Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
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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...
After writing a few weeks ago about my music interests and how diverse they were I began thinking about my interests in other mediums, such as TV and movies and, of course, books. At first, I thought, well I’m pretty much mystery books all the time but at a closer glance I realized I have quite a variety of interests in reading as well. When it comes to fiction, yes, my first love is mysteries. I grew up on the Hardy Boys mysteries (no not Nancy Drew). I could read a book in about a day. I recently completed three books in the Detective Jen Gar...
Last Tuesday I attended the Chief Washakie FFA awards banquet, and, like other times I have attended the banquet I saw seniors talk about their respect, admiration and appreciation for advisor and ag teacher Grace Godfrey. Each time I witness this I think back to my own primary and secondary schooling and while I remember many of my teachers fondly, I never felt the type of closeness and admiration that was expressed Tuesday night toward Mrs. Godfrey. I had some favorite teachers in high school but for the most part I just wanted high school to...
Nothing like a gathering of 200 people to remind one’s self of why they love living in a small town. Friday night about 200 people gathered at the Washakie Museum & Cultural Center for a dinner, auction and awards ceremony. The event tripled in attendance from its just over 60 who attended the last awards evening. That’s a testament to the board and Executive Director Ruth Dugger and her assistant Liz Bankert. After a delicious meal and entertainment the awards began. I was busy taking notes and capturing photos of the honorees but it was not...
Hi folks. It’s been a while since last I touched base. A lot has happened, especially with my relationship with Tigger. Tigger started going on walks with us and Dad would make sure I stayed right with him so as not to be tempted to chase Tigger. That was so hard. I mean I am a dog and Tigger is, well, a cat. It is instinct. Tigger would not go on walks with Mom and us until just last week. I think he was leery since Mom lets me run all over chasing birds. I love spring, birds are everywhere. I still have not been able to catch any though. I d...
There has been much written about the Daniel man Cody Roberts and his mistreatment and killing of a wolf earlier this month. Reports state he ran the wolf over with his snowmobile, taped the mouth shut (later putting a muzzle and shock collar on it) and took it home and then to a bar in Daniel. Then, finally, hours later, with the wolf slowly dying from injuries sustained from being run over, he took the wolf out and killed it. He was fined $250 for having a live wild animal. Because wolves are considered predators in much of Wyoming the killin...
A situation in which a city employee tried, in the words of City Attorney Kent Richins, “everything in their power to try to get rid of department heads and council members” has prompted some proposed changes to the city’s chain of command policy. The council has discussed chain of command briefly in other meetings and has gone over the chain of command during a work session. Last Tuesday they spent 20 minutes discussing language in the proposed changes. Two main concerns have been voiced by council members, not being allowed to talk to city...
In case you have not heard, Beyoncé has released a new album, a country album if you will, but many are calling foul on it being categorized as country. I am a huge country music fan, but I am overall a music fan and my thought when Beyoncé came out with her country album “Cowboy Carter” was if Dolly Parton can do a rock album then Beyoncé can do a country album. And, by the way, Dolly’s “Rockstar” album is a must listen for music fans. I am not a Beyoncé music fan but curiosity got the better of me so I gave it a listen. What I found is I li...
Easter is on Sunday and while I was thinking of an Easter type column there is something else I just have to say first. Kudos to the Wyoming Legislature leadership, specifically Speak of the House Albert Sommers and Senate President Ogden Driskill for saying no to a special session. Many legislators, including our local legislators, are clamoring for a special session in light of recent vetoes by Governor Mark Gordon, specifically one on property tax and vetoing the bill that would have repealed gun free zones. First, special sessions should...
Last week, in the aftermath of Governor Gordon’s veto of Senate File 54, the Department of Revenue conveyed to us that the veto would effectively halt any additional legislative efforts toward property tax relief in 2024. However, on Monday, the Department of Revenue informed us that property owners could be notified of the exemption in their September tax bills, although it may lead to some confusion for the taxpayer. This information made us take a second look at whether we would recommend a special session. In the end, we think a special s...
It was about dusk the other night. I was taking a walk around the property with the dogs, and the cats, before it got too dark to see anything. Across our lane is some private property and then BLM. We see people driving all the time over there so seeing lights at this time of night was not unusual. I figured it was someone who had been enjoying a day in the badlands. But my eyes stayed in that direction as I'm always curious which direction people turn and I like to watch the dogs' reaction to make sure they don't always run to the fence to...
A big shout out to Kendra Ware and the Mental Fitness Fair Committee who put on a event on Saturday. There were great speakers covering a lot of topics, a wealth of information. There was a great crowd on hand to listen and learn. This was not a “fun” event but one for learning to help yourself and to help others who may struggle with mental fitness. (I like the phrase that Stan Flitner, one of the organizers of the Shell community fair that spiraled into the Worland fair. Mental fitness.) So often we get caught up in phrases like mental ill...
A few months ago, Mayor Jim Gill invited stakeholders to hear from organizers of the Shell mental health fair not knowing where it might lead. What it has led to is several interested persons, organizations and businesses working together for Washakie County’s own mental wellness fair this Saturday. The Mental Fitness Fair starts at 10 a.m. at the Worland Community Center. Committee chair Kendra Ware told the council March 5, “We all are just community members that want to help make a change. We want to be able to help end the stigma of men...
Some scams you can see coming and they are easy to avoid other newer scams seem to be catching people off guard and one of those has been running rampant on some local Facebook pages. Amazon may be hiring but they are not hiring here in Worland for work-at-home jobs. According to scam-detector.com, “Watch out for a plethora of fake Amazon jobs from home that have been inundated the employment boards. There is no secret that, in general, the Amazon scams have been perpetrating the most, but this type of fraud (job scams, that is) has been m...
I knew ahead of last Tuesday’s council meeting there would be a crowd, having received a bulk email about concerns over the proposed rate increases. I am always a bit nervous when there is a crowd at government meetings because you never know the atmosphere of the meeting, but I need not have worried about the Feb. 20 meeting, as the meeting was the epitome of great civil discourse. There was nearly standing room only, but there is not a lot of seating in the council chambers. Questions, comments from the audience were courteous, well thought o...
Today, Thursday, Feb. 22, is President George Washington’s Birthday. It was observed on Monday, a federal holiday. Most people observed this as Presidents’ Day. The official holiday, however is George Washington’s Birthday and was intended to honor one of our founding fathers, a decorated general and our nation’s first president. I began this research into his birthday and the February federal holiday after a discussion in the office about what is this holiday really? Because, let’s be honest, there have been some presidents that we would rea...
Leading up to Super Bowl LVIII, I kept seeing posts and headlines on how no one was going to watch this year’s Super Bowl as no one wanted to see a rematch from four years ago. Well perhaps “no one” watched but many did, in fact, according to Poynter senior editor Tom Jones in his Tuesday newsletter, a record number watched this year’s Super Bowl. Early indication is 123.4 million viewers watched the game across all platforms, meaning CBS Television Network, Paramount+, Nickelodeon, Univision, CBS Sports and NFL digital properties, includi...
It’s that time of year when the Wyoming state legislators head to Cheyenne to conduct the state’s business and it is our job, as state citizens to pay attention and to give guidance to our local legislators on issues that are important to us and that will impact us. Too often we sit back and tell ourselves they are going to do what they want and that our opinion does not matter. Your opinion does matter. Does it mean that legislators will do exactly as you wish? No, but it means that you are letting your voice be heard, that you are inv...
Parental choice in education is guaranteed in the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which protects the fundamental right of parents to direct the care, upbringing and education of their children. While parental choice in education may be a new concept to some, the U.S. Supreme Court has recognized this right since the 1920s. What is new is the growing number of states developing school choice options for parents. In Wyoming, we have always valued individualism and freedom. So, it is no surprise that many Wyoming parents desire...
We were talking in the office about the show “Worst Cooks in America” and how some of the “cooks” did not know some of the basics, which brought to mind some of my first cooking experiences when I was a novice (not that I am an expert now but I know a lot more than I did in my teens). We had a small kitchen growing up so there was not a lot of room for mom to show us how to cook and she was not someone who used recipes a lot. She was a wonderful baker and known for her sugar cookies. She would give people her recipe and I would hear comment...
Last year in March I took my health fair results to my doctor. I figured things would have to change in my life based on my numbers. I was right. Numbers for liver, heart, cholesterol and A1C were all high, not surprising to me. We discussed all but the A1C first and came to the conclusion I could address all with diet and exercise. The A1C was 6.6, diabetic range. Her tone was serious so I knew it was nothing to mess around with. She asked if I wanted to deal with it through medicine or exercis...