Sorted by date Results 2426 - 2450 of 2479
The city’s bowling alley recently got a new owner and with it, a new name as well. Now called The Fish Bowl Bowling Center, the alley will soon see the reopening of its bar and restaurant as well. Owner Perri Rubeck said they’ve made a number of renovations to the building to clean and update its look. “Everything’s getting a new face,” he said. While a grand opening is being tentatively planned next year, Rubeck plans to have the bar open soon and the restaurant will open in early December. He said the restaurant will feature a new menu and...
Sweetwater County needs a new sheriff. I’m not going to say who should be supported in the race, but the one thing I think is certain is we need a new sheriff. Sheriff Rich Haskell has done some good things admittedly, like initiating the inmate work crew. However, his use of county resources and funds hasn’t given him a positive track record in those regards. The obvious issue following Sheriff Haskell is his use of county funds. Money we all pay as taxes got used in a irresponsible way und...
With the general election less than two weeks away, candidates have been flocking to various forums to talk about their views on subjects impacting local, county and state offices. Wednesday night was Green River’s mayoral candidates’ turn to face questions, this time posed by the Green River Chamber of Commerce and city residents. Candidates Mark Peterson and Pete Rust discussed the city's problems and the importance of economic development in Green River. Rust currently works as the transportation director at Sweetwater County School Dis... Full story
Residents running for Green River CIty Council spoke about how they wanted to represent the city if elected. Lyneen Murphy, a candidate for Ward I, said she moved to Green River 16 years ago and is better known as the organizer for the annual pond and garden tour. She was selected as the outstanding citizen by the Green River Chamber of Commerce in 2010. “Green River has a lot of issues and some of them are serious,” she said. Ted Barney is a lifelong resident of Green River. Working as an investigator for the public defender’s office, Barne... Full story
Judges are often the ones handing sentences and presiding over court hearings, but when they’re up for retention, they’re the ones being judged. All of Sweetwater County’s district and circuit court judges were supported for retention in the poll, one district court judge was reviewed below the poll’s average in a number of areas. According to the 2014 Judicial Poll Results compiled by the Wyoming Bar Association, District Court Judge Nena James has the lowest retention rating amongst attorneys in Wyoming’s district courts. Results compiled...
A bus owned by SW-WRAP was severely vandalized during the weekend, resulting in damages that the nonprofit organization says it can't cover. Cathie Hughes, director of SW-WRAP, said she first noticed the damage to their van Sunday morning, after deciding to do some work. Every pane of glass installed on the small bus was damaged or completely shattered. According to Det. Luke Benson with the Green River Police Department, the case is being investigated as a felony-level vandalism. Those cases in...
Candidates vying for the House District 60 seat in the Wyoming Legislature spoke about the issues Wyoming faces Wednesday night. Speaking at a political forum hosted by the Sweetwater County Library System, incumbent Democrat John Freeman and Republican challenger Bill Hooley discussed involving the Bureau of Land Management, Wyoming Game and Fish, the state lottery and same-sex marriage. Freeman has represented H.D. 60 for the past four years and said education is one of the issues close to... Full story
Looking to represent a district encompassing three counties, two challengers for Wyoming House District 18 spoke at the Sweetwater County Library Wednesday. Fred Baldwin, a Republican from Kemmerer and Michele Irwin, a Democrat living west of Green River, are campaigning for the open seat. Baldwin is a physician's assistant who has previously worked as a firefighter in Natrona County and in Rawlins. He currently is the assistant fire chief in Kemmerer. He formerly worked for the Bureau of Land... Full story
The Sweetwater County Child Developmental Center’s board of trustees voted to place its executive director, Shelly Wall, on administrative leave last week. According to Christy Magagna, chairman of the board, the decision came after nearly 90 minutes of discussion in an executive session. Such sessions are allowed under Wyoming law in regards to employee matters. “Children have been and will always be our number one priority here at the CDC. The pending review has nothing to do with the mismanagement of funds or property, safety or health of...
The Green River City Council will likely fund an indoor shooting range at the city's police department building after discussion last night. Meeting in a workshop to discuss possible uses for about $333,000 in consensus grant money from the State Lands and Investments Board, the shooting range was the major topic of discussion. The shooting range would be located in the bottom floor of the new police and court building. Chris Steffen, Green River's police chief and interim city administrator...
The Sweetwater County Museum is $11,000 closer to obtaining New Studio’s collection of photographs. Museum director Ruth Lauritzen said the museum recently received grants from the Wal-Mart Foundation and the Sweetwater County Historical Society. The Wal-Mart foundation awarded the museum with $1,000 while the historical society provided a $10,000 grant to the museum. The Sweetwater County Historical Society is a branch of the state’s historical society, which Lauritzen said was one of the driving forces in the creation of the Sweetwater Cou...
As a journalist, one thing I’ve always struggled with is the employee exemption in Wyoming’s open meetings laws. I’m not saying it should be stricken out, but I’ve always had the feeling it’s invoked more than should be necessary. Back in college, how it was explained to me was like this: Say there’s a public employee who isn’t doing their job as well as they should. The position is one that’s appointed by a governing body and that group has the power to hire and fire. After being talked to...
The kindergarten students in Cindy Brandjord's class at Harrison Elementary School are crane crazy. Recently, the students were visited by Joe Leatherman, who brought his crane to school while talking to the students about his job and how he works. "We got to see it move," Vincent Pavey, a student in the class said. The students were so impressed by the machine, Branjord allowed the children to work on projects revolving around tremendous cranes. Branjord said the kids became excited when they...
Anyone having attended a meeting in the Council Chambers room at City Hall would notice it. At the new Green River Police Department and Municipal Court building, visitors walking into the courtroom space would have noticed a design similar to how the city council’s current meeting space is set up. A long table, with enough microphones and chairs to accommodate the mayor, city council members, city administrator and city attorney is present, along with space to accommodate dozens of people. While speaking to seniors at Golden Hour Senior C...
Residents may see additional donations to the Mining Memorial Park near the green River Visitors Center next year. Jeiremy Gomez, a member of the Green River Arts Council, said many companies are interested in donating equipment to the park. Gomez said QEP, an oil and gas company, plans to donate a compression station similar to the ones used to discover trona west of Green River 70 years ago. Gomez said other companies haven’t committed anything yet, but may plan to do so next year. The park, located at the Thomas Moran overlook, currently h...
In a sign of how the needs of travelers have changed, Little America is closing its restaurant and gift shop, citing more traffic to its travel centers as a deciding factor. “Unfortunately, what’s happened here is we’ve had to make some tough decisions,” Spencer Riggs, general manager for the Little America property said. The closure does not mean the entire operation west of Green River is shutting down. Riggs said business at the travel centers and hotel continues to be well and those locations will remain open. However, the restaur...
Castle Rock Ambulance Service is hiring a full-time crew to help improve its service to the city's residents. Ambulance service director John Taylor said the move won't create a privatized ambulance service, but will ensure its first ambulance is staffed and ready at a moment's notice. Currently, the service operates strictly as a volunteer operation, with ambulance calls being handled by people who rush up to the ambulance station, then staff an ambulance to respond to the emergency they're...
By DAVID MARTIN Editor Normally in this space, readers find an unsigned editorial detailing the newspaper’s position on some issue going on that affects Green River’s residents in some way. This week, we’re changing things up to address an important concern that’s come up in the last week. Last week, we published a story following up on a court case involving a man who sexually abused a girl. The man appeared at a probation revocation and through that, the story then recapped the events that le...
Work on two of the Jim Bridger Power Plant’s power generation units continues east of Rock Springs, despite complaints of its cost. Rocky Mountain Power, owners of the plant, are installing selective catalytic reduction technology into Units Three and Four in a bid to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from the plant. Mike Saunders, project manager for the construction work, said the project was part of a 2010 settlement Rocky Mountain Power reached with the Environmental Protection Agency and is part of a $1 billion company-wide investment to u...
Ur Energy sees more than 10 years of life in its Lost Creek uranium facility north of Bairoil. The facility started production in 2013 and has earned more than $25 million in gross revenue from the sale of about 64,000 lbs. of U-308 yellowcake uranium. Wayne Heili, president and CEO of Ur Energy, said the facility sits on an estimated 13 million pounds of uranium. The mine doesn’t involve traditional mining technology, but utilizes an in situ method of extracting uranium, using native groundwater water to extract diluted uranium. The f...
The skies over Green River may have been dreary throughout the weekend, but that dreariness didn’t follow people into the new American Legion Post No. 28 Saturday. The Tom Whitmore Post No. 28 welcomed visitors during an open house and grand opening celebration at its 38 North Center Street location. “It’s a great organization. It’s a safe place for veterans to meet and hang out,” Mike Erickson, an army veteran and post member said. For Erickson, it’s also a place where he can talk about his experiences and the equipment he’s used and know...
On a rainy Tuesday night, dozens of residents from Green River and Rock Springs met at the Sweetwater County Family Justice Center in Rock Springs to remember a four-month-old girl. Susan Tripplet is alleged to have died as a result of abuse investigators believe occurred at the hands of her parents, Amanda and Jacob Tripplet. The couple are currently being held at the Sweetwater County Detention Center on $1 million cash bonds. However, for many people throughout the county, the event...
A lot of people talk about how important it is to save a building because of its importance to a community. In Green River, a lot of people talked about saving the old Lincoln High School before it burned and many of those people now talk about saving the U.P. Depot building before a similar fate befalls it. However, people often forget about the impact newspapers have in preserving history, a fact I’m ashamed to say I’ve forgotten until recently. Last night, at about 4:15 p.m., I’m going throu...
(Editor’s Note: this story contains information some readers may find unpleasant.) An infant is dead and her parents have been charged with first-degree murder in connection with her death. Last week, Jacob, 26, and Amanda Triplett, 24, were arrested by the Rock Springs Police Department after the Tripletts’ four-month-old daughter died earlier in the week. In addition to the first-degree murder charge, they also face two charges of felony child abuse and one charge of aggravated child abuse. The child abuse charges carry a maximum sen...
The youth services desk at the Sweetwater County Library is usually a busy post, even during the school year. Anyone walking by the desk will often see Youth Services Director Ellie Davis working on a project behind the desk or talking about the latest books with children. Tuesday morning, she helped a trio of students from the Thoman Ranch School. The students, dressed in their best for school picture day, walked through the rows of shelves while Davis made suggestions and chatted about her vis...
