Your source for news in Hot Springs County
Your source for news in Hot Springs County
Sorted by date Results 1426 - 1450 of 1540
For some months now I have been following the debate regarding the creation of a Hospital District and feel compelled to share my opinion on this important matter. My company is one of the largest private employers in the county, and, I am a frequent consumer of health care services myself as a stage four cancer survivor. I am concerned that lives may be on the line if both sides continue to view the issue simply in terms of local control and higher taxes versus the affiliation or merger with a larger health care entity. Our community leaders s...
You might have seen me in town already. I’m not hard to miss with my Nebraska license plates, and my red, white and black jacket that betrays my love for the Nebraska Cornhuskers. For the past couple weekends, myself, along with my wife Louise and two boys Michael and Mason, visited Thermopolis as we prepared to join the community. We immediately fell in love with the small-town atmosphere and beautiful scenery, as well as the hospitality shown to us. My hometown of Alliance, Nebraska has j...
Thermopolis and Hot Springs County people should be bursting with pride at the honors accorded to the Hot Springs Greater Learning Foundation at Gov. Matt Mead’s Arts Awards Gala Friday night. In front of hundreds of people in attendance, the Foundation and five individual Wyoming artists received their 2015 Governor’s Arts Awards. The Thermopolis portion of the ceremony featured a video prepared by the state that showed just a few of the many events and activities the Foundation sponsors for people of all ages at sites ranging from the pos...
Is the increased use of cell phones becoming a serious problem in our class rooms? Some people think that it is, and others say it isn’t. But what do the students and staff of our very own school have to say about it? When asked if cell phones are a distraction in class, Jaydon Weaver said, “I think that if people won’t stay off their phones, let them be on them. They will start to fail and realize.” Hannah Hurley also shared her opinion. “My opinion on cell phones in classroom is simply that they are a distraction to certain people. There are...
It can seem overwhelming sometimes – this thing called life. You awaken at 4 a.m. because it is a “migraine day,” and roll over while trying not to move your head, just hoping to get back to sleep for another hour or two. You discover the furnace needs repairs and the washing machine needs replacing – all in the same day. The morning alarm didn’t go off and no one had time to make coffee. You are out of ketchup and you’d planned on having hamburgers for supper. There’s dog hair all over the carpet and muddy cat paw prints across the newly cle...
by Trudy Lieberman, Rural Health News Service A few months ago came some alarming health news. “Diabetes nation? Half of Americans have diabetes or pre-diabetes,” screamed a Los Angeles Times headline. WebMD weighed in with “Diabetes a Concern for Half of Americans.” NBC News announced, “Half of Americans Have Diabetes or High Blood Sugar.” What was missing from these stories was the fact that the definition of who has the disease has been expanding, and a new disease called pre-diabetes has arisen from the changing definitions. That means,...
As a crossing guard in Thermopolis I would like to thank all of you who are slowing down on Sixth Street and making it a safer highway for everyone. A young boy came from school to the crossing this past week. I thanked him for crossing where it was safer. He said, “We need to lead by example. A little child may be watching!” We could all learn from him. Dorothy Knighten...
School zones are put in place to help ensure the safety of children going to and from schools and walking around schools. Drivers are responsible for maintaining safety and awareness in a school zone. All children deserve a safe school environment, including both in and around their school. Keep your eyes on the road and our mind on the task at hand. We are navigating a large vehicle in close proximity to small children. Don't let the fact that you are a little sleepy, distracted by your cell...
We want to express our support of our local hospital, hospital board members and the county commissioners. They have worked tirelessly looking at various options to improve our hospital and update it to meet the needs of the community. From what we read in the Independent Record and talking to board members, we feel they are on the right track. We feel it is very important to keep local control of the hospital and health care facilities in this community. Giving up control to an outside entity means their main interest is for themselves, not...
Gee, may I sit on your knee to be enlightened by blissful mores stories of yore? Dames knew their place, coloreds held on the back of the bus by police dogs and fire hoses, queers judged, scorned, and invisible. Sarcasm aimed at you trivializing the concerns of others makes you no martyr. Stop feigning victim like a lily-livered liberal. Your Daily Caller conveniently made my point. Simply yeller journalism click-bait founded yesterday by a guy making easy money planting seeds of paranoia and fear while donning bow ties for pseudo-intellectual...
Perhaps Mr. Williams could supply the exact numbers to clarify the issue about how much the hospital spends on management and CEO wages. The point is, how can we manage our hospital without the expensive overhead and administrative fees? In our neighboring community, the company leases the hospital, and these fees are paying for the 15-year construction bond. There are options, and the board needs to explore them. The hospital’s community assessment in 2013 was on obesity. The news was hardly news to anyone. One third of Americans, and T...
by Tim Summers, State Director AARP Wyoming When someone says they are family, it carries weight. It means that you have a bond, a harmony and a responsibility for other people. It does not have to be by blood, but by conviction of a kinship. There is no greater demonstration of what family means than being a caregiver. In Wyoming, more than 66,000 people personally exemplify being family each day by taking care of a loved one, whether it be their child, parent, friend, spouse or any other person that they consider family. Someone so important...
Ms. Picket’s letter to the editor in last week's Independent Record deserves a follow up to clarify a few statistics she included in her letter. The board, medical staff, and public are not considering building a 16 bed hospital. The actual number will probably be 10, with two additional OB/delivery rooms. The management company (Health TechS3) fees are considerably less than the $750,000 quoted by Ms. Picket, and those fees include not only the management services and CEO salary, but ancillary services such as recruitment of professionals w...
This year a number of local, state and national political candidates will be vying for votes in media outlets locally and across the country. Because of space limitations and fairness to candidates, the Thermopolis Independent Record has had a long standing policy of not accepting letters to the editor endorsing or opposing political candidates. This policy was in effect when I joined the IR in 1998. I believe the policy was implemented a number of years prior to that. Over the years, this...
Thermopolis has amazing paleontological and geological wonders and is host to the 6th best dinosaur museum in the world. This last nomination was made by CNN.com and over the past few years we have been given many accolades, including 100 of the world’s best vacations by LIFE Books. Thermopolis is very lucky to have such a world-class treasure. What makes us unique is the proximity to our dig sites. With one of the wealthiest dinosaur bone finds in the world, we offer many digging programs such as Dig for the Day and Shovel Ready digs. The W...
The State Parks Department has been gracious enough to haul the recycle trailer (located in the armory parking lot) for the last five years. Starting in February, they will no longer be able to take the recycling trailer to Riverton to be unloaded. Riverton is the only viable option to haul our recycling. The Hot Springs County Recreation District does not have the means to transport the trailer, but would hate to see the community without a recycling option. Many people use the trailer daily. If you, someone you know, or an organization you...
I appreciate the opportunity to rebut recent letters regarding my letter concerning the movie The Hateful Eight. Obviously we, and many others who contacted us, were not the target demographic represented by letter writer Mr. Burrows. Having reached senior citizen status, I am familiar with the work of Q. Tarantino. I have chosen not to see any of his previous films save one (From Dusk till Dawn – vampires were all the rage back then). No research was needed as suggested by Mr. Burrows; I was familiar with Tarantino’s work. As stated in my pre...
It doesn’t make sense to build a 16-bed hospital when the average daily census is two or three. That is a little over 10 percent utilization of the space. A business would go broke fast if they only stocked 10 percent of their shelves. And yet, the hospital board wants us to believe that a new 16-bed hospital is just what this community needs. The trend is not toward inpatient stays, but away from them. People are often sent home the day after surgery, whether they are ready or not. Most surgeries are done as outpatient. Urgent Care and 24-hour...
Last week, movie nominations were announced for the annual Academy Awards and Wyoming was prominent in both the nominees and the passed over movies. But first, on a recent dark and cold night (-13), I was being forced to watch “American Idol” by my wife Nancy and, as is normal in our household, I was leafing through a magazine and checking items on my iPad. The latter drives her crazy for some reason. “You need to pay attention to what’s on TV,” she might say lovingly (or not so lovingly.) While leafing through an issue of Time, it was hard not...
Thanks for supporting our local theatre. I hope the last letter to the editor in the IR criticizing the movie “The Hateful Eight” actually makes someone want to watch it. Next time please do your research before watching a movie by a director known for his explicit and shocking films. Tarantino doesn’t apologize for exercising freedom of speech and he won’t apologize for offending someone with a movie. Some people like George Carlin and Lenny Bruce felt it was their job to offend. Tarantino has never made movies so he can pat himself on the bac...
This past weekend our town had the opportunity to support our hard working students by showing up to the basketball games. I was so impressed with the players, they showed such sportsmanship while playing. I was impressed with our cheerleaders, they have clearly been working hard and it was apparent. I was impressed with the band, as they too have been working hard. What did not impress me was the blatant lack of school spirit or school support for the students from some of the school administration and teachers. I was shocked and saddened...
Anticipating ignorance surrounding Quentin Tarantino, I printed out an article from perhaps the most conservative source available, National Review. I did so for those easily pandered to who would inevitably question seeing, “The Hateful Eight”. In it the author correctly points out, “Conservatives ought to support Tarantino — not because they like him or his movies, not because they agree with any of his political positions or because they are anti-police, but because Tarantino did not call policemen murderers.” The letter in the IR regarding...
By Trudy Lieberman, Rural Health News Service Early in December a reader who lives in the foothills west of Denver sent me an email. “It’s scary when you go into any healthcare facility and don’t know whether to bring your check book, loan application papers, or bankruptcy processing papers,” he said. “Nobody seems to care or be concerned about it.” He wanted to know why we aren’t told all costs up front so we can make informed decisions. He had a point. When we go in for a procedure, most of the time we don’t know the total price or even what...
In response to the recent letter to the editor titled “Tyranny of the Spirit”, I would suggest that the esteemed gentleman please reread and reconsider the points I made regarding freedom. The validity of the points made are ill-refuted through the use of misrepresentation, straw-man arguments and ad hominem attacks. Addressing some of the points raised in the response: I did not question cultural values but rather reserved my observations for the actions of a government that has made every intent to bend the free individual to the will of the...
To support our local movie theater, we saw “The Hateful Eight.” I wish I had back the three hours and ten dollars wasted on that effort. I wish I had heeded the boycott called for by supporters of police officers nationwide. The movie’s director, Quentin Tarantino, had called officers involved in recent shootings “murderers.” It is surprising that the usual protest groups have not condemned this movie: the NAACP (for using Mark Twain language hundreds of times); NOW (for male violence against women); The Obama administration (for gun violence)...
