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Kemmerer will be the site of the Natrium nuclear reactor demonstration project. The town was named Tuesday in a statement issued by TerraPower, the company behind the Natrium plant design. Along with the Sweetwater County location, other potential sites considered included facilities near Glenrock and Gillette. The news comes as a bittersweet development for leaders in Sweetwater County. Although Wyoming will benefit from the project, Sweetwater County’s benefits will likely be somewhat muted in comparison to Lincoln County. Commissioner Roy L...
Sweetwater Medics will receive $235,000 from the county to help the ambulance service get through the end of the year. Sweetwater Medics Director Ron Gatti asked the Board of County Commissioners to provide the additional funds during Tuesday’s meeting. After discussion, all five commissioners voted to approve the funds. Gatti explained that Sweetwater Medics has seen cost centers shifting and revenues decreasing, particularly since Castle Rock Medical Center took over ground transportation a...
Southwest Wyoming Off-Road Trails (SWOT) has a vision: “connecting the communities of Southwest Wyoming with a series of off-road motorized trails.” SWOT was started by Mark Tesoro of Evanston, who visited Sweetwater County last week to present SWOT’s goals and begin making connections in the community. “SWOT is an economic development project for southwest Wyoming,” Tesoro explained to the commissioners. The project’s goal is to use existing trails and county roads to create a network of...
Dealing with the ongoing challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as a high number of emergency room visitations has put Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County at a “crisis level” as it struggles to cope with a nursing shortage. The hospital has seen a slowed number of COVID-19 inpatients in the last week. Deb Sutton, the public information officer at the hospital, said MHSC has had between 15 and 18 inpatients throughout November, which has included between four and eight COVID-19 pat...
A number of signs supporting Tuesday’s general purpose tax caused concern at the Sweetwater County Clerk’s Office as some residents believed the signs to violate Wyoming’s electioneering laws. The signs started appearing in Rock Springs and Green River late last week, reading “Created to Support Public Safety & Economic Development,” then urging residents to vote Nov. 2. “I have had people calling me all day,” Sweetwater County Clerk Cindy Lane said Friday. The issue callers have had with the...
Sweetwater County voters have spoken and they do not want a 1% sales tax. Tuesday's special election resulted in a massive loss for tax, with unofficial tallies showing 5,359 against and 1,300 for the tax, out of 6,662 total ballots received. "I think voters spoke clearly that this general purpose tax proposal is something they're not willing to support," Sweetwater County Commission Chairman Randy Wendling said. Wendling said the commissioners gave residents a chance to have their voices heard...
Monoclonal antibody therapy for COVID-19 positive outpatients is being provided by Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County. The therapy is provided for COVID-19 positive outpatients on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Treatment is by provider referral and appointment only. Once a primary care provider refers a patient for treatment, MHSC’s scheduling department will call the patient to schedule an appointment. Patients will need to stay at the outpatient clinic for approximately 2.5 hours for treatment and post-treatment observation. The i...
Sweetwater County will receive funds to provide a new bomb squad trailer and help with emergency management. During Tuesday’s meeting, the county commissioners approved grant agreement documents that will provide funds for new bomb squad equipment for the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office. Sweetwater County was awarded $62,199 in federal homeland security grant funding from the Wyoming Office of Homeland Security. “The purpose of this funding is to improve the sheriff’s office bomb squad’s...
Wyoming’s oil and gas industry continues to show signs of recovery from the 2020 pandemic shockwave that drove the price of oil below $0 per barrel, spurred layoffs and stalled production. At least 18 rotary rigs were active in the state during the second week of October compared to one rig during the same week in 2020, according to Enverus, which tracks rig data on a weekly basis. Wyoming saw a rig count of zero for the first time in its history in June 2020, then again in August 2020. Most of the drilling activity is targeting oil in the s...
Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office deputies, along with officers from the Rock Springs Police Department, learned of an inmate who had escaped custody from a private inmate transport vehicle while passing through Rock Springs Tuesday night. The fugitive was identified as John L. Ortega, 29, originally of Rock Springs. Ortega was in transport from a detention facility in California for court proceedings on other charges he faces in Cheyenne when, during a rest stop in the 3000 block of College Drive in Rock Springs, he somehow managed to slip h...
The story of Gabby Petito — a young woman who went missing in Wyoming and was found murdered — has gained national attention over the past few months. But for some, it has also drawn attention to the fact that not every woman who goes missing in Wyoming gets the same attention — particularly not indigenous women. For Lynette Grey Bull, this problem has been apparent, and one she has been fighting for years. Grey Bull is Northern Arapaho and Hunkpapa Lakota, and the founder of Not Our Native Daug...
Federal contract wranglers plan to round up 4,300 wild horses in southwest Wyoming — permanently removing about 70% of them — starting Thursday in an undertaking that culminates years of conflicts among land and wildlife managers, ranchers and horse advocates. The roundup across 3.4 million acres of “checkerboard” land ownership could last more than a month, said Brad Purdy, a Bureau of Land Management spokesman. The agency will permanently remove — for adoption, training and domestic use — about 3,500 horses. About 800 would be set free ag...
The sixth-penny general purpose tax election will continue as is. The Sweetwater County Commissioners initially planned a discussion for amendments, alternatives or a rescission of the ballot question during their Tuesday meeting. However, after an executive session regarding the special election prior to the discussion, the commissioners voiced their support for the election and the need for a 1% general purpose tax, then voted unanimously to provide information to residents about the tax....
The purple lights currently illuminating the trees by the clock tower have a specific purpose — shining a light on the issue of domestic violence and spreading the message of awareness and prevention during Domestic Violence Awareness Month. While domestic violence is a serious problem year-round, October is set aside as a month to focus on and address the issue more specifically. Every year, YWCA of Sweetwater County uses the month to share information and host activities to bring more a...
With additional reporting from the Casper Star-Tribune via the Wyoming News Exchange A letter from Bridger Coal Company to Rock Springs Mayor Tim Kaumo signals the end of underground coal mining in Wyoming. Dated Sept. 3, the letter notifies the mayor of plans to permanently close Bridger Coal’s underground mine. The closure is anticipated to take place “on or after” Nov. 19. According to the letter, 94 employees are impacted by the closure. Employees covered by collective bargaining agreements won’t have bumping rights, but they will have bidd...
Absentee ballots for the general purpose tax election have been sent out, asking county residents if they would support an additional penny of sales tax to fund public safety funding and economic development. The 1% sales tax, if approved, would be divided amongst Green River, Rock Springs and the county based on population, with at least 75% going to public safety, with up to 25% going to economic development. The election will take place Nov. 2. According to Chris Meats, finance director for G...
Since starting the fall semester, Western Wyoming Community College has made efforts to hold a mostly-normal semester while responding to the rising numbers of COVID-19 in the community and encouraging everyone to do their part to stop the spread. One way the college is encouraging people to be active in stopping further spread of the virus is by holding open vaccination clinics. “The reason for this is that as a college we want to provide an opportunity for our students and our employees and a...
A general purpose tax initiative being voted on in November has garnered opposition from the Sweetwater GOP as government leaders grapple with how they can inform county residents about how it will be used. The tax proposal would specify 75% of the tax to be spent to provide emergency ambulance services and funding to the Sweetwater County Joint Powers Combined Communications Board, which handles emergency dispatch services throughout the county. The other 25% would be used for economic...
On the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Sweetwater County came together to honor and remember those who lost their lives. On Saturday morning, the Rock Springs Fire Department hosted a Memorial Walk to honor 343 New York City firefighters who gave their lives while working to save victims of the attacks. Residents were invited to join firefighters in climbing Grant Street in Rock Springs. Four lengths of Grant Street simulated the 110 stories of the World Trade Center buildings. A...
“We are at crisis level,” Kim White, Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County’s emergency services director said about the number of COVID-19 patients seeking treatment at the hospital. The hospital has opened a second COVID-19 unit in response to the increased number of patients seeking treatment. The second ward is part of the hospital’s surge capacity plan, which was originally formed in March 2020 and represents a higher tier in the hospital’s response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The new COVID-19 unit is located where the hospital...
Use of a deworming medication for treatment and prevention of COVID-19 symptoms hasn’t been seen in Sweetwater County, though some residents have inquired about the drug. Ivermectin, a drug used to treat parasites in both humans and livestock, has been wrongly touted as a means of treating and preventing COVID-19 infections by some internet and social media groups. One such group, the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance, falsely claims Mexico has “emptied their hospitals” through use o...
ROCK SPRINGS (Wyoming News Exchange) — The Western Wyoming Community College Board of Trustees approved a 30-day mask mandate at a special board meeting on Wednesday. The decision was made after hearing recommendations from Dr. Kim Dale, the president of Western, and updated COVID-19 statistics from Dr. Jean Stachon, the Sweetwater County public health officer. As of Aug. 25, there are four total confirmed positive COVID-19 cases among the student body with six students currently in quarantine. Among Western staff members, two have tested p...
Elective surgeries at Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County are canceled until further notice as a result an overwhelming influx of COVID-19 positive patients. In addition, the hospital, its clinics and the emergency room have no rapid COVID-19 tests to offer. The tests are in short supply nationwide as a result of the increase in cases. “We are at a critical juncture in Sweetwater County,” said Deb Sutton, MHSC Public Information Officer. “The hospital is treating and admitting more and more COVID-19 cases every day. There has been an incre...
Three more Sweetwater County residents have confirmed to have died as a result of COVID-19 as the county and state continue to deal with new infections spurred by the Delta variation of the novel coronavirus. The Wyoming News Exchange reported the Wyoming Department of Health linked 26 additional deaths to COVID-19 Tuesday. Three of those deaths were of unidentified Sweetwater County residents, two women and one man. In total, there have been 835 confirmed deaths related to COVID-19, 49 of...
