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December 23 - 30, 2011

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Police ofﬁ“Ifcers it doesn’t have to do with Campbell County, we don’t care!” recognized for saving lives

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June 17 - 24, 2011

By Paul Wallem - Basin Radio News Gillette City Council meetings are about more than just approving ordinances and accepting bids. As well, the duties of a police officer encompass more than simply issuing tickets and writing reports. This much was clear Monday evening when the Gillette City Council publicly recognized five officers with the Gillette Police Department for their use of automated external defibrillators (AED). “We were approached by the Campbell County Memorial Hospital Emergency Medical Services Division,” explains Chief of Police Jim Hloucal. “They wanted to recognize the police department and five of our officers who have employed AED’s in providing first aid and emergency medical services in response to patient crisis in 2011.” Plenty of family members were present during Monday’s recognition ceremony. This includes not only the family members of the individual officers being honored, but also the families of those saved. Following the ceremony, Kim Phillips wiped away tears of gratitude as she thanked Officer Dan Stroup. “My father went into cardiac arrest on Memorial Day, and he [Stroup] came to the

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Officer Chad Trebby stands with the Gillette City Council after receiving a plaque from the CCMH Emergency Medical Services recognizing his use of Automated External Defibrillators in emergency situations. house with his AED and used that, and him and my son performed CPR and saved my dad’s life,” Phillips describes. Hloucal says the police department began with just five AED units two years ago. “After realizing the value of those tools in lifesaving efforts, we were able to go out and purchase approximately 30 of the units so

that we could outfit every marked patrol car that we have out in the street at any given time,” Hloucal describes. Besides honoring Officer Dan Stroup, officers Brian Roesner, Mike Fischer, Chad Trebby and Zach Parker were honored by the hospital during the same ceremony.

Settle Inn & Suites offers “Room at the Inn” program Settle Inn & Suites of Fargo, ND and of Gillette, WY has introduced the “Room at the Inn” program. This program reaches out to families, friends and loved ones who have somebody admitted to any hospital, nursing home or treatment center during Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and offers them a free room. “We do not want our guests to worry about the added expense

of a hotel room, even if for one day,” says Ray Lewis, Director Of Operations. The program is for anyone coming from out of town that needs a place to stay. For more information, or to reserve a room, please contact the Settle Inn & Suites at: 307-685-6363 Gillette, WY gm@settleinngillette.com 701-235-4699 Fargo, ND gm@settleinnfargo.com

New ﬁre dept. responds to mobile home ﬁre

Firefighters from the new Fire Station 7 near CAM-PLEX responded to a mobile home fire on the 600 block of South Garner Lake Road just north of the railroad tracks at 7:23 pm Monday. According to the Campbell County Fire Department, firefighters were able to contain the fire to the hot water heater compartment and the kitchen, both of which suffered considerable fire damage. Officials say there was smoke damage throughout the entire singlewide 1976-era Marshfield Mobile Home. The home contained no working

smoke detectors, officials say. The family occupying the home told fire officials they originally thought the smoky smell was coming from their neighbor’s chimney until smoke began filling the home. Investigators determined the fire was started by an overloaded electrical extension cord that services a portable electric heater in the hot water heater compartment. The portable electric heater had been used to thaw frozen water pipes. The home was not insured. The family is staying with friends and the American Red Cross was on scene to help them out.

Intoxicated woman drives car into ditch

A 37-year old woman was arrested for driving under the inﬂuence after police say they watched her drive her 2003 gold-colored Pontiac into a drainage ditch last Thursday night. “Ofﬁcers observed the vehicle she was driving leave the roadway on Powder Basin Road near WalMart and drive in to the drainage ditch,” explains Gillette Police Lieutenant Brent Wasson.

According to Wasson, the woman refused to cooperate with investigating ofﬁcers. She also refused a chemical test. “A search warrant for her blood was obtained and a sample was taken,” says Wasson. The accident occurred shortly after 10:00 pm last Thursday. Wasson did not have an estimate on the damage done to the woman’s vehicle.

Jeffery Wood is accused of shooting out the front window of a Ford Ranger near Butler Spaeth Road in Gillette Friday night.

Police accuse man of shooting pickup window Gillette Police arrested a 22-year old man near the intersection of 6th Street and Butler Spaeth following reports of gunshots near El Camino Road shortly before midnight Saturday. “A 22-year old man was arrested for reckless endangering, destruction of property, and discharging a firearm,” explains Gillette Police Lieutenant Brent Wasson. “Officers located that 22-year old man walking away from the area of D-Auto carrying a semiautomatic 9mm handgun.” Wasson says Jeffery Wood immediately complied with officer’s directions to drop the firearm. “The investigation revealed that the man had shot a Ford Ranger pickup through the front windshield,” says Wasson. “The bullet exited the passenger window in the direction of the Smart Choice Inn.” Wasson says Wood did not speak to officers regarding any motive for shooting the pickup. Although Wood was originally charged with felony destruction of property, that charge could be reduced to a misdemeanor if the investigation reveals the amount of damage is under $1,000.

For subscriptions go to www.CampbellCountyObserver.net

Community Business Council board holds regular meeting in Cheyenne

Tours local economic development successes, approves grant requests, hears division updates

The Wyoming Business Council Board of Directors toured two data center facilities in Cheyenne, heard updates from three of its operational divisions, and reviewed community applications for Business Ready Community (BRC) and Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds. The board toured the Thought Equity Motion data center facilities, which received a BRC Managed Data Center Cost Reduction grant; and the NCAR supercomputer facility, which received a BRC Business Committed grant. The Business Council’s Agribusiness, Business and Industry, and regional office divisions reported on their recent work. The board also evaluated eight Business Ready Community grant applications totaling $6,233,392 and 13 CDBG applications totaling $2,653,393.

BUSINESS READY COMMUNITY GRANT APPLICATIONS

The board reviewed eight applications, totaling $6,233,392 million, leaving $37,664,490 available for this biennium if awarded by the State Loan and Investment Board (SLIB). Before making the final recom-

mendation to the board, staff reviews each application, conducts a site visit, and presents to a board subcommittee. All recommendations for Business Ready Community projects will be forwarded to the SLIB for a final decision on Jan. 19. ABOUT THE PROGRAM: The Business Council administers the Business Ready Community Grant and Loan Program (BRC), which provides financing for publicly owned infrastructure that serves the needs of businesses and promotes economic development within Wyoming communities. The Business Council board is required by statute to forward BRC grant recommendations to the SLIB for final approval. The SLIB is made up of the five statewide elected officials: Gov. Matt Mead, Secretary of State Max Maxfield, State Treasurer Joe Meyer, State Auditor, Cynthia Cloud, and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Cindy Hill.

BRC BUSINESS COMMITTED APPLICATIONS

The city of Gillette requests a $920,885 Business Committed grant to

install approximately 5,360 linear feet of water main to assist with the expansion of Liebherr. The proposed infrastructure will provide water service and fire protection for Liebherr Mining Equipment Newport News Company (Liebherr), as well as up to 19 other commercial and industrial businesses. (Recommended to SLIB for approval)

dations including project overviews are available at www.wyomingbusiness. org. Requests included:

PLANNING ONLY GRANTS

The city of Gillette requested a $40,000 planning grant to develop a neighborhood plan for a predominately senior/medical neighborhood in the city that will also become part of its comprehensive plan. (Approved in full)

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM

The board reviewed 13 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program applications totaling $2,653,393. The Business Council staff recommended approval of 10 of the requests. Before making the final recommendation to the board, staff reviews each application, conducts a site visit (except CDBG planning grants) and presents to a board subcommittee. ABOUT THE PROGRAM: The Business Council administers the Community Development Block Grant program (CDBG), which is a federally funded pass through grant program from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The full staff recommen-

-Grease Monkeys @ Jakes Tavern -Pinnacle Bank Shop Local Drawing, 1708 W. Hwy 14/16, 682-0089 -ABATE- Toy Store Open, 12 noon -AA- Mid-day Serenity, 12 noon, 2910 S. Douglas Hwy. -Teen Craft Afternoons, CCPL -Teen Open-Play Video Gaming, 1-4 p.m., CCPL -AA-Happy Hour, 5:30 p.m., 2910 S. Douglas Hwy. -AA-Hopefuls(BB), 8 p.m., 2910 S. Douglas Hwy. -Laser Light Show/Dance, 8 p.m.- Midnight, Cam-plex Central Pavilion, $30 per person, 5 & under FREE, Tickets at the Door Only -AA-Last Call Group, 10 p.m., 2910 S Douglas Hwy.

Saturday, December 24

-CHRISTMAS EVE -Grease Monkeys @ Jakes Tavern -Senior Center- CLOSED -CCPL- CLOSED -Cam-plex Ticket Office CLOSED- Dec.24- Jan. 2 -AA- Mid-day Serenity, 12 noon, 2910 S. Douglas Hwy. -AA-Happy Hour, 5:30 p.m., 2910 S. Douglas Hwy. -AA-Hopefuls(BB), 8 p.m., 2910 S. Douglas Hwy. -AA-Last Call Group, 10 p.m., 2910 S Douglas Hwy.

Sunday, December 25

-MERRY CHRISTMAS -Jakes Tavern- CLOSED -Senior Center- CLOSED -CCPL- CLOSED -AA-Morning Spiritual, 10:15 a.m., 2910 S Douglas Hwy. -AA- Mid-day Serenity, 12 noon, 2910 S. Douglas Hwy. -AA-Happy Hour, 5:30 p.m., 2910 S. Douglas Hwy. -AA-Hopefuls (BB), 8 p.m., 2910 S. Douglas Hwy.

Monday, December 26

-Senior Center- CLOSED -CCPL- CLOSED -AA- Mid-day Serenity, 12 noon, 2910 S. Douglas Hwy. -AA-Happy Hour, 5:30 p.m., 2910 S. Douglas Hwy. -AA-Hopefuls (BB), 8 p.m., 2910 S. Douglas Hwy.

Tuesday, December 27

-HealthCHECK Testing, 7-11 a.m., CCMH Lab, 6881222 -Brain Injury Group of Gil-

lette, Call Carmen 680-5926 for Time & Location after 5 -Senior CenterVet’s Breakfast, 8 a.m. -Guns ‘n Hoses Blood Drive, 11 a.m., Rec. Center, 687-6160 -AA- Mid-day Serenity, 12 noon, 2910 S. Douglas Hwy. -Teen Open-Play Video Gaming, 1-4 p.m., CCPL -Teen Card Game Club, 4-6 p.m., CCPL -AA-Happy Hour, 5:30 p.m., 2910 S. Douglas Hwy. -AA-Beginners, 6:45 p.m., 2910 S. Douglas Hwy. -AA-Hopefuls(BB), 8 p.m., 2910 S. Douglas Hwy.

Wednesday, December 28

-Children’s Immunization Clinic, 8-11:30 a.m., Public Health -Storytime, All Ages, 11 a.m., WBL -Guns ‘n Hoses Blood Drive, 11 a.m., Rec. Center, 687-6160 -AA- Mid-day Serenity, 12 noon, 2910 S. Douglas Hwy. -Teen Open-Play Video Gaming, 1-4 p.m., CCPL -Green Drinks, 5:30 p.m., Bootlegger’s -AA-Happy Hour, 5:30 p.m., 2910 S. Douglas Hwy. -AA-Hopefuls (BB), 8 p.m., 2910 S. Douglas Hwy.

Thursday, December 29

-HealthCHECK Testing, 7-11 a.m., CCMH Lab, 6881222 -Guns ‘n Hoses Blood Drive, 11 a.m., Rec. Center, 687-6160 -AA- Mid-day Serenity, 12 noon, 2910 S. Douglas Hwy. -Family Wii Party, 12-5 p.m., WBL -Teen Open-Play Video Gaming, 1-4 p.m., CCPL -Senior Center, Tin Lizzie Bus, 2 p.m. -AA-Happy Hour, 5:30 p.m., 2910 S. Douglas Hwy. -Adult Anime, 7-8:30 p.m., CCPL -Teen Anime Club, 7-8:30 p.m., CCPL -AA-Hopefuls(BB), 8 p.m., 2910 S. Douglas Hwy.

Friday, December 30

-Face Lift @ Jakes Tavern -AA- Mid-day Serenity, 12 noon, 2910 S. Douglas Hwy. -Teen Open-Play Video Gaming, 1-4 p.m., CCPL -AA-Happy Hour, 5:30 p.m., 2910 S. Douglas Hwy. -AA-Hopefuls(BB), 8 p.m.,

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1103 E. Boxelder, Suite C Gillette, WY USA 82718

To submit ideas or your own articles go to www.CampbellCountyObserver.net or email us at Newsandideas@CampbellCountyObserver.com

At this holy season, of Christmas may your heart be ﬁlled with the blessings of God’s grace and the fullness of His love.

Merry Christmas

What’s Going On? Friday, December 23

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Saturday, December 31

-NEW YEAR’S EVE -Face Lift @ Jakes Tavern -CCPL- CLOSED -AA- Mid-day Serenity, 12 noon, 2910 S. Douglas Hwy. -AA-Happy Hour, 5:30 p.m., 2910 S. Douglas Hwy. -Buck-N-Ball Rodeo, 6:45 p.m., Cam-plex Wyo. Center, 299-3789 -AA-Hopefuls(BB), 8 p.m., 2910 S. Douglas Hwy. -Buck-N-Ball Dance, 9 p.m., Cam-plex Central Pavilion, 299-3789 -AA-Last Call Group, 10 p.m., 2910 S Douglas Hwy. -Razor City Runners New Year’s 5K Run/Walk, 10:30 p.m.- Registration, Cellular Plus, 1215 S. Douglas Hwy.

Sunday, January 1

-HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012 -CCPL- CLOSED -RCM Barrel Race, 10 a.m., Cam-plex East Pavilion-AA-Morning Spiritual, 10:15 a.m., 2910 S Douglas Hwy. -AA- Mid-day Serenity, 12 noon, 2910 S. Douglas Hwy. -AA-Happy Hour, 5:30 p.m., 2910 S. Douglas Hwy. -AA-Hopefuls (BB), 8 p.m., 2910 S. Douglas Hwy.

Monday, January 2

-Senior Center- CLOSED -CCPL- CLOSED -AA- Mid-day Serenity, 12 noon, 2910 S. Douglas Hwy. -AA-Happy Hour, 5:30 p.m., 2910 S. Douglas Hwy. -AA-Hopefuls (BB), 8 p.m., 2910 S. Douglas Hwy.

Tuesday, January 3

-HealthCHECK Testing, 7-11 a.m., CCMH Lab, 6881222 -AVA Auction Items on Display, 1/3-1/28, Mon.-Fri. 8-5, Cam-plex Heritage Center -AA- Mid-day Serenity, 12 noon, 2910 S. Douglas Hwy. -AVA-Pre-School Art, 2 p.m. -AVA- Grade School Pottery, 4 p.m. -AA-Happy Hour, 5:30 p.m., 2910 S. Douglas Hwy. -AA-Beginners, 6:45 p.m., 2910 S. Douglas Hwy. -AA-Hopefuls (BB), 8 p.m., 2910 S. Douglas Hwy.

Community Turn your old Christmas trees into mulch If you’ve been scratching your head wondering how to dispose of your Christmas tree following the holidays, City of Gillette public information officer Joe Lunne says the Master Gardeners have a solution. “The Master Gardeners will have a drop off center at Gillette College that will be open from December 26 through January 8,” Lunne explains. Lunne says that, unlike previous years, the Campbell County Fire Department will not host a tree burn this year.

Photo submitted by Kim Bjorklund

A Christmas Party at John Paul II School with Santa himself is attending.

Hunter Education Class offered in Buffalo

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department announces a hunter education class in Buffalo beginning Jan. 5, 2012. The class will be conducted by Jim Dawson at the Buffalo Outdoor Shooting Site, just east of Buffalo, and is open to the first 16 students to enroll. Sign up online athttp://gf.state. wy.us. Class dates and times are as follows: Thursday, Jan. 5th and Friday, Jan. 6th from 6-8:30 p.m.; Saturday, Jan. from 7 – 9 a.m.-5 p.m. and Saturday is a full day with a working lunch so please bring your lunch with you. There is a $10 fee per student. For more information, contact Margaret James at (307) 777-4538. According to Hunter Education Coordinator Jim Dawson, for those interested in becoming a volunteer instructor, this Buffalo HE class is a good time to assist getting teamed up with Dawson as the mentoring

instructor. Those wanting to become an instructor must work with a mentoring instructor and follow these steps: • Must have completed a hunter education certification • Complete the hunter education application form • Attend the entire class of a mentoring instructor • Teach one lesson of the class under the direction of the mentor • Submit a formal lesson plan in writing to the Wyoming hunter education coordinator • Complete the Instructor Worksheet with the help of the mentor • Have the mentoring instructor complete the practice teaching evaluation form • Complete the Wild Work volunteer form • Completion of Child Abuse/ Neglect and Adult Central Registry

Screens and Wyoming Criminal History Record Prescreens. • Submit all paperwork for review to the State hunter education coordinator. Attend a new instructor orientation within two years of certification. The orientation academy is conducted over a weekend each summer at the WGFD Whiskey Mountain Conservation Camp at no charge to the new instructor. The 2012 New Instructor Academy will be conducted June 22 -24. Persons interested in becoming a hunter education instructor can call the state Game and Fish office in Cheyenne at (307)777-4538 or Jim Dawson at the Casper office at (307) 473-3439 for more details. All Hunter Education Forms are on the WGFD Education web-page at:http:// gf.state.wy.us.

Gillette-Campbell County Airport reports November Passenger Traffic Gillette-Campbell County Airport recently announced strong November and year-to-date traffic totals, with year-over-year increases of 11.8 and 10.8 percent, respectively. Indeed, just 11 months into 2011,

Passenger totals

Gillette-Campbell County has exceeded last year’s 12-month total; the airport has served 56,812 passengers through November, marking a 10.8 percent increase over the first 11 months of 2010. (The airport’s 2010

November November 2011 2010

“Christmas is the day that holds all time together.” - Alexander Smith Leave Your Mark on Campbell County...

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“It’s best not to just send them to the landfill, so the Master Gardeners would like to get as many trees as they could,” says Lunne. “They’re going to chip them up and use that material in the community garden.” Lunne says to make sure your tree is free of all decorations, ornaments and tinsel before dropping it off. The drop off center will be open from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm on weekdays, and from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm on weekends between December 26 and January 8.

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passenger traffic total was 56, 471.) During the month of November 2011, the airport served 5,522 arriving and departing passengers, an increase of 11.8 percent versus November of last year.

November 2011 % Change

2011 Y-T-D

2010 Y-T-D

% Change

5,522 4,938 11.8 56,812 51,254 10.8

About Gillette-Campbell County Airport

The Gillette-Campbell County Airport is located in Northeaster Wyoming in a major energy producing part of the country known as the Powder River Basin. Gillette is at the hub of this basin, and the Airport serves the commercial service and general aviation needs for a large portion of this corner of the state. The Airport sees approximately 56,000 passengers come though yearly and is currently served by Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and Great Lakes Aviaition to Denver, Salt Lake City, Rock Springs, Wyoming and Williston, North Dakota. The Gillette-Campbell County Airport and tenants currently employ approximately 260 people in the surrounding area.

Gillette-Campbell County Airport announces free travel winners Submitted by Jay Lundell Gillette-Campbell County Airport is pleased to congratulate Quentin Reynolds and Romer Mosquera who each won two roundtrip tickets aboard SkyWest Airlines by completing a simple customer service survey. Mr. Reynolds, an employee of the Campbell County Sheriff’s Office, and Mr. Mosquera, who works at Campbell County Memorial Hospital, were randomly selected from nearly 600 survey respondents. Results of the survey, offered online as part of the airport’s ongoing effort to provide customers with the best possible travel experience, will be made available to the traveling public early in 2012.

About Gillette-Campbell County Airport

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The Campbell County Observer Staff CampbellCountyObserver.net (PP-1) Volume 1 Issue 38 The Campbell County Observer is published by Patriot Publishing L.L.C. in Gillette, WY every Friday. Postmaster: Send address changes to 5105 Tarry St. Gillette, WY 82718 Writers Candice De Laat - Owner/Publisher CandiceDeLaat@CampbellCountyObserver.com

Nicholas De Laat - Owner/Editor NicholasDeLaat@CampbellCountyObserver.com

Sandra Boehler (Charities/Fundraisers/Veterans Events) SandraBoehler@CampbellCountyObserver.com

Keary Speer - Editor KearySpeer@CampbellCountyObserver.com

Glenn Woods (Political Column) GlennWoods@CampbellCountyObserver.com

Anne Peterson - Advertising Sales Manager AnnePeterson@CampbellCountyObserver.com

Mike Borda (American History) MichaelBorda@CampbellCountyObserver.com

Brittany Miller - Sales/Marketing BrittanyMiller@CampbellCountyObserver.com

Elizabeth Albin (Wright) ElizabethAlbin@campbellcountyobserver.com

Traci Jefferson - Sales/Marketing TraciJefferson@CampbellCountyObserver.com

Lin Stephens LinStephens@CampbellCountyObserver.com

Cyndee Stoneking - Sales/Marketing CyndeeStoneking@CampbellCountyObserver.com

Josh Uzarski (Science) JoshuaUzarski@CampbellCountyObserver.com

Owen Clarke - Ad Design OwenClarke@CampbellCountyObserver.com

Ken De Laat (About Nothing) KennethDeLaat@CampbellCountyObserver.com

Ken McCoy - Distribution Manager

“Juice” (Political Cartoonist) Juice@CampbellCountyObserver.com

Pattie Ladd - What’s Going On PattieLadd@CampbellCountyObserver.com Clint Burton - Photographer ClintBurton@CampbellCountyObserver.com

Jeff Morrison (Local History Contributor) JeffMorrison@CampbellCountyObserver.com

Community

Featured Crime Larceny (Oct. 18)

Crime Stoppers needs your help in solving a larceny that occurred at 340 Nogales Ln. between 7:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. on 10/18/11. Unknown persons removed a red and white 2009 Honda 230 Enduro Dirt Bike from the driveway. The license plate on the motorcycle is 17MC-3743. The approximate value of the motorcycle is $1,000.00. If you have information that can solve this or any other crime please call Crime Stoppers at 686-0400 or the High School Crime Stoppers at 682-4185. You can remain anonymous and may earn up to $1,000 in reward.

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John Paul II’s program, including the birth of Jesus play and lots of singing. Photo’s submitted by Kim Bjorklund

Cemetery District seeks new engineering firm board is making deals with the accounting and booking services. Now, those services will be selected for three years of service. “Basically because it was felt that would provide some consistency for the auditors,” Hastings says. He says the last time around the district designated a bookkeeping firm for only one year. But perhaps the most noticeable change for the cemetery district will be with their engineering services. For over a decade, Stetson Engineering has been the cemetery district’s engineering firm. Hastings says that last week the board decided it was time to see what another engineering firm can do for the district. “We felt as a board it would be in the best interest of the Campbell County Cemetery District and our taxpayers to see firsthand what another firm could do for us,” Hastings explains. “I know there were engineering firms that were

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By Paul Wallem - Basin Radio A lot has changed at the Campbell County Cemetery District over the last two years. For one, the public no longer attends their monthly board meetings en masse. Once upon a time, the cemetery district was the talk of the town following controversial employee firings in 2009 and allegations of criminal violations against some of its board members. Today, however, the Campbell County Cemetery District appears to have once again faded into the background of the public’s thoughts. But it’s not just the lack of public scrutiny that has changed. Recently, the board has made some other changes as well. Each year, the Campbell County Cemetery District requests submissions for professional services such as for an attorney, accountant, bookkeeper, and engineer. According to the current treasurer of the district, Jim Hastings, one change the

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hesitant to even take time to send their submissions because they figured after nearly 20 years continuing work with the board Stetson would be an automatic selection. But they can see now there was no such intent.” This Tuesday at 11:00 am, the Campbell County Cemetery Board will hold a special meeting where the board and the public can hear from applicants for services. “The public can come and listen to the presentations, but we will go into executive session for the final selection,” Hastings says. Hastings was elected to the cemetery board in November 2010 after saying he would work to lessen the board’s hostility by getting everyone on the same page. “I’ve been very happy with the last year,” he says. “Being on the cemetery board has been an interesting thing.”

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Community EPA releases draft findings of Pavillion, Wyoming Ground Water Investigation for Public Comment and Independent Scientific Review Obama Administration is committed to ensuring that the development of this vital resource occurs safely and responsibly. At the direction of Congress, and separate from this ground water investigation, EPA has begun a national study on the potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water resources. “EPA’s highest priority remains ensuring that Pavillion residents have access to safe drinking water,” said Jim Martin, EPA’s regional administrator in Denver. “We will continue to work cooperatively with the State, Tribes, Encana and the community to secure long-term drinking water solutions. We look forward to having these findings in the draft report informed by a transparent and public review process. In consultation with the Tribes, EPA will also work with the State on additional investigation of the Pavillion field.” Findings in the Two Deep Water Monitoring Wells: EPA’s analysis of samples taken from the Agency’s deep monitoring wells in the aquifer indicates detection of synthetic chemicals, like glycols and alcohols consistent with gas production and hydraulic fracturing fluids, benzene concentrations well above Safe Drinking Water Act standards and high methane levels. Given the area’s complex geology and the proximity of drinking water wells to ground water contamination, EPA is concerned about the movement of contaminants within the aquifer and the safety of drinking water wells over time.

Findings in the Private and Public Drinking Water Wells: EPA also updated its sampling of Pavillion area drinking water wells. Chemicals detected in the most recent samples are consistent with those identiﬁed in earlier EPA samples and include methane, other petroleum hydrocarbons and other chemical compounds. The presence of these compounds is consistent with migration from areas of gas production. Detections in drinking water wells are generally below established health and safety standards. In the fall of 2010, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry reviewed EPA’s data and recommended that affected well owners take several precautionary steps, including using alternate sources of water for drinking and cooking, and ventilation when showering. Those recommendations remain in place and Encana has been funding the provision of alternate water supplies. Before issuing the draft report, EPA shared preliminary data with, and obtained feedback from, Wyoming state ofﬁcials, Encana, Tribes and Pavillion residents. The draft report is available for a 45 day public comment period and a 30 day peer-review process led by a panel of independent scientists. For more information on EPA’s Pavillion groundwater investigation, visit: http://www.epa.gov/region8/superfund/wy/pavillion/index.html

Religion Today

Speaking Internationally: The Languages of Joseph, Mary and the Wise Men Submitted by Paul V.M. Flesher on its territory, and often absorbed Palestine into their territories. So although Hebrew was the Jews’ native language, by the time of Jesus’ birth, they had centuries of experience with both Aramaic and Greek. Babylonia and Persia had brought them Aramaic as early as the eighth century B.C. When Alexander the Great conquered Palestine in 332 B.C., Greek became the imperial language. When the Romans arrived in 63 B.C., Greek retained its dominant role. Both Persia and Alexander conquered wide swaths of territory beyond Palestine, ranging from Egypt to modern day Iraq and Iran far to the east. So all the conversations in the nativity story should have happened in Greek, right? Greek was the most recent language; it was used in Palestine, Egypt and the “East,” and had been around for several centuries. Seems obvious. If only it were so simple. In the highly stratiﬁed societies of the ancient world, language did not change at the same speed at all social levels. The elite and educated classes learned a new imperial language most quickly, because the conquerors, who were relatively few in numbers, used them to rule the conquered

official language of Greek. But when they arrived in Bethlehem, they most likely spoke the same language that Joseph and Mary were using with the local villagers, namely, Aramaic. As a carpenter, Joseph belonged to the artisan classes rather than the peasants, but the nationalist character that Aramaic had taken on would have made this his primary language. So what language did Joseph and Mary speak in Egypt? Probably Aramaic. For the same phenomenon of linguistic resistance among the lower classes took place in Egypt as well as Palestine. Joseph and his family would have lived among the lower classes while they were in Egypt, and so would not have had any connection to the elite circles where Greek would have been the language of conversation. This fits with the gospel’s portrayal of the adult Jesus. Although the gospels are written in Greek, the shared language of the eastern Mediterranean, when they depict Jesus speaking in his native language-as in his final words on the cross-he speaks Aramaic.

country. The next group to pick up a new language was the traders and other business people, while the last was the peasants. Their ﬁxed tie to their farms usually required interaction with the rulers only at taxcollecting time, and then probably through their own countrymen. This was the main pattern of language acquisition for both Aramaic and Greek in this region. But after Alexander, a new linguistic development took place. As the elites learned Greek, Aramaic became the language of resistance. Among the lower classes, Aramaic was already in the process of replacing their native languages and this process continued until it was the lingua franca not just of Palestine but of all the eastern Mediterranean countries. Apparently the upper classes retained Aramaic as well, for the inscriptions and documents of private individuals or local communities unearthed by archaeologists in this region are in Aramaic more frequently than in Greek. The elite may have spoken Greek to their conquerors, but they spoke Aramaic at home. So when the upper-class “wise men” talked with King Herod, presumably in his Jerusalem palace, they probably conversed in the

ologist leads the Wyoming State Geological Survey. The mission of the WSGS is to promote the beneﬁcial and environmentally sound use of Wyoming’s vast geologic, mineral and energy resources while helping protect the public from geologic hazards. “I am honored to take on this role and to work with Governor Mead,” Drean said. “Wyoming is such an appealing place for a geologist. The resources here are world class on every front and I want to be a good steward of all of these resources.” Drean worked for Cono-

Where is this picture taken? Answer from last week Showcased at Eagle Butte Coal Mine near Campbell County Airport.

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Right to Life

Governor Mead appoints new State Geologist

Governor Matt Mead named Tom Drean as the Wyoming State Geologist. Drean previously worked for ConocoPhillips as the company’s president for Iraq. “We are excited to have Tom take on this important role for Wyoming,” Governor Mead said. “His background working across the globe is impressive, as is his knowledge of geology and mineral resources.” As State Geologist Drean will serve on the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission and the Wyoming Board of Professional Geologists. The State Ge-

Mark your calendars for December 30th where you can participate in “Bald is Beautiful,” an event put on for four year old Isabelle Peace, who has been recently diagnosed with cancer and has just start chemotherapy. The Campbell County Observer presents the event which will perform two actions. First, to show Isabelle that you can still be “princess” beautiful when you lose your hair. Second, to raise money for medical expenses for her family. The event will be held at Hickey’s Unlimited. Hickey’s will donate money for every head shaved. Just Clowning Around will be there at 3pm with balloon animals, and Wyoming Sign and Design is selling auto/window stickers they made, and Basin Radio will be doing a live feed. All contributions from all business associated with the event go directly to the family for medical expenses. Mark your calendar, and be at Hickey’s Unlimited on December 30th from 12pm – 7pm, and show Isabella that bald is indeed beautiful. Sponsers include: Hickey’s Unlimited Wyoming Sign and Design The Campbell County Observer Just Clowning Around Basin Radio Network Fun on the Go

ing ish

The stories of Jesus’ birth are stories of travel. In the Gospel of Luke, Mary and Joseph travel through the national territory, from Nazareth in Jewish Galilee to Bethlehem in Jewish Judea. In Matthew’s Gospel, the travel is international. The tale begins with the wise men traveling from the “East.” They visit King Herod to ask for directions and then bring gifts to Mary, Joseph and Jesus in Bethlehem. After they leave, an angel sends Joseph and his family to Egypt, where they live until Herod’s death. So with all this international travel, how did the travelers communicate? What languages did they speak at home and abroad? Our answer to this question lies in understanding the languages spoken in Palestine and the extent to which they would have been used in the East and in Egypt. Linguistically, Palestine was a cosmopolitan region in the ﬁrst centuries B.C. and A.D. As a strip of land less than 75 miles wide on the eastern Mediterranean shore, Palestine often found itself between empires or swallowed up by one. Whether it was Egypt or Mesopotamia, or Persia, Greece or Rome, these imperial powers moved across Palestine, warred

Bald is Beautiful

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today released a draft analysis of data from its Pavillion, Wyoming ground water investigation. At the request of Pavillion residents, EPA began investigating water quality concerns in private drinking water wells three years ago. Since that time, in conjunction with the state of Wyoming, the local community, and the owner of the gas field, Encana, EPA has been working to assess ground water quality and identify potential sources of contamination. EPA constructed two deep monitoring wells to sample water in the aquifer. The draft report indicates that ground water in the aquifer contains compounds likely associated with gas production practices, including hydraulic fracturing. EPA also re-tested private and public drinking water wells in the community. The samples were consistent with chemicals identified in earlier EPA results released in 2010 and are generally below established health and safety standards. To ensure a transparent and rigorous analysis, EPA is releasing these findings for public comment and will submit them to an independent scientific review panel. The draft findings announced today are specific to Pavillion, where the fracturing is taking place in and below the drinking water aquifer and in close proximity to drinking water wells – production conditions different from those in many other areas of the country. Natural gas plays a key role in our nation’s clean energy future and the

Wishes you a Happy and Holy Christmas!!!

coPhillips for over 26 years. He has held positions in the Middle East, Africa, Australia, South America, Europe and the United States. He has a Master’s of Science from Penn State University where his area of study was geochemistry and a Bachelor of Science from Western Michigan University where his area of study was geology. His ﬁrst day on the job is today and he replaces Wallace Ulrich. “I want to thank Wallace Ulrich for his work as State Geologist and for his deep passion for Wyoming and its geology,” Governor Mead said.

Meeting the first Tuesday of the month September through May at Noon. Coffee Friends!!!

Everyone Welcome

See you January 3rd, 2012 Campbell County Right to Life. P.O. Box 1684 Gillette, WY 82717

Community Governor Mead says Wyoming is eager to work with other Western States on Sage-Grouse Management Governor Matt Mead said that Wyoming has an approach for managing sagegrouse that balances development and conserving the species. Today, Governor Mead met with the Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and representatives of other western states. This was to discuss Wyoming’s Sage-Grouse Core Area Protection strategy and other state-led efforts to keep the sage-grouse from listing under the Endangered Species Act.

“The suggestion was that the western states with sage-grouse and sagegrouse habitat should come together and share ideas and to discuss habitat and population concerns,” Governor Mead said. “The goal of the Endangered Species Act is not to add to the list, but to protect the species so they never make it to the endangered species list.” Attendees of today’s meeting discussed developing a working agreement. Such an agreement would

put in place conservation actions and commitments to meaningfully address both the continued viability of the sage-grouse and the need of westerners to enjoy multiple uses of their land and have reasonable predictability regarding regulatory requirements. In Wyoming if the sagegrouse is listed it could impact ranching, oil and gas development and recreation. “Partnering with private industry, agriculture and the federal government

has allowed us to balance conservation of the sagegrouse with development and job creation while keeping the bird from being listed,” Governor Mead said. At a news conference following the meeting Secretary Salazar thanked Governor Mead and Wyoming for leadership on sagegrouse conservation. “We see Wyoming as a template for how we address the challenges sage-grouse is facing, not only in Wyo-

Wyoming Bullying on the Up-slide Bullying has become a larger problem in recent tears in the state of WY. Roughly half of the students surveyed in 2011 said they had been victims of bullying, while 25% admitted to doing

the bullying. Slightly more females reported having been bullied than males. Females also were doubly involved in cyber bullying. These children are encouraged to

“self-report” anything related to bullying, drugs, alcohol, suicide, or any other health related negative activities. It is the best, and most effective way to stop these behaviors.

ming, but across the West.” In June Governor Mead signed the Sage-Grouse Core Area Protection Executive Order. It updated an Order signed by Governor Freudenthal providing more ﬂexibility for management in the core areas. In August Secretary Salazar recognized Wyoming for its effort to keep sage-grouse off of the endangered species list with a Partners in Conservation Award.

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Solid Waste and City Ofﬁce holiday closures

Master Gardeners will host a “Christmas Tree Drop Off” site at Gillette College for tree disposal The City of Gillette Solid Waste Division would like the public to know the schedule for the holiday solid waste pick up and city ofﬁce closures.

Monday, December 26th

City ofﬁces closed, but the Solid Waste Division will pick up trash on Monday, December 26th - please have your trash and recycling at the curb by 7 a.m.*

Monday, January 2nd

City ofﬁces closed - no Solid Waste Trash Pick up**

Tuesday, January 3rd

City ofﬁces open and the Solid Waste Division will run a double route and pick up Monday and Tuesday’s trash on Tuesday, January 3rd. Please have your trash and recycling at the curb by 7a.m. The City does not pick up Christmas trees; however, the Master Gardeners will host a Christmas Tree Drop Off site at the Gillette College Tech Center from Monday, December 26th through Sunday, January 8th. Please drop off the tree with no tinsel, no decorations and no ornaments.

Christmas Tree Drop Off Site

Gillette College Technical Education Center (North end of Tech Center - look for signs on campus directing you to the drop off site) Hours: Weekdays - 4 p.m. to 6 p.m./Weekends - 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. *The County Landﬁll will be open that day - so crews will run their normal routes. **The County Landﬁll will be closed - so crews will not run their normal routes. Have a safe and memorable holiday season!

True West picks “Best of the West” for 2012 Billed as its tenth-annual guide to “everything western,” True West magazine has published the 2012 “Best of the West” issue with several Wyoming locations and businesses ranked at the top. “We see a wide variety of Wyoming’s heritage represented in these ﬁndings and know that for every winning category there are dozens of other Wyoming locales worthy of recognition,” said Diane Shober, state tourism director.

Fort Bridger State Historic Site in southwestern Wyoming was chosen Best Preserved Fort. The magazine editor’s note recent upgrades to exhibits “help visitors understand the signiﬁcance of this post that served overland emigrant travelers.” Klondike Ranch near Buffalo, WY was deemed Best Guest Ranch of the West for inspiring guests to join in the chores on the working cattle ranch and keeping history alive.

There were two “Reader’s Choice” awards given to Wyoming businesses: Nagle-Warren Mansion in Cheyenne was named Best B&B and Cody’s Irma Hotel garnered recognition as the Best Historic 100 Years Business. Western author and historian Candy Moulton of Encampment, WY served in a working group of contributing editors that assisted True West, based in Arizona, in making the 2012 compilations. “We write

stories for the magazine throughout the year and they trust our judgment,” said Moulton who found the new additions at Fort Bridger “fascinating and fun.” Moulton nominated only the western U.S. locations she has visited. The January 2012 issue of True West is also a source book for many western activities and attractions such as museums, events and adventures.

Governor Mead expresses deep concern about Million Pipeline Project in comments to FERC

Governor Matt Mead sent a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) today. That letter expresses the Governor’s deep concern about the proposed water pipeline from the Green River in Wyoming to Colorado’s Front Range. Governor Mead’s comments are meant to protect Wyoming’s economy and resources and show the project is not feasible. “This project would cut a vast swath across southern Wyoming, with the potential for huge impacts in many signiﬁcant sectors of our economy and aspects of critical resources to Wyoming and Colorado,” Governor Mead wrote. He added, “The proponent has

stated this project will cost $3 billion to construct but little is known about the future cost to consumers or others from such a massive project.” FERC is considering a preliminary permit for this project, which is now billed as a hydroelectric endeavor. It had been before the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers until the Corps withdrew the application earlier this year. The project applicant then took it to FERC. Governor Mead expressed concern that FERC is not the correct entity to review this proposal, “The proponent has, by all appearances, shifted federal permitting venues to short-circuit the regulatory process and/ or sidestep fundamental

issues. I do not believe FERC should be the lead or initial permitting agency for this project.” In terms of Wyoming’s water rights, Governor Mead wrote that the Upper Colorado River Basin Compact must be given full consideration because no project can disrupt Wyoming’s potential to develop its remaining appropriation under that Compact. While most of the water for this project would supposedly come from whatever Colorado’s unused portion of the compact is Governor Mead noted, “The applicant is proposing use of 25,000 acre feet of water per year from Wyoming’s undeveloped allocation under the Compact, and Wyoming

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has not agreed to this allocation.” Governor Mead also raised concerns about the impact on recreation opportunities in the Flaming Gorge and the Green River as well as impacts on endangered species recovery programs in the Green and Colorado Rivers. Wyoming Game and Fish Department has also ﬁled a notice of intervention with FERC.

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Community Tobacco Program can help smokers successfully quit Submitted by Kim Deti-Wyoming Department of Health For residents who want to start the New Year by quitting smoking, the Wyoming Department of Health offers valuable help to dramatically increase their chances of success. The Wyoming Quit Tobacco Program offers significant financial help to pay for medications such as patches or other prescription choices to help Wyoming smokers quit, as well as free support from trained coaches. Interested residents may call 1-800-QUITNOW or log on to http:// wy.quitnet.com to enroll. “We know from the research that support services such as those offered by our program can greatly increase a person’s chances of quitting successfully,” said Kathi Wilson, tobacco cessation coordinator with the Wyoming Department of Health. In fact, Wyoming was named recently by the American Lung Association as one of the five most “quit friendly” states in the nation in large part due to the generous support offered by the Wyoming Quit Tobacco Program.

Photo by Nathan Kobielusz - Basin Radio

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Richard Strahorn believes the entire community will be enriched if local residents have broader access to higher educational opportunities right here in Gillette.

Higher education survey available until the end of 2011 By Nathan Kobielusz - Basin Radio You have until the end of the year to participate in currently underway to gauge the level of interest local residents have in pursuing a degree from the University of Wyoming right here in Gillette. To date, 378 people have taken the higher education survey, and a vast majority (84 percent) said they would be interested in pursuing a bachelor’s or master’s degree from UW if classes were offered locally. While most respondents have ﬁlled out the online version, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Richard Strahorn says a few people completed the paper version. Growing and expanding the higher educational opportunities in Gillette will beneﬁt everyone, Strahorn says. “It will enrich our county. It will enrich our employment. It will help our employees. It will help our employers in the county hire the people they want,” he explains. “And if it helps our mines, and if it helps our hospital and if it helps other people we all gain and grow from that.” So far, the greatest interest has been from respondents who would be considered nontraditional students. Over 80 percent of the respondents, or 294, are 26 years of age or older. Of those who have responded so far, 58 percent already have a four-year degree or a graduate degree already. Respondents indicate they would be most interested in degrees in business and elementary education. Of those who responded, 39 percent said they would be very interest-

ed or somewhat interested in a bachelor’s or master’s degree in business. Elementary education came in second, with 34 percent of respondents saying they would be very interested or somewhat interested in that degree program. Nearly 90 percent of the respondents were employed at the time of the survey. As well, over 70 percent of respondents are female. University of Wyoming President Tom Buchanan told Basin Radio Network earlier this month that the university has plans to expand its Outreach Programs in Gillette to include classroom instruction for those interested in pursuing a degree, along with their popular Saturday University program. “I think it’s pretty clear to us that Gillette has grown, the population in Campbell County has gotten large enough that our presence is not in proportion to the population and the signiﬁcance of the northeast corner of Wyoming,” Buchanan said last week. As it stands now, UW’s Outreach Program at Gillette College allows residents in Campbell County and other parts of the state to earn a degree from UW without traveling to Laramie, via classes delivered on the Internet and video and telephone conference. The expanded services would add UW accredited face-to-face classroom instruction in Gillette, similar to UW’s partnership with Casper College. Saturday University, on the other hand, is a program that began roughly four years ago in Jackson. A few times each year, Buchanan says they ﬂy

about six of their best faculty lecturers to Jackson, and they spend the entire Saturday doing a lecture series on various topics, such as art history, marketing, management, and energy resources. Since then, Saturday University has been wildly successful, Buchanan says. You can complete the higher education survey through the month of December. The online version is available at the Chamber of Commerce’s website, the Campbell County School District’s website, and Gillette College’s website. Printed versions are available at the Campbell County School District’s Educational Services Center located at 1000 W. 8th Street. All residents who are interested in pursuing a UW degree are encouraged to complete the survey before December 31, 2011. The results will be tabulated, made public, and analyzed to determine what degree programs should be made available in Gillette.

Dr. Wendy Braund, Wyoming Department of Health state health officer and Public Health Division senior administrator, said tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death with no safe level of use. About 20 percent of Wyoming residents smoke. “Smoking is a leading contributor to chronic diseases such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease,” Braund said. “For example, smoking is especially harmful to those who have diabetes because the nicotine in tobacco causes a narrowing of blood vessels. This results in reduced blood flow.” “The good news,” Braund said, “is that quitting can quickly offer real health benefits and many of the effects of tobacco use can be reversed.”

Wilson said the medication support offered in Wyoming makes the state’s program among the nation’s most generous. Options include nicotine patches, nicotine gum, nicotine lozenges, Wellbutrin, Zyban, Bupropion, and Chantix. Wyoming residents must call 1-800-QUIT-NOW to receive cessation medication vouchers, but free counseling services are available through both the phone line and the Quitnet web site. “The savings on medications available through our program is considerable,” Wilson said. “We do not want cost to get in the way for Wyoming smokers who are ready to stop.” The program is also available for residents who chew or use other forms of spit tobacco.

Weekly Trivia Question During what war was the Battle of Jackson fought?? Look in next week’s paper for the answer

Gillette Christian Center

Announcement

Christmas Eve Service There is nothing quite as nostalgic or sacred as a Christmas Eve service. Please join us for our Christmas Eve Service on Saturday, December 24th. Service will start promptly at 4:00 PM and will end at 5:00 PM.

Come early to find good parking and seating! Please note: Childcare is not available for this service.

307-686-6680 • 6201 Swanson Road • www.gilettechristiancenter.org

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We have been told that our “where is this” is very hard to get right. So in light of the Christmas Spirit, we have given a very easy one this week.

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Find the answer in next week’s Campbell County Observer

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Hunting/Fishing Gillette and Wright stocked with brood ﬁsh Anglers in northeast Wyoming have an opportunity to catch some large lake and brook trout this winter. Story Fish Hatchery personnel are in the process of stocking nearly 100 lake trout in Gillette Fishing Lake and another 100 into Black Hills Power and Light Pond near Osage. The large lake trout were sorted out after fall spawning operations were completed. Most of the ﬁsh are 17-year-old females averaging greater

than 23 inches and weighing almost 5 pounds each. Over the course of their life each female contributed approximately 48,000 eggs to the ﬁsh culture system. Story Hatchery also stocked 500 brook trout. The brook trout are 4- and 5-year-old ﬁsh averaging 14 inches and weighing about 1 pound each. Two hundred were stocked into Black Hills Power and Light pond and 300 into Panther Pond near Wright.

Warden’s Corner

“We’re just glad that we are able to put these large ﬁsh out there for anglers catch this winter,” says Steve Diekema, Story Hatchery Superintendent. Area Fisheries Supervisor Paul Mavrakis adds, “Anglers need to remember that the daily limit is six ﬁsh and only one can be more than 20 inches. Many of these trout are more than 20 inches long. It would be

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Christmas is a great time to refill your hunting pack with supplies or to add to your collection of hunting equipment. Many sporting goods stores have sales during the Christmas season on small items like game bags, orange clothing, knives and flashlights. Take advantage of these sales to fill the stockings of hunters you know or help give young hunters a start on their hunting equipment. Merry Christmas and hopefully you have all had a great hunting season.

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Public Pulse About Nothing By Ken DeLaat

Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor, I just wanted to take the time to wish you all a very Merry Christmas. You all have done so much for the community, and we are grateful, my husband and I hope you all the best in the New Year. Cathy McDonivon via. Email From Editor Keary Speer: Dear Cathy, Thank you so much for the kind words! We hope that your Christmas and New Year is everything you hope it to be as well! We would not be anywhere if it weren’t for people like you! Merry Christmas. From Editor Nicholas De Laat: Can I join you in some thank you’s? I would like to take the time in this paper and thank a few people as well, but I am not sure if I can use names. However, I am sure they will know who they are. My three children will love the gifts from a married couple, whom my wife and I consider the dearest of friends, and their mom for giving more from Santa than expected. To another family in Sleepy Hollow whom we are proud to call neighbors and friends, for all the help during this holiday season. To my campaign manager and his wife, whom we care for deeply, for everything you two have ever done. To a great parade organizer, for a box of beef from the ranch (we will enjoy that thoroughly). And ﬁnally, to the person who left a box of food and a turkey on our doorstep anonymously. Please come forward so my family can give you the proper thank you that your gentle soul deserves. Have a wonderful Christmas everyone!!

Dear Editor, I would like to talk about the liquor license decision and state that OUR CITY COUNCIL IS A JOKE! You are always hearing the words from them “shop Gillette” and “spend your money locally,” but all the council does is say no to big business. They denied Smiths because it was “close to the high school.” They denied a license to Walmart because of outright socialism. Yes, it was socialism. They decided who would do business and who wouldn’t. Until we get rid of the “Good ol boys” in this town Gillette will never have anything. I don’t know if you will print this, but below is a letter written in to Basin Radio that hits right on the money written by screen name “gottaweighin.” (Letter on Basin Radio) The right answer to the question regarding banks’ future willingness to lend on liquor establishment proposals is that this council’s action Monday night will indeed have a negative impact on a citizen’s ability to get bank ﬁnancing for liquor establishment purchase or start-up loan requests. There always has been a question as to the actual value of a Liquor License as collateral in a liquor establishment loan. It

appears to have answered. Zero. I had always hoped (and believed) that our city council, if ever called upon in such a scenario as Attitudes, would side with the lender and thus the business community in any such decision, in an effort to prevent the stymieing of business per se. Not the case with our council. Despite a well thought out discussion and argument by the bank in this case, it would have appeared the nay-sayers’ minds were already made up based on what I saw of the televised meeting. Kudos to Mr. Opseth for sorting through the information and deciding in favor of the business community. As for the rest of you, listen to the testimony and put yourself in others’ shoes before you vote on something this important. Like I said, Hits right on the money! Bruce Angelo From Editor Nicholas De Laat I have never agreed with any kind of licensing being controlled by any government. They should never have that kind of power in a free market, and every government always abuses power given to them. Take Michigan for example, where you have to have a certiﬁcation to shine shoes, and pay a services tax, or lemonade stands run by little children that get shut down by a government agent (local or federal) for not having a business license. I do not know what is worse, the fact that the laws are in place, the fact that they get used and abused, or the fact that noone does anything about it. I sometimes wonder “What is next?” There are ways to stop this complete abuse of power though on all levels of government from the City to the Feds. 1. Run for Ofﬁce 2. Vote them out 3. Support and get involved in a candidate you agree with 4. ATTEND MEETINGS as often as possible 5. Keep writing in letters to the editor 6. Form a group of likeminded citizens for the purpose of information 7. Much much much much more…..but the key is…get involved. Dear Editor, I heard on the Glenn Woods show about how Gillette should annex Sleepy Hollow. This caller obviously doesn’t know anything. The only reason for Gillette to annex Sleepy Hollow is for more tax revenue, which is the cornerstone of any government, especially the City of Gillette. Gillette has become Leeches when it comes from sucking the life out of her citizens. I am currently a Gillette resident, and am planning to buy a house out in the county just to get away from the City of Gillette with its high taxes, terrible spending, over bearing rules, and bad services. If there was annexation there, the property value would go down, the good

people would move out, the services they pay for would go down, and their taxes would go up. They might even become a welfare neighborhood. Is that what you want? Leave it alone! Cherrie Marshall From Editor Nicholas De Laat As far as I know, there is nothing on the agenda for this annexation. It is rumors being spread that it is on the local government agenda’s (and I pay close attention) like the dog park, and other rumors. If it does happen, I have it on good authority (as I live in Sleepy Hollow) that the area will incorporate and become their own town. Most of the citizens moved there to not live in the City, and you are right, they would move out if this happened. We have pay for sewers, water, wells, streets, and more with a very, very low monthly dues. We can light fireworks, drive atv’s on our private streets, park where we want, water our lawns when we want, and more. Why would Sleepy Hollow give that up? I do want to warn you though, that sometimes these rumors can become bad. As far as I know, The City of Gillette has zero immediate plans to annex Sleepy Hollow, and it is not on a future agenda. Dear Editor: You are doing a wonderful thing for Isabelle. That is why I love our community so much, the willingness of people to get together for a little, scared girl. I will be at the event to shave my head, I promise! Karla Jones From Editor Keary Speer: Dear Karla, Thank you so much for writing in! No child or parent should have to go through what this dear family is going through. So, it is our prerogative to make this much easier than it could be for them. We are definitely a community filled with caring people and that has never been more apparent. Let’s not stop and let’s recruit as many people as possible to make this experience as painless as possible for little Isabelle! I cannot wait to see the turnout for the “Bald is Beautiful” event. We are not the only local business helping out, there is also Wyoming Sign and Design, Hickey’s Unlimited, Just Clowning Around, and Basin Radio!

Having spent the past two days celebrating the holidays with the two families that I feel so privileged to be a part of, I thought about how much of our conversation centered on past Christmases and the events that occurred. My (much older) sister and I debated our versions of how her treasured ‘Ruthie’ doll came to require a new wig soon after Christmas that year, and how a few years back we had wrapped up the dreaded accordion our (signiﬁcantly older) brother Dave got in his younger years when he asked for a drum set (same look of combined shock and displeasure both times). We spoke of the time it was 70 degrees on Christmas Day and my brother-in-law tried to get me to ‘sneak out and play 9 holes’ before the dinner (an idea I considered before coming to the realization that the escapade would result in a long-lasting, yet somehow not fond memory for all involved) and my daughter Biz recalled the year she had gotten frightened when she crept downstairs for an early morning present peek and was spooked by the mannequin Lil had gotten for me hovering near the tree. At my in-laws it was much of the same with anecdotes and stories abounding that involved each of the players, leaving some of our family’s newer members looking as though they wondered just what kind of group they had signed on for. It was loads of fun and brought back similar emotions to the events themselves, though the versions all tend to get a bit modiﬁed as time goes on. It occurred to me that this is what these gatherings are about. History. Whether it might be from the older archives or newer stories making their way into the annals of family chronicles, there exists the tie-in to the ongoing narrative of our relationship with each other and though people pass on they come alive again with every telling of the tales. Each gathering does more than review past experi-

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ences, they serve to forge new pages of the enduring history we have developed and continue to do so. Christmas is a time for spiritual reflection for many and can be a time of hope for those who need it. It’s a time when a softness seems to prevail among most people you encounter and nearly everyone seems just a bit friendlier and more welcoming than at other times. There’s a bit of magic in the air and a sense that despite all that confronts us in this rapidly changing world that just maybe things are going to be ok. And most of all, it’s a time for remembering. Loved ones who have left us and those we still have in our lives. Times both good and not so good, but times we went through together. A realization that when you take it all apart the one thing that seems to really matter is the love we have shown and been shown and continue to show for each other. And the rich history of memories forever connected to those people. “Instead of being a time of unusual behavior, Christmas is perhaps the only time in the year when people can obey their natural impulses and express their true sentiments without feeling self-conscious and, perhaps, foolish. Christmas, in short, is about the only chance a man has to be himself.”-Francis C. Farley You know you’re getting old, when Santa starts looking younger.-Robert Paul “Christmas is a time when everybody wants his past forgotten and his present remembered. What I don’t like about office Christmas parties is looking for a job the next day.” - Phyllis Diller “Don’t expect too much of Christmas Day. You can’t crowd into it any arrears of unselfishness and kindliness that may have accrued during the past twelve months.” -Oren Arnold “To the American People: Christmas is not a time or a season but a state of

mind. To cherish peace and good will, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas. If we think on these things, there will be born in us a Savior and over us will shine a star sending its gleam of hope to the world.” - Calvin Coolidge (18721933), American president. Presidential message (December 25, 1927). It is the personal thoughtfulness, the warm human awareness, the reaching out of the self to one’s fellow man that makes giving worthy of the Christmas spirit.” -Isabel Currier. They err who thinks Santa Claus comes down through the chimney; he really enters through the heart.” -Mrs. Paul M. Ell. “It is Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in the air.” - W. T. Ellis “Christmas, my child, is love in action.” - Dale Evans “Do give books - religious or otherwise - for Christmas. They’re never fattening, seldom sinful, and permanently personal.” Lenore Hershey “When we recall Christmas past, we usually ﬁnd that the simplest things - not the great occasions give off the greatest glow of happiness.” -Bob Hope “The joy of brightening other lives, bearing each other’s’ burdens, easing other’s loads and supplanting empty hearts and lives with generous gifts becomes for us the magic of Christmas.” - W. C. Jones Were I a philosopher, I should write a philosophy of toys, showing that nothing else in life need to be taken seriously, and that Christmas Day in the company of children is one of the few occasions on which men become entirely alive.” -Robert Lynd To all who honor me by reading this column and those who possess a modicum of literary taste and do not; Go in peace. And for pity’s sake, get out there and build those memories. So there will always be more tales to tell.

Weekly Trivia Answer from Last Week Who tried to assassinate President Roosevelt in 1912? On October 14, 1912, while Theodore Roosevelt was campaigning in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Schrank attempted to assassinate him. It is unclear when his interest in domestic politics so flared that he would attempt to kill Roosevelt. It is known that he was an opponent of a sitting President’s ability to seek a third term in office. According to documents found on Schrank after the attempted assassination, Schrank had written that he was advised by the ghost of William McKinley in a dream to avenge his death, pointing to a picture of Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt was at the Gilpatrick Hotel at a dinner provided by the hotel’s owner, a supporter. The ex-President was scheduled to deliver a speech at the Milwaukee Auditorium. News had circulated that Roosevelt was at the hotel, and Schrank (who had been following Roosevelt from New Orleans to Milwaukee) went to the hotel. The ex-President had finished his meal, and was leaving the hotel to enter his car when Schrank acted. Schrank did shoot Roosevelt, but the bullet lodged in Roosevelt’s chest only after hitting both his steel eyeglass case and a 50-page copy of his speech he was carrying in his jacket. Roosevelt decided the bullet could not have penetrated to his lung because he coughed no blood and, declining suggestions that he go to the hospital, delivered his scheduled speech. He spoke for ninety minutes, but sometimes managed no more than a whisper. His opening comments to the gathered crowd were: Friends, I shall ask you to be as quiet as possible. I don’t know whether you fully understand that I have just been shot; but it takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose. But fortunately I had my manuscript, so you see I was going to make a long speech, and there is a bullet - there is where the bullet went through - and it probably saved me from it going into my heart. The bullet is in me now, so that I cannot make a very long speech, but I will try my best. — Theodore Roosevelt, Address at Milwaukee, Wis., October 14, 1912 Afterwards, doctors determined that he was not seriously wounded and that it would be more dangerous to attempt to remove the bullet than to leave it in his chest. Roosevelt carried it with him until he died. In later years, when asked about the bullet inside him, Roosevelt would say, “I do not mind it any more than if it were in my waistcoat pocket.” Schrank maintained, later, that he had nothing against the man himself, and he did not intend to kill ‘the citizen Roosevelt’, but rather ‘Roosevelt, the third-termer.’ He claimed to have shot Roosevelt as a warning to other third-termers, and that it was the ghost of William McKinley that told him to perform the act. When Roosevelt died in 1919, Schrank conceded that he was a great American and was sorry to hear of his death. Doctors soon examined him and reported that he was suffering from ‘insane delusions, grandiose in character’ and they declared Schrank to be insane. Schrank was sentenced to the Central State Mental Hospital in Waupun, Wisconsin, in 1914. He remained there for 29 more years, until his death from natural causes in 1943.

Public Pulse National Center for Public Policy Research responds to EPA’s announcement of its utility MACT rule

Bold Republic Weekly Santa buys extra Campbell County Coal By Glenn Woods

Submitted by the National Center for Public Policy Research Alright, I’ll admit it, when I was a kid I got coal in my stocking one year. I blame my parents. I’ve always wondered where Santa got the coal from. Well, I can’t answer for the centuries before, but these days Santa has a Campbell County coal contract, and business is booming. There are few less people on Santa’s Coal List this year. For example, Osama Bin Laden and Kim Jong-Il are dead. But that’s ok. One was a Muslim and one was an atheist, so they were more confused by the lump of coal they got each year more than anything else. As for Washington DC, I’m not sure who should get more coal - the nut ball socialist Democrats or those lying RINO Republicans. But we can always turn to Washington to ﬁnd plenty of stockings packed with the black stuff. The fact is, Santa stopped loading up toys for DC a long time ago. There are some Hollywood stars that will get a few lumps of coal from Campbell County: Ashton Kutcher Who was photographed with 23-year-old Sara Leal on his wedding anniversary! How do you cheat on Demi Moore? What a dunce. Kim Kardashian Married then divorce after just 72 days. But that was not the real problem. I mean, have you seen her television show? That alone should get her a sack of coal, not just a lump. Charlie Sheen At least his mental meltdown was entertaining. Though, this past year, he was a great example to kids

across the world, of how to build fame and fortune then throw it all away on ego tripping and binge drinking. I sure hope these people appreciate what they are getting, when Santa goes through all the trouble to bring the best coal in the nation to their stockings. But many don’t. Environmentalist, as you might imagine, as well as the Occupy Wall Street mob, deserve that lump more than most, but they get upset at receiving it more than anyone, and for several reasons: 1) It’s coal. They think that coal is killing the planet. 2) Obviously Santa is a member of the so called 1% that the Occupy Wall Street crowd is always ranting about. 3) It flies in the face of their sense of entitlement. These liberals have the idea that they are owed everything and so just who the heck is Santa to dump a lump of coal in their stocking and not an I-Pad? What they forget is that I-Pads are recharged by plugging them into electricity that comes from coal fired power plants. 40 How dare you assault their fragile self-esteem, especially during the holidays? That would have been as bad as actually giving them and “F” on their report card if they flunked a class back in high school. And we can’t go around telling those kids that they have failed, now can we? OH – Let’s not forget coal for the parents of the Occupy Wall Street slobs. I mean, they those kids would not have turned out so bad if someone had maybe, at least, told them NO once in a while and sent them to their rooms without supper.

Speaking of environmentalists, you might have heard that the EPA as well as several eco- groups were trying to shut down shipments of coal up to Santa’s place in the North Pole, just like as they have been trying to shut down the Keystone pipe line that would bring oil down to Texas. Their motives included some of the four reasons I just listed above except the coal was headed north. I mean, come on, we can’t have some fat, rich, white guy, going around the planet telling little boys and girls that they are bad and that they do not deserve rewards this year because they were bad. What sort of man is this evil Santa, after all? AH YES! You coal miners in Campbell Country should be PROUD! Every year Santa ships tons of the black stuff, from our mines, all over the world just to stick it to ruthless, nasty people --- Like my ex-wife --who need to be told by someone with authority beyond reproach that they have been bad. It is one thing to insult bad people. Another to fine, or arrest them. Some never learn their lesson no matter what we do to them. But there is not a person out there that does not feel a special pain when they reach down into that stocking over the fireplace only to come back up with black fingers, and nothing more. The pain of receiving coal in the stocking, just once will burn in a man’s heart for the rest of his life. It did for me --- though I still blame my parents.

To listen to Glenn Woods morning radio show tune in to 1270am KIML Gillette Monday through Friday from 6 - 10 a.m. www.boldrepublic.com

Three Rights don’t make a Wrong Wyoming Liberty Group ﬁles free speech brief on Bill of Rights day

The Wyoming Liberty Group filed a friend-ofthe-court brief with the Texas Court of Appeals at Austin today, arguing that the provisions of Texas law used to convict a citizen violated the First Amendment when three legal actions were turned into an illegal act by the State of Texas. “Governments must stop the arbitrary use of vague laws to punish citizens,” said Benjamin Barr, Wyoming Liberty Group counsel. “Arbitrary and discriminatory harassment by government of its citizens might happen in a place like the Iran, but it should not happen here in America.” The Wyoming Liberty Group’s track record of successful friend-of-the-court briefs to protect free speech includes Citizens United v. FEC where the Court relied on the Wyoming Liberty Group’s brief in its ruling. Today’s Wyoming Liberty Group brief discusses recent court rulings showing simple ways that states can act to ensure that campaign finance laws do not infringe upon protected speech in their effort to combat corruption or the appearance of corruption. “If a state wants to restrict election campaign financing, it must do it in a way that is easily understandable by the average person,” said Steve Klein, Wyoming Liberty Group staff attorney. “Political advocates shouldn’t have to wait until the police knock on their door to know what the law means.”

Joke of the week Submitted by Bob Glickman A boy begs his father to get him a Christmas tree this year. Each year, the boy asks and the father tells him, “I don’t want to pay for it.” But the son kept begging. Unable to bear his son’s whining, he picks up his axe one day and heads out of the house. Thirty minutes later he returns with a great big Christmas tree. “How did you cut it down so fast?” his son asks. “I didn’t cut it down,” the father replies. “I got it at a tree lot.” “Then why did you bring an axe?” “Because I didn’t want to pay.”

Responding to the Environmental Protection Agency’s announcement this afternoon of its utility MACT rule, policy experts at the National Center for Public Policy Research are calling attention to the harsh economic consequences of the agency’s new regulations targeting coal-fired electricity. “Coming with a price tag of about $11 billion/year, EPA’s Utility MACT rule is the most expensive regulation issued by the agency on utilities. The huge costs will be passed on to hardworking American families, small businesses and the manufacturing sector. The consequences of the EPA’s war on coal will result in double digit electricity price increases and millions of job losses,” said Tom Borelli, Ph.D., director of the National Center for Public Policy Research’s Free Enterprise Project. Currently, coal powers about 45 percent of our country’s electricity. A study conducted by NERA Economic Consulting on the impact of EPA’s Utility MACT and the Cross State Air Rule found these regulations will cause a loss of 1.4 million job-years by 2020 and increase electricity prices up to 24 percent. “Utilities have made great strides in reducing emissions from power plants but EPA’s rush to extinguish coal based electricity will result in significant economic harm while jeopardizing the reliability of our power supply. Because of the enormous compliance costs to meet EPA’s new standards utilities are finding it’s cheaper to close power plants. The loss of electricity from these power plant closures will jeopardize the reliability of our power supply,” added Tom Borelli. “I’m outraged EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson used a children’s hospital to announce the agency’s new rule. Exploiting children during Christmas is pure propaganda and it unmasks the radical agenda and shameless tactics of Jackson and the Obama Administration,” said Deneen Borelli, full-time fellow of the National Centersponsored African-American leadership group Project 21. Electricity price increases are being reported nationwide as a result of the EPA’s actions. In North Carolina, Duke Energy is seeking rate increases of 14 and 17 percent for households and business respectively, and in Chicago the rates may spike by up to 60 percent. “The real story is how Obama’s war on coal will harm the American family. To be accurate, Jackson should have held her press conference at an unemployment line in an urban community. Obama’s economic policy has had horrible consequences to the black community and the skyrocketing electricity prices resulting from Jackson’s EPA will drive more blacks to the government plantation,” added Deneen Borelli.

Wyoming Liberty Group offers new Liberty Brief “Medical Freedom Zones” A Commentary by Maureen Bader, Columnist Wyoming Liberty Group Today, if government doesn’t regulate something, you can be sure someone will ask why not. From heating pads to home improvement to health care, the demand for government regulations has given politicians and bureaucrats the excuse to take more and more power and control away from citizens - all for citizens’ own good, of course. But if people are looking for safety and security from government, they need to look again. Government regulations have laid a dead hand on entrepreneurship and innovation. This has made many people worse, not better off. But now imagine a place where people could contract with other people free from government regulations. Would they still be safe and secure? Yes, private regulations already exist in the U.S., even in the health care sector. In fact, a new report shows where entrepreneurs and innovators could set up islands of health care freedom right here in the U.S. Regulations are the rules that govern an activity. When people talk about regulation, they usually mean government regulation. But government isn’t the only organization that makes rules. It is possible for private individuals to create rules of conduct to govern their activities without the coercive force of government. Private regulations already help people stay safe and secure. Private regulation refers to voluntary agreements and contracts between people, and is the product of market decisionmaking, not government coercion. For example, if a corporation, or even a government, wants to let people know they will be ﬁnancially secure if they buy their debt, that corporation or government goes to private bond rating agencies like Standard and Poors. Private companies like Consumers Reports also create a sense of security with its tests and certiﬁcation of products. Voluntary, private regulations are not foreign to the health care sector either. Private licensing organizations already work to make people more safe and secure. Two private organizations: the National Commission on

Certiﬁcation of Physician Assistants and the American Nurses Credentialing Center, which makes credentials in 26 different areas of specialization available to nurses, show government is not required to ensure patient safety. The health care sector is ripe with opportunity for even more voluntary contracts between patients and health care providers. That’s because government has often not made us safer and more secure. In fact, government has made many people worse off. Nobel Prize winning economists such as Milton Friedman have pointed out how government bureaus such as the FDA have increased the costs and delayed the introduction of new drugs and in doing so have harmed the health of Americans. For example, although clinical evidence shows aspirin helps prevent heart attacks, the FDA doesn’t allows manufacturers to tell people about this. As a result, people may miss out on this cost-effective preventative measure and even worse, may die needlessly. In another example, the National Organ Transplant Act made it illegal to pay for bone marrow donations. Technical advances in the way bone marrow is donated makes the process as simple as a blood donation. Nevertheless a group of cancer patients had to take the government to court to force it to make paid bone marrow donations legal. Human suffering and death don’t appear in the cost sheets of government central planners but do in families who have lost loved ones. Pain, suffering and needless death are the real prices we pay when government regulations prevent doctors and patients from working together to ﬁnd the best solution for the patient. But what if there was a place where patients and doctors could work together to give patients the best type of health care available. Could one be created right her in the U.S? A new Liberty Brief called Medical Freedom Zones published by the Wyoming Liberty Group describes just how an island of health care freedom could be created in the U.S. on Indian

reservation land. “The legal precedent to set up a zone for health care freedom on tribal land already exists,” said Regina Meena, Legislative Affairs Analyst at the Wyoming Liberty Group. “We show how to apply an existing tool in a new way.” Both the gaming and payday lending industries on reservations are examples of how businesses can deliver the services consumers are looking for free from most bureaucratic interference. Medical Freedom Zones shows how to apply a similar approach in the health care sector. The report discusses how an Indian reservation offers greater protections to innovative business because the U.S. Supreme Court shields tribal authority on reservation lands. Health care professionals would be able to set up private businesses and enjoy greater protection from federal government meddling when they contract with a tribal nation. When Indians and non-Indians enter into voluntary, clearly documented contracts, the Supreme Court has upheld tribal sovereignty against most federal and state government interference. The opportunity to create an island of medical freedom in a nanny state sea exists right here right now. A system of private rules and regulations, agreed upon voluntarily by people who freely choose to participate in that market would provide the safety, security and cost-effective innovation Americans are desperately looking for. Medical freedom zones can bring the entrepreneurial spirit back to health care in America.

Who’s Brand is this in Campbell County? Answer from last week Dennis Wells

Public Pulse Governor Mead: Implications of EPA Data Require Best Science to the sources of the compounds detected,” said John Corra, Director of the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality and a member of the Working Group. State agencies, representatives of the Tribes and the BLM all raised similar concerns to the EPA. Specifically, Wyoming and other members of the Pavillion Working Group have raised questions about the lack of replication of testing (typically findings from only two sampling events suggest that more sampling is needed before conclusions can be drawn). Members of the working group also have questions about the compound 2-BE, which was found in 1 sample out of 4 that were taken, and why it was only found in results from one lab, while other labs tested the exact same water sample and did not find it. “More sampling is needed to rule out surface contamination or the process of building these test wells as the source of the concerning results,” Tom Doll said. Doll is the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Supervisor and a member of the Pavillion Working Group. Governor Mead has asked the EPA to partner with Wyoming and industry to do the necessary further testing. He said he was pleased to hear that the EPA would be willing to partner in that effort. Wyoming will take part in the

peer review of the draft. “My takeaway message is that both the EPA and Wyoming believe this is only the beginning of the process to understand the cause and scope of what was found. There are too many questions raised by what we have seen so far to not pursue further information,” Governor Mead said. “We do not want to predetermine the outcome of further research, but do feel the need for more thoroughness. I want to know what happened in Pavillion and feel the responsible approach is to do more testing,” Governor Mead said. “What we do know is that there has not been fracking in this area for several years and that there have been significant changes in our drilling regulations since then. Wyoming has led the country in regulating fracking because we want to protect our people, protect the environment and bring energy to the nation. More research will only help us.” Earlier testing did show problems with a few drinking wells near Pavillion. The working group will continue to explore causes with those wells. Currently, the people with concerns about their drinking water are being provided water by industry. Wyoming has also commissioned a study to look at alternative water supplies for these residents.

Unites States EPA looks to change how it analyzes problems and makes decisions Submitted by George Russell - Fox News Contributor ington to begin public discussion of the study. Even as it begins to go public, EPA, which has come under renewed fire for its recent rulings on new auto emissions standards and limits on coalfueled power plant emissions, is being determinedly low-key about the study. Initially questioned about the document by Fox News weeks ago, an EPA spokesman eventually declared that “we are currently reviewing the recommendations and have not yet made any decisions on implementation.” During the deliberations, he said, “the agency will seek a wide range of perspectives on the recommendations from the business community, nongovernmental organizations, the scientific community, and others.” The spokesman also said that EPA had “no current plans” for the so-called “Rio + 20” environmental summit next summer “that pertains to the Green Book’s recommendations.” The U.N. summit meeting, however, is mentioned in the Green Book itself as an instance where “sustainability is gaining increasing recognition as a useful framework for addressing otherwise intractable problems. The framework can be applied at any scale of governance, in nearly any situation, and anywhere in the world.” When it comes to applying the framework via EPA, the study says it is likely to happen only “over time.” The Red Book risk assessment approach now in use, it notes, “was not immediately adopted within EPA or elsewhere. It required several years for its general acceptance at EPA and its diffusion to state and local agencies.” The study specifically notes that “although addressing economic issues is not a core part of EPA’s mission, it is explicitly part of the definition of sustainability.” The experience of the European Union is deemed “particularly relevant” to achieving the sustainability goal. That European strategy involves a virtually all-encompassing regulatory vision. The study notes that its priorities include “climate change and clean energy; sustainable transport; sustainable consumption and production; conservation and management of natural resources; public health; social inclusion, demography, and migration; and global poverty and sustainable development challenges.” In an American context, the study says sustainable development “raises questions that are not fully or directly addressed in U.S. law or policy.” Among them: “how to define and control unsustainable patterns of production and consumption and how to encourage the development of sustainable communities, biodiversity protection, clean energy, environmentally sustainable economic development, and climate change controls.” The study notes that sustainable development is “broader than the sum of U.S. environmental and conservation laws.” It adds that “a great deal more needs to be done to achieve sustainability in the United States.” The experts say they found the legal authority for EPA to foster sustainable development without further congressional approval in the wording of the

National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, or NEPA. The study says the law, the cornerstone of U.S. environmental policy, declared that the “continuing policy of the Federal Government” is to “create and maintain conditions, under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony, that permit fulfilling the social, economic, and other requirements of present and future generations.” (In fact, the study quotes selectively from that portion of NEPA. What that section of the Act says in full is that “it is the continuing policy of the Federal Government, in cooperation with State and local governments, and other concerned public and private organizations, to use all practicable means and measures, including financial and technical assistance, in a manner calculated to foster and promote the general welfare, to create and maintain conditions under which man and nature can exist in productive harmony, and fulfill the social, economic, and other requirements of present and future generations of Americans.) What ends that tacit authority should be used for are far less clear, because the study asserts that they need to be made up and codified as EPA goes along. “EPA needs to formally develop and specify its vision for sustainability,” the study says. “Vision, in the sense discussed here, is a future state that EPA is trying to reach or is trying to help the country or the world to reach.” The study offers up new tools for EPA to do the job. As opposed to environmental impact assessment, the study encourages the use of “sustainability impact assessment” in the evaluation of the hundreds and thousands of projects that come under EPA scrutiny to see whether they are moving in the proper direction “Environmental impact assessment tends to focus primarily on the projected environmental effects of a particular action and alternatives to that action,” the study says. Sustainability impact assessment examines “the probable effects of a particular project or proposal on the social, environmental, and economic pillars of sustainability”—a greatly expanded approach. One outcome: “The culture change being proposed here will require EPA to conduct an expanding number of assessments.” As a result, “The agency can become more anticipatory, making greater use of new science and of forecasting.” The catch, the study recognizes, is that under the new approach the EPA becomes more involved than ever in predicting the future. “Forecasting is unavoidable when dealing with sustainability, but our ability to do forecasting is limited,” the document says. One forecast it is safe to make: the study shows whatever else the new sustainability mission does for EPA, it aims to be a much, much more important—and powerful-- federal agency than it is, even now. Note: A special thanks from the Campbell County Observer to Fox News for letting us re-print this column, and to George Russell for submitting the article.

City of Gillette Mayor Tom Murphy says the city has a responsibility to qualify the people that are going to operate with them.

City council denies retail liqour license transfer By Paul Wallem - Basin Radio News On Monday evening, the Gillette City Council denied a request to transfer the retail liquor license once held by Attitudes to the Bank of Gillette. Representatives from the bank were hoping the liquor license would help them recoup part of the loss they sustained when the bar closed last August. By a vote of 4-1 the city council denied transferring the retail liquor license to the Bank of Gillette. Only councilman John Opseth voted in favor of the request, while city Councilmen Everett Boss and Ted Jerred abstained from voting. Following the meeting, Mayor Tom Murphy was asked if Monday’s decision will set a precedent that will cause local banks to be hesitant to finance food and beverage investments. “I can’t answer that,” the mayor responded. “I think the responsibility by state statute of local municipalities is to monitor these licenses, qualify the people that are going to operate under them, and make sure that they operate within those guidelines that the statue allows.” After foreclosing on Attitudes, the Bank of Gillette was hoping to sell it as a package deal by putting the building, its assets and the liquor license up for sale together. During Monday’s meeting, the true market value of the retail liquor license became a major part of the discussion. In the end, Mayor Murphy says it was one of the toughest decisions ever put before the city council. “It is the responsibility of the City of Gillette to award these licenses to businesses that will operate them in accordance with state statute,” he says. “We renew these licenses once a year. A retail liquor license from the City of Gillette costs $1,250.” By denying the transfer of the retail liquor license to the Bank of Gillette, the liquor license remains with the now-defunct bar until the license expires in April of next year. Currently, the City of Gillette has three retail liquor licenses available for sale. Wyoming statute restricts the total number of retail liquor licenses for each municipality based on its population.

Corrections and Amplifications

Since the Gillette City Council denied transferring the retail liquor license from Attitudes to the Bank of Gillette, that particular license remains with Attitudes until it expires in April 2012. Until then, the city council cannot offer this retail liquor license to any other applicants. When the retail liquor license expires, as long as it is not renewed, the city council will then be able to offer it to other interested applicants. Currently, the City of Gillette has three retail liquor licenses at its disposal. A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that the city now had four retail liquor licenses available following Monday’s decision by the city council to deny transferring Attitudes’ retail liquor license to the Bank of Gillette.

What’s Going On In Government? Monday, December 26 -City Offices- CLOSED

Thursday, December 29

-Morning Workshop, a.m., Chambers #5

Monday, January 2

Tuesday, January 3

-City Council Pre-Meeting, 6 p.m., 3rd Floor Conference Room, City Hall -City Council Meeting, 7 p.m., Council Chambers, City Hall

-City Offices- CLOSED

iot Publ atr

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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency wants to change how it analyzes problems and makes decisions, in a way that would give it vastly expanded power to regulate businesses, communities and ecosystems in the name of “sustainable development,” the centerpiece of a global United Nations conference slated for Rio de Janeiro next June. The major focus of the EPA thinking is a weighty study the agency commissioned last year from the National Academies of Science. Published in August, the study, entitled “Sustainability and the U.S. EPA,” cost nearly $700,000 and involved a team of a dozen outside experts and about half as many National Academies staff. Its aim: how to integrate sustainability “as one of the key drivers within the regulatory responsibilities of EPA.” The panel who wrote the study declares part of its job to be “providing guidance to EPA on how it might implement its existing statutory authority to contribute more fully to a more sustainabledevelopment trajectory for the United States.” Or, in other words, how to use existing laws to new ends. According to the Academies, the sustainability study “both incorporates and goes beyond an approach based on assessing and managing the risks posed by pollutants that has largely shaped environmental policy since the 1980s.” It is already known in EPA circles as the “Green Book,” and is frequently compared by insiders to the “Red Book,” a study on using risk management techniques to guide evaluation of carcinogenic chemicals that the agency touts as the basis of its overall approach to environmental issues for the past 30 years. At the time that the “Green Book” study was commissioned, in August, 2010, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson termed it “the next phase of environmental protection,” and asserted that it will be “fundamental to the future of the EPA.” Jackson compared the new approach, it would articulate to “the difference between treating disease and pursuing wellness.” It was, she said, “a new opportunity to show how environmentally protective and sustainable we can be,” and would affect “every aspect” of EPA’s work. According to the study itself, the adoption of the new “sustainability framework” will make the EPA more “anticipatory” in its approach to environmental issues, broaden its focus to include both social and economic as well as environmental “pillars,” and “strengthen EPA as an organization and a leader in the nation’s progress toward a sustainable future.” Whatever EPA does with its suggestions, the study emphasizes, will be “discretionary.” But the study urges EPA to “create a new culture among all EPA employees,” and hire an array of new experts in order to bring the sustainability focus to every corner of the agency and its operations. Changes will move faster “as EPA’s intentions and goals in sustainability become clear to employees,” the study says. The National Academies and the EPA held a meeting last week in Wash-

Photo by Nathan Kobielusz - Basin Radio

Governor Matt Mead said today that the Environmental Protection Agency’s draft study on Pavillion wells is scientifically questionable and more testing is needed. “We believe that the draft study could have a critical impact on the energy industry and on the country so it is imperative that we not make conclusions based on only four data points,” Governor Mead said. “Those familiar with the scientific method recognize that it would not be appropriate to make a judgment without verifying all of the testing that has been done.” Residents near Pavillion have complained about their water wells for several years. They are entitled to answers and they need clean water. Therefore, Wyoming formed a working group to investigate the problem. That group included residents, state agencies, Tribes, EPA and the Bureau of Land Management. The study released today from EPA was based on data from two test wells drilled in 2010 and tested once that year and once in April, 2011. Those test wells are deeper than drinking wells. The data from the test wells was not available to the rest of the working group until a month ago. “The first review of the study by the Pavillion Working Group was unable to resolve many of the questions related

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• Keep Customers • Generate New Customers • Keep Money Local • Let Consumers Know What You Have to Oﬀer

Sports Report Lady Camels end tournament with 54-43 win over Star Valley By Ted Ripko - Basin Radio Sports The Lady Camels concluded their three game road trip at the 15th Annual Flaming Gorge Classic Basketball Tournament Saturday morning with a 54-43 win over the Star Valley Lady Braves. Gillette is now 5-2 overall while Star Valley falls to 3-3 overall. The Lady Camels finished the tournament with a record of 2-1, while the Lady Braves Overall it was a solid performance for the Lady Camels. They found themselves down early in a bit of a dogfight with the Lady Braves as the game was tied five different times in the first quarter. “We definitely didn’t come out with any intensity,” explains Lady Camels’ assistant head coach Kevin Kline after the game. In the second half, however, the Lady Camels were finally able to pull away by playing very good defense, forcing a lot of turnovers, and turning some of those turnovers into points. “Certain kids stepped up and we were able to take care of the ball a little bit better than they did at the end,” Kline says. Gillette’s defense was especially strong in the second and fourth quarters, as they limited the Lady Braves to just 8 points in the second quarter and only 7 points in the final quarter. On offense, the Lady Camels used the long ball,

sinking four three-pointers following their season-high eight three-pointers in their loss against American Fork on Friday. Overall, Kline says the Lady Camels performed solid against the Lady Braves. “I think we made the right plays at the right time,” he adds. Junior Sierra Toms led the Lady Camels with a game-high 16 points. Throughout the game, she looked much quicker on the ﬂoor Saturday. She got the ball out of her hands in a hurry, and she got her shots up-and-in the majority of the time. Toms ﬁnishes the tournament with a solid average of about 16 points per game. In total, nine Lady Camels got on the scoreboard. Dani Williams chipped in 9 points, and Lexi Wilde scored 8 points, six of which came off her two 3-pointers. Looking back on the tournament, Kline says it was a successful week for the Lady Camels. “It was [successful] because of the quality teams that we played,” says Kline. Although the Lady Camels concluded their tournament play in Green River, the Camels will go against the Star Valley Braves Saturday beginning at 11:45 am from Lincoln Middle School. You can hear all the action on 97.3 KAMLFM and online athttp://

www.network1sports.com/ station/kaml#menus beginning with the Shell Food Mart pregame show just before tipoff.

Shelby Johnson – 3 points Michaela Anderson – 2 points Dacia Lyman – 2 points

Scoring Summary

Lady Braves Lexi Ericson – 11 points Bailey Brog – 9 points Hailey Greenwood – 8 points Christy Clinger – 7 points Jenna Roberts – 4 points Ashley Hall – 4 points

Lady Camels Sierra Toms – 16 points Dani Williams – 9 points Lexi Wilde – 8 points Lexi Hill – 5points Julia Seamans – 5 points Stephanie Casteel – 4 points

Photos by Nathan Kobielusz - Basin Radio

Lexi Wilde sank two three-pointers and ﬁnished the game with 8 points to help propel the Lady Camels over the Lady Braves Saturday, 54-43.

Tyler Cox, a former Campbell County Camel Wrestler, has qualiﬁed for the Olympic team trials. Good luck Tyler!!

World’s Top Bullfighter World’s Top Bullfighter For the second year in a row, Dusty Tuckness, of Meeteetse qualified for his third consecutive National Finals Rodeo this year even after suffering two debilitating injuries. He credited his family with helping him become the bullfighter he is today.

Miller wins at NFR

Jason Miller won the eighth round if the National Finals Rodeo in 3.9 seconds. Miller, from Lance Creek, Wyo., is second in the season race with $161,879. Miller, with a time of 32.4 for eight rounds, pulled ahead of second-place Greenﬁeld, at 32.6 for eight rounds, and third-place Branquinho, at 33.6 for eight.

Photo’s submitted by James Greyback

Camels win tourney championship after trouncing Braves 61-39 By Ted Ripko - Basin Radio Sports The Gillette Camels are Flaming Gorge Classic champions for the seventh consecutive year as they concluded the tournament in Green River with a 61-39 trouncing of the Star Valley Braves. Since the Flaming Gorge went to a round robin style format multiple champions are crowned at the tourney each year (i.e. in 2010 Gillette, Riverton, Rock Springs and Cheyenne East all won tournament championships). There were multiple champions again this season and Gillette was one of them. This marks the tenth time in school history the Camels have won the Flaming Gorge Classic tournament. The Camels ﬁnished the tournament with a perfect 3-0 record while the Braves dropped all three of their games. Despite Star Valley jumping ahead early with a 3-0 lead, the game was never in doubt. At the end of the ﬁrst quarter, the Camels had a 16-8 lead over the Braves before coming alive in the second quarter by outscoring Star Valley 21-12 to build a 37-20 halftime lead.

Going into the final quarter up 56-29, Camels head coach Mike Curry went to his bench to give everybody some playing time. This included Tanner Sandvick who sank a three-pointer for the first varsity points of his career. Altogether, nine Camel players got on the board and three finished in double figures. Cody Anderson led the way with 12 points. He was followed by Cody Kelley with 11 points, and Logan Wasson chipped in 10 points. Star Valley, on the other hand, didn’t have any players in double digits, although they had nine players get on the board. Off the bench, Connor Robinson led the Braves with 9 points. He was followed by Dalton Passey with 7 and Pahl Schwab with 7 points apiece. As a team, the Camels shot 4-of-9 from the free throw line, and the Braves shot 5-of-16. Up next for the Camels and Lady Camels they will play at the Energy Classic beginning on Tuesday, December 20 from the Castle of Chaos in Gillette. All six

combined games for the Gillette teams will be available on 97.3 KAML-FM and online athttp://www.network1sports.com/ station/kaml#menus.

Scoring Summary

Camels Cody Anderson – 12 points Cody Kelley – 11 points Logan Wasson – 10 points Westin Hinkel – 8 points Tanner Moser – 8 points Christian Garcia – 4 points (career high) Michael Cook – 3 points Tanner Sandvick – 3 points Jade Kampfe – 2 points Braves Connor Robinson – 9 points Dalton Passey – 7 points Pahl Schwab – 7 points Tanner Harris – 4 points Cole Battleson – 3 points Austin Valentine – 3points Paxton Hankinson – 2 points Bryan Anderson – 2 points

What’s Going On In Sports? Wednesday, December 28

-CCHS BSW Laramie Invite, 5 p.m. -CCHS GBB/BBB(V) Energy Classic, North Campus

Thursday, December 29

-CCHS BSW Laramie Invite, 9 a.m. -CCHS GBB/BBB(V) Energy Classic, North Campus

Friday, December 30

-Gillette WILD vs. Bozeman, 8 p.m., Camplex Spirit Hall -CCHS GBB/BBB(V) Energy Classic, North Campus

Saturday, December 31

-NEW YEAR’S EVE -Gillette WILD vs. Great Falls, 1 p.m., Camplex Spirit Hall

Sunday, January 1

-HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012 -Gillette WILD vs. Great Falls, 1 p.m., Camplex Spirit Hall

Tuesday, January 3

-CCHS WRE(JV) vs. Buffalo, 6 p.m.

“The trouble with referees is that they just don’t care which side wins.” - Tom Canterbury

Sports Report Pronghorn Women fall to Williston State Go 4-1 in December By Vic Wright - Basin Radio The Pronghorn Women’s basketball team fell to the Williston State College Lady Tetons, 5850 on Saturday night, ending the Pronghorns’ seven-game win streak. “[We] struggled on offense tonight, with poor shooting and the turnover bug bit us again,” Head Coach Will Rider said. The turnover issue did come back to haunt Gillette College, as it committed 29 of them in the game. The team made just under 26 percent of its shots from the field in the first half and 35 percent in the game. The Pronghorns couldn’t find the basket beyond the arc either, making only one three-pointer on the night. Williston State wasn’t much better on the floor with baskets either. However, the Lady Tetons were 13 for 21 from the free throw line- 10 for 11 in the second half. That helped WSC come away with the win, as Gillette College tied the game with under a minute to go in the game. Unfortunately, the Lady Tetons were a little too much. To make matters worse, Coach Rider was ejected from the game with four seconds left, after receiving two technical fouls from the bench in a ten second period. It was not known at the time that this article was written, if Coach Rider would have to sit out a game due to being

ejected. Iesha Greer led all players with 19 points. Jordan Scott-Benson finished with eight points, Kim Caywood had seven. Jessica Davis and KeKe Wright had four points each, as Elisha Hensey, Jordyn Croft, Alex Ward and Christina Davis had two points apiece. The Pronghorns have a record of 8-6 and finished their December schedule at 4-1, in the midst of what ended up being a seven-game win streak. All those December games were on the road, traveling to Powell, WY, Colorado Springs, CO, Glendive, MT, and Williston, ND. When asked if he was happy with going 4-1 on the road, Coach Rider commented saying, “Absolutely! It’s been a great run, just a disappointing finish.” One of the wins this month was against Dawson Community College. That was the team’s first Region IX game this season, winning it last Friday, 76-65. Region IX play will continue for the Gillette College Pronghorns, as they host Miles Community College on January 7 at the South Campus at 5:30pm. You can catch all the action starting at 5:15pm on News/Talk 1270 KIML and online at http://www.network1sports.com/station/ kiml#menus.

Photo by Nathan Kobielusz - Basin Radio

Pronghorn Women’s Head Coach Will Rider talks to the team during a time out. Rider was ejected from the game Saturday night after receiving his second technical foul from the bench with just four seconds remaining in the game.

Classifieds Help Wanted Cook needed at Lu La Bells. Motivated and Energetic. Days Only. Apply at Lu La bells. Local journalists wanted. Always wanted to try? Must be 16 yrs of age. Contact us at CampbellCountyObserver@ gmail.com Advertising Sales for our weekly paper. Great commission rate, set your own hours. Contact us at CampbellCountyObserver@gmail. com Contributors wanted for weekly newspaper. Need a doctor, a Politician, a lawyer, and more to contribute an article a month. E-mail CampbellCountyObserver@gmail. com for more information. Sports writers, event writers wanted. Gillette, Write, Recluse, Rozet. Call 670-8980. State Wide Sales people. Print Advertising Sales for new State-wide newspaper. Call 307-299-4662 Delivery Driver wanted. Retired? Want a little walking around cash? Work one day per week delivering the Campbell County Observer to people’s homes. Contact the Campbell County Observer at (307) 670-8980. Website/ad designer wanted. Must be familiar with building/maintaining websites and website advertising design. Commission and base salary pay. Call the Cowboy State Free Press at 307-670-8980

Work Wanted Skidsteer with Operator. For all your Snow Removal and Dirt needs. Call Ken at 307680-5947 A Great Christmas Present for your Wife? I Will clean your home. Weekly house cleaning-$50.00 per week. Windows, floors, dusting, bathrooms, etc. Call 6702037.

Merchandise 1939 HA Selmer Trumpet $750 OBO. 687-1087 Spyder Semi-auto paint ball gun. cal..68 Special Edition. Only used twice! New $300 For you $175 plus two canisters. Call 680-1302 If you are interested in purchasing Nutrient Rich Ranch Raised Beef grown locally, call 307-340-1108. Great Jerky http://www.rberlinger.jerkydirect.com/

Toy Parts & Accessories Stock pipes for Sportster. 500mi. Stock pices for Dyna Wide Glide. 1500mi. Email baxtersmom62@gmail.com for info. Harley Accessories for sale. Call 307-670-8980. Ask for Tammy.

Camping/Fishing Minnows, crawlers, leeches, fishing tackle, boating and camping supplies. Fully furnished cabin rentals, 50 Amp Full Hookup RV sites 5 minutes from Keyhole Reservoir in Pine Haven. Empire Guesthouse & RV Park 307756-3454. www.empireguesthouse.com

Homes for Sale

.38 Colt detective’s special. $525.00 obo Call (307) 6827864

Home for sale by owner in Western Way. Asking $239,000 for the 1,800 sq. ft. 3 bedroom 2 bath home with an unfinished basement and a two car garage. Fully fenced, large landscaped yard with a sprinkler system. Home is within walking distance to the new recreation center and the new elementary school that is being built. Please contact me at 307-670-1209 if you are interested.

.380 Smith and Weston Bodyguard. Built in laser site. $450.00 firm. Trades possible. Call (307) 6827864. 1903 Springfield. 30o6 Cal. U.S. Military. $700 obo. Call (

Wanted to Buy I Buy Militaria. Swords, uniforms, bayonets, medals, guns/parts, field gear. 6827864 Newspaper vending machines. Contact us at: CampbellCountyObserver@gmail. com

Services

WILL PAY CASH FOR CAMPERS. Call Scott (307) 680-0854.

Homeowners and renters insurance for house, trailer, or apartments. Call Elizabeth Jones Agency 307-682-6520

Manual Transmission for 93’ Chevy Pickup 4wd. Must be in good shape. Call 2572306.

Auto insurance preferred and SR-22’s. Call Elizabeth Jones Agency 307-682-6520 Motorcycle and ATV insurance. Call Elizabeth Jones Agency 307-682-6520

Sporting Goods

Toys (ATV’s Boats, Etc.) Boat for Sale with trailer. Needs work. Call 670-8980 for info.

Like new Horizon Elliptical. $300 obo. Call 299-7058 for more info.

Apartments for Rent

Home Appliances/ Furnshings

1-5 bedroom units available for rent. Please contact Real Estate Systems of Gillette Inc at 307-682-0964 for all the updated details.

Microfiber couch with 2 recliners combined. Green. $100 Call 299-4967. Booth Table. L-shaped. With Chairs. Seats 6. $500.00 Call 299-4967 Chest Freezer. $100. 307299-5918 Three antique pressedbacked oak chairs. Excellent condition. $85 each. 6820042 Storage Unit Sale!!!!! Home stereo, car speakers, 2 dressers, mattress and box spring sets $20, chests, coffee table, chairs, end tables and much more. Call (307) 682-7864

Heavy Equipment/ Trailers

My First Computer hardly used. Asking $15. Call 605 - 545 – 1188

6x10 trailer. Great shape, fits your biggest Harley. $1,400 obo. 299-4967.

Five roasts and twelve pounds of hamburger for a flat rate. $150.00. All ranch raised beef. This is an approximate savings of 10% on the total. Contact Jason Walker at 307-686-0577

1981 Circle J 4-horse Horse Trailer. New floor, paint and wiring. $2500 OBO Call 307 - 680 – 2374

307) 682-7864

Guns for Sale

1981 Circle J 4-horse Horse Trailer. New floor, paint and wiring done in shop class 2 years ago. No rust only used once since redone. $2500 or OBO Call 307 - 680 – 2374

Tri-level house for sale 4 bed 2 bath $209,000 (307) 6701925. Gorgeous land home package set up in Wright. 3 bedroom, 2 full baths, hickory cabinets throughout, front porch, central air, and much more. Financing available. For a personal showing call (307) 687-0333 40+ Acres 2 miles south of Wright 1999 Atlantic Oak Modular. $250,000 OBO Call 307 - 680 – 2374 Ranchett for rent. 20mi. south on Hwy 59. Three Bed, 2 bath. 2.5 car heated garage on 94 acres. $1,600.00 per month.689-2338 FSBO 2,688 SF home on corner lot with fenced back yard. 4 bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms, upgraded kitchen, finished walkout basement, oversized garage. $259,000. 307-680-9180.

Pets

Spacious & new, 1, 2, &3 bdrm affordable apartments available now! Call 6858066. Washer and dryer in every unit. Private sunny patio or balcony. Special move-in rate, 1 bdrm: $694, 2 bdrm: $777, 3 bdrm: $888. Move in now and deduct $ 200 off first month while special lasts. Call Konnie or Celeste at Highland Properties 685-8066.

Welsh Corgi Puppies. 3 females, and two males. 682-2598

Business Opportunities Health problems? Try doTERRA certified pure essential oils. 307-680-0363. www. myvoffice.com/healingisbelieving

Personals Interested in founding a Sherlock Holmes Society in Gillette? Contact gillettesherlockians@gmail. com for info.

Campers & Motor Homes 1997 32ft. Class A Motor Home. Sleeps 6, Only 31,000 Miles. Asking $17,000. Call (307) 660-7520. Large Private RV/Camper Lot for rent. Big yard, trees. All utilities available. $400 per month, $400 deposit. 1 year lease. Call (307) 6601007. 5th wheel camper for sale. Call Skip (307) 680-0073

For advertising email us at Advertising@ CampbellCounty Observer.com

Autos, Trucks and Vans

1981 Harley Davidson FXBSturgis, 1st dual-belt drive to commemorate Hill-Climb @ Sturgis, Jack-Pine Gypsies rally started in ‘41, 50th anniversary model. 12K on straight-up original paint, new Moetzler’s driven-by beefed Shovel, 102hp at wheel. Perfect in every aspect, serious inquiries only, loan is $15K and value of over 25K. Ben 680.7464, 3-other older bikes and this has to go to the right person!

Chopper - Custom built frame, s&s engine, carb, etc. 80ci. Evolution engine. Wide glide front end. Low. Torn apart down to frame. Have all parts, could be built in two days with under $200.00. Asking $5,500 or best offer. Price:$5,500obo. Contact: 307-670-2037

2008 Hyundai Sonata LMTD, 40,000 mi. $13,500, Call 307-660-2532. 1982 Chevy Ventura Van. 350 Engine, 400 Turbo newly rebuilt transmission. Interior in GREAT shape, has a working electric wet bar and built in cooler in back. Carb. needs re-jetted, other than that there are no problems. Must see. Asking $3,500 or best offer. Price:$3,500obo. Contact: 307-670-8980 1993 Chevy 1500 4x4 350 Engine, runs great. 5 spd. manual, transmission needs rebuilt. Transfer case in great condition. No other problems other than transmission. Asking $2,000 or best offer. Price: $2,000obo. Contact: 307-670-2037 2004 Yukon Denali XL,6.0 Motor, Loaded $14,000 OBO 660-9351

‘76 Electra-Glide would consider trade on Pan or Knuck if ya know of anyone, ‘81 sent it to LA-S&S, 11.5to1 and dual-plugged to run regular-gas, had burn-out time at Hog-Jam! Ben 680.7464. 2003 Chevy Monte Carlo SS (White) with 137,000 mi; $6500. Call 307 - 689 – 0966 1983 Ventura (Chevy) for sale. WORKING WET BAR. Closet, fold down rear seat bed, caption swivel chairs. Great shape. Needs carburetor adjustment. Newly rebuilt Transmission, 400 Turbo. $4,000.00. Call 307670-2037. 1986 Toyota Tercel 4x4. $1050.00. Call 307-2995918

Miscellaneous Exterior door with window, interior light fixtures, and computer supplies. E-mail Corsair115@yahoo.com

HELP WANTED Advertising Sales/Marketing Specialist    

20% Commission plus gas allowance Monthly Individual & Team bonuses Fun Work Enviroment Set Your own hours

Send resume/cover leter to campbellcountyobserver@gmail.com

Be a part of the best up-and-coming business in the area!

Seeking a new member for our team! Looking for a public water system operator for sampling, monitoring and maintenance of water systems. Must be able to obtain a level 1 water license within one year. Will train highly motivated individual. Clean driving record, drug testing and background check. Wages are DOE. E-mail resume to therese@waterguywyoming.com or fax to 303-686-4044.

Our Roots Historical Christmas events in America By Mike Borda With Christmas fast approaching, it is easy to forget the history our country has developed around the holiday season. While religious holidays hold their own historical significance, America also has a rich history this time of the year. Our earliest Christmas event happened before our country had even fully formed. On December 24, 1776, George Washington was camped in Pennsylvania, and he had just been pushed back by the forces of British General William Howe. With his troops tired, and his numbers shrinking, the situation was becoming direr every hour. Only days earlier, his supplies had been significantly reduced when he crossed the Delaware, heading west. Now, he had to regroup and go on the offensive. Washington and his generals had decided that the largest chance of success would come with an attack on Trenton, which was the least fortified of the New Jersey forts. After gathering a large contingent of ships, on December 25th, it was time to act. Once night fell, however, the conditions turned bad. Sleet began falling, along with the snow, complicating the entire mission. Small patches of ice in the Delaware River further endangered the mission, threatening to sink many of the boats. In traditional George Washington lore, history records that he was one of the first to cross, leading the rest of the troops with his bravery. He would go on to capture nearly all of the enemy forces (made up mostly of hired German troops called “Hessians”) and cement his legacy as one of America’s greatest

leaders. This tale is truly one of our greatest Christmas day stories. However, it is not the only one. The following events also happened on December 25: • The Eggnog Riot -In 1826, cadets at West Point Military Academy rioted after ofﬁcers began enforcing a ban on alcohol. Cadets decided that this was only a test as to their cunning, and tried to create a large party in response. Eventually, nineteen men were expelled. • The Battle of Lake Okeechobee - In 1837, United States forces were defeated (although both sides claimed victory) by the Seminole tribe in southern Florida. A disorganized group of volunteer soldiers were trying to push the Seminole forces back across a swamp, but

failed under the leadership of future President Zachary Taylor. • Pardons - President Andrew Johnson granted an unconditional pardon in 1868 to all Confederate soldiers from the Civil War. • Jack Johnson - On this day in 1908, Jack Johnson became the ﬁrst black heavyweight champion after defeating Tommy Burns, whom he had followed around the world taunting for a ﬁght. After fourteen rounds, 20,000 people saw Johnson crowned champion. Of course, there are many other events that have happened on December 25, but these few stand out in the narrative of our American history. These events, performed on a holiday so many of us revere, serve as a reminder that history truly is written every day.

The Battle of Lake Okeechobee

His Excellency General George Washington crossing the Delaware.

Why advertise in a weekly newspaper?

Campbell Co. Fire Dept.

1. Local weekly newspapers are the most trusted form of media! 2. Over 3 out of 4 readers spend more than 15 minutes reading their weekly Newspaper! 3. More people read a local weekly paper than any daily newspaper on any day! 4. Local weekly newspapers have a large readership profile because the whole family reads them. Each newspaper has many readers and each section targets different economic, social and age groups. All local weekly papers appeal to all sections! 5. Most people that read a weekly community newspaper do not read any other local paper, however most people who read other papers read a weekly newspaper as well. Why waste your advertising budget? Stay with the tried and tested - The Campbell County Observer.

December 14, 2011

- At 6:23 PM to the 5000 block of Gordon Street for a medical assist.

December 15, 2011

December 16, 2011

- At 3:04 AM to Newton Rd. for an EMS Assist. - At 8:38 AM to the 1001 Block of Desert Hills Circle for an EMS assist. - At 11:17 AM to the area of 2 miles north on the Rocky Point Road for a one vehicle accident with injuries. The driver of the vehicle was out of the vehicle upon arrival of Fire Department officials. - At 1:04 PM to the 2500 Block of Wolff Road for a smoke detector activation in a residence. All fire units were cancelled when it was found that the detector was accidentally activated. There was no fire. - At 2:06 PM to the 300 block of Four J Road for an EMS assist. - At 6:17 PM to Prairieview Drive for an EMS assist.

December 17, 2011

- At 11:09 to Highway 59 and Country Club Rd. for a two vehicle accident with one vehicle leaking antifreeze, ﬂoor dry was applied.

December 18, 2011

- At 4:16 AM to the alley behind the Eagles Lodge at 210 W. 3rd St. for a report of a dumpster fire. Upon arrival we found a fully involved dumpster, the fire was contained in minutes with damage limited to the dumpster. - At 11:49 AM to the area of the Grey Road for an unknown type of fire. CCFD responded to the scene and discovered an unreported controlled burn at 400 Grey Road. The responsible party was notified of the reporting requirements for controlled burns and the burn was allowed to continue. - At 3:07 PM to American Ranch Road for a grass fire. The fire was contained to less than one acre. - At 8:55 to Warrior Road for and EMS assist.

December 19, 2011

- At 6:54 AM to Hillcrest Drive for an EMS assist. - At 7:38 AM to 912 West 8th Street (Pioneer Apartments) for a ﬁre alarm caused by a system malfunction (water leaked into a smoke detector). - At 7:59 AM to the 70 Block of Foothills Circle for a medical assist. - At 3:45 PM to Independence Drive for a medical assist - At 16:48 PM to South

Douglas Highway (south of I-90 in southbound lane) for a two vehicle rear-end traffic accident with injury. - At 4:54 PM to 509 West 2nd Street (AVA Community Art Center) for a natural gas odor. Firefighters arrived to find a small gas leak at a pipe fitting by the gas meter. Source Gas was notified and they fixed the leak. - At 5:06 PM to South Douglas Highway (by 9th Street south bound lane) for a two vehicle rear-end traffic accident with injury. - At 7:23 PM to 600 South Garner Lake Road; Lot 43 for a mobile home fire. Fire apparatus from the new Fire Station 7 (by Cam-plex) were first arriving and firefighters were able to contain the fire to the hot water heater compartment and kitchen – both suffered extensive fire damage. The single wide 1976 era Marshfield Mobile Home suffered smoke damage throughout. The home is uninsured and contained no working smoke detectors. The home is owned by Pilar Lopez. The tenants are the Gavino Perez Family, who could smell smoke initially but thought it was coming from the neighbor’s chimney until smoke started filling the home. The home had been evacuated prior to the fire department’s arrival. The cause of the fire was an overloaded electrical extension cord that serviced a portable electric heater in the hot water heater compartment. The portable electric heater had been used to thaw frozen water pipes. The family is staying with friends and the American Red Cross was on scene to assist the family.

December 20, 2011

- There were no incidents on December 20, 2011.

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- At 2:27 AM to 500 Church, Lot 15 for a report of a vehicle hitting a mobile home. Arrived to ﬁnd minor damage to skirting to mobile home - no further actions taken by Fire Department. - At 8:30 AM to the 900 block of 9th Street for an EMS assist. - At 11:03 AM to the 300 block of Skyline Drive for an EMS assist. - At 4:31 PM to Independence for an EMS assist. - At 4:57 PM to Blue Tick for an EMS Assist. - At 9:06 PM to 904 Pioneer Ave. for a report of a carbon monoxide alarm going off, crews monitored the residence and found no elevated readings of carbon monoxide. The battery was replaced and did not alarm again. - At 11:05 PM to Ptarmigan for an EMS assist.

- At 7:03 PM to 100 Ross Avenue for a possible structure fire. CCFD responded to the scene and upon arrival did not find any signs of fire in the building. It was determined that smoke from a coal furnace was mistaken for fire in the building resulting in the 911 call.

Jack Johnson

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Our Roots Valley for Outlaws By Jeff Morrison Local Our Roots Column sponsored by Elizabeth Jones Agency. Please see the ad below. In Johnson County, a valley famously known as The Hole In The Wall, was associated with outlaws and rustlers at least a decade before Butch Cassidy made it notorious and forever linked with the Wild Bunch. Secluded between the Big Horn Mountains to the west and the imposing red sandstone cliffs that create “the Wall” to the east, with only a few entrances, the valley was perfect for outlaws and often used as both a hideout and a place to pasture stolen livestock. Due to the Hole’s inaccessibility, it could be easily turned into a natural fortress with only a few men needed to guard the four known entrances. The very idea that this could be done seems to have been enough to deter most lawmen and posses from pursuing rustlers and robbers into the Hole, or entering the valley in search of missing livestock. There are no actual accounts of the Hole being defended in this manner, however. In fact, in both instances where a gunfight actually occurred within the valley between accused outlaws and those representing the law, the invaders were able to enter and leave the confines of the valley without incident. The valley was originally the home range of a legitimate cattle outfit called the Bar C. After the disastrous winter of 1887, the ownership of the ranch sold off its interests to other ranches and the valley once again returned to an open range. Former Bar C cowboy, Jack Flagg, having been fired for daring to buy mavericks at a roundup auction, and being labeled a rustler by the Cattle Barons, formed a partnership with four other blackballed cowboys and established a ranch in the they called the Hat outfit. Flagg, along with partners Al Allison, Billy Hill, L. A. Webb, and Tom Gardner, had a score to settle with the Cattle Barons who ruled the range through the Wyoming Stockgrowers Association in the late 1800s. With the Association to create range laws and codes, and their range detectives to enforce them, the barons were determined to maintain their monopoly on the cattle industry for as long as they could. The gravest offence, in the eyes of the Association, was to brand a maverick (the name given to unbranded cattle). And so the five owners of the Hat outfit branded every maverick they could throw a rope on. The age of the outlaw arrived at the Hole in the Wall. To further annoy the Cattle Barons, the Hat ranch showed up to the annual roundup with their own wagon, since their banishment meant no other outfit would feed them. Although they had each been specifically blackballed from attending official Association roundups, there was little that could be done keep them away short of a gunfight, and since the five showed up armed to the teeth, no one was inclined to push the argument. In 1890, the partners of the Hat outfit divided their livestock and went their separate ways. Webb and Hill kept the brand and they, along with Tom Gardner remained in the valley. Another enemy of the Cattle Barons took up residence in the hole around this time. Nate Champion was a friend of the Hat crew and another thorn in the Association’s side. Like Flagg and company, Champion had become a small scale rancher after

being blackballed, and like the Hat boys, he began showing up at roundups to collect his cattle, even if that meant collecting them at gunpoint. Although accused of being a rustler by the Association, there was never any evidence brought forth to prove the claim. Champion’s only crime seems to be that he angered the wrong people. In the winter of 1891, the Association decided to rid themselves of their latest thorn. In the early hours of an October morning, somewhere between four to six men in the pay of the Wyoming Stockgrowers broke into Champion’s cabin and attempted to shoot him and his partner in their sleep. Champion woke up and went for his gun just as the first bullet tore into his bunk. In the resulting gunfight, Champion put the run on his assailants, and sent them scurrying for nearest exit out of the valley. In the aftermath of the Johnson County War, the Hole in the Wall became a haven for a new class of rustler. These outlaws were not content with the branding of a maverick here and the occasional brand alteration there. Sizable herds of cattle would be driven into the valley where their brands could be altered at leisure, fattened up on the good grass, and then driven to market to be sold. Among the newcomers were Bob Taylor, George Currie, Tom O’Day, Walt Puntney, Harvey Ray, the Smith family, and the Roberts brothers. Due to the brazen nature of their rustling, these men became known as the Hole in the Wall Gang. By 1897 they had made such a nuisance of themselves that the surrounding ranchers were threatening to raid the valley in search of their stolen livestock. The Smith family apparently took the threats seriously and made preparations to leave the valley. Currie, O’Day, Puntney and Ray were making other plans, however. Two outlaws, Harvey and Lonnie Logan (a.k.a. Curry) had recently left the Black Jack Ketchum gang in Montana and had decided to lay low in the valley for a while. Soon the Logan brothers convinced Currie and the others they should rob the Butte County Bank in Belle Fourche. The railroad had recently arrived in Belle Fourche, making the town a major shipping point for cattle and sheep. With all that money floating around it stood to reason that the bank would be a ripe target. The robbery began on a bad note when O’Day, who had been sent ahead to scout the town, decided to get drunk instead. He returned to camp to give them the all clear, but when the gang entered the town and moved to their carefully planned out stations, O’Day decided to take up station in the saloon again. As with most attempted bank robberies in the West, the robbery erupted into a gunfight between the robbers and the town, forcing the would-be bank robbers to beat a hasty retreat. O’Day, in his drunken state, managed to lose his horse and was arrested immediately. The others were caught in Crook County not long after, but all promptly escaped jail. Puntney and O’Day were caught before they could get out of town and returned to jail. Meanwhile, back in Wyoming, CY ranch foreman Bob Divine and his roundup crew decided that the time had come to recover their

Nate Champion and some crew members pitching camp. stolen livestock up at the Hole in the Wall. In the valley they were in the process of gathering livestock they decided belonged to the CY ranch when they saw Bob Taylor, Al Smith and Bob Smith on the trail near the cabins. The Smiths were still in the process of moving their stock and families out of the valley. There are several conflicting versions of what exactly took place next, but all versions agree that a gun fight broke out. Apparently, Divine thought Bob Smith was attempting to draw his gun and reacted by shooting him. Shots were exchanged for a few seconds until Divine’s horse was shot out from under him, Divine himself was slightly wounded as were his son Lee and Al Smith, who had escaped in the melee. Bob Smith lay on the ground dying. Taylor was taken for arrest. Other residents of the valley arrived at the sound of gun fire, but the CY crew disarmed them for fear of retaliation. Tom Gardner, former partner in the Hat outfit, showed up on the scene about the time Divine refused Smith’s dying request for water. Disgusted, Gardner brought water to the dying outlaw. Divine’s demand that Gardner give up his gun was flatly refused. In the end, Divine and the CY boys left the valley without taking any of the cattle they had rounded up. The Belle Fourche robbery was financial failure for the gang. Among the items taken from Tom O’Day when he was arrested was a check for $395 he had received for the recent sale of some stolen livestock. That was more money than was taken from the bank. Both he and Walt Puntney were acquitted of charges related to the bank robbery as neither one was actually seen robbing the bank. Instead they both served time briefly for breaking jail. The rest of the crew were recaptured in Montana but managed to escape yet again. Shortly afterward they joined up with Butch Cassidy in Colorado. Soon the Wild Bunch became synonymous with the Hole In The Wall Gang after Cassidy began using the valley as one of his usual hideouts. The gang was so skilled at misdirecting and confusing the law during their criminal careers that, to this day, there is much we don’t know about them and many things that have been related concerning them that is in error. The Butte County Bank Robbery is full of examples. As related, Butch Cassidy was not involved in the robbery, nor was the Sundance Kid – and yet it is often portrayed as one of their early bank jobs. It has been widely circulated that Harvey Logan took the name Kid Curry in honor of George Currie when he was killed in a gunfight with a Utah sheriff in 1900. Actually Harvey Logan and his brother Lonnie had both used the alias “Curry” before they met George Currie. At least one historian claims that the Roberts brothers were none other than Harvey and Lonnie Lo-

gan, but the newspapers of the day all make a distinction between the Curry’s and the Roberts brothers. In fact, news reports about the robbery all seem to insinuate the Roberts brothers were probably the instigators, when in reality they weren’t involved. After Butch and Sundance moved on to South America, it wasn’t long before the law cleaned out the Hole In The Wall for good. Of those outlaw who remained, most were either captured or killed in various run-ins with lawmen. Tom O’Day is said to have become a model citizen after doing some time in prison. Walt Puntney became the oldest surviving member of the Hole In The Wall Gang. He died in 1950.

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Joke of the week

Submitted by Jake Trinithey I had to submit this, just because of the last City Council Meeting. When someone asks you what your favorite mode of transit is, it most likely isn’t taking the bus! However, if you are stuck on a long bus ride, we are pleased to provide you with a list of things to do to pass away the time... 1. Eat nothing but gas inducing foods the entire trip, not hesitating to share the wealth with everyone on board. Recommended foods are chili, burritos, McDonalds, any eggs, and Kentucky Fried Chicken. 3. Every time the bus wobbles from the wind caused by passing transports, jump up and scream, “WE ARE ALL GONNA DIE!” 4. Incessantly complain that it is way too cold in the bus, no matter what the temperature is, keep doing it until the bus driver turns the heat up to full blast just to shut you up, and then wait a few minutes for it to get really hot and start to complain about it. 5. Two words: Water Pistol 6. Two more words: Paper Airplanes 7. Make racing car noises constantly, occasionally announcing your progress along the racetrack in an announcer voice. When anyone comes up to you and asks what you are doing, look at them funny and ask how they got in your NASCAR. 8. Eat nothing but really noisy foods, such as bags of chips, nachos, tacos, individually wrapped candies and unwrap them as loudly as possible. Also eat them noisily, chewing with your mouth open and making the loudest possible slopping noises. 9. Purchase a megaphone, enough said. 11. Sit at the back of the bus, turning off all the lights around you and keeping the blinds down, keep a black briefcase on your lap at all times, wear a black trench coat and a black hat, look really nervous, don’t talk to anybody and keep glancing at your watch. 12. Walk up and down the aisle, claiming out loud that you are Jesus and blessing everyone with a half-eaten leg of Kentucky Fried Chicken. 13. When the bus is driving all alone on a long stretch of highway, preferably completely devoid of life of any sort, suddenly jump up and start running up and down the aisle, flailing your arms and screaming as loud and you can.... 14. Then after 30 seconds or so, sit down at your seat and act like nothing happened. 16. Use the bathroom often, for disturbingly long periods of time. Make lots of grunting and straining noises, loud enough for everyone to hear. Occasionally drop an orange into the bowl from a good height. 17. When in the bathroom, wait for the bus to hit a huge pothole or bump, and then scream for help. 18. Get on the bus first, pick the seat right behind the bus driver, as everyone gets on, and greet each one of them like you work at Walmart. 19. At night when everyone is sleepy and unsuspecting, suddenly start barking as loud as possible, feel free to use megaphone. 21. Clean a .357 Magnum. 22. When someone is in the toilet, bang on the door and yell at them to get out as quickly as possible. Then just as they open the door, put a strained look on your face and say “never mind...” 23. Musical chairs, using your 200 watt boom box. 24. Come onto the bus with a beanie on, sit down and put your Walkman headphone buds up your nose. When the person sitting beside you looks at you like you are from mars, say “Mishap during an operation, Doctors just aren’t the same these days.” 25. When sitting down in your seat, pull out a small collection of vomit bags, look through them and ask the person beside you “If I run, out do you have any paper or plastic bags? I’m not picky, either would be fine...