Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
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I learned several things leading up to, during and after this year’s General Election. •First, many people truly do not understand the election process, know the Constitution or state statute. Many people do not realize that municipal, county, state and federal offices are sworn in, in the new year. They do not take office right after the election. Some special districts, such as school districts, swear in newly elected members to begin serving in December. Perhaps I know this information based on the numerous elections I have covered dur...
Halloween was last week. The election was this week. Still need something scary to fill that fear void? Check out my favorite podcast Monsters Among Us Podcast. I came across it many months ago and it is my favorite. I love the stories, the format and the host. The host is Derek Hayes and per the podcast website, he “currently calls the mountains above Los Angeles, California home but originates from the backwoods of Southeast Ohio. He’s worked in the film industry for 10 years in addition to producing oddity inspired artwork on the side. A c...
The State constitutional amendment on next Tuesday’s ballot is just one of many important decisions voters face in Wyoming and Washakie County. There is much to decide in Tuesday’s General Election, from federal races to the City of Worland’s next mayor and how the Legislature will handle property taxes in the coming years. Of course, selecting the next president, mayor, city council, school board, cemetery board, fire board, conservation district board are all important, but one of the most important decisions on the ballot is Const...
Who knew one of the biggest things to divide the Worland community would be bras and tank tops on display at Pioneer Square. There was much debate about the Bras For A Cause display during two city council meetings and even more debate on social media, most of it civil. As I read and listened to comments from people on both sides, I came to a few realizations. First, I have come full circle from my comments on this space a few years ago when I wrote that I didn’t feel the push you see everywhere, especially in October, was necessary anymore. E...
One of my all time favorite memes is the one that states, “My brain has too many tabs open; 4 of them are frozen and I have no idea where the music is coming from.” For this week’s column I am going to try and go through some of those tabs open in my brain and jot down some random thoughts so I can close them and open some more. 1. Who said NASCAR’s Championship Chase was boring? Last Sunday’s race as Kyle Larson dominated the final stage, the drama unfolding was who was going to advance to the playoffs and the Round of Eight. That question...
A few weeks ago I wrote that words matter, referring to verbal words, and this week, as we observe National Newspaper Week I am going to discuss other words that matter — printed words in newspapers. This year’s theme is Tell Our Stories, meaning for us newspaper folk to tell why we got into this business and for me the theme says it all. That’s why I do this — to tell our stories. I started in Thermopolis at the Independent Record while a senior in a career class. Students were placed with businesses in areas where they had a potenti...
Tuesday marked the centennial of the “Yellowstone highway” through Wind River Canyon. The Wyoming Department of Transportation conducted a small ceremony Tuesday morning. While I did not go to the ceremony, our reporter Sean Mortimer did but it made me think about the hundreds, if not thousands, of trips I have made through that canyon. One of the first memories was when the driver’s education teacher took us through the canyon. I was nervous, following a vehicle and I was going about 40 or 45 mph. The teacher suggested that I pass and I said I...
You are probably thinking with that headline that I am going to talk about the importance of the written word and print newspapers. That is for another time, perhaps National Newspaper Week coming in a few weeks. But this week I want to talk about when you say something and try to walk it back or make excuses or clarify. It does not work. You said what you said and in my opinion 90% of the time, or more, people believe what they said they just did not think they would get push back from the comments. Perhaps the most notable is Republican...
While Congress was able to delay the U.S. Postal Service from removing both Regional Processing and Distribution Centers out of Wyoming it appears at an online meeting last Thursday that the Postal Service is still moving forward with the plan. During the Pre-Filing Conference to discuss the “Delivering for America Plan,” a plan to “transform the Postal Service’s processing and transportation networks,” a map for the new plans show Casper’s RPDC operations moving to Billings, Montana and Cheyenne’s operations to Denver, Colorado, leaving Wyomin...
President Ronald Reagan. As with most presidents and politicians people love him or hate him. Politics aside, if you want to take a walk through your childhood (for Generation Xers or Boomers) then I would recommend the movie “Reagan” released in theaters last weekend. According to Newsweek, the movie beat box office expectations for the Labor Day Weekend, bringing in “an estimated cumulative total of $9.2 million, including projections for Monday.” The movie is a biopic of our 40th president, but it doesn’t feel like some mundane, boring biopi...
So time to dole out some snickerdoodle cookies and a crumb from events over the past week. The first cookie goes to everyone who posted their dog photos to our Facebook page on Monday, International Dog Day. I had one reader and Facebook follower text me that we know what people care about … their dogs. As a dog lover I completely understand that. It was so fun to check out everyone’s dogs and the expressions on some of the dogs were priceless. Thank you to everyone who participated, it was a lot of fun and I enjoyed the interaction. And spe...
It’s been a little sad at our household lately. A little over a week ago Mom took Ivy to the doctor. She had not been feeling well, was not eating and was losing a lot of weight. Mom came back sad and said something about cancer and that they were going to do an ultrasound on Ivy. It sounded scary. Then Mom took Ivy to the doctor the next day when she went to work but when Mom came home Ivy was not with her. I heard something about the Rainbow Bridge and that Ivy was playing with Luke, Sarah and Jake. I never met them before but Mom and Dad t...
It is time to look at some positives and negatives heading into Tuesday’s election so I am handing out two cookies and some crumbs. The first cookie goes to all the candidates on Tuesday’s ballot for being willing to serve, for putting yourself out there for people to vote on your policies and ideas and for hitting the campaign trail this year. Share the cookie with your family who is standing beside you on your journey. The second cookie goes to Washakie County Clerk Lily Rakness Parra for standing up to some bullies. In the nine years I hav...
Some years I can take or leave the Olympics or half-hearted watch. This year though I have enjoyed watching it more than in years past. I cannot tell you what has changed or why this Olympics is different than years past. What I can tell you is some of the fun moments I have enjoyed over the past week or so. Let’s start with the trampoline first. I wanted to watch that because I did not pay attention last time and I am amazed at the athleticism and artistry of these men and women. I remarked to my husband “just think if my high school wou...
I miss the good old days in Wyoming where Wyoming ethics and values could be seen and heard on the campaign trail. I am not sure I can pinpoint a specific election where that started to change but you can certainly see it is lacking in this campaign cycle. Wyoming candidates used to pride themselves on no attack ads, running clean campaigns with no mudslinging and not allowing outsiders to try and influence our elections. Two years ago we had outsiders from as far away as Florida come and tell us who to vote for in the U.S. House race and many...
Fair week wraps up in the next few days. Hopefully you have ventured out to the Washakie County Fairgrounds to check out the hard work from the youth and from many adults in the community who have entered projects in open class. What you have missed is the horse show, cornhole tournament, the 4-H judging but you can still check out all the projects on display; you missed the swine show, dog show and public style revue where 4-H members modeled their sewing projects; you missed the goat and sheep show, open class exhibit judging, the cat show (a...
My heart aches for our country right now. I know it seems as I write that nearly every year but it is never more so than after Saturday’s attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. There were pleas to tone down the political rhetoric from Trump, from President Biden and others to tone down the hate. It fell on mostly deaf ears. Scroll through any social media and you can read posts blaming both sides of the political divide, conspiracy theories from both sides and a lot of mean and hateful comments. It just never ends. It’s bee...
Starting this week and continuing over the next five weeks the Northern Wyoming News will be profiling candidates who are on the Aug. 20 primary election ballot. This week we begin with the four U.S. Senate candidates (three Republicans and one Democrat) and three U.S. House candidates (two Republicans and one Democrat). Next week will be the Republican candidates for House District 27 and House District 28. No Democrats have filed for those legislative offices. We will proceed with Senate District 20, Washakie County Commissioners, Worland...
14 years ago our founding fathers declared their independence. I think in this time as we celebrate with parades, rodeos, barbecues and fireworks we must take time to read the Declaration of Independence and fully appreciate what those 13 colonies did back in 1776. The Declaration of Independence is too long to republish here. It lists a lengthy set of grievances against the King of Great Britain. The founding fathers wrote in part, “The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it b...
Summer officially began last Thursday with the summer solstice and with it comes the busy time of summer for special events in Washakie County. This weekend is the annual Culturefest celebration at the Worland Community Center Complex back lawn. There will be food, fun and music for the whole family. The event runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Also Saturday is an antique show and community yard sale in the parking lot of the Washakie Cinemas. The following week is Ten Sleep's annual Fourth of July celebration with parade, rodeo, craft show, street...
The Northern Wyoming News staff has been working hard over the past few weeks on our 79th annual Big Horn Basin Edition. I am excited for you to check out the special features we have for you this year. This section has changed over the years. In the beginning it used to be included in the overall section of the paper, making the section at times 100 pages. In the beginning it was about progress and as communities and businesses grew there was a lot of progress to report on. When I began as editor of the Northern Wyoming News, the Big Horn...
Lost in the uproar over the impending death of coal in Campbell County is the reality of who the real killer is. Of course, the Bureau of Land Management pursuing an end to new coal leases in the Powder River Basin amounts to an undeniable death blow should it get its way. But if you were to solely listen to the folks who attended this week’s meeting with Campbell County Commissioners, you may overlook the context in which that seemingly extinction-level decision was made. No new coal leases have sold in Campbell County since 2012 — more tha...
Many kudos go out to all the participants and organizers of the second annual Safe Community Day. I missed last year’s inaugural event but no matter how great last year’s event went, in my opinion, unlike many movie sequels, this sequel was not a dud. There were many demonstrations, many informative booths, some food booths and plenty of fun for the whole family. As I wandered around Newell Sargent Park taking photos of the various demonstrations I also watched people and their interactions. Kids were having fun, adults were having fun and the...
As of June 1, Taco John’s Worland will shutter its doors. From what I learned from the owner, Lindsay Stilwell of Lodar Inc. from Casper, she has opted to not renew the franchise agreement that is up on June 2. There are a number of reasons for this including cost of the agreement and new requirements. Please read the story on Page 1. It’s unfortunate but not unusual for businesses to have to let franchise agreements go; especially here in the Big Horn Basin. Both Greybull and Thermopolis have had sandwich franchises close down and re-...
Want to serve your community and have time to devote to the City of Worland or Washakie County? Now is the time to step up and throw your proverbial hat into the ring and run for city council, county commissioner or mayor. You can even run for a state legislative seat or U.S. congressional seat. There are plenty of opportunities to serve and filing continues for one more week, ending at 5 p.m. on Friday, May 31. There is already a race for Republican nominations for the lone county commission seat up this year, for the U.S. Senate, for Senate...