Your source for news in Hot Springs County
Your source for news in Hot Springs County
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No doubt if you’ve glanced through the pages of this week’s edition you noticed one of our younger employees smiling back at you. Read a little bit more and you’ll see that in about a month we’ll be increasing prices for the Thermopolis Independent Record. It’s no secret that inflation affects everything you buy, from groceries to clothing. And while most of the time these products see price hikes on a weekly and even daily basis, most times without warning, we’re going on 16 years without a per paper price hike and providing ample time for yo...
A couple of days of sunshine are a welcome respite from the recent deluge of rain, but that doesn’t mean we’re out of the woods yet. Keep in mind the ground is completely saturated at this time and the possibility of mud slides and rock slides in the canyon are a real possibility. Even our county roads could become dangerous with water running over them or beside them. As we do every year about this time, we need to be ever aware of our surroundings as things can change at any moment. Tuesday night a culvert on Cottonwood Creek Road became uns...
With Memorial Day weekend approaching, as with every year at this time, thoughts turn to the men and women who have fought for this country and gave their lives for it. It seems one can’t turn on the news or pick up a periodical these days without hearing of some new conflict overseas or even along our own borders, and while it is important to remember and pray for those who continue the fight, Memorial Day is not for them. This sacred day is for us to remember those who laid down their lives to defend our rights, our privileges. As an n...
On Sunday, we will be watching the graduating class of 2019 cross the boards into their new lives as high school graduates. These days we hear a lot of disparaging news about teens in our country – Tide pod eaters, drug users, drinkers, inexperienced theorists. What we see, however, are young people who are genuinely concerned with political issues, the future of our planet and making things better. The students we see wearing those caps and gowns are future doctors, scientists, educators and farmers, ranchers and veterinarians, mechanics a...
It seems like every week of the year gives us something to celebrate, whether it’s personal milestones such as birthdays or anniversaries, up to statewide and national celebrations May is no exception, recognizing our teachers, law enforcement and nurses nearly all at the same time. May 6-12 is both Nurse Appreciation Week and Teacher Appreciation Week. In the grand scheme of the job market, these can often be some of the hardest positions and the least recognized. Both require an extreme amount of patience and care shown fellow human b...
We have unfortunately been seeing a number of businesses in Thermopolis closing their doors of late. On social media we see posts from people who haven’t felt welcomed into our little community and have made the decision to leave. Our unemployment rate has gone down, but so has our population. What we’re seeing is not unusual for a lot of small towns across America. The question is, what do we do about it? When you ask folks what they would like to see in town, the most common answer is one of the fast food chains. Variety is the spice of lif...
It feels like spring has finally arrived. Leaves are sprouting from buds, plants are pushing through the ground and newborn animals are exploring this wide world. If you’ve been reading the paper or just taking a look around town, you know there’s a spring in our local businesses as well. Old buildings are getting new owners and new life, others thought dead are re-opening and well-established stores are getting new owners. It’s been really amazing these past few weeks to see and hear — even if they are just rumors to start — about the growi...
Easter weekend is upon us, a weekend traditionally dedicated to quality family time. It doesn’t matter if you’re spending Easter Sunday in church, on the river or at the lake, or just having lunch with your loved ones, there is no doubt Easter is a special day. The little ones have a chance to meet the Easter Bunny on Saturday out at Champ’s Chicken starting at 10 a.m., and at Thermopolis Rehabilitation and Wellness at 2 p.m. There is also the Annual Lion’s Club Easter Egg Hunt on Sunday starting at 2 p.m. in Hot Springs State Park. This is...
The voice of the town, county and state agencies has been heard, as over the past couple weeks several letters went out to the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality in response to a proposed DEQ permit to allow water carrying several tons of oilfield pollutants into Boysen Reservoir. That permit came with the idea that the pollutants would not degrade the water quality. Unfortunately for us here in Thermopolis, there was no notice given about this permit and the deadline for any comment we could give — likely in writing or email, as t...
Wyoming is our home. It is a pristine piece of heaven in the middle of our Nation, mostly untouched and sparsely populated, and that’s the way we like it. Apparently, the Department of Environmental Quality doesn’t see it like that. Millions of gallons of tainted water, 8.27 million per day in fact, is slated to be dumped into Boysen Reservoir along with 2,161 tons of dissolved oilfield pollutants per month from the Moneta Divide oilfield if Aethon Energy gets their permit. The company is expanding to 4,250 wells between Shoshoni and Mon...
This past year has seen a lot of change in our community. Familiar businesses are shutting their doors while new ones are popping up or coming under new ownership. Among the changes has been the loss of the annual health fair at Thermopolis Middle School. The event, with its variety of booths for young and old, provided opportunity to get educated and involved about one’s health and wellbeing. Sadly, both the fair and the regularly scheduled blood draws associated with the event won’t be happening this year, nor has there been any word as to...
In Wyoming we really have just three seasons, not four – fall, winter and construction season. In Hot Springs County we do manage to sneak in another one, rockslide season. Things have been heating up in the rockslide arena the last couple of weeks with a huge boulder dropping onto the highway from above one evening and then a good slide near the dam on Tuesday morning. If you’ve lived in this area for any length of time, you’ve probably been through Wind River Canyon hundreds of times in all kinds of weather, but rockslide season can be the m...
A major step towards governmental transparency happened this past week, as Governor Gordon signed into law Senate File 57. This establishes a deadlines for when public records must be made available and sets up a governor designated ombudsman to receive complaints regarding violation of the Public Records Act. The law doesn’t take effect for a few more months, but when it does it will provide the public with more power to hold their government accountable. We regularly publish public notices, such as meeting minutes, notices of sales and, in t...
In like a lion, out like a lamb. We’ve heard that old saying forever in reference to how the weather is going to be during the month of March. With that in mind, it looks like we’ll be going out like a lion this year. Sure, it was cold last Friday as March arrived, but there was no storm to go with the freezing temps, so chances are we’ll get hit at the end of the month with a snowstorm. Old wives' tales generally have a touch of the truth to them, like ‘snakes don’t come out until after the first thunderstorm.’ If you do a little research, i...
This past Sunday, what could’ve been a deadly incident was averted thanks to the vigilant and valiant effort of law enforcement — and not just one agency. It took the combined efforts of local and state agencies to keep the peace in our streets. The incident calls to mind a common theme heard during the election season — a desire for law enforcement agencies to work together toward a common goal rather than butting heads all the time. And this week’s stopping of a potential Sunday shooter is just the latest example of what our officers can do...
As you flip through the pages of this week’s edition of the Independent Record, you’re sure to notice that the Thermopolis Bobcats had an incredible week and we sure are proud of these young people. The boys basketball team played a scorcher against our age-old rival, Worland, and came out on top. The wrestling team took a 15 man team to their regional contest, came home with first in 2A and all 15 of the young men are now qualified for state. The robotics team had their state competition over the weekend and not only did well on their own...
As your newspaper, one of our primary responsibilities is to make sure people can read about and enjoy what is happening in our community. Pictures, editorial content and advertisements all go to meet this goal. While it would be nice to be all-knowing so nothing got missed, the reality is that we don’t know everything that’s going to happen in a given week, and unfortunately that leads to us and our readers missing out on seeing some great things, particularly at the schools. Many activities happen at the regular morning assemblies at the mid...
Perhaps Wyoming’s State Appropriations Committee is learning you don’t mess with our elderly. Last week, in a last minute, last ditch effort, Representative Donald Burkhardt of Carbon County introduced a bill that would have eliminated state funding for the Wyoming Pioneer Home. HB0295 went immediately to the Appropriations Committee where, fortunately, it died, not getting out of the Committee of the Whole. This is the third attempt at either closing the doors to the facility or selling it off to a private company in three years. This time the...
As a newspaper, our primary goal is to inform our readers of what’s happening in the world, not just locally but on the state and, if necessary, national level. In recent weeks, we’ve been keeping you updated on what’s happening in the Legislature. However, it is this same Legislature that has made not one, but three attempts at keeping us at doing our jobs when it comes to keeping our town and county leaders accountable. The first of these attempts came from House Bill 146, which would take out requirements that names be published with the s...
Imagine how hard it must be to look for “something” when you really have no idea what that “something” looks like. Take the situation at our high school and the JUUL. Do you know what it is? Do you know what it looks like? This takes the proverbial needle in a haystack to a completely different level when you’re not even sure what that needle looks like. As parents and grandparents we are often woefully behind the times when it comes to the latest trends with teens. We’re fairly on-point when it comes to things we can see, like telling tha...
When the New Year rolls in, it’s often accompanied with the hope that this year will be better than the last. Unfortunately, a new year doesn’t mean all the bad news from the previous gets suddenly whisked away and we start over with a clean slate. It seems lately that there’s been more and more bad news in the national and, unfortunately, quite a bit on the state and local level. There’s trouble in the schools, on the borders, at the capitol. But, as the saying goes “things are always the darkest before the dawn,” and we can help bring that...
Earlier this week Thermopolis and Hot Springs County experienced a changing of the guard of sorts with the swearing in of all the new folks elected last November. With this new year we are also looking at a new chance to come together for the betterment of our community. We have new people in top positions in law enforcement. New judges donning black robes. While the faces aren’t new, there has been some shuffling of those in charge or working in different departments in the courthouse and Town Hall. No community is perfect, but with these c...
What a week it’s been. Aside from the dump of snow we got for the New Year, as well as the resulting drifts, here at The Independent Record we’ve had a storm of a different kind. Last week, a town employee presented us with Contribution Report documents regarding a political candidate and accused us of making illegal campaign contributions. The accuser also feels a local business made illegal contributions as well. The Independent Record has not, did not and will not make campaign contributions to any candidate. The small business being acc...
In a few short days we will be faced with a book filled with blank pages – 2019. Each new year is our chance to leave behind the previous year and fill those blank pages with new memories. Some of us will make resolutions with the finest of intentions, like losing weight, stopping smoking or even making amends with family and friends. Of course, there is also the portion of us that, while we may have good intentions, will let those resolutions slide before January is even over. We need to keep in mind that forgetting about our New Year’s res...
We’re sure you’ll notice a little extra bulk in your paper this week, thanks to our annual printing of the Letters to Santa. While it’s quite a busy time at the Thermopolis Independent Record getting all those letters typed up — mistakes and all — before they’re shipped on to the North Pole, it’s also one of the best. Reading over the wishes of our community’s youth helps revive some of that Christmas Spirit when it’s less than a week from the big day and holiday shopping has run us down. Even though our fingers might get tired, our hearts get...
