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2 ......... May 7, 2015
editor@newslj, com
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Publisher and
Editor
Mullen
Co-Owner
Our View
It's no real surprise that coumy officials have
expressed a desire to settle their dispute with contrac-
tors responsible for construction errors at the Weston
County Event Center without stepping into a courtroom.
But we don't think they have a choice, and if the
lawyers and insurance companies representing those
contractors continue to make outrageous settlement
offers, we urge the Weston County Commissioners to
vigorously pursue a lawsuit that will not only seek to
cover the costs of repairs to the building, but also reim-
burse the citizens of Weston County for all of the costs
incurred since the erosion of the foundation was discov-
ered ........ not to mention all of the revenue that has been
lost as a result of the building not being used tbr the
past three and a half years.
We believe the commissioners committed them-
selves to seeing this thing through to the end when they
hired (and paid) a string of lawyers, engineers, archi-
tects and other assorted experts in an effort to "make
sure the people of Weston County got the building they
paid for." (At this point, we would like to point out that
the State of Wyoming also provided a significant chunk
of funding tbr the building, and we believe it is time for
the people in Cheyenne to stop providing silent moral
support to Weston County in the dispute, and become
more actively involved in making sure the investment
they made in this community is honored by those who
promised to deliver a suitable product.)
We have heard several times that the contractors
in question-- paul Reed Construction and Dan Hart
Patrol--- are eager to undertake repairs and put this
episode behind them, but the offers made by their attor-
neys and insurance companies run counter to that claim,
and we fear the county may be left "holding the bag" if
they agree to these settlement oftbrs.
We think the citizens of Weston County have a right
to know how much :money has been spent in the effort
to determine the most appropriate fix for the building
and convince the parties responsible to undertake those
repairs, and we ask that the county make available to
the public a breakdown of the amount of money spent
on attorneys, engineers, architects and other experts
since this all began. We aren't sure what that figure is,
but fear it may be staggering. We have never seen such a
report, so we're not even sure the commissioners know
how much has been spent, and we think it is vitally
important that they have that information-- and share it
with all of us .... before they accept any settlement.
Since a majority of the current commissioners
weren't on the board when this dispute began, we cer-
tainly think the body can be forgiven if they are forced
to accept a settlement that costs the county more money,
but their constituents have a right to know what that
cost will be.
I felt compelled to answer Leonard Lang's
letter, published in the April 16 and 23 edi-
tions of the NLJ, which he wrote in response to
my column of March 19 tilled "Feds Practice
Tyranny, Encourage Anarchy." Apparently my
position requires clarification, and what follows
are nay responses to some of the points Mr.
Long raises in his two-part letter. Although I've
met and personally respect Leonard Long, I
resent what I see as his mischaracterization of
me as a rabble rouser or crank.
Long wrote, "But who is to decide what
constitutes a major or minor crime? ... I
would have little respect for a police force
that acted like a $50 burglary was too unim-
portant to mess with. And neither
would the author if it was his $50."
The law itself makes distinctions
between crimes and their severity. There
are felonies and there are misdemeanors.
First degree murder naturally comes
with steeper penalties than involuntary
manslaughter. Are we really to expect
police to devote the same amount of
time and manpower to a $50 burglary as
to a homicide? Even if it was my hard-
earned $50, I wouldn't expect that to be
the case.
"All government personnel involved
were already employed and would have
gotten their salaries whether the ideal vio-
lators were prosecuted or nat. Little or no
money would have been saved at all."
Perhaps that's the problem. They feel com-
pelled to justify their not insubstantial sala-
ries and budgets. Some of these federal entities
(the Department of Education and the National
Endowment for the Humanities come to mind)
could be dismantled tomorrow, as far as I'm
concerned• Based on my limited interactions
with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, I'd
suggest they could stand to have their budget
trimmed.
"Do we really want our federal enforce-
ment officials to have the attitude that
Weston County is too sparsely populated and
too insignificant to bother with, and there-
fore allow local area crimes and violations to
go unpunished?"
I neither Wr0te n6r'implied fhai'2~fi~¢ place
• .,'~,
in the Umted States should be entirety flee of
000
't\~;td ~nnington
QuoVadi$
federal oversight or that criminals', as a rule,
should go unpunished. But why bother to
engage in an investigation that goes for years
on end, and spend tens of thousands of dollars (Ed• note: Due to its length, this rebuttal--
doing it, if the prosecutor has the latitude to as was the case with the letter it is in response
give people probation and fines. That $87,000, to-- will be printed over two weeks, and the
or however much was spent, could have gone remainder of it will appear on page two q[next
toward an up-armored SUV for our mill- week's NLJ.)
tary personnel or the salaries of border patrol
agents. It stands to reason that, with multiple
instances over time, spending lots of money
and resources investigating and prosecuting
people you don't even deem worthy of prison
time is terribly wasteful policy.
"It has been shown over and over that the
surest way to foster anarchy is to ignore the
'little' crimes and just concentrate on the so-
called 'big ones'. Nearly every criminal in
history got by with numerous minor crimes
before committing the serious crimes that
made the headlines."
Maybe so, but I'd suggest that most of our
worst criminals are the product of a combina-
tion of genetic factors and early
childhood experiences. I'd further
suggest that the mold is usually
cast too early for juvenile courts,
mental health professionals, or
"broken windows" theory-based
policing to successfully intervene.
For many, criminality is inherent.
"New York City was trans-
formed from a den of iniquity to
one of our safest large cities ..."
There's a longer answer to this,
but the short one is that I wouldn't
want to live in the center of cul-
tural decadence and nanny-state social engi-
neering that is New York City, even if they
have managed to reduce street crime through
heavy-handed tactics. The fact that the current
and former mayor both believe it's within their
purview to try to regulate soft-drink consump-
tion gives us insight into how the authorities
there conceive of their relationship to their citi-
zens.
"When a law violates the higher authority
of the laws of God ... it can and should be
resisted in every lawful manner (i.e., civil
disobedience)."
Civil disobedience is, by definition, the
willful act of violating a law one believes
is unjust. I, tbr one, didn't call on anyone to
engage in civil disobedience, at least not at this
juncture.
"Yes, being human, the police do occa-
sionally act rashly.,
I'm much less interested in the aCtioriS':of .... ' ....
individual police officers than the bureaucrats
and politicians who set the agenda and priori-
ties for law entbrcement.
the Editor .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Council made a courageous Our city council did their small part not to
make the gate to perdition any wider than it
vote on open containers already is, and we should all appreciate that.
Dear Editor, --Leonard Long
If there was a dangerous cliff at the edge of Bob should buy you all lunch
Newcastle that posed an obvious hazard to the citi-
zens of our community, what would be the intelli- for a great Progress Edition!
gent thing to do? Dear Editor,
Station an ambulance at the bottom of the preci- My ihat is off to each and every one of you
pice to offer medical services to those who stumble for a job well done, once again, on the Progress
over the edge and fall to the rocks below, or should Edition. The stories, the advertising and the layout
we build a sturdy barrier at the top of the cliff to of the paper last week was absolutely fabulous (as
prevent the terrifying fall and injuries in the first always).
place'? The latter plan is, of course, the only sen- I'm not sure that the public actually knows just
sible action to take. how much work goes into getting a paper of that
This is essentially what our city council did in magnitude done and have it turn out so wonderful.
refusing to allow open containers of alcohol on The staff spends countless hours
Main Street at the upcoming school reunion, working on this edition, and it cer-
So I want to publicly and heartily congratu- tainly looks awesome this year.
late Mayor Greg James and the three coun- The Progress Edition was my
cilpersons who supported him-- Steven very favorite paper to do when I
Ladwig, [)on Stevenson, and I_.inda Hunt-- worked at the News Letter, and
for exercising their common sense to avert I have to say I miss being a part
the inevitable problems caused by alcohol of that special feeling of just how
usage instead of just trying to apply band- hard you work and how awesome
aids after the damage has already taken it turns out-- and the people's
place, reaction to such a great paper.
It's a mighty sad commentary on So once again, good job. Great
American culture when some adults and businesses paper. Give yourselves a big pat on the
in our city continue to clamor Ibr more, more, and back. You all deserve it.
even more alcohol to be made available as ifa eel- --Becky Vodopich
ebration requires an inebriated brain to make it
enjoyable. Run, Hillary, Run
Is this the holy grail of happiness in life Dear Editor,
we want to extend to our young people? A cup Since Mrs. Clinton announced that for President
engraved with the slogan, "Get intoxicated or she's running, there's been news coming out that
it's just no fun." This seems to be the attitude on even for her is quite stunning. What difference
display, so, fellow" citizens, don't be surprised if the does it make she's swept tons of dirt under her rug?
next generation is even drunker than ours. Is this Now that the rug's being lifted a bit, she's not quite
the legacy we want to leave to our children? so smug.
And one of the arguments used by the liquor First came the story that 30,000 emails from
establishments in their attempt to railroad the city her private server had vanished, and directives
council to cave-in to their demands was, "Hey, that when talking about her, certain words must
everybody else is allowing open containers, why be banished. Some questioned the Dem's wisdom
can't we?" Thank you Newcastle City Council for of putting all their eggs in the Hillary basket, now
demonstrating some moral backbone and standing that container is looking more all the time like an
up to this juvenile way of thinking! expensive casket.
Just because other towns are doing it doesn't Since it began, the Clinton Foundation quickly
make it either right or smart. Going along with the filled its cofi~rs, by peddling influence and
crowd is a near certain path to disaster. The Bible making unrefusable of Ibrs. Defenders say there are
says, "Thou shalt not fbllow a multitude to do no connectable dots to make all this criminal, the
evil." (Exodus 23:2) vast conspiracy against Mrs. Clinton is more overt
As Jesus told us, the way to eternal life is than subliminal.
straight and narrow, but "wide is the gate and Long before the days of emails and faxes, Al
broad is the way that leads to destruction." Capone was taken down for evasion of taxes. If
only he'd known he could have gotten out of that
mess, by refiling returns with the good folks at the
IRS.
Somehow the Clinton Foundation got the idea
into its cranium, there'd be no troubles selling the
Russians control of our uranium How will Hillary
escape prosecution fi'om this latest seam? Will her
running change from for office, to being on the
lam?
It's looking more and more like she belongs in
the house, that is right, but it's the one that is big,
not the one that is White. Did she find in at least
one Secretary of State flight, a good country to go
to that won't extradite?
I've a serious idea, so please try not to snicker,
it's for a truly bipartisan Hillary Clinton bumper
sticker. The Dem's could put "Run Hillary,
Run" on their rear bumper if they want. But
Conservatives would probably choose the bumper
up front.
........ Jim Darlington
PAC's keep the government
vending machine fully stocked
Dear Editor,
We have a new way of selecting our law-
makers and the executive branch of our federal
government. It's called the "Governance Vending
Machine."
This "GVM" is usually fully stocked with
wanna-be politicians. There are several varieties
of machine available. The generic name for these
vending machines is "Super PACs." The standard
operating procedure is identical to regular vending
machines.
If you have enough money you just approach the
machine that has a stock of politicians, ready and
willing to do what you want done, insert money,
pull the lever and out pops a politician, ready to
do your bidding.
This new (since 2010) technology invented
and manufactured by the John Roberts Court
(or Company) whose chief engineer is George
Orwell, has proven popular. Some of the models
in operation already are: 'Ready For Hillary,' 'Our
American Revival,' 'Romney super PAC,' Stand for
Principle', 'Right to Rise', and quite a few others.
The widespread use of the GVM will increase
the efficiency at election time. All of the commer-
cials you will absorb during the campaign will
instruct you how to vote. There will be no need
for thinking, skepticism or analysis - Big Brothers
GVM has done that for you, instructed you how to
vote and you will obey.
....... .Jerry Baird
h Dem
Circulation/
Accounts Manager
Rob Hicks
Co*Owner
Bmdce Plseloffi
Reporter/
Photographer
IIInhald Tablan
Circulation
Stephanle Bomlar
Graphic Artist/
Advertising
N
mmay
Office/Sales/
Classifieds
Sales Sports Reporter/
Photographer
lUmds Shullz
Reporter
Jeaael W
Graphic Designer
iiiiiiiili iiiiil; With News or
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FAX: 307-746-2660
E-maih editor@newslj.com
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!i!i jii :Wh t
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