Your source for news in Hot Springs County
Your source for news in Hot Springs County
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In the recent Travel and Tourism board meeting held at the Hot Springs County Museum, Director Jackie Dorothy provided some good news in their financial report. The Lodging Tax Distribution check that was posted on June 30, was for $4,301.06. However, for the following month, with the date posted on July 31, the Lodging Tax Distribution was $20,586.05. In Dorothy’s Director’s Report, she said that the budget has been finalized and sent to the state and the county. Dorothy talked about the success of the previous photo contest and proposed a s...
The Thermopolis Chamber of Commerce recently reviewed their bylaws and made a variety of housekeeping changes. Mostly the language was cleared up, removing confusion or unnecessary verbiage. However, they did make a significant change to their calendar of terms and this was passed after a vote. Prior to this change, the calendar for the fiscal year and the start/end dates of the terms of the members of the board were at different times. The fiscal year is July 1 to June 30, but the terms of the...
With travelers and tourists making their presence known in Hot Springs County, many RV parks and local motels have positive things to report. Business is booming at the moment. Eagle RV’s Dennis Jaussaud said, “We’ve been absolutely just crazy busy. Which is good. We started out the year, usually, we start getting reservations in December, even the year before. But most of them start coming December, January and when they announced the virus we got tons of cancelations. Usually, Memorial Day sta...
The Hot Springs County Commissioners have approved their budget for the 2020-2021 fiscal year. Total requirements from the General Fund for the year will be $13,072,237, down $303,000 from the current fiscal year. With appropriations of just over $11.6 million, the commissioners dipped into the cash reserve fund for $1.4 million, $500,000 less than this year. Most line items that have had increases will see modest ones such as the airport budget that is seeing a boost of about $2,000, and less...
Danielle Yarrington recently opened her new restaurant Elle’s Restaurant and Bar in the former location of Thermopolis Cafe. Her journey to get to this place has been full of hard work and perseverance. When Yarrington graduated high school in 2015, she left Thermopolis and went to school in Casper for three years and graduated with two associate degrees. Yarrington has been working in restaurants since her sophomore year of high school. She came back to Thermopolis and began the process to b...
In the Travel and Tourism Board’s financial report of the Annual Lodging Tax Revenue Comparison, the data showed some positive information. The total revenue for the 2019-2020 year was $181,497.51, higher than the previous year. The total revenue for the 2018-2019 year was $172,170.04. Even though the revenue for the final three months of the fiscal year, April, May and June were significantly lower than the previous year due to the COVID-19 situation, they showed an overall increase. The L...
Chamber Executive Director Meri Ann Rush gave a report for their fireworks stand at the latest Chamber of Commerce Zoom meeting. Rush had just finished their final inventory and said that the goal was to sell a gross of a quarter-million dollars. Rush said, “We bypassed that.” Even after selling fireworks with huge discounts, sometimes up to 80% off, they made a lot of gross revenue. Rush said that leftover fireworks will be taken to other stores that are open. For the next year, there will be...
Wyoming Main Street's "Shop Smart, Shop Safe" campaign kicked off last week and you have probably seen the window clings and decals in our local businesses. Promoting safe practices while you're out shopping is the idea behind the campaign with a billboard on US 20 North, just outside of town. Main Street Thermopolis distributed the window clings and decals as well as t-shirts to the shops and restaurants along our historic downtown district that features the campaign's buffalo logo. To go...
The Wyoming Main Street “Shop Smart, Shop Safe” campaign kicked off last week and Main Street Thermopolis has been distributing window clings and decals at local businesses that promote safe practices as shopping gets busier this summer. Wyoming Main Street provided the window clings and has provided funding for several other safety promotions in the community, including a billboard on US 20, just north of town. There are also t-shirts being distributed to the shops and restaurants in the his...
The Thermopolis Town Council passed their 2021 budget on the third reading, however, assistant to the Mayor Fred Crosby did say that they may have to act fast on their feet later in the year. At the June 16 council meeting, Crosby said he has heard from the State that things may not go as well this year as they thought. If things look bad in three or four months they may have to revisit the budget and make some changes. This was due to the lower revenues caused by the COVID-19 situation. In...
In preparation for the coming election and the vote on the new lodging tax, a new political action committee was formed to assist the Travel and Tourism Board in fundraising efforts. This tax will not be money taken from the local residents, but instead, it will be collected by motels from tourists who stay at their venues. The reason the PAC was created is that the Tourism Board cannot lobby for itself. Greg Willson will be the PAC’s chair and Meri Ann Rush will be the Treasurer. Willson explai...
The Hot Springs County Commissioners approved an addendum to a hangar lease at the airport, which allows a small portion of land to be added to a lease in order to place a propane tank on the property. According to FBO Nate Messenger, there were 140 operations at the airport during the month of May, including two air ambulances. He indicated fuel sales are up quite a bit from April, as well. A new seal coat for the runway is expected to begin sometime toward the middle of this month. Once the...
The Chamber of Commerce is looking for high school students and adults to operate their fireworks store in preparation for the Independence Day holiday. Fireworks SuperMarket purchased the store last year and contacted the Chamber in February. They wanted to find an organization to run it. Chamber director Meri Ann Rush contacted a few different organizations to manage the store and couldn't find anybody to do it. Then the COVID-19 situation occurred and Rush wondered if any events were going...
Several financial issues were discussed, including the next year’s budget amongst others, during the May 19 Thermopolis Town Council meeting. Town Attorney Mike Messenger gave the first reading of a price increase for the legislature and the courts increase in cost for operation and maintenance of the computer software system and operation for the municipal court and for all courts as well. This is amending Ordinance #848 increasing the court automation fee from $25 to $40 pursuant to Wyoming s...
The filing period for county, municipal and state offices is open and ends May 29. County and precinct committee office candidates should file at the Hot Springs County Clerk’s office and town candidates file at Town Hall. Candidates for state offices should file at the Secretary of State’s office, State House District 28 Rep. John Winter of Thermopolis has said he plans to seek a second term. Levi Shinkle, also of Thermopolis, has announced his intention to seek the Democratic nomination for the seat. State Senator Wyatt Agar has ann...
by Tom Coulter Wyoming Tribune Eagle Via Wyoming News Exchange CHEYENNE – After a bill to grant immunity to business owners from COVID-19 lawsuits faltered during the first day of the Wyoming Legislature’s special session, a renewed effort to provide those protections was successful in the second and final day of the session Saturday. On Friday, the Senate approved a proposal in a standalone bill to protect businesses from any lawsuit brought by people exposed to COVID-19. However, the House did not take up a mirror version of the bill, lea...
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Hot Springs County Assessor’s Office has not been able to do their normal field work, but beginning Monday, May 18, they will be resuming their field work with implementation of safety measures. All employees will be wearing a protective face shield and will use hand sanitizer before and after contact with each property owner. They will arrive in a vehicle that is marked with the official Hot Springs County logo on the doors and will have identification badges for you to view at your request. During the r...
As the State of Wyoming slowly begins to reopen, Hot Spring County Travel & Tourism recognizes that all our local business owners need as much help as possible to restart their businesses. That is why they have teamed up with Truly360, a Google partner, to offer a free Coronavirus Relief Package. Truly360 is a Google Trusted Agency and is offering a limited amount of free services for Hot Spring County businesses. All businesses, tourism related and otherwise, are invited to schedule a call to see what your business can qualify for from Truly36...
During this time of uncertainty and closures that have negatively impacted our economy, Hot Springs County Travel & Tourism have teamed up with the Wyoming Office of Tourism (WOT) to unite residents with the Spirit of Travel. Wyoming’s travel and tourism industry will be essential to Wyoming’s recovery, especially since it is Wyoming’s number two economy generator. “Now, more than ever, it is extremely important to recognize Wyoming’s tourism industry contributions and continue to advocate its vitality to the state,” said Diane Shober, exe...
Hot Springs County Travel and Tourism’s Director Jackie Dorothy welcomed new members Rachel Moon and Susan Lankford to the board during their April meeting via Zoom. Dorothy presented the latest financial report to the board. She said their numbers started off strong in March. “We were hit hard, as everyone knows, from the Coronavirus and those numbers fizzled off.” She compared the total revenue for April, which was $8,212.59. That amount was down 58% from last year. However, last year they were up 130%. This was due to the construction that...
by Mara Abbott Buffalo Bulletin Via Wyoming News Exchange BUFFALO — Johnson County Health Officer Dr. Mark Schueler extended an exception to three local businesses that will allow them to reopen despite executive orders from Gov. Mark Gordon that forced many businesses across the state to close more than a month ago in an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The businesses include Penny’s Shearing Shed and the Lacquered Up nail salon in Kaycee, as well as the Buffalo Athletic Club. The Buffalo Athletic Club was open to patrons on Mon...
For those who have recently been laid off due to the pandemic, there is now a Hot Springs County Job Board with local job leads and resource links. The link is on the tourism website, www.thermopolis.com, and will be updated as new information is sent in. The link is also on the Hot Springs County Travel & Tourism Facebook page. Nine other counties are also participating with the local job boards to help workers displaced by the COVID-19 crisis. The boards have been a way for tourism organizations, chambers and economic development...
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Hot Springs County Memorial Hospital’s CEO Margie Molitor announced that “In light of everything happening we have a move-in date of April 29 that is tentative.” The hospital will do a virtual open house on Facebook and the internet prior to the move in so the public can see all the rooms and facilities. They have postponed their strategic planning until a later date. She also said they have one patient that is positive with COVID-19 in the hospital that...
Pinnacle Bank is randomly handing out 30 gift certificates at their drive-thru, in hopes of positively impacting both local restaurants and community members. The Thermopolis branch began distributing them on April Fools, and it is no joke. “We know families and local businesses have been impacted. This is one way we can help our neighbors and local restaurants,” said Minnie Miller, Market President. The branch compiled a list of all restaurants currently offering curbside pick-up and developed a gift certificate, valued up to $10.50, to be...
Local businesses in Thermopolis have taken significant measures in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic, and many wonder where their futures lie. The nation’s overall reaction to the Coronavirus has been strong with President Trump, state governors and local town mayors all essentially shutting down many businesses, except for federally recognized essential ones, to prevent the spread of the virus. Some residents are in fear, others are in denial and others have hope in the face of this abrupt e...
