The calls came from New England, Arizona, and Colorado. Besides Wyoming, these are places I have relatives and friends. These people know at least a little about my background. The questions ran along the lines of, “So, Tom, what’s this about Wyoming offering to become the repository for the…
Editor’s note: This is the first of a series of columns about the author’s recent experiences at the U.S.-Mexico border as a member of a Presbyterian delegation from Wyoming and Colorado.
We live in unusual times when what defines life is under constant attack. This got me thinking about two instances in my past that involved the dignity of life concerning two seemingly useless human lives.
She could have been me. About my age, my size, with hands that showed her use of them, I could have been her. Neither of us caused our health misfortune and we will never be able to escape it. Her chronic illness is severe, like mine, but we differ in one crucial feature. I have medical insu…
After October’s sobering CREG report, November saw Gov. Mark Gordon make his recommendations for the state budget for the next two years. While the governor’s budget avoided major spending increases, it also did not include any real cuts to speak of. Unfortunately, this is not going to put o…
I am sad to see how Mr. Bob Franken has once again twisted the truth to suit his view of the world. In his column “OK, zoomers” published in the Boomerang on Thursday, November 28, 2019, he misstated facts central to his discussion. I believe he is a boomer, as am I, and am wondering how he …
150 years ago, Thanksgiving of 1869, there was heavy snow in southern Wyoming and two railroad workers died near Carbon station, hit by a train they didn’t see as they walked on the tracks. Heavy snows into the winter would strand six trains west of Laramie for weeks.
As a group concerned with preserving water quality, we occasionally see county and city planning and zoning issues that broadly affect the development of our community. Some are so unusual they demand people look at what is happening.
What a dark day in Wyoming when the Wyoming RNC wants to keep its meetings top secret. The RNC now is controlled by right-wingers who tolerate only their own ideas. They want to somehow discipline Wyoming RNC members or elected people who do not agree with their platforms or planks. Platform…
Bambi doesn’t have it so good. Hunters are the last of his worries. Every year he faces dying by starvation, freezing, thirst, and disease. Cars hit him. Then there’s eagles, bobcats, lynx, coyotes, feral dogs, wolves, and cougars. There’s always another buck that wants to beat him to a pulp.
As members of the Republican State Central Committee representing Albany County, we are responding to the article recently posted in the Daily Boomerang regarding a State Central Committee meeting in Lusk, Wyoming on November 16, 2019. Unfortunately, what you are seeing is an internal disput…
Larissa Siirila of Worland is so committed to providing access to quality health care for her future patients, she’s willing to fight for it.
“You don’t choose your family. They are God’s gift to you, as you are to them.” – Desmond Tutu
Beginning this week, Albany County will become the first county in the state to implement a diversion program for college-aged adults.
Lots of things to write about around Wyoming. For example:
Like so many Wyomingites, I look forward to gambling on the road conditions for a trip to a few University of Wyoming sporting events each year. I appreciate knowing that people from Jackson, Hulett or Kemmerer might be sitting in my section – or that I might see two or 20 people I know from…
Recently, a Catholic priest made news by refusing to allow Joe Biden to share the cup and the bread during a Communion service in South Carolina. The priest said Biden was unworthy of communion because of disagreements between the priest and Biden on a woman’s right to choose.
When Erma Bombeck learned she was dying of cancer, she wrote about “Soul Food” or what she would do if she …”Had (Her) Life to Live Over.”
The disregard of the Albany County Planning & Zoning Commission (P&Z) for aquifer protection was on full display at their Nov. 13 meeting. Due process and credible science were nowhere to be seen.
The impeachment process is picking up speed — and witnesses. Republicans complained of hearsay, so more first-hand witnesses are willing to put their jobs and safety at risk to testify.
Next week, President Trump will take a break from watching his impeachment hearings to pardon two turkeys. Every one of us can exercise our own pardon power by choosing a non-violent, cruelty-free Thanksgiving observance.
Friends of ours flew back East to visit with their elderly parents, sort of a pre-holiday celebration. Their parents have been listening to CNN, NBC, CBS, etcetera so naturally their celebration turned into conflict over the Trump impeachment.
Regarding the Nov. 21 article in the Casper Star Tribune, “Inside the Wyoming GOP, critics are silenced as party leadership turns increasingly to the right," I was struck not by the authoritarian behavior of the party leadership — that’s not news in this reddest of red states — but rather th…
Thank you for covering the Nov. 13 County Planning and Zoning (P&Z) Meeting. I am the petitioner who was denied the right to present a request for review of the aquifer boundary on property across from Tumbleweeds, even as the request was discussed.
Learning that President Trump has been meeting with the Senate GOP to develop strategies for surviving an impeachment vote made me think of a defendant meeting with a judge to discuss strategy for the defendant to be found not guilty in the judge’s courtroom.
At the November 13th meeting, the Albany County Planning and Zoning Commission (PZC) invited their preferred expert on groundwater issues, Robert Starkey, to comment on a citizen request to revisit the location of the aquifer protection boundary line on the Sweckard parcel north of the Tumbl…
There comes a time in many of our lives when we either take or are given the responsibility of caring for a seriously or terminally ill family member. It is a hard job and unfortunately can be made harder by our confusing and fragmented healthcare system.
Throughout history, stars have been objects of beauty, wonder, mystery, inspiration, and aspiration.
Millions of men, women and children have been robbed by state and federal governments. I am not referring to either taxes or inflation. I am referring to the government’s dereliction of one of its most basic duties: to enforce marriage contracts.
It’s impossible to have an honest discussion about the future of coal in Wyoming until lawmakers stop blaming the so-called “war on coal” and strict federal regulations for the steady decline in mineral production and state revenues.
As the Legislature begins to seriously consider the budget for the upcoming biennium, legislators will be faced with some hard decisions. Revenue is down, and there aren’t many more ways to cut the fat.
Our Founding Fathers envisioned a government that received its powers from the governed. It required an informed, highly involved electorate. An active, educated constituency makes its presence known and serves as a check on the excesses of government. Without the involvement of the people, …
CARDIFF, Wales — The rain was falling in sheets. The wind was howling. And although the temperature was 40 degrees, I could see my breath. My raincoat was soaked through. My umbrella was blown inside out.
I recently read a newspaper article where a former speaker of the Wyoming House of Representatives said Wyoming “is the most socialist, conservative state in the nation.”
Can’t understand why Wyoming is the only state refusing a refugee resettlement agreement with the federal government or why Wyoming is one of four states without hate-crimes laws? The answer may be in the state’s Republican majority.
The ACSD#1 Board of Trustees approved a five-year strategic plan in November 2017 entitled, “Pathways to Peak Performance.” The strategic plan includes three Pathways (goals) and nine Trails (strategic objectives). The district is two years into the five-year strategic plan, and student acad…
“He’s still out there ridin’ fences / Still makes his livin’ with his rope / As long as there’s a sunset, he’ll keep ridin’ for the brand / You just can’t see him from the road.”
Michael McDaniel is a very busy man. While his work is important for Wyoming, it’s to the state’s shame that he must do it at all.
One of the largest armed forces in the history of the world is taking to the field right now. We are talking about the 36 million hunters who stalking the mighty deer and elk in the USA.
There’s a good reason the American mass media, and most especially the press, has never been less respected in our country than it is today. Political homogeneity manifesting itself in extreme left-wing bias, patronizing pedantry, sloppy logic, hypocrisy and cognitive dissonance has always b…
Alarm bells are clanging. They say churches are dying. The western world is rejecting God. The fabric of society is unraveling.
The United States, 330 million of us, formed in revolution and in victory over the world’s then mightiest empire, has been governed by its Constitution for 231 years, yet we have had four different Constitutions.
Kanye and Kim Kardashian West recently joined the small community with long streets that we call Wyoming. Their purchase of Monster Lake Ranch also coincided with very public activity in the Christian community.
I usually have a lot of self control when I hear ridiculous things at legislative committee meetings.
It’s here — hunting season. For many adults and kids alike, the feeling heading to the field is similar to the youthful anticipation of Christmas morning. And, there is no better way to enhance your hunting experience and opening morning excitement than by inviting a kid or someone new to th…
Fall is a busy time of year in Laramie. It seems like there are a lot of competing schedules trying to take advantage of all the enthusiasm that comes with the season. Whether it’s university students returning, our younger students’ school years beginning, the homecoming of alumni, outdoor …
First Lady Nancy Reagan was correct when she told an Oakland schoolgirl to “Just say no,” if offered drugs. At the time, she was mocked as naïve and simplistic. But while the mainstream media dumbed down her argument, the First Lady was trying to nudge her husband’s policy from reducing the …
After more than six months, it’s no clearer today than it was in March why the University of Wyoming Board of Trustees decided not to renew the contract of President Laurie Nichols. It’s becoming more obvious, however, that providing no explanation is not acceptable.
Suicide continues to be a serious public health issue in the Cowboy State that affects people from all different backgrounds. The Wyoming Department of Health estimated in a 2018 report that a person dies from suicide in Wyoming every two days. Figures from the Centers for Disease Control sa…
Almost 50 years after the Black 14 incident at the University of Wyoming, Laramie for the second time in 2019 welcomed back some of those football players to campus this week. And what a week it was as healing and amends took place that made those athletes feel like they were once again home at UW.
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