Powell volunteer firefighters responding to the report of a car in a ditch Saturday afternoon soon discovered they couldn’t see the vehicle through smoke from a controlled burn.

Powell volunteer firefighters responding to the report of a car in a ditch Saturday afternoon soon discovered they couldn’t see the vehicle through smoke from a controlled burn.

Ceasing Saturday letter delivery makes sense

It is difficult to know what Congress was thinking last month when it overruled the U.S. Postal Service’s plan to stop letter delivery on Saturdays.

Child care for employees, the need to update and expand medical facilities, and the new electronic medical records system were some of the key points discussed during a strategic planning session for Powell Valley Healthcare last week.

Park County didn’t need more confusion over Title 25 commitments — hospital admissions and emergency detentions for people who are considered a danger to themselves or others due to mental health issues.

But that was the result of a Feb. 6 decision by the Wyoming Supreme Court. That decision states that county attorneys don’t have the authority to object to the release of patients who are released from the Wyoming State Hospital in Evanston after they have been treated and stabilized.

Park County Attorney Bryan Skoric has since stopped his office’s practice of reviewing Title 25 cases when patients are released.

That job has fallen to an attorney for West Park Hospital and Yellowstone Behavioral Health. But that attorney, Chris Edwards, objects to performing that work, which she said conflicts with the hospital’s role as a health care provider.

“This burden shouldn’t be on the hospital,” Edwards said.

This is far from the first time that state laws regarding Title 25 admissions have caused problems and confusion for the county and its hospitals.

Runner Hannah (Johnson) Bailey, formerly of Powell and now living in Denver, was a block away from the Boston Marathon finish line Monday when two explosions went off at 2:57 p.m. local time.

Summer program ending; local school-year program to continue

The company that has operated Migrant Head Start in Park and Big Horn counties recently relinquished its grant for that program, citing declines in the migrant population in the area.

It’s springtime in Park County. There’s no need to verify the month or date on the calendar; smoke in the air from (mostly) controlled burns provides ample evidence of the change of seasons.

Since their marriage nearly 50 years ago, Jerry and Joyce Ostrom of Powell have worked and volunteered their time and talents to help youth.

Generations of youth have benefited through the 4-H groups led by Joyce, the Boy Scout troops led by Jerry and the hunter safety classes Jerry has taught.

After an extended absence, it feels very good to have a solid, proactive, forward-looking economic development effort under way again in Powell.

Last week’s agreements between the city of Powell and the Powell Economic Partnership, or PEP, was especially good news, and, as Mayor Don Hillman said, is a “win-win situation.”