The Voice of the Community Since 1909, Serving Moorcroft and Pine Haven, Wyoming
The Voice of the Community Since 1909, Serving Moorcroft and Pine Haven, Wyoming
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We started our virtual session on January 12, gaveling in for a one-day start on the session. Bills were read in and assigned to committees and then we gaveled in with our committees, meeting virtually on January 19,20 and 21. The bills were all interim committee bills. We then reconvened on January 27 to work around 55 bills split between the House and Senate. The session was available either virtually or in person. I have attended both the gaveling in on the 12th and the session from January 21 to February 5 in person in Cheyenne. The senate...
Dear Editor, Holy crap, who knew! There really is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. I discovered this after attending the January 6 Crook County Commissioners meeting, at which they held a hearing concerning the request to establish a county wide Solid Waste Tax Assessment District to support Moorcroft’s city dump. I was astounded to hear Moorcroft’s Mayor state at this meeting, that if only we would agree to access all of the property owners in Crook County an additional three mills of tax, on top of what they may already be paying to d...
Dear Editor, With the literally hundreds of communicable/transferable diseases around the world, what makes Covid-19 so different...why are we being forced to be afraid of this virus more than any other ailment, including the plague? Yes, it can make some people very ill; and yes, it can sadly take the lives of some. But so can, and does, many other diseases. I agree that this virus is disconcerting. It came without any warning, and traveled around the world in record time (my thoughts on that is a different story!), and it seems to be easily...
Dear Editor, To the residents of Crook County: I am asking each resident to contact the Crook County Commissioners and indicate your opinion concerning the forming of a solid waste district in Crook County. Moorcroft, Sundance and Pine Haven municipalities requested that the commissioners establish a solid waste district in Crook County at the December meeting. The decision was pushed to the January meeting on the 6th at 2:30 p.m., requesting more information and what support or non-support exists for the forming of a solid waste district. If a...
Hello all, just a quick update on the Wyoming Legislature. Now that the dust has settled at least at a state and local level on the elections I felt it was appropriate for an update. There will be lots of new faces when we get to the capitol. Congratulations to all who had the courage to run and took the time to offer up their service to the local area. I was lucky enough to not to have to run for reelection, but did put my hat in the ring for Majority Floor Leader of the Wyoming Senate. I was unanimously elected, making me #2 in Wyoming...
Dear Editor, There’s a time for everything. I have been waiting to write this letter for a long time. Listening to the Vice President Debate with Joe Biden made the right time for this letter. When Harris was asked about abortion she said it’s my body, but the way I understand it, the baby has its own body that’s growing in time of conception. If you plant any kind of grain you get a crop if weather is right. When a woman gets pregnant, she is pregnant with a living human being. When she has an abortion, she is murdering a living human being...
Wyoming legislators have been working this fall on further erosion of public notices in newspapers. This time the target is the publication of the salaries of local government employees. A bill changing state law so that those no longer have to be published is in the works. A committee passed it in September. As it stands now, our taxpayer-funded municipal governments, county governments and public school districts must, at the very least, publish a list of positions and how much the people who hold them are paid. In some cases the actual...
Dear Editor, The coming election is one of the most critical in many years on the federal, state and local levels. If you are planning on voting by mail, you should consider doing so by next week to ensure your voice is heard. While many state elections have been decided in the primaries, the senior mill, the 1% specific purpose tax and local membership on governing bodies are still to be decided. Your vote will help to shape our future. John Aloisio Moorcroft...
There is one week set aside each year to salute newspapers for the important role they have played in our nation, a role that goes back to the beginning of these United States. This year, however, waiting until October 4-10 and National Newspaper Week has been difficult, because the coronavirus pandemic and a variety of major news events across our land have tested newspapers, and our communities, in ways we might never have fathomed. Taking stock of the contributions by newspapers, large and...
Dear Editor: The current level of polarization in the United States is corrosive and destructive of personal relationships, essential political discourse and a cohesive social fabric. Fortunately, many organizations and individuals are focused on defusing and healing our divisions. Braver Angels is a national volunteer nonprofit that promotes the exchange of ideas by teaching people how to listen and speak to each other – essential skills for depolarizing the current political and cultural environment. Among its activities are workshops, d...
I am alarmed at the free college rhetoric that hit the Wyoming news cycle over the past week. I know our post-secondary institutions are concerned about enrollment being down this fall and the financial hardship that will cause. But dangling the offer of free college with federal CARES money is not the right message or strategy for that money or our state. It is all too easy in contemporary politics for politicians to offer free everything, we can do better than that in Wyoming. A draft bill, proposed by Speaker Harshman, and supported by...
Dear Editor, This coming November, two items will appear on the ballot. First will be the one mill levy to support the countless services provided to our senior citizens throughout the county; these range from home visits, meals, transportation to doctor appointments and so much more. Second is the 1% specific use tax, which provides much-needed funds for infrastructure in each community of Crook County. When is a tax “good”? When we impose it on ourselves for the betterment of our community. All the funds raised by these initiatives stay her...
Food insecurity is a largely invisible problem, most typically experienced within the privacy of a home or kept an uncomfortable secret in a school setting. Walk into any grocery store in Wyoming and it’s hard to imagine how anyone might not have enough to eat, but that’s the irony of hunger: it isn’t that there isn’t enough food to eat, but that families and children aren’t always able to access that food. Kids who don’t have reliable access to food are much more likely to face unhealthy, unsuccessful and uncertain futures. This is an all-t...
Dear Editor, You work hard you do the right thing and bam you get screwed! Why even bid a contract if you are not going to take the bids seriously? Really a bid is a good faith expectation by both parties, the bidder believes they will be given the bid if they are lower than their competitors, the Town bids to keep things fair and to be good stewards of the tax dollars they are spending. So why is the highest bid accepted over a 10% lower bid? The reason is they had good references and were well-liked? That being the case let’s just give the w...
Over the past two months, the nation has engaged in unprecedented shutdowns in an effort to contain the outbreak of COVID-19. After many weeks of economically crippling restrictions and stay-at-home orders, citizens are beginning to question the justification for these measures and whether continued enforcement unreasonably infringes on important constitutional rights and liberties. These concerns are becoming more acute now that we have a better understanding of the impact on our medical system and the economy across the nation and here in...
Dear Editor, There is a lot of discussion in regards to the possibility of a new hospital in Sundance and clinic in Hulett with also a few words about a clinic in Upton. What I have been hearing so far is this would be funded with the money that was allocated for COVID-19 relief thru the CARES act. While a new hospital in Sundance, possible clinic in Hulett and Upton would be an improvement, I am wondering has any consideration been given to after the project is complete? What will be the cost to operate and from where will those funds be gathe...
What we have come to value and measure in education policy – assessments, accountability and student seat time – were immediately ditched in the face of the pandemic. Our schools, despite being closed to students, remain hubs for teaching, learning and providing meals to students. How is this being accomplished? For starters, we know that technology has made remote delivery of quality instruction possible. Since April 6, every school district in Wyoming has operated under their state-approved “Adapted” Learning Plan” that summarizes their app... Full story
These are extraordinarily challenging times for the nation’s hospitals and health care workers. In just a couple of months, the coronavirus has swept around the globe and across the country, disrupting and destroying countless lives and wreaking havoc on the nation’s health-care system. I have spent most of my professional life working in health care in Wyoming: as an orthopedic surgeon at the Wyoming Medical Center, as medical director of the Wyoming Health Fairs and as president of the Wyoming Medical Society. In fact, people here at home kno...
Dear Editor, Crook County Seniors you may not realize it yet, but you are in good hands, the hands of Jenna Ellsbury. Jenna is the new Director of Crook County Senior Services and she is a woman you should get to know. If you get the publication of Senior Moments you will have read a little about Jenna but there is so much more. Jenna had been on the job two weeks, was getting acquainted with her staff at the office and in the Senior Centers throughout the county, was attending meetings, fielding phone calls, meeting the public, etc. etc., all...
By Dan Nordberg, SBA’s Regional Administrator and Amy Lea, Wyoming District Director Wyoming’s small businesses are the fabric of our economy and their success is dependent on the ability to freely market products and services to communities across the state. As Americans face the new reality of “social distancing” measures, our local small businesses are bearing the brunt of that impact and are addressing serious concerns regarding declining customer traffic. In order to assist businesses adversely impacted by the Coronavirus (COVID-... Full story
Dear NP, What does COVID-19 do to the body? What are the symptoms of COVID-19? J. R. Dear J. R., It’s safe to say that COVID-19, a novel coronavirus, is on everybody’s mind. Knowledge is power in times of fear, so it’s critically important that you educate yourself on what the coronavirus actually does to the body so you can recognize its symptoms in yourself and your loved ones. What are the symptoms of COVID-19? According to the CDC, the symptoms of COVID-19 mainly include fever, cough and sho...
“If you wanted to create an education environment that was directly opposed to what the brain was good at doing, you probably would design something like a classroom.” In his book, Brain Rules, author John Medina lays out the science and research to back up this statement—and he’s not the only one. A growing number of researchers, policymakers and educators, in Wyoming and across the nation, are speaking out about the need for change. Wyoming has responded in kind in several ways: Boot-Up Wyoming is Wyoming’s computational thinking and compu...
Dear Editor, Don’t forget what Christmas stands for. I know it’s different strokes for different folks. I wonder if they got the dates mixed up. That sign east, on Highway 51 says “Happy Holidays”. This is not the Fourth of July, this is Christmas. There is a reason for the season. Please don’t take Christ out of Christmas. I’m sure “Merry Christmas would look better this time of year. You could even add Happy New Year. Please don’t get your dates mixed up again for the believers. Look up the true meaning of Christmas on your computer. God B...
The story of our country is often told by the decades that define it. With the end of this decade so close at hand, it can often be tempting to imagine what the last ten years will be remembered for. Or for that matter, the last year alone. For me, 2019 will be remembered by the people I had the pleasure to meet, businesses I had the opportunity to visit and the projects I have had the privilege to work on. Between spending time in our nation’s capital and back home in Wyoming, I’ve been able to meet with hundreds of workers and families fro...
Dear Editor, The CCMSD (Crook County Medical Services District) Board regular meeting took place on October 29, 2019. I would like to share a few positive items from that meeting and from things we’ve done this year. Strategic planning meeting October 18, 2019. Twenty-three “stakeholders” from the community, staff, board, etc., took part in the meeting. The trainers worked with us to set short-term and long-term goals for the Hospital District and medical area. We had very positive input from those attending. We would like to thank all who atte...
