior Center has about 75 clients and three housekeepers who assist the elderly. The Senior Center also assists in cleaning the kitchen, and bathrooms and sometimes with laundry and shopping.  

April

April 6

A special meeting of the Hot Springs County School Board on March 28 that saw Jean Skelton persist in calling for specifics on the incorrect mapping of funds ended with auditor Jason Lund realizing that the error was his own, and not that of former school district business manager Chauncy Johnson.

Lund had opened by clarifying there was no “moving of expenditures between classifications,” even as he admitted from the start that the number of audits conducted had precluded him determining the specific accounts that had been mapped incorrectly, while Johnson initially blamed a supposed oversight on his part, by requesting a budget amendment in response to overspending.

Jean Skelton’s concern was that taxpayers are entitled to accurate reports of financial statements, while no one could outline the exact financial mapping errors.

Even before such questions were settled, Lund deemed it “unusual” to spend “so much time on something so far in the past,” since rated its “risk perspective” as “so low.”

Before Lund’s admission, Johnson categorized what he believed to be his own fault as a clerical error, whereas Jean Skelton regarded it as a more serious financial misstep, since she judged the district’s internal controls to be “weak,” which was why she saw the “primary control” as the budget.

“You’re sort of insinuating that nobody looks at these numbers and says, ‘Wow, why is that off,’ or ‘Why is that expenditure up so much?’ Johnson said. “It doesn’t mean we’re not looking at those numbers if we don’t ask questions about them in public.”

Lund agreed with board chair Sherman Skelton that no funds were missing, but when Jean Skelton agreed with Lund that this seemed attributable to “honest-to-goodness accounting mistakes” rather than any fraud waste or abuse, board trustee Jennifer Axtell rebuked her for pressing the point for the past three months.

Sherman Skelton ultimately recommended that Jean Skelton file a public information request, so the school district could bill her for any further time used to gather information on this subject. 

April 13

The Hot Springs County Republican Party hosted a townhall event with Wyoming’s US Representative Harriet Hageman speaking at the County Museum on Monday, April 10. The first subject Hageman spoke about was the election of Kevin McCarthy to the House Speaker position and how there were changes to the rules of the House. Hageman contrasted McCarthy to previous House Speakers, particularly Republican Speaker John Boehner, and Democrat Nancy Pelosi, and how they ruled. The new rule changes include a minimum of 72 hours to review a bill instead of passing the bill before anyone has time to read it.

Also, now bills are a single subject and can be only a couple of pages and are enforceable. Hageman said, “We’ve made clear to the Senate no more omnibus spending bills. That $1.7 trillion monstrosity that was passed in December is going to be so terribly destructive to this country. And we’ve made it clear we’re not doing that again. We’re not doing any of that again. So they’re put on notice.” Hageman added that the new rules to the House make the process more democratic and “give us much more of a voice.”

April 20

Edrington, the ultra-premium spirits producer, has announced that it has become the majority shareholder in Wyoming Whiskey.

Building on the 35% stake that Edrington took in the brand in 2018, and the success of the partnership, the Glasgow-headquartered business has increased its shareholding to 80% in a deal with Wyoming Whiskey’s founding shareholders, led by Kate Mead, Brad Mead and David DeFazio.

Wyoming Whiskey was born and bred on the Mead family ranch in Kirby, WY. It will continue to be made in Kirby and this deepening of the relationship sees Edrington welcoming the 37 employees working in Wyoming into the wider Edrington business.

Since joining the Edrington portfolio in 2018, Wyoming Whiskey has been part of the company’s Partnership Brands business unit, which has collaborated with colleagues in the US to build its reputation as a unique ultra-premium+ American Whiskey. During that time, the brand has grown volume and value in the US faster than the ultra-premium American Whiskey category, making it an excellent fit for Edrington’s strategy and values.

April 27

At the April 18 Hot Springs County Commissioners board meeting, the commissioners held a brief discussion about having open public comments on the agenda. Chairman Ryan said he reviewed County Attorney Jill Logan’s research on the matter stating she “did a great job sending us a brief on that. It pretty much echoed most of my concerns. And even after that, I’m still not in favor of that.”

Commissioner Paul Galovich proposed having a 15-minute time on the agenda, with speakers having a two to three-minute time frame to speak so that public comments could be given. Galovich said, “ I think if it’s directed properly, I don’t think it increases chaos in the meeting. It does give people the opportunity to discuss items that are on the agenda and any concerns that they may have in our decision process. It could be advantageous.”

Chairman Ryan said, “I’ve been a commissioner for almost nine years, and I have not ever been here when somebody was denied the opportunity to talk on an agenda topic.”

Commissioner Scheel spoke up and said to Ryan, “You were not at the meeting when I was the first one that squashed public comment. That was the only time that public comment in the commission meeting was ever denied. That was specifically because of the litigation issue. We had a brief from our lawyer that suggested that we not talk about it. That’s the only time it was squashed.”

Commissioner Scheel continued and said, “We’ve always had public engagements in meetings. People come to the meetings that I’ve been in for the last seven years. They come, sit down, and we say, ‘Hey, how’s it going?’”

Commissioner Galovich again offered about having a certain amount of time on the agenda for public comments and for the public to speak about what is on the agenda.

Chairman Ryan responded and discussed the list of about 100 people or entities that received the emails of the agenda items.

Chairman Ryan and Commissioner Scheel expressed that the public can comment in their meetings on subjects related to what is on the agenda. Commissioner Galovich said, “That’s understandable that they can come and they can participate in the agenda items and they will be allowed to speak.” The commissioners took no action on the discussion.

May

May 4

Thermopolis Police Sgt. Mike Mascorro is in stable condition after an officer-involved shooting on Friday.

According to information released by the Thermopolis Police Department (TPD), on Friday, April 28 at approximately 12:37 p.m. there was an officer involved shooting at a residence off of Canyon Hills Road.

Shortly after the shooting, information was released on social media by law enforcement agencies saying there was no threat to the community. Canyon Hills road was closed to through traffic during the investigation, which is being conducted by Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) and is ongoing so at this time details are limited.

According to a DCI press release issued on Tuesday, the DCI was contacted by the Thermopolis Police Department and asked to investigate an officer involved shooting.

Local agents and members of the DCI Officer Involved Shooting team responded to the scene, along with personnel from the Wyoming State Crime Laboratory to conduct the investigation.

Agents learned Sgt. Mike Mascorro of the Thermopolis Police Department contacted Buck Laramore, 33, at 1225 Canyon Hills Road #7 to investigate a crime that had occurred earlier in the day.

Shortly after Sgt. Mascorro made contact with Laramore, Laramore produced a weapon and shot and wounded Sgt. Mascorro at the residence. Sgt. Mascorro returned fire which resulted in the death of Laramore.

Sgt. Mascorro was transported to Hot Springs Health for treatment. He was later airlifted to Banner-Wyoming Medical Center in Casper, where he remains in reportedly stable condition.

According to the DCI release, the investigation is ongoing and details will be presented to the Hot Springs County Attorney’s Office for review upon completion.

In a statement released by TPD, they expressed their appreciation to the community for their outpouring of support.

May 11

The Thermopolis Middle School Big Springs FFA Chapter held their 2023 banquet last week, recognizing students and community members for their achievements and service.

Dawn Peil, Breez Daniels, Tom Olsen, Eric Kay, Ronda Hanson, Brenna Huckfeldt, Joe Martinez, Chip and Jennifer Axtell, TJ and Cassie Owsley and Jason and Nicole Weyer were presented with honorary degrees. The honorary degree is designed to recognize the efforts made on behalf of the chapter. These people are farmers, school superintendents, principals, members of boards of education, chapter advisors, teachers, business people and others who are helping to advance agricultural education and the FFA. These members are selected by the officer team and voted upon at their regular meetings.

Joey Johnson was a long time supporter of all FFA activities and the youth in Hot Springs County. The Joey Johnson Memorial award was given to Jennifer Axtell.

Members who have maintained an exceptional grade point average throughout the year were recognized. Max Martinez was recognized for having an A grade in 16 to 17 of a possible 20. Izzie Hetzel, Ann Allen, Christian Eplin, Ella Slover,

Tannen Birdsley, Morgan Jones, Ryan Axtell and Autumn Cornwell were recognized for having an A grade in 18 to 19 of a possible 20. Alec Martinez, Ava Dafoe, Logann Farrell, Mac McCumber, Kylie Frederick and Baer McPhie were recognized for having all A grades for the school year.

May 18

The Bobcat boys golf team wrapped up their season by winning first at the 2A Spring Championships at the Green Hills Golf Course in Worland last week. They had a two round total of 734, winning over 2nd place Kemmerer with 756 and 3rd place Moorcroft with 813.

Senior Hadley Johnson shot a 169 to earn 2nd place. He was narrowly defeated by first place finisher Logan Timberman of Upton who shot a 164. Bobcat sophomore Hayden Overfield shot a 176 to tie for 7th place. Seniors Jonah Needham shot a 194 and Spencer Calhoun a 195 for 14th and 15th place. Freshman Nolin Collins shot a 254.

For the Lady Cats, freshman Lilly Johnson was the top finisher coming in 15th with a two round total of 257. Freshman

Madison Shaffer shot a 261, junior Maggie Landon shot a 265, junior Dazlynn Hunt shot a 293 and senior Ruthanne Johnson shot a 313.

The Bobcats and Lady Bobcats teams also each won Cowboy Conference Titles. Typical Wyoming spring weather made play tough on the golfers, with high winds and rain Thursday and wind continuing on Friday.

May 25

The Help Center held its open house on May 16 at its new location, located at 426 Big Horn Street, the former site of Hope Agency.  Ron Philips, the priest from the Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, who oversees the Help Center, described why they made the move to their new building saying, “What has happened is we’ve grown. There is a greater need in the community for services like ours. We help people with rent utilities. We do food boxes. We provide computer access, copies, faxing, that kind of thing. And the one thing that we were doing that just grew leaps and bounds was the GED program.”

The Help Center was previously located at Common Ground, but the need for their service dramatically increased. Philips said, “We were seeing more and more people. We started partnering with Youth Alternatives and Barb Rice for the GED Program and the program went from three or four students to about 16 or 18. Then we were looking at, oh, my goodness, what are we going to do? We were offered this building by the Hope Agency. We jumped at the opportunity. The Common Ground building is now a learning center, and they’ve expanded to cover the whole footprint we had there on the ground floor.”

June

June 1

The American Legion National Commander Vincent J. “Jim” Troiola paid a visit to Thermopolis to meet with local Legion members during a lunch meeting on May 23. Troiola explained his purpose in coming to meet local Legion Post 18 members. He said, “I’ve been visiting small Legion posts in small communities since September last year. That’s a goal that I had because I felt that the smaller Legion posts did so much work in the community and they didn’t get national recognition for it. Come and talk to the members and see what they’re doing.”

One of the significant National Legion programs is called “Be the One.” Troiola explained, “We started “Be the One” about four years ago. We started initially as what we call the buddy check. So buddy check is pretty simple: contact the veteran and check on their well-being. And that evolved into Be the One. Be the One basically is to remove the stigma of a veteran stepping forward looking for help. A lot of them won’t step forward... They’re afraid of repercussions, maybe because if they own firearms they would have to give them up or their families may leave them. It’s things like that. If we get them to step forward from a Legion Post standpoint, we have 12,000 in the United States and make them into resource centers in their local communities. We can get them help in their community before they even get to go to the V.A. Some places they’re short-staffed. They may have to wait five, six, seven weeks to see a mental health therapist. All these communities have local help. You know, suicide is not just constrained to veterans, it’s everybody. We’re trying to get the community involvement in this program. It’s not just the American Legion. It’s everybody. And we feel that if we do that, we can start saving veterans’ lives one at a time.”

June 8

Thermopolis’s Porshia Birdsley won Second Place in the Nation at the 2023 United States Strongman Nationals in Dallas, Texas on June 3. Birdsley competed against 15 women in her class of 149 to 165 pounds. These athletes are the top in the nation and their scores were based on an accumulation of total points from each of the events.

There were five events Birdsley competed in. First was the Lever Ladder Deadlift with 110 pounds that reached 315 pounds, to be done as fast as possible. Second, was the Axle Clean and Presses for 175 pounds with a maximum number of reps in one minute. Third was the Wagon Wheel Axle Deadlift for 325 pounds, also with the maximum number of reps in one minute. Fourth was the Coin Hold where Birdsley held 25 pounds out with her arms fully extended and her back against a pillar. Fifth was the 250-pound Sand Bag Drag for 60 feet as fast as possible.

June 15

Harvey’s Shave Ice Plus Snacks is open for business for the summer, located on the corner of Clark and 6th Streets. Owners Bradyn and Shailee Harvey’s first day of operation was Memorial Day and they will stay open through the end of September depending upon the weather.

They have 24 regular, five natural, and seven sugar-free flavors. They also sell chips, popsicles, sodas and water. The shave ice prices are $2 for baby size, $4 for small, $5 for medium, and $6 for large. Those include up to three flavors as well as a topping. Customers can add items to the bottom if they want, including ice cream or gummy bears. There is also a Snow Lift option that has all the same ingredients but has an energy drink included. They do not sell alcohol products.

Shailee reported that they already have had many customers, and she said, “They’re loving it.” Shailee added, “I know allergies that are a problem for people.

June 22

Hot Springs County High School Speech and Debate couldn’t get enough sun at the National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA) 2023 National Tournament in Phoenix, Ariz., last week. This year’s NSDA National Tournament included over 6,000 qualifying competitors from over 2,000 schools.

Two qualifying Bobcats, Karina Lea and Julia Quintanilla, accompanied by coaches, Lyle Wiley and Alyssa Brown, traveled to the week long, nationwide competition and performed alongside the best in the US (and some additional countries). Lea and Quintanilla worked hard since October during the competitive speech season to earn the honor to compete at the national tournament, and they continued to prepare for the tournament for about six weeks prior to the competition.

Lea, a graduated senior, performed in three rounds of both expository and poetry. Lea’s expository explored a term coined “feralism,” and the quirky speech earned one first place ranking, nearly breaking into later rounds.“Nationals was incredible,” said Lea who valued the opportunity to travel to Phoenix to compete. “Being in the proximity of so many talented people was both intimidating and really encouraging. The Phoenix skyline was the perfect backdrop to a trip where I learned so much about speech and debate and myself,” added Lea.

A rising senior, Quintanilla competed in six rounds of humor and three rounds of both storytelling and original spoken word poetry. Quintanilla’s hilarious humor piece, “The God of Cake,” scored some high ranks against the toughest of competition, but did not break into culminating rounds. Quintanilla’s solid performance points to a bright future in competition for a fierce and talented performer.

At her first national tournament, assistant coach Alyssa Brown experienced judging competitive rounds with the nation’s best. Impressed by the level of the competition, Brown said, “It was an amazing way to end my first season of speech and debate. Seeing all the talented individuals from not only Wyoming schools but all over the nation was an honor.”

June 29

In the case of The Tipi Retreat, LLC, Michele Stevens and Michael Stevens, petitioners vs. Hot Springs County Board of County Commissioners (HSCC), respondent, Fifth Judicial District Judge Bill Simpson issued an Order Remanding Case to Administrative Agency on May 30.

The order states that the matter is remanded to respondent, HSCC, for any further action.

The Petition for Judicial Review from a decision by the Hot Springs County Board of County Commissioners states The Tipi Retreat seeks judicial review of the board’s decision denying the company’s application for a permit to allow recreational development activity on rural property in HSC. The court earlier granted the board’s Motion for Partial Summary Judgment in a companion civil case where The Tipi Retreat sought a declaratory judgment asking the court to find that the board’s development regulations were not enforceable because they do not constitute valid zoning regulations. The court found that the regulations are enforceable and granted the board’s motion for partial summary judgment. In its Petition for Review, The Tipi Retreat maintained its position that the board’s regulations are not enforceable based on its arguments set forth in the companion civil case. The Tipi Retreat asserts, assuming the regulations are valid, that the board’s decision denying the development application was arbitrary and capricious for reasons including the failure to make sufficient findings of fact supporting the decision.

July

July 6

The Wyoming Dinosaur Center (WDC) hosted an exhilarating experience for dinosaur fans with the first-ever Jurassic Fest - Passion for the Past event.

Attendees had the opportunity to dig dinosaurs, see a screening of the ”Why Dinosaurs?” Movie, listen to a variety of speakers and enjoy the museum.

Three of the speakers at the event, all returning volunteers, shared their stories and told the IR how the WDC has influenced their lives and careers.

One of the special guests participants had the opportunity to dig dinosaurs with was multi-award-winning British paleontologist, celebrated author and TV host, Dr. Dean Lomax from the UK.

Lomax returned to Wyoming after first visiting in 2008, then just an 18-year-old teenager straight out of high school. Growing up in the town of Doncaster in Yorkshire, England, Lomax did not have the grades or finances to initially go to university and even failed science in high school. When the WDC offered Dean the chance of a lifetime to volunteer and follow his dreams, he jumped at this opportunity and even sold his possessions (including his childhood Star Wars collection!) to fund the trip.

Fifteen years later, Lomax is a renowned paleontologist who has discovered and named multiple new species, written best-selling books and hosted TV shows. He is also an affiliated scientist at the University of Manchester, England. His unconventional journey into science began in Wyoming and highlights the importance of following your passion and never giving up on your dreams.

“I wouldn’t be the person I am today if it wasn’t for the opportunity I was given to come to Wyoming and volunteer at the WDC in 2008. The WDC provided me with the vital experience I needed to get my foot on the ladder and work out how to make it in such a competitive field,” said Dr. Lomax.

July 13

2023 is the third year of Grow a Little Extra (GALE) for our county. Red Dirt Master Gardeners will again coordinate Grow A Little Extra efforts in the area, including accepting locally grown produce donations, weighing them, and distributing them to individuals and local anti-hunger partners. They continue to have free vegetable seeds available at the Library and at Saturdays Farmers Market. They are working with Broadway Bakery as their new partner. Watch for ads in the newspaper and on the Red Dirt Master Gardener Facebook page, as to when produce can be dropped off and picked up from their storefront by individuals.

In Thermopolis, later this summer when we start getting inundated with vegetables, some of the places we will distribute produce to include the Senior Center, the Senior Apartments, local church food pantries, Absaroka Head Start-Thermopolis and People to People. We have already distributed lettuce, greens, peas, even a few zucchini to a few locations.

July 20

County Emergency Management Coordinator Bill Gordon advises that Hot Springs County Code Red has a new capability called Code Red Weather Alert. This addition to the County Code Red program will allow subscribers to get accurate location information on Weather Warnings issued by Riverton NWS for severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, flash flooding and winter storms.

The many app based services too often send vague warning messages to the entire county when only a specific area is threatened. Code Red Weather Alert delivers voice calls, text messages and emails to subscribed users within the direct path of the storm.

NWS Riverton creates a polygon on their radar of the expected path of a storm. Weather Alert interprets that information and creates a calling database of Code Red Weather Warning Subscribers.

To get signed up, go to hscounty.com and resign up for Code Red. As you subscribe you will now be given choices of the NWS warnings you wish to receive. 

July 27

During the July 18 Hot Springs County Commissioners board meeting, the commissioners entered into an executive session. Afterward, they reconvened the public meeting where Commissioner Phil Scheel made a motion for Hot Springs County Government to enter into an agreement to purchase land from the Julia L. Ingle Revocable Living Trust and the Charles R. Ingle Revocable Living Trust.

The property is located at Township 43 North, Range 95 West of the Sixth Principal Meridian, Section 25: that portion of Lot 7 lying west of the deeded right-of-way of US Highway 20. Essentially, the land is located north of T-Hill and would provide access to the old airport to US Highway 20. The offer is for $200,000 and closing costs. Commissioner Paul Galovich seconded the motion.

Chairman Tom Ryan said, “That agreement would also stipulate that Ingles would pay the title insurance and that they would split the closing costs.” During the discussion, Chairman Ryan added, “This is the property that we have been working on to get access off of Highway 20 into the old airport. And we’ve been doing this for, I don’t know, four or five years. We’ve been talking about it and the Ingle’s have agreed to sell it.” Chairman Ryan also explained that some of the Covid money was able to be used to aid in the purchase.

August

August 3

During their July meeting, the Hot Springs County School Board named the district’s central administration building after Joe Arnold, and made an auditorium sign for William H. Malloy, following Superintendent Dustin Hunt’s request to make an exception to their facility naming policy.

In January, Arnold will have 60 years in his field, as a custodian in the state of Wyoming, but as Hunt reported, “He has no plans to retire anytime soon,” in spite of two “extremely life-threatening” motorcycle accidents and a burn incident, because “his passion for the job goes well beyond pride in his work.”

August 10

State Representative John R. Winter and Shoshoni Mayor Joel Highsmith attended the August 1 Hot Springs County Commissioners meeting to discuss Governor Mark Gordon’s Act for creating a task force to determine where a $10 million shooting complex would be located.

Winter said, “Within the next few years, one lucky Wyoming community could host a $10 million shooting complex that will be the envy of the entire region. At least that’s the hope of a shooting complex task force appointed by Governor Mark Gordon, which met for the first time in Casper. If and when it’s built, the shooting complex could spark huge economic benefits. Gordon told the task force members via Zoom. The complex ‘is a better way to preserve our respect for the Second Amendment, firearms, and marksmanship,’ he said.”

Winter added, “The task force includes members of the Wyoming Legislature, as well as representatives from the Wyoming Office of Tourism, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, the Wyoming Department of State

Parks and Cultural Resources, the Wyoming Business Council, private businesses, and conservation groups. The group is charged to spend roughly the next two years coming up with solid plans for the shooting complex to present to the legislature. Towns and cities across Wyoming will also get a chance to submit requests for proposals to be the chosen site for the complex.” 

August 17

The Thermopolis-Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce annual Demolition Derby took over the Hot Springs County Fairgrounds last Saturday.

In the main event, JR Ramsey drove his way to first place to take home $3,000. Jordan Martin was second winning $1,500, Wyatt Ramsey was third winning $800 and Dusty Watts was fourth. Wyatt Ramsey was also the Mad Dog winner earning him another $250. Each winner also took home a trophy to show off.

Eight drivers competed in the truck derby with Clinton Harris outlasting the rest to take home first place and $1,500. Brad Becerra came in second winning $750 followed by Spencer Calhoun who took home $500 for his efforts. Calhoun was also the Mad Dog winner earning him another $250.

In the chain class, Joseph Fauver outlasted five other drivers to take home first place and $500. Cody Hensely came in second to earn $250.

Future demolition derby winners Sawyer Seiloff, Cash Love, Phebe Buck, Willow Coppens, Rownan Johnson, Mariah Roat, Lincoln Harvey and Chace Tipton showed off their skills in the Power Wheels class.

August 24

During the August 15 Hot Springs County Commissioner (HSCC) meeting, Chairman Tom Ryan presented a 16-page “Specific Findings by Board Upon Remand by District Court” regarding litigation between Michael and Michele Stevens of the Tipi Retreat, LLC and the HSC Commissioners.

Chairman Ryan said, “The court had ordered us to come up with specific findings. It’s a little unusual. We don’t normally talk about ongoing litigation, but the attorneys have worked out specific findings of the Tipi matter. They’ve submitted it to us for approval and submission to the court. These are on an item that is almost two years old. We previously had a public hearing, so there won’t be any public discussion on this.”

Commissioner Phil Scheel made the motion to accept the Specific Findings By Board Upon Remand By District Court. Chairman Tom Ryan Seconded. In the vote, Commissioner Paul Galovich voted against the motion, but it passed with approval from both Chairman Ryan and Commissioner Scheel.

Additionally, Commissioner Galovich submitted his letter of disagreement and a letter from Lara Shook.

During the original time of the Stevens application, the board members consisted of Commissioner Jack Baird, Chairman Tom Ryan, and Commissioner Phil Scheel. Paul Galovich was not elected at the time of the initial application.

According to the document, the HSCC Board determines that “the Stevens’ application for a Land Use Change fails several of Absolute Policies in the Hot Springs County Land Use Plan and Development Regulations. A failure of a single Absolute Policy requires a denial of the requested Land Use Change. Accordingly, the Stevens’ request for a Land Use Change is hereby denied.” 

August 31

The Hot Springs County Fair Board and Recreation Board are moving forward to install a digital sign at the fairgrounds in the same location as their previous sign. Fair Board Chairman Joe Martinez said, “As part of our discussions, we felt it was a positive benefit for both the rec district and the fair board, as well as the community, to have a digital sign up.”

The cost for the five-foot high, 10-foot wide digital sign is $52,844.50. Martinez added, “It was in the previous budget for the fair board and the rec board, it’s fully funded.”

Wyoming Signs from Casper will install the sign. According to Martinez, the sign will “mostly be utilized for events at the fairgrounds as well as any events and things going on with the rec district. That’s the main purpose of the sign, is for the two entities to utilize it for their purposes. We are planning to have some advertisements available, but it’s going to be on a limited basis because we don’t want the advertisement to take away from the purpose of the sign.”

Previously, the Hot Springs County Travel and Tourism Board was in a discussion about doing a digital sign together, but the entities parted ways. Martinez said, “There is always difficulty when multiple entities work together on a project. In this instance, we were not able to come to a mutual agreement on a Memorandum of Understanding.”

September

September 7

Hot Springs County intends to submit an application for to the Business Ready Community Grant and Loan Program for the Hot Springs County Former Airport site and is seeking citizen input regarding this project. Those wishing to comment on this project are encouraged to attend a public hearing on on Tuesday September 19 at 3:05 p.m., in the Government Annex Meeting Room, 117 4th St. Citizens can also submit written comments.

The Wyoming Business Council is seeking grant and loan applications from counties, incorporated cities, towns, joint powers boards, and tribes for the Business Ready Community (BRC) Grant and Loan Program.

September 14

At the September 5 Thermopolis Town Council meeting, Clerk/Treasurer Tracey Van Heule requested approval for a Streets Improvement Fund. Van Heule said, “We were graciously given some money from the state of Wyoming, and it has to be used for a project. At the time we were doing the budget, we had not determined the allocation for that. We budgeted the same amount as last year and the legislature approved more. It comes twice a year in August and in January. So the August payment we had budgeted to be $168,000 and instead it was $221,000, so approximately $53,000 more than we had budgeted.”

Van Heule continued and said, “The Mayor and Jim Jeunehomme have been pretty adamant about our streets needing repair as a lot of you know as well. So we’re kicking around the idea of putting that difference in a street improvement fund and then potentially next year, instead of allocating, if the legislature still awards that money again, instead of...we have been putting it towards enterprise projects because we don’t have anything big on the horizon, potentially putting that again into the streets department or streets improvement fund in next year’s budget. But that could be determined then. But at least we can start accumulating some money. ”

The council voted and passed the approval for Van Heule to approve the creation of the account. 

September 21

The Thermopolis High School Golf Team headed to Newcastle Thursday to compete in the 2023 Class 2A State Golf Tournament. The event was hosted by Upton High School on September 15 and 16. Thirty six holes were played over the two day tournament. At state, each team is allowed up to five players on each of the boys and girls teams, with team scores determined by the best three players on the girls team, and the best four players on the boys team.

Play commenced with a shotgun start on Friday at The Newcastle Country Club - a nine hole, semi-private facility, which first opened in 1966. Interviewed earlier last week, Beau Garcia, coach of the Upton team, commented that the Newcastle Course boasts of a degree of difficulty in play - composed of long par threes, and plenty of penalty areas to avoid. Thermopolis coach, Brandon Deromedi, echoed those thoughts stating, “The course was very challenging – even deceptive, with greens that began to play faster on Saturday (after rain in the area earlier in the week), and that were very difficult to read.”

The Lady Cats State Team is young this year, with just one senior, Maggie Landon, and two sophomores, Lilly Johnson and Madison Shaffer. Although the three girls comprised the minimum number of players to compete in the state girls tournament, their play at state was both remarkable and winning. The Lady Bobcats team brought home the first state championship since 2008.

On the boys side, once again the state team is young – comprised of three juniors, Hayden Overfield, Van Epperson and Zerrian Stone and two freshman, Hayden Johnson and Camden Weyer. While the difficult course proved the predicted challenge on day one for the boys, all team members improved their scores on Saturday, with the top three players finishing: 5th Hayden Overfield (173); 26th Hayden Johnson (221); and 29th Zerrian Stone (224).

September 28

At the September 19 Thermopolis Town Council meeting, during the Public Works report, Mayor Adam Estenson announced they will have “Basil’s Snowplowing & Removal Summit” on Wednesday, October 4 at 3 p.m. at Town Hall. Mayor Estenson said they want to discuss with business owners and anyone interested in collaborating on a plan of attack to handle the winter snowfall.

Town Engineer Anthony Barnett, in his report, discussed the Buffalo Ridge Subdivision and how the Evan’s family is seeking to clean up their estate and that they wanted to know how to get moving on their property development.

The proposed solution is to put in curb gutter and the street past the second lot and possibly the third lot for occupancy and phased development. Barnett added that the Evan’s were “pretty receptive” to the idea and that it might “get the ball rolling” for future development. According to Barnett, they want the house that is already there to be occupied and sell it, as it has been sitting there for 15 years. The work to be done would be in phases.

The mayor and council discussed with Barnett some of the history of the property and how stormwater drainage was a significant issue in its development. The council voted and passed the approval for the Evan’s to move forward with the proposal according to the engineer’s recommendation.  

October

October 5

Hot Springs County High School’s Lyle Wiley was inducted to the annual Wyoming Speech & Debate Hall of Fame during their Coaches Convention held at Hot Springs Hotel on September 22.

“I was really surprised. I was very humbled. This is my 10th year coaching right now, but it is pretty uncommon for someone to be voted into this to get this award without having coached for a really long time. A lot of the coaches get the award after they’ve been coaching for 15, 20 years, so it was really surprising. I didn’t expect it. I was really honored. I was really emotional at the actual conference. Speech and debate is a community that’s really important to me and I put a lot of energy into it. I really believe in the mission of speech and debate for kids,” said Wiley

October 12

In his analysis and conclusion documents issued on Sept. 21, Special Prosecutor Daniel E. Erramouspe, Sweetwater County Attorney, found that Thermopolis Police Sgt. Mike Mascorro illegally broke into a suspect’s home in April, causing a fatal shootout. However, a provision for law officers in Wyoming’s self-defense law will prevent any criminal charges from being filed. The sergeant could still face civil consequences.

Earlier this year, Erramouspe was appointed as Special Prosecutor to review the case. Erramouspe relied upon the investigation conducted by lead investigator, Special Agent Kiel Holder of the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation. He reviewed all documentation, reports, forensics, interviews, audio files and video files submitted in the matter of the shooting death of Buck Laramore by Mascorro on April 28, 2023.

The analysis found Mascorro was justified in the shooting death of Laramore, but found he entered the man’s home illegally, forcing the fatal confrontation.

On April 28, Sgt. Mascorro forced his way into the home of Laramore, 33, a McDonald’s employee Mascorro had questioned earlier that day on suspicion of drug use. Laramore shot Mascorro with a .45 pistol. Mascorro fell to the floor, returned fire and killed Laramore.

“This was a completely avoidable incident,” wrote Erramouspe. “(Mascorro) felt that breaking into a person’s domicile was the best course of action for the misdemeanor of interference with a peace officer.”

Erramouspe’s job was to determine if Mascorro was justified to return fire under Wyoming’s self-defense laws. It was not his job to determine potential civil liability.

“Despite his poor judgment that day, when it came down to the shot that killed Laramore, Mascorro acted as a reasonable person would in defending his own life,” wrote Erramouspe.

October 19

Broadway Bakery has “soft-opened” at their downtown location of 509 Broadway Street. According to owner Sarah Slagle, their current hours are from 7:30-11 a.m., seven days a week. They have a temporary occupancy permit which allows baked goods to be sold. Every day, Broadway Bakery sells different donuts, scones, muffins, pastries, and bread. They have a gluten-free option every day. Once they are fully open, they will have coffee, sandwiches, breakfast burritos, and more. Slagle will have walls put up with seating and customers can use Wi-Fi for their internet usage.

Slagle’s vision for the wholesale bakery is to service the greater region with deliveries of bread, rolls, and various pastries.

October 26

One Eyed Buffalo Brewery Company (OEB) has moved to its new location at 535 Broadway Street. Their official opening at the new location is Wednesday, October 25.

Owner Jennifer Fisher described their motivation to move was due to not having enough space at their previous location, which was just across the street.

Their previous location, now the Tap House, had a capacity of 59 people and another 30 outside in the back. Their new location has a capacity of about 175, which is over double. They will open up the upper-level seating later on.

November

November 2

Porschia Birdsley won first place in the US Strongman Pro Woman’s World (USS) competition in Peoria, Ariz., on October 21. Birdsley qualified for this competition due to her winning second place at the Dallas, Texas national competition on June 3.

The USS competition features heavier weights than the national and local competitions. It held a variety of events. The first event was a pressing medley that included a 100 lb mouser block, a 150 lb sandbag over the shoulder, a 165 lb 12-inch log, and a 175 lb axle, which Birdsley did in 34.41 seconds.

The second event was an 18-inch axle deadlift of 430 lb. Birdsley could have done more weight than this but was seeking to conserve her energy, so this was not a failure lift.

The third event was the fingal finger flip. Birdsley lifted a 350 lb large, metal pipe and did eight reps in one minute. Birdsley said, “The competitors were really nervous about this one. They were hyped up.” During this event, the crowd was very excited and cheered on the athletes.

The fourth event was a 160 lbs mouser block carry done in a 25-foot circle in one minute. The fifth and final event was stone loading over a bar. The atlas stones were in increasing weights, starting at 150 lbs, then moving up to 175 lbs, 205 lbs, 225 lbs, and 250 lbs. Birdsley was able to lift the first three stones.

November 9

Artists Autumn Hnilicka and Aiyana Perez of Sage Brushes from Lander have completed the large mural on the old downtown fire hall. The mural features the letters of Thermopolis with images highlighting some of the historical timelines of the area. It also includesincludes dinosaurs, petroglyphs of the Native Americans, homesteaders, sheep farmers and the hot springs as well as famous locals such as Tim McCoy, Butch Cassidy, Sundance and others.

The letters, which follow a chronological order, display a variety of geographical interests, such as Roundtop, Monument Hill and the Bighorn River. The mural was sponsored by Wyoming Main Street, the Town of Thermopolis, Main Street Thermopolis and Slagle Construction, LLC.

Main Street Thermopolis worked with the Town of Thermopolis and applied for a grant from Wyoming Main Street to make this mural possible.

November 16

During citizen participation at the November 7 Thermopolis Town Council meeting, Mayor Adam Estenson recognized concerned citizen Jason Bowman, who had asked to be on the agenda to present to the council. Bowman started out by referring to information in an article about his petition and protest regarding Officer Mascorro that appeared on an online news source on Oct. 16.

He then stated the following, “I had been protesting at the stoplight every day for a week and officer Mascorro has personally seen me there. However, within five minutes of that article being published, I received a Facebook friend request from him. I found the timing of this could not be a coincidence, since we have lived in the same community for years. I had already heard multiple stories of him trying to intimidate people in the past, and I view this as a way of him trying to intimidate me by letting me know he knows who I am.”

Bowman continued and said, “That concern was reaffirmed when the friend request remained up for 25 hours and wasn’t removed until after the release of the statement that placed Mascorro on leave. I took my concern to Chief Pat Cornwell.” Bowman then expressed his displeasure with how Cornwell dealt with his concern, but said Corwell did request screenshots. Bowman added that Cornwell told him he would look into it and then get back to him. Bowman then stated, “After a week and a half with no follow-up from Chief Cornwell, I took my concern to Mayor Estenson, who is currently looking at it, as well as if the public can see the policies and procedures that have been sent for review. I asked for a request for that.”

Bowman added, “The general public perception is that there is no use in filing a complaint because it won’t be taken seriously, and my experience has confirmed that view for me. There is also an overall lack of trust and confidence in the leadership of the PD and Town of Thermopolis.”

Bowman then asked, “How are people expected to feel comfortable in filing a complaint when the people in charge are publicly showing their support for this officer? The public has complained of a pattern of escalating behavior with this officer, which was confirmed by the article regarding the multiple complaints to [Peace Officer’s Standards and Training ] POST. How many times does a complaint have to be filed before the Town of Thermopolis sees a pattern of this behavior and takes action on their own by removing him and the liability he creates?”

November 23

The Bobcat Roundtop Yearbook captured the Silver Star and All-State Honors with a second place ranking in the 1A/2A division at the 2023 Wyoming Student Media Association (WSMA) Convention held at the University of Wyoming. The Bobcats won these honors with last year’s book, which was published through Jostens with the theme: Trending Now.

This was the second consecutive state convention and competition held by WSMA at the University of Wyoming and the second consecutive All-State finish for the Bobcats. Over 150 students and 12 schools attended the convention and even more schools entered the competition.

“The excellent convention content was put together by the University of Wyoming Communications Department and the WSMA board,” said Yearbook Advisor/Teacher and Secretary of the WSMA Board, Lyle Wiley.

“UW provided interesting and helpful educational workshops and keynote speakers for our journalism students,” added Wiley.

Wiley had high praise for the work of his Bobcat Yearbook staff. “Our journalism students must be proficient in many tasks to put together a high quality yearbook. They must snap excellent photos, design pages, interview others, write stories, and do it all on a strict printing deadline,” said Wiley.

Individual Bobcats were also honored with awards for their outstanding work in Journalism. Junior Tymber Eckley received a Silver Star, second place, and All-State Honors for Yearbook Writing. Junior Maddison Andreen received a Bronze Star and All-State Honors for Yearbook Writing. The following students received Bronze Stars in Yearbook Design: Eckley, Andreen, Sophomore Sharon Burgess, Junior Brody Potter, and Junior Kaylee Bazzle.

Last year’s Roundtop Yearbook is available for purchase at Hot Springs County High School now, and pre-orders for the upcoming book (theme: We Are All Stars) can be completed online. Email Lyle Wiley at wiley@hotsprings1.org for more information.

November 30

At the November 14 Hot Springs County School District #1 board meeting, business manager Jessica Benefiel presented a request for the board to consider approval for a depreciation reserve expenditure.

Benefiel said, “The teacherage project is progressing and has incurred expenditures of just over $500,000 as of today, November 7, 2023. This figure includes open purchase orders for electrical, HVAC, and plumbing services.” She went onto explain the figure in further detail.

Benefiel then stated, “On September 29, new guidance was issued to school districts regarding ESSER funding requirements for construction projects. We received an email from the state that had an attachment that included a WDE grant compliance professional’s interpretation of some Davis-Bacon Act requirements that was in direct conflict with what we had been told multiple times previously, both via email and on Zoom.”

Benefiel continued and said, “And so I’m just really nervous that with things changing, that that is not going to be our best source of funding through ESSER. I think that we would be better off to shift over to our depreciation reserve funds. Our depreciation reserve funds were opened in 2020. Those are statutorily allowed to accumulate year to year, but they have restricted uses. So just capital improvements, equipment, for example, you can’t pay bonuses out of there or something along those lines. So they do have restricted uses, which this falls under. Since 2020, we’ve been able to amass, I think at one point it was $3.5 million. There’s been some capital improvements over the last couple of years.”

Benefiel and Vice-Chair Nichole Weyer discussed that this expenditure is not adding any spending costs to the budget, rather it is a “flip-flop” of where the money is being spent for the teacherage.

December

December 7

The Hot Springs County High School Bobcats winter sports seasons will start on Friday, December 8, 2023. The wrestling season will commence with an invitational meet in Powell, at which Coach Travis McDermott expects there will be up to twenty schools appearing to compete.

Coach says practices have been going well, with a great group of kids out for the team. “Although we have experienced some absences due to illness, the kids have been working hard in practice to get ready for the season, and we are looking forward to a good year.”

He added, “As far as our team this year, we have a strong upper class, led by returning State Runner-ups Brody Sorensen and Will Ward, who each made the State Championships last year. Sam Skelton also was a state placer last year. Kaitlin Barral returns as our lone girls state placer, after becoming the first lady to accomplish that last year. Additionally, we have some very talented freshman on the team, with Middle School State Champions Cannon Boren and Lilly Quintanilla leading the way. Our girls program is growing with six ladies that are competing this season.”

“The team has selected their captains for the season. On the boys side Jessen Basse, Seth Needham, Brody Sorensen, and Will Ward will be the captains. On the ladies side Kaitlin Barral and Alix Sorensen will be the captains.”

Coach McDermott will be joined by his staff of Assistant Coaches, Bill Faller and Chris Ryan. Talyah Myers, Sophie Conrad and Teresa Steadman will serve as team managers.

The Basketball season begins on Friday with a meet in Burns for both the girls and boys Varsity and JV teams, with the freshman teams playing in Meeteetse on Friday and Saturday. Shane Corpening, coach of the boys teams, advises he is expecting 12 to 15 teams competing in Burns, and around 12 teams will be in Meeteetse.

December 14

Hot Springs Health’s (HSH) CEO Scott Alwin, along with several of his staff, sat down and explained how the hospital’s culture has been transforming into a new form.

Alwin started as CEO on July 1, 2022, just about one and a half years ago. Since that time, Alwin described some of his accomplishments. He said, “I think we’ve made a lot of great strides in many different areas. Number one, we’ve worked diligently to improve culture and reduce our turnover. We reduced our turnover rate from 25% in July 2022 to 15% as of current. Which says a lot about our entire organization in that individuals are not leaving for other occupations. They’re staying within the walls of Hot Springs Health or within the organization.”

Alwin added, “We’ve seen great change in our leadership structure. We’ve had a fairly new leadership team that has grown and developed quite a bit in both the board of directors and the executive team. Since I’ve been the CEO, we’ve had two new board members who are excelling in their roles as on the board of trustees. We have been able to fill very difficult positions for directors.”

The most notable quote Alwin refers back to is when his mentor said, “Scott, you’re going to learn more from your mistakes than you are from the things that you’re doing right. Meaning those times you don’t do something correctly, learn from them and then be able to make progress.”

December 21

Bids for the acquisition of 13 animals from the state bison herd are invited at the Hot Springs State Park office in Thermopolis until 4 p.m. on January 16.

The available bison include seven 2023 heifer calves, four 2023 bull calves, one 2022 yearling bull, and one twenty-year-old cow.

All the animals have received proper vaccinations. The minimum bids are as follows: $850 for 2023 heifer calves, $1,000 for 2023 bull calves, $1,200 for the yearling bull, and $800 for the twenty-year-old cow. Bidders can submit offers for any or all of these bison. The highest bidder for each animal, meeting the specified minimum bid, will be the successful buyer according to the State’s provided sales list.

Buyers are eligible to collect their purchased animals starting from January 24th, and it’s the buyer’s responsibility to arrange for transportation as the seller does not provide delivery services.

December 28

The Hot Springs County High School Speech and Debate Team hosted a home novice tournament while some varsity students simultaneously competed in an online tournament on December 15-16. The Bob- cats finished with two second place 1A/2A trophies: one for the Hot Springs Novice Holi- day Miracle tournament and the other for the Lander Invite online tournament.

Coached by Lyle Wiley, Alyssa Brown, Grace Martin, Riley Jeffs and Jean-Luc Willson, the Bobcat varsity students worked the home tournament. Four students competed online while running the tourna- ment at the same time: senior Chris Bapst, junior Kiesha Kraushaar, junior Rosalie Willson, and sophomore Dean Bihr. At the novice home tournament, five Bobcat novices competed: freshman Autumn Cornwell, freshman Annalyn Sharp, freshman Riley Crowder, freshman Hayden Franklin, and sophomore Lucille Andreen.

In the varsity division of the Lander Online tournament, Willson and Bihr both finished with impressive winning records in Lincoln-Douglas Debate (2-1), tying for third place over- all. Kraushaar finished in a tie for tournament champion in Dramatic Interpretation, while Bapst finished in eleventh place in a large Congressional Debate group. The small team accumulated enough points to finish second in the tournament in 1A/2A, while also contributing to the work involved with the novice home tournament.

At the home novice tournament, Cornwell finished another strong tournament, capturing first place in Congressional Debate, second place in Dramatic Interpretation, and a tie for first in Public Forum Debate with teammates Sharp and Andreen. Andreen also finished in second place in Poetry Interpretation, while Sharp finished second in Program Oral Interpretation and fourth in Extemporaneous Speaking.