Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
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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...
The Washakie Museum and Cultural Center in Worland will have a free screening of the short film "Socks" at 6 p.m. Saturday, April 6. "Socks" is a movie produced, written and directed by Patrick Mignano based on his father's dream and featuring local talent. Mignano is a Los Angeles, California-based film location manager with over 40 years of experience in the industry. He grew up in Star Valley, graduated high school in 1980 and went on to get a film degree from Montana State University. He is...
Easter is this Sunday and all the usual Easter egg hunting grounds in Washakie County will be welcoming guests once again. The Worland Aquatic Center, having missed last year, will once again welcome guests for an egg hunt on Saturday, March 30. Easter eggs will be thrown throughout the pool, and kids will have to dive and splash around to get to them. Specially marked eggs can be found to earn prizes. Two sessions will be held, one from 1 to 2:30 p.m., and one from 3 to 4:30 p.m. Ages 3 to 7 will be in the shallow pool, and ages 7 to 11 will...
Cloud Peak Counseling Center in Worland is set to undergo a merger with Big Horn Basin Counseling Services in Basin and Lovell and Yellowstone Behavioral Health Center in Cody and Powell to become the Oxbow Center, a single mental health service provider that will serve Washakie, Big Horn and Park counties beginning April 1. Leadership will be Mary Johnson (former Cloud Peak Counseling Center CEO) as CEO, Dey Lynn Stebner (former Big Horn Basin Counseling Services executive director) as chief program officer, and Becky Ransom (former Yellowston...
During the March 14 meeting of the Hot Springs School District No. 1 Board of Trustees, a celebration was held to recognize educators whose classes achieved top 10 scores in Wyoming in either the ACT or Wyoming Test of Proficiency and Progress tests taken this school year. Eleven teachers were credited with making the top 10, and some more were recognized for finishing in first place in their teaching categories. Ryan Roybal and London Jenks’ classes both earned first place in science, and the math team of Darren Elder, Janelle Snedigar and F...
The Wyoming Legislature’s 2024 Budget Session came to a close after 20 days in session on March 8. Although some were skeptical that the budget would be finalized by that day, both House and Senate were able to come to an agreement and passed a budget on time. District 20 Senator Ed Cooper (R-Ten Sleep) said, “The budget got done, and it’s not a perfect budget but I think it’s a pretty darn good budget. I would have liked to see a few more cuts in some places, but it’s very equitable and we met just about halfway between the Senate’s...
By Hot Springs County submitted a formal request for proposal to be considered for the location of the State Shooting Complex. Hot Springs County Commissioner Paul Galovich said he first got wind about the complex from Hot Springs County Representative John Winter. He told the commissioners about the State’s plan to build a $10 million shooting sports complex, capable of hosting international tournaments. The State conducted a pre-request for proposal process (RFP) where interested counties could submit proposals for their candidacy. G...
Visitor input during the March 11 Washakie County School District No. 2 Board of Trustees meeting was dominated by an issue of communication between school officials and community members. First to speak was CJ Grimes, who said, "I met with [Principal Robert] Griffin last week to discuss a transportation issue, and I just got this kind of impression that there's maybe some communication problems, maybe he's spread a little thin because there's a lot going on... is there a span and control issue...
At the close of the third week of the 2024 Wyoming Legislative Budget Session, District 20 Senator Ed Cooper (R-Ten Sleep) stated that the process of reaching concurrency on the budget was behind schedule. He said in an interview Sunday, “The appropriations committee has until Monday to finish the budget, and we’ll either approve it or disapprove it on the floor. If we can’t do that, then a new committee is appointed and we basically have until the end of the week to get this worked out; if we don’t get it done, there are three more days av...
Four Worland High School students had the opportunity to attend the CADCA Youth Leadership Program in Washington, D.C. earlier this year. The opportunity was extended by the Washakie Prevention Committee, who invited members of the W Club to submit an application as well as an essay describing why they wanted to go. Worland High School juniors Kaydence Mosley, Shaelynn Whitlock, Isabel Accurso and Jace Erickson were selected, and all of their travel expenses were paid for by the Drug Free...
State Senator Ed Cooper of Ten Sleep (R-SD20) provided an update on the second week of the 2024 Wyoming Legislation Budget Session, and although he largely approved of the 67 amendments to the budget as it stands after completing the second round of readings, he did voice frustrations. He said, “We worked late every night that we worked on the budget in the Senate, usually finishing at 11 or 11:30, and the House got done after us. It was easily 15- to16-hour days every day. It’s exhausting, but we did some good work. There were some good, sol...
As the second week of the Wyoming Legislature’s 2024 Budget Session nears an end, District 20 Senator Ed Cooper of Ten Sleep had much to discuss about the first week. Cooper broke down some of his positives and negatives of the first five days of the session by saying, “On the Senate side, we got through introduction of all of our bills, and like always we killed a few bad ones and we killed a few good ones. The introductory process requires a two-thirds majority with only three minutes to describe your bill. It doesn’t give a real good pictu...
Thermopolis Middle School Principal Darren Luebbe and High School Principal Catelyn Deromedi gave a joint report on how bullying is handled within their schools to the Hot Springs County School District No. 1 Board of Trustees at the Feb. 15 meeting. Luebbe said, “We have a bullying reporting system that’s on our district website that allows students to report bullying and sends that report to us, and it’s available to parents as well.” He stated that kids in each grade are taught how to use the reporting system at the beginning of each sc...
Locally, the legacy of Worland Speech and Debate is well-known. Having just won a championship in 3A last year, the program is renowned for its seemingly perpetual standing as a top speech and debate program in the state thanks to excellent coaching through the years from the likes of Kevin Tonkovich, Cornell Loschen and Rick Dorn. Worland has also garnered a reputation for producing competitors who pursue speech and debate after they graduate high school. Coach Rick Dorn said that currently,...
The Wyoming Legislature 2024 Budget Session will begin next Monday, Feb. 12, at which time all government representatives in the state will convene at the Capitol in Cheyenne to begin their bi-annual work on Wyoming’s budget and other issues. District 20 Senator Ed Cooper of Ten Sleep previewed important topics that will appear in session. Cooper began by introducing key differences between a general session and budget session. A budget session lasts 20 days over a period of four weeks – half the length of a general session. Cooper said, “At a...
After working for the past decade as CEO at Washakie Medical Center, Jay Stallings has retired from his role at the hospital. Stallings officially stepped down from his role at the beginning of 2024, but stayed on through January in an advisory role to aid in the transition of the new CEO, Lisa Van Brunt. He said of Van Brunt, "She is really a very hard worker. As we identified the traits of the new CEO going forward, there's no question that she meets those expectations." Stallings added, "But...
Worland Senior Center Executive Director Wendy Fredricks detailed what home services means to her organization and what they can look like in Worland soon in a recent interview. She said, “What we find is that putting someone in an institution is going to be way more expensive than keeping them at home, especially if all they need is a shower, some meals, some rides, a button.” “For many of our home clients, there’s just something they have trouble with now that’s interfering with their day. Let’s say you host friends for a card game once a...