Carbon County Comet

08/11/2026

Thank you, Senator Barrasso and team, for the photo!
It was great talking to you at the Grand Encampment Museum, Inc. reading of the Declaration of Independence.

07/24/2026

Stage I fire restrictions announced for Medicine Bow National Forest & Thunder Basin National Grassland https://nfs.fs2c.usda.gov/r02/mbrtb/alerts/stage-i-fire-restrictions-medicine-bow-national-forest-thunder-basin-national

07/13/2026

There are a lot of great nonprofit organizations in Carbon County to donate to through Wyo Gives.

07/05/2026

Hope everyone has a fun and safe time celebrating our nation’s semiquincentennial!!!

06/10/2026

*spotfund is the easiest place to create beautiful and free online fundraisers. It takes just minutes to start raising money today.

06/09/2026

PRESS RELEASE: OFFICER INVOLVED SHOOTING
DATE: 06082026

On Monday, June 8th, dispatchers with the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a man with a gun in Baggs, located in southwestern Carbon County.

The subject opened fire on the initial responding deputy, striking him several times.

The suspect fled the scene in a small truck. Additional responding deputies and troopers with the Wyoming Highway Patrol engaged in a pursuit with the suspect vehicle on Highway 789 north of Baggs. The suspect opened fire on law enforcement again before driving off the highway and coming to a stop. The suspect was declared deceased at the scene.

The wounded deputy was transported to a medical facility in Colorado by Intermountain Air Ambulance.

Additional units from agencies across the state responded to assist.

The investigation is ongoing and being conducted by the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation.

Please keep our injured deputy and their family in your thoughts and prayers.

Thank you.

- Alex

06/02/2026

Please be aware that this outage may affect the Comet if you try to get hold of us during this time.

Please be advised that a scheduled outage is planned for tomorrow, June 3rd, from 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM, affecting the areas listed in the attached flyer.

05/19/2026

COMMUNITY UPDATE: CENTURY LINK/LUMEN PHONE ISSUES

UPDATE: 1844 HOURS

The Carbon County Sheriffs Office, Rawlins Police Department, and Memorial Hospital of Carbon County are still experiencing issues with our administrative phone lines.

911 is still functioning. Please continue to call 911 in case of any emergencies.

Century Link/Lumen Technicians are actively working to rectify the problem.

TIME: 1203 HOURS

As the power returns to the Rawlins area, the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office, Rawlins Police Department, Saratoga Police Department, and the Memorial Hospital of Carbon County are experiencing issues with their phone lines. At this time it appears there is an issue with one of our service providers, Century Link/Lumen, which is causing these issues.

Incoming and outgoing administrative lines are not functioning properly. The majority of our 911 calls are functioning properly with the exception of cell phones in the Saratoga area. These 911 calls are being temporarily routed through the Saratoga Town Hall and transferred to the Carbon County Unified Dispatch Center.

Work tickets have been submitted to Century Link/Lumen and we hope to have this issue resolved shortly.

Thank you all for your patience as we continue to work our way out of this prolonged power outage.

- Sheriff Alex Bakken

05/18/2026

PRESS RELEASE: CRITICAL WEATHER INCIDENT
DATE: 05182026 TIME: 1023 HOURS

POWER UPDATE: 1950 HOURS

According to the Rocky Mountain Power Outage website, power is projected to return to the majority of Rawlins around 2000 hours. If it is not restored, we have prepared overnight heat/shelter contingency plans for families with elderly or infant family members. These plans will be disseminated shortly if power is not restored.

Thank you all.

-Alex

COMMUNICATIONS UPDATE: 1455 HOURS

Verizon is currently experiencing issues with outgoing calls from our communications center. We are receiving all incoming calls without issues, but outgoing calls to Verizon numbers are not going through. All other service providers (AT&T, T Mobile, etc.) are not experiencing any issues.

UPDATE: 1401 HOURS

It’s still a bit of pickle out there folks but we’re working through it!

County ordinance is coordinating with Rocky Mountain Power to clear routes to the affected substation.

Fuel for emergency services have been secured and EMS and Law Personnel are still operational.

Search and Rescue volunteers are on standby to provide transport to MHCC for oxygen services if needed.

Thank you everyone!

Stay safe!

-Alex

We are currently experienced prolonged power outages and limited transport capability across Rawlins and central Carbon County.

We have established an incident command post and are in communications with partnering county agencies.

Please note that the hospital is open and available for anyone who needs oxygen or power for a medical device. Please know we are here to support your medical needs and provide assistance during this time.
If you need transport to MHCC, please notify the sheriff’s office or Rawlins Police Department. Carbon County SAR volunteers are standing by to help transport.

MHCC Rawlins Family Practice is closed until power is restored.

Please be safe everyone. We will provide updates as often as we can!

-Alex