The annual World Championship Snowmobile Hill Climb is returning to Snow King after a one-year, coronavirus-related hiatus, though the approval includes some caveats that will make it âa much different-looking event than in years past,â said Carl Pelletier, the town of Jacksonâs special events coordinator.
At its regular meeting Monday night, the council voted unanimously to approve Councilor Jim Rooksâ motion to allow the 44th Hill Climb to move forward with 1,000 spectators. However, included in Rooksâ amended motion was a mechanism that allows for Jackson Police Chief Michelle Weber to decrease the allowed attendance based on how people are behaving and other health and safety factors. Weber will debrief daily with officials from the Jackson Hole Snow Devils, who organize the event, and Jackson Mayor Hailey Morton Levinson. In past years there was only one debriefing following the eventâs end.
Jackson Mayor Hailey Morton Levinson delivered her first âState of the Townâ address Tuesday, offering her reflections on the past coronavirus-addled year and a candid look at the coming year, including budgetary and revenue challenges the town faces.
Morton Levinson began by recalling a mid-February 2020 trip to Cheyenne with other local elected officials at a time âwhen the term âCOVID-19â was something we were just starting to say and think about.â
âJust weeks later the world as we knew it shifted in dramatic ways; to be filled with Zoom rooms, hand sanitizer, masking, intense amounts of time with our immediate families and little time in person with anyone else,â she said.
Michelle Weber was sworn in Tuesday as Jacksonâs new police chief.
Because of the pandemic she had to take her oath virtually, which she admitted was strange, but also great because it allowed her mom, sister, husband, kids and friends to tune in for the historic moment from all over the country.
Weber was all smiles as Municipal Judge Melissa Owens conducted the swearing-in ceremony in front of town employees, councilors and Mayor Hailey Morton Levinson.
âI am humbled to work for such a great police department,â Weber told the News&Guide.
Weber is enthusiastic about the âawesome responsibilityâ that sheâs been given, and wants to emphasize her commitment to involving the community more in the day-to-day operations of the Jackson Police Department.
The Town of Jackson this week named Michelle Weber, who has been serving as interim chief of the Jackson Police Department since Todd Smith retired last summer, permanently to the position.
âI am humbled and honored to lead this incredible team of men and women in the Jackson Police Department as their chief,â Weber said. âIt is my goal to initiate a cultural shift within the department to become even more community-oriented, impartial, effective and transparent.â
Weber, who holds an undergraduate degree in criminal justice and a masterâs in leadership and management, has been with the department for 16 years.