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Wednesday, January 27, 2010
2010 - 06 Could Liz Cheney is USA`s top lead dog?
Is there any similarity at all between the 2010 Wyoming governor’s race and the second biggest sled dog race in the country, both of which mushed through our town this past week?
Hmmm. Not sure.
In both cases, the winner will get to the finish line after a great deal of preparation, lots of hard work, a good team of handlers, spending lots of money, good timing and most of all, not screwing up.
The apparent top Republican dog in the governor’s race stopped by for a visit last Thursday and was showing just a tiny bit of trail fatigue. Ron Micheli, 61, of Fort Bridger, smiled when he said he and his wife Patty were a little weary after driving 900 miles the previous day.
On this day, they had been in Riverton early that morning for a radio show on KVOW with Leslie Stratmoen, back to Lander for an interview with KOVE’s Joe Kenney, then an interview at the Lander Journal with Anne McGowan and finally, to our office to chat with this columnist.
After that, they were headed back to Riverton and then on to Worland for the big GOP talkfest that night. Whew!
The other top dogs in the GOP primary were at the Worland event including Rep. Colin Simpson (R-Cody), State Auditor Rita Meyer and former U. S. Attorney Matt Mead.
And the biggest show dog of all was Liz Cheney, who served as the main speaker, no doubt continuing to stamp her imprint onto any future Republican legacy she chooses. The daughter of our former Vice President Dick Cheney is a force in the GOP across the country and could be a player in the 2012 presidential race. Not as the main candidate but certainly as a power broker, it could normally be predicted.
But wait a minute.
Perhaps she is out there in the hustings working on her delivery and prepping for a big day on the stage in 2012? Why not Liz? Then again, with five small kids, ala Sarah Palin, perhaps 2016 will be the key year for her?
The way President Barack Obama is floundering, the country may willingly look fondly to someone whose last name is, well, Cheney. You read it here first.
I really wanted to write a column about the International Pedigree Stage Stop Sled Dog Race (IPSSSDR), though.
For 15 years, the dogs have galloped up and down the canyons and valleys of western Wyoming.
Long considered the second most important sled dog race in the world (the Iditarod in Alaska is number one), it is held in Wyoming each year in January and February.
By the time you are reading this, this year’s endurance race will be coming to an end.
Jackson’s Frank Teasley founded the race. It starts in Jackson and then to Lander, where our Rotary Club hosts a banquet. Then on to Pinedale and Big Piney. Then over to Alpine, down to Kemmerer-Diamondville and finally its last stop in Wyoming is Evanston. Nice banquets and even parades are held. It is a uniquely Wyoming event. But it ends in Park City, Utah, on Feb. 6, if everything goes as planned.
Some of the 20 mushers came over 7,000 miles and a great many are from Alaska and Canada. Several Iditarod winners have competed.
So there we were, enjoying our Rotary Spaghetti and listening to the program and I could not help thinking about the governor’s race. Could the candidates learn anything from these racers?
Veteran journalist Geoff O’Gara scoffed at my idea that the two races could be compared. He likened the political campaigns to a board game.
He said Gov. Dave Freudenthal let out a big clue about his reelection effort by something he said during a one-on-one interview with O’Gara for Wyoming PBS. O’Gara explains:
"Sled dog endurance race? Nah. It`s short and quick in Wyoming. More like a game of CLUE, trying to be first to solve the mystery of who `did it:’ like, say, Diemer True, in the Petroleum Club, with his bank account.
“On the Democrat side, Gov. Freudenthal dropped a big clue with his proposal to amend the federal constitution - something that will never happen, but gets him media attention . . . "
Perhaps so.
To conclude our comparison to a sled dog race, we may want to remember that the view of the race is not nearly so much fun for all the dogs following along behind the lead dog.
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Wednesday, January 20, 2010
WyoFile3 - Will he or won`t he? Hard to handicap 2010 governor race
The 2010 Wyoming governor’s race is difficult to handicap.
The main uncertainty is whether two-term Gov. Dave Freudenthal will challenge the state law for term limits which prevents him from running for a third term. The State Supreme Court already overturned the statute that affected legislators on this issue. A new court case is considered a slam-dunk for the incumbent if he chooses to challenge term limits and run again.
And although he is sounding and acting more like a candidate all the time, there are just as many compelling reasons for Freudenthal to bow out after eight years and make room for new blood.
Dave’s dallying is one thing. But there are also many questions involving other candidates from both parties.
For example:
Top money raiser among Republicans is former legislator and State Agriculture Department Director Ron Micheli of Fort Bridger.
Micheli comes from a remote part of Wyoming and is a member of the LDS faith, which constitutes about 12% of the population. The latter gives him a strong base although voters have never elected a Mormon to high office in the state.
Micheli, however, has raised nearly $200,000 and many stalwarts in the party view him as the leader. Can he pull it off?
A secret weapon working for Micheli is his formidable family team of eight adult children. He is a Wyoming version of Mitt Romney, who impressed the national press last fall with the competence and hard work of his offspring during the campaign.
A not-so-secret weapon for Micheli is the strong endorsement of his good friend Diemer True of Casper. True is arguably the most powerful GOP operative in the state. Gov. Freudenthal says he is not worried about Micheli, but rather, as he once said, “the puppet master, Diemer True.”
State Auditor Rita Meyer recently announced her intentions to run as a GOP candidate. She is popular and favored by many centrist members of the party.
A lack of money could hurt her chances. But her victory in a statewide race four years ago plus her role as Chief of Staff for former Gov. Jim Geringer give her more experience than other candidates. She is also a former head of the Wyoming Air National Guard.
It’s been a long time since Wyoming had a woman governor. Nellie Tayloe Ross was the first in the country back in 1925. Others have tried and failed, notably Mary Mead in 1990 and Kathy Karpan in 1994. Can Rita do it?
Another hopeful is Speaker of the House Colin Simpson (R-Cody). He is the son of a three-term U. S. Senator Al Simpson.
The pedigree doesn’t stop with his dad. Colin’s grandfather was Milward Simpson, a governor and U. S. Senator for Wyoming.
An attorney, Colin has said he will wait until after the February Legislative budget session is completed to announce and start campaigning. Will that decision leave him too little time to catch the other candidates?
His supporters have been smarting ever since Simpson did not finish in the top five in the contest within the Republican Party to select a candidate to replace the late U. S. Sen. Craig Thomas in June, 2007. Simpson’s detractors felt it showed a lack of statewide support for him as John Barrasso, Cynthia Lummis, Tom Sansonetti, Ron Micheli and Matt Mead finished ahead of him.
Freudenthal got to choose from the top three selected by the party. The governor picked Barrasso who in 2008 won reelection to that Senate seat and is now serving. Lummis won election to the U. S. House and faces reelection this fall. Micheli and Mead are both running for governor this time around. Sansonetti went back to practicing law in Cheyenne.
The fourth candidate in the Republican field is former U. S. Attorney Matt Mead of Cheyenne and Jackson. His Wyoming political pedigree is probably as good as Simpson’s. He is the grandson of former Gov. and U. S. Senator Cliff Hansen and son of the late GOP gubernatorial candidate Mary Mead of Jackson.
Mead has managed to accumulate friends in two corners of Wyoming’s vast expanse but is still relatively unknown to the rest of the state. His family has the money to finance a first-rate campaign if donations do not come in fast enough.
A dark horse fifth potential GOP candidate is former House Speaker Roy Cohee of Casper. The trucking company owner has appeared to be unlikely to jump into the race but said he will make his decision after the budget session.
Although Wyoming is correctly viewed as one of the most Republican state in the union when it comes to national elections, it is a different story at home. Of the four governors elected in the last 36 years, three have been Democrats.
This includes Gov. Ed Herschler of Kemmerer, who served three terms. Both Gov. Freudenthal and his wife Nancy worked for Gov. Herschler.
Following those three terms, Gov. Mike Sullivan of Casper served two terms and, most recently, Freudenthal, a native of Thermopolis, has been elected for two terms.
So never count out Democrats if they can field a serious candidate when handicapping the governor’s race in Wyoming.
As a broad generalization, all of these Democratic governors have been very conservative by national Democratic Party standards and, in several cases, were elected to be watchdogs against the big out-of-state energy companies, which tend to favor the GOP candidates.
When it comes to the Democratic Party this year, no doubt the only big dog in the fight is the incumbent Freudenthal who has kept everyone else in his party from even talking about running.
It is no secret that Gov. Freudenthal loves to have leverage over the Republican-dominated State House and Senate. His toying with running for a third term takes away the lame duck status he would be stained with if everyone thought he was retiring this year. This will allow him considerable power over what happens in the upcoming budget session.
But it could also be argued that this posturing is making it impossible for any other Democrat candidate to gain enough momentum to win next November if Freudenthal does not run.
A neutral observer would probably assume that the GOP candidates are so strong this year, it really does not matter. There just are not any viable Democrats. Or are there?
So if Freudenthal does not run, then who are the likely Democratic players?
One who probably will not run is attorney Paul Hickey of Cheyenne, who ran hard against Freudenthal in the Democratic primary eight years ago. Hickey has the money and the moxie to run a good race but has been lying low, politically, in recent years.
The son of a former governor, he appears to have made his one big try at the top job and now is enjoying life as one of the state’s highest paid corporate attorneys.
The candidate most often mentioned is that of State Sen. Mike Massie (D-Laramie).
Massie is an outstanding legislator and respected on both sides of the aisle. A former state employee (he was curator of the South Pass City Historical Site years ago), he currently works as a historian, when not doing legislative work.
He has strong feelings for the job of State Superintendent of Public Instruction, too. He recently joined the state’s P16 Education Council, as a reflection of his interest in education.
By far the most interesting possible candidate on the Democrat side would be Milward Simpson of Cheyenne. He is the current director of the Wyoming State Parks and Cultural Resources Department and would probably lose his job if there is a new Republican governor.
He is openly talking about running for the top job.
But what makes this so interesting is that he is the first cousin of Colin Simpson. And Milward is the son of Pete Simpson of Laramie, who was the unsuccessful 1986 GOP standard bearer against Mike Sullivan. He is also, like Colin, the grandson of the elder Milward Simpson.
From a media perspective, a Simpson versus Simpson race would almost be too delicious.
But it is early.
Way early to determine who the final two candidates will be or to try and predict who will lead the state into the next decade of the 21st century.
These are the best of times for political candidates. No public polls have been taken and they all look like winners. At least to themselves and their family and friends.
Some of these state politicians were out in force at the annual meeting of the Wyoming Press Association convention held recently in Casper.
Besides Gov. Freudenthal, who always holds a Meet the Press event, the group also enjoyed the company of newly-announced candidate Rita Meyer.
The biggest talk in the press association’s well-stocked bars was the speculation about Gov. Dave running again.
During his Meet the Press event, our two-term leader stoked that fire.
He sounded more like a candidate than a retiring governor as he both seriously and jokingly reminded the press “of all the great accomplishments of the past seven years.”
The governor pulled a huge slip of the tongue at the end of the Meet the Press event, though, when he concluded it, waved and smiled broadly (like a candidate) and said: “See you all next year.”
Oops. The only way he will be there next year is if he runs again and wins.
Later he was coy about it and said it was a slip of the tongue. Should we call it a Freudenthalian Slip?
One reporter at the convention said he felt the governor would not run for several reasons: First, his family is opposed to it. Second, his wife who will soon be a U. S. District Judge, cannot serve as First Lady and a judge because it would damage her judicial impartiality. And third, it just does not make sense. The only governor to ever serve a third term (Gov. Dave’s former long-time boss, Ed Herschler) was severely burned out during his third term and, many people feel, pretty much did it for the money.
Casper Star-Tribune columnist Joan Barron pointed out a fourth reason, which is that the governor really has not raised that much money.
Most folks know that Freudenthal is a great fund-raiser and if he were to commit for sure, the money would roll in.
Perhaps the fifth reason he would not run is the belief that Democrats will be slaughtered at the polls this November. This comes after the big victory in Massachusetts by a Republican for the seat Ted Kennedy held for 50 years.
Back to the press convention:
Rita Meyer was well received. Two publishers said they felt very comfortable with her. A few were openly skeptical about other governor candidates, such as Colin Simpson and Micheli, as “being too far to the right.”
Although Micheli did not show up, his comments were shared earlier in the Evanston newspaper:
“In a crowded Republican primary, 40,000 votes could win the election,” Micheli was quoted as saying. “So, with an Ag base, an LDS base, a social conservative base, a minerals base and then the western Wyoming base, it doesn’t take too long to get to 40,000 votes, so we think it’s doable. We’ve made that analysis,” Micheli said.
“It will be a crowded primary with a lot of good candidates. But we’re definitely viable,” he told the Uinta County Herald.
Besides the time he spent in Cheyenne as a legislator for 16 years, he also lived there for eight years as former Gov. Jim Geringer’s Agriculture Commissioner.
Another one of the biggest factors going into the 2010 statewide campaigns and elections could be some dysfunction within the state Republican Party.
Most recently, they fired their newly-hired state director Randy O’Hara, who just moved his family to Casper from Salt Lake City. Did he even work two months?
Meanwhile, the groups like the Wyoming Liberty Group and the Ron Paul disciples (Libertarians) staking out turf to make sure their individual agendas get heard.
Former U. S. Sen. Al Simpson always talked about the importance of Wyoming Republicans having “a big tent”—one that could welcome a wide spectrum of thinking. That seemed to work back in his day.
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2010 - 05 Is there a pro-active approach to global warming?
The worldwide struggle concerning how to deal with global warming could have a result that would be devastating for Wyoming’s economy.
We are like bystanders watching our destiny being determined at a high stakes poker game in which we do not have any cards to play.
If the folks like Barack Obama, Al Gore and legions of international scientists prevail, it could be a death knell to our state’s coal industry. Ripples of this scientific belief have already killed off dozens of coal-fired power plants across the country, which would have used Wyoming coal.
Development of coal and coal-powered plants has been dealt a deathblow similar to that which derailed the nuclear power industry in 1979 with the Three Mile Island incident.
After setting yearly records for coal mining, Wyoming saw its first down year in 2009, when production dropped seven percent from 2008.
This cost a few jobs and tax money to the people of our state.
Wyoming leads the country is the production of coal and is second in natural gas, a much cleaner fossil fuel.
And despite promotion by energy leaders like T. Boone Pickens, these global warming opponents often do not even view natural gas as salvation, either.
All fossil fuels emit carbon dioxide when they are processed to create energy. These environmental-oriented scientists’ goal is to cut these emissions to as low a level as possible. Rather than fossil fuels, these folks prefer wind, solar, perhaps nuclear and lots of conservation.
Two major sets of questions come into play when this giant poker game is being played:
First, is global warming really occurring or not? Even a few non-members of the environmental community agree that some kind of worldwide cycle is occurring. There is lots of debate over the severity of it and what kind of prognosis you can draw from the apparent facts being quoted.
Second, how much of it is man-caused? And can this be reversed? How much and how soon and by what system can it be curtailed?
You have our Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pledging $100 billion at a recent Copenhagen summit on this issue. Prior to her presentation, you also saw our president speaking about global warming to that worldwide group with all the certainty of experienced scientist.
Counter that scene with an international rejection in Copenhagen by the other biggest polluters (China and India) and the exposé of some false science reports by some of the leading exponents of extreme activism toward global warming by some English scientists. Embarrassing, indeed, to that cause.
Meanwhile leaders of a small state with a tiny population look on with worried looks on their faces. We have a dog in this fight, a very big dog to us, but barely a blip (or a chip) on the international radar (or international poker table).
While watching all this, the one approach that seems to be missing would be the typically old-fashioned, American “can-do” approach.
Could global warming be fixed without destroying a trillion dollars of the international economy?
Into the fray steps one of the smartest guys in the world with a stable of Noble Prize winners backing him up.
In Seattle there is a guy who says he can fix global warming by artificially duplicating what a small volcano would do – squirt sulphur into the atmosphere.
Nathan Myhrvold and his crew want to spend a quarter of a billion dollars creating a long hose suspended by huge helium balloons that would spray a limited amount of sulphur into the high atmosphere. This would cool world temperatures by one degree.
What is uniquely American about his plan is that he says hardly anyone has been proactive instead of reactive. His proactive plan imitates nature in attempting to solve the problem.
When scientists get hysterical with him about “tampering with the atmosphere,” he responds that we “have been tampering with the atmosphere” and “that is why we are where we are at today.”
Calling his project “a string of pearls,” he is not the crackpot a person might suspect. He is the former chief technology officer at Microsoft and has been featured on National Public Radio. His theory is a mainstay in the best selling book Super Freakonomics. Look him up.
Although Wyoming is almost a helpless bystander in watching this worldwide poker game concerning global warming, it behooves us to keep informed.
Check our Mr. Myhrvold’s spectacular idea. It may make you feel better about our state’s energy future.
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Thursday, January 14, 2010
2010 - 04 The vast political landscape of Wyoming
The state’s politicians were out in force at the annual meeting of the Wyoming Press Association last week in Casper.
Besides Gov. Dave Freudenthal, who always holds a Meet the Press event, the group also enjoyed the company of newly-announced gubernatorial candidate Rita Meyer (the current state auditor), U. S. Rep. Cynthia Lummis who is up for reelection and U. S. Sen. John Barrasso and others.
Wyoming has many smart editors, reporters and publishers and they love to talk about politicians.
The big talk was the speculation about Gov. Dave running again and our two-term leader stoked that fire big-time. It now looks like he is running and nothing he said or did at the press conference would change my mind.
He sounded more like a candidate than a governor, both seriously and jokingly reminding the press of all the great accomplishments of the past seven years.
He again expressed his thanks for the Golden Age, which started the same time he attained the office. He also re-told the story of how fellow governor candidate Sniffin was predicting Wyoming’s upcoming boom during the 2002 campaign while everyone other candidate was worrying about raising taxes. Thanks, Guv.
He pulled a huge slip of the tongue at the end of the Meet the Press event, though, when he waved and smiled broadly (like a candidate) and said: “See you all next year.”
Oops. Only way he will be there next year is if he runs again and wins.
Later he was coy about it and said it was a slip of the tongue. Yeah, a Freudian Slip or should we call it a Freudenthalian Slip?
His best line during the event, though, was when he constantly being asked by Casper Star-Tribune reporter Pete Nickeas of whether he favored dipping into the rainy day account to help out cities and towns?
Those entities are crying the blues and feel the state should tap into that $800 million account during times when “it is raining,” which they think it now.
The governor disagreed and reminded how state government implemented across the board 10 percent cuts a year ago and he wondered how many cities and towns did that, in anticipation of the upcoming shortfall? He said:
“I do not print money. This is not the federal government. I do not borrow money. This is not California.”
Rita Meyer attended the Friday night banquet and was well received. The publishers I talked with feel very comfortable with her and a few were openly skeptical about other governor candidates, such as House Speaker Colin Simpson (R-Cody) and former Ag Commissioner Ron Micheli, Fort Bridger, as “being too far to the right.” I reminded them that being too far to the right might not play well with some members of the Wyoming press, but it usually works well in a Wyoming GOP primary.
A fourth GOP candidate, former U. S. Attorney Matt Mead recently named his brother Brad of Jackson to run his campaign. There appears to be lots of money in the Mead family. Matt is the late Sen. Cliff Hansen’s grandson and the son of former governor candidate, the late Mary Mead. Tapping into those family funds may be needed to launch a viable campaign.
Mr. Mead is the only one of the four who has not run for elective office before and that can provide a steep learning curve. Matt is a worthy candidate and would be a good governor. But he needs to get some traction on getting statewide recognition.
Perhaps the biggest factor going into the 2010 statewide campaigns and elections is the apparent dysfunction within the state Republican Party.
When I ran for governor in the GOP primary back in 2002, I was totally impressed by how effective this organization worked. Lately, they seem fractured.
Most recently, they fired their newly hired state director Randy O’Hara, who just moved his family to Casper from Salt Lake City. Did he even work three months?
Former U. S. Sen. Al Simpson always talked about the importance of Wyoming Republicans having “a big tent” which seemed to work back in the day.
But today?
Hard to imagine that Wyoming Democrats (a pretty normally dysfunctional group) seem to be better organized than our dominant Republican party.
This could all have a big effect on who runs for and who wins the governor’s office. Doubt it will have much effect on other races, but from a reporter’s perspective, it has been an interesting turn of events.
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Monday, January 11, 2010
2010 - 03 Down in the depths (Carlsbad Caverns)
My newest good friend Will Hunzeker was trying to explain to me that Old Bedlam was the officer’s quarters at Fort Laramie National and not the enlisted men’s.
Seemed odd to me that the officers were more rowdy than the foot soldiers. But the nickname of the big two-story building would seem to indicate this.
Fort Laramie is located in eastern Wyoming between Torrington and Guernsey and is a national historical site.
What perhaps made this conversation with Will a little unique was that it was being held 75 stories underground in “the big room” of Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico.
Will is a seasonal ranger at the big cave and had just gotten back to work after spending the holidays back in Wyoming.
“The highways were crazy getting back here,” he said. “Ground blizzards north of here were just as bad as Wyoming.”
He also works as a seasonal ranger at the Fort Laramie National Monument and does some farming on the side down the road from the site. He and his girlfriend have been spending time in both Wyoming and New Mexico in recent years.
“You folks are just the second group from Wyoming that I have run into down here,” he said. “And I have been keeping track.”
Like all the rangers, Will was a friendly and talkative sort. On this January day, I think the rangers outnumbered the tourists in the vast caverns.
Did I say vast?
The Big Room is 600,000 square feet in size, which is same size as 14 football fields. One area was 360 feet from the ceiling to the bottom of what was known as the bottomless pit.
To get into the cavern, you descend in an elevator for 750 feet. It takes just a minute but you can tell you have gone into the ground a long ways.
My wife Nancy said she felt like an altitude change had struck her when we walked out of the elevator into the cavern. Felt a little like when we were shuttled to the top of Mauna Kea Mountain in Hawaii a few years ago, which is about 14,000 feet above sea level.
Yet, we were not short of breath.
My theory was that the air was old and still and there may have been some trick involving air pressure.
“Not so,” says Will. “The humidity in here is 99.9 percent. That is what you are feeling.”
I think we walked over a mile up and down and around inside that gigantic cavern, which is the biggest in the USA and perhaps the world.
The sights were beautifully illuminated and there were signs to tell you about stalactites (down from the roof) and stalagmites (up from the floor). The images you saw were so foreign and so huge and so intricate that you could not help finding yourself saying “wow” over and over.
The cave is also home to one million live bats and one fossilized one that we were shown by another ranger.
We were also cautioned to whisper in the cave, as your normal voice will carry more than a quarter of a mile.
There were lots of little pools around the caverns with a drip-drip-dripping that had probably been going on for millions of years. The origin of the cave was an inland sea some 250 million years ago.
Another ranger said the cause of the cave had been debated for years until another cave was discovered in Wyoming that revealed that it was not water that caused the erosion, but sulphuric acid.
He did not know what Wyoming cave provided that enlightenment, but I think they might the Kane Caves near Lovell.
Carlsbad Caverns was the second national park-like place we visited on our trip to Texas and New Mexico. A few days before we toured the Padre Island National Seashore south of Corpus Christi.
An 80-mile island with a sandy beach with no commercial development was quite the beauty to behold. Although it was chilly and windy the day we were there, the sky was blue and the sun was shining and the Gulf of Mexico glistened. Nancy found a sackful of little seashells for the grandkids.
As we worked our way home, we managed to dodge most of the cold and snow for two weeks on this 3,648-mile trip in our newly acquired but somewhat used motorhome.
Our vacation was educational but was it also nice to be back in Wyoming.
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Monday, January 4, 2010
2010.02 - Cousin Eddie invades Texas and sees Avatar
It is cold outside. You can see your breath. It snowed the night before. Seems like we are shivering constantly.
Sure sounds like Wyoming.
But it is not. We are deep in the heart of Texas.
Perhaps it was an ill-fated plan to buy a used motorhome and head to so-called “southern climes” to ring in the New Year?
Although our daughter Amber has lived in Texas for 17 years, this was our first trip driving from Wyoming to just north of Dallas. The 1,213-mile trip took the better part of three days and we felt a lot like Cousin Eddie (from the movie Christmas Vacation) as we rolled through Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico and Texas.
Right after we bought this rig, Nancy knocked herself out by running right into one of the big outside mirrors.
From that point on, we named it Follow My Nose, which probably also had something to do with my last name, too. We even reserved the name Followmynose.com.
Once packed and gassed up, it was time to escape the cold and snow of Wyoming and head south.
We started our trip on U. S. 287, which is Lander’s Main Street.
We rejoined that highway when we headed south out of Laramie before taking the Owl Canyon cutoff over to I-25. Bad decision. Our motorhome clanged and banged on the gravel road in the scenic Owl Canyon. A good shortcut, but a bad decision on this day.
We avoided icy roads and snowstorms on our first day from Lander to Lafayette, CO., where my mother lives. Spent a nice night there and headed south on I-25 to New Mexico and then on to Amarillo.
We cancelled our rental spot there when our daughter called and said freezing rain was headed to the Dallas area. Heck, we were headed south to avoid this kind of weather!
We breezed through Amarillo and finally stopped in Childress, TX for the night.
We again drove on US 287 there and took it almost all the way to Dallas. Interesting how this road is a national diagonal.
Wyoming is a huge state with vast distances. But it appears that our Texas driving experience may dwarf those Wyoming-sized expectations.
One of my favorite books is The Worst Hard Time, which details the 1930s dust bowl. The true story by Timothy Egan was centered on the parts of Texas we had driven through at Dalhart, Boise City and Wichita Falls. Outside of the cold, the area seems like a prosperous Ag area right now. We could well have been driving through Powell, Torrington or Riverton.
It seemed like the farther south we traveled the more snow there was on the ground. “Honey, are you sure we are headed south?”
We finally made it to our daughter’s house in Allen, TX as the snow started to fall. It felt just like Wyoming.
While in the Dallas area, we attended the hottest movie in the country, Avatar, and watched it in 3D.
This was a wonderful story and a totally unique experience. I consider myself a big movie buff).
Certainly one of the best movies ever.
The storyline is about the big corporations coming into a beautiful place and ripping out the minerals, which will be used somewhere else.
Sounds a little like Wyoming.
Probably the only big difference is that in the movie the big bad guys are killing off the indigenous peoples. So far, that has not occurred in Wyoming.
The other big news in the Craig Hollins household was the firing of football coach Mike Leach from Texas Tech. Craig is a Tech grad and is a big fan of Mr. Leach.
Mr. Leach is a native of Cody, WY, and one of the top offensive-minded coaches in the country. I agree with Craig – sure looks like a rip-off.
It sure made watching the Alamo Bowl interesting, as Tech players seemed to be out of sorts at times, for a very good reason. They won, though, 41-31.
We had left the Dallas area and were staying in San Antonio the night of that big game. The famous River Walk was crawling with Red Raider fans chanting Mr. Leach’s name.
From there, we headed to Corpus Christi where we camped on an island and enjoyed watching the surf. In winter coats.
Still looking for warm weather. Not sure how far we will have to go. Is there a highway to Panama, or what?
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Saturday, January 2, 2010
WBR16 - Thinking about business in Wyoming in 2010
In the movie Scarface, Tony Montana has just had a tremendous insight.
His friend Manola was going to demonstrate how to pick up girls and gets slapped for being too forward and insulting.
Not to mention that they were uneducated Cubans who had just gotten off the boat after being kicked out of Cuba by Fidel Castro for being criminals.
There is a pause.
“You know, Manola, in America it is different. I think I know how things work here,” Tony says to his pal.
‘Oh yeah,” Manola says, “so you tell me Mr. Smart Guy.”
“Well,” Tony says, “here in America it goes like this:
“First you get the money.
“Then you get the power.
“And then, you get the girl.”
Pretty insightful, I think. That screenplay was written by Oliver Stone, by the way.
I had always wanted to use that Scarface conversation in a business column and it occurred that maybe this one might be a good place for it.
Looking ahead, it appears that natural gas, coal and wind will be the economic drivers in our state in 2010, which is not much different than last year.
Biggest deal, though, will be the country’s ultimate conclusion that natural gas will be the key to getting the economy back on track.
You cannot operate the world’s biggest economy without increasing amounts of energy to power it. That is a fact.
And despite President Barack Obama’s hopeful belief that solar, wind and biomass will provide the needed supplies of new energy, the only logical source for vast new energy production right now is natural gas.
Not only is Wyoming sitting on oceans of natural gas, but the rest of the country is, too.
This will keep prices down (not good for Wyoming’s taxation) but will drive production and keep jobs in place.
Sometime around 2035, there may finally be a way to power the country with solar, wind, biomass, nuclear or fuel cells, or whatever. But for now, the only fuel that makes sense both economically and environmentally will be natural gas.
Someone in Congress will wise up and start promoting the use of natural gas to power electricity generating plants and hopefully big trucks and possibly even freight trains.
Coal will not go away soon, but natural gas looks like the best bet for short-term energy growth (the next ten years). But for the long run, then there could be a big place for uranium-powered energy.
State Rep. Dave Miller (R-Riverton), who probably knows more about nuclear energy than anyone else in the state, says nuclear with the final solution.
. “The rest of the world is going nuclear to meet their clean air requirements, not renewable. It is really a shame that Wyoming still produces the same amount of uranium now as six years ago. The rest of the world is moving ahead and we are moving backward.
“Those countries that are going nuclear now will be more competitive in the future. The writing is clear as a bell to us who have more of global perspective,” Rep. Miller concludes.
Overall, my picture of the future is that Wyoming still will function somewhat as a colony when it comes to energy development in the state.
Although we have hundreds of local drillers and support companies, the big boys calling the shots are still thousands of miles away.
I just started reading a book called The Big Burn about Teddy Roosevelt’s trust busting efforts a century ago when the West was victimized by timber and railroad and mining barons. It is certainly not as bad today, but amazing how similar the picture is a full century later. Sure would be nice if we could be in more control of our destiny.
But perhaps that it enough seriousness for now. Back to the movies.
My three favorite “non-business” movies that offer timeless tips for business are the following:
Number three: Office Space. My favorite cartoon strip is Dilbert and this movie really brings that kind of business environment to life.
This is a great flick that is entertaining to the whole family, but whoa, does it ever offer up a powerful message to the middle manager.
Number-two: The Bridge on the River Kwai. This classic World War II movie is all about the need to motivate people. The key lesson is that it is more important to work smart than it is to work hard.
Number-one: Scarface. This is a very violent and drug-addled movie that echoes the most important thing to always remember in business: timing is everything.
Happy New Year and have a great business year.
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2010.01 - Looking ahead to 2010 at energy and governor race
The two dominant subjects in Wyoming in 2010 will center on the statewide political races and how the national economic conditions will affect our state.
On the political front, all eyes will be on the governor’s race and whether Dave Freudenthal will copy his old mentor Ed Herschler and run for a third term.
I always thought he would not. It seems to not make sense. We have seen too many governors who got really tired by the time they finished eight years in that office.
But this governor is different.
As the economy has worsened, he is enjoying the challenge more. Our governor is a very conservative man and he relishes the challenge of making do with less.
He was never comfortable dealing with all those vast surpluses, in my opinion.
Yes, there is a very good chance he will run again.
Conventional wisdom dictates that the Republican opponent would come from a group of four people:
Speaker of the House Rep. Colin Simpson (R-Cody), former U. S. Attorney Matt Mead of Cheyenne, former State Ag Commissioner Ron Micheli of Fort Bridger and the current State Auditor Rita Meyer of Cheyenne.
However, there is a fifth candidate out there who could give these folks a run for their money. Biggest story of 2010, politically, will be if that happens. Enough said for now.
Other races could be interesting. If Gov. Dave runs again, it looks like State Sen. Mike Massie (D-Laramie)_ may run for State Supt. of Schools. Incumbent Jim McBride will be hard to beat.
Perhaps I am out of the loop, but have not been hearing much in the other races. Not sure who will take on Cynthia Lummis for U. S. House?
Our legislature will continue to be totally dominated by Republicans in 2010. But I think it would be a better governing body if we had more women in there. For a place that calls itself the Equality State, we probably have fewer women in our legislature, percentage-wise, than any state in the country.
The economy is our second big story and here in Wyoming that means we need to talk about energy.
It has always been painful for me to watch all our coal and natural gas disappear over the horizon when much of it could be used here to generate not only energy, but also jobs and property taxes.
Ironically, our burgeoning wind industry does operate this way. The infrastructure has to be here because this is where the wind is.
Still, outside of some technicians, once these monster million-dollar turbines are in place, few jobs are created
Both Colorado and Montana have been fortunate to snare big manufacturing complexes to build components for these wind mills. But not so here.
The coal industry will be steady for the next five years and then start a slow decline as power companies across the country gradually convert to less polluting energy courses.
We are hopeful that the UW-GE clean coal project will bear big fruit, but I worry that may be too late to stop the national trend toward alternative fuels.
It is obvious that our state’s natural gas is abundant and cheap (unfortunately for our severance tax base) and with new pipelines, it becomes much more viable to power distant energy generation facilities.
Wyoming is also a big uranium producer and will be positively affected the sudden interest by Congress in building more nuclear power plants.
It should be mentioned that, in 2009, Wyoming was the fastest-growing state in the union for population growth. Odd, that a state growing this fast would also be growing so “old.”
Jim Hicks in Buffalo has a clearer crystal ball than mine and he anticipates an attempt to "equalize" income from mineral taxation supporting county and city governments. He also says:
“Wyoming recessions always seem to lag six months to a year behind the rest of the country and 2010 is likely to be the kind of year that will generate pressure to lower property taxing limits on minerals at the local level and increase them at the state level so that there will be more distribution on a per-capita basis.
“Also look for a civil war to break out in Iraq as the U.S. armed forces move out. The same will be true for Afghanistan.
“On the brighter side, Tiger Woods will be rolling right along back on tour by this time next year. Commentators will say ‘Tiger is back and the crowds still love him!’”
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