Cold cloaks Powell, but warmer temps en route

Car engines groaned reluctantly to life in this morning’s below-zero temperatures.

According to Terry Foley’s PowellWeather.net, at 7:19 a.m. Wednesday, it was 10.5 degrees below zero in Powell with a wind chill of 28.3 below.

Temperatures didn’t improve much during the day. It was 2 degrees below zero with a wind chill bouncing between 7 and 14 degrees below zero at around 10:30 a.m. today as Jack Frost toyed with the wind.

Cody was hit harder. Weather Underground said Cody’s low temperature hit a record at 16 below zero early Wednesday morning. The previous record was 15 below zero on Nov. 24, 1993.

The frigid temperatures were due to an Arctic cold front that dropped into Wyoming from the north, said Andy McNeel, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Riverton.

On Thursday, the high is expected to reach 13 degrees under mostly-sunny skies, with a low of 1 degree. Black Friday is forecast as bright with mostly sunny skies and a high of 24 and a low of 13 degrees under partly cloudy skies, according to the National Weather Service.

“We do have a gradual warming trend in place,” McNeel said. “Saturday, we’re talking close to 30 degrees.”

A winter storm warning was issued in Yellowstone National Park and northwest Wyoming Wednesday, but McNeel said he was not expecting road conditions to worsen over Thanksgiving.

People driving Thanksgiving weekend should check highway conditions before embarking and use care in negotiating Wyoming’s snowy roads.

“It’s always a good practice to give WYDOT (Wyoming Department of Transportation) a call,” McNeel said, referring to the department’s road and travel information. Call 1-888-WYO-ROAD (1-888-996-7623), or in Wyoming, simply dial 511.

Road condition information also is available online at www.wyoroad.info.

“It only takes a few minutes and could save you a lot of trouble,” McNeel said.

AAA advises these winter travel tips:

• Slow down and allow extra time to reach your destination.
• Watch for ice on bridges, even when the rest of the road appears dry.
• Look ahead. Actions of other drivers can alert you to potential trouble and afford you extra seconds to react.
• Four-wheel drive can get a vehicle off the start line faster, but it doesn’t stop any sooner than a two-wheel drive.

McNeel advised staying off the highways if icy roads are too daunting for the driver.

“If you’re in doubt,” he said, “it’s always best to not chance it.”

Tribune Staff Writer Gib Mathers wrote this article.

Audio: A grizzly meal in Yellowstone

“Grrrrrrowl ...”

Three grizzly bears quarrel over an elk kill conveniently provided by seven wolf members of the Molly Pack near Indian Pond in the Mary Bay area of Yellowstone National Park.

Though the scene was too dark to get good visuals, James Yule of Worland got outstanding audio of the Oct. 14 affair and graciously let the Tribune post it here. The following 1:20 clip represents about six minutes of audio, clipped to remove dead space.

While the timeline has been condensed, “the audio's all pure,” Yule told the Tribune. If the clip doesn't appear in a player below, you can download it here.

Yellowstone sounds - time: 1:20

“They’re ripping and tearing,” said Neale Blank, a local photographer who witnessed the grizzly spectacle while his friend Yule recorded it.

Low-throated moaning as the bears' plaintive-sounding wails waft the dawn air.

The day before, the wolves brought down a cow and calf elk, but in their jubilation, they announced to the animal world their success.

“When a pack makes a kill,” Blank said, “they celebrate.”

They bark, howl and cavort, he said.

Grizzlies, attuned to the wolves’ merrymaking, arrived pronto.

The sounds morph from moans to growls as the bears bicker over choice cuts.

Then, a gaggle of geese honk, as though their echoing expressions are background music for nature’s concert.

While the audio played at the Tribune on Thursday, Blank rewound the scene in his head.

“The sounds of nature; you can always see in your mind,” Blank said. “You’ll never forget it.”

You can see some of James Yule's nifty wildlife videography on his YouTube channel.

Live Park County Election Results

This post will be updated with results and election info as it's available tonight, with updates starting appearing at the top of this post. Keep refreshing this page for the latest.

10:33 p.m. I knew I was forgetting something -- in the contested Powell fire district board races, Gerald "Bear" May (216 votes) took the director 3 position over Kyle Nix (139 votes), while Kelly Spiering (220 votes) defeated Scott Horton (176 votes).

9:15 p.m. Not sure if another recap of county-wide races is necessary (the county has the full results online here), but here it is again...

In short, the Republicans cleaned up in Park County.

GOP challenger Jerri Torczon has convincingly taken the Park County Clerk's office from Democrat Kelly Jensen -- 7,105 votes to 4,156 votes.

Republicans Loren Grosskopf (7,903 votes), Joe Tilden (7,896 votes) and incumbent Tim French (7,210 votes) handily claimed the three open seats on the Park County Commission, over Democrat Faith Wicks (2,392 votes) and Libertarian Penny Gail (2,377 votes).

GOP contenders in statewide races also won by large margins over their Democrat opponents in Park County.

I think that's a wrap for me, and I'd encourage you to read more in Thursday's Powell Tribune. Statewide results can easily be tracked on the Wyoming Tribune Eagle's site.

Thanks to those who tuned in!

8:49 p.m. All in. Keep in mind that these results are unofficial.

Myron Heny has taken the Ward 3 seat on the Powell City Council, with 308 votes to Tim Sapp's 228 votes. In Ward 2, John Wetzel handily keeps his council seat (as does unchallenged councilman Steve Scott).

Rick LaPlante appears to have oh-so-narrowly seized a seat on the Northwest College Board of Trustees over Jim Vogt (1,716 votes to Vogt's 1,674), joining Carolyn Danko, who keeps her seat by being the leading vote-getter (2,090 votes).

James Beukelman will stay on the Powell Hospital District Board with 2,554 votes, and will be joined by Renee Humphries (2,072 votes). The two leading candidates among the 1,652 write in votes (which will be looked at tomorrow) will take the other two seats.

8:42 p.m. All the ballots are in to the courthouse now, just waiting for them to all be counted (those ballots include the results from Powell city council Ward 1, where Myron Heny and Tim Sapp are candidates). While we wait, a brief recap.

Republicans.

That may be too brief, but that's the story here.

In contested GOP races, Secretary of State Max Maxfield has taken 82% of the vote, U.S. Rep. Cynthia Lummis has 78.8%, gubernatorial GOP candidate Matt Mead has 71%, and Cindy Hill has 66%.

8:37 p.m.Looks like James Beukelman and Renee Humphries will stay and join the Powell Hospital District Board, respectively. With 1,066 votes for Beukelman, 822 for Humphries and 802 write-ins, the balloted candidates look to be locks for two of the four 4-year seats. We'll find out who the top two write ins were tomorrow.

8:30 p.m. Now with 23 of 29 precincts in, the races I've described earlier remain the same: Jerri Torczon (60.6%) has apparently taken the county clerk's office, Loren Grosskopf, Joe Tilden and Tim French are taking the three Republican seats and the Republican state candidates are cleaning up.

NWC College board: incumbent trustee Jim Vogt's seat looks to be in danger, while challenger LaPlante looks to be headed toward a seat on the board. Carolyn Danko's re-election bid looks to be holding up.

Here's the standings:

Carolyn Danko (incumbent) 868 votes - 24%
Rick LaPlante 790 votes - 21.9%
Jim Vogt 692 votes - 19.2%
Kim Dillivan 342 votes - 9.5%

8:15 p.m. More results -- 17 of the county's precincts are in, including some Powell numbers

In the Park County Clerk's race, Republican challenger Jerri Torczon's lead has expanded and it looks pretty clear that she will be taking over the office in January from Democrat Kelly Jensen.

Torzcon: 3,541 votes, 60.3%
Jensen: 2,205 votes, 37.5%

Republican Park County Commission candidates Joe Tilden (4,081 votes), Loren Grosskopf (4,036 votes) and Tim French (3,574 votes) appear to be locks, as Libertarian Penny Gail (1,191 votes) and Democract Faith Wicks (1,190 votes) trail in a race where only the top three candidates win.

Incumbent Powell City Councilman John Wetzel is looking like he'll keep his seat, with 66.9 percent of the vote so far (366 ballots), while Mark Senn (117 votes, 21.4%) trails.

GOP superintendent candidate Cindy Hill has 3,856 votes (65.62 percent), leading significantly over Democrat Mike Massie's 1,854 votes (31.55 percent).

7:53 p.m. With eight Cody precincts in, Republican Jerri Torczon, a challenger for the Park County Clerk's position, has a sizable lead over incumbent Democrat Kelly Jensen.

Torczon -- 58.11 percent (1,541 votes)

Jensen -- 39.86 percent (1,057 votes)

That's the biggest news among what appears to be a dominant Republican sweep across the board in Park County.

GOP commission candidates Loren Grosskopf (1,887 votes), Joe Tilden (1,873) and Tim French (1,599) hold sizable leads over Libertarian Penny Gail (550 votes) and Democrat Faith Wicks (467 votes).

In the state superintendent's race, Republican Cindy Hill has 66.5% (1,765 votes), Democrat Mike Massie has 30.3%(803 votes).

Republican gubernatorial candidate Matt Mead has 73% of the vote so far, Dem Leslie Petersen has 14%, write ins (read: Taylor Haynes) account for 9.8% while Libertarian Mike Wheeler has 2.3 percent.

For Secretary of state, Max Maxfield has 83% to Andrew Simons' 10.9%, while in the race for U.S. House, Rep. Cynthia Lummis has 80.6%.

7:50 p.m. Just so nobody's disappointed, here's something we will not know tonight: the winners of the four 4-year seats on the Powell Hospital District Board. With only two balloted candidates in the running for the four positions, at least two of the winners will be write ins. And while write in ballots are counted tonight (i.e. 1,000 write in votes cast) they will not be read (i.e. 700 votes for Candidate C, 650 for Candidate D, etc.) until the county write in board meets tomorrow.

7:32 p.m. Just FYI, for close statewide races (superintendent of public instruction, perhaps?), it sounds like it could be a long election night. Both Weston and Fremont counties reported what appeared to be mechanical problems with their vote tabulating machines, said a release from the secretary of state's office sent out this afternoon.

To make sure there haven't been any errors in vote-counting in those counties, there may be re-counting tomorrow, when it can be done slowly and accurately, the release said.

"The emphasis for the County Clerks and our office is accuracy; that must take precedence over speed," said Secretary of State Max Maxfield in the release. "Be patient tonight."

7:27 p.m. Well, it's 7:27 p.m. and the Tribune is calling several key local races. The Tribune, with its extensive insider knowledge and comprehensive exit polling today, is confidently projecting re-election for Park County Clerk of District Court Joyce Boyer, Attorney Bryan Skoric, Sheriff Scott Steward, Coroner Tim Power and Republican state legislators Dave Bonner, Pat Childers and Ray Peterson. We're also projecting that current first deputy county assessor Pat Meyer will become the county's next assessor while Cody Wells Fargo bank manager Barb Poley will become treasurer. In statewide races, the Tribune projects Cynthia Cloud becoming state auditor and re-election for state treasurer Joe Meyer. Yeah, they're all unopposed races.

We'll keep you posted on the actual contests; the first set of ballots (from precincts 3-1 and 25-3 in Cody) have reached the courthouse. Exciting!

5:30 p.m. If the incessant media coverage for the past year or so hasn't clued you in, today is Election Day -- and there are a lot of big races being decided across country and in Park County.

The Tribune regrettably couldn't afford to send correspondents to all 50 states, but we will be bringing you live Park County results and updates from the Courthouse tonight as votes are counted.

If history is any indication, some results will probably start becoming available around 8 p.m. I'll start blogging updates on where we're at and what to expect tonight beginning around 7:15 or so.

The county also posts results as they come in on its elections website; depending on how things get set up tonight, the Tribune may have results online sooner than the county's site.

In the meantime, if you haven't already, you've still got an hour and a half to go vote. Do it!