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2 -- March 12, 2015
editor@newslj, com
Who
Our View
We're getting tc sty
s you can see from our page 10 story, "Preparing
for PAWS,' this is an exciting time for Newcastle
schools. At least that's the message school leaders
want to convey-- especially to children who are taking the
mandatory statewide assessment this week.
But in reality, this is a pretty terrifying time for school
teachers and administrators, not just in Newcastle, but
across Wyoming.
Because the tests students are taking have no real
impact on them or their futures, but the Wyoming State
Legislature continues to move forward with a statewide
education accountability system that will penalize teachers
and schools if students don't score high enough on the test.
To make matters worse, the legislature and Wyoming
Board of Education will begin holding schools accountable
for scores this year (the federal government already is) and
neither has been able to commit for more than a year at a
time to a specific testing program, so the target continues
to be as elusive as it is confusing.
The legislature's current path is even more frustrating
because it is ultimately designed with the assumption that
every student should attend college, and that they have no
hope of succeeding in life if they choose not to do so.
We believe our page six feature story on the success of
one local entreprenuer proves otherwise, and we echo the
sentiments of Representative Hans Hunt, who expressed
disappointment in the unwillingness of his fellow legisla-
tors to reconsider the merit of a one-size-fits-all account-
ability system that takes more control over education away
from parents and communities each legislative session.
In a page one story, Hunt said he was especially upset
over the legislature's refusal to approve the creation of a
task force to explore the idea of supporting a course of
study that will provide those students who have no desire
to attend college with an option that will allow them to
receive training to assist them in finding suitable careers in
fields that don't require a college degree.
Unfortunately, legislative leaders continue to insist that
the current system of high-stakes tests that seek to assign
a number value to your children's education is what the
people of Wyoming want.
That won't change unless you are willing to go out
of your way to convince Senators like Hank Coe, Chris
Rothfus and Phil Nicholas that their costly and ineffective
system is exactly what the people of Wyoming don't want.
We are fortunate in Weston County because our local
legislators have largely opposed the current statewide edu-
cation accountability system; and Senator Ogden Driskill
can even boast that he has voted against every piece of.
accountability legislation since day one.
But our legislators need our help to beat their powerful
counterparts, and an email from you expressing your dis-
taste for the current system will provide them with the one
piece Of ammunition that is even more powerful-- the will
of the people. So flood the inboxes of our local reps, and
let them know you want them to keep fighting.
Letters to the Editor ............................................................................................
The one-percenters should
pick up part of the tab
Dear Editor,
In regards to last week's Letter to the
Editor from Victoria Heller, "We are entitled
to our money and our votes," somebody has
to pay for our firemen, policemen, our sol-
diers and sailors and the multitude of
other public services.
Our publicly elected con-
gressmen have seen fit to tax
our incomes, whether personal
or business. All should pay, but
many do not.
In addition to the "down and
out" who receive benefits, there
are also very large, very profit-
able businesses who take advan-
tage of the protection of our mil-
itary, our medical infrastructure,
our patent protection, our judicial system,
our market for their products and services,
but pay nothing to support the country that
makes it all possible.
Erika Eichelberger and Dave Gilson report
that among the many "freeloader" compa-
nies paying no income taxes are: General
Electric-- $110 billion in Profits; Microsoft
-- $76 billion; Pfizer-- $69 billion; Apple--
$54 billion; Exxon-- $48 billion; Citigroup--
$43.8 billion; Goggle-- $38.9 billion;
Goldman Sachs-- $22 billion; Walmart --
$19 billion and McDonalds-- $16 billion.
These "inversions" are provided by
corrupt congressmen. If you choose to be
outraged, consider the $500 billion our large
companies should have, but did not pay
income taxes for.
Be doubly outraged by the Congressmen
who, although elected to serve the people,
instead serve the Big Business Oligarchs.
--Jerry Baird
Hard to cut taxes on those
who
don't
earn a living
Dear Editor,
Jerry Baird wants to avoid cutting takes
on the rich ("Rich are better able to
abuse the system than the poor,"
NLJ, March 5, 2015, page two)
but the lower income people don't
pay any taxes so you can't cut
their tax.
They recieve money from the
taxes the rich pay.
Perhaps he is worried that the
benefits will be cut also.
--Don Thorson
Gas price increase
shouldn't affect other costs
Dear Editor,
Now that the gas is starting to rise in
price-- for no reason at all-- grocery stores,
hardware stores, all stores that sell stuff, do
not start raising your prices.
You didn't drop your prices when gas
went down, and in fact kept raising prices as
gas went down. How dumb do you think the
public is?
That's the kind of stuffthat made people
angry back in the 1700s! Like 1776! What is
to stop that from happening again?! Us 99
percent are getting very tired of it.
And taxes! We don't need more taxes! We
need the "elected" things to spend wisely, and
not waste, and line their own pockets!
--Cal Huber
Need to talk to a
Newcastle
Mayor Greg James
*'i**_ JJ ,.:1..
public servant?
City Council Contact numbers:
Donnie Steveson
Kara Sweet :
St;even LadwJg
City Hall
746-3677
746-8973
629-1512
746-2800
746-4300
746-5350
746-9251
746-3535
Be proud of a ,ho you are and what you do
obby, according to dictionary.com, is an
activity or interest pursued for pleasure, and
hobbies tend to differ from person to person.
Sports, activities, and groups can all fit into the
category of hobbies because a person participates
in these events to have fun, and other peoples'
opinions should not affect the pride one
fels about what they do.
" There are reasons that people have
sarted hiding their pride, even though
there is still motive to be prideful.
A problem that is seen in high school
today is students not being proud of what
they do, and this problem usually involves
students not being appreciative of the
dxtra-curricular activity they are involved
ih. These activities can range from sports,
to groups like FBLA, FCCLA and FFA,
tO activities like cheer and speech.
' Some students end up feeling ashamed
or embarrassed because of what other
people think about the activity they are a part of.
There are many instances where students listen to
@hat negative people say, and let this effect their
/ttitude about the activity.
When this happens, these people usually hide
their pride and do not try to oppose the common
thought. High school students are sometimes not
prideful, even though they should be.
Rivalries between sports have caused one,
or sometimes both, groups of athletes to not be
Colton Sweet
Sweet Ideas
prideful.
One such rivalry occurs in the winter between
basketball and wrestling. Being a basketball player,
I have seen firsthand what the rivalry involves,
with both teams making fun of each other about
the nature of the sport, team or individual success,
popularity, etc.
Another rivalry that has started
is between the soccer team and the
track team, with this rivalry recently
becoming public. Being similar to the
rivalry of basketball and wrestling, track
and soccer make fun of each other, but
this rivalry is more personal and less
light-hearted.
Because of rivalries like these, ath-
letes let others effect their attitude about
their sport. No matter if it is a sport,
activity, or group, students should be
proud of what' they do because of the
personal enjoyment they take from it.
A person first starts a sport because he or she
truly enjoys it, and since the person is enjoying the
activity, it does not matter if other people think it
is fun.
Sports rivalries have become a problem in our
community because some have sought to make one
sport feel ashamed, but the participants in each
sport should only focus on themselves.
No matter what sport they do, all athletes put
in a lot of time and work, and that is the sort of
achievement they should be proud of.
For example, wrestlers should not care what bas-
ketball players have to say and vice-versa, because
all of the athletes involved are doing what they
prefer. Personal enjoyment should bring pride to
any activity participant.
Even with people bringing a sport or activity
down, there are still those that support it. An indi-
vidual in an activity will always have a supervisor
or coach, plus teammates or group members on
his side. Those people enjoy the activity the same
amount, so it would be a shame to not be prideful
for their sake.
All groups of activities have supporters around
town, but many groups feel like they do not receive
the support that they deserve. Little do they realize,
there are more supporters than they think. All
activities offered in this community have many
people around town that want them to succeed, so
the participants should not complain because while
the amount of support may vary, there is always
some support
Sports and activities should be pursued for
enjoyment. Period. Participants may feel like they
are mistreated or do not receive support, but this is
because they are too worried about other people.
A person involved in activities should not let
other peoples' opinions affect them.
Personal enjoyment and the supporters they do
have are very great reasons to take pride in what
they do.
Affordabh, C'a "e Lct insurance still available
wanted to inform our community
about a new Special Enrollment
Period (SEP) for those that have not
accessed health insurance that meets
the criteria for the Affordable Care
Act law.
There is another opportunity to
enroll in a health plan under a new
"Tax Season SEP."
1) Who is eligible for this Tax ""
Season SEP?
Persons who were subject to the
tax penalty, for lack of insurance in
2014.
Those who can attest that they
learned of the penalty as a result of
filing 2014 taxes AFTER open enroll-
ment ended on 2/15/2015.
Those who can attest that they
paid (or still owe with intent to pay)
the penalty due to lack of having
qualified health insurance plan when
filing 2014 taxes.
2) How does someone
attest that they meet the Tax
Season SEP guidelines?
Enrollees may either
call the Health Insurance
Marketplace call center and
attest by phone (1-800-318-.
2596) or attest on health-
care.gov when completing an
application.
3) For those that were
subject to the penalty, but
qualified for an "exemption" and did
not have to pay the penalty
may now enroll in a plan during this
LcAnn Kenagv
Speaking upfor
our seniors
SEP?
Those who have paid (or owe
with intent to pay) the penalty may
enroll.
4) If you enroll during
the tax season SEP, will
you be excused from the
2015 penalty for not having
health insurance?
Enrolling in coverage
during the Tax Season SEP
will stop penalties from
accruing. New enrollees
will be subject to the
penalty for not having cov-
erage during the months of
which they were uninsured.
5) When will your insurance
begin if you enroll during the Tax
Season SEP?
Those who enroll by the 15 of
the month, will have coverage on the
first day of the following month. For
example, those who enroll on March
15, will have coverage effective April
1, 2015.
For those who enroll after the 15
of the month, coverage will begin on
the first day of the second following
month. For example, those who enroll
on March 16 coverage will begin May
1, 2015.
6) When does the Tax Season SEP
end?
April 30 at 9:59 P.M. MT
If anyone has any questions or
needs assistance please call WCHS
In-home Services 746-3553.
Bob Bunar Tom Mudlon
Publisher and Co-Owner
Editor
1Ore Bean
Circulation/
Accounts Manager
/i
y MlJw
Graphic Designer/
Copy Editor
Rlchanl 'railman
Cimulation
Donlco PiscloW
Reporter/
Photographer
BI
Rob Hlcks
Co-Owner
.... =====================================================
SleplMe IIor
Graphic Artist/
Advertising
iNF;i
Office/Sales/
Classifieds
Sports Reporter/
Photographer
Alexis Shulllz Pam Penfleld
Reporter Sales
With News or
to Advertise
3()/-/46-00777
, ...,...,.............. .................... ....,,...,..,......,,,..,...,....,.,,.. ,,...,..,,,..,...,.......: ..........................................
FAX: 307-746-2660
E-maih editor@newslj.com
Wha
We strive to cover all the news and
entertainment important to the people ol
Weston County, Wyoming. Our entire staff
takes part in the decision-making process
of what appears in these pages and all
content is locally generated. If you have a
story idea please contact any of the people
you see here. NLJ editorials appear in the
upper left hand corner of this page and are
written from the position of the newspa-
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people, and in the hope that they will carry
the weight of our lO0-plus years of lead-
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appearing elsewhere on this page, and
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NewsLetter Journal is published each
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(Weston Co.) WY 82701. Periodicals post-
age paid at Newcastle, WY. USPS No. 389-
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To 01ov°e00i!e00X:*,or an°
to serve the best interests of, the people of
Weston County.
Serving Weston County since 1889. All con-
tents are property of the News Letter Journal,
(NLJ) Copyright 2010. NLJ is a publication
of News Letter Journal, LLC, Thomas R.
Mullen and Robert H. Hicks, owners.