Wyoming's historic struggle: preserving vs. trashing its environment

We heard from Kate Wright of Wyoming Conservation Voters at a house gathering last night in east Cheyenne.

Kate talked about the WCV's 2011 Conservation Scorecard for the Wyoming Legislature. As expected, most legislators of both parties came up short when it comes to voting to preserve and protect one of the most beautiful environments in the world. Not surprisingly, the big money wielded by the energy speaks very loudly in the halls of the State Capitol. Severance taxes on coal, oil and gas pay Wyoming's bills. Legislators know it. When they forget, lobbyists from Encana and Peabody are there to remind them.

This will always be the case until Wyoming figures out alternative ways to pay the bills.

Tourism comes close. And tourism depends less on scenic oil wells and open pit mines than it does on towering mountains, crystal clean trout streams and waist-deep powder.

This is a traditional struggle in Wyoming. We're an "energy colony" for the U.S. and, increasingly, the rest of the world (coal for Australia and China). Tourists from China now make Wyoming a destination. A new housing development in China, located two hours north of Beijing, is called Jackson Hole and is based the the cute little Alpine village of Jackson, Wyoming. Or some sort of re-imagined version of Jackson. Isn't it fun to imagine a Wyoming-coal-fired suburb in China filled with people who can't wait to go to the Wyoming-coal-and-natural-gas powered village of Jackson, Wyo. While in our quaint energy colony, these tourists might want to take a side trip to the open pit coal mines of Campbell County. Industrial tourism is a growing trend. I know a number of people who've taken the coal mine tours and have been down into the deep trona mines of southwestern Wyoming. As a curious human being, how can you not be interested in the origins of the material that powers our laptop computers. I'm typing on one right now!

For the most part, tourists want scenic vistas. When they travel to scenic Sublette County, they want to ogle the Wind River or Gros Ventre Mountains, fish in Fremont Lake, hunt elk in the Upper Green River Basin. They also want to be able to breathe, which hasn't been easy with air pollution caused by oil and gas development in the Pinedale Anticline. Last winter, air pollution levels in Pinedale topped those in L.A.

Back to the Wyoming Conservation Voters. Check out its web site at www.wyovoters.org. Get a copy of the scorecard. In the Senate, some Repubs such as Tony Ross (Laramie), John Schiffer (Johnson/Sheridan) and Leland Christensen (Teton/Fremont) top those of Democrats Marty Martin (Sweetwater/Fremont) and Chris Rothfuss (Albany). In the House, however, Dems lead the way. You can't find a sorrier, more anti-environment group of Tea Party Republicans than those in Natrona County, home of Casper, "Oil City." These Natrona County Repubs are regressive in almost every imaginable way, so this is no surprise.

WCV will again be keeping score as the 2012 Legislature rolls into town. The org also will lobby for upcoming legislation, including the Aquatic Invasive Species Act, increased funding for the Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resource Trust, and bills promoting Public Records and Public Meetings.

WCV is a 501(c)4 and works for all of us. It also has an education arm, a 501(c)3.

Go to the web site and contribute. You'll be glad you did.

Glass Art Celebration at Botanic Gardens sheds light on the winter gloom

I’m always amazed at what artists can do with glass. Fused glass, stained glass, blown glass, cast glass, slumped glass, recycled glass art, etc. Artist and art teacher Marianne Vinich and her students are creating fused-glass pieces as centerpieces for the Governor’s Arts Awards gala Feb. 24 in Cheyenne.  If you like glass in all of its art forms, plan to visit the Glass Art Celebration at the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens. While in the CBG building, think about how great it will be if voters approve the list of sixth-penny tax proposals on the ballot later this year. A spacious new Botanic Gardens building is on the list.

Winter Farmers' Market Feb. 4 at the Depot in downtown Cheyenne

Cheyenne Winter Farmers' Market

Inside the Cheyenne Downtown Depot

Saturday, Feb. 4, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

The Winter Farmers’ Market offers products grown, raised or crafted within 150 miles of Cheyenne. It will provide an opportunity to purchase locally grown all-​​natural beef, lamb, turkey, bison, farm fresh eggs, honey, along with locally crafted artisan breads, jams, jellies, tamales, empanadas, tortillas, soup and chili, jewelry, natural skin care, baskets and much more.

Come and stay for lunch. I do.

For more information, call 307-649-2430.

Planet JH News: "Don't get sick...if you're poor in Jackson"

Artist and writer Aaron Wallis writes about his experiences seeking affordable care in Jackson in Don't get sick...if you're poor in Jackson. Funny, and not so funny.

I'm just a border guy in Wyoming

I live in Cheyenne, Wyoming, area code 82009. My house is located less than ten miles from the Colorado border. It might as well be a million miles.

In 2008, Wyoming voters went for John McCain over Barack Obama by a 65-33 percent margin. This was the lowest percentage of “blue” voters in any state, outdoing even neighboring Utah and Idaho (34 percent). In 2010, Republican Matt Mead was elected governor by a 3-to-1 margin. All five elected offices were swept by Republicans and the GOP-dominated Legislature upped its “R” margin to 76 out of 90 seats.

In Colorado in 2008, voters voted for Obama 53.5% to 45 percent for McCain. Five of Colorado's seven U.S. House seats went to Dems as did the open U.S. Senate seat. In the 2010 Tea Party tide, four of the seven House seats went to Repubs, including the seat in Larimer County that Betsy Markey won in 2008. Another Democratic Governor was elected in 2010.

Despite the set-backs in 2010, one never knows what will happen in Colorado, especially in the northern counties of Larimer and Weld. The state overall trends blue but really is closer to purple.

Wyoming, on the other hand, is reliably red.

So, in 2012, us Red-State Dems will be crossing the border to convince Coloradans to vote for Pres. Obama.

It irritates me. I want Wyoming to be more liberal in its outlook but that will never happen. It may happen, but I won't be around to see it. I'll be retired in Colorado. Or just retired, period.

Last night at the Laramie County Democrats meeting, we heard from the new director of Obama for America/Wyoming, Bob Vernon-Kubichek. Bob is a Casper native and UW grad. He worked on Democrat Gary Trauner's 2006 campaign which came within 1,012 votes of unseating wacko Repub Barbara Cubin in the U.S. House race.

"That still stings," said Bob.

That definitely still stings. I worked on that campaign. Trauner walked the state while Cubin didn't. Gary Trauner was ahead on early returns but then came the rural votes in northern Wyoming, always reliably ultra-conservative.

Sting, stang, stung.

Bob will be bringing some high-tech weaponry to our battle against the Republicans. OFA/WY will have new and improved databases, mailing lists, strategies, phone-banking, training techniques.

In the end, though, here's his mission:

"We're here to build volunteer structures to help northern Colorado," he said. "We're not going to win Wyoming."

Ouch!

I'll be down there in Colorado, working for Obama for America/Wyoming in northern Colorado. It will make a big difference. We need Colorado to put Obama over the top and keep us from the clutches of the eventual Republican candidate (probably Romney).

We will win. Obama will be re-elected.

And Wyoming stays red.

Robin van Ausdall to Laramie County Democrats: "Remember who you are"

We had an extended meeting of the Laramie County Democrats last night at the IBEW Hall in Cheyenne. A reception began at 6. We welcomed the new executive director of the Wyoming Democratic Party, Robin van Ausdall, and the new Wyoming coordinator for Obama for America, Bob Vernon-Kubichek of Laramie.

It's an election year. A biggie. A presidential year in which the Republicans will be throwing every crazy arrow in their quiver at President Obama. They already rounded up all the most extreme candidates they could find to run in the Repub primaries. Today we find out the results from Florida, the state that made me what I am today. The Sunshine State has its own set of nuttiness, which I have neither the time nor inclination to go into here. Back to Wyoming...

To be a Democrat in The Equality State already makes your sanity suspect. We're radically outnumbered, you see, and can't seem to get anyone elected. When we do, as with Dave Freudenthal, he has to campaign and govern like a Republican. So what's the point, right? Van Ausdall puts it simply: "People vote for Democrats because we're right on the issues." Our stances for working people, health care, a living wage, universal equality, education, the environment, etc., put us on the side of the angels.

None of us is advocating (as are Republicans) that Medicaid and Medicare be severely cut or eliminated, Social Security should be privatized, children should work as school janitors, the rich are job creators so it's OK that they pay lower taxes than the middle class, teachers are overpaid and the root of all of our education problems, Obamacare is a socialist plot, there should be no gays in foxholes (or on aircraft carriers or in fighter jets), college liberal arts degrees are a waste of time and money, public workers are bums, fracking chemicals are yummy and are not a hazard to the environment, and moon bases must be established immediately so Luna can become our 51st state.

You can see how rational we are when compared to Republicans. However, once Rush and Fox News commentators filter our message, it's the Democrats who sound like loonies. Van Ausdall encourages Dems to speak out loud and proud and not be afraid to show our true selves. "Remember who you are," she said. "If the only thing people know about Democrats comes from Rush Limbaugh and Fox News, of course they're not going to vote for Democrats."

Noting that "Wyoming hasn't always an overwhelmingly Republican state," she urged us to "stand up, push back and connect" with those around us.

The "connect" part is probably the most important. This native of Basin, Wyo. (pop. 1,238) guessed that many of us were known by our Fox-watching neighbors as the first one on the block to bring over a casserole when someone was in need. What if they knew us as those nice Democrats next door who care for their neighbors?

That may seem silly but we are all known as good or bad neighbors. I have good neighbors. I share gardening tips with the Mormons to the north -- and they bring us treats each Christmas. Our neighbor to the south is a public school teacher who likes dogs. Our neighbors to the east are fundamentalist Christians from India -- we play bocce ball with them in the summer. Our neighbors to the west work for the school district and their grandson is a nice kid who is learning how to drive in the jalopy that gramps bought him. Most of them are Republicans or Indies. Whenever I get walk lists for registered Democrats, only one-half of one of those households is on them (just Grandma across the street). They should know my loyalties by now by my yard signs. We still say hey when we meet.

Van Ausdall calls herself a wonk and she may be. She also cares deeply about her home state (as a good Democrat should) and plans to bring some life to the moribund party. You can contact Van Ausdall at robin@wyomingdemocrats.com or by calling her at 307-473-1457. Connect with Robin on Facebook. Check out the Wyoming Democratic Party web site for more info.

Update (and new graphic) for "Defy the Hate" photo shoot Feb. 14 at LCCC in Cheyenne

You are invited!

Laramie County Democrats hold reception for new state director Jan. 30

From Linda Stowers:

The Laramie County Democrats will be meeting on Monday, January 30, at the 
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Union Hall, 810 Fremont, Cheyenne. There will be a reception at 6 p.m. for the new Executive Director of the State Party, Robin Van Ausdall, with the 7 p.m. business meeting to follow. Everyone welcomed.

Tropical heat wave strikes Cheyenne

I got tomatoes out the ying-yang and it's only January 28!

I exaggerate. But not by much. Cheyenne is now officially in a warmer zone in the USDA's "Plant Hardiness Zone Map." Our high-and-dry-and-cold climate once was in zone 4, which could be described this way: "Don't put your mater plants in the ground until after Memorial Day. And be prepared for frost the day after Memorial Day. And raging hailstorms the day after the day after Memorial Day."

Now we're in zone 5. Planting before Memorial Day is now permitted, even encouraged. Not so fast, says Shane Smith at the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens. This is from the CBG web site: 

Cheyenne used to be solidly in zone 4 is now one full zone warmer, zone 5. “Because this map is mostly based upon temperature, it doesn’t account for Cheyenne’s extreme winds and lack of winter snow cover. Therefore, I would caution people to not jump blindly into growing zone 5 plants and instead look at what is proven to do well here,” said Cheyenne Botanic Gardens Director Shane Smith. Cheyenne gardeners should instead stick to following the colder, zone 4 designation especially when selecting trees and shrubs, stated Smith.

I trust Shane's judgement. High Plains gardeners have to be cautious. However, as global warming continues -- and if I live long enough -- outdoor tomatoes in January may be possible.

New from Bruce: "We Take Care of Our Own"

Open Mic Night at Paramount Cafe Feb. 3

Open Mic Night at The Paramount Café, 1607 Capitol Ave., in downtown Cheyenne, will be held on Friday, Feb. 3, 6-9 p.m. If you would like a slot that night, call the café at 307-634-2576!

Some info from our pals at the Paramount:

“The café lacks a PA system but our acoustics sound great and the sound carries well. We are so excited to hear some local artists! Our only request is no profanity or vulgar language!”

Wyoming Tribune-Eagle: Downtown "hole" plan gets mixed reviews

Eight years and counting for downtown's "hole" (WTE photo).

Build a spec building at the hole site in downtown Cheyenne? The idea is to add the building's cost to the sixth-penny tax vote later this year. Not everyone likes the idea, but who's got a better plan? Anyone? Anyone? Read the WTE story: Downtown "hole" plan gets mixed reviews

Latest fiction manuscript off to the publisher

Sent my latest short-story manuscript off to the publisher this morning. The publisher is reviewing the manuscript to see if it merits publication. After reading each story 20 times looking for continuity breaks and sneaky typos and awkward punctuation, I have my doubts about its readability.

But who can tell? I would reveal the name of the publishing house but that could spell doom. So many things can curse a manuscript. Talking about it before it's finished. Talking about it on your blog. Reading it aloud to your spouse or other loved one. Reading it while drunk. Not writing it in the first place.

If you feel compelled to read one of my previously published stories, you can go here or here. Alas, you'll have to buy a book. To read one of my essays in a new anthology, go here. And feel free to read anything on hummingbirdminds. A little bit of snark, some humor, ruminations on the state of our disunion, and a few videos thrown in for fun.

Wish me luck with my book, dear readers!

Is it art or is it Occupy -- or both?

On Sunday, The Denver Post's Ray Mark Rinaldi reviewed some of the first alarming outbreaks of Occupy-themed art in the city. An excerpt:

"As an artist you have a responsibility to be relevant, to put something out there that has meaning," said Denver hip-hop artist Molina Speaks, explaining why he feels connected to Occupy. 

Molina talked at a community forum Monday [Jan. 16], at RedLine gallery/studios in downtown Denver, an event that literally brought art and Occupy into the same room. The afternoon of speeches, performance and workshops, coinciding with Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, was a smashing success, at least in spirit. 

More than 300 people showed up, and many had never stepped into the high-end gallery before. The Occupiers brought their message, the artists had their work on display, and the two meshed quite naturally. 

One workshop, about using music as a community-organizing tool featured Dee Galloway of the Spirituals Project and Jonny 5 from Flobots. Music met politics, and the singing could be heard down the street. 

"We are really beginning to break down those artificial walls between art and community," said RedLine's executive director, P.J. D'Amico. "Art has the power to radically reframe the conversation." 

--snip-- 

OCCUPY ART: View excerpts from the Civilians' cabaret show "Let Me Ascertain You" at thecivilians.org. The Lockerpartners have posted "The 99th Problem" on their website, lockerpartners.com (see video above). 

Read more: Rinaldi: The fine art of the Occupy movement shows stripped-down, naked anger.

Zen Cowboy Chuck Pyle performs March 3 at Nellie Tayloe Ross banquet in Cheyenne

Chuck Pyle, Colorado's "Zen Cowboy," will provide the music and humor at the Wyoming Democratic Party's Nellie Tayloe Ross banquet March 3:

Chuck Pyle has won high praise from both fans and peers alike throughout an inspired performance career of over 40 years. When reviewers first gave him the "Zen Cowboy" moniker, he decided to, as he says, "Always ride the horse in the direction it's going," and took the nickname to heart, shaving his head and blending his upbeat perspective with old-fashioned horse sense. He mixes infectiously hummable melodies with straight-from-the-saddle poetry, quoting bumper stickers, proverbs, world leaders and old cowboys.  

An accomplished songwriter, Chuck's songs have been recorded by John Denver, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and Suzy Bogguss. Country fans know him best for writing, "Cadillac Cowboy", recorded by the late Chris LeDoux, and "Jaded Lover," recorded by Jerry Jeff Walker. 

Clip from Chuck’s song about Wyoming, “Wide Open:” http://www.chuckpyle.com/audio/the_spaces_in_between/wide_open.mp3

New Wyoming varieties of spring flowers

Something to look forward to, here in Wyoming. More info here. 

Who increased the debt?

DNC Chair: "Mitt Romney's campaign is cratering"

From a Wyoming Democratic Party press release:

Tonight, DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz released the following statement on the results of the Republican primary in South Carolina: 

“If tonight proved one thing, it's that the central rationale of Mitt Romney’s campaign is cratering.  He came into South Carolina  with a 20 point lead -- a state where jobs and the economy is the number one issue -- and the candidate who hung his entire candidacy on these issues, Mitt Romney, saw his support collapse.

“Why?  Because Mitt Romney's been exposed as being out of touch with the middle class, and voters are seeing that he lives by another set of rules. He’s refused to level with voters, and now he’s in trouble.  Anyone who goes into a state with a significant double digit lead yet ends up losing that support in a week, is someone who is failing to connect.

“Voters in South Carolina saw that Mitt Romney has no core values, and that he will say anything to get elected.  He’s been exposed as having plans and policies that would keep his taxes low, and make them even lower, while doing nothing for the middle class.  The people of South Carolina also began to see what Romney’s brand of free enterprise really is: destroying companies and jobs to enrich himself while working families suffer.  Tonight, they rejected it.  At the end of the day, voters want someone they can trust, who shares their vision and who understands their plight.  And they are finding that Mitt Romney is not that person.

“Regardless of who becomes the Republican nominee, all of the candidates in the race support the failed policies of the past that drove us to the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.  That’s not what the American people want, and that’s why they know that the clear choice in this election is President Obama.”  

Okie from Muskogee will perform at Cheyenne Frontier Days

Here's some good news -- and get-well-soon wishes from fans in Cheyenne (from the Casper Star-Tribune):

Country music legend Merle Haggard plans to play Cheyenne Frontier Days this summer. 

Event organizers said Haggard would play July 22 with Chancey Williams and the Younger Brothers Band, of Wyoming, as the opening act. 

It will be the second time Haggard has played at Frontier Days. The first was in 1979. 

Tickets go on sale on Friday. 

Frontier Days runs from July 20-29. Other performers who are set to appear include Hank Williams Jr., Reba McEntire and the Zac Brown Band. 

On Wednesday, Haggard's publicist announced the singer is being treated for pneumonia in a Georgia hospital and has had to cancel the rest of his January concert dates. 

Read more: http://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/merle-haggard-to-perform-at-cheyenne-frontier-days/article_b58cfbf2-6373-57e5-9a80-

New UW speaker series honors contributions of Harriet Elizabeth "Liz" Byrd

Sen. Liz Byrd looks on as Wyoming Gov. Mike Sullivan signs law authorizing Martin Luther King, Jr./WY Equality Day at a 1990 ceremony in the State Capitol.

On Monday, we commemorated Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday with events around the country. The one held in Cheyenne featured a march by several hundred people from Depot Plaza to the State Capitol. Leading the parade were African-American leaders accompanied by Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead and his wife Carol, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Cindy Hill, State Auditor Cynthia Cloud, and Cheyenne Mayor Rick Kaysen.

Love & Charity Club organized the day’s events. The club’s Rita Watson was emcee. She introduced the state’s elected officials who made non-memorable speeches. They are all Republicans. On a daily basis, their policies seek to undo gains in social justice made by Dr. King and others in the Civil Rights movement. Inside the Capitol, Republican legislators were celebrating MLK/Equality Day by drafting legislation to roll back pensions of state workers, curtail social programs, destroy public education, and gerrymander voting districts to dilute the state’s minority vote which tends to be urban and Democratic. “Urban” you say? Wyoming is rural! “Minority” you say? Wyoming is white!

Take a look at the current redistricting maps and tell me why they look so funny. Why are the votes of city dwellers being watered down by the votes of dispersed rural populations. Cities tend to be more moderate and even liberal. There does seem to be an exception, and that’s Casper. What’s the matter with Casper? But overall, this holds true. Show me a Democrat in the state legislature who isn’t from a city or the Wind River Reservation and I’ll eat my hat.

Martin Luther King, Jr./WY Equality Day march in Cheyenne.

On Monday, Rita Watson mentioned the contributions of Harriet Elizabeth “Liz” Byrd, former state senator who was ill and couldn’t attend the festivities. Liz Byrd worked for almost a decade to pass legislation for a Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday. Seems odd that it would take a decade for The Equality State to honor a champion of equality such as Dr. King. In the end, the legislature named the holiday “Martin Luther King, Jr./Wyoming Equality Day. We have a hyphenated holiday. But we do have a holiday for Dr. King, just like the rest of the states.

Liz Byrd has deeper Wyoming roots than most of us. She went away to college and returned to find that teaching jobs with the Laramie County School District were closed to blacks. So she taught the children at F.E. Warren AFB. Remember that Republican Pres. Dwight D. Eisenhower oversaw the end of segregation in the armed forces (and its schools). Sen. Byrd could enter the gates of our local military base and find a job. Not acceptance from everyone, but her value as a human being and a teacher were duly noted by the U.S. Government.

It’s gratifying to see that Sen. Byrd’s contributions are being celebrated by the University of Wyoming this week. UW’s African American and Diaspora Studies office has created the Harriet Elizabeth "Liz" Byrd Speaker Series.

Here’s info from a UW press release:

To recognize her many contributions to Wyoming, both as an educator and legislator, UW . AADS is working to raise $25,000 to endow the series, which will bring minority educators and speakers to UW and serve to honor the woman who sponsored legislation that, in 1990, established Martin Luther King, Jr./Wyoming Equality Day as a state holiday. 

"I can't think of a better person to represent the University of Wyoming," says AADS Director Tracey O. Patton. "She's emblematic of what we all hope to accomplish in life. I think every person on this planet would like to affect positive change for the world. Very few of us get to do that but she did. She has made lives better in the state of Wyoming."

Find out more about Liz Byrd at http://www.uwyo.edu/profiles/extras/liz-byrd.html

Cheyenne Mayor Rick Kaysen speaks at the State Capitol Building on Martin Luther King, Jr./WY Equality Day.