Your source for news in Hot Springs County
Your source for news in Hot Springs County
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District Court Judge William L. Simpson held a Hearing in the long-standing Tipi Retreat case on March 24. The issue before the Court concerned Hot Springs County’s request to set aside a Satisfaction of Judgment, which had been filed in the case in June of 2025 - after actions taken by two county commissioners in February of 2025, which were later determined by the court to have been taken without legal authority. In part, the Satisfaction of Judgment purports to release the Tipi Retreat from having to pay fines to the county, which were i...
The Travel & Tourism Board held their monthly meeting at the State Park office on March 24. The board reviewed the status of their on-going projects and discussed other future projects. The board received a large deposit of lodging tax funds in the month of March - representing an increase over last year of nearly 126%. The deposit of $21,775.59 was for taxes collected in the month of February. At the time of the board’s meeting, the specific cause of the large increase was not known. Room rates appear to be up a bit locally, and the fine s...
Mother Nature continued to provide some fine spring-like weather for the Hot Springs County High School track team as they competed in Cody last week. The meet was smaller than the season opener in Wind River the week before, however, the competition continued to be top-notch. With seven schools sending teams to the event, the girls from Thermopolis finished in seventh place with 27 team points. The boys team finished in third place with 106 team points. The girls from Powell won the event while the host team from Cody took the boys team...
Following their superb fall season, the Hot Springs County High School golf team will kick off their spring season this week, hosting the Thermopolis Invite on Thursday, April 2 at the Thermopolis Golf Course. The Lady Cats team garnered state championships in 2023 and 2025, with all five of the Lady Cats finishing in the top ten in last fall’s state tournament. Add to that success, the Bobcats’ team state championship in 2024 and a second place finish in 2025, and that’s three consecutive years of state titles for the vaunted Therm...
Last Friday night, community members filled the fair building to support and acknowledge one of our own. A man who has given much to our community and who has never sought any kind of recognition for his efforts. That man is John Gerrells. Those who are privileged to live in this community for any length of time quickly become aware of a thing called the Cookie Jar Auction. An event which is periodically held in Thermopolis, at which funds are raised to assist a community member in need. While i...
On March 17, the Thermopolis Town Council held a regular meeting taking up a number of routine matters, and welcoming the newest hire for the police department. Local resident Casey Fisher was sworn in by Mayor Adam Estenson and will be heading for training at the Wyoming Law Enforcement Academy in Douglas in April. Her training is set to be completed by the end of July, when she will take up her duties with the department. Chief Pat Cornwell advised the council that another hire is in the...
The Thermopolis - Hot Springs County Chamber Board held their February meeting to discuss upcoming events and projects. The chamber will be sponsoring the Regional Civics Bee event in Thermopolis on April 14. The chamber is a sponsor for Trailblazer Days scheduled for June 12- 14, as part of this year’s 250th Anniversary Celebration of the United States. The Board accepted the resignation of Tia Gillespie at their January meeting. It was suggested that director Meri Ann Dorman reach out to anyone who has shown an interest in filling that v...
The Hot Springs County High School track and field team kicked off their spring season in Pavillion last Saturday. Unusually warm temps, azure skies and a slight breeze, combined to make the Wind River Ice Breaker a bit of a misnomer. While the venue was small, the event was anything but. Seventeen schools sent teams to match up at Wind River - making the meet feel both a bit crowded and more than a bit challenging for the competitors. While the thinclads lined up on the track, parents and other family members shed layers of clothing in the...
With their regular meeting canceled for Tuesday, March 17, the Hot Springs County Commissioners held a special meeting on Monday, March 16 to take up the issue of funding for the proposed airport hangar project. The project proposes to construct a new 9,000 square foot aircraft hangar at the Hot Springs County Airport in order to accommodate requests for overnight heated hanger space for aircraft utilizing the airport facilities. Currently, the county has no county owned hanger space at the new airport, so frequent requests to overnight aircraf...
On February 11, 2026, former Cody resident, Harold Colten Chlarson, 32 years of age, was sentenced in the District Court of Hot Springs County. Chlarson had been charged with five alleged criminal offenses, arising out of a single-vehicle accident, which occurred on May 16, 2025, between Thermopolis and Meeteetse on Highway 120 West. Included in the charges were felony counts of aggravated motor vehicle homicide, and possession of a controlled substance. Killed in the accident was Avery Heston, a 23 year old man from Texas, who had recently...
Following up their success in the state championships in Casper last month, the Hot Springs County High School boys and girls wrestling teams have spent the past two weekends competing at the Junior State Tournament here in Wyoming, and then traveled to Des Moines, Iowa, for the USA Folkstyle Nationals. Two boys and three girls wrestled in both freestyle and greco at the Junior State Tournament two weekends ago. Lilly Quintanilla and Cannon Boren each captured Triple Crowns, by winning state...
Once again, the calendar has rolled around to the season of high school spring sports in Wyoming. Practices kicked off last week for the Bobcat track team who look to capitalize on the highly successful season which the team had last year - culminating in a regional championship and a second place finish at state. With over forty students on the team roster this year, the team will hit the pitch joined by returning state triple-jump champion Logann Farrell and last year’s 800 meter champion, Cole Keller, both of whom will be looking to r...
Another fantastic season has come to a close for the Bobcat and Lady Cat basketball teams. Both teams were crowned regional champions in Riverton last month, and then both teams ground their way into the championship games at state in Casper. The Bobcats finished their highly successful season with an overall record of 24-4, and went undefeated in the 2A Northwest quad. And, oh yeah, there was also that back-to-back state championship hardware the Cats brought home from Casper. To say it was a spectacular season hardly does the team justice....
On February 28, Thermopolis Town Council held a special meeting for a public hearing on a request to “park” a liquor license, which is held by Big Spring Spa. The license cannot be extended at this time because Big Spring Spa is not in possession of a full-year lease for their space in Hot Springs State Park. Rather than surrender the license, or transfer it at this time, Big Spring Spa requested that the town approve its request to “park” the license at the property located at 309 Arapahoe Street. With the town council’s approval of that requ...
The Hot Springs County High School Bobcat basketball team earned their way into the state tournament with a regional championship in Riverton two weeks ago. They went into the final challenge in Casper last weekend as the number one seed from the west and the number one ranked team in 2A basketball. After going undefeated in the west conference in the regular season, the Cats now had to take on some of the top teams from the east to win a shot at another state championship. Up first were the...
At their second regular monthly meeting in February, the Hot Springs County Commissioners heard reports from various departments, pertaining to on-going work of the county. FBO Airport Manager Nate Messenger reported that it had been a relatively slow month at the airport. There were 118 flight operations, with 574 gallons of aviation fuel, and 957 gallons of jet fuel sold. The necessary Class A Operation License has been renewed. Road & Bridge Director Shane Rankin, advised that the warm weather had allowed his department to continue with...
Thermopolis opened its doors to wrestling enthusiasts last weekend, hosting the annual Wrestle-Opolis event at the high school. Teams came from all over the Big Horn Basin and some came from much farther away - Newcastle for example. Parking was at a premium and wait times were influenced at local restaurants - but that didn't seem to dappen anyone's good time. And why would it - what could be more Wyoming, than a family outing to a wrestling tournament on "307 Day"? With the influx of grapplers...
There is a tongue-in-cheek line in an old song from the seventies, which laments that "all good things must come to an end." And, it's the same for the remarkable 2025-26 Lady Cats basketball season. While the outcome at the Wyoming High School Basketball 2A Championships wasn't what the Lady Cats would have preferred, their season was a huge success for the team, their coaches and for the school. After qualifying as the number one seed from the West Regional Tournament, the Lady Cats went into...
At the February meeting of the Travel & Tourism Board, they reviewed the status of their on-going projects, and discussed other future projects. The organization received the sum of $12,433.30 from the lodging tax for the month of January, 2026. That sum represents a decrease of 14%, over the same time period in 2025. For the calendar year 2025, receipts of lodging tax funds were down about 2% over the previous year. In on-going projects, bids are being solicited for the cost to produce, and to install, the signs for the wayfinding project. Pro...
Boren, Myers bring home state championships The Hot Springs County High School Bobcat wrestling team has battled their way through a long and grueling season. With each match, however, the team has made significant strides toward competing at last weekend's State Championship Tournament in Casper. In the team standings, the Bobcats completed their successful season with a seventh place finish, securing 121.5 team points. Cannon Boren and Dyllan Myers were each named All-State for their efforts...
The Hot Springs County School Board met for their regular monthly meeting on February 19. Thermopolis Middle School Principal Darren Luebbe kicked off the district share portion of the agenda reporting that the change to a four-day week has proven to be a boon for both students and staff at the middle school. He reported that both the girls and the boys teams were crowned conference champs in wrestling and the boys basketball team had won the conference championship this year. In another monthly share item, Hot Springs County High School...
The Board of Directors of Hot Springs Health held their regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, February 24. Dr. Mattson Mathey requested the board to approve two policy revisions: one affecting the HIM Medical Records Policy and one affecting the Medical Staff By-Laws. Both changes were approved by the board. CEO Scott Alwin introduced Kayla Sterling, who was recently hired as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker at the hospital. She will be providing individual and couples counseling services, as well as doing patient case management. Alwin advised...
Lady Cats win in final game against Lady Chiefs The Thermopolis Lady Cat basketball team was in Riverton last weekend to compete in the 2A West Regional Tournament. Coming into the event as the number one seed from the Northwest, the Lady Cats were positioned to do great things. At last year's tournament, Thermopolis lost in the championship game to the Lady Grizz of Rocky Mountain. This year would be different. On Thursday, in the opening round the Lady Cats faced off with Kemmerer and won...
On February 17, the Thermopolis Town Council took up a few citizen requests and also reviewed several liquor license renewal requests for the new year. The council approved liquor license renewals for the following establishments: OEB, LLC.; 7 Lazy S Café & Bar, LLC; Thermopolis Liquors; Mack’s Market Inc.; OEB Salon, LLC.; Double R Store, LLC.; Maverick Inc.; VFW Post #2281; Pizza Hut; and One Eyed Buffalo Brewing Company. The council agreed to renew the liquor license for Los Cabos, provided that the entity makes contact with the town on or...
Following a public meeting on February 17, the Hot Springs County Commissioners approved a request to establish a gravel pit on property owned by the Brown Trust, located north of Highway 170 off of Owl Creek Road. The pit was approved for a period of five years and will be utilized in the upcoming Highway 120 West project, as well as other projects. The Land Use Planning Commission had recommended approval of the request, provided that the owners of the pit agreed work with the Road & Bridge Department for any upkeep needed on the road used to...
