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This past week, I had the opportunity to attend a reading event at my oldest son’s elementary school. For family reading night, students in the school were invited to come to the school for an hour to read books, drink hot apple cider and eat a cookie. Those attending were also encouraged to wear pajamas and bring a blanket or favorite stuffed animal. I passed on the pajamas and blanket, but both of my sons were excited to wear their pajamas to school. Once I arrived with my oldest son, M...
A recent announcement by Colorado’s governor could help Green River, if the city and the county travel and tourism board capitalize on that announcement. According to the Denver Post, Governor John Hickenlooper pledged $100 million to make Colorado a top location for biking while speaking in Las Vegas. One may have a hard time connecting a $100 million Colorado-based investment and Green River, it does represent an opportunity for our city. Green River has a large number of trails located just outside the city. These trails already exist a...
On Oct. 10, the Sweetwater County Library will be swarming with kids dressed in their Harry Potter best as we transform the library into our version of Hogwarts for our annual Harry Potter Party. The kids will be making snitches and attending the Yule Ball. It will be magical. Can you imagine, however, a world where kids (and adults) didn’t know about Harry, Hermione and Ron? A world where kids didn’t know what a muggle was? A world without Quidditch and golden snitches? If critics had their way, that’s exactly what we would have. J.K. Rawlings...
Every year on the first day of Camp Chipmunk all the Girl Scouts assembled in the dining hall, joined in a rousing round of “Old Mother Leary” usually accompanied by the pounding of forks and a few hoots and hollers for special effect. The song gives a thrilling account of the Great Chicago Fire and the naughty cow blamed for starting it. The whole thing was very exciting because the girls were separated into groups and assigned parts. Following my favorite line in the song, “And when the cow kicked it over, she winked her eye and said, ‘Ther...
No doubt a wide swath of Wyoming’s residents breathed a collective sigh of relief Tuesday when sage grouse was officially excluded from the Endangered Species List. People ranging from Wyoming Governor Matt Mead to workers in the oil and gas industry probably felt a weight lifted from their shoulders with the announcement. The decision not to list sage grouse is one that will benefit Sweetwater County and other energy-producing counties in the state. The decision allows the state to move forward with its core habitat strategy in mitigating impa...
Fall is here! Has anyone else noticed that we are more than halfway through September? How did that happen? Starbucks has been selling Pumpkin Spice lattes for three weeks. I am sad to see summer go, as I am every year, but autumn always brings much to look forward to. If you ask me, fall is a great time of year – if we are graced with a few weeks of it. The library is abuzz with school children again, story times are filled with tiny listening ears belonging to kids who are eager to learn, and adults are gearing up for Ghost Walks and other g...
The leaves are starting to change colors, school has been in session for most local kids for well over a month now, the holiday season is just around the corner, and Art on the Green is well behind us. Painting with a Twist will be back once again on Sept. 26, so with more artistic activities on the horizon, let’s revisit a question I posed a little more than a month ago, “why art?” From the perspective of a municipality, art is a subject worth probing. Public art has been a part of communities dating back to the early Mesopotamians and has r...
Monday night, I went to the video and discussion event, “Century of Women,” at Western Wyoming Community College. The video titled “Image and Popular Culture” was the last installment of a three-part series event celebrating Wyoming Council for Women’s Issues’ 50th anniversary. The WCWI was started in Wyoming by Governor Clifford Hanson in 1965 to “improve the quality and equality of life for women in Wyoming.” It was a time when there were many women’s issues to contend with. Education for wom...
Last winter Tammy Fogall, a reader in Colorado, told me about her family’s “troubled summer vacation,” as she called it. A visit to relatives in Ohio had turned into a medical nightmare that left the family struggling with a $12,000 bill plus a ringside seat to observe what happens when doctors and hospitals make mistakes. Shortly after they arrived in Chillicothe, her 43-year-old husband, a retired Army National Guard staff sergeant, suffered a burst appendix that neither doctors at a local VA clinic or a small regional hospital where he wa...
The city’s resident deer population continues to divide residents. Some would like to see the deer hunted by marksmen or officers while others would like to watch deer as they walk through their properties and eat their plants. The issue is so divisive that a city survey reflects a near-even split between those who love the deer and those who would love to see them leave. While this thought may draw some ire from one half of our readership, we think the city will be forced to live with the deer as the proposed population control ideas a...
I’ve heard some people say recently that there’s nothing to do here in Sweetwater County. To that I say: Not true! When I first moved to the area five years ago, I also said there was nothing to do here. But that was before I truly took the time to look. And one great place to look, of course, is at the library. I recently updated the library’s online calendar through the end of October. I personally added more than 100 events. Yes, your read that right, more than 100. Our libraries are full of events and activities for people from age zero...
The term economic development may convey different meanings to different people. Some may envision stores, restaurants, and office buildings. Others may see new residential neighborhoods or apartment complexes. For the City of Green River Engineering Division, economic development relies on the infrastructure that undergirds and supports our community. The city’s engineering division is charged with improving the infrastructure – water, sewer, storm, and streets – that make it possible to live, work and play in our beautiful city. We have...
While much of the west continues to burn, those of us living in Sweetwater County have been lucky to have only seen small-scale blazes and deal with smoke blowing through from those larger forest fires. Yet, considering how dry conditions have been in the region as well as the continued reminders about high fire warnings on Interstate 80’s signs, we’re not out of the woods yet. While Sweetwater County is mostly populated by desert foliage, the possibility of fire remains present, but that possibility is much larger north of us. The Bri...
Dear Editor, Where did AIDS come from? An animal. Where does Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever begin? With a tick. Which critter brings Lyme disease to humans? The DEER tick. What happens when deer get diarrhea from eating gardens in Green River? They leave deer patties in lawns and parks all over town. How many little kids play with, walk on, sit on, those deer patties? How many diseases are being spread from deer to humans? In the middle of summer, one of the deer feasting on my garden was so sick its ribs were showing. Maybe we aren’t having a m...
With the start of school comes fall activities provided by the library. We have weekly groups for teens in fifth through eighth grades (our Middle School group) and in ninth through 12th grades (High School Group). This year’s activities for fifth through 8th graders are coming to them. Our Middle School group is meeting in the Lincoln Middle School Media Center right after school on the first, second and third Thursdays. The High School Group also meets on Thursdays, at the library from 6- 7:30 p.m. Each week we’ll be playing board games, look...
Did you know that Green River’s original cemetery was located at 300 N. 1st E.? The address probably sounds familiar to many; perhaps because that is the location of the Sweetwater County Library? The original cemetery was established in 1892 where it remained for nearly 25 years until 1917 when the burials were relocated to the present day location of 1079 N. 1st E. In 1914, the city purchased land just up the hill and away from residential areas for the site of the current, Riverview Cemetery. Why the name “Riverview,” maybe, just maybe...
I wish I could say that last week went smoothly. I thought after the first day of kindergarten and preschool were over, the rest of the week would be better. That was not the case. On the first day of kindergarten, my son Matthew, did not get off of the bus at the bus stop. I had to chase the bus down. Luckily, the bus driver stopped to let some children cross the street; and I was able to flag him down. He opened the door; and I said “Matthew Thompson was supposed to be on this bus; and get off...
With the fall high school sports season underway, Green River’s youth are giving it their all on the gridiron, in the pool, and on the courts. Yet, as they play their hearts out, one thing that can give them that extra edge against their competitors is the backing of the home crowd those nights they’re playing here. In fact, those stands should be overflowing with green at any home sporting event. Hometown support can turn the tide of games and it gives the boys and girls the satisfaction of...
The work of labor unions are as important now as it has been during the last 130 years. Nationwide, there are political and corporate interests invested in eroding unions and centralizing power amid the employers. Take Gov. Scott Walker’s battles against unions in Wisconsin and the state’s move to a right-to-work state. Workers’ unions have been crippled by pressure from Walker and his supporters. The winners of course are the companies who can cut back benefits in favor of profits and tell workers to either take it or leave. The workers who a...
September is Library Card Sign-up Month -- a time when libraries across the country remind parents that a library card is the most important school supply of all. The observance was launched in 1987 to meet the challenge of then Secretary of Education William J. Bennett who said: “Let’s have a national campaign...every child should obtain a library card - and use it.” Since then, thousands of public and school libraries join each fall in a national effort to ensure every child does just that. During the month of September, the Sweetwater Count...
Monday, as the bus drove away it hit me, my little boy, Matthew, is a kindergarten student. A tear started to roll down my face as I helped my youngest son, John, into his carseat. It didn’t help that John was crying too -- upset that he didn’t get to ride the bus and go to school with his older brother. I kept telling John he would start preschool tomorrow, Tuesday, but he didn’t want to hear any of it. I got into the car, backed out of the driveway; and started driving to John’s daycare...
Every time I drive across the overpass spanning the Green River, I look briefly towards Expedition Island and hear the river’s siren call. The opportunity to spend a lazy afternoon blissfully floating down the river is one I’ve longed for throughout the summer. Work and life scheduling always got in the way; and as the summer weekends slowly dwindled, I quietly feared the chance would escape me this year. Luckily for me, a late summer weekend opened up. I’m not sure if this is just true for t...
Let’s get this out of the way: the sixth-penny tax, officially titled the Specific Purpose Sales and Use Tax, is a great way to fund needed improvements regarding infrastructure. In 2012, voters approved a total $81.8 million in various construction projects ranging from street and water improvements to renovations at the Mission at Castle Rock Rehabilitation Center and the construction of Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County’s Medical Office Building. Needs associated with water, sewer and streets are easily paid for and completed thr...
Dear Editor, Several months ago I read in the newspaper that half the respondents to a survey thought the city’s deer population was a problem. That half of the respondents didn’t think the deer were a problem gave the mayor and City Council license to do nothing. Their doing nothing has resulted in the City of Green River remaining a sanctuary city for deer. In the Sanctuary City of Green River, the deer munch their way through town, destroying gardens and trees the residents have invested much time, effort and money. I can’t help but think...
August is just about over, but you still have time to celebrate romance. Whether you find it at home, on a date, or at the library, August is the month to think about romance. A few online Romance Awareness Month sources suggest adding a little romance to your relationship this month, or focusing on the romance that is already there. Send your significant other flowers, express your appreciation for her/him verbally, hold hands, give compliments, cook a special dinner. If you’re still looking for romance, might I suggest a visit to the l...
