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The Sweewtater County commissioners are distributing applications for CARES Act funding to go to the county’s charitable organizations. Sweetwater County charitable organizations, including churches, which qualifies as tax-exempt under either 501 (c) (3) or Section 501 ( c ) (19) of the Internal Revenue Code and which provide goods, services, or payments to the public related to the COVID-19 Public Health emergency, qualify to apply for this CARES Act funding. These funds are determined by the governor’s office using population as a pri...
Wyomingites are being asked to keep a lookout for dead rabbits in their yards, rural property and other outdoor areas. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department is collecting wild rabbit carcasses for Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease Virus 2 testing, known as RHDV2. Testing rabbits is key to monitoring the disease spread. Game and Fish recently confirmed the presence of the disease in Wyoming in a wild eastern cottontail in Albany county. RHDV2 is a fatal disease of rabbits and hares. An estimated 35-50% o...
CASPER – Leaders of Wyoming’s largest trona mines have banded together to launch a public health campaign for Sweetwater County to combat the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and keep businesses open. Wyoming’s trona patch in the southwest part of the state employs upward of 2,300 workers across four mines. But the rapid spread of the virus throughout the county has complicated some operations. Back in early April, several mineral operators took steps to prevent the virus from entering the plants and mines. They required strict social dista...
Don’t let the white tents fool you. It’s still the place to get swabbed for COVID-19 in front of Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County. “The swabbing tents offer protection from the harsh weather, while still providing easy access to patients for testing,” said MHSC Lab Director Mary Fischer. The tents were recently purchased with the help of Cares Act money. MHSC purchased the tents knowing they would have to be built to withstand the wind, to some degree, said David Beltran, MHSC Emergency Manager. With the help of the Wyoming Nationa...
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...
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...
The a mandate requiring people in Sweetwater County to wear facial coverings in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic was extended last week, with its new expiration date set for Jan. 4, though a new statewide facial covering order announced Monday took effect Wednesday and expires Jan. 9. Along with the mandate’s extension, other changes have been made. One of those changes regards the requiring anyone 12 years of age or older to wear a mask while encouraging children aged three to 11 to w...
In Sweetwater County, the November election capped — at least for now — a decades-long shift of one of the state’s few Democratic strongholds from blue to red. The transition marks a milestone for the state’s southwest region, as well as its statehouse, which is ever-more dominated by the Republican Party. The Rock Springs and Green River election results also represent gaps the state’s struggling minority party must overcome if it hopes to achieve relevance anytime soon, Democratic politicos say. Democrats suffered two losses in the House as...
Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County has six COVID-19 patients in its ICU and healthcare workers are concerned about another jump in infections after the Thanksgiving holiday. During a virtual update to community leaders Tuesday afternoon, Sweetwater County Public Health Officer’s prognosis for the upcoming weeks was grim. “We’re about to face the consequences of that have been happening,” Dr. Jean Stachon said. “We don’t have it under control here. As of Tuesday, 230 people across Wyom...
While jury trials have been postponed by the Wyoming Supreme Court, work in the state’s judicial branch hasn’t completely halted. Throughout the state, CARES Act funding, federal money approved for pandemic-related uses, has been spent in various courtrooms in Wyoming, including in Sweetwater County. The judicial branch has spent nearly $270,000 at the Sweetwater County Courthouse in Green River to upgrade audio and video equipment in courtrooms utilized by Third Judicial District Court Judges Richard Lavery and Suzannah Robinson, as well as...
A Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office deputy was injured Saturday after an incident with a wanted suspect who allegedly attempted to flee the scene of a traffic stop. According to the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office, the deputy and a trainee attempted a traffic stop on Springs Drive in Rock Springs at 1:46 a.m. on Tommy Gene Vensor, 33, of Rock Springs for alleged failure to maintain a proper lane of travel and suspicion of driving while impaired. After identifying the driver and sole occupant of the vehicle, deputies learned an arrest war...
The Thanksgiving holiday has resulted in more people flying commercially from the Southwest Wyoming Regional Airport, but the recent increase in COVID-19 infections has hampered that growth. Airport Director Devon Brubaker said the Thanksgiving week will be the airport’s biggest week since March, with 120 bookings for the week compared to 94 the last week of October. While the number of bookings is a welcome sight for the airport’s commercial operations, Brubaker admits the growth is weaker tha...
The Sweetwater County Sheriff's Office is asking for the public's help in finding the family of a man found dead near Flaming Gorge Reservoir. On November 15, sheriff's deputies were dispatched to a camp site near the Anvil Draw area of the reservoir after someone found a man dead in his camper. The body was identified as that of 79-year-old Ronnie Baze Sumner. Investigators said the body had likely been there for months, and that the death does not appear suspicious. However, through the course of investigation, sheriff's detectives have...
The Wyoming State Museum’s traveling exhibit, Suffrage Wyoming, will be on display at Western Wyoming Community College in Rock Springs from December 1st through May 31st, 2021. The exhibit is available for public view whenever the College is open. The exhibit traces the history and impact of women’s suffrage in Wyoming from 1869 to the present day. As Wyoming celebrates its 150th anniversary of universal suffrage in 2019, and the 100th anniversary of national women’s suffrage in 2020, this exhibit examines both the major successes and long...
More than 1,000 Sweetwater County residents have contracted COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic and some resources are being stretched thin. According to Dr. Jean Stachon, the county’s health officer, the county has seen a 40% percent increase in positive COVID-19 cases since Halloween, growing to 1,075 as of Monday from 480 at the end of October. “That’s not an uphill slope, that’s a vertical raise,” Dr. Stachon said Monday afternoon. At the end of September, the rate of positive...
The Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office is investigating an unattended death initially reported Sunday. According to a press release from the sheriff’s office, the body male was discovered alone in his camper near Anvil Draw by a concerned resident and is believed to have been there for several months. Investigators said the death did not appear suspicious and are working with the Sweetwater County Coroner’s Office in notifying the next of kin. The sheriff’s office also seeks information regarding to the death. Anyone with information is urge...
The mayor of Granger is facing allegations he used municipal funds for personal use, which include purchasing a furnace part for a rental home he owns in New York state. Bradly McCollum, 55, was arrested and charged last week with felony theft and misdemeanor wrongful appropriation of public property. The felony charge carries a potential sentence of up to 10 years in prison and a possible fine of up to $10,000 while the misdemeanor carries a possible sentence of up to one year in jail and a fin...
If the General Election last week proved one thing about Sweetwater County’s voters, it’s that they’re overwhelming Republican. Democrats seeking office, both longtime fixtures in the Wyoming Legislature and newcomers looking to take over for retiring Democrats were cast aside as voters sought to support President Donald Trump. According to election results certified by the Sweetwater County Clerk’s Office Friday, 16,698 ballots were cast both prior to and during Election Day. During the Pre...
An agreement approved by the Sweetwater County commissioners Tuesday would allow the county a seat on the Joint Powers Telecommunications Board. Now, both cities and the Wyoming Attorney General’s office need to approve the agreement. Tim Knight, the county’s information technology director, said the board provides high-speed fiber internet connections to local government agencies and works with local internet service providers. While the county has utilized internet from the tel...
Genesis Alkali is calling some of its workers back following layoffs at its mine this summer. David Caplan, the company’s communications director, described the number of people being called back as “modest,” but said the market outlook going into 2021 has the company feeling confident about bringing more employees back. Caplan said one of the main reasons the company is calling workers back is that many of its older workers, some of whom have worked for more than 40 years at the facil...
ROCK SPRINGS — Sweetwater County residents were doing something right. The number of positive COVID-19 cases were dropping and remaining at low levels for more than a month. With the number of positive cases on the rise again, many healthcare providers know how easy it is to become complacent and are encouraging residents to continue to take precautions. Physicians and providers at Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County are no exception. They continue to look for ways to ensure the public knows how important it is to take the appropriate p...
A small aircraft crashed while attempting to take off from the Southwest Wyoming Regional Airport Monday afternoon. The crash occurred at about 2:30 p.m., Monday after a single-engine Belanca Decathlon had refueled and was taking off during a cross-country flight. Upon takeoff, the plane crashed and came to a rest on Taxiway Delta. The aircraft’s single occupant received medical treatment at the scene by Sweetwater Medics. The airport remained operational throughout the incident, with o...
A straw poll conducted by the Rock Springs Chamber of Commerce shows support for Democrats to represent chamber members in Cheyenne, while favoring Republicans in national races. The straw poll also showed members favoring the two Republican candidates for seats amongst the Sweetwater County Commissioners. The poll consisted of 68 responders queried by the Rock Springs Chamber last week. Democrats Stan Blake, Lindsey Travis and Liisa Anselmi-Dalton were favored in their respective races. Blake,...
PINEDALE (Wyoming News Exchange) — The 2019 livestock brand-inspection misdemeanor case against Rex. F. Rammell is picking up about where it left off eight months ago – in Sublette County Circuit Court. Rammell contested five citations after a deputy stopped him in June 2019 and he did not have current brand inspections for horses he was moving from Sweetwater to Sublette County. He has a Rock Springs mailing address and owns a veterinary clinic in Pinedale. He argued the state law requiring brand inspections between counties violates his right...
Someone is more than $2 million richer after a winning Cowboy Draw lottery ticket was sold in Rock Springs Monday. The winning draw took place Monday afternoon, with the winning numbers of 1, 7, 28, 30 and 34 being tracked to the Kum & Go store at 1540 9th St. The total cash prize amounted to $2,251,267. Jon Clontz, the CEO of the Wyoming Lottery Corporation, said a man has come forward to claim the prize, but hasn’t decided if he wants to make his name public or not. The lottery’s rules in Wyom...
