Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
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What began as a search for a missing 28-year-old Worland woman turned into what was believed to be a recovery mission as Washakie County Search and Rescue spent three days draining a pond in hopes of finding Breanna Mitchell. Washakie County Sheriff Austin Brookwell said on Friday they brought in a cadaver dog from Park County Search and Rescue and the dog indicated on a spot near a pond where a bloodhound earlier in the week had also indicated Mitchell's presence. Due to the extreme heat, the...
Many kudos this week go to Washakie County. One LARGE KUDO goes to the Washakie County Sheriff’s Office and Washakie County Search and Rescue who have worked tirelessly in the search for Breanna Mitchell. Mitchell, 28, of Worland, went missing 12 days ago (as of this writing Tuesday, Aug. 1). She had texted and called friends she was stuck on a side road off of the Nowater Road. Search and Rescue members, as many as 15 at a time, have been out searching since she was reported missing and now they are currently working on draining a pond, where...
The Central Administration Office will be named after longtime custodian Joe Arnold following a unanimous vote by the Hot Springs County School District No. 1 Board of Trustees last Tuesday, July 18. During the meeting, Superintendent Dustin Hunt asked for an exemption to the board policy that requires someone to have been gone from the district for five years before being able to have a facility named after them. “In January he will have 60 years in the Wyoming Retirement System with no plans to retire,” Hunt said. He said Arnold dem...
Washakie County Sheriff's Office is seeking the public's help in locating a missing Worland woman. Sheriff Austin Brookwell said the Sheriff's Office was informed on Saturday at 8:59 p.m. that Breanna Mitchell, 28, was missing. Searches have been conducted by Search and Rescue, family members, friends and volunteers on Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Resources used include horses, Civil Air Patrol, private aircraft, Guardian Flight and a bloodhound from a volunteer from Fremont County....
In Ecclesiastes chapter 3 it says “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens,” including a time to speak. The time is apparently now to speak about child sex trafficking, which is a global problem and billion-dollar industry. There is no longer a time to be silent and for Alejandro Monteverde, who wrote and directed the film, “Sound of Freedom,” the time to speak out on the topic is now. According to a Department of Homeland Security report, “Countering Human Trafficking: Year In Review (October...
This year's fair royalty has already had a busy summer, despite the fact that the Washakie County Fair just got underway last Saturday. In its second year under the direction of Beth Stiver, this year's royalty is Junior Princess Lacee Greet of Ten Sleep, Princess Dahlia Lara of Worland and Queen Faith Pfeifer of Worland. Greet is the junior princess for the second year in a row. She said she enjoyed it last year and it was a lot of fun. She mostly enjoyed the riding at different events and carr...
The Worland City Council approved a new bar and grill license for Hurricane Lanes doing business as Bean and Burger. The dispensing area will be where the old café used to be, according to Clerk/Treasurer Tracy Glanz. She said the city still has a bar and grill license available but does not have any retail licenses available. Under the bar and grill license, sales must be 60% food and the bar must close when the grill closes. The council also approved on second reading, Ordinance 870 to rezone 1019 Coburn from commercial/business to medium hig...
This Saturday kicks off Washakie County Fair Week with the theme, “Remembering the past, Embracing our present, engineering our future. The fair is an opportunity for everyone to come socialize, enjoy some good food and have a little family fun. The five-member fair board has worked hard over the past year to put together an entertaining schedule. A few things didn’t come to fruition for various reasons including stock dog trials and tractor pull but there is still plenty to do and see. The week of five concerts, four of them free, begins Mon...
Just when you think you have a handle on all the way scammers will reach out to try and separate you from your money they up their game. Recently, there are reports of scammers using local business names. Rocky Mountain Power has reported scammers are calling and contacting customers seeking immediate payment to avoid disconnection. RMP will not ask you to make payments with a pre-paid credit card but most of all they do not contact their customers in that way. RMP suggests rather than giving your account number to the caller, ask them to give...
Sometimes when thinking what to write in this space, readers provide the inspiration as is the case this week regarding customer service. A recent columnist for the Northern Wyoming News discussed the importance of customer service and an astute reader brought by an old Wyoming Business Tips column from the University of Wyoming. This got me thinking that perhaps more needs to be said regarding customer service. The University of Wyoming Business Tips column provided some good tips for businesses in helping them and their employees offer great...
The 22nd annual Culturefest kicks off at 9 a.m. in the back lawn of the Worland Community Center Complex this Saturday. The annual festival originally started downtown and was moved in 2010 to the Community Center when the community center took over the organization of the event. WCCC events organizer Sheryl Ley said the event is a family-friendly community event hosted by the Community Center. She said it is not a fundraiser for the center. They have sponsors who help fund the event including...
The other day when I was putting out our flag at the Northern Wyoming News, a gust of wind knocked the flag out of my hand. I know etiquette says that the flag should not touch the ground, but it was not intentional. I gently picked it up and put the flag in the stand attached to our exterior wall. I mentioned to one of the employees that it hit the ground and how I thought flag etiquette meant it should be properly disposed of, but considering how many people treat the flag in the name of patriotism, I was not going to do that. (I was wrong,...
It’s funny how certain things at certain times can bring memories flooding back. The other night after I got dishes done I went and sat down on the couch and my husband had on a baseball game. It was the Los Angeles Dodgers. Every time I see a Dodgers game I think of my dad. He was a huge Dodgers fan, but this game memories came flooding back for me. Perhaps because his birthday was just over a week ago and he has been on my mind a lot. Growing up I never played baseball, never really watched baseball until my senior year in high school. OK t...
“Famous Friends” is a popular country song from Chris Young and Kane Brown, written by Young, along with Cary Barlowe and Corey Crowder. In the song they talk about their famous friends, not in the country music business but back home, including football stars, teachers, firefighters and more. We have many famous people in our backyard, many of whom we have highlighted here in the Northern Wyoming News. There are many state champions, all-state and all-conference athletes from Worland and Ten Sleep high schools and other schools around the Big...
It is spring training for carnival companies and that has proven to be a benefit to the Worland community. Dreamland Carnival Company of Laurel, Montana, traditionally does shows in Montana, going clear up north in the border state. This year, owner Riley Cooke wanted to “straighten out his line of travel” so his preseason schedule began last week in Cody, will be in Worland starting Thursday (set up has begun), and then they head to familiar territory in Riverton before beginning their full summer season. “It’s like spring training in basebal...
So you’re graduating, now what? If you are graduating high school or college and headed right into the workplace there are a few things you need to realize. The biggest thing is that you no longer get two or three weeks off at Christmas. My first job out of college I was back to work on Dec. 26. Christmas was on a Tuesday and Wednesday at the Lovell Chronicle was production day so after spending a long weekend with my folks I left Thermopolis on Christmas Day to head back to Lovell to be at work the next day. I had not earned any vacation days...
“Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.” -- Jurassic Park’s Ian Malcolm. In Jurassic Park Jeff Goldblum’s character stated the above in reference to re-creating dinosaurs but lately the statement can ring true regarding artificial intelligence. On Monday, the so-called “Godfather of AI” Geoffrey Hinton quit Google and, according to several media reports, stated he regretted the work he has done because of how AI could be misused or abused. He wanted to be able to speak out a...
With last week’s action by the Washakie County Commissioners to finalize the purchase of the home at 603 North Road 11 for the new ambulance station, it is time for the community to move forward and make this move work best for everyone. The commissioners listened to concerns and mitigation requests from neighbors Dick Kroger and DJ Vanderwerff at their April 18 meeting. Some of the mitigation requests are reasonable and the county, wanting to be good neighbors, are considering several of them. In fact, the commissioners had already agreed t...
Five years ago, at the height of the #MeToo movement I wrote a column about why victims don’t tell and I referenced my own story when I was a young lady still in high school. On Friday, during the community resources meeting, as I listened to Crisis Prevention and Response Center Director Karina Rice discuss the fact that April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month it reminded me of that column and how often we attempt to blame the victim. Rice provided a pie chart completely shaded in baby blue and the key on the pie chart listed “Causes of Rap...
On a beautiful spring day Tuesday in Ten Sleep, students, staff, administrators, residents, dignitaries gathered outside by the basketball courts for the official groundbreaking ceremony for the new preK-12 school. Plans are for the school to be open during the mid-winter break in 2024. The description of the plans for the school sound innovative and should create a unique and inviting learning environment for all students. Superintendent Annie Griffin in her remarks during the ceremony thanked a slew of people who helped make the...
Many moons ago, when I was the editor of the Basin Republican Rustler, I wrote an editorial asking where was the civility. This came after a Manderson town council member, in an open public meeting, used a derogatory, racist slur to refer to then President Barack Obama. I believe now, the universe said to me, “You ain’t seen nothing yet kid.” Of course, over the past several years I could site hundreds of incidents about the lack of civility, but one incident this week I found disturbing and I feel I must call Karlee Provenza out for her action...
Sunshine Week, per the Society of Professional Journalists, “is an enduring initiative to promote open government. Join us in the annual nationwide celebration of access to public information and what it means for you and your community. It’s your right to know.” Over the years there have been plenty of opportunity to educate and remind boards and councils about open records and open meetings and the reasons for which they can and cannot recess into a closed executive session. There were several opportunities when I first arrived in Worla...
At the end of each legislative session I would ask the late Senator Gerry Geis if there were any bills that didn’t make it through that he wished had and 99.9% of the time he would say no. He would add, if they are good bills, they will be back, if not then having them not pass was a good thing. The more I cover the Legislature (even after 30-plus years) the more I realize he was correct. Case in point, Rep. John Winter has tried a few times to bring back the wolf depredation compensation and was successful this session. This session, of the 49...
It is official, it is no longer illegal to let you vehicle idle unattended. What? That’s right, until recent legislation passed by both state houses and signed by Governor Mark Gordon last week Wyoming drivers were not allowed to leave vehicles idling unattended. Now has that law been enforced? Probably not much at all in many years. As people can attest over this winter many people leave their vehicles idling unattended, whether warming it up in the morning before work, after work, leaving it idle on errands to keep it warm in subzero t...
WORLAND - After eight years the Worland Community Garden is taking a new direction in hopes of becoming sustainable long-term. During a community garden membership meeting at the Washakie Museum & Cultural Center information about the potential expansion, a new board and membership program were outlined. "It's been a really wonderful project," Washakie County Extension Educator Caitlin Youngquist said of the garden that began in 2015. The focus was to provide fresh produce to the residents of Wa...