From a bank lobby full of service photos to a biscuits-and-gravy breakfast in Lingle, Goshen County spent the week honoring its veterans. Customers walking into Pinnacle Bank on Main Street this week were greeted by a lobby full of faces in uniform, part of a display honoring veterans for Veterans Day.

TORRINGTON – Following his reelection to the Torrington City Council in the Nov. 3 general election, Councilman Shane Viktorin is looking ahead to another four years of addressing aging infrastructure, rising operational costs and the financial challenges facing city residents.

November 2–8

TORRINGTON – Eastern Wyoming College (EWC) trustees heard updates on ongoing facility repairs, financial performance and student programs during their regular meeting Tuesday, Nov. 10.

November 1

The Goshen County School District No. 1 Board of Trustees approved a one-time early resignation incentive for certified and professional staff and extended Superintendent Ryan Kramer's contract through the 2028-29 school year during its regular meeting Tuesday. It was the last meeting for the board's outgoing members, who were thanked for their service. The four trustees elected earlier this month, Steve Zimmerman, Sarah Chaires, Travis Grosz and Peter Kasperbauer, were sworn in after adjournment, and their terms begin Dec. 1.

Goshen County voters cast 4,581 ballots in the Nov. 3 general election, according to official results released Nov. 5 by the Goshen County Clerk’s Office. That is 355 fewer than the 4,936 ballots cast in the 2022 midterm election, a drop of about 7%. Of this year’s ballots, 1,776 were submitted before Election Day, about 39%. The county’s share of the statewide vote was about 2.4% of the 191,688 ballots cast in Wyoming, according to unofficial statewide totals. Torrington’s three precincts cast 3,001 ballots, about 65% of the county’s total. The largest precinct, 7-1 City of Torrington, accounted for 1,764 ballots. The smallest, Iowa Center, cast 23.

Peter Kasperbauer won the fourth and final open seat on the Goshen County School District No. 1 Board of Trustees by six votes, according to official results from the Goshen County Clerk’s Office. After a recount, Kasperbauer had 1,592 votes to 1,586 for Jeremy Closs. The general election was Kasperbauer’s second run for the board. He said the narrow margin was a reminder that every vote counts. “Margins are margins,” he said.

When I walked up to the Feed Lot BBQ Co. pop-up at AJ’s Soda Shop on Oct. 25, about 35 minutes after it started, pitmaster Kyle Cross told me he had already run out of jackalope eggs. People had been talking about them on the Facebook post announcing the pop-up, he said, and they went almost immediately. I ordered a combination plate of smoked brisket and pulled pork, with baked beans, coleslaw and a smoked, bacon-wrapped Oreo as a bonus. I had sampled Feed Lot’s food at another event, and Cross’s brisket is as good as or better than any place I have tried, maybe outside of Texas. It gives Texas smoked brisket a run for its money.

For the first time in more than 20 years, drivers on the south side of Torrington will have a place to fill up. Platte River Ag Solutions, owned by local businessmen Justin Solberg and Raymond Martin, is in the final stretch before opening its new fuel station and convenience store at 150 Main St. Solberg said the last pieces were being processed as of Monday, and the store is expected to open within a day or two. By the time this edition reaches readers, it may already be open. “We’re two local guys that are unbranded,” Solberg said. “So the big thing that we want to push is giving back to our community.”

TORRINGTON – The holiday season is approaching, and communities throughout Goshen County are preparing to celebrate with craft fairs, Christmas shopping opportunities, festive gatherings and family-friendly activities in November and December.

A Torrington native took the microphone for a University of Wyoming basketball game Oct. 30. Logan Hunter, a senior communications major, called the Cowgirls’ exhibition game against South Dakota Mines in the Arena-Auditorium on the Cowboy Sports Network, according to UW Athletics. Hunter said it is the kind of job he has worked toward since high school. His path began in Torrington, where he said the idea of calling games for a living did not fully take shape until his junior year, when he got to call a couple of drives of a state championship football game for Torrington radio. “I did all kinds of stuff in sports when I was in Torrington as well,” Hunter said. He lived near Veteran and still attended school in Torrington, he said, “so long commutes back and forth to school.” As a senior, he called Torrington football and basketball games for the NFHS Network, and he called a few games on KGOS about a year ago, he said. “Some people might remember that,” he said.

For 20 years, a quarter of a penny on each dollar spent in Goshen County has helped pay for storefront signs, repaved parking lots, firefighters’ breathing gear and a share of larger buildings. On Tuesday, voters decided not to continue it. The quarter-cent economic development tax failed by 96 votes, 2,299 to 2,203, or 51.1% to 48.9%, according to unofficial results. The ballot asked whether the county should continue its 0.25% excise tax on goods and services for four more years, with the money going to the Goshen County Economic Development Corp. for economic development within the county. This is the last in a series of stories on the Go Goshen Progress Program, which the tax paid for. The vote came after questions about how the campaign to renew it was funded, and after 16 years of grants in which Torrington recipients received more of the program’s money than any other community in the county.

Torrington Elks Lodge No. 1726 will host its annual Veterans Dinner on Friday, Nov. 13, and is collecting student essays for the Elks’ national Americanism contest. Dinner will be served from 6 to 7:30 p.m. The menu is prime rib, green beans, cheesy potatoes, a salad bar and dessert. Veterans eat free, and the cost for non-veterans is $40. Guests can make a reservation by calling the lodge at 307-532-2547 after 5 p.m. The lodge is at 120 E. 20th Ave.

Mayor Herb Doby said he plans to keep governing the way he has for the past four years after Torrington voters returned him to office Tuesday. Doby received 1,205 votes, or 71.5%, to challenger Bob Peterson’s 470, or 27.9%, according to unofficial results. Write-in candidates received 11 votes. The results remain unofficial until they are canvassed and certified.

October 26–November 1

October 25

TORRINGTON – Following his reelection to the Torrington City Council in Tuesday's general election, Wayne Deahl expressed appreciation for the support of local voters while raising concerns about the failure of the proposed quarter-cent sales tax intended to support economic development.

TORRINGTON – Following his victory in Tuesday's general election, Wyoming Gov.-elect Eric Barlow is turning his attention toward assembling his administration, addressing healthcare challenges and ensuring rural communities have a stronger voice in state government.

TORRINGTON – Goshen County commissioners lifted the county’s Stage 1 fire restrictions effective Wednesday, Nov. 4, after recent rain improved soil moisture. The restrictions had been in place since April 8.