Sorted by date Results 1076 - 1100 of 1692
February is typically known as a month of romance due in part to Valentine’s Day on Feb. 14. For this month’s Artifact of the Month, the Sweetwater County Museum is also getting into the romantic mood, but in a different sense. The featured artifact is a booklet titled, “The Romance of the Smithsonian Institution: Vividly Portrayed by Its Scholars in the Smithsonian Scientific Series.” It features the Smithsonian Institution Building, also known as the Castle, on the cover. The book was printed in 1942 as part of an intended series. While a...
Late last Friday afternoon, Jan. 27, Rep. Jerry Obermueller, R-Casper, submitted House Bill 267 to the legislature seeking to increase the minimum annual reporting fees for businesses by 200 percent - from $50 to $150 - effectively tripling fees for most businesses. While we all recognize the budget difficulties our state is currently facing, I believe HB 267 will be detrimental to small business owners registered in Wyoming and will damage our “business friendly” reputation and likely end up hurting our State budget much more than it helps. As...
It was a typical work-day morning. I had just made my children breakfast and was busy getting ready for work, when my oldest son, Matthew, came into my room. I had called him into the room to make sure he had put his boots, coat and hat on before I sent him down to the bus. I noticed he didn’t have any of them on yet; and before I could even tell him to put them on he said “John sprayed my hair with hairspray.” I looked at his head, which was shining in the light and said “That’s not hairspray...
Dear Editor, Wyoming entered the United States as The Equality State just over a hundred years ago, becoming the first state to recognize women’s right to vote. That, however, was the last fight we dared for equality. A few years ago we found ourselves in the world spotlight when a young gay man was beaten and left to die on a fence. We were mortified and began a slow change in acceptance of sexual identity outside of the cultural norm. We chose not to fight the district court ruling that gays could marry and accepted their equal right to m...
What’s going to happen to Medicare? That’s not an insignificant question given the political shift in Washington. Now, with Republicans controlling the presidency and both houses of Congress, some ideas they’ve been pushing for years have a chance of passing. Those ideas would drastically change the way Medicare works for those already on it and those joining in the next few years. Medicare is wildly popular, but that popularity doesn’t necessarily translate into understanding of a very complex program, what’s happened to it, and what may...
Last week, we wrote about the importance of taxing online purchases in order to shore up waning sales tax revenue in Sweetwater County. Unknown to us at the time, the state was in discussions with Amazon.com and announced a deal to collect sales tax from the online commerce giant the day after we printed our last “Our View” editorial. Amazon plans to start charging Wyoming residents a sales tax March 1. We were happy to seal the deal solidify between the state and Amazon.com, but we also noticed a lot of people weren’t particularly happy with...
Dear Editor, I had high hopes that the City of Green River would take notice of the improper blading techniques that blade you into your driveways, causing you to be unable to enter the street and results in your vehicle becoming high centered on the frozen ice. The city blade supervisor should review the street that require more difficult blading and instruct the blader with proper blading when the ice is an obstacle. Two of my neighbors, as well as a city employee working after hours took the initiative to try to dig me out. One neighbor, a...
Dear Editor, The Wyoming Legislature will be considering HJ0001 and HJ0002 which address Wyoming submitting an application to Congress, along with other states, to call for a Convention of States. A convention is necessary because Washington, D.C. is out-of-control and the federal government will never rein in its own power. Therefore, it is up to the state legislatures to assert control over Washington. This is not a Constitutional Convention, which is entirely different from a Convention of States; which are the state legislatures sending del...
During the summer, the parks staff has a very visible presence throughout our city. I am certain you have seen brightly colored T-shirts busily scurrying throughout the city, cutting the grass, trimming weeds, and getting sports fields ready for play; those are the seasonal staff we have to assist with the miles and acreage of turf, parkways, trees, weeds, shrubbery, etc. Yet it is our full time staff that is left to continue once summer has gone. One would think the workload would lessen, and oftentimes I am asked if things do slow down for...
It’s another year and another financial crisis looms overhead for municipal governments in Sweetwater County. Sales taxes, the lifeblood of any incorporated town or city, continues to be in decline and another round of budgetary shortfalls are expected if the trend isn’t reversed. With sales tax currently down 15 percent from last year, elected officials in Green River and Rock Springs will likely be forced to make additional spending cuts to balance their budgets. While it’s easy to blame the problem on a sluggish economy and declines in th...
Recently, the city of Green River activated the CodeRED Emergency Notification System to alert citizens of the no unnecessary travel advisory within the city limits of Green River issued by the Green River Police Department. So, what is the CodeRED Emergency Notification System and how does it work? Emergency Communications Network, LLC pioneered high-speed emergency notification services capable of reaching citizens in minutes. ECN’s sophisticated network supports a web-based product suite that enables local government officials to c...
Anyone facing a hospital stay for themselves or a family member should look at new data the government released right before Christmas showing that it penalized 769 of the nation’s hospitals for having high rates of patient injuries. The monetary penalties – a reduction for the year in their reimbursement for treating Medicare patients – do bite. Larger teaching hospitals could lose as much as $1 million or more. This is the third year the government has penalized hospitals in an effort to prevent avoidable patient deaths in hospitals, which...
As a politician, it’s easy to find oneself on the wrong end of a newspaper editorial. However, this week, we’re applauding the stance the Sweetwater County Commissioners have taken in opposing the land grab a few state legislators want to push. Federally-managed lands comprise a majority of the land available in Sweetwater County. A lot of that land is available for multiple uses and give residents and visitors the chance to recreate at treasured locations like Little Mountain, Pine Mountain and the Flaming Gorge Reservoir. According to a 201...
Well, It’s that time of the year again. Time to set that New Year’s resolution. It seems like every year around this time that’s all I hear people talking about. It also seems like the television commercials are also gearing up for this. With all of the lose weight with this product or that product, join this gym or buy this DVD to work yourself thin commercials, it’s hard to avoid. I also noticed how many stop smoking now commercials there are too. It’s almost like we think that a new year...
It’s January. Maybe you’ve made, or plan to make, some resolutions. Maybe you’re recovering from the holiday craziness and are taking the new year day by day. I’ve never been someone who makes new year’s resolutions, I usually fall into the second category. Many think of January as a time to start over or begin again. Putting your focus there is understandable as a new year is beginning. There is possibility. I challenge you to take advantage of one of the following unique January holidays this year! The library can help you on your journey....
Lori Eng, a 62-year-old office manager who works in western Nebraska, sent an email not long ago telling me she was “terrified” she might lose her Obamacare health insurance. The many horror stories passed along in the media had frightened her, and she wanted me to hear from someone who had benefitted from the law. No wonder Eng is scared. Ever since the Affordable Care Act passed almost seven years ago, opponents, mostly Republicans, have vowed to repeal the law and replace it with a different plan. The November election results now make tha...
It’s a new year and that means it’s time to set some goals to help 2017 be a successful year! The Green River URA/Main Street Agency will be doing just that in the coming weeks with some training and a couple of strategic planning sessions. We are beginning 2017 with three new board members and are anxious to set the goals and tasks needed in order to accomplish our mission and we’d encourage you to do the same. Here are a few suggestions to consider for your small business to help set the course for this year: Make a Plan Putting a busin...
Riding with my friend John in his Nissan Leaf, an electric vehicle, the car made no sound at all. With the windows open you can hear the changing of gears on nearby bicycles, and you can hear the breeze in the branches over the boulevards. We were in his town of Fort Collins, Colo. John works as a sustainability coordinator for a group of hospitals. He was giving me a tour of solar installations all over town, including new construction with the solar panels built right into the roofs; or rather, the roofs were solar panels. John said that a...
Have you ever pushed the elevator button to “remind” the elevator that you are there waiting for it to come pick you up and deliver you? Have you ever yelled at the traffic light, while in your car, so the light would change faster? Sometimes we think we have more influence on certain people or in certain situations than we really do, like with the elevator, or the traffic light. No matter how many times we push the elevator button, or yell at the light, it’s not going to come any faster. However, on other occasions we actually have more influ...
9 was a lousy year for a variety of reasons. Legendary musicians Prince, David Bowie and Merle Haggard passed away during the course of the year. Similarly, well-known actors and actresses have passed as well, including Carrie Fisher, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Alan Rickman and Gene Wilder. The world of sports lost Muhammed Ali, Arnold Palmer and Gordie Howe. Space pioneer John Glenn also passed away this year. Locally, 2016 was difficult for a variety of reasons. In Sweetwater County School District No. 2, students and staff have had to experience...
Dear Editor, It has been an indescribable privilege to serve Uinta County citizens with the many legislators, staff, LSO, two governors and the many state agencies and their staff over the last 10 years. Only around 1,900 people have served as legislators since Wyoming became a state in 1890. I consider myself blessed to have been part of Wyoming’s state government, trying to help make the state a better place to live and do business in. I say thanks to all who have served, those I had the privilege to serve with, and the many people who helped...
Each time I celebrate Christmas with my little ones, I try to cherish it as much as possible. I know all to well that before I even know what happened they will be teenagers rolling their eyes at me and telling me I embarrass them or how uncool I am. But for now, I can honestly just look at them and smile at how a simple toy, book or piece of candy can bring a big smile to their faces. This year was no different. My boys, Matthew, 7, and John, 4, spent Christmas Eve day asking me when Santa was...
Will patients benefit from the passage of the 21st Century Cures Act? After listening to politicians and reading the headlines, most people might think it’s the best thing ever to come along for patients. “A new day for medical research is on the horizon,” proclaimed Rep. Fred Upton, the outgoing chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee which had just won a major victory last week. “The House and the Senate have passed this bipartisan legislation which will ensure our health system can keep pace with incredible advances in science...
State should lead in climate change policy Dear Editor, Climate change is a global emergency on the scale of—and of greater consequence than—the Second World War. And, yet, this country’s environmental and regulatory policies barely acknowledge that climate change is even “a thing.” Climate science assumes change and attempts to quantify how it is changing; yet it wasn’t even brought up in recent “presidential” “debates.” If the global average temperature increases any more than 2°C (3.4°F), crops will begin to fail around the world. We will se...
Dear Editor, The Red Desert is home to many Wyoming treasures including desert elk, one of the largest living sand dune systems in the U.S., and the Boar’s Tusk. These treasures are located primarily on public lands managed by the BLM. The Rock Springs BLM is currently drafting a new management plan that will determine the future of a large portion of the Red Desert for the next 20-25 years. The public should be a part of this process, which will determine the future of the Red Desert. Unfortunately, it has been nearly six years since the publi...
