Got a Hot News Tip? The Latest Sports Score? E-Mail it here!

From the KKTY Newsroom...

(scroll down for sports!)

 

(Mon 10/13/08) - Looking for a new Councilman... The Douglas City Council will immediately begin the process of filling the seat left open by Councilman Chad Rupe's resignation. At tonight's council meeting, Rupe told the group that he could no longer serve on a council that allows a single member to divert assets of the city without the authority of the mayor or the city administrator... audio here Rupe referred to a letter to the editor in this week's Douglas Budget where a county resident praised City Councilman Bob Chiapuzio for calling out a city water truck and grader to repair damage done by city equipment to the county road in front of the residents home... audio here

Listen to Rupe's complete resignation statement here... audio here.

As defined by the Douglas Municipal Code, the City Council will appoint someone to fill the two years left on Councilman Rupe's term. Anyone interested in being considered for the appointment may pick up an application at City Hall. Public interviews of the applicants will take place on November 10th. Following that, the Council will choose Rupe's successor.

 

(Mon 10/13/08) - Thousands and thousands of good books to curl up with this winter... the Converse County Library Foundation's annual Book Sale gets underway today. As the Douglas Library gets new books each year, Librarian Karen Hopkins says they have to weed out old one from the collection... Audio Here Hopkins says western history buffs will find a treaure trove... Audio Here Books, videos and audio books are on sale across from the library at the Masonic Temple today through Saturday during library hours. You can call the Douglas Library at 358-3644 for more information.

(Mon 10/13/08) - Douglas area voters will get an opportunity to meet the candidates tomorrow night when another in a series of Candidates Forums will be held. Tuesday night we'll hear from the four candidates for Douglas City Council... Tony Reynolds, Lloyd Jackson, Marilyn Werner and Ralph Hancock have all been invited. Two seats are open on the city council. Also invited are Terry Jones and Frank Peasley, who are running for House District #3 in the Wyoming State Legislature, and Chase Anfinson, Richard Canaday and Tom Strock, who are running for the House District #6 seat. Tomorrow night's Candidates Forum begins at 7pm at the American Legion Hall at Washington Park. The public is invited to attend, and the forum will also be broadcast live on KKTY-FM.

(Mon 10/13/08) - Drag racers in Douglas occasionally have to shoo a wayward antelope off the drag strip. In Wright last week, golfers found a live hazard with bigger teeth. Campbell County Sheriff Bill Pownall said a group of golfers spotted a bobcat in a tree Thursday at the ninth hole of Haycreek Golf Course. The animal ran off before Game & Fish officials arrived.

(Thu 10/9/08) - A Douglas City Council member is resigning. Councilman Chad Rupe has announced that he will step down off of the council at this Monday night's meeting... Audio Here Rupe says he does support the Mayor and the city staff, and he thinks that they're doing the best they can. Rupe has served two years of his four year term.

(Thu 10/9/08) - An RV park gets the go-ahead from the Converse County Commissioners. Pat McLagan has put hookups for 10 trailers on land that he owns on Tank Farm Road east of the power plant. At a commissioner's meeting in early September, over 20 people showed up to oppose the RV park, concerned that it would be used instead as a mobile home park. Commission Chairman Jim Willox said that he voted in favor of approval because with no zoning in place, the county doesn't have legal standing to deny... Audio Here Commissioner Ed Werner said that when it comes to regulating land use, you have to use zoning, and you cannot back-door land use regulations. Werner said the state has set up a mechanism for counties to use zoning if they choose. He said that we, as a county, have essentially said, "We don't want that. We want our independance, we want our ability to do what we want on our property. And that also says that anybody else can do what they want on their property concerning use, as long as it's not illegal."

Meanwhile, Pat McLagan says he's ready to move ahead... Audio Here So, it looks like residents along the river east of the Dave Johnston Power Plant will get some new neighbors.

(Wed 10/8/08) - Pay to get the word out. That's the responsibiility of the Converse County Tourism Promotion Board, who distributed over $200 thousand dollars worth of marketing money this past year. The board has released their annual report for June 2007 through June 2008. The 3 percent Lodging Tax brought in $206,666.00 dollars in Converse County during the period. That tax is collected from all lodging facilities on overnight stays. 94 percent of that money was collected from hotels and motels in Douglas. Total income is distributed by a formula set up by state statute and the group's by-laws... 35 percent can be spent on Douglas promotions - that came to just over $67 thousand this year, 25% on promotion of the Wyoming State Fair, $44 thousand this year... 20% is to be spent on Glenrock promotions,and that was almost $39 thousand dollars ... 10 percent can be spent on administrative costs, and 20 percent is left up to board discretion. Among its achievements this year, the Tourism Promotion Board implemented a marketing plan and budget; revised and implemented a grant application and review process; and developed a new marketing and advertising theme for all print pieces for 2008/2009.

(Tue 10/7/08) - A Douglas man has been killed in a one-vehicle rollover. According to the Wyoming Highway Patrol, 27 year old Frank Rojas was coming onto I-25 southbound on the north Douglas interchange at about 1:50 Saturday morning. Rojas lost control when he hit the tight part of the curve, and his 2003 GMC Envoy rolled about 3 times. Rojas was not wearing his seatbelt, and was thrown from the vehicle. Troopers investigating the crash will be looking at excessive speed as one of the contributing factors.

(Tue 10/7/08) - More houses, more twin homes... the Douglas Planning Commission gave a thumbs-up to plats and zoning changes for new subdivisions on both sides of town last night. Stonecrest Development is planning a single family development, Stone Valley, on 80 acres at the end of Park Drive on the east side of town. The land is currently zoned Agricultural, would be rezoned as Mixed-Use Planned Unit Development. This first phase would develop about 8 acres around two cul-de-sacs at the end of Park Drive.

The other Development, Stone River Meadows #3, would continue development of the twin-homes construction that Stonecrest is doing on Meadow Drive west of the river. The land between Wind River Drive and Pearson Drive would be platted into 227 lots on three streets and four cul-de-sacs, and would be developed primarily as twin homes. That area is currently platted and zoned as R-1 single familiy, and while the city generally frowns on dropping an area to less restrictive zoning, Planning Commission member Ron Barnard noted that there was good reason to aprove this request... Audio Here Planning and Zoning voted to forward both requests with do-pass recommendations to the Douglas City Council for their October 13th meeting. If the city council approves the plats and subdivisions, the developers plan to begin infrastructure work this winter and begin home construction this spring.

(Mon 10/6/08) - This week is Homecoming at Douglas High School. Today is Hawaiian Day, with students dressing accordingly. There's a Bicycle Poker Run that starts at 6 this evening in the DHS back parking lot. Junior Varsity football plays this afternoon as Douglas hosts Glenrock... that's a 4:30 kickoff at Bearcat Stadium. 9th grade vollleyball's at Guernsey this evening at 5. Tuesday is Gender Swap Day, with voting for Homecoming Royalty during A, B and C lunches. Wednesday is Era Day, Thursday is Twin Day, and Friday is Spirit Day. Douglas hosts Torrington for Homecoming Football action Friday night at Bearcat Stadium.

(Mon 10/6/08) - The Wyoming Game and Fish Department will again collect tissue samples from deer and elk this fall to test for chronic wasting disease. The effort will be especially intensive in the Jackson Hole area. Some fear the inevitable arrival of the disease at state feed grounds in northwest Wyoming and the National Elk Refuge will spell trouble for wildlife in the ecosystem. Chronic wasting disease is a fatal neurological disorder that has been diagnosed in deer, elk and moose in 11 states and two Canadian provinces, including Wyoming. There is no known cure and no known method of prevention. Chronic Wasting Disease collections will be done locally on Wednesday, October 16th and Thursday, October 17th at Grizzly Meat Processing and Tom's Meats in Douglas and at Countrystyle Meat Processing in Glenrock.

(Sun 10/5/08) - A Douglas ranch family loses their home to fire. Emergency crews from Douglas and Glenrock were called out at 1:15 this morning to Natural Bridge Angus. The Kelly Darr home on Natural Bridge Road was a total loss. Fire crew on scene said that Casey Darr was flown to the Greeley Burn Center with burns over 50 percent of his body. The fire deparment said they belived only Casey and Jeramiah Darr were at home this morning when the fire occured. Cause of the fire in the two-story home is still under investigation. The State Fire Marshall will send in a team to help try to determine the cause.

(Wed 10/1/08) - Disabled hunters from across the nation head out into the field this morning. The 24th Annual Helluva Hunt in Douglas pairs hunters with disablities with guides who take them out to area ranches for an aided hunting experience. Hunters arrived in Douglas yesterday, sighted in their guns and took part in a trap shoot and enjoyed a welcome banquet at the State Fairgrounds. After a 5am breakfast this morning at the fairgrounds, Hunters and their guides headed out at 6:30 this morning. Lunch today is provided by the Thunder Basin Teleophone Pioneers, and Dinner tonight is at the Moose Lodge, followed by the annual Helluva Hunt Benefit auction. The public is invited to come take part in the auction, which helps fund the annual hunt, which is free to participants.

This year there are 15 hunters from 11 states participating.

(Wed 10/1/08) - Drivers heading for downtown Lost Springs today will find a detour. Union Pacific is working to finish construction of a third main railroad line crossing on County Road 46. The crossing between Highway 18-20 and Lost Springs will be closed today from 7am to 5pm, and traffic will be re-routed accordingly.