Sorted by date Results 1 - 19 of 19
The number of positive COVID-19 infections continues to concern healthcare workers, through there is some good news as infection rates are starting to trend downward slightly. According to Dr. Jean Stachon, the county’s health officer, Sweetwater County had 615 new cases of COVID-19 infection in the last two weeks. She also said the county has had 16 deaths associated with the disease and has had 2,460 cases recorded in total since the novel coronavirus appeared in the state. Stachon said the p...
With a loss of funding and a voluntary reduction in school budgets requested by Gov. Mark Gordon, Sweetwater County School District No. 2 is moving forward with a voluntary reduction incentive plan. The plan was approved unanimously by the district’s board of trustees last week. During a presentation to the board last week, Superintendent Craig Barringer said the district is down 211 students from the 2019-2020 school year, which will lead to a projected loss of $855,000 in funding. In total, t...
A broken-down vehicle led to the recovery of a 10-year-old child abducted from Idaho Falls, Idaho. According the Wyoming Highway Patrol, at 7:08 a.m., a WHP trooper was notified of a broken-down vehicle near mile marker 32 on Wyoming Highway 430 south of Rock Springs. The trooper located the vehicle and realized it matched the description of a vehicle described in an Amber Alert issued out of Idaho Falls, Idaho, that was believed to have been traveling to Pueblo, Colo. The trooper detained the driver and questioned the person about the Amber...
Carl Phelps Morgan died on December 2, 2020, at the age of 65. Carl was born in Rock Springs, WY on April 30, 1955. He graduated from Green River High School in 1973, played in the school's band, and was a diver on the swim team. After high school, Carl served in the United States Navy as a boiler technician, and later worked as a carpenter and a truck driver. He enjoyed spending time with his family playing board games and working on creative projects. Carl enjoyed swimming in the ocean,...
Joan Cederburg passed away peacefully in her sleep on December 8, 2020, after a long battle with Alzheimer's. She was a lifelong resident of Rock Springs, Wyoming. Joan was born on March 1st, 1938 in Rock Springs, Wyoming; the youngest daughter of John Matthews and Mary Ryder. She was a graduate of the Rock Springs High School. Joan married Bill Cederburg in Rock Springs, Wyoming on November 9, 1957. They had one son, and were married for 56 years. Bill preceded her in death on March 18, 2013....
Patricia Ruffini, 94, passed away on Wednesday, December 9, 2020 at Deer Trail Assisted Living in Rock Springs, Wyoming. Mrs. Ruffini was a lifelong resident of Rock Springs, Wyoming. She was born on September 19, 1926 in Rock Springs; the daughter of Leroy Crookston and Lillian Morgan. Patricia attended schools in Rock Springs and was a 1945 graduate of the Rock Springs High School. She married Louis Ruffini on June 6, 1948 in Rock Springs, Wyoming. He preceded her in death on November 15,...
There is a lot of criticism that can be laid to Gov. Mark Gordon’s management of the COVID-19 pandemic, the largest of which was his steadfast refusal to tighten statewide restrictions in the face of a huge spike in COVID-19 infections. Last week, finally, he reversed course and issued a statewide mask and facial covering mandate. In Sweetwater County, more than 2,400 residents have contracted COVID-19, with a large percentage of that number being as recent as last month. So far, 16 people have died as a result of complications from the d...
For most of us in Wyoming, 2020 brought many challenges. As we head into 2021, we can celebrate a new year with some much-needed encouraging news: We have multiple effective vaccines for COVID-19. During the past year, the federal government has focused on Operation Warp Speed. This is a true private-public partnership, involving America’s best scientists, business, military and health care leaders. The goal was to create and distribute a safe, potent and effective vaccine for COVID-19. That goal was achieved in record time. This is a h...
Wyoming’s fiscal situation has grown very stormy in 2020. The state has already administered a 10% cut across all agencies, followed by another $500 million this fall, with possibly more to come. It now looks like we’ll have to reduce the two-year budget from about $3.3 down to $2.4 billion in order to make it balance. This is too much to withstand if we hope to maintain needed state services. Observers have long noted that Wyoming suffers because it has resisted diversifying the revenue streams with which it pays for general state government a...
After the publication of its article about the turn-of-the-century Wagon Bridge in Green River the Sweetwater County Historical Museum received a number of inquiries about other historical bridges across the Green in Sweetwater County. One photograph from the County Museum's archives of a "sheep bridge" across the Green River, shown here, depicts what was clearly a "home-made" bridge used to trail sheep across waterway. The original photo is marked "Dailey's Sheep Bridge" and appears to date...
Research requests made last week to the Sweetwater County Historical Museum’s new Vintage Firearms Research program reaffirmed a fact about the history of early 20th century firearms in the west - the widespread use of .22 rimfire pump-action rifles. Many of the initial research requests made to the Museum involved .22 rifles owned for generations by local families, particularly the 1890 Winchester, 1906 Winchester, and Model 12 Remington, all pump-actions. The .22 rimfire cartridge has a long history. In fact, the first .22, which would b...
The United Way received a pledge of $56,506 from United Steel Workers Local 13214 and employees at Genesis Alkali. The pledge was made through the United Way of Southwest Wyoming's workplace campaign and go to support community-based initiated focused on education, health and basic needs. United Way funds Sweetwater County initiatives such as the Food bank of Sweetwater County, Boys & Girls Club of Sweetwater County and the YWCA's Financial Empowerment and Center for Families and Children...
Free, safe and effective vaccinations intended to help prevent future COVID-19 infections have started in Wyoming, according to the Wyoming Department of Health. Dr. Alexia Harrist, state health officer and state epidemiologist with WDH, said the first approved vaccine is recommended for most people who are age 16 and older with two doses about three weeks apart needed for the vaccine to be effective. “Putting an end to this pandemic will take all our tools. Now we can add vaccines to wearing masks, social distancing and staying home when we a...
Many of Western Wyoming Community College’s students transfer to the University of Wyoming (UW) or other four-year institutions after graduation. For the past five years, Western has had a “two-plus-two” transfer agreement with academic departments at the University of Wyoming. The “two-plus-two” collaboration agreements are now being revamped to make the process even easier. The new “universal two-plus-two” partnerships will allow Western’s students’ coursework to transfer to UW no matter the academic discipline. In order to make the universa...
The Green River High School boys swimming team started the season with a splash in their first two meets of the season. The Wolves competed at a meet in Rock Springs Friday, then participated in the Rawlins Pentathlon Saturday. In Rock Springs, the 3A team took first, scoring 421 points at the meet. The team's success continued Saturday, taking second with 153 points/ Of the team's 19 swimmers and divers, 13 qualified for state. "I was pleased with the way they performed," head swimming coach...
The Wolves were split between three wrestling competitions over the weekend, which included a home dual against Shoshoni Saturday. The Wolves defeated Shoshoni 19-18. Head coach Josh Wisniewski said some wrestlers went to Heber City, Utah while other competed at a tournament in Evanston. Through the weekend, Wisniewski thought the Wolves wrestled well and believed the team matched up pretty well against the squad from Shoshoni. While the coach was happy with the team's performance, he plans to a...
The Lady Wolves didn’t start their season the way they would have liked, but were able to rebound after a loss Friday. The team sits a 1-1 for the season so far, their first game a 56-50 losing effort to Laramie and a dominating 50-34 win over Cheyenne South at home Saturday. “We made some steps forward from last night (in Laramie),” head girls basketball coach Rick Carroll said after Saturday’s game. Carroll said he’s coach a young team this year, with only three seniors playing for the Lady Wo...
The Wolves are working to hard prepare for the upcoming Flaming Gorge Classic, coming into the tournament after a 71-62 win against Cheyenne South Saturday. Head coach Laurie Ivie liked what she was seeing from the Wolves during their home opener. “The boys played very well in our home opener, she said. “We got up and down the court quickly, shared the ball well, found open shooters and had four players score in double digits.” While she was happy with how the game went for the team, there...
