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Our state’s economy is facing hard times—that’s no secret to anyone. It seems that we face a budget shortfall every year and never really figure out how to dig ourselves out of it. Many of our communities are struggling with lost jobs and we risk losing even more of our young people as they travel out of state for better opportunities. We can’t fix this situation with a one-size-fits-all solution. There is no quick fix that will make up the state’s revenue deficit or replace all the lost jobs. If there were, we would have found it by now. The...
This week, newspapers across the country are celebrating National Newspaper Week. While we at The Green River Star may not be doing anything special other than running this editorial and an editorial cartoon, we still feel it’s important enough to share with our faithful readers. This year, National Newspaper Week is officially being recognized from Oct. 6-12. The 79th annual National Newspaper Week is a recognition of the service newspapers and its employees across the country provide and is sponsored by Newspaper Association Managers. N...
Health care costs too much. The U.S. spends twice as much as other wealthy nations and yet we have poorer outcomes. Patients in this country visit physicians less frequently and spend less time in hospitals than residents of other wealthy countries. So, why such high costs? It’s a complex issue with no simple answer. Experts have identified three major factors contributing to this situation. The most significant is higher prices, followed by costly administrative complexity and finally, the use of ineffective or overly aggressive medical i...
While this space is usually reserved for discussing our thoughts on larger issues impacting Green River and Sweetwater County, we also feel the need to take up this space with issues of concern. In this case, a potential safety concern. During the September meeting for the Sweetwater County School District No. 2 Board of Trustees, board member Steve Core mentioned the need for a flashing school zone sign on Shoshone Avenue. He said a number of people drive down the street faster than they should. There are signs identifying the street behind Mo...
Dear Editor, Did anyone here locally notice a news article which recently appeared. An article about a 10th Circuit Federal Court of Appeals decision on a Fort Collins law, a decision which also applies to the States of Wyoming, Utah, Kansas, New Mexico and Oklahoma, as well as the originating State of Colorado? That decision unmade any law in the 10th Circuit that distinguishes a difference between the breasts of a man or a woman as a matter of law. The effect is that it is no longer illegal for a woman or girl of any age, to go without...
At face value, “Super Mario Bros.” is weird. Really weird. It’s about a pair of Italian plumbers, Mario and Luigi, who grow by eating magic mushrooms, jump on their enemies and run their way through the Mushroom Kingdom as they attempt to rescue a princess from an giant, evil, fire-breathing turtle. As a character, Mario had played both hero and villain in the first two “Donkey Kong” games and was joined by Luigi in “Mario Bros.” when the duo worked to clear pests from pipes in a sewer under N...
With the Farmers’ Market ending for another year, we think it’s time for the Green River Urban Renewal/Main Street Agency to consider moving the market back downtown. The agency is tasked with revitalizing downtown Green River, which traditionally is the area along Flaming Gorge Way and Railroad Avenue. One of those means of revitalization is hosting events to bring people downtown, both to showcase the area itself and bring potential customers to downtown businesses. The market is a natural attraction for residents every Wednesday afternoon, b...
(Editor’s note: This letter was sent to the Green River City Council, but the author also wanted it published in The Green River Star.) Dear Mayor Rust and Green River City Council Members, I would like to offer a few comments in regard to the proposed 6th penny special purpose tax and Green River’s list of suggested projects. I am a senior citizen, a resident of Green River for most of the past 50 years. I have a 5oth high school class reunion coming up in two years and I’m really dreading the expected negative comments on the downslide of Gr...
Editor, I am supporting a renewal of the 6th penny sales tax initiative. Those who know me well, know I am not a “tax and spend” liberal. Far from it. I am a fiscal conservative who happens to believe in accountability and in the principle of stewardship. We Wyomingites are generally not in favor of far-reaching state and local government entities supported by high taxes. However, we must necessarily be willing to tax ourselves a reasonable amount to maintain the infrastructure we need and enjoy. As a formed longtime Administrative VP and CFO...
Interstate 80 is a resource Green River and Sweetwater County can’t ignore. During the public comment period for last week’s Sweetwater County Planning and Zoning Commission hearing regarding the Love’s Truck Stop proposal, Kael Jasperson, vice chairman of the Jamestown-Rio Vista Water and Sewer District called the interstate a resource that should be developed. Jasperson also mentioned the looming situation with coal and the uncertain future surrounding the Jim Bridger Power Plant. As coal continues to decline, we need to be open to other...
For four years, from 1938 to 1942, Green River was home to Camp Green River, a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp, one of thousands like it throughout the United States, the Sweetwater County Historical Museum said in a special release on Saturday. By 1933, the Great Depression was responsible for a 25 percent unemployment rate nationwide; some 15 million Americans were out of work. Just days after being sworn in as President in March, 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt called the 73rd Congress into emergency session and proposed what came to be...
We’re happy to see the Green River City Council take an interest in prohibiting public vaping. We understand vaping, like smoking, is a personal choice and don’t hold it against residents who chose to do so. However, when it comes to public areas like parks or restaurants, we think vapers should follow the same guidelines smokers have to follow. Regardless of if vaping poses fewer secondhand risks to others than smoking does, we think it’s a courtesy for people who vape not to do so in a public setting. While most vape cartridges attempt to pr...
Dear Editor, There are so many misconceptions about online public schools. As a teacher at Wyoming Virtual Academy, I’ve seen the confusion some people have firsthand. As a new school year begins, I want to help explain the important roles these schools play and why school choice must be protected. One of the main purposes of online schools is to provide an academic option for students in search of an alternative learning environment or instructional approach that they haven’t found elsewhere. While online school isn’t for every student, it do...
I was reading an editorial by Tom Salvino in the Subaru Drive magazine of all places. (Yes, we have a Subaru as our home.) His article is titled, “The Best Kind of Teacher.” In it, Salvino talks about how growing up, his grandfather seemed to know everything from how to skip rocks to playing chess. His grandfather was his idol and he was always teaching. Salvano reminds us that we can always learn something new, even when we think we are already pretty good at something. Such is the case with what I call “gimmies” in basketball and of course,...
Being a responsible pet owner in more than just loving an animal. It’s making sure all of their needs are met and sometimes this may mean making the tough decision to have your pet spayed or neutered. Most of the problems happening in communities overrun with feral cats or unwanted kittens stem from people not having their pets spayed or neutered. This is a problem not only Green River is facing, but Sweetwater County. Green River Animal Control officer Tracy Wyant said they have seen the shelter filled with kittens and unwanted cats before, b...
Horse racing is something I’m not inherently accustomed to. I’ve heard stories about how great my grandfather was at picking a winning horse, though I’ve come to the realization that most of the luck existing within my family was used up by my grandparents. They’ve always had stories about winning thousands in Wendover, Nev., a lucky night at bingo or a great day at off-track betting. On the other hand, I became so disgusted losing $80 during my last trip to Las Vegas that I stopped gambling and...
While our readers might be getting tired of reading about a push for a new sixth-penny tax initiative in 2020, one important question we should all ask ourselves is this: how much is too much? During a special meeting at the Sweetwater County Events Complex Tuesday evening, a total of $230 million in projects was presented and discussed by members of local governments and groups. In 2012, voters approved approximately $81 million in sixth-penny projects. Those projects were funded through special tax bonds, which the tax itself paid off over a...
It’s like a scene out of a movie depicting the perfect morning. A mother making breakfast, politely waking her kids up with the smell of bacon, pancakes and eggs she’s made them for breakfast, which they will eat with smiles on their faces before school. That’s how I picture my school mornings going, yet, it never turns out that way at all. Oh, I have the best intentions of making the house like a Disney movie, but let’s face it, that’s not reality. I do, however, always try to greet my youngest...
I appreciate how the old prayer goes, “Bless the food before us, the family beside us, and the love between us...” A few years back, our youngest son, had a break-in at his home and they took his computer with all his pictures as well as his original created songs. They also got away with my old film-dependent camera with a bunch of undeveloped pictures my son had taken. He decried that it wasn’t the loss of the computer or the camera, it was the loss of memories and ideas contained within. He was dismayed that he dreamt he caught the thiev...
“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” is the tale of two Hollywoods: one that’s fading into irrelevance and one of a fresher version blossoming in its place. The film mostly follows actor Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his longtime stuntman and friend Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) as they struggle to make ends meet in 1969. The pair’s careers peaked with the TV western “Bounty Law” and in the years following the series’ end, find Dalton’s star fading. Dalton continues acting in various bad guy of the w...
We can say with certainty that there will be a large push to put a special-purpose tax initiative on the 2020 ballot. Meetings and discussions have already taken place and some municipal officials have been talking about potential uses since the last tax, passed in 2012, ended. The tax, commonly referred to as the sixth-penny tax, has been an important tool in renovating East 2nd South Street, completing improvements at Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County and expanding the Rock Springs Recreation Center, among others. A small increase in sal...
The thought of not having an ambulance service in Sweetwater County is something we cannot even fathom. We believe if it’s a situation requiring emergency assistance, an ambulance had better be there. At a recent Sweetwater County commissioner’s meeting, Commissioner Jeffery Smith said he wanted the press to help him inform the public about the financial problems both Castle Rock Ambulance Service and Sweetwater Medics are having. According to Smith, Castle Rock is losing about $35,000 per month, while Sweetwater Medics has received about $1....
We live in an age of unparalleled convenience. With a tap on a cell phone screen, we can summon a driver, order carryout delivery or have our groceries shipped right to our front doors. Don’t want to go through Amazon? Grocery stores allow people to shop on your phone, with the items bagged and ready for pickup within a few hours. We’re living in an age “The Jetsons” couldn’t imagine -- though I still want the flying cars. However, what does this convenience cost us? I started asking myself th...
“Every once in a while, my heart seems to be jumping out of my chest, I get a weak feeling and short of breath,” the patient explained. When I listened with my stethoscope, his rhythm was different than the usual lub-dub, foot-tapping, sounds, which are regular as a band marching through town on a summertime parade. Instead his heart had the irregular rhythm of popping corn, chaotic and unpredictable, and I couldn’t tap my foot to it. As predicted, the EKG showed the rhythm of atrial fibrillation, with the atrial rate running at three to 400 b...
Recent comments by the Green River Urban Renewal/Main Street Agency regarding the Love’s Travel Stop proposal have us confused as to how the agency thinks the commissioners can implement its requests. According to the comments, the agency wants Love’s to partner with it and promote Green River businesses. It’s also asking the company to sponsor Main Street events. These requests aren’t out of the question, but we’re not sure why the county needs to be involved in communicating these requests. The people the agency should send these requests to...
