Continuing the Crook County News Since 1884
Continuing the Crook County News Since 1884
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You don’t usually see the mouse in your house, just the mess it leaves behind – which is why I really wasn’t expecting one to run across my kitchen floor and sit in the doorway. We’ve had issues with vermin before, so this wasn’t good news – during the last battle, it took a process of elimination over several months to figure out where the blasted things were coming from. But those mice weren’t this brazen. This mouse was staring at me across the living room. I was so surprised that, “A mouse is looking at me,” was the best I could manage, w...
Dear Editor, The article “Homeowners Speak in Favor of a New Property Tax System” in last week’s Times points out once again how government always wants to spend more of our money. Always. First, the word “stakeholders” is purposefully evasive in the article. Who are stakeholders? Aren’t the homeowners stakeholders in their community? Why not use the word “government” in lieu of “stakeholders” since that’s what is being referred to in this article? I’m sure that all departments of all levels of government, whether it be state, county, city, sc...
Dear Editor, I have been providing a septic tank pumping service, dba Geis Honeywagon, for the rural residents of Crook County for nearly 28 years. In September it was brought to my attention that due to the DEQ regulations adopted by our County Commissioners and the Land Use Planning Office back in 2018, it is no longer lawful to land apply sewage to property without following the strict permitting process laid out by the Department of Environmental Quality. Since the majority of residents in the county do not have enough acreage to legally...
Americans have more media options than ever. We are inundated with stories, memes, videos and promotions 24 hours a day. Most of us are on social media, which is built to provide an endless feed of content to keep us glued to our screens. And unfortunately, misinformation is prevalent and much of that content isn't fact-checked, verified or professionally produced. The result is that we're not always shown what we need to know, or the information that is most likely to impact our lives. That's...
As the month of September begins, people in Wyoming are focused on their kids going back to school and the start of football season. What many might not realize is that September is also Passport Awareness Month, a time to check your documentation, especially if traveling overseas during the holiday season. One of the top requests my staff receives from constituents is help getting or renewing a passport. This process has become aggressively long and drawn out and has caused more than one hiccup in people’s travel plans. Currently, the U.S. D...
There’s something to be said for perseverance, but there’s also virtue in knowing when to stop beating the dead horse. The Loch Ness Monster, for example. She’s arguably the most famous cryptobeast on the planet and we’ve been searching for her for 1300 years, yet we’ve never managed to introduce ourselves. We had an excuse back when the best you could do was a quick sketch of what you just saw, and even when it took half an hour to snap a photo, but can we really keep the charade going des...
With September as National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, it’s a good time to take stock of the efforts made toward addressing the issue statewide and locally, including the progress made. Wyoming’s standing among the nation at large when it comes to suicide rates has long reached a point of notoriety. The state is routinely at or near the highest rate in the country and often at a figure approaching twice the national average. The simplicity of naming statistics and dreading the implications has become well-trodden territory. But the...
Guided by the Wyoming value of “save when you can,” the Legislature over several decades set up endowments and smart savings to help support the state and its people into the future. The system of reserves they created receives income generated off a portion of our mineral taxes and one-time surpluses. This savings structure not only protects our kindergarten through twelfth-grade (K-12) schools and ensures that our state agencies continue to provide critical services to Wyoming citizens; it also allows the taxes paid by the people of Wyomi...
A mystery recently solved sets up a peculiar connection between your part of the world and mine. To be specific, between a school just down the road from where I grew up and a town in Colorado. The former is Sherborne School in Dorset, an all-boys private boarding establishment that has been in constant operation for 1300 years. In all that time, as you might imagine, it has boasted some illustrious alumni; in more recent days, it has educated students including Poet Laureate Cecil Day-Lewis,...
Dear Editor, Good afternoon Sundance! I don’t know about you but I, for one, find the headlines the last few month in our Sundance Times a little concerning when it comes to our mayor and city council. Such negativity! When I open up my weekly Sundance Times, I wonder which entity they will beat up in the next headline. I’d like to see some headlines from the mayor and city council that contain “Mayor Brooks and the Sundance City Council thank the citizens of Sundance, old and new, for all the hard work they do to make our city beaut...
The State’s WyoStar investment programs have recently come under attack, and I would like to share a few facts. These programs allow local governments to make institutional-quality investments with fees lower than what large institutional investors typically pay. The State’s manager charges 0.06 percent and independent bond managers charge 0.5-1.0 percent on average. The State is able to minimize fees by combining many smaller accounts (local government entities) together into a larger fund. These two WyoStar programs have very different pro...
There’s an establishment in England that the locals will tell you is the only place serving beer from which you will exit feeling more sober than when you walked in. Or, at least, there was. For decades, the Crooked House has been famous for its structural anomalies. But last week, it became the focus of a classic whodunnit. The Crooked House was first built in 1765 as a perfectly normal red-brick farmhouse, but converted into a pub in 1830. It was called the Glynne Arms, until its name was c...
Dear Editor, To the citizens of Crook County: in 2022 the Legislature passed a bill mandating training for boards and elected officials. The intent was probably good, however there is a clause that enables removal of persons that don’t comply. The training (possibly indoctrination) is 8 hours!!! Very few people have the time to accomplish this!! Some have been threatened with removal. If you have, please let me know right away. I personally will not comply for several reasons. We offer training for our boards and don’t need the hea...
While my parents were visiting, we found ourselves addicted to a reality tv show by the name of “Alone”. If you’ve never caught an episode, it’s an extreme survival competition for which willing victims are dumped into harsh environments with little more than a tarpaulin and an ax and told to keep themselves fed and warm for as long as they possibly can. The winner of “Alone” walks away with a life-changing amount of money. Everyone else walks away with emaciated arms and PTSD from endless weeks of not being able to catch a fish and the con...
Dear Editor, It is wonderful to learn that Sundance is trying to improve ease of access and safety for pedestrians and other non-motorized travelers throughout our town. Perhaps the city, county and high school authorities could get together to rectify some other concerns that I have observed. The crosswalk at 11th and Cleveland could use a flashing light that is triggered by users to alert motorists that it is occupied, this will benefit students who attend the after-school program, athletes who have practice after the crossing guard is off...
We all know about the pilgrims arriving in the States on the Mayflower, the penal colonies of Australia, the territories of Canada and all the many other famous instances of humans spreading their influence across the globe. But there’s one tale I’ve only just heard told – and I’m betting I’m not alone in having no idea that a tea clipper once carried 153 Welsh pioneers to the harsh but beautiful land of Patagonia. Today, you’ll find an estimated 70,000 Welsh-Patagonians thriving in a settlement...
Dear Editor: In the sprawling wilderness of Wyoming’s political landscape, the Wyoming Freedom Caucus stands as a daring posse. This small band of audacious conservatives is a persistent burr under the polished saddles of grandstanding Speaker Albert Sommers and his henchman, Rep. Barry Crago. As of my penning this, a dozen legislators claim allegiance to the Caucus on their website. Yet some prefer the cloak of anonymity, a shield against Sommer’s swift retribution. There is speculation that public Caucus members have fewer committee ass...
Dear Editor, I would like to preface my comments with the statement that I believe our local elected county officials (treasurer, assessor, clerk, clerk of court, county attorney, sheriff and commissioners) do an excellent job. I have had dealings with all of them, and find them to be extremely professional, and applaud their dedication and service. My question/comment is: why are these positions political? All of their duties are spelled out in statute, and Wyoming law. I personally see no reason that these individuals need to be defined,...
Last week, I co-hosted a town hall in Buffalo with the Chairman of the Johnson County Commission to discuss property taxes and possible solutions to the large tax increases faced by the citizens of our great State. The event was well attended by Johnson County and Sheridan County folks. As one might expect, many people were very upset about their property tax amounts. I do not blame them. This continued upward trajectory is going to put a lot of Wyoming people at risk of losing their homes. At one point during the town hall, a local Johnson...
Dear Editor, Last July 4, 2022, I had neighbors set off 30-40 roman candles that also went over my land, and the neighbor to the south of them, Jim’s, that had dry, raked and wind rowed hay. My pasture had a stand of tall dry western wheat grass that was headed out and dry on the top and starting to dry at the bottom; it would have burned. My ranch fence line is only about 500 ft. from where they were firing off the fireworks. The embers from the fireworks were going over and on my land, neighbor Jim’s and onto Vision Peak, National Forest lan...
A couple of weeks ago, I confessed to discovering that one of my parents is a secret smuggler of box knives. It was a shock, but I was still able to labor under the impression that my dad was the only dangerous individual in my immediate family. Unfortunately, I have since had to reckon with my own naivety. My mum, as it turns out, is the more cunning of the pair. She did not attempt to bring contraband with her to Wyoming; rather, she waited patiently until she got here and played the long...
We are more connected now than at any time in our history. People in Wyoming can call loved ones across the country. We can consult with our doctors via telehealth. We can submit claims to the Veterans’ Administration online. We can send money with a few simple clicks. With the benefits these new technologies bring, especially for those of us living in a rural state like Wyoming, we also expose ourselves to new risks to our privacy. Big tech companies use our browsing history online to make money by selling targeted ads. Data brokers collect o...
Dear Editor, If you don’t have a gun, here is a way to ruin someone’s plans for you. Wasp and hornet spray typically shoots 20 to 30 feet and is a lot more accurate, while the pepper or mace spray, they have to get too close to you and could overpower you. The wasp spray temporarily blinds an attacker until the police arrive or they can get to the hospital for an antidote. Wasp and hornet spray is easy to find and more effective than mace or pepper spray and doesn’t attract attention like a can of pepper spray would. I keep a can in my car,...
You may have noticed in the news this last week that the “special relationship” between my homeland and yours has once again been strengthened. President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak appeared together on Thursday to announce the Atlantic Declaration, tying our two countries together more tightly than ever before. Whatever one might think of the two leaders and their administrations, I have strong ties to both countries and would have difficulty faulting either one of them for thi...
The percentage of British occupying the Pridgeon compound has tripled with the arrival of my dear parents, who braved the long voyage from the homeland for more than two months of vacation in the glorious green-up of our Black Hills. They reside for the moment in an old hunting cabin located in our yard, which we repurposed in a roaring hurry upon hearing they’d booked their plane tickets. Once a lodge for a local squirrel with bare wood walls and a tin roof, it has now been properly insulated a...
