Sorted by date Results 376 - 400 of 1669
Wyoming’s fiscal situation has grown very stormy in 2020. The state has already administered a 10% cut across all agencies, followed by another $500 million this fall, with possibly more to come. It now looks like we’ll have to reduce the two-year budget from about $3.3 down to $2.4 billion in order to make it balance. This is too much to withstand if we hope to maintain needed state services. Observers have long noted that Wyoming suffers because it has resisted diversifying the revenue streams with which it pays for general state government a...
A curious email showed up in my inbox last Wednesday. The Wyoming GOP sent an email to its members reflecting on the Thanksgiving holiday and the pilgrims who came to the New World 400 years ago in 1620. The first few paragraphs are legitimately great view of Republican values viewed through the lens of the pilgrims and the Mayflower Compact that was created to ensure the Plymouth Colony would survive. Three paragraphs from the end is where this message takes a high turn to Crazy Town....
In loving support of senior citizens who are the pillars of our society residing in Mission at Castle Rock, Villa Rehabilitation Center or Sage View Care Center please consider giving a small gift of love during the holiday season. Most of us remember Mom and Dad or Grandma and Grandpa making sure we had that special gift under the Christmas tree on Christmas Day. It wasn’t just the bicycle, baby doll or Army fort that we dreamed about that our parents made sure came true for us, it was the unconditional love with which it was given. In the m...
It’s a smell I’ll never forget. I’ve had the unfortunate duty of covering house fires over the years and the smell always takes me back to the time I experienced it firsthand. Over the weekend, a Green River family awoke to the terror a house fire can bring and sadly, not everyone survived. Elizabeth Andrews, along with two pet dogs, died in the fire. Anyone passing by the home as they drive up Colorado Street or along Idaho Street can see the story first hand. The home is a complete loss -- al...
Dear Editor, Your recent letter writer is apparently not getting the reaction to her weekly missives that she desires (witness the longer, more strident, and IN CAPS in case we missed HER POINT letter). So, risking that no one will come threatening me with their long guns for offering my opinion here’s another side of the mask “debate” for local citizens to consider. First of all, there’s the issue of rights. Somehow in all the noise generated by the 24-hour “news” cycles, we’ve lost sight of the fact that rights entail not only one’w own rig...
The Legislature’s Select Committee on School Finance Recalibration rarely makes headlines. Its meetings are lengthy, the subject matter is complex and tangible results are slow-developing. The vast majority of time during early committee meetings is spent listening to expert presentations. Yet, public-school-finance policy impacts every community in the state and we overlook its crafting at our peril. This year of vastly shrinking state revenues it holds added significance with potential changes to the funding model itself. Past state S...
With everything the year has thrown at us, it might feel difficult to be thankful during the Thanksgiving holiday tomorrow. Yet, despite the ongoing pandemic and constant political turmoil as the nation shifts towards a new presidential administration, several things come to mind. The residents of Green River live in the best town in Wyoming. We have the opportunity to enjoy an ample amount of dedicated park land, trees and the river itself. The city’s parks and recreation department received a major award this year for excellence in parks a...
Dear Editor, I have lived in Wyoming for over 40 years and have seen many things that have interfered with our civil liberties. Mask mandating takes the cake! It is NOT my responsibility to “take care” of MY fellow neighbors, peers or coworkers’ health. I do not choose their doctors or pay their health costs. It is unconstitutional to “make” people wear masks. BREATHING through your nose and mouth is a RIGHT, unlike driving which is a privilege! It is not a form of PPE either! People working in the trona patch are MADE to wear masks while the...
Dear Editor, She didn’t try to escape from my arms, maybe because she felt safe with me. I could feel her heart beating right next to mine when I carried her from Norbest Turkey Processing Plant (slaughterhouse) to a farm sanctuary. The most beautiful 25 pounds I ever carried! Like most people, I had never seen a live turkey. I always thought turkeys were meant for Thanksgiving Day, but one cold winter evening in 2018 in Moroni, Utah changed my perspective about Thanksgiving turkeys forever. As a part of a mass rescue action I had the p...
With the celebration of one of our most important holidays fast approaching, and the recent explosion of a second wave of COVID-19 cases, I feel it is very important as your mayor to express my thoughts regarding the various issues involved. During a recent meeting, several of our local doctors and their various support staff from Memorial Hospital, Castle Rock Medical Center, and county health expressed their tremendous concern for the huge spike in new COVID-19 cases in our community, and discussed how it was overwhelming our health care...
As the largest employers in Southwest Wyoming we are growing increasingly alarmed with the steep increase in community spread positive COVID-19 cases. Since October 28th , the Sweetwater County positivity rate has spiked from less than 5% to over 31%, with cases doubling in less than 10 days. We fully support all efforts to ensure the health and safety of everyone in the community, including the use of masks and physical distancing measures in public situations. These efforts align with many of the steps we have taken at our businesses and...
A mask mandate will not work. Comments from Sweetwater County Attorney Daniel Erramouspe and Green River Police Chief Tom Jarvie last week indicate enforcement of a mask mandate is impossible. In an email to the Star, Erramouspe wrote, “we would not prosecute any violations, as I believe such an order is unenforceable.” The question is this: what do we do to get more people to follow recommendations to wear a mask while in public and to socially distance themselves from other people, especially when Thanksgiving is weeks away and we’re appro...
President-Elect Joe Biden said throughout his campaign: “I’m running as a proud Democrat, but I’ll govern as an American.” As one of those Americans who care more about the country than any political party, I wish him success, and suggest we give him a way to demonstrate he’s serious about that claim. Wyoming voted for Donald Trump by the largest margin of any state — with 70% of votes cast for the president, as opposed to 26.6% for Biden. Furthermore, there is almost nothing more contrary to the Democratic Party’s policies than helping coal ...
Dear Editor, I do not care how mystified or angry Kerry Drake is. Give me Liberty or Give me Death. P.S. Hey Kerry, It is not up to you. Hundreds of thousands die each year across the country with things like cancer, for example. Take cigarettes. Half a million people die. Cigarettes are still sold everyday. No lock downs or masks. You drank the Kool-Aid and you have no say over my life. Get on with yours. The message I sent to Green River Star was not meant to be a letter to editor. It was just to say take a breath you have no right to make...
Chronic, kush, ganja, cannabis, the devil’s lettuce or pot. Regardless of what you know it as, marijuana and the legalization of its use was a big winner during last week’s General Election. This push for legalization event took place for two of Wyoming’s conservative neighbors. South Dakota voters approved initiatives legalizing medicinal and recreational use of marijuana while Montana voters approved an initiative to establish 21 as a legal age to purchase, use and consume cannabis. A second question in Montana regarding the legal...
Dear Editor, I think the CEO of (Castle Rock Medical Center) has no business trying to dictate whether or not the public should or should not wear masks. Who elected her to represent the town? She is not our babysitter and I don’t appreciate her trying to be. No, I do not want to wear a mask. The city council should not try to push this on the GR citizens. If anything, the Star could do a poll around town and come up with the numbers. From going to the Dollar Store, I would say one out of 10 customers might be wearing masks. Let the citizens d...
By KERRY DRAKE Wyofile.com I don’t know what mystifies me more: Wyomingites who don’t care enough about their neighbors to wear a mask during a surging pandemic, or Gov. Mark Gordon not requiring people to cover their faces in public. Both, however, anger me. Enough with the endless hand-wringing and excuse-making, all in the name of pandering to those who think they have constitutional rights to selfishness and stupidity. Is that too blunt? Sorry, tell it to the daughter whose parent is dying alone on a ventilator because someone decided not...
When I met her, she was younger than I am now. I was responsible for admissions to our hospital that day, and the ER doctor called me about a woman with intractable bleeding. It had been going on for several months, but she was embarrassed and unsure. She hid the severity of her bleeding from her husband, until the day she passed out in the kitchen. Ultimately, we diagnosed her with cancer, and she started down a difficult road of surgery, chemo, radiation, and more surgery. But they faced many hurdles beyond her disease. She and her husband...
The coronavirus pandemic, at times, feels like a topic that has long-since been beaten to death. Everywhere a person turns, there’s a reminder of the pandemic -- from masks being worn in public to the idea of “contactless delivery” when ordering a meal to the home. Even the big, black letters making up this piece’s headline are a reminder of what we’re all going through. Sweetwater County is in a precarious situation when it comes to the pandemic. Yes, the positive infection numbers aren’t nearly as high as places like Natrona County or A...
By Mark Jenkins Resident Scholar Wyoming Humanities I have friends in Wyoming who will not vote for a president this November. They know their vote will not count toward the election, so, as an act of protest, they’re not voting at all. I utterly disagree with this repudiation of the most basic American right---in my opinion, it is the duty and privilege of every eligible American citizen to vote---but I understand the sentiment. The president and vice president of the United States are not elected by a plurality of the popular vote: they a...
As much as any of us hate to admit it, winter weather has arrived. Along with having to worry about shoveling driveways and sidewalks, many of Green River’s residents will also contend with slick roads and the possibility of driving during a nasty blizzard at some point during the next several months. We’ll keep our request short this week: Please drive carefully. The first storms of the year tend to result in a lot of vehicle collisions as people are not used to driving on snow and ice. While much of the weekend storm has melted off by the...
I don’t think I’m alone when I say this: I can’t wait for this election season to end. My reasons probably differ from most people -- through I can’t remember a previous presidential election being such a slog to experience. I blame social media for that feeling. But, the thing that I’m looking forward to most is this: President Donald Trump’s campaign team will stop blowing up my personal email’s inbox. The volume of email I’ve received from the Trump campaign has been absolutely jaw dropping to say the least. I’d say the word aggressive i...
Dear Editor Under a bill that went before the State Senate in February, an additional 3,000+ Wyoming resident hunters would have drawn an antelope tag this year. But, the bill, Senate File 94, failed on introduction. In fact, just one state senator, Larry Hicks of Carbon County, voted to introduce it. Sweetwater County (District 12) Senator, Liisa Anselmi-Dalton co-sponsored the bill, but then at vote time, she switched sides and voted against introduction! When it counted, Sen. Anselmi-Dalton sided with the greedy outfitters and entitled nonre...
We’re heading into the final days of the 2020 General Election. For many, the biggest question they want a voice in is if Joe Biden or Donald Trump will be the United States’ President in 2021. While that question will have some weight as to what our lives will be like in the next four years, the more important aspects of any ballot are the local elections. An oft-repeated quote about local government is that it’s “where the rubber meets the road.” The local city council, school board, county commissioners and state legislators are where the...
I am that person that always manages to “find” the shopping cart with the wonky wheel. I used to trade it out because it irritated me. The cart wobbled and sometimes made noise and it usually drove a little slower and pushed a little harder. However, in the last bit, I have stayed with whatever cart I get first. My reasoning is simple. Having this kind of cart is/has been teaching me a very important lesson: Just because SOMEONE is a little slower, or makes a little “noise” or is harder to deal with, doesn’t mean they don’t have value. We a...
