Your account does not include highlighter on images.
Searches Highlighted on Image
National Sponsors
| December 24, 2020 News Letter Journal |  |
|
©
News Letter Journal. All rights reserved. Upgrade to access Premium Tools
PAGE 7 (7 of 18 available) PREVIOUS NEXT Jumbo Image Save To Scrapbook Set Notifiers PDF JPG
December 24, 2020 |
|
|
Website © 2025. All content copyrighted. Copyright Information Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Request Content Removal | About / FAQ | Get Acrobat Reader 
|
editor@newslj. com
news letter journal News
December 24, 2020 —— 7
from Page 1
..............................................................................................................................
.. from Page 1 ....................... ..
Everyone wants 2020
gone. Closing local
bars and restaurants
is going to push them
into another state.”
— Many Ertman
Weston County
Commissioner
called the curfew “arbitrary.”
“To shut down the local
bars and restaurants, as we are
entering a new year,” Ertman
said. “Everyone wants 2020
gone. Closing local bars and
restaurants is going to push
them into another state.”
Ertman elaborated on asce-
nario that includes watching
cars with licenses plates from
all over driving past her house
on US. Highway 85 toward
the South Dakota border, more
specifically Deadwood. South,
Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has
opposed state mandated health
orders and allowed businesses
to remain open at their Own
discretion.
“There is going to a be
a stream of cars going to
Deadwood There is going
to be a pool of people in
Deadwood, celebrating getting
rid of 2020,” Ertman said.
According to Ertman,
allowing local bars and restau-
rants to stay open past 10 pm.
would encourage residents
to stay home. She noted that
this would prevent a poten-
tial “super-spreader event” in
Deadwood with people from
surrounding states.
“We need to encourage
people to stay in our own
tribe,” Ertman said to Jording.
“If you could grant Weston
County a variance allowing
our bars and restaurants to stay
open, it would encourage our
tribe to stay here. We would,
1603334220
Photo by Walter Sprague/NLJ
Above, Dr. Mike Jording, Weston County’s public health officer, listens
to people in atten-
dance at the Dec. 15 meeting of the Weston County Commissioners, including
Gillian
Sears’ presentation of documentation she acquired from government
websites such as the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He also gave his reasoning for
his decision to
not sign onto a variance request by the county. Below, Dan Fouch makes his
case for Dr.
Jording to side with the county against the state’s response to the
current crisis.
not be encouraging people
to go over there. We are just
asking people to pool over
there, probably from a six-
state area.”
Jording explained that
he would have to review the
documents, as he does with all
variance requests. He said that
all variances had to be sent
to the state health officer for
approval.
“This request, I don’t think
is unreasonable. There are
provisions in that new set of
orders,” Jording said, noting
that if he had any concerns
with the variance when he
reviewed it, he would reach
out.
“I would like to have your
blessing,” Ertman said.
“I don’t know how many
papers; I need to be able to
--.review them,” Jording replied.
“I was asked to join the board
since Goshen HELP is adminis-
tering the CBSG (Community
Service Block Grant) funding
in Weston County now. The
agency is really invested in
hearing from the community
and building relationships, and
since I was pinch hitting for
Align (previous CBSG grant
administering agency), they
asked me to fill in,” Patterson
said. “I’m happy to since the
grant is about homelessness
prevention and this agency
is about building more than
BandAid solutions.”
Goshen HELP is a
Torrington-based agency that
administers funding, primarily
from the federal grant, for
Weston, Niobrara, Washakie,
Goshen, Crook and Carbon
counties, in conjunction with
the Wyoming Department of
Health.
“Our contract with the
Wyoming Department of
Health stipulates what we will
do in a year. This year, we
were contracted to provide
affordable housing assistance,
through rent and utility assis-
tance, as well as other things to
help people stay in their homes
or get into a home in Weston
County,” Borger said.
The agency, according to
Borger, is more than just finan-
cial help, though. He explained
that the program is meant to
help those who are struggling
to become self-sufficient by
identifying and addressing the
cause of their struggles.
“We are trying to address
the causes of the issues and
help people stay in their homes
or obtain housing. We want to
make sure they are going to
be okay the month after too,”
Borger said.
According to Borger,
Patterson was a good fit for the
board because of her work with
Northern Wyoming Mental
Health and with some of the
MONUMENT HEALTH NEWCASTLE CLINIC
V 1121 Washington Boulevard, Newcastle, WY 82701 I 307-7741676720
MONUMENT HEALTH UPTON
amply... ~ v - waww .,
*3:er
717 Pine Street, Upton, WY 82730 '| 307-468-2302
MONUMENT H E A LT H
same population that Goshen
HELP Will work with in the
community. Her said that her
master’s degree is in social
work and her status as a provi-
sionally licensed clinical social
worker is a bonus.
“I’m happy to be a commu—
nity contact and help Goshen
HELP build programming
and provide services specific
to Weston County’s needs,”
Patterson said.
Goshen HELP plans to
work with local agencies and
seek input from the com-
munity members in Weston
County. The goal, Borger
said, is to best serve the com-
munity and really address the
low-income housing issue in
Weston County.
The primary need, Borger
said, is getting the Weston
County community involved.
“What we do in the commu-
nity — we want to be owned
by the community, done by the
community and supported by
the community. That requires
volunteers. We are trying to
build connections and oppor—
tunities to give back through
Goshen HELP. We don’t want
to be an outside entity that
does stuff but is not part of
the community,” Borger said,
noting that Patterson joining
the board was the first step
toward getting the community
more involved.
For more information or to
fill out an application, Borger
said that people can Visit gos-
henhelp.com, where there is a
link to the application and other
various assistance programs.
Those who might need help
navigating the website can call
307-532-0269 Monday through
Friday between 1 and 5 pm.
“We are working on getting
a brochure put together to get
our information out there. Right
now, it is really easy to get
online and fill everything out. .
on the website,” Borger said. ..
.4,
La :‘JaLfi am .s.;-"l snug. . a.s.s a s a
‘J.~.a.. - -..-..- - -..A