The Voice of the Community Since 1909, Serving Moorcroft and Pine Haven, Wyoming
The Voice of the Community Since 1909, Serving Moorcroft and Pine Haven, Wyoming
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Long-unimproved Noonan Park, Moorcroft’s oldest municipal green space, is getting a significant upgrade this summer. Along with the newly built restrooms and a new piece of playground equipment, the defunct basketball court is being remodeled into a parking area. Moorcroft public works crews have already removed the court fencing and will repurpose the material as cover for the open face of the landfill. The east and west ends of the concrete curbing will be removed for a one directional loop e...
May 2 – May 8 celebrates Professional Municipal Clerks Week and Moorcroft Mayor Dick Claar read the official proclamation at Monday night’s meeting for the formal record. He and his fellows presented this recognition to Moorcroft clerks Cheryl Schneider (five years), Jodi Clark (almost four years) and Jesse Connally (more than 15 years) for their continuing service to town citizens, the council and other agencies as well as their persistent efforts to improve the administration of their dut...
The theme for the variety show concert this year was “A celebration of music from the big screen” with presentations from around 40 members of the MHS Band and choir. Comedy skits and short trivia games were also included, ensuring the audience’s involvement and enjoyment. Music teacher Nathon Towell commended his students for their hard work preparing for the event. “Overall, the performance went really well. They did a nice job presenting the show, making it a good cohesive show that was enter...
Amid April snows, Moorcroft and Pine Haven are getting ready for spring. Moorcroft Moorcroft Area Chamber of Commerce (MACC) is coordinating Spring Cleanup Day with the help of volunteers from the public and Moorcroft High School picking up yard waste and other refuse from the curbs around town on Thursday, May 6. The group will be meeting in the south parking lot of the high school at 8:15 a.m. for their dispatch. Co-organizer Elain Buckmiller says that there is a fleet of trailers and trucks donated for the event, but anyone who wants to...
At approximately 7:30 a.m. Friday, a single vehicle was involved in an accident near Mile Post 154 outside of Moorcroft. Two Gillette residents were traveling eastbound onto I90 ramp near Moorcroft when the driver lost control of the late model GMC pickup near mile post 154. When questioned by Wyoming Highway Patrol Officers, the driver said he lost control due to slick conditions. The automobile crossed both lanes before leaving the roadway, striking a highway sign and continuing down the embankment, coming to a stop only after hitting a...
When the DEQ inspected the Moorcroft landfill last year, the town was reprimanded for the condition of the facility and given the mandate to come up with a proposal for the landfill’s future, whether closing down completely or digging and lining another pit. With a follow-up meeting with the DEQ set for May 3, at 10 a.m. the town is expected to arrive with a plan of action if they want another extension of the existing operation. After exhausting the possibility of a countywide solid waste d...
Moorcroft police officer Jory Tadlock has resigned from the department. Mayor Dick Claar reported Tadlock’s departure at the council meeting Monday night. The vacated position has reportedly already garnered interest from parties with whom police chief Bill Bryant has spoken. These individuals are currently police officers, relieving the town of the need to pay for training. Tadlock will be joining the Crook County Sheriff’s Office as a deputy....
Alyssa Merchen is the first athlete from Moorcroft to receive the honor of playing with 23 other top senior players (1A-4A) from around the state in a volleyball game of the best on July 24. The all-star game garners no prize except for some great bragging rights and the pleasure of the sport. However, the game itself is what Merchen is anticipating. “I think it’s just a fun game, I’m really excited,” she says. Head Coach Katie Williams nominated Merchen at the end of this year’s volleybal...
The Moorcroft Town Council met on Monday to discuss the 2021/2022 budget with the municipal departments, beginning with Fire. The final budget for this department remained relatively status quo as the council and department representative Fred Devish were able to line items not in use for the coming fiscal year to be moved to the areas that needed attention. As for capital expenditures in the coming budget year, he asked for ten new air packs for the crew at approximately $1000 per unit. “That would give us 20,” he said. Devish was rem...
Use of Pine Haven’s slash pile is a privilege provided to town residents for the disposal of small branches and needles from yard clean up to be burned in a legal and managed environment periodically. However, if this concession continues to be abused by those who use the facility as a dump, the slash pile will be closed to the public entirely or fenced to be opened only at certain times and under supervision. Mayor John Cook has voiced his disillusionment regarding this behavior which shows i...
Around 40 young Moorcroft Mat Masters with group overseers Justin and Ashley Heather joined with Councilman Ben Glenn working for more than five hours along Wind Creek Road north of Interstate 90 to the landfill Monday, cleaning up the plastic bags and other flying refuse that litters the ranch land south of the municipal facility. More than 100 large garbage bags were filled and returned to the landfill by the end of the day’s work, according to Glenn. Mayor Dick Claar said of the e...
Residents of Moorcroft are encouraged to participate in the CODE RED information dissemination platform offered by the town. Those connected are informed about tornado warnings, hydrant flushing, changing garbage pickup schedules and many other factors that may affect citizens. This automated program will text and call the phone number provided and set-up is simple. People can get on the town site, find and click on CODE RED at the left side of the page and follow the prompts. Those interested in connecting to the information site can also...
Saturday morning saw the beginnings of a blustery cold and cloudy day as 38 daring souls gathered at the Keyhole Marina for the annual Jackalope Jump. “It was the biggest one we’ve had so far,” reports Special Olympics Coordinator and Coach Kassie Clements. This annual event raises funds for the Crook County Special Olympics. The 2020 jump was cancelled due to the Covid 19 virus, but this year saw the event come back strong, unofficially raising $8200. “We raised more than Gillette and Sheridan...
WYDOT visited with the Moorcroft Town Council Monday night to invite the town to contract with the agency to resurface roadways throughout Moorcroft township when WYDOT begins work on State Highway 14. The state will begin work in 2025 upgrading corners, milling and overlaying 14 from the intersection with Highway 16 (Converse) north to the bridge just north of Old Sundance Road. WYDOT district construction engineer Isaac Finkle from the Sheridan office explained how the upcoming project can ben...
The community cleanup day has yet to be scheduled for this year, but preparations are being made including new criteria for accepting items with freon. The council was asked at Monday night’s meeting if the landfill could accept these old appliances that retained the hazardous chemical within and simply hire out the removal. Mayor Dick Claar advocated such a move: “If it’s something that will keep refrigerators and freezers out of the borrow ditch, we can charge $50 and when we get 15 of them out there, we’ll just have somebody come and cle...
The roof has been installed on the restrooms in Noonan Park and plumbing will be completed within the next week. The crew is working on exterior grade and pouring concrete for parking area. The surrounding welded fence soon to be removed from the basketball court will be repurposed for use at the landfill as another type of screen cover to lie over the pit, further mitigating flying debris. Glenn Construction owner Ben Glenn anticipated completion of this project by the middle of...
Moorcroft recently received a $50,000 community development grant from Wyoming Business Council for two separate studies in town. Half of the funding is to be spent specifically on the MTC study, while the other $25,000 is to be spent on a community evaluation. The community analysis identifies potential future economic development, giving the governing body reasonable direction and strategies to continue building and maintaining a thriving environment for local residents and businesses in coming years. Of the three engineering firms...
Crystal Meadows and husband Roger have been residents of Crook County for several decades. Living a few miles east of Pine Haven, the couple was active in supporting the town’s endeavors to become a thriving community over the years. A project particularly close to Crystal’s heart before her unexpected death in 2020 was the municipal community center/senior group. As a memorial to her life, friends and neighbors donated over $15,000 to the newly created center at Roger’s behest. He was pleas...
The Coach Mirich poker tournament held in Pine Haven in January garnered over $14,000 for the town’s volunteer fire department, specifically a new battery-operated “Jaws of Life”. Last Friday night, many in the department joined came together at the fire station to get a “hands on” demonstration of the newest addition to their arsenal. The crew of first responders watched avidly as account manager Roger Crane removed what to the folks assembled was a beautiful piece of machinery. The battery w...
After several months of depending on an out-of-town license for water and sewer systems, the Moorcroft public works crew is off to a great start toward obtaining their own licenses. Scott Green has received his license for operating the water system and hopes to receive the same for sewer before next month. Dave Elliot needs a few more practical hours and he will have his, too, as well as the sewer certificate, by that time, according to Public Works Director Cory Allison. Currently, the town is paying $1000 per month for the use of the...
Haz-Matters hosted their first babysitting class last Friday and Saturday at the MTC. The 41 students, ranging in age from eight to 14, were taught CPR for infants, children and adults; first aid for all common injuries they may run into on the job; and the Heimlich maneuver. Each graduate of this very important class was given a fully stocked first aid kit to keep. The items in these kits were donated by local businesses. “The students were all from the Moorcroft area,” Haz-Matters ass...
Moorcroft’s council has finally set a date to have the offices of clerk/treasurer, public works and police as well as the council chambers moved to their new secure facilities in the Moorcroft Town Center (MTC) before September, says Mayor Dick Claar. This move has been discussed for a few years now with no actual plan in place to further the transition until this week. When the group set three town-based projects to the front of their to-do list at Saturday morning’s workshop, this move was...
Moorcroft’s council came together in a four hour workshop Saturday morning to discuss progress of the large projects with which the town is currently dealing, including the lagoon upgrade, landfill development and the last phase of the Powder River Water Project. The group also prioritized smaller projects that are realistically within the budget of the town with the incoming one percent sales tax return that’s expected in May. These smaller efforts were of a more intimate interest to the gov...
This year the Special Olympics Wyoming Athletes will host their annual Jackalope Jump at the Keyhole Marina on the east side of the reservoir at noon on March 27. This annual event is always a hit with young and old alike. Many have returned every year to contribute to the Special Olympics and collect the t-shirt. Of course, an invigorating plunge into the still-icy depths is also thought to improve circulation, build up the immune system, decrease seasonal depression and anxiety and reduce...
With the onslaught of several inches of the frozen flurries, snow removal is once again an issue for the consideration of the Moorcroft Town Council. The discussion became heated Monday night as several residents of Texas Trails Subdivision as expressed their angst about the town’s practice of plowing the downfall to the sides of the street instead of the center. This was a controversial issue when implemented when instigated 18 months ago. The main focus of the argument is the snow being pushed...
