Tagged: fremont county

Teton county residents are the healthiest in Wyoming. That’s according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute’s County Health Rankings. The least-healthy county was Fremont.

An interim legislative committee is planning to study Wyoming's beer and liquor tax this summer.

Wyoming's 2-cents-per-gallon tax on malt beverages is the lowest in the nation. It has remained unchanged since it was first passed in 1935, about a year after Prohibition was repealed.

The study is among several tax studies assigned to the Joint Interim Revenue Committee this summer and fall.

The tribes on the Wind River Indian Reservation have signed a six-month temporary contract with Fremont County to continue solid waste disposal services there. The previous contract expired earlier this month.

Fremont County residents will have a chance to put their Christmas trees to good use after taking down the ornaments and lights.

Each January, area anglers collect Christmas trees and sink them to the bottom of Ocean Lake to create a better habitat for walleye, crappie and yellow perch living there.

Wyoming Game and Fish Department Fisheries Biologist, Paul Gerrity, says the lake is pretty flat at the bottom.

With casinos operating successfully in Fremont County, anecdotes abound that gambling addiction is becoming a widespread problem. Fremont Counseling Services is reacting accordingly by starting a gambling awareness group to educate people about the signs and symptoms of gambling addiction, and how to engage someone suspected of being a problem gambler.

Director of Fremont Counseling Services Gerry McAdams says they haven’t necessarily seen an increase of clients with the problem, but they’re going ahead with the classes anyway.

The U.S. Department of Labor is finally starting the process of looking for contractors to build the Wind River Job Corps in Riverton. The site, which will provide vocational training for disadvantaged live-in students, has been slow going. Director of the Fremont County Board of Cooperative Education Services, Sandy Barton, says this is great news for the center.   

HOST: There have been rumors that Fremont County is experiencing a rise in gambling addiction amongst its residents. Wyoming Public Radio’s Irina Zhorov reports that whether the rumors are true or not is still unclear, but some services are popping up to address it regardless.

ZHOROV: The Wind River Hotel and Casino in Riverton is full of chirping slot machines, game tables, bright lights, and…gamblers.

There are differing opinions regarding how much good gaming has brought to the county and tribes. But there is also concern about gambling addictions.

Fremont County and Lander Regional Hospital have reached a settlement in a yearlong lawsuit over unpaid bills for mental health examinations for residents who may need to be hospitalized.

The county will pay $457,000 for evaluations from 2009 to Dec. 15. Lander parent company LifePoint Hospitals had sought more than $800,000 in unpaid bills from the county. Both sides disputed how much the county owed for evaluations of patients who faced involuntary hospitalization for mental illness.

The Fremont County Attorney's Office says 35
people have been indicted in connection with an alleged drug
distribution ring in central Wyoming.
     The Casper Star-Tribune (http://bit.ly/rVGjbk ) reported that 22
of the 35 suspects have been arrested as of Friday.
     The indictments came from a grand jury that met from Nov. 28
through the 30th. They involve the distribution of cocaine,
methamphetamine, marijuana and prescription medication.