YouTuber and Friday Night Cruise participant, Mike Woodward put together a fantastic video from the Friday Night Cruise in downtown Riverton.

Classic cars and motorcycles cruised from Central Wyoming College to downtown, where they parked along Main Street and hundreds of patrons came out to get a closer look.

The 20th annual Rocky Mountain Car & Bike Show was held the following day, Saturday at CWC.

You can check out some photos from the car show here.

Nearly six miles of Gas Hills Road (WY136) will undergo hot in-place pavement recycling beginning this month.

The project begins at the intersection Wyoming 136 and Wyoming 135 just southeast of Riverton and extends 5.67 miles, according to Wyoming Department of Transportation resident engineer Robert Scheidemantel of Riverton.

Scheidemantel said the $1.03 million project is scheduled to begin Monday, July 23, with topsoil blading, removal of delineator posts and installation of project signs.

A test strip is scheduled for Friday, July 27. Road improvements are expected to take about a month to complete.

Gas Hills Road drivers should expect traffic delays of up to 20 minutes.

“This project is a combined project with another $2.3 million project between Buffalo and Ucross in northeast Wyoming,” Scheidemantel said. “We’re hoping to find out if the cost savings and durability of this process on these lower traffic volume roads is better than doing complete pavement rehabilitation, which comes at a higher costs to WYDOT and taxpayers.”

Hot in-place recycling is a process where two inches of existing roadway pavement is removed, and the milled material is run through a pug mill and crushed to a specific size. Rejuvenating oil is added to the crushed material and then the material is placed on the roadway in a windrow. An asphalt paver picks up the windrowed material and paves it. Rollers compact the material on the roadway. After rolling to WYDOT specifications, the newly paved roadway is chip-sealed.

After flying Friday and Saturday, the Riverton Rendezvous hot air balloon rally was unfortunately scratched due to weather Sunday morning.

However, balloon fans got an evening treat instead in 2018, as conditions were perfect for the balloon glow.

Nearly all of the 19 balloons that attended the 38th Rendezvous also set up at the Central Wyoming College soccer field and put on a spectacular night show, lighting up like giant bulbs.

Hot air balloon glows are rare, especially in Wyoming, because weather conditions have to remain perfect with virtually no wind.

Hundreds of early-risers in Riverton Saturday had the opportunity to watch 19 hot air balloons inflate, and 18 of them soar over town. One of the Cloud Kisser balloons stayed at the CWC Soccer Field to allow for tethered rides.

Most balloons traveled northeast, with the majority landing near the WalMart/Honor Farm field. Several others took a more direct eastern route and landed in the Holiday Inn field or just off of Smith Road.

A hot air balloon glow is set for Saturday at 8:30 p.m. and is weather permitting. There will also be a fireworks show at roughly 10:00 p.m., with the launching point on Airport Hill.

Sunday morning will wrap up the weekend festivities with one more balloon launch at 6:00 a.m. from the CWC soccer field. As always with balloons, that too is weather permitting.

The 20th annual Rocky Mountain Rebels Car Show and Autocross was held Saturday at Central Wyoming College.

Cars, trucks, motorcycles, and even a helicopter were on hand, along with hundreds of attendees, food vendors, and a kid’s bounce house.

The annual autocross competition gave drivers a chance to compete on a timed obstacle course again this year. We hope to post results early next week!

Saturday’s Rendezvous events continue with a hot air balloon glow (weather pending) at 8:30 p.m. and fireworks on Airport Hill at 10:00 p.m. Sunday’s hot air balloon rally begins at 6:00 a.m. from Central Wyoming College to wrap up the weekend events.

From K2Radio.com, Casper

http://k2radio.com/riverton-wrestler-to-plead-guilty-in-school-bus-assaults/

(Lander, Wyo.) – A new trophy fishing opportunity exists near Lander.  On July 3, Game and Fish fisheries crews captured high numbers of large lake trout in Louis Lake, which lies along the Loop Road in the Shoshone National Forest near Lander.  Ninety-two percent of the captured lake trout were > 4 lbs, and 24% were > 10 lbs.  The recent increase in lake trout size was likely caused by kokanee salmon stocking, which began in 2014.  Kokanee are stocked to provide additional sport fishing opportunity, but are also a preferred food item for lake trout.

The high numbers of kokanee stocked in Louis Lake (between 10,000 and 30,000 annually from 2014 – 2017) created a new food source, and likely increased lake trout growth rates over the past four years.  A downside to the increase in large lake trout may be a decrease in splake (a hybrid between a male brook trout and a female lake trout), which have been stocked since the late-1970s and are popular with Lander-area anglers.  The splake catch rate in gill nets decreased by 80% from 2015 to 2018.  The effects of lake trout predation on stocked kokanee are still unknown, and will be evaluated further this September.

Most of the trophy-sized lake trout were captured in the northeast portion of Louis Lake, near the beach and outlet stream.  Others were captured near the inlet stream in the southwest area of the lake.  Boat anglers have the most success at catching lake trout, as the species prefers deeper water.  Shore anglers may have better success fishing the north shore of Louis Lake (because the shoreline drops off quickly to deeper depths), or at night when lake trout move to shallower water to feed.

(Moorcroft, Wyo.) – For the second time in as many months, a state record-breaking fish has been caught in the Northcentral and Northeast Wyoming region. On July 15, 2018, Gillette resident James Potter Jr. caught a 22.58-pound freshwater drum in Keyhole Reservoir, breaking the existing state record by more than four pounds.

Potter and his father in law, Tom McCracken of Las Vegas, had been fishing for pike for only 20 minutes when the fish took Potter’s offering of frozen smelt.

“The fish took the bait and went on about a 60-yard run,” said Potter. “We weren’t sure what we had on the line. We eventually saw a flash of white and thought maybe it was a big walleye. But when it surfaced a bit and got closer to shore we finally saw it was a giant drum. We couldn’t believe it.”

Potter has caught drum before, in the two to three pound range, so knew the large fish was special. He looked up the state record and thought his might top 20 pounds. He soon saw game wardens Luke May and Derek White passing by on a patrol boat and flagged them down. The pair was able to get Potter started with the paperwork and certifying process.

“It was quite the moment when we put it on the scale and it printed out that ticket,” said Potter.  “I saw that 22 pounds and said ‘we just beat the record! We just blew it out of the water!’”
The previous freshwater drum record was set in August 2012 by Harley Speed. That fish also came from Keyhole Reservoir and weighed 17 pounds, 4 ounces. Prior to Speed’s catch, the record Wyoming drum was an 11-pound, 12-ounce fish caught in Glendo Reservoir in 1993.

“We don’t have them in a lot of places,” said Sheridan Fisheries Biologist Andrew Nikirk about drum. “They are not native to Wyoming but are an introduced sport fish. Anglers generally don’t target drum. They are usually incidental catches when anglers are ‘bottom bouncing’ for walleye with crawlers.

“They are good eating, but a lot of people don’t know that,” he continued. “The typical size of a drum we see at Keyhole is in the 12 to 18-inch range. And pound for pound they are one of the tougher fighting fishes, no doubt.”

Potter’s catch comes just weeks after Caleb Salzman caught a new state record largemouth bass on May 10 at Kleenburn Pond near Sheridan. Salzman’s catch, weighing 11.51 pounds, beat the previous state record, set in 1992, by more than four pounds.

Overall, this is the third species of state record fish caught this year in Wyoming. The other record broken in 2018 is for green sunfish by Chris Castleman at Bryan Stock Trail Pond in Casper.  

An early July Fremont County multi-agency DUI enforcement operation led to 240 traffic stops and the arrests of two drunk drivers.

In an 18-hour operation for the July 4 holiday, the focus was on impaired drivers. Fremont County law enforcement officers also issued 40 speeding tickets and three seatbelt citations. In all, 53 other citations were issued, and 186 warnings were given.

“The 4^th was right in the middle of the work-week so there wasn’t a weekend involved, but it was obviously very busy for law enforcement. A bunch of traffic enforcement only resulted in two drunk drivers during big parties on July 4 all across Fremont County. It was an outstanding performance by our county drivers during a heavy party day celebrating Independence Day,” said Wyoming Department of Transportation public relations specialist Cody Beers of Riverton.

Fremont County law enforcement agencies are working together, and in the third year of a county-wide, multi-agency, traffic enforcement effort for 2018. The July 4 operation was the fifth of at least six planned operations in Fremont County for the year. The next operation is scheduled for the Labor Day weekend.

The purpose of the operations is to reduce fatal crashes in Fremont County through enforcement of impaired driving and seatbelt laws. Focused enforcement efforts will be surrounded by a media campaign that will stress law enforcement’s zero-tolerance stance on impaired driving and commitment to seatbelt enforcement.

The enforcement operation is conducted by police departments in Riverton, Lander and Shoshoni, Fremont County Sheriff’s Office, Wind River Police Department, Wyoming State Parks, and the Wyoming Highway Patrol. Partners in the campaign include Injury Prevention Resources and WYDOT.

Along with this enhanced enforcement effort, the Wyoming Highway Patrol is urging drivers to help keep Wyoming’s roadways safe by calling the Report Every Drunk Driver Immediately (REDDI) hotline number at 1-800-442-9090 to report suspected drunk drivers. Callers should be prepared to provide the dispatcher with a description of the vehicle, its location, and direction of travel.

(Riverton, Wyo.) – According to initial reports at the scene from Law Enforcement, a grease fire that traveled up a vent from the kitchen and onto the roof has resulted in the closure of Riverton’s Burger King and Good 2 Go convenience store on North Federal.

The Riverton Volunteer Fire Department and Riverton Police responded to the fire call, the building was evacuated and firefighters worked to get the roof blaze under control. “It’s a stubborn one,” said Undersheriff Ryan Lee, who is also a Riverton firefighter. “I think we’ve got a handle on it now,” he said after climbing down from the RFD’s extended ladder on the ladder truck which was positioned just over the roof on the west side of the building.

While firefighters were at work, employees of the two businesses were milling about in the parking lot with a few customers. There were no reported injuries.

Photos by Jerrad Anderson and Ernie Over

The Wyoming Youth Summit is a partnership between the Wyoming Association of Sheriffs and Chiefs of Police and Students Against Destructive Decisions. It is for incoming 7th-12th graders who may have an interest in prevention – Traffic Safety, Substance Abuse Prevention and Wellness. There will be a mixture of prevention workshops and fun activities. There is an agenda on the website, www.wyomingyouthsummit.org.

Some of the prevention speakers are the Sandy Hook Promise, Start With Hello program, Think Fast Interactive (which is like a game show that focuses on youth leadership and underage drinking), etc. Some of the activities include a mobile escape room, 307 Mysteries and song-teller David Munsick from Sheridan.

The dates are July 30th-August 2nd at Mallo Camp in Weston County. Registration is just $25 and parents are responsible for transportation. All the information is on the website. Registration is until July 25th, however, those that register by the 20th will be entered to win a $100 gift certificate.

(Riverton, Wyo.) – The Central Wyoming College trustees Wednesday night approved the fiscal year 2019 budget for the institution, overall a 1.8 percent increase over fiscal year 2018’s budget. The  total college budget is $34,455,154. The college’s operating budget went up 3.5 percent,to $20,141,637.

The budget contains a 1.5 percent base salary adjustment for all employees.

In presenting the budget to the trustees, Vice President for Administrative Services Willie Noseep said local funding has increased this year to $762,400, a hike of 4.5 percent, due partly to a small increases in the county’s overall valuation and a tuition hike of $4 per credit.

The chart below follows the college’s budgets since 2015 and includes the budget adopted Wednesday: