The Brave Cadettes scored 84.667 points while first place Kelly Walsh scored 89.333.  Evanston took second with 85.667 while Gillette took third with 85.000

The Star Valley High School Cheerleaders have placed second in the Cheer / Non-Stunt division, the second time in three years they have finished as the State Runner-Up.

Green River won the division with 90.667 points.  Star Valley was a solid second with 87.00 points.  Rock Springs finished third with 82.00 points.

Click here for the WHSAA home page

The bus, which utilizes both a diesel engine and an electric battery driven motor, has the potential to save up to 1100 gallons of gas per year, improve fuel economy by up to 65 percent and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 39 percent.

The bus was purchased through a partnership between the Wyoming Departments of Environmental Quality and Education with funds awarded by the U.S. EPA Clean Diesel Grant Program. The bus cost $196,500.

The bus will be rotated to different school districts across the state to test its capabilities at various locations. That rotation will allow the collection of data on how the bus performs in different altitudes, traffic conditions and travel distances, as well as provide multiple school districts the opportunity to try out the bus. The first district will be Sublette County School District 1 in Pinedale followed by Sublette 9, Sweetwater 1, and Sweetwater 2.

IC Bus of Warrenville, Ill., produces the hybrid buses and said the bus is capable of up to 13 miles per gallon. The hybrid system recovers kinetic energy during regenerative braking, which charges the batteries while the bus is slowing down. The hybrid system is recharged by plugging it into a standard outlet at night or between routes.

The hybrid bus comes with the same safety features as other buses such as the “Leave No Student Behind” system and the electric door interlock system that prevents the door from opening while in motion.

“We are excited to be able to have such innovative technology in our Wyoming schools,” Dr. McBride said. “For years, we have made sure students are served by new technology in the classroom and now, with this bus, we are reaching even beyond the classroom.”

“This technology will be a benefit for our environment as well as provide a cost-savings for school districts that invest in the new buses,” he said.

Brandon Taylor suffered a horrific fall just 25 seconds into the game as the Braves hosted the Wolverines to open conference play.  Taylor was faked into the air by Jarrett Watson and caught his feet on Watson’s shoulder, driving him into the court on his neck and back.  After missing just under three game minutes, Taylor returned to lead all scorers with a season-high 24 points and five steals in a 65-54 win over their visitors.

Junior Josh Hunsaker filled up the stat sheet with 11 points, five rebounds, five steals and five blocked shots. Corbin Nicholls led the Wolverines with 13 points.

The Lady Braves moved to 1-0 in conference play with a 44-25 road win over the Lady Wolverines who now move to 0-11 on the season.  Stats were not available.

Finally, on the wrestling mat, the Braves have advanced ten grapplers into the quarter-finals of the Tiger-Grizz and currently sit in fourth place with 77.5 points.  It’s a tight team race with just seven points separating first from fourth.  Box Elder High is currently in first with 84.5, Highland is second with 82.5 points and Columbia is third with 81.5 points.  Star Valley has faced all three teams at various points in the season.

“We feel pretty good about where we’re at,” said Head Coach Eddie Clark.  “We won some tough matches and the kids are competing hard.”

The following Braves have advanced to the Quarterfinals

103: Mitchell Heap

112: Carbon Kennington

119: T.J. Guild

125: Hayden Heap

135: Mark Van Slyke

140: Brandon Aullman

152: Dalton Dance

160: Brandon Anglesey

171: Dawson Loveland

189: Nick Edwards

285: Adam Walton

It is for this reason that Phillips has helped the first annual Star Valley Women’s Health Expo which will take place at the Afton Civic Center this Saturday.

Click below to listen to Phillips discuss the expo with Independent reporter, Sarah Hale.

Cokeville enjoyed a victory over their inter-district brothers on a frigid Lincoln County evening, one of the few times the Panther faithful are afforded a home opportunity.

With the Panthers trailing in at least two matches, they turned the tide in the third period to win by fall.

As for the Braves junior varsity, they welcomed back Kole Wines from injury at 171 pounds.

Wines is expected to help Star Valley’s depth at that position considerably.  He was victorious in the dual with Cokeville, as was Michell Heap at 103 pounds, Nathan Merritt at 125 pounds and Jade Daugherty at 130 pounds.

“We wrestled a little rusty out of the Christmas break,” said assistant coach Winston Patterson.  “They exploited some weaknesses that we have and some things that we need to work on and that’s why we wrestle; is to fix those things.  It was a great crowd and they were fired up to take us on.”

Heap and Daugherty will be joining the varsity squad this weekend as Star Valley travels to Nampa, Idaho and the huge Rollie Lane Invitational.

A year ago, the team finished in an eighth place tie in the 47-team field with just nine points separating ninth from second.  Defending champion Columbia High School out of Boise is the favorite heading into action on Friday and Saturday which will have a whopping 14 mats going at the same time with teams from Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Idaho and Wyoming.

Star Valley was the lone Cowboy state team in the field a year ago.

As for Cokeville they appear to be as strong as ever and should be one of the main title contenders as they go for their fifth consecutive state championship in Wyoming’s 2A Classification.  Head Coach Marty Linford feels the team is on the right track.

“I thought we wrestled fairly well,” he replied.   “We looked smooth and chained our moves together well  and improved from our last tournament before Christmas.”

The Panthers will be taking the short trip over the Idaho border this weekend as they roll into Montpelier, Idaho for the Bear Lake Invitational.  The Braves will also be sending a contingent to the same tournament comprised of their first and second junior varsity teams.

Match Results @ Cokeville (January 6, 2010): Panthers 45  Braves: 22

103: Mitchell Heap (SV)  defeated Colt Larson (Cok) by Fall
112: Kaylen Hill (Cok) defeated Michael Robinson (SV) by Fall
119: Colter Linford (Cok)  defeated Sterling Jorgenson (SV) by Fall
125: Nathen Merritt (SV) defeated Tyrell Toomer (Cok) by Fall
130: Jade Daugherty (SV) defeated Landon Cornia (Cok) by Major Decision,  13-5
135: Chance Maddock (Cok)  defeated Jaxon Hokanson (SV) by Fall
140: Bronson Teichert (Cok)  defeated Devin Semideni (SV) by Fall
145: Chandler Harris (Cok)  defeated Mason Wadsworth (SV) by Fall
160: Jordan Johnson (Cok) defeated Conner Hoopes (SV) by Decision,  14-7
171: Kole Wines (SV)  defeated Kade Kennington (Cok) by Fall
189: SV won by forfeit
285: Braden  Huefner (Cok)  defeated Tanner Passey (SV) by Fall

Take a look at the January 7, 2009 edition of the Star Valley Independent for a look at which weight classes the Braves varsity wrestlers are expected fill at the Rollie Lane.

The Etna Archery program is under the direction of Neal Kiehne. The Osmond Archery program is under the direction of Jeff Whitney.   Last year a similar competition took place hosted by Etna Elementary and Osmond bringing in the overall high score.

This year the competition went to Etna by 50 points.

Isabella Currie of Etna Elementary brought home first place with Janice Hall of Osmond Elementary winning second.  According to Whitney, while the spirit of competition is fun for both schools, students learn a lot more than archery while involved in the programs.

Whitney listed the development of self confidence as being a key benefit of the after school archery program. The program also helps students learn restraint and responsibility, he said.  A second archery competition of the school year is planned for March 2010, Whitney said. There is a chance that Cokeville Elementary will also take part in that competition. The date and location of the spring event has not yet been set.

“It’s critical for our neighboring western and frontier states that Wyoming stays involved and be a leader in the reauthorization process,” Dr. McBride said. “With Sen. Enzi’s experience and his position of leadership, we have strong representation in the process.”

Dr. McBride said he speaks with Sen. Mike Enzi often to discuss education in Wyoming and how the state is affected by federal laws and regulations. Some of these key areas that he has referenced in his comments include growth models, full funding, rewards versus sanctions, and national standards and assessments. Dr. McBride drafted the comments as a starting point for the discussion in Wyoming on the reauthorization of the law.

He is now seeking comments and feedback from educational leaders, school and district staff, business leaders, civic leaders and the general public.

“We are all very familiar with this law and I have had many discussions with people about what needs to be changed,” he said. “I’ve taken the time to consolidate those thoughts and today we are asking for inputs and feedback to help us make sure we present a recommendation that reflects what Wyoming wants.”

The draft comments are available on the Wyoming Department of Education website at www.k12.wy.us. Comments can be submitted by email to nclb@educ.state.wy.us.

The final recommendation will be sent to Wyoming’s congressional delegation, the U.S. Department of Education, other state education departments and other national education organizations. In addition, it will be available to the public on the Wyoming Department of Education’s website.

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and while the national discussion has gotten better, there is still much to do in order to bring attention to a disease that is one of the biggest killers of American women.

The American Cancer Society recommends yearly mammograms starting at age 40 and continuing for as long as a woman is in good health.  A clinical breast exam should be part of a periodic health exam about every three years for women in their 20s and 30s and every year for women 40 and older.

While this is well and good, Star Valley in particular has some items in this fight that they can work on specifically.

“There is still some confusion in women’s minds that if they go and get their mammogram that that’s all they need to do,” said Dr. Martha Hageman of Independent Family Practices and Star Valley Medical Center.  “They still need to see a professional for a clinical breast exam.  While a mammogram is an absolute vital link to discovering breast cancer, each cancer can be different and it may not show up on a mammogram which is why a clinical breast exam is so important.”

Dr. Hageman went on to say that she feels that the ability for women to speak with a professional about this issue is of the utmost importance in Star Valley.

“Getting a clinical breast exam is an ongoing issue that hopefully through education that we’re calling women’s attention to the fact that a mammogram is important but it’s not enough,” she added.  “Also when they come in, they have a chance to visit with their doctor so that they can discuss risk factors which are individual specific.  We can talk about personal history and family history and perhaps some things can be changed or modified.    For example, personal hormonal replacement therapy after menopause is something that would be discussed. Some women need this ongoing therapy and proper dosing in this regard is important, this is just one thing that can be discussed.”

Dr. Hageman went on to state that there are many tools to not only detect breast cancer but to perhaps even prevent it.

“Raloxifene sounds an awful lot like Tamoxifen which is a medicine that is used to treat breast cancer,” she continued.  “These two medicines are sisters if you will and Ralolxifene is used to treat Osteoporosis with a side effect that it can help some women  prevent invasive breast cancer.”

One item that has perhaps been a barrier for detection is the embarrassment or fear of the procedures themselves.

“The technology has come a long way so it’s a much more sensitive and specific test,” Hageman concluded.  “It’s not a painful procedure it’s a quick procedure.  As far as the embarrassment factor, breasts are another part of the human body and exams are a routine procedure from the  provider’s standpoint.”

The discussion concluded with the fact that the potential life-saving information that comes out of an exam far outweighs any momentary embarrassment.

The most recent data from the Wyoming Cancer Surveillance Registry showed that 309 Wyoming women were diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in 2007 with 64 deaths.

According to the Wyoming Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey, Wyoming’s mammogram rate of 67.2 percent among women 40 and older has been consistently below the national median of 76 percent.

Over 180,000 women were diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States in 2008, with over 40,000 deaths.

Since late May, 592 cases of influenza have been reported to the department. Of those, 123 cases were reported just in the last week. The department expects the number of actual flu infections around the state to be much higher because most ill persons do not seek medical care or are not tested.

“This current level of activity is near what we have seen some winters during a typical peak of seasonal influenza,” said Dr. Tracy Murphy, state epidemiologist with the Wyoming Department of Health. “What is not typical, however, is the timing or the situation. We don’t usually see so much flu this early in the fall, but because we are dealing with a new strain of influenza this year the increase is not unexpected.”

Murphy said the department’s surveillance activities show Wyoming’s flu activity is almost solely due to the novel H1N1 flu strain. “Over the last month all of the samples confirmed by the Wyoming Public Health lab for influenza have been the new H1N1 strain. If you have the flu in Wyoming right now, you probably have the H1N1 flu.”

Influenza symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headaches and fatigue.  Some patients have also reported diarrhea and vomiting.

“The good news is that we are not seeing a shift in severity of the illnesses. Most people who become ill with novel H1N1 flu are able to recover fully within a few days,” Murphy said.

Since the end of May, the department has received reports of 11 hospitalizations and one death among Wyoming residents in connection with the swine flu virus. “Influenza can be serious in some people and that’s why we should all do our best to avoid spreading illness,” Murphy continued.

“Vaccines are the single most effective weapon we have in fighting influenza,” Murphy said. “This year, people will need a special novel H1N1 flu vaccine in addition to a seasonal vaccine for the best possible protection.”  Murphy noted that seasonal vaccines are now available around Wyoming and swine flu vaccine supplies are expected to arrive over the next month or so.

Other measures the department recommends to slow the spread of illness include:
·         In general, people who develop influenza-like illness should stay home from work, school or travel until at least 24 hours after they are free of fever.  Those who are severely ill (such as having trouble breathing) should seek medical care.
·         Avoid contact with ill persons.
·         Frequent hand washing with soap and water or the use of an alcohol-based hand gel.
·         Covering noses and mouths with a tissue or sleeve when coughing or sneezing, and throwing used tissues in a trash can.

Of the total 592 reported flu cases in Wyoming since late May, 225 have been confirmed as swine flu cases. Specific swine (novel H1N1) flu counts provided by the department only reflect cases confirmed by specialized lab testing as the swine flu strain as part of the department’s ongoing surveillance activities.

More information about swine flu in Wyoming is available online at www.health.wyo.gov .