Wyoming's UPLIFT displays the better side of human nature

It was a week marked by savagery and bravery.

A disturbed young man shoots 18 people in front of a Tucson grocery store. Six of them die, the rest wounded, one -- Rep. Giffords -- critically.

Amidst the slaughter, people rushed to save the wounded and subdue the attacker. You're heard the stories, if not from Cable news than from Pres. Obama's eloquent speech at Wednesday's memorial.

What causes some people to run away from chaos and others to run toward it? I've been asking myself that question all week. Daniel Hernandez ran toward the gunfire and tended to his boss's wounds. He didn't leave her side until the ambulance got her to the hospital. When he spoke Wednesday, we saw a self-confident and self-effacing 20-year-old college student. He's devoted himself to a life of public service. We saw that commitment to both the "public" and "service" parts of the equation this week.

When challenged, we will sacrifice our own lives to help our fellow humans. This is the good side of our nature, the empathetic and charitable side. Researchers announced recently that there is a part of us -- the "altruism gene" -- that promotes charitable instincts. We also know that there are parts of us that respond to the venal and violent.

In the end, which wins out? Physiology is only part of it. Family upbringing makes a difference, as do other role models. Intelligence and education do to too, although we know that many sins have been committed by "the best and brightest." Religion can play a part. Again, many slaughters have been committed by the righteous.

I was thinking of this yesterday during the quarterly board meeting of UPLIFT in Cheyenne. We are a volunteer board of 14 members. We just welcomed a new one, LaWahna Stickney, from Thayne. We now are a truly statewide board, with members from Cheyenne, Laramie, Casper and Thayne. Most of us became involved in children's mental health and behavioral issues because our own children were struggling. Teachers complained that our kids were unruly and defiant. Other parents complained when our children got aggressive on the playground. We were at wit's end at home because we could not understand why our little darlings were such monsters. Weren't we kind and generous and educated human beings?

We were stymied when we attempted to find help in the community. We were either told outright -- or it was implied -- that we were bad parents with bad kids. We knew that wasn't true. By the time our son, Kevin, was five, we'd seen practically every specialist along Colorado's Front Range. We finally found a psychiatrist in Fort Collins, Dr. James Kagan, who diagnosed Kevin with ADHD and helped put us on the right road. That involved medication in the form of Ritalin. Therapy, too. But we still had this weird sense that we were all alone in this, that it was our struggle to bear and understand.

Finding UPLIFT when we moved to Cheyenne gave us some handy tools, especially when it came to dealing with schools. We also found similar struggles among its staff and board. We discovered helpful ways to deal with schools. It was cathartic to share our stories and hear those of others.

Here's UPLIFT's mission statement:

Encouraging success and stability for children and youth with or at risk of emotional, behavioral, learning, developmental, or physical disorders at home, school, and in the community.

UPLIFT just marked its 20th anniversary of service to Wyoming. At yesterday's board meeting, we heard details of our recent financial setbacks. UPLIFT is an organization that gets 97 percent of its funding from governmental (mostly federal) sources. Sometimes you get turned down for grants, and sometimes funding streams dry up. Strings are attached to most government funding. So, while your organization has a significant budget, you may not have enough money to pay for the basics, such as salaries, electricity and a office space. It's a truism in the world of non-profits -- keeping the lights on is the biggest challenge.

UPLIFT had to cut the administration budget. That includes salaries and benefits, including health insurance. Two employees left because that health insurance was crucial to them -- many employees have kids with special needs. One employee moved out of state. The ones that remained not only stayed and worked with their clients around this very rural state, but they even stopped claiming travel reimbursements. Some employees even made cash contributions. That's something, isn't it? Salaries and benefits get cut, yet you still find the means to put some cash in the kitty.

They know that this is a short-term problem. They also know that the cuts bring pain to their boss, Peggy Nikkel. They are certain of the good work they do and don't want it to stop or interrupted. Most of their time is spent working with families. They accompany parents to school meetings, helping them make sense of the requirements with the Americans with Disabilities Act and Individualized Education Programs. At these meetings, the principal and school psychologist and half the teachers are arrayed against you. We have had several of UPLIFT's family support specialists (Judy Bredthauer, for one) at these meetings and it made a huge difference. They are cool and calm and knowledgeable. They can get tough when presented with intransigence. But the main thing is that schools now know that UPLIFT can be trusted. Oftentimes, they welcome the participation of UPLIFT staffers.

As I've recounted often on these pages, Wyoming is a huge, rural state with many challenges when it comes to children's mental health.

UPLIFT, an affiliate of the Federation of Families for Children's Mental Health, fills a huge gap. Its staffers don't provide clinical services, but they are the great connectors between families and those services. They can translate government regulations. For cash-strapped families, they find funding. They make sense of the great big world of mental health.

They are on a mission. Maybe, as were the Blues Brothers, they are on a mission from God. Whatever their motivations, they come from the better side of human nature.

By the way, if you want to stimulate your own better natures, you can donate to UPLIFT by going here.

Looking for help, call toll free 888-875-4383.

Merwin poem fitting close to Arizona memorial

University of Arizona President Robert Shelton at Wednesday’s memorial for the Tucson shooting victims:

SHELTON: I know conclude the program tonight by reading a poem that was written by W.S. Merwin who is the current poet laureate of the United States of America. Mister Merwin has a long history with the Poetry Center here at the University of Arizona.

To the New Year

With what stillness at last
you appear in the valley
your first sunlight reaching down
to touch the tips of a few
high leaves that do not stir
as though they had not noticed
and did not know you at all
then the voice of a dove calls
from far away in itself
to the hush of the morning

so this is the sound of you
here and now whether or not
anyone hears it this is
where we have come with our age
our knowledge such as it is
and our hopes such as they are
invisible before us
untouched and still possible

W.S. Merwin
from Present Company, Copper Canyon Press

Thanks to Joshua Robbins for posting the poem at http://againstoblivion.blogspot.com

Rep. Throne: Good speech, Gov. Mead, but what's your beef against health care reform?

Wyoming State Rep. Mary Throne wrote the Democratic Party response to Gov. Matt Mead's "State of the State" speech delivered today at the Capitol. Rep. Throne is one of the few Democrats still in the Legislature after the Nov. 2008 Election Wipeout. I walked a few neighborhoods for her back in 2006:

Cheyenne, WY – Senate Minority Floor Leader John Hastert and House Minority Whip Mary Throne released the following statement in response to Gov. Matt Mead’s first State of the State address:

“In Gov. Mead’s first State of the State address he outlined a number of critical priorities to the citizens of Wyoming.  He rightfully noted our vast resources from open spaces to mineral wealth to our citizens. 

Gov. Mead highlighted the need to support state and local governments, build our infrastructure, and strengthen our connectivity. We look forward to the specifics of Gov. Mead’s proposal to invest our dollars in Wyoming’s Main Street rather than Wall Street.  He spoke of streamlining state government and supporting state employees.  He indicated his support for Wyoming workers when he called for legislation that will grant Wyoming contractors preference.  These are all proposals we support.

It is essential that we continue discussing Wyoming education.  We must ensure that our children and their success is central. If policy proposals will not improve what goes on daily in the classroom they should not be made.  Our students deserve an excellent education and our teachers deserve the tools necessary to provide one.

We continue to oppose the unnecessary decision Gov. Mead made to join a lawsuit against the federal government for health care reform and oppose creating a litigation fund of $2 million of taxpayer funds.  This money would be better spent on providing care than paying lawyers.  The health care system fails our citizens every day and continues to worsen.  We must continue to look towards innovative solutions in Wyoming much like the 'Healthy Frontiers' program, while we take those pieces of federal legislation that will work for Wyoming.

We join the Governor in calling on the 61st Legislature to pay attention to those things that matter most and to have the courage and faith to make wise decisions.”

10 Ways to Get Your Winter Locavore Fix

I like the list of craft brewers. Go to 10 Ways to Get Your Winter Locavore Fix | Kate Whittle | Food & Agriculture | NewWest.Net

Searching for Arizona's soul

While watching crusty and opinionated Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik on TV over the weekend, I thought, "I'm glad this man is watching over my boy."

My boy is Kevin. He's no longer a boy but a man. A resident of Tucson, and a student at Pima Community College. Kevin probably doesn't give it much thought but it's good to have a sensible and sensitive human as the county's chief law enforcement officer.

I've spoken to Kevin several times since Saturday's shootings. Yes, everyone in Tucson is talking about it -- and we're all upset. No, he's never seen the shooter around campus. But there are five PCC campuses and thousands of students. I haven't had a chance to talk to him since this evening's memorial service at the University of Arizona Arena. Attendance was 26,000. I wanted to be there.

Tucson is a fine city. My most recent trip to Arizona was in January 2009. Call me a genius but January in Tucson is much more temperate than July in Tucson. My wife Chris and daughter Annie and I drove to Arizona in July of 2007. Long Fourth of July weekend and we had a week off. The evening of July 3, we stopped in Bernalillo north of Albuquerque and watched fireworks with a bunch of teenagers sitting on the hoods of their cars. The next night, we ventured out of the AC to watch the holiday fireworks from Tucson's A Mountain.

A few days later Kevin and I ventured out in the midday sun to visit the University of Arizona Poetry Center. U of A has since built a new poetry center, which was mentioned by University President Robert Shelton in tonight's closing remarks. He read a poem by W.S. Merwin, who lives in Hawaii but has spent a lot of time at the center, according to Shelton. Interesting how poetry and music are needed in times of woe.

Since Saturday, I've spent many hours online reading commentary about the Tucson shootings. I tended to gravitate to those pieces that talked about Arizona's culture.

One of the best is by Aurelie Sheehan. She's the director of the U of A creative writing program. She's a friend and a one-time Wyomingite. She wrote this:

Saturday night we had signed on to go to a benefit concert for a small organization that develops music programs for at-risk children in the Southwest. It was organized by a talented 12-year-old boy who took guitar lessons alongside our daughter, and we had been looking forward to it. Now no one really wanted to go — we were all too beaten down by the day. But we went anyway, to support the young guitarist and the nonprofit group.

We sat down in the school auditorium, restless, a little ill at ease, scattered in our thoughts. About 200 people were there. The lights went down and, after a weirdly protracted pause, Brad Richter, the nonprofit’s co-founder, took the stage. 

We talked quietly about what had happened that morning. He had played guitar at Gabrielle Giffords’s wedding, in 2007. And that evening he played an original composition for us, something she had requested he play then: “Elation,” the song was called. The feeling of community in the room was palpable, and if elation was beyond our reach, we were at least consoled.

Aurelie is such a great writer. I've also worked with Brad and know his soulful music. Again, here are the arts helping us to make sense of tragedy.

A harsher critique of Arizona appeared on Media Matters. It's by Will Bunch and is entitled "Arizona is where the American dream goes to die." Here's an excerpt:

The real factors behind this Arizona Nightmare -- venal banks, too much borrowing, too much outsourcing of jobs that, unlike home construction, would have been permanent and stable -- were too abstract, especially for the toxic soup of talk radio. It is tragic how a state that once prided itself on Barry Goldwater-style can-do self-reliant libertarianism devolved into blaming The Other the minute that things went south here. Virulent anti-immigrant nativism -- occasionally sprinkled with things like neo-Nazism -- grew into the desert, as did fear of Muslims, to the point where an architecturally unusual new Christian church in Phoenix had to declare in a giant banner that it was not Islamic. Political heroes were now those like Arpaio who didn't just pursue reactionary policies but actually heaped humiliation and degradation on The Other, in sweltering outdoor prison camps. Ditto with members of Congress suddenly out of step with the new zeitgeist -- moderate Democrats like Harry Mitchell and Gabrielle Giffords were not just to be disagreed with but to be physically threatened with vandalism or worse. Meanwhile, guns became a statewide obsession, as lawmakers competed to see just how lax an environment they could create, where it was legal to bring concealed firearms just about anywhere. This was the world that surrounded and buffeted a disturbed young man in Tucson named Jared Lee Loughner.

I've seen that part of Arizona. I've seen it in Wyoming, too. The anger of people who are well-to-do but who feel a strange resentment towards The Other. Those people who are wildly indignant about nearly everything because, well, because...

O.K., calm down, self. No name calling tonight.

Will Bunch does that pretty well. Although he wraps up with this hopeful note:

...maybe Arizona can dust itself off, gaze into the splendor of its big sky and see what an outsider sees, and remember what it was that brought them all to this scenic corner of America in the first place.

The promise of paradise.

Timothy Egan wrote "Tombstone Politics" for the New York Times op-ed pages. He wrote that great book on the Dust Bowl. To read his column, go here: 

Tombstone, the town, is in Giffords’s southern Arizona district, an Old West burg where shootouts are staged, bodies fall into the street, and then everybody applauds and laughs it off. Tombstone politics is the place we’ve been living in for some time now, and our guns are loaded.

We're living in a mythic cowboy West and our guns are really loaded, unlike those on "Tombstone Territory" and "Wyatt Earp" or "Gunsmoke." All Hollywood versions of Wild West shoot-em-up towns. But a fake Tombstone is one thing. A very real Tucson where deranged people fire guns at politicans?  We can't afford that.


For full text of Pres. Obama's speech, and other coverage of today's Tucson events, go here. 

Ignite Cheyenne 2 brings passionate ideas and fun to downtown on Feb. 8

I missed the first session of Ignite Cheyenne. And this second one is on my wife's birthday. But I recommend that you support local visionaries Anna Nowak, Jeff Fruhwirth and and Juliette Rule. These people are trying to bring some excitement to downtown.

Here's the info:

If you had five minutes to say something to the people of Cheyenne, what would you say?

Well think it over, because we are giving you a chance to say it.  Ignite Cheyenne 2 is a place where people from Cheyenne and southeastern Wyoming can come to share ideas, hobbies, socialize and have a great time. Ignite Cheyenne is about showcasing your ideas nd your passion. Both of those things can make Cheyenne an even better place!  We want to hear you talk at Ignite Cheyenne.

We are back with another awesome event in downtown Cheyenne.  All of you who came the first time, we’d love to see you again, and all of you who couldn't make it, we hope to see you this time!

If you run a business and would like to put up information or would like a flyer to email to your friends, you can get our PDF Flyer Here.

Location: Historic Plains Hotel

1600 Central Avenue

Cheyenne, Wyoming

Map can be found here.

Date: February 8, 2011

Schedule:

6 pm Doors open - Come for mingling and drinks

7 pm First group of talks

7:30 – 8 pm Intermission

8 – 8:30 pm  Second group of talks

9 pm Go home enlightened

Tickets: You can get them here. Tickets are free, but you must register to attend.

Agenda: Presenters have not been picked.  If you’re interested in presenting, head over here to read some guidelines on the talks, then contact us at ignitecheyenne [at] gmail [dot] com

Event Curators:

Anna Nowak

Jeff Fruhwirth

Juliette Rule

2011 Wyoming Legislature up in arms about nearly everything

At least three bills targeting the U.S. Affordable Health Care Act are on the Wyoming Legislature's docket. The Legislature gets down to business Tuesday in Cheyenne. No word yet on whether members plan to mimic their colleagues inside the Beltway by spending the first day reading the U.S. Constitution (edited Republican version) or the Wyoming Constitution. This won't be necessary if the Legislature adopts a proposal by Sen. Kit Jennings of Casper (kit@kitsenate.com) that would require all holders of civil offices to take a three-hour course on the Wyoming and U.S. Constitutions. While refresher courses on high school civics might be an eye-opener for Democrats and Republicans alike, not to mention the Tea Party faithful, this bill seems like a gigantic waste of time.

Speaking of gigantic time-wasters, here are the three bills (so far) that attempt to undo national health care reform (via Joan Barron and Jeremy Pelzer at the Casper Star-Tribune):

House Bill 39: Health care litigation fund

Sponsor: Joint Labor, Health and Social Services Interim Committee.

Summary: Creates a $2 million account for the state of Wyoming to sue the federal government over the federal health care reform law passed last year.

Background: On Monday, Wyoming will join 20 other states in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of parts of the federal health care law expanding Medicaid and requiring that most Americans purchase health insurance.

Debate: Supporters say the health care law violates Wyomingites' constitutional rights and that the costs of a lawsuit will be cheaper than what the law would force the state to pay in health care funding. Opponents say the health care law needs to be given a chance to work and that the state has more important things to spend its money on than joining an existing lawsuit.

SJ 002: Health Care Freedom

Sponsor: Sen. Leslie Nutting, R-Cheyenne (lnutting@wyoming.com).

This bill would place on the general election ballot an amendment to the Wyoming Constitution to specify no federal or state law shall compel participation in any health care system by any person, employer or health care provider.

Summary: This bill is directed at the federal Affordable Health Care Act.

SJ 0003: Health Care Freedom-2

Sponsor: Sen. Charles Scott, R-Casper (charlesscott@wyoming.com).

This bill would place on the general election ballot an amendment to the Wyoming Constitution to recognize individual rights to make health care decisions and to prohibit specified state actions limiting decisions. It also authorizes the attorney general to participate in litigation to protect the right to make health care decisions.

Summary: This bill authorizes the attorney general to sue the federal government and have the Affordable Health Care Act declared unconstitutional.

As a counterpoint to this nonsense, I offer up evidence of the benefits (thus far) that have accrued to Wyomingites through the Affordable Health Care Act. This comes from a new year's message on Jan. 2 from Chuck Herz, state chair of the Wyoming Democratic Party:

Obama’s signature accomplishment was the health care reform that had long eluded us. It was clouded by controversy and disinformation about what the reform does. But the proof of the pudding will be in the eating.

When fully operational in 2014 "Obamacare" will ensure that millions (thousands of Wyomingites) who’ve had no insurance or insurance that covers too little no longer need play Russian roulette with family health and finances. It will secure us from having to pay for those who choose to play Russian roulette, forcing others to pick up the tab when they can’t pay. Those with "pre-existing conditions" will get coverage. Preventive care will reduce risk of serious illness and costlier care. Your insurer can no longer cut you off just when you need expensive care on grounds of some technical error. Trials of promising ways to limit costs will begin. And according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, all this will reduce, not add to, the federal deficit.

Those who attack "Obamacare" owe an adequate alternative solution to all these problems and a national health care system that has cost us far more of our GDP, and delivered poorer health results (life expectancy, child mortality, etc.), than the systems of other nations.

Here are stats for you from the Obama for Wyoming site: 9,112 Wyomingites with pre-existing conditions will no longer be denied coverage by greedy insurance corporations; 72,000 uninsured Wyomingites will now be insured; and tax credits can be claimed by 44,600 individuals, 400 families and 10,900 businesses.

That ain't hay, now is it?

Repubs know that the longer thoughtful people in Wyoming and elsewhere have to contemplate the benefits of "Obamacare," the less likely they will want to have those benefits taken away. Especially when those benefits are threatened by men and women enjoying universal health care coverage provided by U.S. taxpayers. House Republicans were scheduled to begin debate on repeal of the Affordable Health Care Act this Wednesday in D.C. That has been put on hold due to the tragic events yesterday in Tucson, when one of their own House members was gunned down at a town meeting.

The Wyoming Repubs may get to the topic before their D.C.-based brethren and sistren.

To what end? Most of the newbies in the Wyoming State Legislature owe their elections to Tea Party activists and other voters who were Simply Wildly Indignant about Nearly Everything, real or imagined (mostly imagined). So legislators are carrying out the will -- real or imagined -- of the voters.

Still awaiting word on legislation to investigate Pres. Obama's American heritage ("He ain't no citizen -- I have proof he was born in Kenya!") and his religion ("He's a Muslim -- the Internet said so"). Other zaniness is sure to follow.

Tamale and sauerkraut day at farmers' market

The Cheyenne Winter Farmers Market is the place for mushrooms and beans and sauerkraut and pasta and bread and ...

...just about everything edible. Including some tasty radishes from Meadow Maid in Yoder. Sara B offered me a bite and I accepted. She knows her edibles.

I discovered some local tamales today, and that's what we're having for dinner. From Esmeralda's Tamale House on 18th St. downtown. Also Pappardelle's Pasta from Pasta Pazza. Sweet potato Orzo. I've never had this type of Orzo and I am looking forward to it.

Why is any of this important? Eating locally is crucial. I'm not a purist by any means. But I think it's important to support local businesses, whether they be purveyors of food or art. They are my neighbors. Some are my friends. Others I don't know from Adam or Eve but I like what they do.

I was buying some gigantic Bavarian pretzels and a loaf of rye bread from Frank's Famous Kitchen when another customer asked for sauerkraut. "Sauerkraut?" my brain asked. Frank gave me a taste. I bought a pint container for three bucks. When I got home, I put the kraut on brats and watched football. Good stuff. The food, not the football. I switched over and watched an old John Wayne movie.

Eat local, folks.

Washington reacts to Giffords shooting

As always, Joan McCarter at Daily Kos provides perspective to today's news -- this one the shooting of Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson.

Go to Washington reacts to Giffords shooting

Welcome to the Equality State (and don't forget to read the fine print)

Credit goes to Meg Lanker of Laramie for this newly-revised banner for the non-equality state heretofore known as the Equality State. Don't forget to read the fine print! And don't forget to read the text of House Bill No. HB0074: Validity of Marriages. You can post a comment or a note at Meg's Facebook page. Go to http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=482738442965&id=686730787. You can also make comments here. Better yet, write your Rep or Sen and tell them there are better ways to spend their time and the taxpayers' money. Find contact info at the Legisweb site.

"Three Cups of Tea" author Greg Mortenson to speak in Cheyenne March 29

From a post on Facebook (cross-posted from wyomingarts blog):

Two-time Nobel Prize nominee Greg Mortenson will share insightful commentary and stunning photography to educate and promote awareness of the importance of primary education, literacy and cross-cultural understanding about the remote regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan. 

He will speak at the Taco John’s Events Center in Cheyenne on Tuesday, March 29, 7-10 p.m. Limited amount of tickets go on sale on Friday, Jan. 7. Tickets: $5 Students (K-College)/$15 General Public. Contact the Taco Johns Events Center at (307) 433-0025 or on-line at www.cheyennecity.org

Greg Mortenson promotes peace through education. He is the co-founder of nonprofit Central Asia Institute www.ikat.org, founder of Pennies For Peace www.penniesforpeace.org, and co-author of New York Times bestseller "Three Cups of Tea" which has sold over 4 million copies, been published in 47 countries, and a New York Times bestseller since its 2007 release, and Time Magazine Asia Book of The Year.Mortenson’s new book, "Stones Into Schools: Promoting Peace with Books Not Bombs, In Afghanistan and Pakistan," was released by Viking on December 1, 2009.

As of 2010, Mortenson has established over 145 schools in rural and often volatile regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan, which provide education to over 64,000 children, including 52,000 girls, where few education opportunities existed before.

Laramie County Partners are bringing Greg Mortenson to Cheyenne for a series of activities, including talking to school children and a public event in the evening on March 29. The partners include: Laramie County Community College Foundation, Laramie County Community College, Cheyenne Rotary, Laramie County Library, Laramie County Library Foundation and Laramie County School District No. 1.

http://www.facebook.com/LaramieCountyPartnersPresentGregMortenson

Democrats host Nellie Tayloe Ross banquet Feb. 26

http://www.wyomingdemocrats.com

With a tip of the Nellie hat to Andy Warhol...

Tea Party Slim's budget worries

My old pal, Tea Party Slim, told me that he had a great time at this week’s inaugural festivities in Cheyenne.

“Now that Republicans rule the roost, the days of government throwing money at problems are a thing of the past.”

“What’s the government throwing money at?” I asked this in all sincerity.

“Education, for one. We throw more and more money at the public education system and still get the same results. Why not cut funding and see if that helps.”

“Why not just eliminate public school spending?” I said. “Home-school all the kids. Put those overpaid socialistic unionized teachers out of work.”

Slim smiled. “Sen. Hank Coe has those socialistic unionized teachers in his sights. He’s proposing a bill to end teacher tenure.”

“That’s one way to save money. Get rid of all those highly-paid experienced teachers and replace them with low-paid inexperienced teachers. Better yet, just close all those expensive schools and do that book-learnin’ at home. If it was good enough for pioneers, it’s good enough for us.”

Slim chuckled. “If this wasn’t such a great all-Republican week, I might take offense at that.”

“What other ways will the Legislature save money?”

“Glad you asked. End Obamacare. It’s expensive and unconstitutional. Gov. Mead says that we can do health care better in Wyoming because we have true grit.”

“Didn’t a legislator propose a bill that would earmark $2 million for that lawsuit against healthcare reform?”

“It’s not an earmark. And you know as well as I do, Mike, that lawyers cost money.”

“But it’s the Wyoming Attorney General’s office that’s doing the suing. Aren’t those AG attorneys state employees getting paid at the high end of the scale?”

“Sure, but you have expenses.”

“Lots and lots of trips to D.C. Phone calls. Photocopies.”

“Research, too. Lots and lots of research.”

“Still, $2 million is a lot of money for a lawsuit that doesn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of succeeding.”

“Says you. “ He chuckled again. “You’re not going to ruin this week for me. I’m feeling good and I plan on feeling this way right through the next presidential election.”

“When Sarah Palin gets elected?”

“She supports the Tea Party. She’s from Alaska – and an N.R.A. member. She’d be a great president.”

I could have fallen off my chair laughing. But I let it go. “What other cost-cutting measures are in the works?

“I have two words for you: illegal immigration.”

I waited patiently for more. When nothing was forthcoming, I had to ask how stopping illegal immigration into Wyoming would save the state money.

“Illegals are taking our jobs. Those jobs should go to Americans. We have unemployed people in this state.”

“We have one of the lowest unemployment rates in the U.S. Jobs go begging at fast-food joints and motels and farms. Illegals do the jobs that we don’t want to do.”

“We educate their kids too – and teach them English. That’s expensive. And don’t forget law enforcement. You’ve seen what those Mexican gangs are doing in Arizona. Cutting off people’s heads! You don’t want that here, do you?”

“Gov. Brewer invented the story about headless corpses littering the Arizona desert.”

Slim removed his hat and placed it over his heart. “Gov. Brewer is our hero. Don’t say anything bad about that great lady. She’s saving her state by kicking out illegals and stopping unnecessary heart transplants.”

“Not to mention head transplants.” I laughed this time.

“You Liberals think you’re all so smart. But you’re a dying breed in this state.”

“Don’ I know it. What are you going to do when all the Liberals are gone and this is the only one-party state in the U.S.A.?”

“Have a party,” said Slim with a grin. “And put up a big fence.”

“Won’t that be expensive?”

Slim looked thoughtful for a minute. “Unemployed teachers can build it. We’ll pay them Wyoming’s minimum wage, which is the lowest in the country.”

It was my turn to be thoughtful. “That would save the state money.”

“And we’d all sleep better at night knowing that we live in the safest and most secure place on earth.”

Winter Farmers' Market this Saturday at Depot

The next winter farmers' market will be held on Saturday, Jan. 8, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., inside the Historic Depot in downtown Cheyenne.

I was at the December market buying Christmas presents and assorted foodstuffs. Now that we're in January, it's time to look for seeds for the spring and, as always, assorted foodstuffs. Too early for most veggies. But there are breads and jams and meats and original art and handmade crafts.

Here's an overview:

Our vendors sell items that are produced in Wyoming or northern Colorado, but within 150 miles of Cheyenne. All items are produced by the vendors behind the tables, no food brokers are allowed. This is a fun indoor market with great energy and super vendors. Look for: PerrBear Chocolates, Bavarian pretzels, Black Forest Ham, beef, bison, lamb, chicken, duck and chicken eggs, take out Bar-B-Que, artisan breads, cookies, cakes, and much more.

Not to to mention the schmoozing. Top-notch schmoozing at the winter farmer's' market.


FMI: Kim Porter, Farmers Market & Education Program Manager, Wyoming Business Council, 307.777.6319.


The Business Council is testing an online farmers' market for southeast Wyoming. Here's more info:

Triple Crown Commodities is an online farmers market focused on south-eastern Wyoming.  This commodities cooperative offers a large variety of products ranging from free-range eggs to value-added products such as honey and pies.  We also have a wide variety of naturally and organically raised pork and beef.Triple Crown Commodities allows you to buy local and buy fresh.  Fresh local products offer peace of mind as well as healthy, nutritious choices.  All products are raised locally so you know where your food came from, how it was handled, and who produced it.  The online farmers’ market also allows for easy shopping — right from your computer, with the convenience of local distribution points.

Design your new year around art & food

http://artdesignanddine.blogspot.com

Ogallala Commons' Southern Plains Conference poses the question: "What Makes Communities Healthy?

Map of the Ogallala Commons. I live in the northwest corner of the commons, where the High Plains meet the Laramie Range foothills.

I think of myself as a city boy. The title's not entirely accurate. I was born in a city (Denver) but lived in a few small towns in my youth. I was a suburban dweller, too. I'm a product of populations centers and not of the Great Wide Open. That colors my approach to many issues.

Cities have long been portrayed as evil. How ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm after they've seen Paree? That was true about World War I, when many farm boys returned from the war and settled in cities. It was really true during and after World War II. Those farm boys that trained in Denver and San Diego and Tucson liked what they saw and gravitated to cities rather than returning to Lusk or Goodland or Gallup. Rural areas, especially those in the Rocky Mountain West, have been depopulating ever since.

Most Westerners live in cities. Not sure what the 2010 U.S. Census shows, but 2007 figures show that 82 percent of the people in the eight Rocky Mountain states live in cities and towns. This may shock those who envision a West with small picturesque villages nestled against a mountain range. Yes, there are those places. Think of Ranchester or Centennial or Afton or Wilson. Idyllic Wyoming towns surrounded by farms and ranches. Residents are salt of the earth folks, descendants of pioneers.

In reality, the more picturesque the town, the more likely it is that it's populated by too many rich people with second or third homes. Often those people don't care about the happenings in their adopted town as long as they are left alone by the hoi polloi. Gated communities help ensure that tranquility.

On the opposite end of that spectrum, the Ogallala Commons organization strives for community in a mostly-rural area in the Great Plains. From its web site:

The Ogallala Commons is a nonprofit community development network, offering leadership and education to reinvigorate the commonwealth that forms the basis of all communities, both human and natural.

Ogallala Commons country is centered over the vast High Plain-Ogallala Aquifer, covering about 174,000 square miles across parts of eight Great Plains states. The backbone of Ogallala Commons country extends along the long north-south axis of U.S. Highway 385 and the 102nd Meridian... but our commons region also stretches west to the Rocky Mountain foothills and eastward to the river-braided prairies of the Midwest.

"River-braided prairies of the Midwest." I like that. I also like the themes for their annual Southern Plains Conferences. The 2010 version was an exploration of the 75th anniversary of The Dust Bowl. It included presentations by writers such as Dan O'Brien and Stephen Forsberg, performance of an operetta and the  "Sabor del Llano Estacado reception featuring locally-grown and produced heavy hors d’oeuvres, beer, and wine." There were even talks about global warming. Global warming did not have quotes around it.

The next conference will be held in Texas in February. Here are the details:

22nd Annual Southern Plains Conference: “What Makes Communities Healthy?"

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Home Mercantile Building & Community Hall, Nazareth, TX.

When it comes to health care, Americans find a lot to argue about these days. But something is missing in these heated debates. Shouldn’t we begin by talking about what we mean by health? Essayist and poet Wendell Berry writes that “community is the smallest measure of health, and that to speak of the health of an isolated individual is a contradiction in terms.” 

Starting from this premise, presentations at our Southern Plains Conference will explore community health as a participatory work, and an unbreakable circle of interdependent dimensions: environmental, economic, social, physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional health. Join with us as we re-member these dimensions and reacquaint ourselves with the tools necessary to develop an inclusive practice of community health that fits our time.

Reports from the Cul-De-Sac Preservation Society

Are Liberal city dwellers trying to take away Conservative suburbanites’ God-given right to a cul-de-sac?

In November,  I wrote about the Tea Party’s latest bugaboo – "sustainable development." Tea Partiers, most of whom live in suburbs, are afraid that Liberal city dwellers are going to roust them from their cul-de-sac neighborhoods and stuff them into tiny Hobbit homes surrounded by light rail stations and Starbucks and pushy minorities. Sustainable development is the catch-all term for this alarming trend.

One of the scarifiers is Ed Braddy in Gainesville, Florida. He leads the American Dream Coalition. 

Another is Virginia activist Donna Holt (from Mother Jones):.

In Virginia, Holt is trying to whip up tea party opposition to a comprehensive development plan being drafted in Chesterfield County, where she lives near Richmond. She believes such plans will, among other things, ban cul de sacs, and she happens to live on one. So far, though, she hasn't made much progress with the county. "They don't want to hear from us," she says. "They think we are wackos with tinfoil hats."

After a recent trip to Florida, I have a bit more empathy for their cause.

Imagine that you are one of the millions of Americans who have worked very hard for a house in the suburbs. It’s a big house, bigger than you need for your two kids, but it’s an investment, right?  Americans want big houses with many bathrooms along tree-lined streets in family-friendly, low-density neighborhoods.  

Commercial development should be located far away, as convenience stores and big box stores bring in the riff-raff. You can walk the neighborhood but you can’t walk to work or school or the store.  That’s part of the charm. It’s what Americans want in their lifestyles.

That was the zeitgeist from the 1950s until now. That’s changing. Younger people (older types, too) want to live in the city surrounded by light rail and Starbucks and farmers' markets. They think that minorities make for a lively cityscape, as long as those minorities aren’t crackheads. New Urbanism has taken hold, even in the burbs. Developers want multi-use zoning that allows for more compact neighborhoods and local shopping and walkable schools and alternative energy. Public transportation is a sought-after commodity, not one to be feared.  

Meanwhile, housing prices have dropped precipitously. So much for that two-story, many-bathroomed mini-manse. Several foreclosures have cropped up in the neighborhood. Jobs are threatened. Surefire Wall Street investments don’t look so hot. Pensions are not a sure thing. People with foreign-sounding names are in the White House.

Some of the fears are real. They are stoked by the Tea Party and Fox News. Pretty soon you believe that government types are out to remove your cul-de-sac and put you in a hobbit home.

After spending a week in suburbs in north and central Florida, I understand that fear a bit better.  Without a GPS, I’d be challenged to find the homes of my sisters’ families in Tallahassee. In fact, GPS may have been invented for suburban sprawl. In olden times, streets were laid out in grids using numbers and letters. Almost every city has at last a remnant of that design.

Suburbs, especially in hilly Tallahassee, follow the terrain. Names are confusing, too. Winding Hills Street leads to Winding Hills Lane leads to Winding Hills Court which, of course, is a cul-de-sac. When you reach this dead end, you have to backtrack through the Winding Hills names to get to Forest Vista Street to Forest Vista Lane to Forest Vista Court and – you guessed it – another cul-de-sac. I imagine cars circling like the Flying Dutchman, searching for a way out of this confusion. Before GPS, of course. Now it’s a snap.

We drove long distances through Tallahassee neighborhoods without seeing a store, not even a convenience store, which are ubiquitous. Zoning and neighborhood groups hold stores at bay. The price you pay is that everyone in the family needs a car. The price we all pay is that all those cars pollute and lead to global warming.

As long as I’ve been alive – 60 years – the move has been to this sort of development and not the clustered, walkable, open-zoned, public transportation and locavore-friendly type being promoted  now. If these crazy ideas catch hold, how am I going to sell my house in 10 or 20 years? Could my neighborhood become a dead zone, with foreclosed falling-down houses and bad roads and crime and squatters? That old phrase of location location location would turn out to be a curse rather than a bonus.

Many of my friends around the U.S. live in old-style suburban developments. Many people I know in Cheyenne live out north and east so they can have peace and quiet and property and horses. They are unfettered by city zoning rules.

I live in a near-suburb, I guess you’d call it. I can walk to work but don’t. If needed, I could walk to stores to buy groceries, pastries, fast food, building supplies, beer, tires, pizza, sandwiches, tacos, insurance. I can walk to my credit union. During the summer, there’s a weekly farmer’s market nearby, although it’s moving downtown this year. When they were young, my kids walked or rode their bikes to school. The excellent Cheyenne Greenway is only blocks from our house. I could walk to the airport if needed, although there’s plenty of free parking.

You can probably guess that there are trade-offs. I live close to two of the busiest streets in Cheyenne – Dell Range and Yellowstone. The interstate is a half-mile away but I can hear the Harleys roar down it on August mornings. C-130s make a racket operating out of the Air National Guard base – its entrance is three blocks from my house. We have rental properties in the neighborhood. One of them is an eyesore. The other looks like a used car lot. We’ve had a few broken windows and robberies but nothing substantial, crime-wise.

I like my neighborhood. But I’m a city boy. I don’t want to live on the windy prairie. Or on a suburban cul-de-sac. These people are spitting into the wind. The age of cheap oil and the internal combustion engine and sprawl is drawing to a close. It's just a fact. And I'm not scared. 

Except of the Cul-De-Sac Preservation Society activists. They're a bit spooky. In their fears of being left behind, they may do some crazy things, such as elect a horde of Tea Partiers to Congress. 

Old King Coal not such a merry old soul

Laramie River coal plant near Wheatland 

China burns half of the world's coal production every year. It pollutes its air and kills its people, making heart disease the nation's number one killer. China's fossil-fuel habit is one of the main culprits of global warming.

Wyoming and Montana companies dig thousands of tons of coal from the ground every day. Our power plants can't burn all that coal to send power to Colorado and Texas and Utah. Other U.S. plants can't burn that much coal. Many states, Texas included, are scrubbing plans for new coal-fired plants.

To fill China's endless coal appetite, and to contribute to the further spread of cardiopulmonary illnesses, our states want to export more coal to China. There's money to be made, too. Not only for the coal companies, but for severance taxes which pay the salaries of government workers such as myself.

But Washington state is getting in the way of progress.

The Cowboy State and The Treasure State want to ship their coal directly to Asia through a port in Cowlitz County, Washington (a.k.a. The Gateway to Mt. St. Helens). Officials in the county have approved an upgrade to its Columbia River port, but environmental groups say not so fast (from the Casper Star-Tribune). 

On Tuesday, the Washington Department of Ecology petitioned to intervene in the appeal filed by Earthjustice. Ecology spokeswoman Kim Schmanke said the agency wants a seat at the table because it may be asked to approve other permits for the project.

Gov. Brian Schweitzer plans to travel to Washington state next week to seek support for the project. He said he's going to tell state officials it's irrational for them to oppose a port to export Montana coal when utilities that serve Washington state burn Montana coal.Freudenthal said Thursday that he would not expect Schweitzer to accomplish anything but making the trip. 

Freudenthal doubts Washington state officials will receive advice from someone from another state any more than Wyoming officials do when they get similar visits from an outsider. 

The immediate problem, Freudenthal said, is how to get the port exporting Wyoming coal. The larger issue is the need to figure out carbon capture and sequestration in order to receive support from the "rational" environmental groups, he said.

Meanwhile, Gov.-elect Matt Mead is working on a letter of support to send with Schweitzer next week, Mead spokeswoman Susan Anderson said Thursday. Mead takes office Monday. 

Freudenthal said people need to realize that the coal industry is "at risk" whether they agree that climate change is real or not. "This is about coal production, market share and jobs," Freudenthal said.

We're going to see more of these conflicts as we attempt to switch from fossil fuels to alternative energy sources that don't melt the ice caps and lead to the flooding of port cities from Seattle to San Diego. Red states want to ship their coal to China but the coastal blue states won't let them. No alternative but to send it to Houston and then on to the Panama Canal and then on to China. But that route would add time and miles and make the whole enterprise less cost-effective. The states could send the coal to Vancouver, B.C., which shipped about 26 million tons of coal to China this year. But how would that look, red-state Wyoming shipping its coal from Socialist Canada?

Even George Will is getting into the act. In a column this week, he could barely contain his glee that millions of tons of global-warming-contributing coal could be shipped out of a port adjacent to the Green Capital of the U.S. and maybe the world -- Portland, Oregon.

Cowlitz County in Washington state is across the Columbia River from Portland, Ore., which promotes mass transit and urban density and is a green reproach to the rest of us. Recently, Cowlitz did something that might make Portland wonder whether shrinking its carbon footprint matters.

I wonder why conservatives take such delight in destroying the planet? The fundies are all convinced that the end is coming anyway so why fight it? Doesn't matter to them if it's flood or fire. But George Will isn't in this Know Nothing camp. He's smarter than that. While he will no longer be with us when Washington Post columnists commute by gondola, one wonders why he doesn't care for the future of his family or your family or my family.

George Will makes his living by being the conservative curmudgeon in the bow tie. He's also a language scold and a know-it-all baseball fan. That's his platform and to turn Green (or even hint at it) at this late date will cost him.

He provides several quotes from James Fallows' recent cover story about coal in The Atlantic. In "Dirty Coal, Clean Future," Fallows makes the case that we can only get out of this hydrocarbon dilemma by trusting in China's new technologies to burn coal cleaner. The only way out is through. I just read the synopsis, but it seems as if Fallows would give a green light to the shipping of coal from Washington state. And the more we can ship, the better.

I'll read the article and respond. Meanwhile, here's a few parting words from George Will:

If the future belongs to electric cars, those in China may run on energy stored beneath Wyoming and Montana. 

And so run the hopes of the Govs of Wyoming and Montana. 

As pricey live/work artist spaces arise in Jackson, what's in store for the rest of the state?

Planet Jackson Hole's JH Weekly at least once a week due to the fact that its header demands it. I also like alternative weeklies. I used to edit and write for one. You read stories there that you don't find in MSM.

I missed the Dec. 21 article by Teton County wise-guy art critic Aaron Wallis. It's about a new live/work development for artists by architect Stephen Dynia in Jackson. You can read the whole thing at JH Weekl

Here are some excerpts:

The development is now under construction and when completed it will total eight units in two buildings. As of press time, three of the eight units have been sold.

The units are supposed to be affordable and from what I can tell, Dynia and Prugh did everything within their power to keep the price down. Unfortunately, the units are still in the $400s. Which, is again, affordable for Jackson, but that’s like saying the $10 burrito at Pica’s is a good deal just because everything else is in town is equally overpriced.

The project’s vision ­– to create a space where artists can live and work ­– is laudable. I know Tom Woodhouse would move into the Center for the Arts if they would let him. Seriously, why are residential and commercial space always zoned separately? Why not eliminate the necessity of commuting? Commuting by its very nature is a waste of time and resources. What’s the point of driving back and forth from Wilson to Jackson twice a day? It’s a colossal waste of gas, but I guess as long as there’s a “Please Don’t Idle” sticker on your SUV, it’s OK.

Anyway, if I had $400k, I would definitely consider moving in 1085 Broadway. What could be better than having artists for neighbors, creating in a clean modern space, and living in Jackson Hole? Well a Range Rover and a trust fund would be nice, but we can’t all be so lucky. I asked my Magic 8-Ball if the new development would change the art scene in Jackson.  “Signs point to yes,” it replied.

Live/work spaces "in the $400s" are a bit pricey for most artists and writers of my acquaintance. But that price is pretty reasonable in Teton County. Here's some recent info from Trulia:

There are currently 323 resale and new homes in Jackson on Trulia, including 3 homes in the pre-foreclosure, auction, or bank-owned stages of the foreclosure process. The average listing price for homes for sale in Jackson WY was $2,153,991 for the week ending Dec 22, which represents an increase of 0.4%, or $9,134, compared to the prior week.

Wowzir! Now we're talking real money.

Other live/work spaces have attempted to get off the ground in Wyoming. Project planners from ArtSpace in Minneapolis have advised arts groups in Casper and have conducted workshops in Sheridan ("Living Upstairs in Wyoming") and in Cheyenne ("Arts Summit 2008"). ArtSpace bills itself as the largest non-profit real estate management company for the arts in the U.S. As of this writing, it hasn't come up with any solid projects in the state. But it does have one in Billings.

I've been looking into an ArtSpace project called The Arts Exchange in Tallahassee. Yes, that's in Florida and nowhere near the Great Wide Open. I was in Tallahassee with family a few weeks ago and decided to take a look. The site now houses an old warehouse. It's located next to the Railroad Square Art Park and close to downtown, Florida A&M and Florida State. My sister Maureen and I drove there on graduation Saturday in December. Not much to see except potential at the Arts Exchange site. A few galleries and stores were open in the arts district. Nowhere near as lively as it is on its First Friday celebrations, which includes drinking and revelry and arts and music.

At the art park, we wandered into the South of Soho Art Co-op where Stephen Bennett was minding the store. He's from Daytona, our family's old stomping grounds, so we visited for awhile. I liked his work and the work of his colleagues on the walls. We went into the hippy-dippy Athena's Garden, with its array of herbs and teas and tinctures. The two young women minding the store were from Boulder, which didn't surprise me. The back room featured clothes and purses and hemp products, along with Wiccan stuff. My daughter Annie would have loved the place. Maureen bought her a peace sign purse. We visited the Cosmic Cat which was just the place for my son Kevin. It features manga and zines and graphic novels.

I'm interested in The Arts Exchange because it looks like a nice place to live in my artistic retirement. Not sure if I'd qualify. I plan an active post-65 life, creating fiction and also advising arts groups. For that, I have 25-some years in arts administration. The Arts Exchange will be home to the Boys' Choir of Tallahassee, the Tallahassee Ballet, and the Council on Culture & Arts. Arts orgs always ned an extra hand or grants writer. Tallahassee also puts Chris and I close to our families.

What will happen with live/work spaces in Wyoming? Well, there's one project already being built in Jackson. Not sure what will arise in Cheyenne or Laramie or Sheridan or Casper or Meeteetse. The potential is there. Someone -- or some group -- must do the planning.

Blizzards can be hazardous for mayors

A blizzard sweeps through southeastern Wyoming. Not much snow but lots of wind and cold. A piker compared to other big snowstorms from my 32 years on the High Plains.

Blizzards arrive at inopportune times. New York City is having a tough time cleaning up after the recent Christmas blizzard of 2010. Mayor Bloomberg has been apologizing for the city’s response. No announcement yet on his resignation, or that of his public works department. The New Jersey governor has been vacationing at Disney World for the past week. He's keeping in touch by phone, said a spokesman. Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell railed about "wusses" or "wussies" who couldn't make it to a snowy stadium Sunday for the Philadelphia Eagles and Minnesota Vikings match-up. The game was postponed until Tuesday.

I recall the 1982 Christmas Eve blizzard in Denver. Two-plus feet of snow in 24 hours. I was a freelancer working from home back then. Chris was at work. She rode the bus downtown that snowy Christmas Eve morning. Her bank was open, as were many other businesses. By noon, most were closing so their employees had a chance to get home. Chris caught a bus which got stuck in a drift after traveling a few blocks. Luckily, a coworker happened by and gave her a ride. It took them about an hour to drive the two miles to our apartment. We spent most of the evening watching local TV reports about "The Blizzard of the Century."

Christmas Day, I rose early and helped people shovel out of their houses and apartments. My wife slept in. No point – getting anywhere was impossible. My car was snowbound for a week. City plows attempted to clear one lane in each direction on the main streets. Side streets were left to the tried-and-true solar melting method.

We lived between City Park and Colfax Ave. I needed to turn in an article downtown. No e-mails or faxes. So I went to Colfax to catch a bus. A mountain of snow clogged the street’s center line and traffic was backed up going and coming. I started to walk. Each time the No. 15 bus caught up with me, I contemplated jumping on. But I kept moving and the bus did not. I delivered my story and got home by dark. The streets were still clogged. Buses still crawled Colfax.

I finally dug out my car in time for a New Year's Eve party at my sister Eileen's apartment. Main streets were clear but side streets had snow ruts as deep as the historic wagon ruts on the Oregon Trail. I made it to the party (Chris was sick) and we all had wonderful blizzard tales to tell over mass quantities of beer.

Denver Mayor Bill McNichols did lose the next election in May 1983 because of his inept handling of the blizzard. This also happened once in Chicago, if I remember correctly. Maybe it’s happened elsewhere. Epic snowstorms provide headaches for politicians but many useful and entertaining stories for the rest of us.