Bill Sniffin: Columns and Articles

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

804 Cheney, challenges and big chills

    As January winds up, my mind is full of the following mishmash:

    • Read a series of interesting comments, which pretty much describes the Internet wants of American people under the age of 35 (and some of us oldsters, too).
This came out of a report about the recently completed Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, which had 140,000 attendees viewing all the latest gadgets being developed by companies like Apple, Dell and other modernistic companies. An observer said the theme was:
I want everything.
I want it everywhere.
I want it now.
    Whew … what a future we are headed toward.
Or maybe it sounds like we have all turned into a bunch of instant gratification, impatient persons.
Sort of reminds of the old Queen song, I want it all, I want it all, I want it all and I want it now.

    • The above sort of reminds me of some of the challenges faced by all levels of education institutions.
Central Wyoming College in Riverton hosted a meeting recently where it was pointed out that their average student is 27 years old and 60 percent of their students are women.
I thought these statistics seemed unusual but later found out that some 58 percent of the state’s community colleges’ students are women and that 54 percent of the students at University of Wyoming are women.

    • Just read a great book, which was a gift at Christmas, called BOOM, by Tom Brokaw. It contains a very interesting chapter on Dick Cheney.
    It pointed out that the Vice President was in jail in Rock Springs on his second drunk driving charge on a May weekend when his friends from Yale (where he had flunked out) and his Wyoming friends were all graduating from college.
    That experience changed his life. He cleaned up his act, went back to UW and graduated and the rest is history.
    The author also asked the Veep if he had ever smoked marijuana. “I was never around it,” Mr. Cheney replied. “No one offered me any. Casper, Wyoming, when I was growing up, somehow it hadn’t reached there yet.”

    • It was cold and snowy and windy driving to the press convention recently in Casper.
Seems like more and more of the old publishers – heck, I am one of the old guys, now – are talking about going someplace warm this winter.
    Found out later that one of them experienced a 100-degree different this past week. Was minus 23 when he left Wyoming and 81 in Hawaii when he arrived to the sunny beaches, a 104-degree shift.
Maybe I can get him to tell me some stories of what is happening in the tropics.

    • Some years ago, a former car salesman in Lander named John Jezek was sick of the cold and the snow.
He told me this more than a decade ago as he was leaving town. He had a jeep and it had an engine heater with a plug sticking out of bars of the grille.
    “So, John, where are you going?” I asked him
    “I am going south where it is warm and get out of this snow and cold.”
    “How will you know when you have gone far enough? I asked.
“When someone comes up to me and asks me what the heck is that plug for? Then I will know I have gone south far enough.”
    Former Wyoming newspaper publisher Steve Woody who now works in Montrose, CO. took the same story and added the following more modern line:
    “I’m going south until someone asks me if that is an electric car I’m driving?”

    • At last week’s Wyoming Press Association convention in Casper a reporter asked Gov. Dave Freudenthal if he was considering running for the U. S. Senate and also, would the governor be a candidate?
“That’s not my problem,” he replied chilly. “Next question?”

    • During all the football games, I found myself keeping track of what I thought were the best and the worst commercials on TV.
    Best were “Eat More Chikin” featuring parachuting cows by Chik-Fil-A Restaurants plus The Verizon commercial of a guy on the motorcycle insisting he is a loner, despite the 7,000 support people who trail along behind him.
    Worst are the dumb Sonic commercials featuring two idiots talking about their sandwich. Tops for irritation value were the moms tracking down the Burger King. Most irritating of all was a big football player dancing in the end zone with a Dr. Pepper pop in his hand.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

803 Wyoming`s four letter words

For a long time, PLAN and ZONE have been two of Wyoming’s most unpopular four-letter words.

A conference titled “Building the Wyoming we want” was attended by 520 people in Casper last week. Its findings went a long way toward blasting that notion about these two words to smithereens. There were people from Cheyenne, Laramie, Jackson, Rawlins, Evanston, Worland, Basin, Riverton, Rock Springs, Green River, Casper, Gillette and other towns, too. Both Lander and Sheridan each had 20 people there.

A second notion that Wyoming is just like a small city with extremely long streets came to the fore as people from all ends of the state greeted each other knowingly as they worked together to learn ways to get control of the unprecedented growth that has been gripping our state for five years.

Perhaps the real theme was “what kind of place do we want to leave to our grandchildren,” which was echoed by Gov. Dave Freudenthal is his opening and closing remarks. And perhaps by the sea of gray heads in the audience.

Noticeably absent from the room were the ranchers and farmers who really hold the keys to what happens to all this open space land. Also absent were the developers, the realtors, members of the mineral industry and young people.

But despite that, this meeting was destined to happen, much to the governor’s admitted astonishment.

A lot of people, this writer included, have been citing the 25 years ago Wyoming Futures Project as a guide to what has been needed here during the current boom. That effort during Wyoming’s last boom showed great promise but fizzled along with our economy, as times got tough in the 1980s and 1990s.

A famous bumper sticker from that era has been quoted again and again – “Please, Lord, Give me one more boom. This time I won’t piddle it away.” (Note: This is a family newspaper. That original bumper sticker had a different word substituted for the use of the word piddle.)

The current boom sort of sneaked up on a whole state of disbelieving citizens as the stars aligned themselves perfectly to cause our current growth. There was just one writer talking about it five years ago and he called it Wyoming’s Golden Age, but we digress.

It is impossible to condense all the important stuff that came out of the conference in one 750-word column. Future columns will have details on some of the more pertinent information, though. Here are some important ideas that emerged from the conference:

• Utah example. An outfit called Envision Utah shared some incredibly good examples of how you can get people together from diverse backgrounds to work out their differences for the ultimate good of all. These Utahans are planning as hard as they predict 5 million people living in the Wasatch Valley by 2050.

• Sonoran institute. Luther Propst’s outfit from Tucson shared many good examples of how to have growth on your own terms. Many Wyoming communities have used his services before and he recently opened a Cheyenne office.

• Local taxation. The conference included many city and county folks who felt the Legislature has taken away too many local taxing options, which restricts local control and options to control their own destiny.

• Wildlife Trust. Bob Budd’s outfit offers a lot when it comes to developing open space and protecting Wyoming’s way of life.

• Bad guys? A developer called BB Brooks was cited as examples of the bad guy as reckless realtor. These Arizona folks have purchased some huge Wyoming ranches and are selling 40-acre ranchettes. Mr. Budd called them “weedettes … too small to plow and two big to mow.”

• How to do it? The governor was in rare form as he urged people to make this process a bottom up rather than top down effort.

• New language. Buzzwords like cluster housing, satellite development, hubs and discussion of innovative land models, like that of the Sand Creek ranch preservation anti-sprawl project near Buffalo, were voiced.

Another Buffalo resident told me rural folks in Johnson County are finally now talking about zoning as they try to get a grip on development in that conservative part of the state.

My biggest worry is that 80 percent of the people there were either government employees or on government boards. Nothing will be done concerning this problem until the landowners, realtors, developers; mineral companies and entrepreneurs are brought to the table.

Let’s not let this effort fade into our memories as just another nice to go to government conference.

This was just a first step. And it was a big one.

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

802 Wyoming`s alcohol culture

It has been an interesting week to watch what drunks are

doing, what people are getting sentenced for buying liquor for minors and how some folks are fighting against the issuance of liquor

licenses here in Wyoming.

Drunk driving is a scourge that continues to bedevil the

people of Wyoming. Of all the horrible stories connected with this

crime, one recent one pretty much tops the list.

There’s a guy in Casper who is in a heap of trouble for reportedly committing one of the most gruesome alcohol related crimes in memory.

Former Fremont County resident Doug Downs was arrested for drunk driving, booked and released on bail on Dec. 30. He reportedly got drunk again and at the urging of his buddies borrowed a Chevy Tahoe to take them home. He then reportedly ran over a poor guy named Jeffrey Irene, 40, and dragged him for over a mile, scraping away much of his skin. When bystanders finally rescued the poor guy, he was so torn up his interior organs were visible.

Mr. Downs is free on $50,000 bail and his victim is fighting for his life in a Casper hospital. The victim is a professional golfer and

construction worker.

This story has gotten more than 100 reader comments in local

newspapers as people express their outrage. More importantly, it points out the ever-lingering dangers of drunk driving.

And in Casper, some big discussions are occurring over

jurisdictional questions that may ultimately lead to the legislature

to get them figured out. Mr. Downs was reportedly first arrested by the Highway Patrol and was bonded out of the jail, which is run by the Sheriffs Department.

Meanwhile members of the Casper Police Department, who are incredibly aggressive when it comes to dealing with drunk drivers, have been getting an inadvertent black eye for something they had nothing to do with. Chief Tom Pagel said his crew arrested 580 drunk drivers last year, an impossibly high number.

Also this past week in Casper, a woman was sentenced to six

months in jail for providing liquor to youths, which resulted in a

fatal car wreck.

Carlene Spenneberg admitted to providing a gallon of vodka to Ryan Barry, 17 and a 15-year-old girl, which I assume was her daughter. Mr. Barry was killed in a subsequent crash on July 4, 2007, that was blamed on alcohol impairment. The victim, who was the driver, had an alcohol blood content of .30, more than three times what is considered intoxicated.

Mrs. Spenneberg’s plaintive plea to the judge was to no

Avail. She said she has to live with the fact that “the only boy her

daughter loved is dead because of me.” Those are powerful words.

Alcohol abuse is a huge problem in our state.

First Lady Nancy Freudenthal has led the crusade against underage drinking. She has always said that one of the leading suppliers to young drinkers is their parents, whether intentional, which was this case or unintentional by having it in the refrigerator or in the family unlocked liquor cabinet.

And finally, here in Lander last Tuesday night, the local city council endured a barrage of 50 citizens upset about renewing a liquor license for a new Maverik convenience store.

Person after person testified to Mayor Mick Wolfe and his

fellow council members about the problems with alcohol and why this liquor license should be denied.

Loud applause erupted after each speaker and you could see

the councilmen and women wincing as they looked out at the huge crowd (by Lander standards) seemingly urging them to deny the license. The license was approved 4-1.

The arguments were compelling but the facts are that Maverik had invested over one million dollars in the project and will open in 8 weeks.

The regional manager of the Maverik also spoke and asked the

Council “just give us a chance.” He said they run a tight ship.

My advice to him is to make darn sure he does run a tight ship or that crowd and a few hundred others will be back clamoring for a revocation of their license.

And isn’t it odd? Here in Wyoming, we have witnessed truly an “alcohol culture” for over a century. I will never forget driving to Casper with a friend in 1971 and seeing a cooler of beer on the front seat and being told that Casper was a one six-pack trip … going and returning.

Thankfully people are finally seeing the light when it

comes to alcohol consumption.

Let’s hope we can learn from the results of the horrible

alcohol related incidents described in this column.

Saturday, January 5, 2008

801 Strong winds, blowing snow, slick in spots

    This is the season when winter driving in Wyoming can become the stuff of legend.
    Last Monday, we had a need to make a trip to Denver. It was to drive my daughter and her family back to the Denver airport and the WYDOT report showed all the roads were closed between Lander and Denver.
I-80 was closed for three days and I-25 was closed for just Sunday, but still it created that scrambling effect as we scanned the map trying to find an alternative way through.
    The computer-generated map on the WYDOT web site works well and the web cans are helpful. Am still getting used to the long-winded menus when you call (888) WYO-ROAD, though.
We were faced with the question asked by a lot of folks in our state this time of year: How do you get anywhere when the Interstates are closed?
    As an advocate of commercial air, that option was out because I needed to be in Denver and it seemed to make sense when we set it up to just haul them down there. At this point, that was seeming to be a bad conclusion.
    Folks in Laramie cope with interstate closures by taking 287 south, but you have to get to Laramie first.
In last week’s column, the word boycott was used to describe my feelings of driving on I-80 in winter, which of course, meant we avoided that road when conditions are scary in the winter. But no, I did not mean to boycott that road. Ever. I-80 is an incredible asset to Wyoming.
    But back to our travel dilemma. When I-25 opened, we scrambled around and got them to Denver in time to meet their schedule but the trip was not pretty.
    Actually, it was pretty. The winter moonscape in Wyoming is spectacular. It was the driving conditions that were not so great.
    High winds pushed us along on Highway 20/26 through Shoshoni and on down a stretch known as 100 miles of nuthin,’ which is the 96-mile drive from Shoshoni to Casper. So far, so good.
    It was still decent until we made the big bend south on I-25 near Douglas. Once the highway goes vertical and becomes a north-south road, well, you know that crosswinds and ground blizzards are going to obscure your visibility.
    We limped along with white knuckles until we got to Cheyenne. Saw no semi-trailer trucks, as they were no doubt warned to stay away. It was easy to recall another trip one time between Casper and Cheyenne where we counted seven semis on their sides from the high winds.
    We did make it okay and chalked up one more survival trek across our wonderful, vast state in winter driving. I still think we should re-think our state slogan to the following: Strong winds, blowing snow, slick in spots.
    This all reminds me of some other weather thoughts:

    • Reason number four to tell that you are from Wyoming? When the snow falls and you shovel your walk, well, you always pile the snow downwind so it does not blow back across your walk.

    • We have had 34 inches of snow in Lander since Dec. 1 and the temperature was recently minus 8.
Judy Legerski said she was flying into Riverton on a commercial flight in this weather and a guy behind her said loudly: “I always wondered what Siberia looked like. Now I know!”

    • Former state legislator Scott Ratliff of Riverton was explaining another reason to determine if you are from Wyoming: If you carry jumper cables in your car and your wife knows how to use them, you live in Wyoming.

    • The Wyoming political scene is heating up somewhat.
    By the time this is published, it looks like former State Treasurer Cynthia Lummis may have jumped into the ring to replace retiring U. S. rep. Barbara Cubin.
    If so, she should be a formidable candidate.
    In the midst of snowstorm in a Lander neighborhood, I almost ran over a man who looked a little like a young Jean Luc Pickard of Star Trek. He was jogging along inhaling and exhaling lots of breaths.
As I slowed down, it was obvious that is State Sen. Cale Case (R-Lander).
The metaphor was irresistible. “Are you running?” I asked.
    “Well, yes and no,” he laughed. Later he said I could start the rumor that he was also going to throw his hat into the ring for the U. S. House race. Not sure if he was serious or not, though, He ran four years ago in the primary against Barbara.
    With Sen. Case, though, you know he usually does not announce anything until after the legislative session ends.