Serving all of Eastern Laramie County since 1908
Serving all of Eastern Laramie County since 1908
Sorted by date Results 1 - 19 of 19
A call for assistance came across the channels from Banner County, Nebraska as a wildfire reached the stage of out of control. Banner County submitted an emergency declaration according to Nebraska Emergency Management Agency(NEMA). While there was a response from multi-state agencies, LCFD No. 5 sent 3 different firefighters who traded on and off shifts taking two shifts. "We were there a total of three days - all day Friday, all day Saturday and all day Monday." stated Derek Walls, LCFD No. 5...
Oh give me land, lots of land under starry skies above, 'Beneath These Western Skies'! The very appropriate theme of Pine Bluffs Trail Days 2021, held August 5-7. The only issue is, the normally beautiful blue western sky has been choked by smoke from all the fires that are ravaging the countryside in and around Wyoming. However, that did not stop parade goers from lining both sides of Main Street on Saturday morning for the Trail Days parade. Very windy weather and the smoke in the area was thi...
The whistle was blowing, people were standing up straight and bouncing on their toes to get the first glimpse of Big Boy. Thursday August 5th at the railroad crossing on Highway 30 and Main Street at 9:45, Union Pacific’s Big Boy No. 4014 steam locomotive arrived in Pine Bluffs. The Union Pacific has been going through Pine Bluffs for 165 years. Thursday was the day for people to get close to the Big Boy train. Big Boy was built in the 1940’ s and carried equipment to support World War II. Thi...
"DING, DING, DING," That's the sound of the big metal triangle calling everyone to lunch. "Come and get it." The smell of brisket was in the air along with smoke from the fires. Call it smoking brisket, either way it smelled exceptional. After the parade was over the Pheasants Forever Youth and the Lion's club put on a delicious lunch in the city park. About 500 people were served brisket sandwiches and chips. Pheasants Forever youth and members of the Lions Club helped serve the brisket that was cooked in the smoker beside the tent. It was...
Plans for building a new hospital in Kimball took a big step forward this week. At their meeting on Monday, the Kimball Health Services Board of Trustees announced receiving approval of a $23.4 million direct loan through the US Department of Agriculture’s Community Facilities Direct Loan Program, a crucial first stage in securing financing for the estimated $32 million facility. “We were thrilled to get that phone call from the USDA office in North Platte that the national office in Washington had approved.” said Ken Hunter, CEO at Kimball Hea...
So far Laramie County is doing pretty well according to the National Drought Monitor. There are parts of the county, though, that are in the abnormally dry range or drought. If you watch the map it is changing and not for the better. A couple of weeks ago Pine Bluffs was showing normal moisture but today is abnormally dry. Now we have a small part of the county that is experiencing a moderate drought. That area is growing. Yesterday my son commented that it was nice not to have the monsoonal...
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem was a guest of Governor Mark Gordon at Cheyenne Frontier Days on Thursday, July 29th. Governor Noem became South Dakota's 33rd governor on January 5, 2019. She is a wife, a mother, and a lifelong rancher, farmer and small business owner. Noem was elected as South Dakota's first female governor. Governor Noem is strongly determined to protect her state from the federal government. She refused to lockdown her state, along with a refusal to order masks for...
Villain, hero, sweet girl, wise aunt and uncle, relief, singing and laugh were some of the words used to describe the melodrama this year. The Merchant of Vengeance by Brooks Reeves and Rory Mack was directed by Sarah Coverdale along with being the stage manager also. This had some Shakespeare and western style to the drama of the night. Damien Thompson played Sylvester Shylock, the villain. He plots and schemes against Montague "Rodeo" Ryder, the hero, played by Jordon Crouse. They chased...
Don Hollingshead is one of the candidates that will being running for Laramie County Sheriff. Sheriff Danny Glick had announced his retirement in July. Don Hollingshead has been in the Laramie Country Sheriff's department for 26 years. He has started working in the Detention Department. Through the years he has worked on patrol and is now Captain of the Detention Department. Hollingshead is a board member of the Wyoming Association of Risk Management, a member of the Safe Harbor, Kiwanis, and...
The Longhorn Stampede was overcast, windy and smoky on Saturday August 7th. There were fifty-eight participants to run and walk the 5k or one mile at 7 a.m. in the morning. Everyone signed up in their division. Sonja Fornstrom explained the rules and what signs to follow on the roads. All the 5k contestants started first, then the one-mile group brought up the rear family style. The one-mile Dugan family ran it in 15:45 with Liam Dugan finishing first. Even baby Summer had a great run in the...
Almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades as the saying goes. At Reher Park in Pine Bluffs on Saturday, August 7th at 1:00p.m. the horseshoe tournament was in full swing. Eighteen participants competed this year. Young adults, and men did a blind drawing to see who they would be partnered up with. This makes the playing courts equal for new people that want to learn or are just beginning. There were some close points by a finger wide. Everyone was helping each other by encouraging the...
eams were lined up to bat the ball. The 5th annual Co-Ed Softball tournament started on Friday August 6th and ended on Saturday August 7th. This annual softball tournament is a fundraiser for the Pine Bluffs High School Athletics program. Nine teams played from Sidney, Nebraska, Cheyenne and the Pine Bluffs area. The money raised went to the Pine Bluffs High School Athletics program to obtain equipment, uniforms etc. The battle to win was strong, but with late nights being windy, and rainy, the...
Bump and splash is what you hear from the volleyball courts. The 29th Annual Trail Days Coed Mud Volleyball Tournament was played on Sunday August 8th out at the Pine Bluffs Distilling area. This year they added three courts. This allowed more teams and they were able to finish an hour early. There were fifty-five games played with twenty-eight teams. Each team had three women and three men on it. The history of the tournament started in 1991. In 2007 they had the biggest turnout of teams with...
The engines were revving up for 11th Annual Covered Wagon Car and Bike Show at the Knotty Pine Saloon after the parade on Saturday. There were twelve entries for cars, four entries for trucks and three entries for bikes. Some contestants even dressed the part of the era of the cars and others told the history of the car, truck or bike. People visited and enjoyed the amazing cars, trucks and bikes that were at the show. Trail Days Royalty, Maegan Madden and Abby Gray presented the awards to the...
Are we on the road to another mask mandate in Wyoming? We are if the CDC has its way. They’ve identified Wyoming as having so many COVID cases that everybody has to mask up again. Even if you’ve been vaccinated. Even children. Praise God for Governor Noem of South Dakota. The CDC told her the same thing and she told them, “No”. No beating around the bush, no equivocation, no quibbling, just an emphatic, “No!”. I’ve been watching South Dakota as the example of how to react to COVID the right way for a long time. They did nothing extraordinary...
Pine Bluffs held their monthly town council meeting on Monday, after a busy weekend of Trail Days. Mayor Justin Fornstrom opened the meeting briefly after 7:00 p.m. and the few visitors joined in with the council to say the “Pledge of Allegience.” The usual business of approving minutes, and agendas took place and the reports turned to news about the rest stop - during the month of July, there were over 12,200 visitors counted during the day schedule. This count does not include visitors after hours. Of these visitors many had actually ven...
PeeWee Goat Tail Tying 1. Merritt Evans 2. Jayton Farella 3. Teigen Derner 4. Emma Quinn 5. Kynsee Loyd 6. JW Jolly PeeWee Pole Bending 1. Jayton Farella 2. Braxtyn Stoltenberg 3. Emma Quinn 4. Brielle Stoltenberg 5. KoraLee Mandel 6. Teigen Derner PeeWee Barrel Racing 1. Jayton Farella 2. KoraLee Mandel 3. Madison Evans 4. Teigen Derner 5. SeKora Lake 6. Braxtyn Stoltenberg Mutton Bustin 1. Riggin Wells 2. Jasmine Ruskanen 3. Mesa Blue Scarborough 4. David Sheets 5. Reid McNamar Calf Riding 1....
The first annual Conner Graves-Tyler Morgan Memorial Corn Hole Tournament was out at the Pine Bluffs Distilling area on Sunday, August 8th. This was started by Ryan Graves and Kyle May. The idea was to promote Forbes business at first, but with Conner and Tyler so close to their hearts it was a better cause. The money will be put in a scholarship fund every year. From the tragedy of Graves and Morgans' lives, this is one way of giving back to the community. Forty-one teams participated this...