Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Sorted by date Results 301 - 325 of 517
WORLAND – Washakie County Commissioners convened Tuesday to receive a county Storm Ready certification from the National Weather Service, and to hear local concerns regarding the temporary closure of Lane 17. Tim Troutman, with NWS Riverton, presented the Storm Ready certification, achieved after Washakie County Homeland Security and Emergency Management Director Jeff Schweighart spearheaded an effort to make the county eligible after upgrading a wide range of requirements across the county. In addition to establishing an emergency command c...
By Marcus Huff Staff Writer WORLAND — Washakie County Emergency Management Director Jeff Schweighart reports multiple road closures in the Big Horn Basin, and advises against trying to travel back roads to avoid closures on Highway 16 and the Wind River Canyon. US 16 and US 20 between Thermopolis and Shoshoni were closed Thursday night. “With the two major accesses to the Big Horn Basin closed right now, people may be trying to find other ways in or out, and it’s really not advisable at this time,” said Schweighart. Schweighart also noted t...
THERMOPOLIS – With the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Wyoming Dinosaur Center on Saturday, the museum dedicated to a history long lost, is beginning the journey to become a facility unlike anything seen in modern times, in terms of design and environmental impact. “We would like to take [the WDC] a step further in design,” said Education Director Jessica Lippincott, “no other museum in the country has met the living building challenge, so we would like to be the first.” As defined b...
THERMOPOLIS – With the legalization of marijuana and marijuana-based products in neighboring Colorado, Wyoming has seen an influx of non-plant contraband, including edibles and oils, often found in candies, sodas and baked goods. While the state currently has no law governing the prosecution of edibles, or a definition of standard weights for prosecution, and past legislation has failed to be passed due to wording and a broad scope, the House and Senate Joint Judiciary Committee took up the topic on Thursday in Thermopolis, to hear from a wide...
THERMOPOLIS – The Joint House and Senate Judiciary Committee began two days of hearings in Thermopolis on Thursday, giving a variety of legal entities including county prosecutors and law enforcement officials a chance to brief lawmakers on the current state of the state’s criminal justice system. In attendance and representing Washakie County in the audience were Judges Robert Skar and Tom Harrington, and County Attorney John Worrall. Before the committee, during a special session on the effectiveness of the state parole and probation sys...
WORLAND – “There is a lot of concern about our youth and drug uses and violence in our community right now,” noted Washakie County Victim and Witness Coordinator Bob Vines, who just wrapped up a three-city tour of a film highlighting positive role models for young men, and how society treats masculinity as it shapes teenagers. “I was happy that the people who attended [the film and lectures] understand the worth of talking about these problems with our youth,” said Vines, who led discussions after the viewing of “The Mask We Live In” in Worl...
WORLAND – Washakie County Commissioners will meet with Worland Mayor Jim Gill and Washakie County Homeland Security and Emergency Management director Jeff Schweighart on Tuesday to discuss the removal of a sediment bar from the Big Horn River, to help alleviate future flood issues. Representatives from the Army Corps of Engineers met with local officials and county commissioners on April 3 to review flood details, and ultimately recommended the city and county could handle the removal of a sediment bar in the Big Horn River, which has been t...
TEN SLEEP – The days of going out to the town dump and shooting old television sets is coming to an end for Ten Sleep residents, as the facility will transition to a transfer station on May 1, effectively closing the ages-old landfill. Built by contractor Copper Creek Construction from February to April, the facility features a drive-over scale, and open-bay refuse station. Upon opening of the transfer station, the landfill pits will be off limits for dumping and filled in for reintroduction as a grasslands area. According to manager Holly Redl...
WORLAND – The Washakie County Solid Waste Disposal District No. 1 board met Monday to announce a new manager, and review upgrades to the facility. Mike Siegfried, of Worland, replaces previous manager Gene Claime, who died in March. “So far, everything seems to be going smoothly,” said Siegfried during his report to the board of directors. During regular business, the board approved all bills, including a contracted payment of $38,000 to Inberg-Miller Engineers of Casper. The firm previously reviewed the plans for the redistribution of the l...
WORLAND – Washakie County residents are being encouraged to sign up for the Rapid Notify system, a free mass notification system offered through the Washakie County Law Enforcement Center, in the event of a major disaster or weather event. Emergency alert notifications are sent through Rapid Notify to individual email, phone and text message accounts, to alert emergency personnel of an event, or to instruct residents of specific areas to avoid during potentially life-threatening situations. The system can alert subscribers through a variety o...
WORLAND – Members of the Wyoming and Montana Alzheimer’s task force visited Worland on Wednesday, visiting with 35 members of the community affected by the disease, and taking input on local needs to develop a state plan to support victims of Alzheimer’s disease. According to the national Alzheimer’s Association, more than 5 million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of adult dementia. Alzheimer’s accounts for 60 to 80 percent of dementia cases in the United States, including one-third of those over the age of 80. Facilit...
WORLAND – Representatives from the Army Corps of Engineers met with local officials and county commissioners Tuesday morning to review flood details, and recommend potential solutions to the ice jam problems that plagued Worland in February. Meeting at the office of Homeland Security Director Jeff Schweighart, Mike Happold and Tom Johnson of the Army Corps were briefed by Commission Chairman Terry Wolf regarding the extent of the flooding using aerial and ground views, including video, taken during the flooding event. In February, the Senate C...
WORLAND – On Thursday, the Wyoming Business Council voted unanimously to grant Wyoming Sugar Cooperative growers approximately $5,675,650 in relief loans following a 2016 loss in revenue due to weather-related devastation. Citing intense fall rains and a hard winter freeze stretching from December through February, the council agreed to supplement the grower’s lost revenue, after 15 minutes of brief clarification and comments by the board. Wyoming Sugar’s situation did not qualify for emergency financial aid from the United States Depar...
WORLAND - Representative from the Army Corps of Engineers will meet with city and county leaders on Tuesday to assess February flood damage and evaluate a request to remove a sedimentary island from the Big Horn River, hopefully reducing future ice jams. "We are weighing our options to put a plan in place, to avoid further flooding in the future," said Washakie County Commission Chairman Terry Wolf. "We would like to educate both offices [of the Army Corps] on the impact of the island build-up...
WORLAND – A tradition that began in 1927 by the Worland Volunteer Fire Department, the Worland Fire District held their annual awards banquet Saturday night at the Elks Lodge, honoring distinguished firefighters for 2016, and observing the board of directors, families and support personnel. Three-year department veteran wildlands firefighter Rick Yeske of Worland received Firefighter of the Year, along with the department's Spirit of Service award. Yeske, a journeyman carpenter and cabinet build...
BASIN – South Big Horn Hospital District Board of Trustees Chairman Todd Denny revealed Wednesday evening that the district is currently under investigation by both the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration for undisclosed reasons, following an internal investigation which began earlier this year. Citing “serious public safety issues” the board began cooperating with law enforcement in February. After the resignation of several prominent staff members, public concern reached a peak on Feb. 22, when...
WORLAND – Two men involved in a 2016 drug-related shooting, both suspect and victim, pled guilty to separate charges in Fifth Judicial District Court in Worland Wednesday, with the Honorable Judge Robert E. Skar presiding. Angel L. Ramos of Worland, previously of Las Vegas, Nevada, pleaded guilty to three charges including aggravated burglary, and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon. The victim, Gilbert D. Garcia of Worland, pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a controlled substance (heroin). According to court records, on Sept....
WORLAND – Washakie County commissioners heard from a variety of county departments on Tuesday, including a request from Worland Fire Protection District Chief Chris Kocher, requesting reimbursement for flood control efforts during the month of February. Presenting the commission with an invoice for $10,657.54, representing 607 man hours, Kocher noted that the District paid in kind $5,833.97, from the original total of $16,491.51. Kocher cited the six-day flood event, when fire personnel pumped flooded areas and dispersed sandbags, as a u...
CHEYENNE – On Wednesday, Governor Matt Mead vetoed House Enrolled Act 107 (HEA107), originally House Bill 137, which would have allowed the concealed carry of firearms to governmental meetings (the bill would not have altered already legal open carry of firearms in meetings). Commonly called the Wyoming Repeal Gun Free Zones Act, HB137 was found by Gov. Mead to be “murky” in its wording, as defined by a letter of explanation to Secretary of State Edward Murray. “A law of this import must be thoughtful and clear – not subject to question...
THERMOPOLIS – Following the November 2015 opening of a new airport facility in Thermopolis, Hot Springs County is conducting a public input period to find the best re-use of the former airport, holding the first of several meetings on Feb. 27, with GDA Engineers of Cody as facilitators. “The first goal is to look at the 1,500-acre property and to figure out the best use, based on a public involvement study,” said GDA CEO Dusty Spomer. Spomer pointed out that the study will solicit ideas from Hot Springs County residents on how to use the prope...
WORLAND – The Washakie County Solid Waste Disposal District No. 1 board met Monday to discuss an ongoing project to retain contaminated groundwater, as requested by the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality to control runoff. During the meeting, the board heard from Eric Graney, hydrogeologist and vice president of Inberg-Miller Engineers of Casper. Graney reviewed the plans for the redistribution of the landfill to already-developed reserve pits, and outlined the stipulations requested by the DEQ to build berms to control runoff. A...
TEN SLEEP – The Ten Sleep Town Council appointed Amy Truman of Ten Sleep to the council Tuesday, effectively filling the position left vacant by the death of Don Decker, in December. Truman, a native of Tacoma, Washington, and resident of Ten Sleep since 2015, owns and operates Trailhead Beverage with her husband, Buck Truman. The council interviewed Truman for the position on Monday. "This is a new experience for me, and I'm really looking forward to learning a lot," said Truman, noting that h...
WORLAND – “It’s been reported in the press that we spent 15 minutes meeting on the education bill, but I personally spent around three hours on Friday, working with Senate leadership to get the final negotiations through to the floor, before there was even a vote” said Representative Mike Greear (R-Worland) Monday. Greear served as a member of the House Education Conference Committee to work with the Senate on the bill’s final form. On Friday, the Wyoming House and Senate reached a compromise on HB236, the House’s omnibus education funding bil...
CHEYENNE – Governor Matt Mead signed a number of bills into law on Wednesday, including a joint resolution requesting 50 percent of royalties from the federal government on any revenue created in Wyoming by federal wind or solar powering producing developments on federal land. Joint Resolution No. 1 references the current federal practice of paying the state 50 percent of royalties and rents in connection with fossil fuels and geothermal energy produced in the state, and argues that the same should apply to wind and solar power. The r...
WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Wednesday, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-WY), chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW), welcomed testimony from Washakie County Commission Chairman Terry Wolf at a committee oversight hearing on “Flood Control Infrastructure: Safety Questions Raised by Current Events.” Reading from a prepared statement, Wolf outlined recent flooding issues in the Worland area. He said, “The high yield of agricultural production is dependent upon the Big Horn River that flows south to north out of Wind River C...