Winter storm pounds Green River By A V I D A RT N P ower states winds exceeding advised customers to prepare P ublis er 110 mph in some areas were for extended outages because recorded and impacted service some issues were too dangerous The snowstorm passing I daho and U tah as well, with ap- for crews to address until the through Sweetwater County proximately 17 0,000 customers wind speeds decrease. H owever, early Tuesday morning resulted without power in U tah. despite that, E rick son described in power outages in G reen R iver, Tiffany E rick son, a spok esper- R M P ’ s response as “ all hands on as well as lead to road closures son for R ock y M ountain P ower, deck ” with additional crews be- and travel advisories issued said the outages were caused ing called in to work . throughout the state. by several issues related to the E rick son also warned resi- According to R ock y M oun- wind, including downed power dents not to approach areas tain P ower, more than 12,000 lines and trees falling on power where trees have fallen into the customers in Wyoming, most lines. power lines or places where of whom living in Sweetwater “ There’ s a number of things,” power lines had fallen, encour- and U inta counties, were with- she said. “ These winds have aging them to report the issue to out power Tuesday afternoon. been so powerful.” RMP. A release from R ock y M ountain E rick son said the company Continued on A2 e nes ay Septem er , 0 2 0 1 0 t ear 1 t ss e Green River Y 2 9 3 5 d d ress Service Re u este 1.5 Summer is over Jamie Castillon and Morgan Asay clear away a tree on River View Drive Tuesday afternoon. Multiple trees had fallen throughout the city after a winter storm with hur- ricane-force winds passed through the region early Tuesday morning. Star photo by David Martin Census period winds down for Green River By SH Y A H N A i the ite tates as well as the fi e particular area. The results will determine programs. I f the community doesn’ t Contributor territories. how much funding the community will receive the funding, another community According to P ete R ust, M ayor of receive. According to R ust, if people do will. With the end of this year quick ly G reen R iver, the census determines not complete the census, the community This will only put the community back approachi it is tie to fi ll ot or many important things such as state and could lose millions of dollars in funding. further as some of the programs that are 2020 census. federal funding, as well as congressional “ I fear that people do not understand funded by these numbers, are crucial to he cess ca e fi lle ot olie representation. I t helps to fund school the importance of the census” R ust said in families and low income households in the through a phone call to the number lunches, road plans, hunter safety courses an interview. area. provided on the website or through the and families in need. The census does not require any fees “ We really hope that anybody who paper questionnaire sent by mail. The I t also helps lawmak ers, business and does not include extra taxes. I ts ows ao who hast fi lle ot their census ask s a few simple questions about owners and many others to mak e purpose is to determine how many people census, to encourage them to do so.” R ust everyone living in your house hold. decisions regarding new schools, clinics, are living in the area and to determine said. The census counts every person living roads and if more services are needed in a the funding amounts for various diverse All census efforts will end Sept. 3 0. WWCC group calls for layo alternatives By A V I D A RT N as a result of the coronavirus P ublis er pandemic. Those layoffs are anticipated to tak e place at the Staff and faculty at Western end of the academic semester, Wyoming Community College which college employees cited by are calling for alternatives to a the association say mak e it hard plan they claim will lead to undue or the to fi alterate wor stress for employees laid off by or relocate prior to the end of the the college. academic year. According to a release from the H owever, the college’ s E ducation Association at WWCC, president said the mid- year cuts more than 20 college employees are eee i the collee is to fi are expected to be laid off as the a way to overcome a $ 8 7 5 ,000 college contends with a growing et efi cit. efi cit as a reslt o ecooic impacts the state is weathering Continued on A2 A2 www.greenriverstar.com Wednesday, September 9, 2020 Potential seen by Occidental land owners By N I C K RE N O L S I n a F riday interview with the Star- Tribune, J on L amb, development,” L amb said. “ There is clearly a demand for Cas er tar-Tribune the o the prchasi fi r rio esorce arters that with a couple of large transmission proj ects that are V ia yoming e s x c ange and J ohnny D eCooman, the new CE O of Sweetwater, the currently underway. … I really see that as j ust surface be- company tak ing over management of those lands, said ing scratched. We’ re excited to get the transaction closed CASP E R — The new owners of 5 million combined acres they would be look ing into opportunities to diversify the and started look ing at how to best advance those opportu- of land and mineral rights in southern Wyoming say they region’ s already productive sources of trona and oil into nities.” plan to pursue opportunities to expand renewable energy other arenas, including wind, solar and potential rare earth O rion — an international mining company specializ ing development in addition to existing drilling and mining ac- etractio i a eort to oost the loter profi tailit in leasing large swaths of land for mining and development tivity — a potential new source of revenue for the state as a of their $ 1.3 3 billion purchase. — was the successful bidder in a highly competitive sale of third- party investment company tak es over land long held “ O ne of the things that attracted us today to this port- the land earlier this year, beating out the state of Wyoming by oil companies Anadark o and O ccidental P etroleum. folio on the surface was the opportunity for renewables in a nine- way race to purchase the acreage. Ready for a new ride? Road closure resulted We’ll help you get the from winter storm F rom 1 She said the main problem is when a horsepower of your dreams Tuesday morning hearings at the road has an accumulation of snow, along Sweetwater County Courthouse were with hih wis has ifi cl postponed because of the power outage. ties k eeping snow off the road because it NEW and NEW-TO-YOU Teresa Thybo, chief deputy Sweetwater blow back on from surrounding areas. County Attorney, said she had to attend M any WY D O T roads didn’ t have a esti- Auto Loans as low as Treatment Court hearings virtually, mated opening time, which H arsha said using her phone while inside her car. meant the closure was due to wind. 3.50% OAC M ultiple residents interviewed by the “ This weather is wild, but it’ s Wyo- Star reported their homes being cold, but ming,” H arsha said. otherwise doing well despite the power According to a release from the city, outage. H owever, the wind hasn’ t only 5 inches of snow fell in the G reen R iver impacted electrical service in the area. area throughout the night and the city “ There has been some closures and closed non- essential departments Tues- they’ re expecting ( the weather) to last day. for two days,” Stephanie H arsha, public The G reen R iver F ire D epartment involvement specialist for the Wyoming responded to 25 calls during the two- day D epartment of Transportation said. period while the city’ s police department “ O ur crews were ready for the storm, dealt with several emergency calls. but there were a lot of closures,” she The city has opened the rodeo grounds said. to allow residents to dump fallen trees (307)875-3044 I nterstate 8 0 from R ock Springs to and branches. According to the release, (888)340-3044 Cheyenne was closed in both directions the city will establish additional cleanup Tuesday plans in the coming days. 131 East Railroad Ave.Green River, WY 82935 • Office M-F:9:00-5:00 Drive-up M-F: 7:30-5:30 WWCC faces deep defi cit F rom 1 which started in J uly, 10% across- the- board “ M id- year layoffs will would be reduced by 10% cut all line items and said e fi aciall eastati because of the state’ s $ 1.25 administrators were able to Angela Thatcher, WWCC billion budget shortfall. The fi a aitioal sociology professor and college’ s deadline to adopt in savings through cuts to P resident of the E ducation a budget was J uly 15 , which nonathletic scholarships, Association at WWCC said.