Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
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WORLAND – During a special meeting on Thursday, the Washakie County Fair Board, after hearing from a Montana-based music promoter, unanimously approved a proposal to pay $10,400 for four nights of music, totaling 20 hours, during the 2018 county fair. After meeting with music promoter Daniel Kosel on Tuesday, the board decided to listen to his offer to promote the fair to musicians and create a roster of talent to perform. Kosel’s proposal includes opening-act performances from four local bands, along with headline bands Band of Drifters, Rat...
WORLAND – A Worland man had an initial hearing in Fifth Judicial District Circuit Court on Thursday, facing charges stemming from an altercation on Tuesday that resulted in Worland Chief of Police Gabe Elliott being punched and dragged to the ground while attempting to subdue the subject, one John D. Laster. Laster was charged with one count of bodily injury to a peace officer, and one count of escape by violence by the Washakie County Attorney’s Office on Wednesday. Both charges bring a penalty of up to 10 years imprisonment if found guilty. A...
CHEYENNE – A draft regulation requested by the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission could result in up to two dozen grizzly bears being killed this fall, if the resolution gains approval after a brief public listening tour. The commission directed the Wyoming Game and Fish Department to draft the regulation after public meetings in 2017 examined the state’s Grizzly Bear Management Plan, which includes population monitoring and hunting parameters. A quota of 12 hunt-eligible bears exists in the demographic monitoring area outside of Yellowstone and...
WORLAND – The Washakie County Fair Board met Tuesday, and after hearing from a Montana-based music promoter, decided to hold a special meeting on Thursday to determine if the fair can pay an estimated $9,000 for four nights of music during the 2018 county fair. Originally, the board envisioned Ned Ledoux, the son of the late musician Chris Ledoux, to play at the event, to help offset the annual rodeo and other entertainment. After reviewing Ledoux’s requested $17,000 one-night fee, plus the addition of a provided sound system, lights and a 20-...
HYATTVILLE – A bill signed into law on Friday by Governor Matt Mead effectively increases the size of the Medicine Lodge Archeological Site, north of Hyattville, currently part of the state parks system. “Ultimately, the bill will increase visitation and to add more campsites, “explained Medicine Lodge Superintendent Brooks Jordan, during the bill’s introduction. Under the bill (Senate Enrolled Act 7), Medicine Lodge would gain 52 acres from the Department of Game and Fish, specifically, “A parcel of land of approximately ten (10) acres in Dry...
THERMOPOLIS – The Alliance for Historic Wyoming (AHW), along with the Hot Springs County Museum will be celebrating historic Carnegie libraries around Wyoming with a traveling exhibit and tour this Saturday. Built in 1917, the Carnegie Library in Thermopolis, located at 328 Arapahoe Street, is one of 16 Carnegie library buildings built in Wyoming, financed by steel magnate Andrew Carnegie. At one time the richest man in America, Carnegie began financing community libraries in 1883. With small grants of around $12,000, Carnegie provided the b...
WORLAND – Representatives from the City of Worland, Town of Ten Sleep and Washakie County will meet with the Washakie Development Association today to discuss a new federal program to allow reinvestment in rural communities, under federal legislation passed in 2017. Opportunity Zones are a community development program established by Congress in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 to encourage long-term investments in low-income urban and rural communities. The program provides a tax incentive for investors to re-invest their unrealized c...
WORLAND – Washakie County Commissioners met Tuesday, to facilitate an optional sales tax meeting. On Jan. 16, the commission originally facilitated a meeting with members currently covered under Joint Resolution 315, which splits one-cent sales tax funds, along with new parties interested in becoming sales tax recipients, in light of the state’s waning budget. Voters most recently supported the general purpose optional one-cent tax in 2014 with 64 percent of Washakie County voters in favor. The current tax will be collected through June 30,...
WORLAND – Washakie County’s Wyoming Public Lands Initiative (WPLI) Advisory Committee met Wednesday at the Washakie County Fairgrounds to continue the consensus process to determine best-use for county wilderness study areas (WSA). The goal of the WPLI group is to reach a consensus as to the use of the WSAs in the county, through public input. The primary areas of concentration in Washakie County include the Honeycombs (located between Ten Sleep and Worland), Cedar Mountain (south of Winchester and shared with Hot Springs County) and Bob...
CHEYENNE – Under an amendment to Title 9-14-102 of the Wyoming State Statutes, the State Senate is advancing an act that effectively labels the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) as a threat to private property owners in the state, by a vote of 26 to 3, with one excused vote. The bill, Senate File 101, passed second reading on Friday. Established in 1966, the National Historic Preservation Act seeks to protect by designation, historically significant sites and archeological areas across all fifty states. Currently, Wyoming has 27 N...
WORLAND - Ninth District Court Judge Norman E. Young has denied a motion for Partial Summary Judgement filed on behalf of the plaintiff, in the case Campbell versus Tri-County Telephone Association. The lawsuit, filed in December 2016 by a former board member of TCT, claims that the original, 2014 sale of the telecommunications company was undervalued and defrauded approximately 825 members of the Tri-County Telephone Cooperative. On Jan. 29, attorneys for the defendant argued that the sale of TCT violated Wyoming Statute 17-20-1106, which...
WORLAND – Washakie County voters and interested public are invited to attend “Voting in Wyoming in the Next Decade,” a voter-information meeting being held tonight at the County Commission Chambers of the Washakie County Courthouse, hosted by the Office of the County Clerk. Beginning at 7 p.m., County Clerk Mary Grace Strauch will give a presentation on the current status of voting in the state and county, and where improvements can be made and some of the challenges facing voters in the next 10 years. Due to the 2002 Help America Vote Act (...
CHEYENNE – State File 112, sponsored by the Wyoming Joint Appropriations Committee and moving forward through the Legislature, would effectively put two elderly care facilities, the Wyoming Pioneer Home in Thermopolis, and the Wyoming Retirement Center in Basin, currently managed by the State Department of Health, on the auction block, for privatization, with proceeds going to state general fund. In December, Governor Matt Mead was quoted by Wyoming Public Media, indicating that he would be against such a move without further study, however, t...
WORAND – Local agriculture producers and educators met Wednesday and Thursday for workshops on a variety of topics at the annual WESTI (Wyoming Extension’s Strategically and Technologically Informative) Ag days at the Worland Community Center Complex. For the new or veteran agriculture producer, the topics provided a broad range of information and learning opportunities. Corn Disease On Thursday, Bill Stump with the University of Wyoming, Department of Plant Sciences, informed local growers of the emergence of Bacterial Leaf Streak (BLS) in...
WORLAND – “Kilroy Was Here.” It was a staple that began in the lead-up to World War II, and soon became famous across Europe as an indication that American GIs had been in the area. A simple cartoon character, drawn on walls and battlegrounds around the world. On Friday and Saturday, the Worland Middle School will present “Don’t Say No to the USO,” a fictional musical detailing the adventures of Private Kilroy, an Army cryptologist who has to deal with USO hostesses, Nazi spies and a scheme cooked up by Office of Strategic Services operatives...
WORLAND – “I guess if it comes down to having Ned Ledoux or having a fair, we’re going to have a fair,” said Washakie County Fair Board President David Doyle on Monday night, after the fair board reviewed a bid from the artist to headline the 2018 county fair. Originally, the board envisioned Ledoux, the son of the late musician Chris Ledoux, to play at the event, to help offset the annual rodeo and other entertainment. After reviewing Ledoux’s requested $17,000 one-night fee, plus the addition of a provided sound system, lights and a 20-foot...
WORLAND – Designated the state fish in 1987, the Yellowstone cutthroat trout, a native to Wyoming before settlement and once abundant, is scheduled to be reintroduced to the Absaroka, Beartooth and Big Horn Mountains, but ahead of the measure, Game and Fish officials taking public input from interested anglers and outdoors enthusiasts. Last month in Worland, a group of wildlife officials led by Cody Regional Fisheries Supervisor Sam Hochhalter met with a half dozen residents to take recommendations before holding similar meetings in Cody and L...
WORLAND — Washakie County Emergency Management Director Jeff Schweighart announced Friday that Washakie County residents now have the opportunity to trial test a new advance warning system for the county, to work alongside the current Rapid Notify system used by county dispatch. Covered by a grant from the state, the $4,400 CodeRed subscription package enables residents to be notified, via cell phone application, of weather, chemical, police, fire, Homeland Security and emergency Warning System emergencies, with a feature that can target reside...
CHEYENNE — With the state still suffering from a budget deficit due to a loss in mineral wealth, legislators will begin their budget session on Monday, with over 400 bills to consider, and budget hearings that hopefully satisfy the Office of the Governor. From an appropriations standpoint, legislators have to work around the fact that Governor Matt Mead has requested $105 million for local government and general fund spending, $64 million to complete the Capitol renovation project, $205 million for school facilities, approximately $50 m...
MEETEETSE- The Meeteetse Visitor’s Center, in conjunction with the Park County Travel Council, will host the 10th annual Meeteetse Ice Fishing Derby this Saturday and Sunday at Sunshine Reservoir. Fishing will begin promptly at 8 a.m. and finish at 2 p.m. each day. Saturday will be on the Upper Sunshine Reservoir and Sunday will be on the Lower Sunshine Reservoir. Judging will be from 1 to 3 p.m. each day. Judging stations will be near the restrooms, located on the Upper and Lower Reservoirs. On Thursday, Meeteetse Visitor’s Center Event Coo...
WORLAND – The Washakie County Commission facilitated a meeting on Tuesday with members currently covered under Joint Resolution 315, which splits one-cent sales tax funds, along with parties previously interested in becoming sales tax recipients, in light of the state's waning budget. Previously, members of the Washakie County hospital board asked to be added to the recipients of the tax, explaining that they do not have the reserves to account for maintenance operations to the new hospital. A...
WORLAND – Members of the Washakie County Ambulance Service Committee met with Washakie County Commissioners on Tuesday to present recommendations to hire a full-time director, and to not transfer county emergency medical services to a private third party, as in surrounding counties. Commissioner Fred Frandson met with the committee throughout the decision process and presented the pros and cons of keeping the service and county department. Frandson pointed out, after a study had been made by the committee, that the county’s base rate for ambula...
WORLAND – Washakie County Commissioners, along with Wyoming County Commissioners Association Executive Director Peter Obermueller, hosted a listening session with legislators in Worland on Thursday, to review issues of importance to the state, and review upcoming legislation. Various members of the legislature were in attendance, including Senators Ray Peterson (District 19, Cowley), Wyatt Agar (District 20, Thermopolis) and Representatives Jamie Flitner (District 26, Greybull) and Nathan Winters (District 28, Thermopolis), to hear concerns a...
WORLAND – Attempted second degree murder charges have been dropped in the case of a 2013 shooting in Ten Sleep Canyon, previously admitted to by former Worland resident Jesus Y. Deniz, currently serving a life sentence in Montana for a 2015 double murder. As previously reported in the Northern Wyoming Daily News, during the early morning hours of Sept. 16, 2013, emergency room staff at Washakie Medical Center in Worland notified law enforcement that gunshot victim Jose Luis Mosquera Araujo, of Ecuador, had visited the ER. Araujo and g...
CODY — District Court Judge Norman E. Young, from the Ninth Judicial District, heard continued arguments in the case Campbell versus Tri-County Telephone Association in Cody on Monday, primarily concerned with a motion for Partial Summary Judgement filed on behalf of the plaintiff. The lawsuit, filed in December 2016 by a former board member of TCT, claims that the original, 2014 sale of the telecommunications company was undervalued and defrauded approximately 825 members of the Tri-County Telephone Cooperative. BACKGROUND The suit, filed b...