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News of layoffs never goes down easy. It’s an unfortunate event we in Sweetwater County have dealt with in the past. So when news broke last week of 700 coal miners and employees in Campbell County being without jobs after Blackjewel suddenly closed the doors on its Eagle Butte and Belle Ayr mines, we understand what those workers and their families now face. Many of us have been there too. While Blackjewel may ultimately find a way to reopen the mines, this event couldn’t be a more clear signal to Wyoming’s leaders that they need to find...
One of the most frequent questions we’ve been asked over the past month is what the future holds for us now that the Rock Springs Rocket-Miner is shifting to a twice a week publication schedule and will no longer print in Rock Springs. For the past six years, this newspaper has been printed in Rock Springs through an agreement between us and the Rocket Miner, currently Adams Publishing Group. While the option to continue that relationship was available, with us also having our paper printed i...
It’s a message that bears repeating every year: be careful with your fireworks. With the Fourth of July holiday tomorrow, it’s inevitable that Sweetwater County residents will want to celebrate with the colorful sparks, sound and smoke most people enjoy. When used properly, fireworks can be a fun way to celebrate America’s Independence. However, there are dangers associated with their use as well. Anytime fireworks comes into play, the danger of starting a fire exists and we urge residents to follow Sweetwater County Fire Warden Mike Bourn...
Dear Editor, This letter is to express concerns with Love’s truck stop. All of these issues were voiced in public meetings and to the Sweetwater County Commissioners in writing. The only response so far has been Love’s air model which did not model emissions from idling vehicles. The question posed to Love’s was: “What impact idling trucks would have on air quality along the green river especially in the winter during inversions?” The air model discussed in last week’s paper was supposed to be in response to that. Love’s provided almost no inf...
Dear Editor, On Flaming Gorge Days, our Wyoming Military National Guard band played two concerts in the park and marched in our parade. The first song was our National Anthem. There were young people playing basketball adjacent to the park and when they heard the music they all stopped their game and placed their hands over their hearts until the music ended. It was something to behold and it touched me very much. I wanted to share this because I believe it touched a lot of people. Pat Jaramillo Green River...
Q: What are some types of skin cancer? A: The three major types are basal cell, squamous cell and malignant melanoma. In general, one in five, or 20 percent of people in the U.S. have had or will have some type of skin cancer. In Australia where the sun is intense, two out of three skin cancers are basal cell, one in four are squamous cell, and one in twelve are malignant melanoma. Q: Should I go to a dermatologist for screening? A: The dermatologist is the most experienced with skin cancer, but primary care providers can help, too. Realize,...
Minerals will likely play a vital role in Sweetwater County’s economy regardless of what coal’s future will be, but tourism will be an increasingly larger player in the coming years. With Sweetwater County Travel and Tourism’s announcement that leisure visits have increased by 5 percent, we think attempts at marketing Sweetwater County to travelers are paying off. One thing to realize is Sweetwater County will likely never be the destination for most travelers, Rock Springs and Green River are convenient stopping points for people traveling thr...
Anyone looking through the games released on the Nintendo Entertainment System would notice there’s something odd about some sequels released for many long-running series people are familiar with. In 2018, the video games industry posted $43 billion in sales and of the top 10 best selling games of the year, “Marvel’s Spider-Man” was the only game that wasn’t either a sequel or reboot of a previous game. The top five best sellers were western outlaw sim “Red Dead Redemption 2,” followed by m...
Miracles still happen. Some think that the scourge of smallpox was present around 12,000 years ago, however, we know for sure it was here 3,000 years ago as it was found on the face of an Egyptian Pharaoh mummy. We know that it caused many large and devastating epidemics killing about 35 percent of infected adults and 80 percent of infected children. Even during the 20th century, smallpox still resulted in 300-500 million deaths world-wide. Pictures of people suffering from this miserable viral illness show skin of face and body breaking out...
While the “War on Coal” is an attractive title for opposition to using coal as a means of power generation, we think that war has already been fought and decided. What we’re seeing now is the aftermath. We understand the concern the Sweetwater County Board of County Commissioners have shown in the group’s recent letter to Wyoming’s congressional delegation. Coal mining has provided for countless families in southwestern Wyoming. Rock Springs was built upon coal mining, as the historic “Home of Rock Springs Coal” sign in downtown Rock Springs...
The other day, my five and six-year-old daughters were singing the words to the song, “Nerves” by Terri Hendrix. My five year old sang, “You’re getting on my nurses.” (You should’ve seen me look at her and NOT react.) Then my six year old said, “no, Gracie, it’s supposed to be, “You’re getting on my nerds.” (Again, I am sure the look on my face was something else.) In an attempt to help them with the actual lyrics I then said, “Girls, you’re getting on my nerves.” Madi immediately said, “Oh sorry about that, Mom.” I almost felt like I wa...
Nothing has touched my soul and spoken to aging with grace quite like the ancient Indian medicine wheel and the traditions that have evolved from it. From the National Library of Medicine, I learned that in the Americas, Indian tribes have multiple interpretations of the four directions, but the following prayer is my own, geriatrician’s interpretation of a version from the book “Black Elk Speaks” and Oyate (Nakota, Dakota, Lakota) tradition. First, we get down on our knees and feel the soil, the sacred Mother Earth, bringing the world aroun...
The Sweetwater County commissioners have until June 30 to decide who will replace Don Van Matre on the board. With three candidates to chose from, all of whom are well-qualified for the role, the decision won’t be easy to make. However, we believe the future of Sweetwater County would be best represented if the commissioners chose Lauren Schoenfeld to take Van Matre’s vacated seat on the board. While we can’t argue that John Kolb wouldn’t be a good choice because of his prior experience as a county commissioner, Republican voters made their v...
With how much stress I go through preparing for a vacation I start to wonder if it’s worth it. Of course, it always is in the end, but at the time it can be overwhelming. Once again, I find myself stressing before a vacation. This time I think I am stressing out even more than normal because the family trip involves flying: something my 9-year-old son, Matthew, and my 7-year-old son, John, have never experienced before. I am not the biggest fan of flying. I get motion sickness easily and by t...
The Senate Special Committee on Aging has just released one of the most damning reports on the nation’s nursing homes that I’ve seen in a long time. The short document should be required reading for any family thinking of moving a relative to a nursing facility. Pennsylvania Senator Robert Casey, a Democrat, who is the ranking member on the committee along with Pennsylvania’s other senator Patrick J. Toomey, a Republican, recently revealed a special, but unpublicized program to flag and monitor the worst nursing homes in the country. Bad nursi...
The Sweetwater County GOP has a decision to make we’re not envious of. They’ve got to select three people from a group of 16 applicants to forward to the Sweetwater County commissioners as possible replacements to fill the unexpired portion of Don Van Matre’s term. The list contains the names of many highly-qualified people who have a history of public service within Sweetwater County and everyone who has applied should be commended for stepping up to the plate. With that, while the role of a county commissioner involves decisions that have...
I am writing this letter to clarify a few items that appeared in the May 30th edition of the Star on the front-page article titled “$10,000 a Hard Pill for Council.” The article is talking about the decision the GR City Council is contemplating for funding the 2nd Annual Mansface Mountain Music Festival. First, let me say that I fully respect and understand the financial decisions that the City Council is having to make regarding this funding and all other funding requests. As a past city employee and a resident of Green River myself, I app...
After weeks of soccer practices, games and meetings our weekday evenings and weekends are pretty full. My husband and I love that our boys enjoy sports, but four nights a week of practice with both of their games on Saturday mornings takes up a lot of our regular free time. I have missed a lot of their practices due to meetings, work obligations or just plain terrible weather conditions, but I haven’t missed a game. I enjoy seeing them learn new skills and improve practice after practice and g...
If you have driven past the rodeo grounds and horse corrals lately then you have probably noticed the new buck and rail fence and ranch gates. This project has been in the making for a while behind the scenes. The timing is perfect. To spite the uncooperative weather last month, the project completed just in time for the Overland Stage Stampede Rodeo’s 32nd year. The rodeo is an important part of our community. While it may not be the highlight of the summer for every resident, it is certainly a hallmark of the spirit of Wyoming. There’s a ric...
While the weather may not look it, the summer tourism week starts with Quilting on the Green this weekend and the Overland Stage Stampede Rodeo next weekend. Tourism is an important part of Sweetwater County’s economy. While mineral extraction plays a central role in the economic makeup, tourism remains an important pillar supporting jobs and businesses in the county. With people coming to the area to either enjoy local festivities, world-class fishing or a simple meal while passing through to another destination, we think it’s important for Gr...
This summer, I, Lexi Mitchell, will intern at the Green River Star. As a communication major at the University of Wyoming, I jumped at the chance to return to the town I spent 10 years of my life residing. While I grew up a little south of Green River in Vernal, Utah, I spent my summers on my grandparents’ ranch in McKinnon. This led to my love of Wyoming and relocating to Green River after graduating high school. I have deep family connections in the community and have held several jobs in the area, most notably at Arctic Circle, where I w...
As I attended numerous graduations last week, I couldn’t help but notice how each one is unique in its own way. For example: Black Butte High School in Rock Springs allows each graduate to pick who they want to hand them their diploma. Some select their parents or a sibling, while others chose their favorite teacher. It truly is one of the most emotional ceremonies I’ve attended. Another example is how graduates at Farson-Eden High School pass out flowers to every person who they felt imp...
This week represents a major anniversary for an event of historical, cultural and scientific significance. Maj. John Wesley Powell led an expedition down the Green River 150 years ago from a small hub that would ultimately become the city we call home. The first expedition was an adventure fraught with peril and discovery. While lacking much of the scientific rigor the second, better funded 1871 expedition provided, Powell’s first journey helped map the waterways from southwestern Wyoming through the Grand Canyon. Both journeys also helped e...
My Thursday afternoon was slightly derailed following what was supposed to be a quick trip to Shopko. Admittedly, the store’s closure wasn’t on my personal radar since writing about it months ago. The large, yellow and black signs with the words “store closing” printed boldly on them never brought me in. I went in because I suddenly needed a flash drive. I didn’t find one, but I ended up walking out with two packages of pens, a 10-piece set of stainless steel cookware and a black backpack I’m su...
As a family with young children, it is hard to find television shows all of us can watch together. For whatever reason, more and more shows on the big networks shown during prime time have chosen to allow curse words into the programs. This may be fine for older children to hear, but I most certainly don’t want my children spouting off some of those words they may have heard on those channels at school or at church. This has left our family looking for other shows all of us can watch. We’ve com...
