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  • When is enough, enough?

    Apr 18, 2024

    by Rhett Breedlove, Torrington Telegram This perhaps is something everyone can relate to, and it falls under all sorts of categories. It’s in our nature to continue to try over, and over again until we finally succeed. Or at least until we get something right. This is the absolute truth if we ever plan to get anywhere in life, and as we all know very well by now nothing worth having is going to come easy. When we were young we were rightfully taught if at first you don’t succeed, you must try, try again. Absolutely. None of us ever became good...

  • Petition for the special district ballot

    Apr 18, 2024

    The petition at the Hot Springs County Senior Center is simply to put the question of a special district on the ballot. Then if Democracy works correctly, people vote for or against it in the August primary. This petition is only to get the word out there, get it on the ballot and the voters say yes or no in August. A district would affect only property owners. If you don’t own property, you don’t pay a thing. Property owners would pay $1.59 per month on a $100,000 home and, in my opinion, that is not much. Once it gets on the ballot, it is the...

  • Bad behavior by one not condoned by other Wyomingites

    Apr 11, 2024

    by Lara Love A photo being circulated of a wolf with red tape wrapped around its muzzle posed next to Daniel, Wyo. resident Cody Roberts, has people across Wyoming and the nation sickened by the man’s actions, myself included. The man reportedly ran the wolf down with a snowmobile on the last day of February. He did not kill the wolf. Instead he kept the wolf, bringing it into the Green River Bar in Daniel on March 1, before later killing the wolf behind the building. The Wyoming Game and Fish fined Roberts $250 for possessing a live wolf. T...

  • Pain - It's no joke

    Apr 11, 2024

    by Jill Kruse, DO There is an old joke where a man walks into his doctor’s office and says, “Doc, it hurts every time I do this. What should I do? To which the doctor replies, “Simple, don’t do that!” While the advice seems trite and maybe even insulting, like most jokes, there is some truth in it. Pain is one of the ways your body tries to protect you from even worse injury. Pain tries to keep you from walking on a sprained ankle or lifting things with a broken arm. In those cases, the advice from the doctor is accurate. We cast broken bo...

  • Easter egg hunt rescheduled for this Sunday

    Apr 4, 2024

    The annual Lion’s Club Easter Egg Hunt has been rescheduled for this Sunday, April 7 at 2 p.m. in Hot Springs State Park. Last Sunday’s weather was not favorable for the event. At press time, the forecast for the weekend is for moisture both days. We are hopeful that for a few hours on Sunday we will get a window of relief from the rain so the annual event can be held. A local Lion’s Club representative said that they believe it has only be three times that the event had to be canceled or rescheduled due to weather. They also said if there is i...

  • Let go of the anchor

    Apr 4, 2024

    by Bryan Golden Imagine you are swimming while holding a heavy anchor which is pulling you under water. What would you do? Of course you would let go of the anchor to keep from drowning. Maintaining your grip on the anchor would lead to certain disaster. With your survival at stake, you wouldn’t hesitate to drop the anchor. Yet, in life there are issues you are hanging onto which are drowning you. Anger, hate, bitterness, resentment, and grudges are all anchors pulling you to the bottom. Trying to change circumstances outside of your control al...

  • Is the town of Shoshoni a 'speed trap'?

    Apr 4, 2024

    When I moved to Shoshoni, Wyoming in 1981, the town was well known for the fantastic milkshakes and malts served at the Yellowstone Drug Store. The Yellowstone Drug Store is no longer open for business, but that’s not to say Shoshoni isn’t well known for other things. A quick visit to Wikipedia.com reveals; “The town has gained notoriety as a speed trap due to numerous references citing its aggressive enforcement of traffic laws. According to available data, the town has a 32% ticket to resident rate, suggesting a disproportionate number of tr...

  • Transparency at work in School District 2

    Mar 28, 2024

    by David Peck, Lovell Chronicle, via WNE Newspapers from coast to coast a few weeks ago celebrated Sunshine Week, a time to champion openness and transparency in government in issues from access to public records to open meetings. Ironically, Sunshine Week 2024 happened to coincide with an example of transparency worth celebrating in Lovell. Thursday night, Big Horn County School District No. 2 held a public forum during which citizens were able to question three finalists to be the next principal of Lovell Elementary School. We’re not sure m...

  • Feeling winded?

    Mar 28, 2024

    by Andrew Ellsworth, MD “Well, doc,” the patient was telling me, “I get winded so easily now. I can hardly go to the mailbox without stopping to catch my breath. It did not used to be that way. Do you think something is wrong?” Many of us have experienced shortness of breath. After a period of inactivity, such as winter or a busy month, when we decide to exercise again, it may be easier to feel winded. That experience can be due to deconditioning, feeling out of shape. A good remedy for that is a gradual increase in exercise, helping us to r...

  • Spring burn planned

    Mar 21, 2024

    In cooperation with Hot City Outdoor Alliance and the Thermopolis Fire Department, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department is planning a prescribed burn at the Wedding of the Waters Public Access Area near Thermopolis later this week. On the morning of March 21, crews plan to burn one half acre of phragmites, an invasive perennial reed grass, along the shoreline of the Bighorn River, upstream and downstream of the boat ramp. Ignition is tentatively planned for 10 a.m. The prescribed burn is weather dependent. Sportspersons should be aware that acc...

  • Site of proposed shooting complex questioned

    Mar 21, 2024

    To Commissioner Galovich et al.: It’s come to my attention that County Commissioners have decided that if Hot Springs County’s bid for the shooting complex is successful that it will be sited west of the Red Lane neighborhood. This was also where you were going to site the trash transfer station. My question is why are you intent on sitting noisy, noxious enterprise above a quiet housing area? I’ve heard that a rifle shot fired from the proposed site is no noisier that the train going by. While that may be true the train goes through a few t...

  • UNConstitutional republic review

    Mar 21, 2024

    Last week’s paper reported that the Hot Springs County Republican Party passed three resolutions. The first, requiring a return to hand counting ballots for all elections in Wyoming, should be summarily dismissed. All studies show that the error rate for voting machines is much lower than hand counts of ballots. Hand counting ballots would make Wyoming elections less secure. If you have questions regarding the safety of our voting machines and elections processes, please visit with our County Clerk who can outline all of the election p...

  • Five myths about Social Security

    Mar 21, 2024

    by Sam Shumway AARP Wyoming State Director For most of us, Social Security is – or will be – essential for helping to cover daily living expenses and pay bills as we get older. The bottom line is that Social Security is your money, earned through a lifetime of hard work. Yet there are persistent misconceptions about its long-term financial stability and how it works. Here are facts behind five of the most stubborn Social Security myths. Myth #1: Social Security is going broke. The facts: Social Security will not run out of money, as long as wor...

  • Freedom of information

    Mar 14, 2024

    During National Sunshine Week, we celebrate freedom of information (FOI) laws and efforts to use and ensure the effectiveness of those laws to get the information we need as self-governing citizens. Over a century ago, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, stated that “Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants.” The Florida Society of Newspaper Editors launched Sunshine Sunday in 2002 in response to efforts by some Florida legislators to create scores of new exemptions to the state’s public records law. It was decided that the i...

  • Wyoming Boys' School is last hope for troubled kids

    Mar 14, 2024

    The recent lawsuit against the Boys’ School is a blow to youth welfare in our state and cruel, destructive slander against some of our neighbors, in my opinion. As a former employee at WBS, I saw firsthand how dedicated WBS staff are to helping young men. The alleged physical abuse is so out of character for the men primarily mentioned as to be laughable if not so vicious. Those dorm staff put themselves in harms way each day, take grotesque verbal abuse and physical attacks, but still are dedicated to giving young offenders a last chance to b...

  • Check of counterfeits

    Mar 7, 2024

    by Zac Taylor, Powell Tribune A $100 bill remains an extraordinary piece of currency to hold. Even in an age of inflation, a Benjamin still represents some serious dough. These days, the bill is also a veritable work of art, with various designs, a hologram and textures. Those are there, of course, to make it hard for counterfeiters to work, but it seems locally a few have gotten through to local businesses. The Powell Police Department has reported three instances of counterfeit $100 bills ending up in the hands of tellers who spotted the...

  • Transparency demands accuracy!

    Mar 7, 2024

    I am disappointed with the way the Town of Thermopolis released the officer cam video of April 28, 2023, regarding the officer-involved shooting. The video was narrated by the Town and stated the officer had permission to cite or arrest. This is misleading at best. I refer you to the October 12, 2023, Independent Record article in which the Wyoming DCI Special Agent report is given in its entirety. Clearly, the officer in question did not have permission to illegally break down a door without a warrant, as laid out in the DCI investigation....

  • Leaping into March

    Feb 29, 2024

    The Independent Record staff is providing you with five papers in February this year. Leap year occurs every four years with Feb. 29 being designated as Leap Day. For us to print five papers in February, the 1st and the 29th had to fall on a Thursday, which is very rare. But what is a leap year? According to NASA, although our calendars usually consist of 365 days, it actually takes approximately 365.2422 days for Earth to orbit the sun. Research indicates that in 45 B.C., Roman emperor Julius Caesar, with the help of astronomer Sosigenes,...

  • Is this still the land of the free?

    Feb 29, 2024

    A Visitor From The Past: by Thelen Paulk I had a dream the other night, I didn’t understand. A figure walking through the mist, with flintlock in his hand. His clothes were torn and dirty, as he stood there by my bed. He took off his three-cornered hat, and speaking low, he said: “We fought a revolution, to secure our liberty. We wrote the Constitution, as a shield from tyranny. For future generations, this legacy we gave. In this, the land of the free and home of the brave. “The freedom we secured for you, we hoped you’d always keep. But tyran...

  • Legislature in full swing

    Feb 22, 2024

    Cheyenne is around a five hour drive from Thermopolis, but the work of our state’s legislature will affect us in Hot Springs County as well as every county around the state. There are a number of important issues facing Wyoming and our Legislatures. Property taxes, voting regulations and foreign ownership of Wyoming land are just a few of the topics that are keeping us all interested as they move through the process. As a reminder, the Wyoming Legislature’s website can be used to track legislation and participate in policymaking during the 202...

  • No man is an island

    Feb 22, 2024

    by Andrew Ellsworth, MD “No man is an island, entire of itself, every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.” This is the beginning of a poem from 1624. In it, the poet John Donne appreciates how humans are all connected. Indeed, humans are social beings, and social connection is a factor in our health. We all know the importance of a healthy diet and exercise for our health. We are getting better at understanding the importance of mental health. One thing we do not discuss much, however, are the benefits of social connection. Our...

  • Legislature convenes

    Feb 15, 2024

    The 67th Wyoming Legislature convened in a joint session of the Wyoming Senate and House of Representatives on Monday, Feb. 12, during the first day of legislative proceedings of the 2024 Budget Session. Gov. Mark Gordon delivered his State of the State address, followed by the State of the Judiciary address, delivered by Wyoming Supreme Court Chief Justice Kate M. Fox. We encourage you to use the Wyoming Legislature’s website to track legislation and participate in policymaking during the 2024 Budget Session. The web address is www.wyoleg.gov...

  • Citizen submits department of education information

    Feb 15, 2024

    Well the statistics are in from the Wyoming Department of Education for the 2022/2023 school year. How did our School District really do, not what we are told by our school administrators? Ralph Witters Elementary: School performance rating / small school decision – meeting expectations Achievement Target Level – below target Achievement Normal Category – below average Thermopolis Middle School either meets or exceeds expectations in all categories Thermopolis High School was overall categorized as meeting expectations although in the categ...

  • GOP quarterly meeting information

    Feb 15, 2024

    by Leyann Gomez Sharon Hall, Scott Brown, and Raelene Wood along with other folks of Lovell hosted the Wyoming Republican Party’s quarterly meeting at the Community Center. All of the counties were represented. Saturday’s session got off to business despite snowy conditions for attendees from Worland and Thermopolis with a tricky drive. National Committeeman Corey Steinmetz read a polished letter from Senator Barrasso to the gathering. State Committeewoman Carla Klopfenstein from Sheridan read a letter from Congresswoman Harriet Hageman, who ha...

  • Fundamental functions: Ear, nose, throat

    Feb 15, 2024

    by Debra Johnston, MD I confess that occasionally even doctors get squeamish. Or perhaps more honestly, this doctor does. My personal list has gotten pretty short, but one of the things that still makes me squirm is something I nevertheless frequently recommend to my patients. So what is this mysterious and rather ominous medical recommendation? Nasal saline irrigation. The practice of rinsing the nose out with liquid probably originated centuries ago in India, and it remains part of spiritual ritual as well as traditional medicine around the...

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