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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...
The subject of camping in Green River parks isn’t something new. Over the years, this seems to come up every so often from various groups. Whenever this issue comes up, unless it is for a small group like the Boy Scouts, it is turned down. Once again, the question is coming before the Green River City Council. This time it’s from members of the Muley Fanatics Foundation. They would like those attending the Mansface Mountain Music Festival to be allowed to tent camp in Evers Park and park their RV’s or camp trailers at the city’s rodeo area. W...
I’ve taken an interest in Dutch oven cooking recently. It’s something I’m not generally familiar with and have absolutely no experience in. Regardless, I’ve found the topic interesting. The idea of using a cast iron oven to make something like chili, a corn bread or cobbler is appealing in that it’s all based on managing heat from the coals around or on top of the oven. There’s no setting it to 375 and just leaving a timer on until the meal is done. It sounds both challenging and fun. I’ve w...
Addiction can be defined as the compulsive repeated use of a drug or substance (such as alcohol) or performance of a behavior (such as gambling). Dependence is different, occurring when repeated use of a drug (such as heroine) results in physical dependence which causes an unpleasant feeling of withdrawal when the drug is stopped. Addiction and dependence can occur separately, although they often run together. At five-years-old, I was a thumb-sucker. I recall not being proud of it as my folks seemed progressively upset about my “addiction.” The...
The deer in Green River have been the root of a contentious debate for several years now. It’s easy to see why too. A study conducted by the city a few years back revealed residents are nearly split 50/50 between people who want to leave them alone and those who want something to be done with them. With a split like that, it’s impossible to make a decision that doesn’t upset people. While some people are content with leaving the deer alone and others would rather seen them rounded up and shipped out, or even killed, there might be a solut...
It’s that time of year where schools all the way from pre-school through college, celebrate the accomplishments of students through graduation and commencement activities and ceremonies. This year, I am very excited as I actually have three graduates in my house. My 16 year old is graduating high school and heading into her sophomore year of college already. She is well on her way to becoming an amazing success at whatever she chooses to do. She has already accomplished so much and she is by no means “done.” Every time I stop for a minut...
Did you know that an average South Dakotan male lives to 75 years of age, and the average woman lives to 80? Why is that? Is it because we men are more prone to violent deaths early by going to war, riding motorcycles or driving cars faster? Nah! This accounts for only a small part of the difference. I think more likely it is because men, who are genetically built larger and more muscular, likely in order to be the defender or hunter for the family, no longer need to use those muscles in this modern world. Just look at most 22-year-old men,...
With news that Rocky Mountain Power is considering an early retirement for two of the four units at the Jim Bridger Power Plant, Sweetwater County needs determined and thoughtful leadership now more than any time in the last 30 years. One thing we would like to stress to the area’s elected officials is while we can take some solace in the fact the company intends to continue operating the Bridger plant until 2037, we shouldn’t act like that is a promise to operate the plant until then. Further analysis may show the company could save money by...
Dear Editor, I want to shed some light on my discussion at the budget meeting (April 24, 2019) at the Rock Springs city hall. I spoke about my concerns of the tax payers dollars being used to keep the gas chamber to euthanize unwanted pets and feral cats at the Rock Springs Animal Control. I carried the budget and expenditure records for Rock Springs Animal Control of last twelve months with me that I obtained from the city hall. It’s depressing enough to know that the shelter gases animals, in spite of most people of Rock Springs being a...
Sitting at Rocky Mountain Power’s presentation last week, there was something missing at the meeting. Representatives from the Rock Springs municipal government were in attendance, as were representatives from Sweetwater County and state offices. A few legislators were present as well, with Rep. John Freeman, D-Green River; Rep. Clark Stith, R-Rock Springs; and Sen. Tom James, R-Rock Springs, showing up. What surprised me was the lack of representation from Green River. No one from the Green R...
It seems as though more and more people comment on my taking notes by what they consider an “old-school” technique. Is using a pen and paper really considered an “old-school” technique? I don’t think so. As much as we are advancing in technology, there is no way I’m going to be taking notes via a laptop anytime soon. I may be a fast typer when I am writing my own story, but taking notes quickly from what people are saying, that’s something completely different. I’m just faster with my trusty...
We have some concerns about the proposal to form a Sweetwater Economic Development Coalition board. Last week, Sweetwater County Commissioner Randy Wendling spoke about an idea to form an SEDC board to separate the organization’s activities from of the Rock Springs Chamber of Commerce. As was noted by Sweetwater County Commissioner Wally Johnson, this is essentially what the Sweetwater Economic Development Agency (SWEDA) was. That organization no longer exists. SWEDA was a county-wide organization geared toward economic development during 2...
The National Day of Prayer was created in 1952 by a joint resolution of Congress, and signed into law by President Harry S. Truman. In 1988, the law was unanimously amended by both the House and the Senate and signed into law by President Ronald Reagan on Thursday, May 5, 1988, designating the first Thursday of May as a day of national prayer. A program for National Day of Prayer was put together in Green River last year, 2018, and another program is in the works for this year. It will be held on Thursday, May 2, at the Golden Hour Senior...
We here in Park County are pretty lucky. More and more communities across the country — more than 1,300 — have no local news coverage at all, much less a couple sources competing with each other to produce great news. I’ll let the readers decide who’s winning that competition, since I’m rather biased on the subject. I started my career in journalism just as newspapers were closing in the wake of impacts from the internet. At the time, I believed, as most did, that the industry was just going through a change. Once it found its digital f...
I took a short break from writing about old Nintendo games in the past few months. This is mostly because I got tied up hunting down the legendary animals in “Red Dead Redemption 2” and running a farm in “Stardew Valley,” but I’ve also been busy and just haven’t had time for video games. But, spending an afternoon playing an old game on the Nintendo’s NES Mini is a great way of unwinding, enjoying the power of nostalgia and remembering the fun times I had playing those games as a child. Then I...
Sweetwater County taxpayers deserve a hearty thank you from elected officials. The county’s municipal governments received $5.3 million in excess taxes collected through the 2012 special purpose tax, commonly known as the sixth-penny tax. They’re not the only ones getting this windfall. Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County is set to receive $2.4 million, with Castle Rock Hospital District to get $238,000 and the county itself to get $440,000. No matter how you slice it, that’s a lot of money. This is beyond the original $81 million appro...
