A power pole snapped in two at about 8 p.m. Thursday after a freak wind blew a tree onto power lines near Lane 7 and U.S. 14-A.

Steve Reimer of Garland Light and Power said the pole broke off about 8 feet above the ground, which he said is very uncommon.

A balancing act: that’s what the Powell City Council and city department heads had to do while determining priorities for budgeting city money during tight economic times in the coming fiscal year.

One of those priorities was economic development. The Powell City Council approved $20,000 to help fund a fledgling economic development group being formed to attract businesses to Powell and help strengthen the local economy.

Powell Hospital officials express support; Dr. Pickens continues path toward recovery

A doctor recently hired by Powell Valley Healthcare was sentenced for prescription drug fraud in March, but administrators say they were aware of his background and have confidence in his skills as a physician.

Dr. Cory L. Pickens, who will begin his anesthesiology and pain management practice in Powell this week, pleaded guilty to prescription fraud in September 2010 and was sentenced in March, according to documents recently obtained by the Powell Tribune.

Rescue operation completed in four and a half hours

A report of a plane crash in the mountains near the headwaters of the South Fork River Saturday afternoon prompted a full-scale search and rescue operation by multiple Park County and federal agencies.

The operation ended just four and a half hours later with the location and rescue of an Idaho couple from a mountain peak in the Teton Wilderness.

Rescue operation completed in four and a half hours

A report of a plane crash in the mountains near the headwaters of the South Fork River Saturday afternoon prompted a full-scale search and rescue operation by multiple Park County and federal agencies.

The operation ended just four and a half hours later with the location and rescue of an Idaho couple from a mountain peak in the Teton Wilderness.

Two new doctors will begin practicing in Powell in coming weeks and months, and other recruiting efforts are moving forward as well.

Dr. Cory Pickens will begin providing anesthesiology and pain management services at Powell Valley Healthcare around the end of this month, and Dr. Sarah Durney will begin her family practice here in September.

Solutions will involve entire community

When he attended a White House Summit on Community Colleges last month, Rick LaPlante of Powell said his first impression was the summit’s goal was set too far in the future.

That goal: The United States will have the highest percentage of college graduates in the world by 2020.

For years now, the subject of snowmobiles in Yellowstone National Park has been a divisive one. While many winter recreationists favor allowing as many snowmobilers into the park during the winter as possible, some environmentalists want to see them banned entirely.

The National Park Service has tried repeatedly to strike a balance between the two in its planning efforts for winter use in the park.

Bobbi Lane describes herself as a “lover of light.” Her use of light is the essence of her distinguished photography career.

“It’s what you sculpt with, how you set the mood, give the description to your subject,” she said during an interview at Northwest College earlier this month. “When I see certain kinds of light, when it all comes together, I go into another place. I suppose you would call it ‘the zone.’ It gets me very excited.”

Much of the discussion at a Wyoming Community College Commission meeting at Northwest College on Tuesday centered on a plan for ranking capital facilities projects among the state’s seven community college districts.

Commission Executive Director Jim Rose said the model was developed in concert with a law passed by the Legislature in 2009, which requires the commission to develop a way to prioritize capital construction requests at the college based upon the commission’s strategic plan and upon the state’s interests.