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The Green River Fire Department along with the National Fire Protection Association has recognized the week of Oct. 8-14 as Fire Prevention week. This year’s slogan is “Every Second Counts: Plan 2 Ways Out.” We encourage everyone to take a few minutes and talk about fire prevention to help keep the residents of our community safe. It is very important to have two ways out of your home whether it’s a house, mobile home, or apartment. Everyone should have two different ways to escape to the outside, which includes a meeting area for everyon...
I recently watched an old video clip on YouTube, from the TV show “Candid Camera.” In case you are not familiar with “Candid Camera,” it aired from 1960 to 1976, and secretly videotaped people in situations where they were (safely) pranked or involved in a funny situation, set up to get their reactions. This particular episode showed an elevator prank. Three members of the “Candid Camera” staff would enter an elevator after an unsuspecting “victim” had already entered. The staff members did not speak when entering but instead, they all just tur...
One of the many duties journalists have to the communities they serve is to hold lawmakers and officials accountable for their actions. A few weeks back, Stephanie Thompson wrote an article about a few comments Sweetwater County Commissioner John Kolb had made regarding former members of the Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County. A week after that story was published, I wrote an editorial that appeared under the “Our View” section of this page, criticizing him for rehashing the past and cla...
Dear Editor, Good morning and thank you for allowing me to speak during this public comment portion of your meeting. I approach you today with a request. A request to stop the disrespect that is being shown to myself, my fellow prior hospital board members that I served with, Jerry Klein and George Lemich. For the commission to label us as corrupt is not only wrong, but insulting. When one of you is introduced in the public media arena as a commissioner those comments made to the media and/or public airways is a representation of all of you. I...
Youth sports offer many different benefits to not only the young people participating, but to the young adults that mentor and officiate. Building character in young adults is a culmination of important life lessons and officiating can be a great way to help develop character. Young adults, as officials, learn to be confident in tense situations, think and react quickly on their feet, and they begin to assume more responsibility in their life as they schedule to work and earn an income. Being an official is also a mentor role to the...
While we can’t speak to the long term viability of our big-city cousins in the newspaper business, we can tell you with confidence that your hometown paper is in fine shape. Our annual audit of our readership, mandated by the United States Postal Service, is printed in last week’s newspaper and it’s as strong as ever. That’s because with few exceptions, if you want to read about Green River and people of Sweetwater County, there’s one credible source that leaves the others in the dust. And it’s the same source that your grandparent...
Comments made by representatives of Castle Rock Hospital District have us concerned about their willingness to share and publish their salaries. Speaking to the Sweetwater County Commissioners last week, board members expressed reluctance to publicize their ambulance workers’ salaries, fearing that information would lead to Sweetwater Medics poaching their workers with the promise of a higher wage. We don’t believe that fear warrants the hospital district request to not publish those salaries and thankfully the commissioners agree with us. Cit...
In our current economic climate, there are many families where both parents are working or even have multiple jobs. For many single-parent homes, a full-time and part-time job is a regular necessity. Here in Green River, shift work and overtime can be challenging if you have children. That’s where an after school program can help. It is a safe, fun, and productive place to send children when school is out for the afternoon. Most programs provide homework assistance, a healthy snack, and fun physical activities or free play for children. T...
Unzipping the tent screen, I emerged into the dawn of the day of the great eclipse, the 21st of August, 2017. I was camped at Mistake Lake, at an elevation of 10,800 feet, in the Titcomb Basin, located in the center of Wyoming’s Wind River Range. Below, on the prominent moraine between two big lakes, were fourteen tents. I was to pass another thirty to forty tents on the upper reaches of the basin. Perhaps never before had the basin been so crowded. For that matter, neither had the state, now with five or six times its usual population, owing t...
A few weeks back, Sweetwater County Commissioner John Kolb made a few comments about Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County. This isn’t uncommon for the commissioner, as he serves as the commissioners’ liaison to the hospital board of trustees. While updating the commissioners about recent developments at the hospital is part of his duties, Kolb isn’t doing anyone any favors when he decides to deride the hospital’s former administrators and trustees. We understand the hospital was in a difficult and unsustainable position at the end of Jerry K...
Across America, we have aging roads, bridges, dams and water systems. Our crumbling infrastructure is threatening public safety, slowing economic development and costing us all. A recent study by the American Society of Civil Engineers found that American families are losing $3,400 per year in disposable income because of crumbling infrastructure. This comes in the form of wasted time in traffic, higher grocery bills or unreliable water and electricity services. It is time we address our long-neglected public works. As chairman of the Senate Co...
It hadn’t even been a week; and already my son had his first braces injury, which left him with a couple of broken brackets and a cut lip. Of course this incident would have to happen right before bedtime. My boys, John, 5, and Matthew, 7, were supposed to be getting ready for bed. Instead, I hear all sorts of noises coming from John’s bedroom, which led me to believe that they weren’t getting their pajamas on or ready for bed. As I approached the closed door, which is something I don’t allow m...
Bring on the braces. My oldest son, Matthew, 7, got braces put on exactly two weeks ago. He was so excited to get them on and the place I took him to made it a wonderful experience. After his braces were put on, he was given three helium balloons attached to a pudding cup with a spoon. He also received a draw-string bag with a T-shirt, water bottle and everything he would need to be brace successful, including wax, mouth wash, tooth brushes, flossers and floss. He was smiling at everybody as big...
The coal industry will likely never return to its former glory, despite promises President Trump has made to the contrary. Fossil fuels will likely take a similar course, but not for several decades. Still, countries are starting to put the writing on the proverbial wall. China currently considers a ban on the production of gasoline and diesel-fueled cars and France has taken steps to end the sale of diesel and gas cars by 2040. Supposing those events do take place, it’s likely the market for fossil fuel vehicles will decline sharply during t...
The Green River URA/Main Street Agency finished up an exciting Farmers’ Market season Sept. 13. We were excited to bring back past and new vendors and best of all, it didn’t even rain every Wednesday like it has been known to do. The vendors really enjoy Green River’s Farmers Market and we all appreciate the support of the community for this important summer event and we are already looking forward to next year. We have some fun activities as we head into this fall. The first Saturday in October, the Green River URA/Main Street Agency will host...
A recent Wyoming Education Association poll revealed 78 percent of voters are willing to pay higher taxes to support education in Wyoming, a finding we could see coming and will undoubtedly ruffle the feathers of conservative legislators and groups fighting the passage of any new taxes. We support a tax to help fund local school districts. Regardless of it being a sales tax of an increased property tax, supporting education in Sweetwater County should be a priority for all residents. The poll’s results show Wyoming voters support that line of t...
It has literally only been two weeks of school and I’m already sick. What gives? It’s like from the moment school starts until the day it ends someone in the family has a cold or worse, the flu. Everyone always jokes about kids being petri dishes, but I think they’re right. My youngest son, John, came home with a soar throat and then a cough and runny nose accompanied by a lot of sneezing. Now, I have a soar throat, terrible head congestion, a running nose and a little cough. I thought we had t...
It’s not uncommon nowadays to see a group of people sitting together while they are all texting or checking social media on their phones. They are “with” each other in proximity but they are not actually engaged “for” each other. I think it’s important in today’s super busy world that we all make conscious efforts to spend time “for” each other – talking, listening, sharing, laughing, being together – not just being around each other in the same vicinity. Jeff Van Gundy is a former NBA and college basketball coach, who is currently working for...
Deciding to start a healthy dose of exercise paired with a healthy diet is a goal for all of us, but how do you stick with it? Temptation is on every menu, in every aisle of the grocery store, and at most social gatherings. Staying consistent with any goal, especially with diet and exercise requires a lot of focus and preparation. It comes down to three things: consistency, accountability, and goals. It may seem obvious but here’s a breakdown of each and how you can apply them to your life. Consistency Consistency is having general movement for...
As our president continues to trumpet the idea that the media is a source of evil, it is important to remember that in any group, there will be outliers that are not representative of the whole population. Some journalists use dubious tactics, make stories up or let their own bias flavor their story. In a society that holds fame so highly, it’s tempting to try to make the story about oneself. Journalism has been a cornerstone of this country since its founding for good reason. A well-functioning free press is key to a vibrant democracy and p...
Over the past few weeks, residents may have noticed some very foul odors coming from the Wastewater Treatment Plant on East Teton Boulevard. After extended warm periods, many bodies of water tend to “turnover,” allowing odors trapped in the deeper parts of the pool to come to the surface. This can happen 2-3 times a year. In a lake it is not as noticeable, and typically just contributes to a “fishy” smell. But at the Wastewater Treatment Plant, a turnover can smell much worse. The Green River Wastewater Treatment Plant was originally constructe...
This fall the House of Representatives is likely to take up legislation passed by the Senate that gives terminally ill patients the right to try unproven, experimental drugs that are not yet on the market. Thirty-seven states have already passed similar legislation. All this may sound like terrific news for very sick patients with few or no treatment options left, but the issue deserves a much deeper look thanks to its potential impact on people’s pocketbooks and health. “The public has no idea this is not a good thing,” says Alison Batem...
With Green River’s children going back to school today, the fight to maintain adequate school funding has never been more important. Legislators across the state, who believe themselves experts in education simply because the way they learned worked for them, see many of the school districts receiving more money than they deserve. What they’re overlooking is education in the 21st century is a world apart to the education provided 15-20 years ago. We don’t doubt the state has a huge funding gap to fill either. Rep. John Freeman, D-Green River...
Monday was an exciting day at my house and not because of the eclipse. It was the first day of school for my children. This year, was a little different as I realized I would no longer be driving my youngest son, John, to daycare or preschool. Yes. He’s moved on to bigger and better things -- kindergarten. He was so excited. He got up, got dressed, brushed his teeth and went and made his own breakfast, which consisted of a breakfast bar and a Pediasure, while I was in the shower. While I was g...
A few days after we moved to Casper from Cheyenne in 1999, my 12-year-old son asked me something I’d been wondering myself: “Dad, where are all the black people?” Wyoming’s capital city can’t be described as even remotely diverse, with an African-American population of about 3.6 percent. But it still tops Casper, which can only claim a 1.9 percent black citizenry, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. African Americans make up less than 1 percent of the entire state’s population, helping make Wyoming the ninth whitest state in the nation....
