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Articles from the February 2, 2023 edition


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  • School board receives feed back on high risk audit

    Kirk Boxleitner|Feb 2, 2023

    The Hot Springs County School District’s audit report, which was reviewed at its board of trustees’ Dec. 15 meeting, drew a reaction from the community during the board’s Jan. 19 meeting. Jean Skelton, speaking during the Jan. 19 public comment period “as a taxpayer and accountant,” said, “It was a concern to me that you were considered a high risk auditee,” before she reviewed the four points of specific concern to her, which included both “significant” and “material weaknesses,” as well as “significant deficiencies,” which sh...

  • Arctic blast

    Feb 2, 2023

    A polar front brought snow and frigid temperatures to Hot Springs County (HSC) and Wyoming again. Snowfall began on Friday, with weekend totals ranging from 8.5 inches to 4.5 inches around HSC, according to the National Weather Service. The bitter cold temperatures entered the area on Sunday bringing a recorded -47 degrees in the Lucerne area Sunday night and -30 degrees in Thermopolis. Monday night, -18 degrees was recorded in town. The forecast is for a welcome rise in temperatures with highs...

  • Volunteer fire department holding annual fund drive

    Feb 2, 2023

    Members of the Thermopolis Volunteer Fire Department recently sent out letters and tickets through the mail for their annual fund drive. The fund drive is for the replacement, repair and purchase of new equipment for the department. The department consists of 26 members that volunteer their time responding to hundreds of calls annually. When you return the donation tickets found in the mailing, you will be entered into a drawing for gift certificates that range in amount from $50 to $300. Fill out and return the ticket stubs with your donation...

  • It is illegal to push snow into state roadways

    Feb 2, 2023

    The Wyoming Department of Transportation is again issuing a reminder that it is a violation of state law to place snow on state roadways. WYDOT has received many reports in this month of people pushing snow into the traffic lanes of state highways, and this includes highways which carry traffic through towns. State statute 35-10-401 stipulates that anyone who obstructs a public road or highway, common street or alley, public bridge or navigable river in a way that makes it inconvenient or dangerous to pass is breaking the law. Each violation is...

  • New location in the works

    Feb 2, 2023

    One Eyed Buffalo Brewing Company signage has went up at what will be their future new location at 535 Broadway, just across the street from where they are now located. Once the move takes place and they are open for business at the new location, the Independent Record will contact them for a full story....

  • IR wins first for Advertising Excellence among small weeklies

    Feb 2, 2023

    The Thermopolis Independent Record won first place in major awards for Advertising Excellence in the small weekly newspaper category at the 2023 Wyoming Press Association (WPA) convention held recently in Cheyenne. The judges comments were, “Nice variety of advertisers - from the small to large inside this publication. Ads are creative and refreshing. Absolutely love the Here’s My Card group advertising page. Proves the theory that small money does make big money. Would like to see more color in the advertisements.” Judging for the Adver...

  • HSC Republican Party to host banquet

    Feb 2, 2023

    The Hot Springs County Republican Party Committee is hosting a Faith Family Freedom Winter Banquet on Friday, Feb. 10 at the Hot Springs Hotel and Spa. Guest speaker will be former Thermopolis resident Nathan Winters. Winters is the President of Wyoming Family Alliance and Wyoming Family Foundation and Chairman of the Board of the Cheyenne Classical Academy. The night will include silent and live auctions. A Mossberg Patriot rifle in 7 PRC will be one of the items up for auction. The dinner menu includes baron of beef, salad, baked potato,...

  • On the record

    Feb 2, 2023

    On the Record policy It is the Thermopolis Independent Record’s policy that all people arrested or cited under the “Accidents,” “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. Sheriff’s Office Monday, Jan. 23 9:23 a.m. Report of a dog that sounded sickly and had been barking for approximately a week. The dog was OK and in a shelter. Tuesday, Jan. 24 9:12 a.m. Report of the possible theft of a cell p...

  • Science Saturday events well attended

    Jurri Schenck|Feb 2, 2023

    The Wyoming Dinosaur Center (WDC) has been successful with its monthly Science Saturday program and they are looking forward to more in the coming months. According to WDC's Education Director Angela Reddick, the Science Saturdays are held on the second weekend of each month, from October to April during their off-season. In December, the WDC held a hot cocoa geology event where they taught kids and their families about the layering of rocks in the earth based on hot chocolate ingredients. Each...

  • New vet joins Owl Creek Veterinary

    Jurri Schenck|Feb 2, 2023

    Dr. Danielle Flowers has joined Owl Creek Veterinary Services as a veterinarian. Flowers graduated from the University of Illinois in May 2022 with her veterinary degree. She decided to move to Hot Springs County after visiting for a few summers and said she "fell in love" with the area. Flowers added, "Horses always have kind of been my passion and originally wanted to just go into equine medicine and then changed my mind and decided to practice and see all sorts of animals." Flowers studied...

  • Rock hunting presentation

    Feb 2, 2023

    The Hot Springs County Historical Society will have Eddy Cole present the program How to be Successful at Rock Hunting at their February 11 meeting at 2 p.m. at the Historical Museum. “If you are interested in how we have been successful at rock hunting for over 50 years, this talk is for you. This will help you discover where to start and how to enhance your chance of finding new and rare gems,” said Cole. The meeting is open to everyone. Refreshments will be served. For more information, call 864-2678....

  • Play performance Monday night

    Feb 2, 2023

    Worland High School Drama and the Thermopolis Speech and Debate team are putting on the performance of “Bus Stop” by Kendra Thomas on Monday, Feb. 6 at 7 p.m. at the Hot Springs County School Auditorium. Admission is free. “Bus Stop” is a play about a child in high school that is in foster care and displays the emotions of how they feel and the process to be accepted. Local foster care provider Ciley Andreen said, “Hot Spring County is in great need of foster care families or those that might want to learn more about what it takes to help out a...

  • We enjoy receiving your letters to the editor

    Feb 2, 2023

    Our opinion page allows for letters to the editor, which we enjoy receiving, because we consider them an important part of our paper. We want our readers to have a say on issues and happenings in our community. This week we have a letter to the editor in response to the Joint Powers Water District reorganization article that ran in last week’s edition. We thank the authors for keeping it civil as they express their opinion on this important issue. We also thank them for reading our paper. Our goal is to inform our readers on a variety of issues...

  • Additional information on Joint Powers Board

    Feb 2, 2023

    We’d like to respond to the 1-26-2023 article regarding the Hot Springs Joint Power Board reorganization and to provide additional information, background, and our opinion. There have been two studies done and sponsored by the Big Horn Region (BHR), not by Thermopolis or the county commissioners. One was in 2018 which included the town and provided options for a new groundwater source because the BHR does not have the capacity to service the town and the other Hot Spring County districts and needed redundancy. The town decided against p...

  • Edgar 'Ed' Allan Stegman

    Feb 2, 2023

    On March 1, 1932, Edgar “Ed” Allan Stegman was born at the family’s farm in Pembina County, N.D. He was the first child born to Edward A. Stegman and Lydia A. Pokrand Stegman. Ed left his earthly body to be with the Lord on January 10, 2023. Growing up in a German speaking home, Ed learned English when he attended school. He always said English is an awfully hard language to learn. Ed excelled in academics, graduating high school as valedictorian of his class. He left North Dakota and became a telegrapher/depo agent working in all but two r... Full story

  • Teri Lynne Tjepkes Smith

    Feb 2, 2023

    Teri Lynne Tjepkes Smith, 60, passed away on January 27, 2023, from ovarian cancer in Portland, Ore. She spent years as a community organizer in the Mountain Home. She volunteered at the youth center, put on fun runs, organized "spring flings," and took kids to the Boise YMCA. After her kids were raised, Teri started a new career in administrative assistance. She followed work across Idaho and worked until the last minute she could (a common theme for her) for the US Army Corps of Engineers in... Full story

  • Jerry Lee Garland

    Feb 2, 2023

    Jerry Lee Garland passed away in Basin, Wyo., on Jan 25, 2023, at the age of 82. He was born on May 7, 1940, in Sheridan, Wyo., to Gerald and Nellie (Caywood) Garland. He was the only son and had two sisters Melvine and Marie. His family relocated to Seattle, Wash., when Jerry was 3 years old. He grew up in the Seattle area and graduated high school in 1958. After high school he joined the US Army and served in the 82nd Airborne. During his time of service, his unit had one drop in Panama and... Full story

  • Storytime

    Feb 2, 2023

    Several children and adults participated in Storytime at Hot Springs County Library last week. Left to right, Rownan Johnson, Rebecca Ready, Aly Lahoe, Kimber Coble, Emersyn Strenger and Radlei Coble enjoyed making their penguins....

  • Six wrestlers place at Ron Thon

    Feb 2, 2023

    The Bobcat wrestlers had six placers at the annual Ron Thon Memorial tournament in Riverton last Friday and Saturday, which brings most schools from Wyoming together. This year there were some teams not present due to weather, however, this is still the toughest tournament that the Bobcats attend during the year. On the Varsity side Roedy Farrell, at 160 lbs. came home with a second place finish. "Roedy had a good tournament against some of his toughest competition. He pinned his first three...

  • Lady Cats struggle against Worland

    Tatum Epperson|Feb 2, 2023

    The varsity Lady Cats basketball team hosted the Worland Warriors last Friday. Both teams would be looking for their first conference win. Worland came in at 0-2 in conference play and the Lady Cats at 0-1 in conference. "The team had been working on facing their zone and full court defense along with their height all week long. Worland would be the tallest team the Lady Cats would face all season. The Cats felt that the use of their speed against them would look to force turnovers," said coach...

  • Boys fall to Warriors at home

    Tatum Epperson|Feb 2, 2023

    Last Friday evening, the Bobcat varsity boys basketball team hosted the Warriors at home. “Defensively I thought we played okay in the half court, but we gave Worland too many easy looks in transition and too many second chance opportunities. Those really are back breakers when you are playing a top team like Worland,” said coach Shane Corpening. He added, “We started the first quarter with the pace that I wanted to see. Worland wanted to speed the game up and take us out of our offensive flow with their press. We didn’t respond to it very we...

  • Travel and Tourism board meet

    Feb 2, 2023

    At the January Hot Springs County Travel & Tourism board meeting, Treasurer Audra Dominguez gave the financial report and said their deposit of the lodging tax revenue was still pending and therefore they did not have new numbers to report. The board voted and passed the approval of the financial report. Tourism Director Jackie Dorothy reported they have a new logo and said, “We switched up the Wyoming Hot Springs to make it less confusing to our internationals and non-locals. Or, do we want “Wyoming’s Hot Springs”? Once we finalize this logo,...

  • Agriscience Fair

    Feb 2, 2023

    Thermopolis Middle School Big Springs FFA members, Morgan Jones and Chloee Owsley, present their project titled "What Is Your Purpose To Farm?" to a panel of three judges, Bill DaFoe, Barbara Rice and Jenna Schultz, during the Agriscience Fair last Tuesday at the high school gym. Those from the Big Springs Chapter moving onto the state contest February 8 in Casper include: Animal Systems - Ann Allen, Ryan Axtell, Camden Weyer, Social Science - Chloee Owsley, Morgan Jones, Christian Eplin, Izzy...