Let’s all vote, soonLet us all vote — soon, preferably. For what it’s worth, as of Sept. 18, it is my understanding that absentee ballots will be mailed here in Laramie — and as of that same date, early voting is being provided here.
Decisions made by our elected officials today will determine the safety and quality of our drinking water for generations.
Most of us take for granted that adults regardless of age, sex or race have the right to vote. The fact is that for nearly two centuries, or 79% of American history, women and people of color lobbied, protested, and died to win suffrage and exercise it. This era drew to a close in 1971 with …
Every time I think Wyoming can’t deceive itself further, contorting all reason to justify keeping the ventilator running on its dying coal industry, politicians prove me wrong.
We should not be surprised that much of the West is on fire. Or that more than 3.1 million acres already have burned in California, another million in Oregon and in Washington, and that tens of thousands of people have been forced to evacuate.
This week, my wife and I had “the talk.” You know, the one about end-of-life issues. How much care is too much? Do we want doctors to take extraordinary action to save a life? At what point should it end? Who decides?
We know that Wyoming is full of wonderful sites and sights. This column has published hundreds of stories of spectacular places to see and visit in our home state. But where would you like to not go?
“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, ....” — Preamble of the U.S. Constitution.
This year, 2020, may have been known as the Year of the Voter with celebrations of the passages of the 15th Amendment 150 years ago and the 19th Amendment a century ago, the greatest expansions of suffrage in the nation’s history. Unfortunately, a pandemic, economic nosedive, racial unrest, …
Virtual candidate forumsThe League of Women Voters (LWV) of Laramie, in partnership with the Albany County Public Library, will be conducting virtual candidate forums for candidates running for office in Albany County.
When the Legislature adjourned its two-day special session in mid-May, House Speaker Steve Harshman and Senate President Drew Perkins advised lawmakers to prepare to come back for five more days in late June.
The most common question I receive these days, is “When will this be over?” Or some variation of that, such as, “Will this ever be over?” No one really knows when the coronavirus pandemic will end. What will it take to end this pandemic? Most likely, it will take a combination of things that…
Our father, Col. Jerome Henry Lentz, liberated a Nazi concentration camp — Ordruf. My grandfather, Col. Bernard Lentz, taught close order drill at Ft. Slocum and helped compose “Sound-Off.” Following the destruction of Pearl Harbor in World War II, ours was a family that knew the cost of fre…
First women to vote legally
Getting closer to reaching carbon neutral goalsLaramie is one step closer to reaching its carbon neutral goals and that’s good news for the environment and our community. Last week, the City Council approved a lease agreement that could put 160 megawatts of solar energy right at our doorstep…
Can massive clearcutting and bulldozing hundreds of miles of roads at a cost of hundreds of millions “restore” the Medicine Bow National Forest and protect surrounding communities from wildfire? Although the answer is a resounding “no,” that’s the misguided theory behind the huge Landscape V…
In January of 2016 my wife Trena, 1½-year-old grandson Bridger and I drove to the hospital so that we could meet Bridger’s newborn little sister. I was a bit concerned at the time that Bridger would resent having to share “HIS” home with a little sister.
Virus groupthink has had unnecessary consequences
Laramie post office needs postal box replacedDear Boomerang Editor:
This is a tough time for those charged with deciding whether and how to reopen the University of Wyoming campus to in-class learning. And we need to give the trustees, administration, faculty, staff members and students encouragement as they try to do the best they can.
The 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution has arrived, a moment to celebrate women’s right to vote and reflect on the way gender inflects our politics today. But there is another milestone in women’s suffrage in the United States that took place…
Agnes Chow is a petite, soft-spoken 23-year-old who may soon disappear into the gulags of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). She was born a British citizen living in Hong Kong, the freest city in China. Then, in 1997, Britain handed the city and its inhabitants to China under a treaty that w…
It wasn’t exactly a secret that Josh Egle wanted to grow hemp in Wyoming.
The Pilot Hill Project Committee is pleased to announce that several important milestones have been met to support opening the Pilot Hill property for public access this fall.
As a young boy I learned how to hunt from my father, other family and friends. When I harvested my first pronghorn at age 14, it was a life-changing day. Even when I was a kid, I knew hunting meant more than bringing back a trophy for the wall and a story to tell my friends. My harvest was food.
Albany County must re-elect Cathy ConnollyLaramie, I need your help. I need you to re-elect Cathy Connolly to the Wyoming House of Representatives.
Unemployed Wyomingites aren’t sure how they’re going to pay their mortgage or rent this August, our energy industries are on life-support, and small businesses are unable to plan for even the short term. Meanwhile Congress descends into complete COVID-lock, unable to do the very job they are…
When our son heard clunking noises in his car, he was appropriately worried. When his Toyota was idling or going over 20, the noise was alarming. While he waited to get an expert opinion, his mind rushed to the worst—“It’s so loud, it must be the drive-train.” Walking to work, he had time to…
Are you tired of hearing the words, “The New Normal”?
I don’t think anyone in Wyoming is more capable of supervising an election during the COVID-19 pandemic than Debra Lee. Not only does she understand how vital it is to protect people’s voting rights; she’s put her life on the line doing so.
You don’t need to hate Donald Trump to hate what he does. Indeed, if you don’t hate what Trump does, you’re out of step with the God of the Universe.
Even during a global pandemic and a state budget crisis, a group of Wyoming lawmakers has a chance later this month to continue a conversation that could lead to greater government transparency at all levels.
Just what is going on inside the brains for Millennials and Generation Z? I got a first-hand look over the past month.
Subverting the system is not an American value
I want to visit with the people of Albany County about the Pilot Hill Project.
When Mark Gordon, now Governor of Wyoming, first ran for the office a couple of years ago, he didn’t know a huge part of his job would become trying to manage a statewide outbreak of a virus that has brought about a global pandemic.
What do politicians do when a pandemic wipes out traditional campaign strategies of knocking on doors, shaking hands and talking face-to-face to constituents?
“Keep calm and carry on.” – Motivational poster (1939)
When we taught a course on trends in American foreign policy after the Cold War together at UW six years ago, we explored global patterns of interdependence (and dependence). We spent a lot of time discussing America’s place in the world and especially our relationship with China. The articl…
Fifty years ago, on June 22, 1969, the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland caught fire. The river was one of the most polluted in the U.S. Journalists filled glasses with pitch-black river water. The Santa Barbara, California oil spill occurred in January and February1969 in Southern California. It …
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…
“We the People of the United States,” the first words of the Constitution, are handwritten in the largest and boldest print in the original document.
BLM protesters anything but peacefulI am a long-time resident of Laramie. I own property, pay taxes, shop local, volunteer, donate and raise my children here.
As we enter the fifth full month fighting a stubborn pandemic, it is remarkable how many people have risen to the challenge. Despite some conflicts and naysayers, people here have shown courage and determination in continuing their daily lives as best they can.
References in previous letter offer fail to support claimsA letter to the editor on July 26 referenced several articles that seemed to discount the effectiveness of wearing a face mask to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Looking at those references produced some interesting results.
Considering challenges, problems, and crises as opportunities is a well-known entrepreneurial strategy. The current financial, health, and economic crises present such an opportunity for Wyoming to step back, reconsider, pivot, and pursue more aggressively alternative paths to economic diver…
There’s a party game called “two truths and a lie.” Sounds like a great party game. But we’re all grownups here – we should have more integrity. Politics shouldn’t be played like a teenage party game. Willfully misleading people is wrong. Most of us agree that the commandment “though shalt n…
I am writing in response to Emma Clute’s Letter to the Editor published on July 19 titled “The Rail Tie Wind Project is an unethical endeavor.” That letter contains several false and misleading statements, and I would like to set the record straight.
Want to go see something odd and different? Well, you live in the right place.
A popular (and relatable) meme circulating on the internet describes military life as having a plan, then a new plan, then another plan – then the first plan once again, which will no doubt be replaced by a brand new plan, only to go back to the second plan.
It was shortly after New Year’s Day 2001. Laura Griffith sat alone at one of those uninviting, metal picnic-like tables in the pods of the Laramie County jail. But, it was no picnic.
