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Felony charges against three men and a minor were filed last week in Sweetwater County Circuit Court following an alleged incident where a Rock Springs man was held against his will and beaten. Charges were filed against Damon Ray Longfellow, 21, of Rock Springs; Dominick James McCall, 19, of Reliance; Tyler Jerome Billstein, 20, of Rock Springs; and Alex Carrier, 16, of Rock Springs. Carrier was charged as an adult for his alleged participation in the event. Longfellow faces felony charges of k...
Several people have announced their intent to seek election to various county and state offices in the past two weeks. At the county level, Donnalee Bobak, the Sweetwater County Clerk of District Court, announced she will seek re-election in 2022. “I want to thank the citizens of Sweetwater County for their confidence in allowing me to serve them, and humbly ask for your continued support,” Bobak said in her announcement. Throughout her term, Bobak said she has worked on several initiatives, including serving on the design committee for Ful...
Sweetwater County will be able to purchase vehicles and make security upgrades for county departments and buildings thanks to coronavirus state and local fiscal recovery funds. During their meeting last week, the commissioners approved several purchases for the county, all of which will use federal funds the county received from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). The commissioners previously approved the use of local recovery funds for revenue loss and have already allocated $714,148.23 for...
A recent survey of residents about their views on a potential specific purpose sales tax is considered promising by local leaders and has already had impact on the types of projects that will be brought forward. The sales tax being considered is similar to previous 1% specific purpose taxes passed by Sweetwater County voters in 2012 and 2006, which listed the uses proposed for the tax. The tax initiative voters defeated in November would have been for a general purpose sales tax, which would...
Sunrise was cold and windy north of Farson last Sunday. Wyoming Game and Fish Game Warden Justin Dodd scanned the sagebrush through his binoculars. "There they are," he said, catching sight of white feathers. Roughly 20 sage grouse slowly moved around the patch of land. A lone antelope stood nearby, but he and the birds didn't seem to mind each other. Still, within half an hour, most of the sage grouse had either flown away or hidden themselves. But the fact there were birds present was a good...
A number of incumbents have announced their intent to seek re-election to county offices. Long-serving Sweetwater County Coroner Dale Majhanovich announced he would seek another term last week. Majhanovich, a Democrat, has served as the county coroner since 1993 and was first appointed Deputy Sweetwater County Coroner in 1982. Majhanovich is a Rock Springs native, having graduated from Rock Springs High School and attended Western Wyoming Community College and San Francisco College of Mortuary...
(Editor's note: this article was corrected to reflect Island Richards' roles with the Rock Springs Soccer Association and Avengers Soccer took place in the past.) A number of residents have announced their campaigns for offices in Sweetwater County over the past few weeks, many being affiliated with the Republican Party. On Monday, Sweetwater County Sheriff John Grossnickle announced his intent to seek a second term. Grossnickle, who has spent 25 years with the sheriff’s office, said in a p...
The Board of County Commissioners is hesitant to raise the salaries of elected officials across the board after recent discussion following the passing of House Bill 91. A group of elected officials came before the county commissioners during the April 5 meeting to discuss the possibility of raising the salaries of all elected officials in the county. The discussion was continued at this Tuesday’s meeting, where multiple commissioners expressed their hesitance to raise all the salaries. The d...
A 49-year-old Wamsutter resident will be spending the rest of his life in prison following a sentencing hearing where he plead guilty to 58 criminal charges. Russell Jay Byrne was sentenced Monday to a prison sentence of 74-100 years by Third Judicial District Court Judge Suzannah Robinson for charges including the possession, manufacture and distribution of child pornography, as well as the sexual abuse of three children. According to the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office, a joint i...
Two obituary scrapbooks were recently donated to the Sweetwater County Historical Museum by the Sweetwater County Clerk's Office that can provide a unique glimpse into events in Sweetwater County from 1972 to 2010. Sweetwater County Clerk Cindy Lane said that among her office's mandated responsibilities is keeping track of deaths in the county to ensure that county residents who have died are removed from the voter rolls. In 1972, a number of deputy county clerks began clipping Sweetwater...
Citing a need to have more resources at its disposal, the Sweetwater Economic Development Coalition wants to increase contributions from the county and the two cities. Currently the organization annually receives $30,000 from the both the Green River and Rock Springs Councils and the Sweetwater County Commissioners. The group is asking for an increase to $70,000 annually. Eric Bingham, the county’s land use director, said the organization receives $90,000 a year, but has $95,000 in expenses, w...
Plans to continue developing and improving the Flaming Gorge Scenic Byway now include hopes of developing two new scenic turnout points. These plans were presented to the Board of County Commissioners during Tuesday’s meeting. Funding to develop the turnouts could be provided through a Wyoming Department of Transportation grant program. The goal is to have two new scenic turnouts along the part of the Flaming Gorge Byway that travels through Southwest Wyoming. Jenissa Meredith, the executive d...
Residents will receive their 2022 Notice of Value statements from the Sweetwater County Assessor’s Office. According to Sweetwater County Assessor Dave Divis, residents signed to receive their statements by email should expect them “very shortly.” Home values are calculated using a formula involving the replacement cost new, subtracting depreciation, adding the land value and trending for sales. Cost data is provided by the Wyoming Department of Revenue. In a press release sent by Divis, he notes the cost tables saw a significant incre...
An Arkansas man faces charges of theft and exploiting a vulnerable adult following an incident where he is alleged to have taken money from a woman trying to pay her rent. Mark Quincy Matlock, 49, of Cabot, Arkansas, is charged with misdemeanor theft and felony-level exploitation of a vulnerable adult and is being held at the Sweetwater County Detention Center on a $25,000 cash or surety bond. According to court documents, Matlock was the previous manager of the Regency of Wyoming trailer park o...
While much of Jim Bridger's history comes directly from Wyoming, an antique gun shop in Arizona may hold more information about the mountain man's influential past. David Jonas and his wife Patty have been dealers in antique and collectible firearms since 2005. They started their store, Old World Guns LLC in Camp Verde, Arizona, as a retirement business, although Jonas said it's been more work than a typical retirement business. The shop specializes in old and unusual firearms, and Jonas enjoys...
Wyoming claims several famous outlaws with wild stories, but none as strange as disturbing as the story of "Big Nose" George Parrott. The remarkable nature of his story has less to do with his life, however, and more to do with his death and what followed. During his life, Parrott was a relatively common Wyoming outlaw. He was arrested for horse theft but acquitted. He was also believed to have kept headquarters in the Hole-in-the-Wall country west of present-day Kaycee with a number of other...
Recent appointments to the Sweetwater County Combined Communications Joint Powers Board have revealed both a distrust of who appointees from Rock Springs represent and flaws in the county’s board application process. At the start of the month, the Sweetwater County Commissioners deliberated on two board appointments for the Sweetwater County Combined Communications Joint Powers Board, which oversees emergency dispatch services throughout the county. Up for reappointment were Rock Springs Fire Ch...
Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County will end its COVID-19 Drive-thru Swab Station services on Saturday, March 26. It will no longer offer no-cost testing. Sweetwater Memorial’s drive-thru is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday under the awning at 1200 College Drive through March 26. After that, COVID-19 specimen collection can be arranged at curative.com. The hospital has operated the site since March 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic, said Mary Fischer, MHSC Medical Laboratory Director. Since then, the hospital has t...
The Wyoming Department of Transportation and contract crews will be initiating work on several projects this spring around Sweetwater County. Bridge rehabilitation on WYO 530, Uinta Drive in Green River WYDOT and contract crews from Reiman Corp. will be working on the northbound bridge over the Green River on Uinta Drive in Green River, which started March 22. Traffic will be diverted to the southbound bridge, with one traveling lane in each direction. Travelers are advised to be aware of possible delays. The lane closures are tentatively...
By HANNAH ROMERO Staff Writer The Sweetwater County Fire Department will soon be a thing of the past after the Board of County Commissioners voted 4-1 to approve a plan which will close the county fire department and contract its services out to existing fire agencies in the county. “In no way is county fire (protection) going to be eliminated, reduced — if anything it will be enhanced,” Commissioner Mary Thoman said. At the last commission meeting March 1, the commissioners discussed the findin...
County employees will find themselves earning a bit more later this year after the Sweetwater County Commissioners committed to providing a 6% cost of living adjustment. The adjustment will amount to an additional $1.4 million earmarked for employee salaries during the next budget year. The group is concerned about the impacts of high inflation on employees and the fact that they haven’t seen a significant cost of living allocation in several years. Commissioner Randy Wendling said employee s...
To the graduating class of 2022, applications are now being accepted for the Sweetwater County Commissioners Scholarship. The Board of County Commissioners will select three local students to receive a $1,000 scholarship during their May 17 meeting. Applicants can use the money to attend the University of Wyoming or any Wyoming Community College. All forms and letters of recommendation must be received no later than April 29. The application can be found on the county website: www.sweetwatercountywy.gov, under the tabs Departments, Board of...
Almost exactly two years after the World Health Organization officially declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11, 2020, many places, including Wyoming, are seeing COVID case numbers decrease and transitioning out of precautions and procedures put in place at the beginning of the pandemic. The latest development for Wyoming is the end of the state’s COVID-19 Public Health Emergency declaration, which will officially end March 14. “As we see our case numbers and hospitalizations receding, it is...
The Sweetwater County Fire Committee presented its findings on fire service to the Board of County Commissioners this week and recommended closing the Sweetwater County Fire Department and contracting with existing fire agencies to cover fire protection services currently performed by the county fire department. During the meeting, County Fire Warden Mike Bournazian gave a presentation on the history of the Sweetwater County Fire Department and an overview of the work the department does....
