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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...
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...
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...
By STEPHANIE THOMPSON People Editor A case involving a father who was accused of burning his six-year-old boy with a cigarette lighter was dismissed. Robert William McMullan submitted an order to dismiss without prejudice in the Third District Court of Judge Nena James on a felony child abuse charge. The request was granted. Pursuant to a plea agreement with McMullan’s juvenile case, the case was dismissed without prejudice. Prior to the plea agreement, McMullan and his wife Bree attended a nurturing parenting class offered by the Sweetwater F...
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...
Francis “Frank” Joseph Hatch, M.D., 93, of Green River, passed away on Feb. 18 at the Deseret Health in Rock Springs. Following cremation, memorial services will be conducted at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Green River. A rosary will be recited at 6 p.m. Friday at the church. Military honors and inurnment will be in the Riverview Cemetery Columnbarium....
Cindy Lynn Pirtle, 57, of Green River passed away peacefully Oct. 9 at Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County, surrounded by her family. She was born Nov. 5, 1956 in Bonne Terre, Mo., the daughter of Billy Pogue and Delores Moyers Pogue. She married Dennis Pirtle on January 27, 1978 in Fredricktown, Mo. She worked as a customer service manager for the Sweetwater Federal Credit Union. She was a member of the Hilltop Baptist Church in Green River. Her interests were spending time with family,...
Christine R. Confer, 86, of Rock Springs, passed away Oct. 9 at the University of Utah Medical Center in Salt Lake City. She had been a longtime resident of Rock Springs. She was born on Nov. 24, 1927 in Lock Haven, Penn., the daughter of the late Christian Randecker and Annabell Rokenbrod. Confer attended schools in Lock Haven, Penn. and graduated from the Lock Haven High School with the class of 1945. She married Thomas Blair Confer, Sr. in Lock Haven on June 8, 1951 and he passed away in...
John Matthew Murie, 45, of Rock Springs, passed away Oct. 11. He was born on Oct. 13, 1968 in Cedar City, Utah, the son of the late Stewart and Beverly Murie. He attended schools in Beaver, Utah and Rock Springs and was a 1987 graduate of the Rock Springs High School. Murie was employed for eight years at the Parks Department in Rock Springs and later worked construction. He was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Murie enjoyed athletics while he was in school and later...
Jack Ruey Lell, 75, of Rock Springs, passed away on Oct. 8, at the University of Utah Medical Center in Salt Lake City. A longtime resident of Rock Springs, Lell died following a brief illness. He was born on May 10, 1939 in Drill, Va., the son of the late Dow and Sarah Brown Lell. Lell attended schools in Abingdon, Va. He married Rose Marie Doust in Grants, N.M. in February of 1971 and she preceded him in death on Sept. 25, 2006 in Rock Springs. Lell was employed as a miner for the FMC Corporat...
Angela Langley, 45, of Rock Springs, passed away at her home on Oct. 9. A longtime resident of Rock Springs, she passed away following a lengthy illness. She was born in Torrington on July 3, 1969, the daughter of Robert Leslie Spence and Victoria Jean Hennessey. Langley attended schools in Rock Springs and graduated from Rock Springs High School with the class of 1988. She married Gary Don Langley in Rock Springs on April 29, 1992 and he preceded her in death in Rock Springs on Nov. 25, 1998....
David "Jonesie" Ralph Jones, our beloved father, grandfather, brother and friend passed away Oct. 5, 2014. Jones was born on June 5, 1957 in Salt Lake City, to Ralph and Betty (Mole) Jones. He was fortunate to have a second father, Bill Greatorex; he was a great influence wonderful friend and loving dad to Jones. He was one of a kind. He put his heart and soul into everything he did. If he wasn't tending to his beautiful garden and yard or creating a gourmet meal you could find him out at the la...
Christopher Columbus was a horrible guy by most standards. Yet, he has a major U.S. holiday named after him. Monday marked Columbus Day, a day that resulted in the closure of banks and offices, including the Sweetwater County Courthouse and the library system. The day celebrates the myth of the man as opposed to the reality of the of the events surrounding his discovery. For example, he didn’t prove the Earth was round. The ideas supporting a flat Earth view of the world were proven wrong by the Greeks more than 2,000 years before C...
(This letter was edited for space.) Dear Editor, This past issue of the Green River Star’s police blotter mentioned that a child had been chased by a deer. Not even three weeks ago, I watched three children trying to approach a deer that was on the hill behind the high school. The oldest child was a blonde girl probably about 10 or so. She was accompanied by a slender boy of about seven or eight that wore glasses and then a cute little redheaded girl about four. The blonde girl was slowly walking toward a doe with her hand outstretched, o...
(This letter was edited for space.) Dear Editor, Upon reading the recent article about the Bairoil mayor being charged with nepotism I felt compelled to write in with my own experience with the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office. I had been employed as a deputy with the sheriff’s department for 13 years. In 2007, I witnessed the brutal beating of a restrained juvenile male by three other deputies. This altercation was caught on surveillance cameras. I was immediately considered a witness. I was approached by the jail administrator at that tim...
It’s that time of year again. Leaves that were on the trees just a few short weeks ago now cover the ground and the temperature falls more with each passing week. Even though Christmas things have been out in the stores for a little while now, the Halloween festivities have only just begun. People are wanting to talk about ghosts and watch scary movies. Little ghosts and goblins will soon wander the streets scaring each other and asking for candy. Personally, I have always thought of Halloween as a fun holiday. I enjoy dressing up as well as s...
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...
Take one step into the new aquatic center at the high school and it’s crystal clear right away --- Green River now has one of the best facilities in the state and it’s truly a boon for both Sweetwater County School District No. 2 and local residents. I’ve been following the progress of the center for a long time, and to make a long story short, it was not an easy process. Countless hours were put in by so many people and thanks to the voters of Green River, the longtime dream for so final...
By STEPHANIE THOMPSON People Editor It’s official. The Green River High School Speech and Debate Team in now ranked among the top 1 percent of schools nationwide. Last week, head coach Carina Stulken received a letter from J. Scott Wunn of the National Speech and Debate Association National Forensic League, informing them of their new ranking. “I am proud to inform you that your speech and debate program at GRHS earned significant recognition by the National Speech and Debate Association,” Wunn’s letter states. “As you know, students earn point...
With paintings that depict everything from realistic landscapes to abstract images, local artist Angie Bennett describes her artwork as symbolic, decorative and traditional. Bennett’s artwork is on display through the end of October at the Sweetwater County Library. “I enjoy many subject matters, media and art styles from traditional to abstract,” Bennett said. “Although the majority of my work is in watercolor, some paintings have been painted with iridescent oils or watercolors. The sparkles in the paint appeal to my decorative instinc...
Growing up in a smaller town, younger kids often times idolize high school students. Regardless of it being an amazing football player or a great actress in a play, the kids marvel at a chance to see their hero perform. Earlier this month, local kids not only got a chance to meet the Green River High School cheerleaders, they were also able to learn from them and perform before a Wolves football game. The performance was the culmination of the 2014 Kids Camp where the students learned from...
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...
The season is winding down for the Green River High School cross country team. The Wolves will start the 2014 post season with the 4A West Regionals Thursday at the Paradise Valley Golf Course in Casper. Green River head coach Steve Boyd said the team will cut back on the volume of their worksouts and concentrate on their quality. He said hopefully the team will be rested for regionals and they will run well. "Hopefully we will get some good performances," he said. ROCK SPRINGS Green River...
It appeared for a few minutes last Friday night that the Green River High School football team might leave Star Valley with their first victory of the season. After falling behind 14-0 early in the first quarter, a resilient Wolves team battled back and took at 21-17 lead when junior quarterback Tyler Vendetti found the end zone from two yards away. The joy however was short lived as the home-standing Braves answered with 21 straight points on their way to a 38-17 victory. After digging the 14-0...
