WyoFile: Week 45 of the pandemic in Wyoming (Jan. 16-22)
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This article was originally published by WyoFile and is republished here with permission. WyoFile is an independent nonprofit news organization focused on Wyoming people, places and policy.
Gov. Mark Gordon extended Wyoming’s statewide mask mandate through Valentine’s Day this week as the highly contagious UK variant of the COVID-19 virus surfaced in Teton County and healthcare providers struggled to meet demand for vaccines.
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Gordon also relaxed restrictions on gatherings, citing the state’s decreasing hospitalization numbers. Starting Monday, indoor gatherings that incorporate social distancing and face coverings are permitted for up to 25% of capacity or 250 people.
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.
Longtime Jackson resident Bertram âBertâ Chester Raynes died Jan. 1 at his home surrounded by friends and caregivers. The following was written by Franz Camenzind and provided by his friends, even though Raynes would have shunned such attention.
Raynes, a self-taught naturalist, bird enthusiast, author and Jackson Hole News&Guide columnist, was born March 12, 1924, in Jersey City, New Jersey, where he spent most of his childhood. His parents, Morris Raynes and Celia (Mukashey), were immigrants from Poland and Russia, respectively. He jokingly referred to himself as a âJersey Boy,â but his heart and soul were at home in Jackson Hole, where he spent the last half of his life. Once, when asked of his heritage, his reply was succinct: âEuropean horse thieves.â
The Jackson Town Council could award a contract Tuesday for continued work on the Cache Creek Tube project, which takes the creek through town in a series of underground pipes.
Because Monday is a federal holiday to commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the councilâs usual Monday meeting was moved to 6 p.m. Tuesday.
The project was advertised in the Jackson Hole News&Guide for two weeks beginning Nov. 18, and opened for bids Dec. 18, according to town staff reports.
The section for which bids were accepted is section â2D,â one of eight phases in the project. Four phases have been completed, according to a Town of Jackson Public Works Department diagram.