Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
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WORLAND – Washakie County did not have an active case of COVID-19 on Wednesday, July 29, but saw a sharp increase starting the following day that has led to nine active cases in the county as of press time on Tuesday, Aug. 4. Washakie County Public Health (WCPH) released a statement on Facebook stating that several of the cases have been linked to adults between the ages of 20 to 40 attending social events, bars and reunions. The other cases are believed to be community spread which means t...
WORLAND – Washakie County School District No. 1 Superintendent David Nicholas presented a plan to the board at a special meeting that would allow students to attend school beginning later this month. Nicholas told the board last week at a special meeting July 30 at the Washakie County Fair that the re-opening plan has yet to be approved by the state or county, but he was seeking the approval of the board because he feels they should approve the plan that brings children back into the b...
WORLAND – The Washakie County commissioners met on Tuesday, Aug. 4, during their regularly scheduled meeting to discuss various road projects. The commissioners discussed with County Planner David Anderson what was required next in order to hold public hearings to adopt Lane 17 1/2 (Tiedown Road), and to vacate Lane 18 1/2. A petition was submitted to the county to make all of Tiedown Road a county road. However, the county has maintained a certain portion of Tiedown Road over the years, and d...
WORLAND – Washakie County Clerk Mary Grace Strauch was recognized as the Washakie County Republican of the Year at the Lincoln Day dinner on Saturday, July 25, at the Green Hills Restaurant. Strauch served as the Washakie County Republican Central Committee secretary from 1992 until last year when she decided to retire from the position. Her position included taking minutes for committee meetings, helping organize the Lincoln Day dinner and other events, organize conventions, send out c...
WORLAND – The filing period for Washakie County School Districts No. 1 and No. 2 school boards, as well as other special districts opened yesterday, Aug. 5, and continues through Aug. 24. There are three board positions available for each district, with those positions up for re-election in district No. 1 being Dean Dupree, David Tommerup and Susan Scheuerman who took over for Joe Bishop in March. In district No. 2 Jared Lyman, Chuck Powell and Terril Mills are all up for re-election this y...
WORLAND - The Washakie County School District No. 1 Board of Trustees met for an emergency board meeting via Zoom on Wednesday, Aug. 12, to discuss potentially delaying the start of the school year at East Side Elementary. The reason for wanting to delay the start was because of two lab-confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 in East Side staff, which according to Superintendent David Nicholas caused other staff to be quarantined as well. Nicholas said they were seeking the delay from the board... Full story
TEN SLEEP – The Washakie County School District No. 2 Board of Trustees met in a special session on Friday, July 24, to discuss the school’s reopening plan, and approve a shared employee with Washakie County School District No. 1. The main discussion of the board was the use of masks on students being a requirement which, according to Superintendent Jimmy Phelps, the board determined that due to small classroom size, students are not required to wear masks this upcoming school year due to the ab...
WORLAND – The annual Lincoln Day Dinner took place at the Green Hills Restaurant on Saturday, July 25, after it was originally delayed from April 6 due to COVID-19. This dinner gives local and state republican candidates the opportunity to introduce themselves to Washakie County Republicans, and serves as a fundraiser for the Washakie County Republican Party. The dinner featured State Treasurer Curtis Meier as the keynote speaker, and he spoke about the Occidental Petroleum property, COVID-19 f...
WORLAND – The Washakie County commissioners met on Tuesday, July 21, for their regularly scheduled meeting to discuss potential road affiliation changes, discuss language changes in the Natural Resource Plan (NRP) and receive board updates from department heads. A petition was submitted to County Planner David Anderson to change Lane 17 1/2 to a county road, as the county has done maintenance and repairs on the private road before and residents surrounding the road submitted the petition. M...
WORLAND – The Washakie County Commissioners met on Tuesday, July 21, at their regularly scheduled meeting and discussed the dry conditions impacting Washakie County and drafting a letter to send to Governor Mark Gordon to seek declaration of a drought and how to move forward with the process. Representatives present for the discussion were from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Farm Service Agency (FSA) which is a part of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), W...
WORLAND – Washakie County Public Health Nurse Manager Amanda Heinemeyer reported to the county commissioners Tuesday that Washakie County Public Health (WCPH) had received $130,000 in Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding for the testing of uninsured and underinsured individuals in Washakie County. She said with this funding they may be able to do surveillance testing in local businesses, but added that she is waiting on more guidelines before proceeding with that t...
By KARLA POMEROY and SETH ROMSA WORLAND — When fire management for the Neiber Fire south of Worland transitioned to a Type 3 Management Team, the Bureau of Land Management called up the Worland Community Center to provide shelter for firefighters. According to Marketing Director Sheryl Ley she was notified shortly before 5 p.m. on Wednesday by the BLM that they would be needing use of the facility for the management team. “We’re providing them the main conference room to utilize for eatin...
WORLAND – The Washakie County School District No. 1 Board of Trustees met on Wednesday, July 15, to discuss school reopening, hear a presentation from a student and approve bids for services for the 2020-21 school year. According to Superintendent David Nicholas, the initial plan that was discussed at last month’s board meeting that involved a four-phase plan for school being fully open, open with restrictions, partially open or closed with online learning has been scrapped and changed into a th...
WORLAND – The Washakie County School District No. 1 Board of Trustees passed their budget for the 2020-21 fiscal year during their monthly meeting on Wednesday, July 15. The general fund saw a slight increase from last year’s budget up to just over $25.8 million, from the $25.6 million that was budgeted for last year’s general fund. Total appropriations for the fiscal year total $42.5 million. Business Manager Jack Stott told the board that they are in a good spot with a balanced budget. The b...
TEN SLEEP – In the adoption of the 2020-21 fiscal year budget for Washakie County School District No. 2, Business Manager Connie Gay gave a detailed outline of the budget for the next year. The budget that was passed Monday night included $3,395,376 in the general fund for the 20-21 school year, which is an increase of $51,850 from last year’s budget. According to Gay, the budget increase is primarily made up due to increase to unemployment, employee benefits and property/liability ins...
WORLAND – Tracy Worrall has worked for Washakie County School District No. 1 for nearly 30 years, but decided to retire in order help open a spot for younger teachers to make their way into the field. Worrall was raised in Worland prior to deciding to go to college at the University of Arizona where she received her bachelor's degree in education with a minor in special education. She decided to specialize in special education when she was diagnosed with scoliosis at 15 and was placed into S...
TEN SLEEP – The Ten Sleep School Board will gain public input as they begin to make plans for getting back to school next month. During Monday’s regular board meeting, District Superintendent Jimmy Phelps and Principal Levi Collins discussed with the board their intentions to hold a special meeting, which was approved for Friday, July 17, via Zoom on Friday, July 17, to discuss the current reopening plan for the district. The district intends to present a plan to the public and gather input pri...
WORLAND – Absentee ballots for the primary elections are available up until the day before the primary election on Aug. 17 at 5 p.m. through the Washakie County clerk’s office According to County Clerk Mary Grace Strauch, absentee ballots may be requested either in person, by mail, through a form recently sent out to registered voters, over the phone at 347-3131, through fax or on the Washakie County website under the voting tab. Voters are being encouraged if they feel comfortable to vote via a...
WORLAND – The Washakie County commissioners met for their regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, July 7, to discuss the process of seeking contractor bids for the new Washakie County Library renovation project. The commissioners decided to begin the process of seeking bids from general contractors and sub-contractors starting on July 20 with specifications for the project expected by July 17 for remodeling costs for the facility at 801 Big Horn. Contract documents including proposal bid f...
WORLAND — The Washakie County commissioners listened to a request from Washakie County Ambulance Director Luke Sypherd for a potential increase to the ambulance department’s budget for the 2020-2021 fiscal year. The original county budget includes $37,000 for the department, but Sypherd was seeking an increase to the budget in order to gauge options to hire either more part-time help, seek a partnership with other agencies to have a paramedic on site to help due to rising ambulance calls. If...
WORLAND – At the Washakie Prevention Coalition (WPC) meeting on Thursday, June 25, both Washakie County Sheriff Steve Rakness and Worland Police Chief Gabe Elliott reported an increase in drug and substance abuse throughout Washakie County. According to Rakness, this uptick is due to people getting out more after essentially being in isolation due to COVID-19 for the last few months. The uptick that they have seen has been methamphetamine and heroin trafficking and usage. Local law e...
TEN SLEEP – Derald Cheeney, 85, has been a resident of Ten Sleep since his parents moved to town just a month after his birth, and has attended nearly every single year of the Ten Sleep Rodeo since the first edition of the annual event 74 years ago in 1946. Cheeney has been in attendance for nearly all 75 editions of the rodeo, except a small amount of years in the 1950s where he served in the military and was unable to attend the annual event. "I consider it a privilege and an honor to do i...
TEN SLEEP – Despite many events and large gatherings being cancelled around the state due to COVID-19, the 75th edition of the Ten Sleep Fourth of July Rodeo is set to take place on Friday and Saturday July 3 and 4, along with a wide range of other activities in Ten Sleep. According to Thelma Geis, the rodeo has been around since the mid-1940s as a non-profit rodeo that started from humble beginnings. Vehicles formed the arena early on prior to the completion of the Ten Sleep Rodeo Grounds. Wyom...
WORLAND – The Ten Sleep Town Council met in a special mid-month June meeting on Tuesday, June 23, and appointed a familiar face back to the council. At the start of the meeting, the council voted to appoint Amy Truman back to the council, Truman narrowly lost her re-election in May but applied for the seat after it opened up at the beginning of the month. Truman was voted into the seat by the council, ahead of Kevin Couch who was the other person to apply for the position. After appointing T...
The Fourth of July is a holiday to celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence of the United States from England nearly 250 years ago, but is typically one of the busiest times for law enforcement. Washakie County Sheriff Steve Rakness wants to remind people to not drink and drive because you not only put your life in danger, but also increase the chance of ending someone else’s life in the process. Rakness also wanted to remind those who are going camping this weekend to plan a...