Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
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Results are in for the spring 2024 WY-TOPP (Wyoming Test of Proficiency and Progress) standardized test, and Ten Sleep School has a lot to celebrate. WY-TOPP is an annual standardized test taken by students in every school district in Wyoming, used to gauge students' growth and proficiency in the areas of math, English language arts (ELA) and science. Grades 3 through 10 are tested in math and ELA, and grades 4, 8 and 10 are additionally tested in science. Based on performance, scores are...
In April of last year, the independent living coordinator at the Wyoming Boys' School Robin McIntosh took it upon himself to start cleaning out the facility's greenhouse, which through discontinued use had become more of a storage shed; after a year and a half, and through his efforts and those of science teacher Rebecca George it has become the center of a thriving garden program supported by all the schools' students and staff. McIntosh said that some teachers at the Boys' School had approache...
According to Washakie County Sheriff Austin Brookwell and Search and Rescue Captain David Michel, this time of year is a time of heightened activity for Washakie County Search and Rescue. Michel said, "It's hunting season, and soon there will be winter recreation; more people out combined with the changing of the weather means that this time of year is more busy for us than any other throughout the year." He continued, "Especially now, we can have really nice weather, and then by the end of the...
Sarah Anderson of Ten Sleep started work as a special education case manager at the Educational Resource Center in Worland in 2009, and her vision to solve the problems she encountered in her work has become a vital tool not only in her workplace, but for 150 special education departments and organizations in Wyoming, South Dakota, Montana and Colorado. As a case manager, Anderson was tasked with preparing Individual Education Plans (IEPs) for students in her district, ensuring that they receive all the services and support they need,...
Located at Newell Sargent Park in Worland, the Worland Community Garden continues its expansion project this fall. Garden Manager Ivy Asay is a Thermopolis native who graduated from high school in 2014. She attended college in Provo, Utah, where she obtained a degree in landscape management and met her husband, Dr. Stephen Asay. She later returned to the area she grew up in, settling in Worland where her husband works as a general practitioner for Hot Springs Health and as the Washakie County...
Opening in the summer of 2023, the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) Worland Air Base located at the Worland Municipal Airport had a relatively quiet fire season last year, but it has undergone some changes since transforming from an office building and it's geared up and able to handle the busy fire season this year. Firefighters at the Worland Air Base have been to 24 fires so far this season, and the base just reached the milestone of pumping 100,000 gallons of fire retardant solution on...
In an ever-evolving society marked by a changing job market and increased costs of living, it's more important than ever that graduating high schoolers are prepared for the road ahead. For that reason, the offering of career and technical education (CTE) courses at Worland High School has substantially grown this school year. Historically, when one thinks of CTE courses offered at the high school they might think about welding or automobile mechanics. While those programs are still around and...
Staff leave policies were a prominent topic once again at the Sept. 9 meeting of the Washakie County School District No. 2 Board of Trustees meeting. This time, the district’s three staff personal leave policies — one each for certified staff, classified staff and the principal — were discussed with the goal of aligning their language. A major discrepancy discussed was in the principal’s policy, which does not include reimbursement for personal days that are not used while the other two do. Board member Jared Lyman also noted that the policie...
An educator for 30 years now, teacher Carrie Ryan is returning to West Side Elementary School in the role of a special educator. Ryan began her teaching career in 1994 in Worland before getting an opportunity to work as an adaptive physical education teacher at West Side. She said, "I finished school, got married, began work, had kids, did that whole thing, and there was an opening here, it was just going to be one year only." She ended up staying until 2000, when the time came where she had...
Filling in for CEO Lisa Van Brunt during the Aug. 27 meeting of the Washakie Medical Center Board of Directors, Chief Nursing Officer Brandy Kottmann was happy to share some exciting news with board members. Kottmann announced that Washakie Medical Center had been declared the top health system employer in the State of Wyoming. These results come from a poll conducted by Forbes, according to Kottmann. Building report Plant Operations Manager Steve Wiecki began his report by sharing estimates for the project to replace flooring in the walk-in...
Having served as the director of the Washakie County Youth Alternative program in Worland for the past two years, Katie Kirby is excited to come back to school as a counselor who will split her time between Worland High School and the new alternative high school Whitehawk Academy. Kirby was born, raised and lived most of her life in the Midwest. She lived in Illinois until she went to college in Ohio, where she earned a bachelor's degree in social work, and master's degrees in counseling and...
Five years ago, Ethan Asher was a senior at Powell High School who got into a car accident on his way to school. As a result he sustained countless injuries, the most devastating being a severed spine and a severe brain injury; his doctors gave him a slim chance of survival, and an even slimmer chance of returning to himself if he were to live. Something Asher's doctors never could have predicted is that five years later he would be on a stage telling the story of his recovery. Now an...
During the Aug. 26 meeting of the Washakie County School District No. 1 Board of Trustees, staff and students representing Whitehawk Academy, the district’s new alternative high school, voiced excitement about the new school. Superintendent Tawn Argeris reported that the school opened its doors this fall to 16 students of junior and senior standing. It employs one full-time teacher, one part-time teacher, a full-time paraeducator and two counselors that alternate between the alternative school and Worland High School. The school is in the b...
Motorcyclists start their engines outside the Worland Elks Lodge and depart on the 12th Annual Badlands Poker Run on the morning of Saturday, August 24. The poker run is a fundraiser that supports the Washakie Hospital Foundation Cancer Fund....
Veterinarian Steve Tharp, D.V.M, owner of Tharp Veterinary Clinc, discussed the pros and cons of vaccinations after vaccinations came under scrutiny recently from a pet owner. In a previous edition of Northern Wyoming News, an article was published providing an update on the condition of Haley, a 2.5-year-old female dog who passed away at the beginning of August after a harrowing battle with a severe autoimmune disorder. Haley’s owners Judy and Jim Blackburn traced the onset of Haley’s decline in health to a vaccine she received from Tharp Vet...
Although a lifelong tattoo artist, Michael Mendoza opened his own tattoo shop for the first time on Aug. 24 in Worland. Simple Tatts is open at 123 North Fourth Street in Worland, Monday through Friday, noon to 9 p.m. Mendoza is also available for appointments by contacting the Simple Tatts Facebook page. While he may be opening a brick-and-mortar business for his art only recently, Mendoza has been doing tattoos for 27 years. He said, "I've always been tattooing, like literally. I started in...
With Big Horn County results rolling in at 10:25 p.m., the preliminary results for the Senate District 20 could be tallied. Incumbent Senator Ed Cooper (R-Ten Sleep) won Republican primary election by a margin of 222 votes, pushed by a 686 vote-victory in his home of Washakie County. Cooper had 2,650 votes, winning in Washakie and Fremont counties, and his opponent Tom Olmstead of Basin had 2,428 votes, winning in Park, Hot Springs and Big Horn counties. Cooper will go on to appear in the...
After growing up in Worland and staying in Thermopolis for 20 years, Bethany Webber is excited to continue her teaching career as an intervention teacher at East Side Elementary this school year. Webber said, "I love teaching, I have been instructing students of all ages for close to 18 years." She has worked in Washakie County School District No. 1 for three years as a substitute teacher leading up to this year. She added, "Prior to that I worked in Hot Springs County as an elementary teacher...
U.S. Senator John Barrasso and U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman were declared winners in their respective party nomination races Tuesday night, about an hour after polls closed. Unofficially, according to the Wyoming Secretary of State’s website, with all 23 counties reporting Barrasso won the Republican nomination with 70473 votes, Reid Rasner with 25,424 votes and John Holtz with 7,867 votes. Washakie County followed this trend, with 1,171 votes cast for Barrasso, 510 for Rasner and 109 for Holtz. The Democratic Senate nominee Scott Morrow has 1...
Several special district offices – elected positions that have a local impact – are set to appear on ballots for Washakie County’s General Election on Tuesday, Nov. 5. Terms are up for elected officials in eight of Washakie County’s Special Districts, and 20 offices will appear on the ballot. The filing period for these offices is currently underway, having begun on Aug. 7 and continuing until Monday, Aug. 26. The offices up for election, the incumbents whose terms are ending, and the status of individuals that have filed with the Washaki...
Megan McCoy is celebrating five years of sobriety on the day of publishing, August 15. She revisited the story of her addiction and her journey to overcome it. Megan's addiction began as she was growing up in Southern California at 11 years old. She was introduced to drugs and alcohol by a mix of both family and friends. She said, "Where I grew up in Southern California, it was pretty common for your friends' parents to be cool with you drinking at their house, or they would have older...
During their meeting Monday, Aug. 12, the Washakie County School District No. 2 Board of Trustees approved a plan to implement “leadership governance” in their operation moving forward. Superintendent Annie Griffin introduced the concept as establishing a framework for what it means to be a board member. This practice entails putting roles and responsibilities in place for board members and giving clarity and focus to their goals as a board. A practice that has already been implemented in some neighboring districts, Griffin said that a key ben...
Judy and Jim Blackburn were sad to inform the Northern Wyoming News that although their dog Haley’s life was extended after receiving a blood transfusion from Sasha, a dog at New Hope Humane Society, Haley passed away on Aug. 1. After suffering from an enlarged spleen, Haley underwent surgery to remove the organ at Tharp Veterinarian Clinic in Worland last month, but her condition continued to deteriorate. The Blackburns traced the decline in Haley’s health to June 12 when she received a distemper vaccine. They conclude that Haley was mis...
The Wyoming Secretary of State’s Office released a statement on July 29 stating that the “People’s Initiative to Limit Property Tax in Wyoming through a Homeowner’s Exemption,” a citizen-led initiative to get a 50% cut to residential property tax on the ballot, did not achieve the 29,730 approved signatures required for approval for it to appear on ballots in the Nov. 5 election. This minimum was determined from state statute that requires a minimum of 15% of Wyoming voters who participated in the 2022 general election. Notably, the initiativ...
Chief Nursing Officer Brandy Kottman reported that the hospital was one of countless businesses affected by the Crowdstrike outage that hit Microsoft computers using the third-party cybersecurity software on Friday, July 19. She said, “All of our computers were down. We were unable to transfer images from our radiology department. Thankfully, Doctor [John] Bramble was in town, so he was able to read images while we were down, and we did not have to divert trauma or stroke patients.” She continued, “We did reschedule any outpatient procedures un...