Reporters join IR staff

Two new reporters have joined the Thermopolis Independent Record staff.

Durward D. Jones is a new face at the IR, but not a new face in Thermopolis. You might recognize him from his days at Hot Springs County High School when he used to drive his flat-black, three-quarter ton truck up and down the main street with his friends, or after his 1990 graduation when he worked at Northwest BOCES, taking care of mentally handicapped or emotionally disturbed children. You might also recognize him from his time at the helm of his antique furniture restoration company.

Although Jones is a local face, he has had his fair share of adventures away from Wyoming. As a 20-year member of the National Guard, he was twice deployed to Iraq with the Wyoming National Guard, first to Baghdad in 2004 for a year and a half, then again southern Iraq in 2009 for another year-long tour of duty. After returning safely home to Thermopolis, he left again to study Film and Video Production at the Art Institute of Colorado in Denver from 2010-2013, graduating with Honors in just three years.

Between his graduation from art school and his first day on the job at the IR, Jones did freelance video work in Colorado. Making movies is one of his greatest passions, whether science fiction or documentary, and he is rarely seen on the streets without his Canon digital camera.

Growing up in between North Carolina and Florida, Chandler Smith developed a passion for photojournalism. To capture a story in a single frame is something that Smith strives for. Graduating from Kalamazoo College in Michigan, he soon found himself in the dry dusty streets of Cairo, Egypt reporting the effects of the Egyptian Revolution.

After reading a want ad for a reporter here in Thermopolis, Smith immediately took a virtual tour of our town and just knew he wanted to come. There is a side of American life that a big city cannot give a person. Not to mention the out door life style can be taken advantage of to the fullest.

Smith is looking forward to being a member of the community and to getting to know our town.