Wyoming
Eating Wyoming: Western Sky’s Family Diner | Cowboy State Daily
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Placing Household in Household Eating
By Tim Mandese, Cowboy State Every day
Wheatland is likely to be simply one other place that numerous us drive previous on our journeys down the interstate, however fortunately, my job is to show proper, go down the offramp and see what gastronomic delights these communities supply.
It’s all the time a pleasure to discover a true household restaurant, run by pleasant folks, that truly serves up nice meals — for instance, Western Sky’s Household Diner simply off of Interstate 25 in Wheatland.
Western Sky’s is a type of locations that jogs my memory what an actual hometown diner is all about. It’s operated by locals, for locals. However everyone seems to be native after they stroll within the door. Greeted by my server Carla, I used to be welcomed like I had been there 100 instances.
Wanting round, I may see this place was clear and vivid and the décor was tastefully western. I had arrived simply earlier than midday, and there have been an excellent variety of tables filled with patrons already having fun with a meal. That’s an excellent signal, because it implies that I’m in the appropriate place for lunch.
As soon as seated, Carla took my drink order and handed me a menu that had various pages in it. I see that Western Sky’s Household Diner is open for breakfast, and has tons to select from.
There’s country-fried steak and eggs, the ever in style breakfast burritos and a protracted listing of omelets. There are pancakes, waffles, French toast, breakfast sandwiches and even a bowl of oatmeal if you need one.
Focus Tim! Focus! You’re right here for lunch!
Okay, let’s take a look at the lunch a part of the menu. As I used to be about to do this, my lunch buddy, Glenn, noticed “The Freedom Burger.”
The menu reads: “To: Patriots And First Responders, In Honor of Our Patriots Standing In Hurt’s Manner Round The World And At House Defending America’s Liberty WE supply the… FREEDOM BURGER!” The outline guarantees a 7-ounce hamburger patty with American cheese, bacon, & grilled onions on Texas toast with “Freedom Sauce” distinctive to Western Sky’s.
So the Freedom Burger was spoken for. However now what? I see a considerable listing of different burgers, however I additionally see a ribeye steak sandwich on Texas toast and a traditional French dip sandwich. Over within the nook of the menu is even a spaghetti and meatball dish that sounded good.
Wanting on to dinners, there much more! You’ll have to hold on to your hat, as a result of it is a lengthy web page! Only a few issues on this web page included country-fried steak, roast turkey, roast beef, a 12-ounce or 8-ounce ribeye steak, and, what I lastly would choose, a seafood basket.
The seafood basket was a mix of battered cod filets and battered shrimp. Each of that are provided as separate entrees as effectively. Sounds actually good, however I additionally see one thing below the facet dishes that I couldn’t cross up, white cheddar mac and cheese. As Carla got here again to take our order, I used to be already salivating.
I gave Carla my order however when it got here to my pal’s selection, as he stated Freedom Burger, Carla raised a fist and yelled out “Freeeeeedom!” type of like Mel Gibson within the film “Braveheart.” Appears there’s a working joke with a chef within the kitchen that each time somebody orders that burger, she ought to yell that out. Good thought, as a result of it prompted a number of different folks round us to ask about it. Plus, it was simply humorous!
Whereas ready on our meals, I see the place is actually packed now. Carla higher have skates on.
Simply then, proprietor Pat Hollingworth stopped by the desk, so I requested her concerning the diner. She tells me that she’s been working the diner for the previous 10 years. I requested her if she had been within the restaurant enterprise earlier than.
”No, however I used to be a cook dinner since I used to be 12,” she stated. “I didn’t like that poverty mentality, so I went to work at 12. I’ve all the time preferred cooking.”
I requested her simply who was liable for the Freedom Burger. She smiled proudly and stated “Me!” She stated she actually needed to supply one thing to honor our heroes and first responders and thus, the Freedom Burger was born.
I requested what the preferred dish was and with out hesitation she stated the roast beef. Our order is coming, and I can odor the Freedom Burger earlier than it will get to us! WOW! This smells superb! The bacon is the very first thing to greet you. Then you definately get a whiff of the grilled onions, and that is all earlier than it’s put in entrance of you.
It doesn’t disappoint both. A tackle the traditional patty soften, the Texas toast is sweet and thick, buttered and grilled good and golden. On the facet have been “fats fries” as our server Carla referred to as them.
Subsequent up is the seafood basket. Okay, it wasn’t in a basket, however I’m not going to complain about that! There have been two good golden cod fillets and plenty of these battered shrimp. It was served up with extra fats fries, with cocktail and tartar sauce.
I’m from Florida, and each every now and then, I would like seafood in my soul! This was going to be good.
Earlier than I may stick a fork in my first shrimp, I used to be already getting an “Oh my gosh!” from throughout the desk.
“I do know you needed the seafood for selection, however you’ll need this subsequent time!” Glenn stated. “Belief me!”
Glenn stated the meat was good and crisp on the skin as a patty soften must be, with a young juicy center. The bacon and onions make an excellent topping, however the Freedom Sauce drives this excessive.
“I don’t know what this sauce is, however I find it irresistible!” added Glenn.
Keep in mind, that was all earlier than I had my first shrimp! Talking of which, I lastly received one. Very nice medium-sized shrimp with simply the correct quantity of batter. Dunking one of many shrimp within the cocktail sauce, it was an exquisite change of tempo for me. I do love fried shrimp!
The cod fillet was subsequent, and as with the shrimp, the batter was excellent. Simply sufficient to present you that crispy crunch that contrasted with the flaky tender cod. The fish was excellent. Moist and juicy with a contemporary taste. The tartar sauce on the facet went effectively with each chew.
This meal is a diner winner, 100%, although what I’m actually enthusiastic about is diving deeper in to the menu and attempting the roast beef that Pat stated was so in style.
It’s effectively value mentioning, and one of many causes I needed to cease right here was that Western Sky’s Household Diner has a web based score of 4.4 stars with 858 opinions! With that type of buzz, I couldn’t cross up the prospect.
So head on over to Western Sky’s Household Diner and see how they put the household in household eating.
Western Sky’s is positioned at 86 sixteenth St. in Wheatland. Hours are 6 a.m. to eight p.m. each day. You’ll be able to name them at (307) 322-9302
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Wyoming
14th annual Wyoming State Parks 'First Day Hikes' set for January 1, 2025
Wyoming
Wyoming governor approves $100 million sale of state land to join Grand Teton National Park
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Wyoming will sell a 1-square-mile (2.6-square-kilometer) parcel of pristine land bordering Grand Teton National Park to the U.S. government for $100 million after Gov. Mark Gordon signed off on a deal Friday that ends the state’s longstanding threats to unload it to a developer.
Under the agreement the federal government will pay the appraised value of $62.5 million for the property, while privately raised funds will supply the rest.
Carpeted by a mix of trees, shrubs and sagebrush, the rolling land has a commanding view of the iconic Teton Range and is prime habitat for animals including elk, moose and grizzly bears.
Gordon, a Republican, announced in a statement that he was approving the deal to add the land to the national park after his office ensured that a U.S. Bureau of Land Management plan for managing a vast area of southwestern Wyoming doesn’t carry too many restrictions on development including oil and gas drilling — a stipulation made by the state Legislature last winter.
Even so, Gordon criticized the BLM’s overall plan for the arid, minerals-rich area 150 miles (240 kilometers) south of Grand Teton as “the Biden administration’s parting shot” at the state.
“I have been in contact with Wyoming’s congressional delegation and potential members of the incoming Trump Administration to fix the mess an ideological Biden administration is leaving for southwestern Wyoming,” Gordon said in the statement.
Interior Department officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.
Wyoming has owned the southeastern Jackson Hole property, bordered by Grand Teton on three sides and national forest on the fourth, since long before the national park’s establishment in 1929. It is the last and most valuable of four state-owned parcels sold to be annexed by the park in the past decade.
The federal government granted such lands to many states, particularly in the West, at statehood to help raise money for public education. Despite the location and astronomical value of the parcels, they brought in relatively little revenue for the state through grazing leases and other uses.
So over the years, governors have sought to goad federal officials into buying the lands by threatening to auction them off.
The Wyoming Board of Land Commissioners, made up of Gordon and the state’s other four top state elected officials, voted 3-2 in November to proceed with the sale after debating whether to negotiate a trade for federally owned mineral rights elsewhere in the state.
Wyoming
Opponents Want To Stop $500M Wyoming Wind Farm, Say It Will Kill Eagles And Bats
Wyoming archaeology and conservation groups, an eagle expert and two Albany County residents are asking a judge to stop a federal energy bureau and the U.S. Energy Secretary from advancing a vital step in building up to 149 wind turbines in the southeastern Wyoming county.
The critics say the devices will kill eagles and bats, harass wildlife, blast the locals with constant noise, and mar the landscape and the skyline of the Ames Monument National Historic Landmark.
The $500 million Rail Tie Wind Project is a proposed utility scale wind energy system scheduled to be built in southern Albany County, with its turbines measuring 500 to 675 feet tall — about the height of the Seattle Space Needle. It’s estimated to span across about 26,000 acres, prompt the construction of 60 miles of new roads and 109 stream crossings, court documents say.
The Wyoming Association of Professional Archaeologists and Albany County Conservancy on Monday asked a federal court to intervene in a critical step of the build, along with wildlife biologist J. Michael Lockhart and Albany County residents Michelle White and Natalia Johnson.
They filed their action in the U.S. District Court for Wyoming against Western Area Power Administrator Tracey LeBeau and U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.
The Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) in 2022 issued a decision that will allow the project to graft into its high-voltage transmission lines.
That was based on “shallow” analysis of the turbines’ potential to kill eagles and bats, among other environmental and cultural harms, the petition alleges.
Neither WAPA nor the U.S. Department of Energy responded by publication time to email requests for comment.
Repsol, the company developing the Rail Tie Wind Project, is not named in Monday’s court action. The company did not immediately respond Friday to a late-day voicemail.
Ryan Semerad of the Fuller & Semerad Law Firm filed the petition on the concerned parties’ behalf. It asks the federal court to declare that WAPA’s decision authorizing a major step in the project violates federal laws and regulations, and to set it aside. The petition also asks the court to block the project’s progress until the WAPA has taken a more public-facing, receptive approach.
The groups and people challenging the action claim WAPA has held meetings in “secret,” floated undefined plans, avoided consultation and dodged meaningful conservation studies.
The petition also asks that WAPA and the Secretary of Energy pay the challengers’ attorney fees and grant any other “just and proper” action.
More Litigation
Monday’s filing is the latest in a yearslong conflict between the Rail Tie project and local residents.
In July, a group of residents near Tie Siding told Cowboy State Daily that they’ve put together a war chest of money to fight the wind energy project.
Deep-pocketed donors who live in the 4,300-acre Fish Creek Ranch Preserve have kicked in money to pay the legal bills to halt the Rail Tie project.
Otterbox founder Curt Richardson, who owns a cattle ranch in the area, and others have shown interest in the litigation. There are other big-name donors from the preserve who have contributed to the litigation war chest to fight Rail Tie.
There’s John Davis, a retired certified public accountant and lawyer from an Indianapolis water utility who built his dream cabin less than a mile from the border of Colorado in the foothills above the Laramie Plains.
Jim Grant also wants to see the project go away. He’s a well-known author who writes the thriller Jack Reacher novels under the pen name Lee Child and also lives near Tie Siding.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
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