The Saratoga Sun -

Between hurricanes and blizzards, this has been a winter to remember for retirees Jerry and Cassy Venters of Lander. Normally, they head to their condo on Sanibel Island off the Florida coast and never worry about cold weather or even winter-style cl...

When looking back on 2022, two explosions of totally different types dominated the news. One was political and happened in the hottest days of August. The second was by Mother Nature, which happened in coldest days of December. Those were the top...

Heroes and victims. Sometimes an off-hand remark can become amazingly prescient. During a news meeting of Cowboy State Daily staff on Dec. 21, we were talking about how to cover the big storm headed toward the state. I casually mentioned we need to...

“Dear God, please help us get through this awful mess of a highway. If you get us through safely, so help me, we will never do anything bad again.”  Prayers like the above and many more variants emanate from folks in a long line of cars...

Elections have consequences. Especially on a national level.  It’s taken a few days to digest the consequences of the big mid-term national elections Tuesday.   Here in Wyoming, our general election was a faint imitation of our amazing primary...

Many decades ago, when my brother Ron and I would go big-game hunting, it was comforting to know that we were at the top of the food chain. We had powerful rifles and we knew that no creature out there could cause us serious harm. Our anti-hunter...

It’s taken me three weeks to finally digest what happened in Wyoming during that GOP primary election Aug. 16.  The results came quickly but what the hell really happened? This election was seen as a proxy fight between former President Donald...

In the next few weeks, thousands a little children across Wyoming will march off to their first day of school. Especially for those parents of kindergartners, this is a poignant time. It sure was for me back in 1976 when our daughter Amber marched... Full story

Politically these past six months, we were watching the World Series, March Madness, and the Super Bowl all wrapped up into one Wyoming campaign. This GOP primary election between incumbent Liz Cheney and challenger Harriet Hageman has been called...

Holy cow, where do I start? I have been writing these “advice to graduate” columns for almost four decades and each year some of the main points remain constant.  For example, go find some mentors.  Also, if you fail, move on.  You are young...

Okay, so who was Big Nose George? This legendary character from Wyoming’s formative past has been written about extensively for the past 141 years, but never has anyone really put the whole story all together until now. Dr. Mark E. Miller’s new...

Did you know that when Interstate 80 is closed for weather, that US 30 next door is automatically closed, too? This is to prevent the 8,000 semi-trailer trucks a day from storming that more narrow, more local highway as an alternate route. The... Full story

This year 2022 was, once upon a time, shaping up to be one of the most interesting political years in memory. The last big election year like this, back in 2018, was a doozy, with three governor candidates spending over $2 million each, plus we saw... Full story

It started out as a bona fide stupid and crazy idea. We drove from Lander to Cheyenne on Christmas Day. It is a 348-mile trip. But the young man working the Christmas Day shift at the Fast Lane at the corner in Shoshoni made my day by saying “God B...

The experts said shop early this year for Christmas, so in that spirit we offer our annual list of Wyoming-themed gifts.  But we do not have to worry about supply chains or products being stranded off some California port – these gifts are...

(Part 1 of 2 parts) In Yellowstone, the voice of authority is a young gal with a bullhorn telling people to move along. We ran into them on three occasions during our 11-hour drive through the park Friday, Sept. 17. The first two times, the gals had...

It’s hard to imagine that any Wyoming politician has ever been in the national media spotlight as much as our current U. S. Rep. Liz Cheney – except for when her father was vice president, of course. Folks from national media have been driving...

Yes, it is time to get out of our 20-year never-ending war in Afghanistan. But first, let me tell a bit about editorial writing, including how the name of this far-off country relates to it. Three decades ago, when I was a hell-on-wheels editorial...

Friday’s funeral service for former U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi left no doubt about the amazingly high regard in which he was held in by his fellow U. S. senators. He was loved and respected by his Senate colleagues as he was loved and respected by the peo...

Confused Asians, crazy drunk van drivers, monstrous RVs, nervous semi drivers, and thousands (perhaps millions) of tourists were among the highlights of a recent trip to Jackson and Pinedale. We were headed north on Highway 287 to Jackson to attend...

Right now, there is a clear path ahead for Liz Cheney, and it does not involve the state of Wyoming. She will deny this. And she may not even believe it now.  And for the rest of this year, she will continue to represent us to the best of her...

(Note: The Oxygen Cable TV network on Monday night aired a new documentary on the 1980 murders of Virginia Uden and her sons. It will be aired repeatedly on into the future.) Back in 2013, I wrote: “After 33 years of one cold case and 16 years for...

“Time sure does change things,” said an airline passenger to his companion. “When I was a boy, I used to sit in a flat-bottomed boat on that lake down there below and fish.  Every time a plane flew over I’d look up and wish I were in it....

Thank you, Foster. You could sum up Foster Friess in one word: Generous. He did more for more people than anyone I have ever known. He and his wife Lynn gave away $500 million in their lifetimes. Amazing. Foster Friess died May 27 at age 81.  My...

“I love you, pop.” “I love you, too, son.” ·The last words exchanged between a father and son. As a long-time newspaper writer, I knew that someday I would be writing Dad’s obituary. Some twenty-one years ago on May 23, 2000, was that...