Sorted by date Results 501 - 525 of 1667
Last week, Sen. Tom James (R-Rock Springs) attempted to convince the Senate to cut state funded tourism promotion claiming the promotion of Wyoming tourism would be better served by the private sector. This amendment would later be withdrawn by the senator as others quickly defended the importance of state-funded tourism promotion. In an email to the Star, James said the cuts would save millions in taxpayer funding and called the state department of tourism a “black hole of taxpayer dollars,” believing the department to be a subsidy for the...
It has been well documented and met with zero opposition to the priority and significance of maintaining the Greater Little Mountain Area (GLMA) and its bountiful recreational resources. That being said, I am incredibly concerned about the future of the GLMA, southwest Wyoming’s crown jewel and one of its most important recreational areas in the region. The Department of the Interior has repeatedly shown in recent months that it refuses to listen to local input when deciding how to manage the nation’s public lands, a trend that could con...
Some pieces of legislation receive far less attention than they deserve. House Bill 171 – Wyoming gaming commission, sponsored by the travel committee, looks to be one such under-the-radar measure this session. Early legislative comments focused on the idea that it regulates gambling. It’s more accurate, however, to describe the measure as legalizing instant-gratification gambling on a new level for the state. And the high number in its name reveals, the bill surfaced late in the game, allowing very little time for public scrutiny. Wyoming has...
As a Native Wyomingnite and former State Senator, I’m well aware of the boom and bust economy that we experience here in the Cowboy State. I know firsthand, our elected officials care deeply about Wyoming’s residents and I applaud the Wyoming legislative who work tirelessly dealing with a variety of significant issues that face our state. When I retired as the Director of the Wyoming Office of Homeland Security, Cowboy Skill of Wyoming reached out to me to see if I would like to join their team as a State Compliance Director. The job des...
What do residents love about Sweetwater County? Is it the fact people living in the county can escape civilization with a simple half-hour drive. Public lands not owned and fenced off can be accessed and enjoyed easily. We can camp, hike, ride an ATV, and so much more on these public lands. A day, a weekend, or even much longer on public lands can be both easy to access and a enjoy. For many, its the perfect therapy and it’s something not many people across the United States can enjoy as readily as we can. Is it the fact there are a lot of g...
So many bills, so little time. Most veteran lawmakers would agree that the condensed 20-day budget sessions — like the one Wyoming’s 65th Legislature enters into this week — are much more demanding and stressful than the 40-day general sessions. Despite being only half as long, the amount of work a budget session requires does not drop correspondingly by half. And with time windows closing and deadlines approaching very rapidly, the rapid-fire pace scrambles even the most thoughtful approaches at deliberate scheduling. The time crunch begin...
Winter driving in Wyoming isn’t fun. We’re not talking about the kind of driving where someone is on their way to their favorite ice fishing hole or a weekend trip of skiing or sledding. We’re referring to the everyday, Point A to Point B driving that sometimes needs to be done in the middle of a snowstorm. Our building’s position on Uinta Drive gives us a unique perspective as to how busy the ambulance crews from Castle Rock Ambulance Service are. On particularly nasty days, it isn’t unusual to hear sirens and watch ambulances drive down the...
Last week when news broke that Wyoming Congresswoman Liz Cheney would remain in the House of Representatives instead of running for an open Senate seat, there was a clear winner: the people of Wyoming. In her statement announcing her decision to run for re-election to her House seat, Cheney said “I believe I can have the biggest impact for the people of Wyoming by remaining in leadership in the House of Representatives and working (to) take our Republican majority back.” She’s right. In her short time in Congress, Cheney has quickly risen...
At this pivotal moment for both our state’s finances and education system, the Wyoming Legislature should go beyond just “recalibrating” the cost of our current education system and use this opportunity to modernize our education system. During the recent Governor’s Business Forum, Wyoming youth expressed concerns that their education did not align with future workforce needs. The students stressed the necessity to be forward-thinking about what type of jobs will replace coal and natural gas and keep people in the state. We should listen....
The Wyoming Public Services Commission is hosting a hearing today to receive public comment regarding Rocky Mountain Power’s plan to retire two of the four Jim Bridger Power Plant Units in the next decade. While it’s easy for us to focus on how plant closures will impact this area for years to come, another question about the area’s economy is this: What will we do if coal goes away? While the trona industry continues to thrive, with Ciner and Genesis Alkali poised for expansions in the coming years, reducing the role natural gas and coal...
Dear Editor: I am writing to let the community know of an important meeting to be held in Rock Springs Jan. 29 with the Wyoming Public Service Commission. They are investigating PacifiCorp’s Integrated Resource Plan, the one that has forecast the shutdown of Bridger power. That the shut down will cause all kinds of changes is a given. The PSC is charged with ensuring that utility ratepayers have affordable, reliable, and safe energy. Their investigation ought to be thorough and transparent. All stakeholders – workers, communities and ratepayers...
Rocky Mountain Power’s 2019 Integrated Resource Plan outlines how we plan to meet the electricity needs of our Wyoming customers safely, affordably and reliably over the next 20 years. As I visit with customers and community leaders around the state, they have questions about what this means for Wyoming jobs, tax revenue, electricity bills and reliability of service. These questions are reasonable, and while the answers are sometimes difficult to hear, I think it’s helpful to share how we arrived at our conclusions. The decision to retire som...
What is a reasonable fee? This is the question that’s at the heart of the ongoing complaints about the Sweetwater County Clerk’s decision to charge for access to a database of records maintained by a separate company. This is also a question that local and state governments have contended with since Wyoming’s public documents laws allowed for the charge of a reasonable fee. The unfortunate answer to the question is this: there is no such thing as a reasonable fee. This is because what’s reasonable for one person is unreasonable for another...
In less than three years, President Donald Trump’s administration — aided and abetted by Wyoming’s congressional delegation and state leaders — has rolled back 58 environmental rules and regulations and has another 37 such changes on the drawing board. That tally is according to a New York Times analysis. These “gifts” to the fossil fuels industry and other polluters, according to a report by the New York University Law School, could significantly increase greenhouse gas emissions and cause thousands of deaths from poor air quality every year....
Well, this is exciting, isn’t it? Green River will get a new store later this year as Bomgaars will establish a branch at the old Shopko building. This is an amazing development. When a store closes, it seems to take a long time before someone comes along to use the vacated space. Look to Rock Springs and Harbor Freight for example. What used to be a Hastings and sat vacant for a couple of years before that was turned around. There’s still the massive vacant building K-Mart used to occupy and it’s been several years since the last blue light...
This is a story about Wyoming’s near future, though it takes place in Arizona. Entering Page, Ariz., the plan was to ask one question of ten people, “With the closing of the coal-fired Navajo Generating Station (NGS), on Nov. 18, 2019, is the view less hazy?” If I were not understood, I would ask something like, “Can you now see the mountains over there more clearly?” Or, I could ask, “Has the air quality gotten a little better?” Nine out of the 10 answered in the affirmative. Their answers ranged from, “Much more clear and better,” to a t...
While a recent change in federal regulation has risen the age required to buy tobacco and electronic vaping products to 21, the change also raises some questions about when a person can make adult choices. The regulation change was heralded as a means to help protect young adults from addiction to vaping products. While we can agree that the regulation will have that outcome with some people, it also means 18-year-olds have an adult choice taken from them. Someone who is 18 years old can legally made decisions such as determining if they want...
Welcome to 2020! I realize I’m a bit late on that take, but when the first publication of the new year doesn’t come out until Jan. 8, sometimes things have to wait. I realize I could have written that for the Dec. 31 issue, but then it would have been too soon. It just wouldn’t have felt right. The year has started with a bang for the newspaper. The Sweetwater County commissioners named the Star it’s publication of record for 2020, meaning the county’s public notices will start appearing...
Mrs. B came into the emergency room one night, years ago, with some stress related issue. After taking her history, I began to suspect there was something else bothering her. As I was beginning her physical exam she blurted out, “I know there is a breast mass but you’re not going to send me to any breast cancer doctor!” She had already decided to avoid standard treatment and her next comment explained why, “My aunt suffered because of awful unnecessary surgery and chemotherapy,” she said. I sensed there was no changing her mind and that mean...
Comprising over half a million acres in southwestern Wyoming’s Sweetwater County, the Greater Little Mountain Area is one of the West’s hidden gems and home to some of the most sensitive fish and wildlife habitat in the state. As an avid sportsman myself, this landscape has served as the backdrop to countless hunting, fishing, and camping trips I’ve taken over the years and is a key destination to many others who travel and support our local economy by coming to recreate within this pristine landscape. The fate of Greater Little Mountain Area...
The story of our country is often told by the decades that define it. With the end of this decade so close at hand, it can often be tempting to imagine what the last ten years will be remembered for. Or for that matter, the last year alone. For me, 2019 will be remembered by the people I had the pleasure to meet, businesses I had the opportunity to visit and the projects I have had the privilege to work on. Between spending time in our nation’s capital and back home in Wyoming, I’ve been able to meet with hundreds of workers and families fro...
A special purpose tax is a great tool for communities wanting to make improvements that all residents can benefit from. Road replacement, water and sewer upgrades, even construction of needed facilities can be accomplished through this tax, commonly known as the sixth penny tax because it’s implementation creates a 6 percent sales tax within Sweetwater County. For Green River and other towns within the county, the tax has become a needed source of funding to pay for construction they otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford. This isn’t the fault...
I try to run to work ALMOST every day. I run in the hot weather and in the cold weather, the snow, the wind, the heat…I enjoy running although I don’t run all that fast. I would run every day but sometimes I need a car in the middle of the day, if I need to run an errand or if it’s my turn to pick up the little kiddos after school. On days where I don’t get to run to and or from home, I try to run during a break at work. I am fortunate to work at Western where I can utilize the Wellness Center or run outside on the Running/Walking Trail o...
My sixth and final child is in kindergarten this year. My older three were in elementary school quite some time ago. I was in kindergarten in the dark ages. Many things have changed throughout the years but one thing I has not and I hope it never does. For as long as I can remember, when an elementary student, especially a kindergartener or first-grader, brings home “done work” in their folders and backpacks, it is pretty much a guarantee that every paper will have either a smiley face, a gold star or celebration word sticker/comment (“Wow”, “G...
Access to the internet is critical for life in the 21st century, not just something that is simply nice to have. To ensure our rural communities have quality health care, college-level math classes at the county high school, or precision ag technology at the local farm, high-speed broadband internet connectivity is necessary. When I first took office, President Donald J. Trump directed me to lead the Task Force on Agriculture and Rural Prosperity, a team of federal, state and local leaders...
