Click below for audio from the Governor.

Lina Gladh, also from Fort Nelson, British Columbia, was second overall with a time of 22:59:03. Joe Gans from Chaska, Minn., was third with 23:47:49. Winning mushers will be honored and prizes awarded in a private event in Park City, Utah.

Mushers raced through the Greys River area of Alpine as part of one of the stages last week.

The public can view photos on the IPSSSDR website photo gallery at www.wyomingstagestop.org.

With its unique dog-friendly “stage stop” racing format, the IPSSSDR stops in a different community each night, allowing the host towns to show their hospitality. Festivities for mushers and spectators alike include pancake feeds, dog parades, banquets, carnivals, and snowshoe softball.

The Pedigree(R) brand actively supports a wide range of programs that promote responsible pet ownership and highlight the contributions dogs make to society.

The International Pedigree Stage Stop Sled Dog Race, the largest dog sled race in the lower 48 states, was founded in 1996 by Frank Teasley to make sled dog racing more accessible to the public. For a complete schedule, visit the race Website at www.wyomingstagestop.org, contact the race via e-mail at wystagestop@blissnet.com, or telephone at (307) 734-1163.

WDH Information Technology was notified Thursday that personal information of Kid Care clients was improperly appearing in Google search results. Thirty seconds upon receiving the call, Information Technology shut down the web site involved. The files that were being searched by the search engine have also been removed from the web site.

“I want to make it crystal clear that NO health record information was compromised by this error,” said Dr. Brent Sherard, Wyoming Department of Health director and state health officer. “However, personal information such as address information and children’s social security numbers provided by clients and applicants of the Wyoming Kid Care CHIP program may have been exposed.”

Lee Clabots, Wyoming Department of Health deputy director for administration, said “We are still investigating exactly what happened and do not yet have all the answers. However, we do know the problem was not caused by intentional wrongdoing.”

WDH provided automated recorded calls to about 5,000 affected families  with an initial notice about the situation. Each family will also be receiving detailed letters in the coming days.

The department is contracting with Debix, an identity protection service, to offer free help to affected families. “This company’s services will offer additional security to families to help ensure the children’s information is not stolen or improperly used,” Clabots said. Affected families are asked to contact Debix at 877-676-0371.

The Lady Braves led by ten at halftime and then ran away with the game in the second half en route to a 51-31 victory.  The ladies had balanced scoring from the entire team as Randi Robinson led the way with 12 points.  Kelsea Gardner scored nine while Lachelle Winters and Dani Scherbel scored eight points apiece.

Dani Hardi and Janelle Strampe finished with 13 and eight points respectively, most of which was in the second half.

As for the Braves, they had a bit of a slugfest with Green River in the first half as both offenses sputtered due to the physical play, 23-16.  However, Star Valley began to rachet up the defensive intensity and rolled off 42 second half points for a 65-38 victory.  12 different players scored for the Braves, led by David Cranford and Brandon Taylor with ten points apiece.  Josh Hunsaker scored nine and blocked five more shots.  Hunsaker has blocked 16 shots in his last three games.

Jerome Krysl led the way for Green River with a game-high 15 points while Colter Hamel had 13 in the loss.  Riley Hix struggled with foul trouble throughout the entire contest, finishing with six points.

The Lady Braves host Riverton and Natrona next weekend while the Braves travel to face the Wolverines and the Mustangs.

Brandon Taylor scored a season and team-high 32 points as the Braves outran the Tigers on Friday night.  Tied at 56 to begin the fourth quarter, Star Valley went on a 9-0 run to begin the final stanza due in part to a personal foul on Rock Springs which was quickly followed by a technical foul on another player.  Taylor hit all four free throws as a result.

The Tigers had no answer for Taylor who made 11 field goals on the evening.  Team mate, David Cranford, had 19 as the two players scored inside nearly at will.  Josh Hunsaker added ten of his own to go along with seven rebounds and four blocked shots.  Senior Elio Merino also scored ten on senior night.

Zach Rosette led the way for the Tigers with 20 points, while Daveon Gibson added 16 before fouling out midway through the fourth quarter.  Lorenzo Webb also scored 16 in the effort.

The win moved the Braves to (7-9) on the season, but more importantly it moved them back to .500 within the 4A West at (2-2).  The Braves host Green River on Saturday afternoon in their final regular season home game.  The Wolves lost to Evanston on Friday evening, 64-35.

The win helped even out a sour feeling as the Lady Braves were outscored 14-5 in the fourth quarter as the Lady Tigers rolled to (4-0) in the conference with a 45-32 win.

Courtney Patterson was unstoppable at times, finishing with a game-high 20 points.  As much as Patterson was a force, it was the outside shooting late in the game by Theresa Allgaier that sealed the victory.  Allgaier connected on a trio of three-point baskets in the last minute of the third and into the fourth quarters.  She finished with 11 points.  Jordan Giles added nine in the win.

The Lady Braves were led by junior Lachelle Winters who scored a season-high 10 points.  Randi Robinson added nine points on the evening which saw the Lady Braves trailing by just three points going into the final quarter.

The ladies host Green River early Saturday afternoon.  The Lady Wolves lost to Evanston on Friday evening, 56-39.

Evanston / Green River scores provided by wyopreps.com

Gladh raced 12 dogs averaging 11.6 MPH on the 53-mile course. Aaron Peck from Grand Prairie, Alberta, Canada, was second with a time of 4:39:00.

Blayne Streeper from Fort Nelson, British Columbia, came in third with a time of 4:51:01. Streeper maintains the overall lead with 19:03:34.

Gladh is in second place with 19:21:51. Joe Gans from Chaska, Minn., is third with 19:53:19. On Friday, February 5, at 10 a.m. teams will depart for the 45-mile Bridger Valley Day Seven Stage located 30 miles south of Evanston on the Mirror Lake Scenic Byway, Hwy 150.

The race concludes in Park City, Utah, for the final stage and awards ceremony on Saturday, February 6. The IPSSDR traveled through Alpine on Feb. 2 and 3. The community hosted the mushers for a banquet at the Alpine Fire Hall Tuesday night, followed by a 54-mile race along the Greys River to the Box-Y and back on Wednesday.

Joe Kasten, 65, passed away on Jan. 27, 2010 at the Star Valley Medical Center in Afton. He was born Sept. 3, 1944 in St. Louis, Mo., to Ray and Dorothy Kasten.  Joe was raised in Kansas City, Mo. In 1962 he graduated from Raytown High School. He attended the Missouri School of Mines in Rolla, Mo., and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Metallurgical Engineering in 1966. Joe was enrolled in the ROTC program and was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Army Reserve upon graduation. He was selected as one of the 16 distinguished military students in the 5th Army Area, including Missouri and Illinois. Joe earned a Master of Science degree in Metallurgical Engineering in 1967 from Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio.  Joe married Sheilah Sue Siglin on Dec. 29, 1967. The couple met on a blind date over the Thanksgiving weekend in 1964 and had 42 wonderful years of marriage. They had two children.  Joe served on active duty in the United States Army from 1968-1970. He was a 1st Lieutenant serving his country in Korea.  He began his professional career in the steel industry with Armco Steel Corporation from 1970-1984 in Middletown, Ohio and then in Houston, Texas. Joe continued his career with Oregon Steel Mills in Portland, Oregon from 1984-2000. He retired as Vice President of International Sales and Officer of the Corporation in 2000. Joe and his wife Sheilah, moved to Star Valley in 2004.  Throughout his life Joe was an active member of his community. He earned the rank of Eagle Scout, served on the Board of Directors for Rivergate Federal Credit Union, as a City Councilor in Tigard, Ore., and most recently as a board member of the Star Valley Medical Center Foundation. Throughout his life Joe was an avid reader, enjoyed trapshooting, skiing, woodworking, making stained glass, sailing, spending time with his family and friends, and walking his beloved Granddog Bones. He was a member and deacon of the Presbyterian Church Jackson Hole . Joe was preceded in death by his sister, Jill and his father, Ray.  Joe is survived by his wife Sheilah, son Garrett, daughter-in-law Julie of Houston, Texas; daughter Shannon, son-in-law Jamey, grandchildren George, Frances, and Henry of Kiev, Ukraine; and his mother Dorothy, of Kansas City, Mo.  There will be a celebration of Joe’s life on Sat., Feb. 6, 2010 at 4 p.m at the Afton Civic Center,150 Washington St, US Highway 89.  Joe requested that in lieu of flowers, donations be made in his name to the Star Valley Medical Center Foundation Endowment Fund. Checks may be mailed to the Star Valley Medical Center Foundation Endowment Fund at P.O. Box 579, Afton, WY 83110.

Funeral services were held on Monday, Feb. 1, 2010 at noon in the Smoot LDS Church of Matthew Lancaster, the son of Dennis and Leslie Lancaster.

Gans raced 12 dogs averaging 12.5 MPH on the 52-mile course that began in Alpine.

Blayne Streeper from Fort Nelson, British Columbia came in second with a time of 4:10:34. Lina Gladh, also from Fort Nelson, British Columbia, came in third with a time of 4:17.20.

Streeper maintains the overall lead with 14:12:33. Gladh is in second place with 14:46:40. Gans is third with 14:49:01. Teams are racing at Lake Viva Naughton in southern Lincoln County today, Feb. 4,

Click below for a slide show of photos taken by the Independent as the mushers prepared to sprint out of Alpine.

Click below for a video interview of Head Coach Rob Erickson as he discusses the ladies’ double-header this weekend at home against a very tough Rock Springs team as well as Green River.

Click below for a video interview with SVHS Head Coach Eddie Clark who speaks about the Braves’ sweep of Green River, Natrona and Riverton last week, and why he thinks the Ron Thon may not be a great indicator for state championship glory.