Your account does not include highlighter on images.
Searches Highlighted on Image
National Sponsors
| December 10, 2020 News Letter Journal |  |
|
©
News Letter Journal. All rights reserved. Upgrade to access Premium Tools
PAGE 1 (1 of 18 available) PREVIOUS NEXT Jumbo Image Save To Scrapbook Set Notifiers PDF JPG
December 10, 2020 |
|
|
Website © 2025. All content copyrighted. Copyright Information Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Request Content Removal | About / FAQ | Get Acrobat Reader 
|
Dceber 1, 2020
Weston County
Newcastle, Wyoming .
1%
$1.®
FOR AD
1054 02-06-21 C 980
SMALL TOWN PAPERS
927 w RAILROAD AVE ##
SHELTON WA 98584-3847
52P 6T
INC
Year 13 Week
Still seeking variances
Commissioners decry lack of communication from public health officer
Alexis Barker
NLJ News Editor
commissioners have submitted vari-
ance requests to both local and-‘ state
public health officers, all of which
have been denied. During the Dec. 1
For months, the Weston County board meeting, Commissioner Marty
Ertman asked that the board continue
Bridging
the gap
Alexis Barker
NLJ News Editor
With quarantine orders
affecting families, students,
communities and schools
across the country, due to
the COVID-l9 pandemic,
Newcastle Middle School
counselor Nikki Bloom has
been seeing firsthand the
effects on mental health
that the isolation can have
on young people.
Bloom came up with a
solution, although admit—
tedly not nearly as good as
being at school with your
friends and teachers every
Actually, we had one
day where the boys
had a burping con-
test Ido feel that
having these lunches
provides the students
with some peer time
and it reconnects
them with the school
in a different way
than academically.”
day. She started a Virtual ~—lNz'/elez' Bloom,
lunch for quarantined NewcastleMz’ddle
students with a group of 56/9001 Counselor
friends at school.
“I guess 1 came up with
the idea brainstorming
with students on how they
can feel connected to the
school even if they are
at home,” Bloom said.
“Along with their edu-
cation, school provides
socialization for kids, and
at the middle school level,
it becomes super-impor-
tant for kids to feel con-
nected with their friends.”
Principal Tyler Bartlett
first told the Weston
County School District
No. 1 board of trustees
about the weekly lunches
a month ago. He reported
that, to date, the lunches
had been successful.
According to Bartlett,
Bloom had approached him
about the idea of having
quarantined students meet
over Zoom for lunch, With
friends in her office. The
goal, he said, is to help
lessen the stress, anxiety '
and feelings of isolation
felt by students who can’t
attend school.
“Not all of the middle
school students have
phones to access their
friends outside of school,
and that is where we came
up with the idea of lunch,”
Bloom later told the News
Letter Journal. “It’s the
same conversation they
would have at their lunch
table with friends.”
Bloom chuckled as she
recalled one lunch episode.
“Actttally, we had
— See Lunch, Page 2
Alexis Barker
NLJ News Editor
county’s opinion known.
mission
to discuss and submit variances to
the state, with the goal of making the
“I don’t mind asking for vari-
ances. The people are doing what is
Light it up!
necessary to protect their health. I’m
not sure how many are following the
orders, but to drop it (the vari—
ances) is to say that the government
can tell us what to do,” Ertman said.
other county in the state that
has dipped below 5% is Hot
Springs, also at 4.5%. Counties
“I would like to see us have this dis-
cussion every time. Iwould like to
keep asking for it.”
- See Variances, Page 7
;. Photo by Walter Spragu'e/NLJ
i A home on Sixth Avenue In Newcastle Is all lit up for the Christmas
season. See more photos or holiday lighting on Page 10.
County in ‘COVID green
Cases down, but governor issues mask mandate
Listed in the 14-day trans-
indicator graph by
county are two different totals:
zone as far as per capita cases
are concerned. Red counties are
described as having 202-999
Weston County is now one
of only two counties “in the
green” as far as the percentage
of COVID-19 tests returning
a positive result, according to
information provided by local
nurse Kristen Johnson.
the cases per capita (or cases per
100,000 people) and the per-
centage of tests returning posi-
tive for the disease. ‘
According to the graph,
Weston County’s pOsitivity rate
has dropped to 4.5%, the only
classified as in the “green” have
a positivity rate between 3%
and 4.9%
Despite the lower positivity
rate, Weston County is still
reporting 592 cases per 100,000,
leaving the county in the red
cases per 100,000.
In addition to breaking
below the 5% positivity rate
needed to be in the green,
Weston County has gone from
See COVID, Page 8
Tree
Alexis Barker
NLJ News Editor
The Weston County School
District No. 1 board of trustee’s
first female chairman, Tina Chick,
was recently named All Wyoming
School Board Member of the Year
during a virtual conference bn
Nov. 23.
Chick, who has been serving
on the board for eight years, said
that when former board Chair Bob
Bonnar first talked with her about
joining the board, she laughed.
Photo courtesy of Skull Creek Studio
Tina Chick, Weston County
School District No. 1 Chair,
was named as the All Wyoming
School Board Member of the
Year on Nov. 23. A Newcastle
High School graduate, she Is
the first female chairman of the
WCSD No. 1 Board of Trustees.
Chick named school board member of year
i
And that was exactly what she
did when she talked about receiving
the award, she chuckled.
“I was very surprised to get it
(the award). When I think about
other people that have gotten it
(the award), I don’t measure up
to that,” Chick said, noting that
trustees Tom Wright and John
Riesland have both received the
honor and played a huge role in her
board career.
During her speech in the virtual
meeting, Chick recalled being both
excited and scared. '
“I ran thinking I would not get
voted in. I’m not sure I said
too much for the first six months,”
Chick said.
A Newcastle High School
graduate, Chick credited Newcastle
High School and the education she
received with giving her the tools
to hopefully do her part on the
— See Chick, Page 7
sales
begin
Alexis Barker
NLJ News Editor
Members of the Weston County Natural
Resource District have the opportunity to
purchase trees for conservation planting at
a reduced cost between now and April 2,
according to an email from Caleb Carter, the
district director.
“These trees are for conservation plant-
ings and are sold in bulk in groups of
25 or 50. Conservation plantings include
windbreaks, living snow'fences, stream bank
stabilization or planting around ponds or
— See Trees, Page 2
a i
Monday
a: .— Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Tuesday Wednesday |NS|DE :—
m (D Parlinunny Pant/Sunny Partlyan Patlyamy PaiflySumy Pantysimny
'PalflySunny a;
I Hi 38, Lo 22 Hi 34, Lo 16 Hi 33, Lo 16 Hi 39, Lo 25 Hi 43, Lo 21 Hi 37,
Lo 19 Hi Lo 22 ' Consent agenda, Page 7 %;
l— g o Decorating, Page 8 E m
E n: - Post-season awards, Page 1 E:
g E - Grapplers prepare , Page 11 :3
S