Judge Kalokathis will retire

CHEYENNE - Laramie County District Judge Nicholas Kalokathis has announced that he plans to retire March 5 after 20 years in that position.

Wyoming Supreme Court Chief Justice Barton Voigt said it will be hard to imagine the Laramie County District Court without Kalokathis.

The state Judicial Nominating Commission plans to take applications for the vacancy from qualified people through Jan. 18. The commission will choose three nominees.

The governor will choose the new judge from those three.

Hospital rolls out valet parking

CHEYENNE - Cheyenne Regional Medical Center has begun a valet service for both patients and visitors.

The idea is to reduce stress - especially when the weather gets cold and snowy.

Hospital officials say the valet service isn't just for people who have trouble getting around, either. Anyone can drop their car keys off with a valet.

Hospitals in Casper, Loveland, Colo., and Greeley, Colo., also have begun providing valet service recently.

Panel takes commission applications

RAWLINS - The Carbon County Democratic Central Committee is taking applications to replace County Commissioner Art Zeiger, who died recently.

The county party has scheduled a Jan. 5 public meeting to consider nominations.

Registered Democrats are eligible to apply for the commission seat. The county Democrats will select three finalists from whom the Carbon County Commission will select the new commissioner.

Wildlife can delay services

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK - Candlelight services at the park's Mammoth Hot Springs Chapel are scheduled twice on Christmas Eve, but worshippers who've been there before know the passing elk and bison sometimes delay the services a bit.

The 100-year-old chapel in the country's first national park stands to receive about 600 people Monday evening.

"We're in the crown jewels of God's creation," said the Rev. Bill Young, resident minister for the past 25 years. "So we have a very, very special place to celebrate."

Typically, many of the worshippers on Christmas Eve are among Mammoth's 300 or so year-round residents. Others travel from the communities of Gardiner and Livingston in Montana, or from Cody, a Wyoming gateway to Yellowstone. Tourists attend the services, as well.

All lights in the chapel are turned out and each person receives a candle. All the candles are lit from a single flame, intended to symbolize that Jesus Christ is the light of the world.

In its early years, the chapel built in 1913 drew some of the U.S. military personnel that oversaw Yellowstone soon after it was designated a park.