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By DAVID MARTIN Publisher The Sweetwater County commissioners are looking at another voluntary separation program to possibly head off future layoffs. The commissioners discussed the program Tuesday. According to Garry McLean, director of human resources for the county, the program had been offered eight times in the last decade. The program allows for employees close to retirement age to take an early retirement buyout. The goal is to either redistribute the responsibilities associated with a...
Charles L. Bocquin Jr., 81, passed away on Friday, July 17, 2020 at his daughters' home in Green River, Wyoming surrounded by his family. He was a resident of Green River, Wyoming for the past 50 years and former resident of Kansas. He was born in Emporia, Kansas on June 19, 1939, the son of Charles L. Bocquin and Claudine Earnshaw. Mr. Bocquin attended schools in Reading and Emporia, Kansas and was a 1957 graduate of Roosevelt High School. He married Mary Anne Lill on June 20, 1959 in Emporia,...
A foul smell coming from the wastewater treatment plant has made its presence well known amongst residents. A media release from the city attributed these smells to “turnovers” that occur during extended warm periods. These turnovers allow odors trapped in the deeper parts of the lagoon to come to the surface. The release also stated that the increase in the number of RVs dumping their waste at the plant’s dump station caused an overload, which only furthered the bad smells. According to Mark Westenscow, the director of public works, there...
Several local nonprofit groups are set to benefit if the Green River City Council approves its yearly community service agreements. The Council was set to vote on the measure Tuesday night, approving the agreements in its consent agenda. The funding, which amounts to more than $104,000, was included as part of the 2020-2021 budget. The agreements don’t include the full list of organizations the Council budgeted this year. A $90,000 grant was budgeted for the Green River Chamber of Commerce, b...
A Green River Police Department officer tested positive for COVID-19 Monday afternoon, leading to the officer being isolated at home. According to a press release from the city, the patrol officer is in good condition and the department believes it is a single positive case. The officer was not named in the press release due to HIPPA regulations. The officer’s partners were directed to quarantine for the 14-day incubation period and the department is investigating where the officer may have contracted the novel coronavirus. Sweetwater Public H...
The Green River City Council heard the first reading of an ordinance that will alter the maximum number of kids permitted in a home daycare Tuesday night. This ordinance will also allow a daycare center to be included in an R-1 or R-2 zoning district. The Welcome to the Jungle Daycare, located on Hitching Post Drive, has been working on the change since November 2019. Welcome to the Jungle is the only daycare that moved to have the change added to the ordinance. There has not been a change to this ordinance since 2012. The reason the daycare...
Sweetwater County Travel and Tourism recently received a $5,000 Community Enhancement Grant from the Sweetwater County Conservation District to fund two endeavors. The first component was to purchase educational material racks to display brochures that promote the exploration and protection of the outdoor wonders of Sweetwater County at the new “Explore Rock Springs and Green River Visitor Center.” The second component was to fund replacement landscaping materials for the Exit 102 and Exit 107 gateway entrances into Rock Springs off Int...
Trevor Clay Benboe, 40, of Green River, Wyoming passed away on July 26, 2020 at his home. He is a resident of Green River for one year and former resident of Rock Springs, Wyoming. Trevor was born December 30, 1979 the son of Christopher Benboe and Sherrie Grant. Mr. Benboe attended schools in Havre, Montana and Thermopolis, Wyoming and was a 1998 graduate of the Thermopolis High School. He married Stephanie Averill in Cheyenne, Wyoming, they had two children and they later divorced. Mr. Benboe...
Jamie Lynne Carter, 57, passed away on Monday, July 27, 2020 at her home in Rock Springs, Wyoming where she was a lifelong resident. Jamie died following a courageous battle with ALS while surrounded by her family. She was born in Rock Springs, Wyoming December 5, 1962, the daughter of Joe Carter Sr. and Cheryle Robinson Carter. Jamie attended schools in Rock Springs, Wyoming and was a 1981 graduate of Rock Springs High School. During her time there she won three state Women's Basketball...
Joe Christopher Lain, 60, passed away Friday, August 16, 2019 at his home in Rock Springs, Wyoming. He was a resident of Rock Springs for the past eight years and is a former resident of California. Mr. Lain was born on August 5, 1959 in Worland, Wyoming; the son of Robert Lain and Amelia Ledesma. He attended schools in Wyoming and Colorado; Joe was a 1977 graduate of the Steamboat High School. Mr. Lain married Marietta Erika Burch on August 6, 1993 in Worland, Wyoming. Joe served in the United...
Ona D. Cochrun, 79, passed away on Wednesday, July 29, 2020 at his home in Green River, Wyoming. He was born on July 18, 1941 in Luray Kansas, the son of Edwain and Edna Cochrun. Ona attended schools in Luray KS, and graduated high school there in 1959. He married Mary Ann Anderson and they later divorced. Ona wed his second wife Doris Cochrun at Owls Nest Camp Ground on May 28, 1988. They were happily married for 28 years. She preceded him in death on November 9, 2016. Ona worked for the Union...
Mary Magdalene Collins, 89 passed away on Monday, August 3, 2020 at Mission at Castle Rock in Green River, Wyoming. She was a resident of Rock Springs, Wyoming for the past 70 years and former resident of Alabama. Mary has been in ill health for the past one year. She was born on September 25, 1930 in West Blocton, Alabama, the daughter of Henry Curse and Lena Wilson. Mary attended school in Alabama. She married Willie Collins Sr. in West Blocton, Alabama on March 25, 1950. He preceded her in...
Earl Webb Sr. 85, passed away on Saturday, July 25, 2020 at the University of Utah, in Salt Lake City, Utah. He was a resident of Rock Springs, Wyoming for the past 68 years and was a former resident of Illinois. He was born on February 18, 1935 in Du Quoin, Illinois, the son of Jesse Webb and Laura Overton. Earl attended schools in Illinois. He married Blanche Carter in Rawlins, Wyoming and she preceded him in death August 23, 1997. Earl was employed by Allied Chemical 36 years as a miner and...
Judy Sweets, 74, passed away Friday, July 24, 2020 at her home in Rock Springs, Wyoming. She was born on January 5, 1946 in Rock Springs, the daughter of Robert Wallace Sweets and Edna May Sweets. Judy attended the Rock Springs High School and graduated with the class of 1964. She married John W. Parker Sr in Rock Springs, WY on November 15. 1991, they later divorced. Judy was very active member of the Rock Springs Christian Church, was a waitress at Sweets Café, and worked as a sales clerk...
The upcoming fall sports season can go either one of two ways. We either see student athletes and fans enjoy a season of competition or we’ll see a premature end to the season and schools shutting down as a surge of COVID-19 cases develop from a sporting event. We can have a safe and enjoyable season, but it’s up to all of us to make sure that happens. If we’re not careful, the virus could quickly spread beyond an athlete or spectator. A series of infections from an event could interrupt or postpone a team’s season, like the Florida Marlins...
I am alarmed at the free college rhetoric that hit the Wyoming news cycle over the past week. I know our post-secondary institutions are concerned about enrollment being down this fall and the financial hardship that will cause. But dangling the offer of free college with federal CARES money is not the right message or strategy for that money or our state. It is all too easy in contemporary politics for politicians to offer free everything, we can do better than that in Wyoming. A draft bill, proposed by Speaker Harshman, and supported by minor...
During the warm weather of Saturday, my party of five and I decided there was no better time to go kayaking down the Green River. After deciding that a short, one-hour float from County Picnic Grounds to the Island Park would be best, we started our journey. The party I was traveling with consisted of my best friend JJ, my grandfather Jim, my 13-year-old sister Kylee, my family friend Tyndia and her 10-year-old daughter Destiny. During this float there are several small rapids and a couple white water rapids, but the real challenge is the...
The tough times Sweetwater County is experiencing are what motivated Dave Gray to run for election for county commissioner. “My fear is the economy is going to be in bad shape for two to four years,” Gray said. “It concerns me.” He said the announcement that the state could cut every job and release every inmate and still face a significant budget deficit got his attention, believing the shortfall to local government in the coming years. The Democrat is not stranger to county politics. He serv...
Emmalee Skinner was named Distinguished Young Woman of Wyoming at the conclusion of a statewide scholarship program Saturday. Skinner was awarded $3,600 in cash scholarships and will represent the state as its Distinguished Young Woman through 2021. She is the daughter of Bradlee and Melissa Skinner. Skinner was one of seven girls competing to represent the state. A virtual program was hosted through video conferences and submissions during the week of July 27, with the finals taking place Aug....
Green River High School graduate Angela Cable was recently selected as the Rock Springs Main Street/Urban Renewal Agency’s volunteer of the month in July. She has been living in Downtown Rock Springs for 15 years and has been planting flowers in the area for the past seven years. The arts, photography and beautifying our community has always been important to Angela. Her image, “College Hill Wild Horse Wrap” is featured on the power box on the corner of College Drive and Madison Drive. She is the former secretary of the High Desert Daughters of...
The Sweetwater County Library System’s Imagine Your Story Summer Reading Challenge wraps up on Aug. 8. The library is encouraging patrons to log all of their reading minutes by then to be eligible for the end of summer prize drawings. “If you haven’t signed up for the summer reading challenge yet, you still can,” Lindsey Travis, assistant director for the library system, said. “You can backlog any minutes starting from June 1 – you just have to have everything logged by the end of the day on Aug. 8 to be eligible for our prize drawings. S...
Right now, he isn't feeling nervous. "Magic" Mike Hamel's daily routine consists of training at the gym three times a day, with breaks between sessions consisting of time spent with his wife and his two dogs. "I'm chill," the mixed martial artist said. Come Friday, Hamel admits it will be different story as soon as his entrance music starts. Hamel, a former Green River resident, will be fighting at Bellator 243 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. Bellator is the second largest...
Along with a schools being open to students Aug. 19, the Wyoming High School Athletics Association plans to host fall sports competition as well. An announcement from the WHSAA last week confirmed the fall season for all six sports: football, volleyball, tennis, cross country, golf and girls swimming. Practices are set to start Aug. 10 for 4A football, tennis and golf while practices for cross country, 1A-3A football, girls swimming and volleyball begin Aug. 17. “We are excited for our s...
