Your source for news in Hot Springs County
Your source for news in Hot Springs County
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At the May 20 Hot Springs County Commissioners board meeting held at the Annex building, the commissioners voted and passed the approval of the Special Accounts Payable Warrant for $65,813.59 and the 2025 Revenue and Expenditure Report. County Planner Les Culliton held a discussion with the commissioners over several subjects. First regarded the Red Rim Ranch Subdivision Bond, which is due to developer Brian Hayek on July 30. Dave Stewart, the appointed president of the Red Rim Ranch HOA, voiced...
At the May 20 Thermopolis Town Council meeting, the Town Clerk/Treasurer presented an engagement letter from Seckman & Thomas of Powell to do their annual audit. The preliminary audit will be on July 2 and the final audit will be presented in September. The council voted and passed the approval to pay for the audit with an increase of $500 compared to the previous year’s fee. Director of Public Works Basil Sorensen reported that two of his staff are attending a safety school which potentially g...
In 2019, when I returned to my hometown of Thermopolis here in the wilderness of Wyoming, I was fortunate to become a reporter at the Independent Record. For the past many years, working here has been quite a journey and a learning experience. I have discovered so much about myself and the people of Hot Springs County. From reporting on the Town Council, the County Commissioners, the Chamber of Commerce and many other beats, I have had the pleasure of interacting with all sorts of people....
At the May 20 Hot Springs County Travel & Tourism board meeting held at Audra’s Copper Coo, Treasurer Audra Dominguez gave the financial report and said they received $15,387.82 in lodging tax revenue for their April 30, 2025 deposit. On April 30, 2024, they received $19,121.83. Then they voted and passed the approval to accept the financial report. In old business, Chairman Will Robinson discussed the contract with Tourism Director Angie Guyon and said that the board was unable to come into ful...
At the May 6 Hot Springs County Commissioners board meeting, in other business, the commissioner voted and passed the approval to appoint Cindy Wallingford to the Museum Board. Regarding the two openings on the Land Use Planning Commission, there were three applications. One of those applications was submitted after the deadline. Chairman Tom Ryan said that he didn’t want to create a precedent of allowing late applications because if they accept it, “we have to continue to advertise…We set d...
At the May 8 Thermopolis-Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce board meeting held at Big Horn Federal, during old business, CEO Meri Ann Dorman discussed their board elections and said the new deadline for the ballots to be returned is June 9. They will announce the winners at their next meeting on June 12. At that meeting, the newly elected board members, along with the old board, will vote for who their executive officers will be for the next fiscal year. They will also have a barbeque party that...
The Learning Center is holding a fundraiser to update the skate park located next to the Armory, where they are seeking around $2,000 to complete their budget. Recently, Barb Rice and the Learning Center applied and received grant money for $5,000, but need the additional $2,000 to complete the order of their materials and its shipping. The Learning Center is a 501c3 non-profit organization that receives grants. The materials will be used to reconstruct or improve the wooden skate park's...
At the May 6 Hot Springs County Commissioners (HSCC) meeting, representatives of the Wyoming County Commissioners Association (WCCA) addressed the board. WCCA Executive Director Jerimiah Rieman and Natural Resources Counsel Micah Christensen spoke about the benefits of the HSCCs staying involved with the nonprofit organization. This agenda item was in response to a report that HSC Commissioner Bob Aguiar planned to break from the Wyoming County Commissioners Association because it’s a ...
Last Thursday, Shurie Scheel of Thrive gave a presentation on “Our Community Action Plan”, which was a summarization of the recent community survey and committee groups and their discussions. The event was held at the fire hall and was well attended by various representatives of the community. Scheel first discussed two statements that encompassed their actions. First was the vision statement which is “The residents of Hot Springs County will have a safe quality of life, and Hot Springs Count...
At the April 29 Hot Springs Health board meeting, CEO Scott Alwin introduced to the board Tim Teson who is the new Chief of Clinical Service. Alwin said, “Tim was our Director of Surgical Services and has stepped up to lead the clinics and has joined our executive team. He’ll be a part of the board meetings going forward.” Alwin also discussed Ina Amend’s recent program certification for the environment services program. It was also noted that Amend is also not part of the infection control...
At the April 15 Hot Springs County Travel & Tourism board meeting held at the HS State Park Headquarters. Treasurer Audra Domínguez gave the financial report and said their most recent deposit of lodging tax on March 31, 2025, was for $7,032.81. In the previous year, they received $11,354.53 for March 31, 2024. The board further discussed their budget and current statements and receipts. The board voted and passed the approval to accept the financial report. In old business, Tourism Director Ang...
A new Mexican Restaurant, El Charro, has opened in the previous location of Los Cabos at 942 Shoshoni St. First opened on April 2, under new manager Feranando Gomez, he and his team of six employees come from Brighton, Colo., to serve a new menu of traditional Mexican food. El Charro is partially owned by Gomez’s father and the previous owner of Los Cabos, Renee Guerrero. Gomez explained that Guerrero reached out to his father, asking him if he would like to come take ownership and management o...
At the April 15 Hot Springs County Commissioners board meeting, the commissioners voted and passed the Revenue and Expenditure Report covering March 2024 to March 2025. Barb Rice gave the Youth Alternative report and said that her students have been participating in a variety of community service events and they put in “a lot of hours.” Some of the events included the rummage sale, transports, and the Learning Center’s Government 101 for the County. Part Three of the Government 101 will be on...
On Monday, April 14, a full scale exercise was held at the baseball fields near the Armory to test all first responders of Hot Springs County (HSC). The effort was spearheaded by Sady Mounts, Public Health Response Coordinator of Hot Springs County Public Health and also helped by Stephanie Conrad of HSC Emergency Management. Multiple agencies from Hot Springs County and the Big Horn Region participated. Mounts said, "The scenario was a set of bleachers collapsing while watching a community base...
At the April 15 Thermopolis Town Council meeting held at Town Hall, during citizen participation, the council voted and passed the Double D LLC 24 hour Alcohol Beverage Permit for the Figure 8 Race on May 10 at the fairgrounds. Brooks Jordan, District Manager of Wyoming State Parks, also provided the council an update on the Hot Springs State Park. Jordan gave similar information as he did when visiting the Hot Springs County Commissioners board meeting earlier the same day. The council and...
Hot Springs County School District #1 recently held two community meetings where Superintendent Dustin Hunt discussed the possibility of changing the district’s schedule to 4-day school week. Staff members attended, as well as members of the school board and local citizens. Hunt presented a series of slides to explore the matter. As to reasons why to change to a 4-day school week, Hunt explained there is a substitute teacher shortage, it would be an incentive to recruit and retain teachers, i...
Brooks Jordan, District Manager at Wyoming State Parks, is seeking to provide members of the local community and visitors to Hot Springs State Park (HSSP) an insight on all the park has to offer. "I think with everything that's going on with the concessions and the Star Plunge, there might be some confusion by the public and potential visitors about things like whether or not the park is open, what amenities are available and what people can see and do? Also, what does the future look like?",...
The United States of America begins its 250 year celebration on April 18-19, 2025, with a nationwide initiative called “Two Lights for Tomorrow”. The celebration carries the moniker of Semi-quincentennial, but is more commonly known as America 250. For the “Two Lights for Tomorrow,” the Hot Springs County community will participate in this effort to honor and remember the famous ride of Paul Revere that occurred overnight on April 18-19, 1775. This ride of warning “The British are coming!” event...
At the April 1 Hot Springs County Commissioners board meeting held at the annex building, the commissioners reviewed the Findings of Fact Regarding Michael and Michele Stevens’ Application for Land Use Change. This new document was prepared by the county’s attorney in Sheridan and was presented. During discussion a member of the public, Lee Campbell, interrupted and said, “Mr. Chairman, I’d like to ask Commissioner Galovich to recuse himself from further discussion on the Tipi. I’d like to s...
At the April 1 Thermopolis Town Council meeting, during citizen participation, the council voted and passed the approval of Frank Davis’ request for police escort and corners blocked off for the Motorcycle Awareness Parade on May 3, with the parade path to be announced later. They also approved Lon Beck’s request for street closures on Broadway Street between 5th and 6th Streets beginning on May 23 at 8 a.m. through May 24 for the OEB Kick Off the Summer Party. Sandy Robertson requested a str...
On March 31, The Learning Center presented their second of three meetings, Local Government 101. This first part is “How Does Our County Government Work?” Charles Curley led the Pledge of Allegiance and discussed the norms. Dr. John Anderson gave an Introduction to Local Government 101, where he discussed Governmental Structure and its Functions. Anderson talked about the different areas of the US government, specifically the Federal, State and Local, and how they overlap in everyday life. He...
At the March 18 Hot Springs County Travel & Tourism board meeting, Treasurer Audra Dominguez and Tourism Director Angie Guyon gave the financial report. The lodging tax distribution for January 31, 2025 was $9,652.58. This amount compares to the same months in 2024, which was $10,511.92 and for 2023, which was $8,757.04. The board voted and passed the approval of the financial report. Guest Chamber of Commerce CEO Meri Ann Dorman presented a request for funds in the amount of $500 related to...
At the March 18 Hot Springs County Commissioners board meeting held at the Annex building. Commissioner Bob Aguiar motioned to amend the agenda to add two items to Other Business. First was a motion regarding engineering. The second was a statement about the February 4 meeting regarding the Tipi Retreat matter and the Stevens. During discussion Chairman Tom Ryan replied, “It’s nice to have some heads up…When you start setting a precedent it’s not advertised for the people…” Commissione...
At the March 18 Thermopolis Town Council meeting held at Town Hall, the council discussed the coming Broadway Bridge construction, where the street will be closed from May 28-October 16. During citizen participation the council voted and passed approval of both a 24 hour liquor license for OEB Saloon LLC for the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation Banquet on April 5 at the fairgrounds and a 24 hour malt beverage permit for Central Bank and Trust for their Beer & Brats event on May 29 in the Hot...
Tabatha VanDeGrift has taken over as owner of the El Rancho Motel located at 924 Shoshoni Street. The purchase was made official on October 1, 2024 from the previous owners Bernice Balog and Susan Lankford who had the business since 1971. VanDeGrift previously suffered an injury where she had about 30 screws in her neck and eight plates holding her neck due to a construction accident. She came to Thermopolis in January 2021 to heal and met Balog and Lankford, the owners of El Rancho Motel. VanDe...
