Week of November 14, 2024
Veterans Day celebrations, pictures from local fundraisers, Thursday night suicide awareness event and other local...
In July, Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon announced that Wyoming is advancing its systemic approach to mental health care reform. The next phase of the Governor’s suicide prevention efforts is now in motion. Under the WY We Care initiative, select counties will participate in an intensive community suicide prevention program through the PROSPER Project. PROSPER (Proactive Reduction of Suicide in Populations via Evidence-Based Research) represents over five decades of research into optimal strategies for suicide prevention and intervention,...
At the monthly board meeting, the Wyoming School Boards Association (WSBA) delegate from Ten Sleep – board member Bill Murphy – requested advice from Superintendent Annie Griffin on how to proceed with voting on resolutions at the upcoming WSBA Conference in Casper on Nov. 20-22. The issues under scrutiny in these resolutions include staff carrying of firearms, a relevant topic for Ten Sleep’s school district. Considering discussion following the 2024 Legislative Session over House Bill 0125, a bill that failed to pass that would have...
The recent approval of Constitutional Amendment A in Wyoming is set to reshape the landscape of residential property tax reform, presenting the Legislature with new tools to address ongoing concerns about property taxation. According to the Legislative Service Office, Constitutional Amendment A establishes a distinct classification for residential real property in property tax assessments. This amendment creates a subclass specifically for owner-occupied primary residences. This means the Legislature can adjust the tax percentage for...
Chronicling the stories of Washakie County and...
While Freedom Caucus argues for completing the deal after inauguration, advocates hope to get it done sooner. JACKSON - In mid-September, Arne Johanson paused while removing barbed-wire fence from the eastern edge of the Kelly parcel - one of the few impediments to wildlife movement on the pristine state trust land. One of the other barriers, though invisible and unseen to the pronghorn, mule deer, elk and bighorn sheep that move through or reside on the parcel's 640 acres, is politics. That...
Draft bill to be discussed Friday afternoon in Legislature’s Transportation Committee. JACKSON — Driver’s licenses and identification cards issued to legal immigrants in Wyoming could require a “Not a United States citizen” label if the Wyoming Legislature backs an upcoming bill draft. The Joint Transportation, Highways and Military Affairs Interim Committee will spend part of its last meeting before the 2025 general session considering a “Noncitizen driver’s license and ID card-revisions” bill. A request for the draft was...
Lingle rounds up 12,000 pounds of spuds TORRINGTON (WNE) — The Food Bank of Wyoming recently added nearly 12,000 pounds of potatoes to its stockpile. The donation came from the University of Wyoming’s James C. Hageman Sustainable Agriculture Research and Extension Center near Lingle during its fourth annual potato harvest. “The potato harvest, made possible through a partnership between SAREC, the Food Bank of Wyoming, and UW Extension’s Cent$ible Nutrition Program, is part of ongoing efforts to address food security in Wyoming,...
POWELL - Community members crowded into the Park County School District 1 Board of Trustees meeting room Tuesday evening to speak their minds about transgender bathroom use in Powell schools. After some students voiced concerns to their parents about a transgender female (a biological male) in a girls' restroom at Powell High School, the topic hit the public sphere during an October school board forum, where a submitted comment said some girls had not been using the school's facilities or had...
Upland game bird seasons experience changes SHERIDAN (WNE) — Upland game bird hunters in the Sheridan Region will see several changes for the 2024 season. The chukar and gray partridge seasons were shortened by approximately one month and will run Sept. 15 through Jan. 31. Turkey hunters are alerted that beginning with the fall 2024 turkey season, there are no longer multiple turkey hunt areas, but one hunt area encompassing the entire state. The entire state has a general season of Oct. 1 through Dec. 31. In addition to a general license,...
BUFFALO — After a year of record moisture in 2023, northeast Wyoming was ready to burn. And burn it did. Rain and snow fell early last year, resulting in grass growth. Without heavy snowpack this past winter to knock the blades down, vegetation cured and dried heading into summer. Come August, all the range needed was an ignition source and some wind to create a landscape level fire. With his 24 years of fire experience in the region, Craig Short said both the number of fires and the acres burned here are “unprecedented.” “We’ve...
CHEYENNE — An election error in Weston County worried some members of the public, who called on elected officials to halt the process of certifying Wyoming’s election results for statewide offices until after there had been a hand recount of votes in all 23 counties. However, members of the State Canvassing Board still unanimously voted to certify the state’s election results on Wednesday. The Canvassing Board is made up of four of the state’s top five elected officials: Chairman Secretary of State Chuck Gray, Gov. Mark Gordon, State...
JACKSON - For well over a year, Teton County residents and water-quality watchdogs fought state officials and environmental regulators, arguing that a septic system for a glamping resort near Teton Village would likely fail, sending human sewage into Fish Creek. This October, the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality confirmed that those fears had come true. DEQ Director Todd Parfitt issued Tammah Jackson Hole, formerly known as Basecamp, an Oct. 29 notice of violation for its system. The...
Competing against some of the fastest swimmers in the state, the Worland Lady Warriors had plenty of highlights from last week's 3A State swimming and diving meet in Cheyenne. Swimming at the 3A State meet on Nov. 7-8, the Lady Warriors 200-yard medley relay team got the momentum rolling on the final day of the meet. The medley relay with Shae Whitlock, Keira Warren, Lila Ramirez and Elizah Pratty finished third with a time of 2:03.60. In the 200-yard individual medley, Whitlock swam the second...
I learned several things leading up to, during and after this year’s General Election. •First, many people truly do not understand the election process, know the Constitution or state statute. Many people do not realize that municipal, county, state and federal offices are sworn in, in the new year. They do not take office right after the election. Some special districts, such as school districts, swear in newly elected members to begin serving in December. Perhaps I know this information based on the numerous elections I have covered...
