Serving all of Eastern Laramie County since 1908
Serving all of Eastern Laramie County since 1908
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A few weeks ago, we were spending some warm weather time in Las Vegas. It felt good to enjoy some 75-degree weather after enduring January’s temperatures of -29 and winter conditions like 17 inches of fresh snow in Lander. We loaded up our 2005-vintage motorhome and rambled down Interstate 15. We stayed at a wonderful park called Las Vegas RV Resort, an RV park near a big casino called Sam’s Town. This column is all about my apparent attempt at passing a phony $100 bill at a lunch counter at...
As the May 2 Specific Purpose Tax Ballot contains many important infrastructure projects for Pine Bluffs. A total of $5,000,000 has been allocated for water and electrical improvements, replacement and refurbishment of existing facilities, acquisition of equipment, debt reduction, routine road maintenance, and the expansion of the cemetery. These projects are spread across Propositions 5 through 9. Proposition 5 includes renovation of the clean water system, electric infrastructure improvements, and a new Public Works facility. $2,000,000 has b...
If there ever were a place that required everyone to own a dog, it probably would be Wyoming. This is a true dog-loving state. And everyone has his or her favorite dog story. Here is mine: Our old family dog, Shadow, had been listless and seemed not well for most of the long winter months. She had been diagnosed with cancer and even after surgery, the vet said there wasn’t much we could do about her condition. Her days were numbered. The dog seemed to know it, too, as she moped around. She hardl...
As a doctor, if I treat 100 patients and just three recover enough to be discharged from the hospital, I would deserve to lose my medical license. A similar standard should apply to the Endangered Species Act. This law was meant to protect animals, plants, and other species identified as endangered or threatened with extinction. It also tried to conserve ecosystems upon which these species depend. A major goal of the Endangered Species Act is the recovery of species to the point that protection under the law is no longer necessary. Since the...
We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of those involved in helping us get some better results in our medical clinic. You each know who you are, if you attended our meetings, made phone calls, handed out flyers or whatever the job was. We needed improvements in our medical clinic and with determination and lots of time, we think we accomplished what we set out to do. We thank the medical people of Kimball for taking on our clinic, addressing the problems giving us a medical clinic that we can all be proud of and can get the...
Wyoming Governor Matt Mead is pleased to announce a new website for the ENDOW (Economically Needed Diversity Options for Wyoming) Initiative. The site endowyo.biz was created through a partnership between the Governor’s office, the Wyoming Business Council and the Wyoming Office of Tourism. The site offers people a single, digital location to find information about ENDOW. A survey on the home page of the new site seeks input from citizens. The public’s response to this request for information will identify individuals interested in serving in...
What can you learn about America after traveling through eight states over the past four weeks? Perhaps the biggest shock to a Wyomingite is that there is so much empty space out there in other states other than the Cowboy State. We live in the least populated state. And I am among the busiest drivers in a state that includes the drivers who travel the most miles of any state in the country. Based on that, well, you just assume that Wyoming is different and has more empty space than other...
U.S. Senators John Barrasso and Mike Enzi and U.S. Representative Liz Cheney, all R-Wyo., recently introduced the Open Book on Equal Access to Justice Act. The legislation prevents abuse of the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA) by large environmental groups and others who frequently challenge the federal government in court. The Open Book on Equal Access to Justice Act will increase transparency by creating a public database where fees paid under EAJA are clearly listed and available to the public. Under the bill, veterans, Social Security cla...
U.S. Senators Mike Enzi and John Barrasso, both R-WY., joined Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) in protecting the Second Amendment rights of Social Security beneficiaries. The senators introduced a resolution of disapproval via the Congressional Review Act to repeal a Social Security regulation that unfairly places many Americans with disabilities in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), commonly known as the “gun ban list.” Under a rule issued on Dec. 19, 2016, the Obama administration’s Social Security Administration (SSA)...
Journalists today face both the best of times and the worst of times. The good news is there is so much news to cover. And there is an unlimited audience out there that wants to feast on your excellent reporting. The bad news is that in this Facebook/Twitter age, your wonderful journalistic efforts face more competition then ever before from amateurs putting out their own news. For many years I have had the honor of lecturing to journalism students in Dr. Ken Smith’s Community Journalism class a...
We now have a new administration. In January, I became chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. President Trump announced his nominee to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. The Senate also started the process of rolling back punishing regulations from the Obama administration. Supreme Court Nomination On Jan. 31, President Trump announced his nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to serve as associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Our next justice will make decisions that impact our country for generations. That’s why it’s im...
Today the Senate confirmed Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., to be the next Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary. U.S. Senator Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., recently praised Price as an excellent choice to head the agency, not only due to his expertise as a legislator, but his experience working as a respected doctor. “I am pleased to come to the floor in support of a friend, and someone I’m honored to have worked with for many years, Dr. Tom Price,” Enzi said. “Price is an ideal candidate for this role. Not only does he know the health care system as a physi...
The first time I heard of Charlie Belden was during a visit to Omaha where my old friend Lee Myers lives a nice retired life with his wife Barbara. Lee is a former publisher of the Cody Enterprise and is a native of Lovell. He lives near a wonderful enclave in downtown Omaha called the Old Market. It is full of old warehouses that have been converted to upscale restaurants, bars and neat apartments. He took me to a restaurant called the Twisted Fork and asked me to notice all the wonderful...
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced on January 30 that it purchased 5.04 acres from Cheyenne to establish Wyoming’s first VA National Cemetery. “We are proud to announce the shared goal of honoring our nation’s Veterans by expanding burial service to Veterans, their spouses and eligible family members,” said Interim Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs Ronald E. Walters. “This national cemetery will help us reach Veterans in rural parts of Wyoming who have not previously had reasonable access to a national or state Veterans...
Congress passed its first resolution that would overturn an Obama Administration regulation that was aimed at limiting coal production. The Senate voted Feb. 2 to send the resolution of disapproval to President Trump’s desk. The measure would end the “stream protection rule” issued by the Department of the Interior last year. U.S. Senator Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., hailed the vote as not only being important for coal communities, but also the first in a series of votes Congress should take to overturn last-minute and overreaching Obama era regul...
Wyoming’s oldest person is Leonard Ross of Jackson at 107. He attained that singular honor when a hero of mine, Leola Maude Dollard Reschke of Lander died last November at the age of 108. Lloyd Baker, 105, of Etna and Betty Schelliner, 105, of Douglas, round out the list of the oldest residents currently living in Wyoming. While doing research for this column, I also identified Dottie Turney who died at 107 in 2014, where she used to be the oldest person in the state. She always was proud t...
U.S. Senators Mike Enzi and John Barrasso, both R-Wyo., joined Senator John Thune, R-S.D., to re-introduce legislation to permanently repeal the federal estate tax, better known as the death tax. Enzi and Barrasso said the bill would permanently abolish the tax on family farms, ranches and small businesses. The senators believe a family’s assets, sometimes built up over generations, should be left in the hands of the family and will be put to better use there in the local community than shipped off to a wasteful Washington. At its i...
Wyoming Congressman Liz Cheney, a member of the Rules Committee, managed debate on the House Floor concerning the rule for consideration of H.R. 7, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2017. Congressman Cheney also co-sponsored this bill, which makes the Hyde Amendment permanent and expands it to all federal agencies. Despite President Obama’s promise to the contrary, under Obamacare federal funds are being used to subsidize insurance plans that include abortion services. H.R.7 is necessary to e...
U.S. Senators John Barrasso and Mike Enzi and U.S. Representative Liz Cheney, all R-Wyo., reintroduced legislation to approve the expansion of water storage at the Bureau of Reclamation’s (BOR) Fontenelle Reservoir in Lincoln County, Wyoming. “After years of delay, this bill will help move the much needed Fontenelle Reservoir expansion project forward,” said Barrasso. “Expanding water storage will give our farmers, ranchers and communities a reliable supply of water in order to keep their livestock and crops healthy. More water storage capacit...
The cold wind is blowing, the snow is piling up and the temperatures are plummeting in Wyoming as I write this . . . from Texas, where it is 74 degrees! We make an annual trip to north Dallas each January and it seems that I always learn something about energy that can be applied to Wyoming. T. Boone Pickens is one of our nation’s leaders when it comes to energy. He has an amazing grasp of the future and his ideas are worth listening to. Two years ago, I heard him speak in person at the Dallas Rotary Club. This year, he was featured on the e...
On January 17, Congressman Liz Cheney (R-WY) released the following statement on President Obama’s commutation of Chelsea Manning and the transfer of Osama bin Ladin’s bodyguard from Guantanamo Bay: “President Obama has commuted the sentence of a traitor who leaked thousands of classified documents, putting our national security and our men and women in uniform at risk. Documents provided to Wikileaks were used by Osama bin Laden to gain information on the U.S. battle plan in Afghanistan. Today we also learned President Obama recently relea...
The debate over the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare, is heated. There are millions of passionate voices on both sides that believe the wrong course of action could have catastrophic consequences. Americans should have a health care system with low costs and that provides access. That is why, as chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, I played a key role in passing a resolution that will provide for the repeal of Obamacare. As we improve the system there will be a stable transition period in which those with...
Re-reading an old favorite book is much like renewing an acquaintance with an old friend. The experience is rewarding and fulfilling. This happened to me recently when I picked up John McPhee’s classic book about Wyoming geology, Rising from the Plains. It’s been said there are no boring stories, just boring writers. With that thought it mind, it would seem that a book about geology would be interesting only to geologists. This early 1990s book ranks as one of the most interesting and most imp...
Congressman Liz Cheney (WY-AL) recently announced her three committee assignments for the 115th Congress. Congressman Cheney has been selected to serve on the Natural Resources Committee, Armed Services Committee, and Rules Committee. Congressman Cheney said, “At home and abroad, threats to our jobs, our values and our way of life command national In communities across Wyoming, our workers, farmers, ranchers and families have made clear that America must be taken in a new direction. They want a congress and president who are accountable to t...
The United States Senate recently approved a resolution, S. Con. Res. 3, which clears the way for consideration of legislation that would fast track repeal of Obamacare. The measure now moves on to the United States House of Representatives for consideration. Sponsored by U.S. Senator Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, the resolution will provide the tools necessary to repeal Obamacare through the budget reconciliation process and allow it to pass with a simple majority in both the Senate and the House. Enzi noted that...
