Your source for news in Hot Springs County
Your source for news in Hot Springs County
Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 471
On Tuesday, February 24, 2026, an agency assist was requested of the Thermopolis Police Department by the Department of Family Services upon a report of elder neglect. Family Services had been notified by a local physician of concerns for the welfare of an elderly man, who suffers from cerebral palsy. The physician had performed a wellness check at the man’s home and reported that he had concerns that the patient was not being properly cared for and was being neglected. The elderly gentleman was subsequently taken to Hot Springs Health and w...
Living in a small town can be challenging in some ways. Often it is difficult to find a source of local entertainment. In Thermopolis, we have the distinct advantages of the soothing hot springs, the beautiful Hot Springs State Park, and our fabulous Bighorn River. But even those fascinating activities can become monotonous. The notoriously controversial comic Lenny Bruce once commented: “I hate small towns because once you’ve seen the cannon in the park, there’s nothing else to do.” On the other hand, on the subject of small towns, Kenny C...
The Hot Springs County High School golf teams kicked off their fall season last week with the first practice held on Monday, August 10. Two short days later, the teams headed to Powell for their first tournament of the new year. Coach Ryan Shaffer took the helm of the golf teams for the high school this past spring season and will continue his tenure this fall. Seven players, five boys and two girls, faced off against teams from eleven area high schools in the Powell Fall Invite on August 12 and 13 at the Powell Golf Club. With just two...
Hot Springs County High School will see changes this year in several head coaching positions. Volleyball, golf and cross-country will gain new leadership this fall season and this coming winter the boys basketball team will have a familiar face captaining the ship. This past spring season, coach Ryan Shaffer took over the helm of the golf teams from long-time head coach Brandon Deromedi. Shaffer will continue to guide the Bobcats and Lady Cats this fall season. New to the cross country team, head coach Ashley Cleare held the team’s first p...
At their August 4 regular meeting, the Hot Springs County Commissioners faced a busy agenda filled with regular monthly department reports, as well as additional matters which were a bit more complex. We previously reported on the more complex matters in the August 13 issue of the Independent Record. Assessor Dan Webber presented a report on the 2026 Valuations, Levies and Taxes, which reflected a county valuation of $156,277,305, and total county levies of $1,875,327. The total of all taxes levied for 2026 amounted to $11,173,353, which includ...
To open the August 4 meeting of the Hot Springs County Commissioners, commissioner Paul Galovich read into the minutes a letter attempting to explain action taken by the board to cut county funding for the educator position in the local Extension Office. Galovich explained that talks with the University of Wyoming Extension Office had been productive in addressing concerns the county had with the position. Commissioner Tom Ryan proposed a motion to move funding that had been included in the county’s 2026-27 approved budget. The move would e...
The Thermopolis Town Council met on Tuesday, August 4 and held several discussions regarding issues facing the town. In recent meetings, the council had approved an ordinance pertaining to the use of fireworks in conjunction with Fourth of July celebrations and had approved the use of fireworks at home Hot Springs County High School football games at the request of the Gridiron Club. At the meeting, Thermopolis Fire Chief Dale Andreen addressed concerns to the council pertaining to the location the town had designated for originating the...
(totteringtimes@gmail.com) HERE’S THE THING ABOUT ELECTION SEASON: Long before it really gears up - I can’t wait till it’s over. I find it difficult to relate to anyone who would choose to run for public office - particularly a federal or state-wide office. They just don’t seem to be my kind of people. If I bother to watch their campaign ads, or to read their many fliers, I always come away feeling like I have known people who have run for office - even some who have won, and then determined to run again - although I could never underst...
On Wednesday, July 29, Cody Stewart, 37, was granted an early release from a 24 to 30 month sentence to the Wyoming Department of Corrections. In October of 2024, Stewart was charged with twelve felony counts of theft, and fraud by check, arising out of moneys that had gone missing from the bank account of the FFA Alumni group in Thermopolis. At the time, Stewart was serving as the organization’s treasurer. On February 19, 2025, pursuant to a plea agreement reached with Special Prosecutor, Dan Itzel, Stewart entered pleas of guilty to six of t...
The Hot Springs County Travel & Tourism board held their monthly meeting at the State Park office on July 29. It was announced that board member, Tabatha Vandegrift had recently advised that she would be resigning from the board, creating another opening for the county commissioners to fill. In her financial report, treasurer Audra Dominguez announced that the moneys received from the lodging tax for the month of July were down substantially from the amount received in July of last year, representing just $4,567.84 this year. Dominguez stated...
The Board of Directors of Hot Springs Health held their regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, July 28. The board welcomed its newest member, Jennifer Cheney, who attended her first meeting. Cheney will serve the remainder of the term previously held by Melissa Johnson. The board also welcomed Dr. Stephen Asay as the hospital’s new chief of staff. Dr. Megan Winger will serve as the new Vice-Chair. The board was presented a video, which was a project completed by the high school summer interns to wrap up the inaugural session of the new program. O...
The Hot Springs County Commissioners held a regular meeting Monday, July 20. The meeting followed a public meeting in which the commissioners considered and approved a budget for fiscal year 2026-27. County Planner Les Culliton provided the commissioners with a time line of steps taken by his office on the newest land use applications filed by Michael and Michele Stevens on behalf of the Tipi Retreat and other business entities. Culliton advised that the applications continue to have deficiencies, in that the proposals do not comply with the co...
The Thermopolis Town Council held a special meeting on July 15 and a regular meeting on July 21. At the special meeting, the council approved some language changes to the contract with the Thermopolis Golf Course, which had been requested by the state liquor licensing office. The added language makes clear that the golf course liquor permit allows for alcoholic beverage sales outside the confines of the club house - making sales on the course a part of the permitted activity at the location. The council then met in executive session. After...
Over the past year and a half, the Town of Thermopolis has undertaken an informal survey of the water delivery service lines which connect individual water users to the town’s water system. The purpose of the survey is to determine where, and to what extent, lead materials have been used to facilitate the water connections. In some areas of the United States, and at certain points in history, lead was a common element of water service lines - the pipes and connections. Over time, lead will leech from the service line into the water system a...
There is a commercial block in downtown Thermopolis, which has had a difficult past. Arapahoe Street, between 5th and 6th Streets, at one time served as a part of a thriving business district in town. After two fires, several business closures, and years of neglect, the block is finally on track to make a comeback. At the east end of the block once stood a local hardware business, but that structure was lost to fire some years ago. Toward the west end of the block, another structure was lost to...
The Hot Springs County Commissioners held a public meeting on Monday, July 20 to take comments and questions on the proposed fiscal year 2026-27 budget. The meeting was heavily attended, with standing room only in the room in the County Annex building. Of primary concern to those in attendance was the proposed reduction in funding to the 4-H program in the UW Extension office. For many years, Hot Springs County has provided funding to cover one-half of the expense of an on-site educator working out of the Extension Office in the old Carnage Lib...
The Hot Springs County School Board met on July 9 to consider the adoption of a budget for the upcoming school year. The trustees approved the proposed budget for fiscal year 2026-27 following an executive summary presentation by business manager Jessica Benefiel. The budget takes into account several factors, which will impact the upcoming school year. Included among those factors are an anticipated decrease in the Average Daily Membership (ADM) of students attending the school system; on-going adjustments to a four-day week; and planning for...
At the July 7 Hot Springs County Commissioners meeting, the summary for the proposed 2026-27 fiscal year budget was read into the minutes of the meeting by Hot Springs County Clerk Becky Kersten. There will be a public meeting on the proposed budget on Monday, July 20 beginning at 1 p.m. in the commissioner’s meeting room in the County Annex building. The Commissioners approved a transfer of a liquor license from the LLL Company, d/b/a, Wind River Lounge to the Thermopolis Lodging Group, LLC, d/b/a, Fairbridge Thermopolis. In monthly r...
The Legion Baseball team wrapped up their successful season this past week, playing four home games - two games against the Stifle Chiefs on Tuesday night, and then two final games against the Cody Cubs in Saturday’s stifling heat. In game one on Tuesday, two Bobcats threw a combined shut-out against the Chiefs. Kacey Mackay went four and a third innings, giving up two hits and no runs, while striking out ten and walking four. In relief, Tanner Delay threw two and two-thirds innings, allowing no runs on three hits, with three strike-outs and o...
Let’s face it - no one likes paying taxes. But when they do pay their taxes, people often wish they got more for their money. And, when they don’t, it can come as no surprise that voters love to hear talk of lowering taxes. In Wyoming, we enjoy some of the lowest tax rates of any state in the union. We have no corporate or individual income tax, and the sales tax rate is among the lowest of all the states. We pay no sales tax on food in Wyoming. Wyoming property tax rates are also among the lowest to be found in the United States. Indeed, the...
The Board of Directors of Hot Springs Health held their regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, June 30. The board has faced some turnover in recent weeks, with new board member Robin VanMaarth joining the board in June. A now second vacancy on the board has also been created due to the unexpected resignation of board member Melissa Johnson. The board will meet on July 8 to consider applications to fill the most recent vacancy. Dr. Mathey reported that Dr. Mackenzie has recently moved on to an OB residency out of state, which currently leaves the...
The Hot Springs County Commissioners met on Tuesday, June 30 to tackle a rather full agenda. At the request of the fire warden, the commissioners declared Hot Springs County to be under Stage 1 fire restrictions as of June 30. The Stage 1 designation comes as a result of the current drought/dry conditions in the county and prohibits any open fires, but allows for grilling and barrel fires, with some restrictions. For a full explanation of the fire restrictions, see the Independent Record Facebook page. A scheduled public hearing on any...
The Travel & Tourism Board held their monthly meeting on June 23 and welcomed their newest member, Julie Music, who was appointed to fill the at-large position on the board previously been held by Mike Sinclair. The board approved Ashley Evans to take over as vice president. In her financial report, treasurer Audra Dominguez announced that the board had completed the 2025-26 fiscal year with an increase in fiscal revenue of more than $31,000 over the preceding period, representing an increase in revenues of 8.07%. In old business, dir...
The Legion Baseball team went three for four in the past two weeks. The team played a double-header at Lovell on Monday, June 22 and then another double-header at home on Tuesday, June 30 against Greybull. In game one against Lovell, the Bobcats put scores on the board in the first, second and third innings, but gave up a run in the top of the second on two uncharacteristic errors in the field. Lovell tied the game at three in the top of the 5th inning, on a single by Tyson Yates. The Cats regained the lead in the bottom of the 6th inning, on...
