Classes resume after lockdown at Rawlins Elementary School
Shortly after the school day began Tuesday morning, a Rawlins Elementary School campus went into lockdown after a handgun was discovered in a child’s backpack. No injuries were reported as a result of the incident. Cali O’Hare was at the school yesterday morning and filed this report.
Program provides anonymous tipline for concerned students and adults
While Tuesday’s incident wasn’t reported reported to Safe2Tell Wyoming, the program’s manager reminds students, parents and staff that it is available for anonymous tips. Tips can even be made throughout the holiday season when school is not in session. Emma Diercks reports.
Anonymous tips can be submitted on the Safe2Tell Wyoming website
Safe2Tell Hotline: 1-844-996-7233 (844-WYO-SAFE)
Download the Safe2Tell Mobile App here
Legislators pump the breaks on proposed dam near Encampment
Supporters of a proposed dam above Encampment that would provide late season water to irrigators on both sides of the state line between Savery and Baggs have hit another roadblock, this time from south of the border.
During this year’s legislative session, lawmakers pulled the plug on $40 million in funding for the West Fork Battle Creek Reservoir. During a heated floor debate over the appropriation in March, Senator Bruce Burns of Sheridan said the price tag for the project makes no sense when the state is facing funding shortfalls in critical areas.
After gutting funding for the project from the omnibus water bill, a last-minute compromise appropriated a much smaller amount, $4.7 million, for the 10,000-acre foot reservoir on Battle Pass. The legislature had previously approved $7 million, keeping the project afloat with $11.7 million. As part of the compromise, supporters were asked to find financial support in Colorado where much of the water would flow.
Last month, the Yampa White Green Basin Roundtable, a water-users group in Northern Colorado, told the Wyoming Water Development Office that no money is coming at this time. A letter to Wyoming Water Development Office Director Harry Labonde dated November 27th expressed only tepid support for the dam.
In the letter, the roundatble group said that while it supported the process of further review of the project, “the membership would like to be clear that this is not support of the reservoir itself.”
Little Snake River rancher Pat O’Toole owns lands on both sides of the state border. He is also a member of the roundtable group in Colorado. O’Toole told Bigfoot 99 earlier this year that it is short-sighted to see the West Fork Reservoir as merely an irrigation project.
Among the reservoir’s many benefits, O’Toole said it would serve as a safeguard against the federal government enacting endangered species act protections.
Although the water users group in Colorado is taking a wait-and-see approach to the reservoir for now, two water conservancy groups – one on each side of the border – have filed an application for $1.2 million to begin a NEPA analysis of the project. It is unclear whether the legislature will take up the issue again in the upcoming session.
Saratoga merchant matching donations to fire department
Fundraising efforts for the Saratoga Volunteer Fire Department continue to take place as the agency works to replace bunker gear. Bridge Street Bargains is matching all donations that come in through the store. Emma Diercks reports.
Sports: Panther basketball squad eeks out two early-season wins
- Cowboys basketball team loses in overtime.
- Cowgirls’ Baylee Cotton wins Mountain West Conference player of the week.
- Broncos can still make playoffs, but will they?
