Trailblazer Days – Opening the Last Frontier is an America 250 celebration honoring our place in history of this great nation. We will twist back in time when accessing the Big Horn Basin was incredibly difficult. Due to the rough terrain of high mountains and deep canyons, supplying freight and supplies to the new settlement of Thermopolis was slow and dangerous. The teamsters had to be as tough as the landscape which honed their tenacity, courage and skill. Our local legacy story of Henry Johnson, also known as 16-Mule Team Johnson, is a...

by Maya Shimizu Harris, WyoFile.com, via WNE While acknowledging the use of various restraint methods, confinement and force to keep residents under control, defendants in a lawsuit alleging abuse at a state-run facility for delinquent boys contend their actions didn’t run afoul of the law, a court document filed Thursday shows. The defendants, which include the Wyoming Department of Family Services, the Wyoming Boys’ School and 10 school employees, also dispute some of the former residents’ account of what occurred at the school,...

From Wyoming News Exchange newspapers Powell teen dies in fall from Elk Basin pumpjack POWELL (WNE) — A Powell area teenager died over the weekend, after he reportedly climbed on top of and fell from a piece of oil field equipment in Elk Basin. He was 17 years old. In a news release, the Park County Sheriff’s Office said it was told that the teen died in a fall from “a moving pumpjack” in the Silvertip Oil Field north of Powell. The incident is believed to have occurred very early Saturday morning, said Park County Coroner Cody...

The Wyoming High School Activities Association (WHSAA) Board convened in Casper on April 28. A significant portion of the meeting was dedicated to discussing the projected funding shortfall for student activities and athletics resulting from recent changes to Wyoming’s school funding model. Board members reviewed the impact of the 2026 legislative recalibration bill, which introduced a new “silo” approach to the state’s block grant funding. Under this model, funding allocated for student activities and extra-duty responsibilities has...

First Lady Jennie Gordon’s Wyoming Hunger Initiative in partnership with the Hughes Charitable Foundation hosted a regional summit in Cody recently to bring folks together who are working in the space of food insecurity and to honor volunteers. The event kicked off with a volunteer recognition celebration where anti-hunger organizations in northern Wyoming nominated a volunteer from their organization to be recognized. Without the countless volunteers across the county, this work wouldn’t be possible. Area volunteers honored include:...

Daniel Powell

On May 18th, Hot Springs County School District #1 hosted their Annual Planning & Stakeholder Input Session at the Central Administration Business Office. The goal of the event was to seek perspectives from persons in the community upon the issue of how to utilize grant funds, which are provided to the district through the Wyoming Consolidated Grant Program, and through the Perkins V Grant Program. Kathy Groh of the business office provided those present with a brief explanation of the various aspects of the Consolidated Grant, which includes...

Thermopolis resident and artist Barrie Lynn Bryant has a major photography exhibition opening in the Wyoming Territorial Prison State Historic Site in Laramie May 22. “Veterans in Focus” features more than 60 portraits of veterans across Wyoming, including 9 Hot Springs County residents in addition to himself. The public is invited to the opening reception being held at the Site May 29 from 5-7 p.m. Bryant, will attend. According to the Wyoming Arts Council, The exhibition highlights the stories and portraits of Wyoming veterans gathered...

Annual countywide rummage sale The annual Hot Springs Countywide rummage sale will be on May 22-23 from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. To have your locations featured on the event map, sign up by May 15 at the Thermopolis-Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce office or by calling Judy Carswell at 921-8264. The cost is $10. Maps will be available on May 20. Big rummage sale The Big Annual Rummage Sale, formerly the Boy Scout Rummage Sale, will be held at the Community Hall, 244 N. 6th St. on Friday, May 22 from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. and Saturday, May 23 from 8 a.m.-1 p.m....

Paving on each end of the Broadway Street bridge between Thermopolis and East Thermopolis is scheduled to begin this week. Traffic control devices will be placed on each end of the bridge and flaggers will control bridge access. Once the project begins, motorists should expect delays for about four days until the project is...

Forty four middle schools were in attendance at the Lander Best of the Best track meet last Tuesday. Thermopolis Middle School had 38 athletes qualify to participate. Results include: In the 8th grade girls division, Briar Lahoe finished 1st in the 200 meter (26.79), 3rd in the 100 meter (13.66) and 6th in the 400 meter (1:05:22); Creighlee Williams was 13th in the 400 meter (1:07.60), 24th in the 200 meter hurdles (35.59) and 5th in pole vault (6-6); Maibri Schwan was 8th in the 200 meter hurdles (33.39), 21st in the 100 meter hurdles...

Approximately twenty years ago, heavy excavation equipment was driven directly onto the fragile geothermal areas in Hot Spring State Park, an action that caused extensive destruction to formations that had taken centuries to develop naturally. Much of that damage has never fully recovered and for more than two decades, the Rainbow Terraces, sacred ground to the Eastern Shoshone, Northern Arapaho, and other Indigenous nations; have suffered repeated and preventable damage under the management of Wyoming State Parks. The terraces are not only...

Questions: What year was the peak year for the percentage of U.S. high school students who smoked? What are the names of Martin Sheen’s two sons? Give the first names of the last six U.S. First Ladies. How many times did Scarlett O’Hara marry in the story of Gone With the Wind? What is the name of Bruce Willis’ wisecracking character in the Die Hard movies? Fun Facts: Rubies, sapphires, and emeralds are rarer than diamonds. It’s about the same distance from California to Maine as it is from California to Hawaii. Mount Everest is more...

The official Wyoming political candidate filing period is underway and will close on May 29. Early reports are that over 100 candidates have already filed statewide. Candidates began making campaign announcements right after the first of year. Those who file by May 29 will appear on the primary election ballot in August with winners moving on to the general election in November. Several high-profile races will be decided in the 2026 election - on the federal, state and local level. For our June 4 edition, we will run the names of candidates...

by Daniel Powell (totteringtimes@gmail.com) Admittedly, it has been a long time since I passed the bar exam. In some ways, 1983 seems like it was another millennium - which it was. Yet, in other respects, it feels like yesterday. I remember, vividly, the day I learned I had passed the bar exam. I’m not embarrassed to say that I was quite proud of the accomplishment, and at the time, my head may have gotten a bit large. It had been a long time coming, however, and I had worked really hard to get there, so perhaps, I can be forgiven for...

On the Record policy It is the Thermopolis Independent Record’s policy that all people arrested or cited under the “Sheriff’s office” or “Police department” in the On the Record section are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. We print the names of all people upon their initial arrest. Names of minors are not printed. Information included on this page is provided to the IR by HSCSO, TPD or obtained through other agencies. Highway patrol Tuesday, May 12 Unknown time: Timberly Blackburn was arrested for alleged...