The town of Buffalo and state of Wyoming are facing new and uncertain changes going into the future. Choices we make today about our town and state may dramatically affect the very character and soul of this place that we call home. We all need to get involved to shape these choices and defi…
You may have noticed in the past few weeks, a truck driving around town with a flag flying in the back. While many folks in our community fly the stars and stripes, this flag has a different message.
Last week, Johnson County voters resoundingly defeated a ballot measure intended to impose a 1% sales tax designed to improve, repair or replace several publicly owned assets. Whether the plan was too complex, there were too many projects or it was just the wrong time to present a new tax do…
Next week, Johnson County students will return to school. It is always an exciting time for students – filled with new teachers, new friends and a lot of learning.But all that excitement and anticipation can make kids and parents a bit less focused as they travel to school. It is important t…
It was a record-breaking Junior Livestock Auction this year as sales jumped to nearly $615,000, once again demonstrating the generosity of our community. Looking across the sales arena, one saw the familiar faces of past sales. The same faces that come out for nearly every community fundrais…
About the time we were all giving up on any chance of moisture, much of Johnson County got some nice showers over the past week . . . and a few cloudbursts as well.
As the Bighorns got busier and busier last summer, we heard horrifying tales of human waste and toilet paper that was not properly buried, campfires that were left unattended or that were not properly extinguished, drivers that had left roadways, and of course, lots of campers who had set up…
Recently, Summit Church hosted a virtual event called “Imprisoned for Christ” where we watched video testimonies of three men who had been imprisoned because of their Christian faith. Hearing these stories both humbled and encouraged me and they challenged me to be more engaged with the plig…
Your mental health matters and it’s OK to reach out for help.
According to most local real estate agents and anyone who has perused those agents’ sales listings, the local market is hot. Last summer when many cities were effectively closed for business, it seemed, folks headed to Wyoming for its wide-open spaces. The thinking went something like, no us…
A community development and enhancement proposal being shepherded by JOCO First has generated strong reactions.
This week is National Teacher Appreciation Week, and in Johnson County, parents and students have more cause than usual to celebrate and show our appreciation for teachers and educators. This school year was marked by uncertainty and change, but our educators adapted with grace and professio…
It’s one of the ugly truths that is hard to comprehend: Even in beautiful and serene Johnson County, there are abused and neglected children. The most recent data from 2020 shows that the number of reported cases of abuse and neglect declined in Johnson County, but experts say that’s probabl…
Earlier this year, school district superintendents asked the Legislature to increase the amount districts can keep in reserves, especially as budgets tighten across the state. A higher cap on reserves would allow districts to continue funding student programs when revenues are down.
In the fall of 2017, city and county leaders asked the Buffalo Chamber of Commerce, JOCO First and the now defunct Buffalo Downtown Authority board to enter discussions to determine whether there might be a way to combine forces, reduce overhead and administrative costs and still accomplish …
It might be hard to believe we can enjoy a sunny day in the mid-70s on Easter and then be shoveling snow two days later.
It’s that time of year: The trees are leafing out, birds are singing, the days are getting longer and parents of school-aged children are running ragged attending all the spring things.
In the six years since former Gov. Matt Mead began championing expanding Medicaid in the state, much has changed – including the state’s financial house and the hearts and minds of some state senators and representatives.
Hello, House District 40. The Wyoming Legislature has now completed three weeks of the in-person portion of the 2021 General Session. However, as you probably heard, this past week was cut short due to a record-breaking snowstorm. In fact, we only held session on Wednesday, Thursday and Frid…
“Food brings everyone to the table!” That phrase was an understatement when I was growing up. As the youngest of three brothers growing up on a farm, the table was where I learned a lot about life. We were always hungry, and we most likely needed the most direction at that stage in life. …
It has been a long thaw. Our world is approaching the one-year date of when everything turned upside down. In response to a new virus, people took extreme measures to protect humanity. In a sense, all of us were driven to a place we didn’t want to be and resisted being there. We wanted to re…
Hello, House District 40. The first week of the in-person portion of the 2021 General Session is in the books. We covered a lot of topics this week, and thought I would give you a quick synopsis of some of the more noteworthy bills passed by the House this week.
As the children’s voices rang out “and the home of the brave” in the final crescendo of the national anthem, I felt tears coming to my eyes and goosebumps on my arms.
Last fall when Johnson County schools announced their plans to fully open in-school learning, no one knew whether this grand experiment would last weeks or months. Few, including parents, kids, teachers or administrators would have bet we would still be in the schools at this point.
President Joe Biden’s moratorium on new oil and gas leasing on public lands is a bad idea and certainly cause for concern for Wyoming and Johnson County. But to hear Wyoming’s politicians describe the pause, it will be the downfall of our children’s education.
On the weekend of Jan. 9-10, I traveled to Cheyenne and spent several days in the state capitol preparing for the 2021 General Session. This will be a session unlike any other. Legislators will be meeting in a hybrid format, with some business conducted in person and other business conducted…
Johnson County School District No. 1 administrators had two pieces of good news to share at this month’s school board meeting. First, while the district’s elementary school-aged children did lose some reading proficiency related to the move to at-home schooling last spring, the losses were n…
It’s been almost a month since Christmas, and still the U.S. Postal Service is struggling to process a backlog of parcels. On its website the USPS warns that it is still experiencing “unprecedented volume increases” and thanks patrons for their patience.
I was 9 years old and the magic of Christmas was mirrored in my eyes as I gazed into the window of Buffalo’s Henry’s Variety Store’s Christmas window. There stood the most beautiful doll I had ever seen.
For most of us in Wyoming, 2020 brought many challenges. As we head into 2021, we can celebrate a new year with some much-needed encouraging news: We have multiple effective vaccines for COVID-19.
Sometimes riding for the brand means doing what is right. It requires making tough decisions that are for the common good but that may not be popular. Due to rising coronavirus cases and very limited hospital space in the state and region, Gov. Mark Gordon was forced to implement a mask mand…
If the weather guess people are correct, we will have a few more days of mild temperatures before it feels more like winter.
When my husband and I got married and decided to raise our family here, the hardest part for me was being away from my parents and sisters and their families, and even cousins, aunts and uncles, on some holidays. Holidays are a big deal in my family — they are about family and being together…
Tis the season for making your lists and checking them twice, and we know plenty of the gifts on your lists can be found right here in our community.
That’s right . . . Thanksgiving is next week, but it may be different compared to years gone by.
As the number of active coronavirus cases has grown more than fivefold in the last month in Johnson County, it begs the question, what are we waiting for?
In June, we penned an editorial asking Wyomingites to take precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19, so that Wyoming businesses can remain open. Although many sectors of the economy have been negatively affected by the pandemic, some of the businesses we are honored to represent… restau…
With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in. Abraham Lincoln
Can you believe the Bench Sitters didn’t have a comment about the election this week? They talked it over and decided you folks have already heard enough. They did agree it seemed the campaigning went on for at least five years.
Here in Johnson County, we like to think of ourselves as the embodiment of the old west cowboy. Rugged individualists that boot strap our way to success.
A fringe group of the Republican party has decided that group-think and loyalty to the tribe is the highest priority. Four Republican legislative candidates in Campbell County have signed a 10-point “contract” and are now urging Wyoming lawmakers to sign the contract, pledging their support …
On Thursday, Sept. 10 just past noon, parents of students enrolled in Johnson County Schools got an urgent text message warning them that there had been an attempted child abduction.
Labor Day is kind of an unofficial signal for the “end of summer” for many of us. Among the big changes this summer has been the stampede of “campers” into the Bighorn Mountains.
Johnson County schools experienced the largest decline in student enrolment in the past 25 years. Certainly some of that decline can be attributed to community demographics, including an aging population and families moving out of the district for economic reasons.
Last week, Gov. Mark Gordon finalized the first round of state budget cuts totaling more than $250 million, with an additional $80 million in cuts to maintenance of state buildings. The 10% cuts will have significant effects on Wyoming communities and citizens, as the cuts will impact import…
Years of summer sun and biting winter winds gave him a seasoned look. His age was hidden under sun-browned and wrinkled skin.
School has started, but daytime highs were in the 90s this week, and we can imagine teachers and students both are having a hard time believing it really is the time of year to be doing this.
The first day of school will likely arrive with a wave of anxiousness in 2020 as students, parents and staff wonder what this school year will hold amid the ongoing pandemic.
Here’s your chance to be heard, to actually impact what Johnson County will look like in the years and decades to come.
Effects of these warm days (and nights) are showing up in a number of ways. Range grass is short, dry and brittle and the snowdrifts in the highest parts of mountain are quickly disappearing.
The 2020 Johnson County Fair and Rodeo is now in the history books and considering concerns about COVID-19, fire danger, hot weather and a few other things . . . it was a great one again.
