Serving all of Eastern Laramie County since 1908
Serving all of Eastern Laramie County since 1908
Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 176
Brynlee Loyd was the Kindergarten-2nd Grade winner. Tayten Zitek was the 3rd-4th Grade winner. Grace Steenbergen was the 5th-6th Grade winner. Thanks to everyone who participated!...
A few weeks ago three science teachers from Burns Junior/Senior High School had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet and greet a member of NASA's group of active astronauts in Gering, Ne. Active astronauts? Who are they and what do they do? In this case, the astronaut that Anna Farrel, Dan Clayson and Eric Allen, along with Burns student Rebecca Smith and Principal Jerry Becking, met was Air Force Lt. Col. Nick Hague, age 40. He is classified as active because he and several others like him...
As I sit here, it is Saturday afternoon, about 3:30, and I am feeling a mixture of disappointment and anger; but I am not the only one. A five-foot section of steel beam, on its way to the Poudre River Fire Department, was supposed to make a stop, scheduled or so I was told, at the Sinclair truck stop in Pine Bluffs sometime between 2:30 and 3 p.m. The captain of the Wyoming Patriot Guard riders even sent me an email and press release, had been in contact with our chief of police who also...
After voting against acceptance of a proposal by a local daycare center to take over the center run by the Town of Pine Bluffs, back in September, the Town Council, on Monday night, agreed to raise rates. Town Treasurer, Kim Patterson, said she had been doing research on what other daycare centers around Wyoming were charging. She said she had found a report put out by the state that clearly indicated that what Pine Bluffs charges is below the average cost in Wyoming, and had put together a...
Thanks to the Terry Farrell Firefighters Fund (Terry Fund), Poudre Fire Authority has been granted the privilege of owning one of the last pieces of a World Trade Center (WTC) beam to be given to a community. The team will be escorted by over 100 different Emergency Service Agencies including Patriot Guard Riders and American Veterans, and will be celebrated and honored as the steel passes through each town along the way. The beam will be escorted into Wyoming, over to Cheyenne, and then to its...
Burns Bronc athletes Klayton Clark and Jessica Malm were recently recognized by the Wyoming High School Activities Association for their conduct during football and volleyball games they participated in during the month of September. In Clark’s case, the officials stated that “[# 7] Klayton Clark was quick to hit hard, and equally quick to help opponents up off the ground. [He was] polite and helped officials get the ball.” About Jessica Malm, what impressed the officials most was “Even though...
It's been said that one should watch out for snakes at the rest area, and with the changing of the seasons some animals, snakes in particular are beginning to go into hibernation, while others like this unique specimen, can be found sunning themselves. If you happen upon just such a snake, make sure you give it a wide berth, or just turn around and go back the way you came. After all, the snake was there first....
Monday night’s meeting of the Laramie County School District 2 Board of Trustees seemed to center around the recent termination of Dustin Seger, principal at Carpenter Elementary School. A special, unnoticed, Executive Session was called at the beginning of the regular meeting to discuss Seger’s termination. Seger was notified Friday, and new superintendent, Jon Abrams, notified students and staff on Monday, which resulted in the parents of about 10 percent of the Carpenter student body to be...
The Pine Bluffs Town Council, minus Mayor William Shain, met and approved the purchase of an International 4800 Digger Derrick truck, valued at $32,500 from Bri-Ley Sales Co. The council originally approved the purchase at the Sept. 8 meeting, after discussing and tabling the subject of purchasing a new truck over a number of meetings. The council also approved Resolution 2015-11 Budget Amendment, which allows the Town of Pine Bluffs to withdraw $32,500 from the Utility Fund, Fund Balance...
I had another column that I could have used for this week's paper, but some things have happened this week that I really think need to be addressed. The first one is the obvious lack of enthusiasm on the part of high school coaches, in this case I am referring to one in particular who shall remain nameless. Who the coach is will become apparent when you thumb through the pages of this week's paper because you will not find a story or photos of this coach's team. Why? Because this coach...
The Pine Bluffs-Burns Cross Country team took part in the 5K Torrington Invite last week with Jorge Garcia finishing in first place once again, and four of the girls finishing in the top 10 in both varsity and junior varsity. In the Girls' Junior Varsity Division Sarah Love, 24:23, finished first; Meghan Murphy, 25:35, third; Becca Smith, 27:47, eighth; and Mallory Ickes, 27:55, finished ninth. They were followed by Alex Roberts in twelfth place with a time of 29:26. The Pine Bluffs-Burns...
There were not a lot of big issues on Monday's Laramie County School District 2 Board agenda, but there were a lot of small ones that necessitated discussion. Superintendent Jon Abrams stated that he intends to create a 'pool' of para professionals for the school district. The individuals who apply will be required to fill out the normal application, will be interviewed to determine their suitability, and then approved by the Board. The only difference with past hiring practices is that the...
In a vote of 3 to 2, after putting the decision off until Councilman Mark Fornstrom could be in attendance at Monday night's meeting, the full council decided not to accept the only proposal it had received with regard to privatization of the Town's daycare center. The owner of the single private daycare service in Pine Bluffs, Kyla of Little Learners Daycare, had submitted the proposal in response to an advertised request for the same made by the Town of Pine Bluffs in August. The request was...
He's been on the job almost three months, but arrived in Pine Bluffs long before July 1 in order to get acquainted with the town and Laramie County School District 2. His name is Jon Abrams, and he replaced Jack Cozort, who retired at the end of the fiscal year, June 30. Abrams, who came to Pine Bluffs after working in the Star Valley School District in Afton for 10 years, says he has never received as warm a welcome as he has since he has been in town. The new superintendent, who is always on...
Pine Bluffs may be a small town where everyone feels safe enough to leave the keys in their car while they run into the post office, or leave their homes unlocked, but it's not immune from crime, or an attempted crime. Last Saturday night, about 30 minutes before closing time, a very dark skinned, African American male, approximately five feet ten to five feet eleven inches tall, and weighing somewhere between 175 and 200 pounds, according to Officer Char Madden of the Pine Bluffs Police...
The Pine Bluffs Hornets volleyball team is off to a decent start with two wins after playing five teams at the Lingle-Ft. Laramie Dogger tournament last Friday. The Lady Hornets beat Rock River in two out of three games, 23-25, 25-22 and 15-12; and Midwest in two, 25-17 and 25-12. Their losses went to Sundance, 18-25 and 18-25; Kaycee, 12-25 and 23-25; and Upton, 22-25, 25-10 and 12-15. In individual stats Brooke Darden made 88 percent of her serves, had five aces, two kills, 50 assists and 38...
It's sad but true. This past Sunday was unofficially the last day of summer for area children, and the following day was the beginning of a brand new school year. Fall doesn't actually end until late in September, and the weather continues as it has for the past three months, with hot sunny weather during the day, and sporadic thunderstorms on the occasional afternoon. One sure sign that summer is now over was the Mini Me Triathlon held Sunday afternoon in Pine Bluffs. Participants were...
Summer storms can be pleasant, but when the rainfall occurs frequently and in torrents, damage is almost always the result. This problem was a major topic at last week's meeting of the Laramie County School District 2 Board of Trustees. Rain from several summer storms, which occurred in close succession, caused damage to the gymnasium floor at Burns Junior-Senior High School where volleyball is scheduled to be played this fall. It's unclear whether any of the damage was caused by roof leaks, but...
A friend of mine once told me a joke about the United States Postal Service. This was way back in the day, when Kinney's Shoes had not yet been gobbled up by a larger company that was afraid of a little healthy competition. Please bear in mind that this friend was also an employee of said postal service at the time. If the jokes one hears at the postal service are anything like the ones you hear when you're working in the medical profession, or in my case related to someone working in medicine,...
The Proficiency Assessments for Wyoming Students – or PAWS – test results for the 2014-'15 school year were discussed at last week's school board meeting. "Without pointing fingers, newer and higher standards have been implemented over the past two years by the Department of Education, so the 2014 tests were different from the 2013 tests, so it's really not fair to compare the two," said Superintendent Jon Abrams. Elementary grades three, five and six were tested on math and reading, while the f...
The Pine Bluffs Town Council, after listening to a presentation by the Tom McDonough, town's maintenance supervisor, voted to upgrade the current method of reading water and electric meters every month. The cost is estimated to be $322,512.67, which is below the original $350,000 budgeted for the Electric Meter Project and approved as part of the 2012 Specific Purpose Option Tax. Water meters, when the upgrade is completed, will no longer be read at the source by a town employee. Instead be...
There is a new scholarship available for individuals who want to attain either an Associate's degree or a Bachelor's degree, but the deadline for applying is almost here. The Mayoral Scholarship, which will be awarded to individuals of all ages, in the name of the Town of Pine Bluff's Mayor, Bill Shain, will provide $15,000 toward an associate's degree, and $25,000 toward a bachelor's. What makes this scholarship unique is that it is not limited to those who have recently graduated from high...
It's not often that a drug seizure of any size is conducted in Pine Bluffs, but that is exactly what happened Monday, Aug. 3, around 5:30 p.m., at the Exxon gas station/convenience store. Chance Walkama, a reserve officer with the Pine Bluffs Police Department, was on patrol, accompanied by off-duty Chief of Police Justin Trout, when Walkama said they observed what appeared to be a domestic disturbance outside of the convenience store. Walkama and Trout pulled into the Exxon station to further i...
It's been awhile since I shared my thoughts with you, for the most part because I've been busy and because I have been watching, again, as people try to down play history, or try to obliterate it altogether from the history books. I was born in the south, and lived in Memphis for several years, and at that time certain residents of said town were, all of a sudden, up in arms because of the statute of Nathan Bedford Forrest. If you are unaware of who he is, he was a lieutenant general in the Conf...
Every year Lions worldwide provide special services, like eye exams and free glasses for children, and adults, who have problems with eyesight. In some cases the individuals are legally blind, or require special surgery to restore partial eyesight. The Wyoming Lions were the first to have a camp for the blind, located on Casper Mountain. In addition to all of the regular activities Lions participate in every year, they find time during the year to do something that children will specifically...
