Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
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The June 24 meeting of the Washakie County School District No. 1 Board of Trustees began with the presentation of the annual Bell Ringer Award to photographer James Yule. Presented to a community member each year who makes a difference within the schools, Yule was selected as the recipient of the Bell Ringer Award for the time he has spent over the years photographing school events. Chairman David Tommerup read aloud a statement saying, "I can't think of anyone else who devotes so much of their...
After 12 years at Hot Springs County School District No. 1, Curriculum & Professional Learning Community Specialist Breez Daniels submitted and was granted a resignation from the district during the June 20 meeting of the Board of Trustees. According to her profile on the district’s website, “In 22 years as an educator, Daniels has taught grades K-5, as well as 8th-9th grade reading strategies and social studies in a large junior high… Named Wyoming Elementary/Middle Schools Principal of the Year and National Distinguished Principal in 2016,...
The Worland Speech and Debate Team is currently in Des Moines, Iowa, competing in the 2024 National Speech and Debate Tournament. Bus driver Dave Wiley departed with speech and debate competitors from Worland, Thermopolis, Rawlins and Laramie on June 15. Of the busload of students, 10 are from Worland; eight qualifiers and two supplemental entries. Coach Rick Dorn said, "That's a new thing that the National Speech and Debate Association started offering, you get up to two spots to let kids go ex...
Dan and Maureen (Tolman) Flannery weren't expecting to begin a new adventure in Wyoming at this stage in life, but three historic wooden buildings later they don't seem to regret their decision. Now based in Illinois, the home state of her actor and English teacher husband Dan, Maureen works as a poet, often drawing inspiration from her upbringing in Worland and her family's sheep ranch in Ten Sleep. She is an award-winning poet, having written 10 books of poetry including over 500 poems...
The Arapaho Ranch, with its headquarters six miles west of Thermopolis, has long been a symbol of Native American culture in the West, but new developments are making the ranch a place for hands-on education in history, science, agriculture and art. According to arapahoranch.org, the ranch's website, it was originally established in 1867 on 75,000 acres outside Thermopolis and it grew to become the largest sheep ranch in Wyoming by 1918. The ranch fell victim to the Great Depression and went...
Washakie County School District No. 2’s ‘Annual Leave’ policy came under review by the board of trustees during their meeting on June 10, sparked by a grievance from Technology Director Boyd Whitlock. Earlier in the school year, Whitlock suffered a broken ankle that rendered him unable to work for an extended period. Whitlock anticipated that he would get to use his sick days while recovering with a broken ankle, but found that he had to use his annual vacation days up first. He said, “I have 78 days of accrued sick time, and to have to use...
Worland Community Garden Manager Ivy Asay discussed new goals and the upcoming expansion project for the little plot at Newell Sargent Park. The community garden is run by a Community Garden Board, and according to their Facebook page they, “grow food for local non-profits and service organizations, and host educational programs.” Asay said, “Last year we were able to donate 3,864 pounds of produce, which was our best season yet, but our goal this year is to break 4,000 pounds.” She continu...
Maintenance and construction updates provided by Washakie Medical Center Plant Operations Manager Steve Weicki were the prominent topic of business during the hospital’s board of directors meeting May 28. During his report he announced that the hospital’s new MRI machine, its components and its containing room would be fully assembled by June 17, and then the process of calibrating the machine would begin. “The first part of July everything should be getting signed off on and back up and running, and we’ll say goodbye to the mobile MRI trailer,...
Science teacher Donna Hunter retired from Washakie County School District No. 1 at the close of the 2024 school year, marking an end to 30 years of teaching in Worland. Hunter grew up in the small town of Overgaard, Arizona, where she graduated high school in 1983. After high school she got an associate's degree from Northland Pioneer College in Show Low, Arizona, and lived and worked in Arizona until 1989 when she moved to Wyoming. She obtained a bachelor's degree in education from the...
Two Hot Springs County High School teachers spoke on the topic of salaries and benefits, stating that they appreciate the board’s efforts to keep salaries competitive with districts in neighboring communities, but expressed that more work needed to be done. London Jenks, a chemistry, physics and computer science teacher in Thermopolis, said that there are currently seven open positions in the state that would increase his pay, including one in Carbon County that would amount to a base pay increase of over $15,000. Lyle Wiley, an English, p...
Wyoming's U.S. Congressional Representative Harriet Hageman was a special guest during the annual Memorial Day service held at the Riverview Memorial Gardens cemetery in Worland and at the Ten Sleep Cemetery on May 27, and she delivered a very reflective speech. She began, "I want you to know what an incredible honor it is to represent you in Congress; I've been there for a little over a year and a half now, and I have learned a lot to say the least, but to be able to come back to Wyoming, to...
During the May 20 meeting of the Washakie County School District No. 1 Board of Trustees, the Master Teacher Award was presented to Rick Dorn, a social studies teacher at Worland High School. The Master Teacher Award is given annually by the board to a teacher in Worland's school district who goes above and beyond their duties as a teacher, making the extra effort to connect to their students. Dorn was selected by the board because, "His dedication to students is unmatched. He has left an...
Safe Community Day this Saturday, June 1 will give the community a chance to get up close with first responders and the equipment that they use to save lives. Kami Neighbors of Washakie County Emergency Management said, “It’s a chance for the public to come and meet our first responders and other agencies in our community that help keep our community safe. Typically, these are people that you meet when you’re having a bad day. Instead, we want you to meet them in a fun, safe environment.” Safe Community Day is hosted by Washakie County Emergen...
Following an executive/closed session during the Washakie County School District No. 2 board of trustees meeting on May 13, the board approved hiring several classified staff as well as extra duty assignments. The following classified staff were approved for the 2024-2025 school year: Galen Beamer, bus driver; Ernie Beckley, bus driver; Halli Caines, paraeducator; Crystal Cooper, paraeducator; Kady Gossens, head cook; Aaron Keyes, maintenance/transportation supervisor; Karen Krahn, custodian; Barb Lee, part time paraeducator; Mitzi Love, full t...
Wyoming Senior Citizens Inc., based out of Riverton, is looking for volunteers for their programs in the Big Horn Basin area. Volunteer opportunities are for people age 55 or older who would like to work with either children or the elderly. Executive Director Herb Wilcox said the private, nonprofit organization was founded in Riverton in 1975 with the goal of aiding senior citizens in maintaining their independence. Wilcox said the company’s mission statement is, “To help seniors remain independent living with dignity for as long as pos...
The annual Wyoming SkillsUSA competition took place in Casper April 22-24, where students with skills in various arts and trades have an opportunity to win scholarship money by competing against students from across Wyoming and neighboring states. This year, Worland took a team of 34 students to the competition competing in 12 categories, up from seven students the year before. Welding teacher Brian Aagard, who coached the SkillsUSA team for the first time last year, said, "The school as a whole...
On Saturday, April 27, U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-Wyoming) answered a number of questions from Washakie County residents during a town hall meeting April 27. BORDER One concerned citizen said, “When they [undocumented immigrants] first started coming across the border, I said they’re going to give them the vote. We’ve got to stop that.” Hageman responded, “We’ve got to change the law so that illegals are not counted in every district. That would disincentivize cities allowing them to come. Right now, we are giving seats back to California...
The town of Ten Sleep will be holding their municipal elections for mayor and two council seats on May 7 at the Ten Sleep Senior Center from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. Voter registration closed after April 24, but voters may register at the polls the day of the election. The lone candidate on the ballot for mayor is incumbent Ernie Beckley, who will be running for his second term after first elected in 2020. Beckley said the main reason that he is running again is, “I need to finish this project with our subdivision that we’re adding south of tow...
U.S. House of Representative Harriet Hageman (R-Wyoming) came to Worland for a town hall meeting on April 27 at the Worland Community Center Complex. This meeting was part of a series of town hall meetings, where Hageman personally reports on her work in Washington, D.C. and engages with the people whom she represents. "I'm your representative as you know, but I don't know how to represent you unless I'm able to have a conversation with you and talk about the issues that are important," she...
The Washakie County School District No. 1 Board of Trustees set new breakfast and lunch prices. Middle school and high school prices reflect the district not participating in the National School Lunch Program for those two schools. Free and reduced options are still available. Prices are as follows: Breakfast: elementary student, $2.25; middle school student, $2.65; high school student, $3.25; reduced price, $0.30; adult, $3.75. Lunch: elementary student, $3.25; middle school student, $3.65; high school student, $4.25; reduced price, $0.40 at...
The April 16 meeting of the Hot Springs County School District No. 1 Board of Trustees resulted in a long list of staffing recommendations being approved by the board. The following teaching contracts were approved for the 2024-2025 school year: Danielle Hill-Kunkeld, daycare support staff; Riley Jeffs, high school English language arts teacher ; Madelyn Deeds, elementary teacher; David VanSlyke, high school/middle school band and choir; Kaitlyn Dudrick’s middle school teaching contract was continued; The following resignations were a...
Ten Sleep School held an assembly on April 15 to honor first grade teacher Georgia Stocklin, the recipient of the school's 2024 Teacher of the Year Award. The award is decided by teachers in the district voting for a fellow educator they thought did an exemplary job in the last year. Stocklin, who has been with Ten Sleep School for 21 years, started as a paraeducator and moved into first grade education three years ago. She has recently graduated with a master's degree in elementary education. S...
Sixth grade teacher Wade Moor gave a presentation with Ten Sleep sixth graders during the Washakie County District 2 Board of Trustees meeting on April 8, proposing an alternative to the Teton Science Schools that Ten Sleep students will no longer be attending. The class instead has the idea to go on a summer trip to South Dakota and explore the Black Hills. They will base their travels out of an Airbnb in Hill City, and will spend three to four days traveling and sightseeing in South Dakota, with an itinerary planned with everything from...
Chief Nursing Officer Brandy Kottman filled in for Chief Executive Officer Lisa Van Brunt to deliver the CEO report at the Washakie Medical Center Board of Trustees meeting on March 26, where she detailed the current project to replace the hospital’s MRI machine. Kottman said the mobile MRI trailer that the hospital will use temporarily had arrived the day before, and it will be ready for use on April 4. It is set up in the employee parking lot. The trailer will facilitate only outpatient MRI’s because inpatient beds/stretchers will not fit...
Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon vetoed House Bill 0125 on March 22. HB125, also known as House Enrolled Act No. 49, would have repealed gun free zones in Wyoming. House Bill 0125 was passed through the Wyoming Legislature’s 2024 Budget Session successfully, but required the governor’s approval to become law. The act would have eliminated existing gun free zones at schools, government meetings and other public spaces across the state. It removed many barriers for residents to conceal carry a firearm, and also allowed governmental bodies pro...