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By Karla Pomeroy
Editor 

The News Editorial

 

December 29, 2022



Ready or not here comes 2023

This week we say goodbye to 2022 and on Sunday we welcome in 2023.

A new year brings hope for the future and apprehension of the unknown. Think about when we celebrated 2020, no one could have foreseen a global pandemic, hoarding of toilet paper, lockdown of businesses.

And then came 2021 and we all thought, OK it’s going to be better, but just six short days in there was an attack on the U.S. Capitol as rioters hoped to stop the certification of the 2020 election.

So when 2022 rolled around everyone was cautious about ringing in the New Year, the unknown seemed to hold less hope and more apprehension. We faced record inflation, record gas prices (although some prices in Wyoming are down to $2.15 per gallon this month), and recently record low temperatures.

Locally, however, there have been a lot of positive, things that were started in 2021 were complete in 2022. The completion of the renovations for Unique Precisions Industries in the old Coors building on Fourth Street for manufacturing to begin for the former California company, the opening of the new Pit Stop Travel Center and the opening of the new Big Horn Cooperative One Stop convenience store.

Sara Bain just opened her new store downtown, Blue Jeans & Pearls. Spartan Arms opened a storefront, along with a new coffee shop, 1776 Coffee, on Tenth Street, new Mexican restaurant opened on main street, Brandon and Sha Yule became the new owners of the Worland Blair’s Market, Sunlight Federal Credit Union opened its new facility and announced a new CEO.

The 2022 election did not bring any unexpected changes, but it brings us to what to look for in 2023.

On Jan. 3, a new clerk, a new sheriff and a new county attorney will all take the oath of office along with other county officials who were re-elected or elected to retain current position.

Austin Brookwell will take over for retiring Sheriff Steve Rakness, Lily Rakness Parra takes over for retiring Clerk Mary Grace Strauch and Anthony Barton takes over for retiring County Attorney John Worrall.

2023 brings the continuation of the one-cent general purpose tax and the lodging tax.

Some continuing stories to watch in 2023 include a resolution to the location of the ambulance station as all parties await the decision by District Court Judge Bobbi Overfield on Richard Kroger’s Petition for Review regarding the special exemption granted for the station on Road 11.

The Washakie County Commissioners will have to begin work on determining how to continue to pay for the ambulance service in 2024 and beyond. The paid, advanced ambulance service is a great asset to the community, and it is necessary as volunteers for nearly every organization, including emergency services are becoming harder and harder to come by here, across the state and the country.

Groundbreaking on the new Ten Sleep School should happen in the spring although completion of the school will be something to look forward to in 2024.

The City of Worland should make its official appeal on the 2020 census by notifying the Census Bureau of its intention to conduct a mid-census census. The City of Worland dropped below 5,000 based on the census figures. The census was conducted in the midst of the global COVID pandemic and the city disputes the more than 700 drop in population.

Also in 2023, we will see how they work to dissolve the current Worland Aquatic Center Joint Powers Board, ensuring the pool stays as a public facility. There are many questions left to be answered – will the school board oversee the aquatic center, the recreation district board, will there be a new board formed.

Of course, in the spring we can wait and see if the Warriors will be crowned the state’s 3A soccer champions again.

As always, there are many unknowns, things that will happen that we cannot foresee at this time, some will be good, some will be sad, some may be frustrating.

We do not know what 2023 holds for us, we only know we are ready to move forward into the future.

Let us, as we head into 2023, heed the words of the Apostle Paul and focus on what is ahead, not what is behind.

Philippians 3:13-14 (NASV) “13 Brothers and sisters, I do not regard myself as having taken hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

Happy New Year!

 
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