(LETTERS) Americans culpable for Israeli atrocities; Casper council senseless on nuclear waste; 'Affordable' entertainment at Wyoming Ford Center?; Bloated billionaire bill
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Dear Casper,
I just watched the 1942 movie “Flying Tigers,” starring John Wayne. An early scene shows Chinese children receiving and eating U.S. food aid. Without warning, Japanese planes swoop down and bomb them. The final image of this scene is of a soot-covered child crying amid destruction. The message is clear: an immoral enemy that deliberately attacks children deserves merciless resistance.
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My mind leapt to Gaza today. Instead of fighting like John Wayne against such horrific acts, we Americans are providing the means to the Israelis to commit even worse atrocities, specifically the targeting of children and healthcare workers. Without American military and economic aid, and our carte blanche diplomatic support, the Israelis would not be able to perpetrate what they are doing. This makes all of us Americans equally culpable for their atrocities.
Israel is working hard to control the narrative of their actions in Gaza, notably denying media access. Unfortunately, the label of antisemite is now often attached to those who are critical of Israel. But being outraged at intentional mass killings of civilians, especially children and healthcare workers, doesn’t make someone an antisemite. It means they are a person with some semblance of a moral compass.
We live in a world saturated with extreme media bias. Some may discount my views as regurgitated propaganda. But even staunch allies of Israel are publicly recognizing that Israeli actions in Gaza go far beyond any degree moral acceptability.
Yes, there is so much going on in the world that may anger and shock us. How do we decide which causes are worth fighting for? See if you can find some reputable information on Israeli drones deliberating shooting young children. If you can, then were does this particular cause fall on your priority list now?
We are currently taking hard looks at how the U.S. government spends its money. This involves asking some very hard questions. I would ask, are we OK with cutting healthcare funding for the most vulnerable Americans, while at the same time continuing to bankroll the morally indefensible, systemic actions of Israel? Which side of the moral compass do we want to be on? And how do we square ourselves to the legacy of the Greatest Generation who sacrificed so much to stop the strong from exterminating the weak?
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Tom Smyth Casper
Dear Casper,
Nice to know the City Council is senseless. You obviously don’t care about human life at all. You make decisions like you are the only people that matter. You neglect your duties as a council when you risk the health and welfare of everyone that lives in Bar Nunn with nuclear waste.
Thank you for serving the public and ignoring the people that elected you. I hope come voting time you are all getting an eye opener. Every person on that council will be sued for what you do when the people in our town start getting sick we can hold you all responsible because you failed the people.
Just like with Coates Road, you don’t give two iotas about the people you’re supposed to be serving.
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It is blatant disregard for the folks who bought and paid for their property and we pay taxes. Your overall conduct is abhorrent in these matters.
I think you all should quit disrespecting our rights as citizens to live a healthy life safely in our homes. I have lost all hope that you folks care for anything but lining your pockets and building needless tennis courts. Not in our town.
Not our children and grandchildren shouldn’t be at risk. Let’s put the nuclear plant next to your homes. Let’s see how you like it.
Amber Sparks Bar Nunn
Dear Casper,
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In 2016, when the City of Casper entered into an agreement with Spectra Venue Management to oversee operations at then the Casper Events Center, residents were promised more affordable and accessible entertainment — all while reducing the city’s subsidy to the facility.
Further revenue-generating deals followed: a partnership with Sinclair Oil in 2017 to modernize the ticket-buying process, and naming rights sold to Ford dealerships in 2021.
Today, the facility is called the Ford Wyoming Center and is managed by OVG360, which acquired Spectra in 2021. The City of Casper renewed its agreement with OVG360 for another 10 years in 2022, continuing to promise lower subsidies and accessible entertainment for families.
However, my wife and I took our youngest daughter to “Sesame Street Live” recently, and we spent $200 for three tickets and another $14 on stale popcorn and warm soda. This is a steep price for a children’s show.
This raises an important question: Is the original goal of affordability still being met? This wasn’t a Metallica concert — the glory days of cool concerts in Casper are dead and gone. This was Sesame Street — the kind of event that should be packed with toddlers, parents and grandparents. It is a family-oriented show built on characters designed to reach children — many of whom come from underprivileged backgrounds. And when families have to think twice or go into debt to attend something as basic as Sesame Street, something is broken.
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I’m not writing this to complain for the sake of complaining. I’m writing as someone who remembers the promises made to this community. While I understand that national tours come with associated costs, $200 for three tickets feels out of reach for many working families in our area. And if pricing families out of a children’s show is the new normal, then those promises have fallen flat.
The clearest evidence that prices were too high wasn’t a statistic — it was the rows of empty seats in a venue less than half full. This should have been a sold-out show but the luxury price the management company had set for this show kept families away.
The city leaders and venue management need to do better. A half empty arena should be a wake-up call and they clearly need to rethink how accessibility is being defined. Casper families deserve access to community events without feeling like they have to take out a loan to enjoy them.
Alan Corey Casper
Dear Casper,
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When President Donald Trump unveiled his One Big Beautiful Bill earlier this year, the fanfare focused on slashing regulations and delivering tax cuts. What got buried, first by design, then by damage control, was who would be footing the bill: working-class Americans.
The original version didn’t include eliminating home heating aid, cutting food assistance or slashing Medicaid. Those were last-minute additions made to appease Republican deficit hawks in the House who were alarmed by the cost. And they had reason to worry. The bill would add nearly a trillion dollars a year to the national deficit, mostly to pay for massive tax breaks for corporations and high-income earners.
Nobody proposed smaller tax cuts. Instead, they demanded more spending cuts, all on the backs of seniors and working people, especially the working poor. Defense spending stayed intact. Subsidies for big oil and Wall Street giveaways stayed intact. But if you’re poor and trying to stay warm, feed your kids or afford basic healthcare, you were the first to be thrown overboard.
LIHEAP, the heating assistance program that helps more than 6 million low-income households — including thousands in Wyoming — was zeroed out. Not reduced. Eliminated. No more federal help heating your home in the middle of a Wyoming winter.
Medicaid, which covers more than 70 million Americans, including low-wage workers, children, seniors in nursing homes and people with disabilities, faces billions in cuts. Millions will lose care. Many will die. And the rest of us will still pay for it, only now through higher emergency room costs and local hospital bailouts.
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Food assistance is also on the chopping block. Fewer groceries, more hunger.
And if all that weren’t enough, the bill quietly raises taxes on people making under $30,000 per year by phasing out deductions and tightening eligibility for refundable credits. The people with the least will pay more and get less, so the people with the most can pay less and get more.
This reverse-Robin Hood bill has been called by The Nation and The Atlantic the largest transfer of wealth in U.S. history.
These cuts weren’t in Trump’s original proposal. They were added to make the math appear to work, or at least to let House Republicans pretend it did. What passed the House is not just cruel. It is dishonest.
Now Senate Majority Leader John Thune says the only way this bill will pass is with even more cuts. More cuts?
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Wyoming may be a red state, but we are also a working-class state. Many of us live paycheck to paycheck or survive on modest Social Security checks. These cuts are not abstract here. They are personal.
It’s time for Sens. Barrasso and Lummis to stop hiding behind slogans and stand with Wyoming families.
They must vote no. No to tax hikes on the working poor. No to gutting Medicaid and food aid. No to freezing out Wyoming just to pad the yachts of billionaires.
GLENROCK, Wyo. — A 55-year-old Wyoming man died Monday night after his vehicle went over a bridge rail and caught fire on Interstate 25 near Glenrock.
Gavin Stanek was traveling north in a Cadillac Escalade around 9:13 p.m. when the vehicle drifted into the median near milepost 156, according to a Wyoming Highway Patrol report. The vehicle continued through the median until it struck a bridge retaining wall.
The driver’s side of the Escalade scraped along the rail before the vehicle went over the edge toward the river. The Cadillac rolled toward the passenger side and landed on its roof on the river embankment, where it was engulfed in flames, the report states.
The Wyoming Highway Patrol identified driver fatigue or the driver falling asleep as a possible contributing factor in the crash. Road conditions were dry and the weather was clear at the time of the incident.
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This story contains preliminary information as provided by the Wyoming Highway Patrol via the Wyoming Department of Transportation Fatal Crash Summary map. The agency advises that information may be subject to change.
As a plaintiff in the 2022 lawsuit that kicked off years of legal sparring over Wyoming abortion rights, Dr. Giovannina Anthony had waited a long time for Tuesday’s Supreme Court decision on the state’s abortion bans.
“It has been a long road,” she said. One with ups and downs, drawbacks and delays. And even though the high court ruled against the state’s abortion bans, she’s not under the illusion that the fight for abortion access is over.
“But at least today, we can claim a victory and say, it was really worth it,” said Anthony, a Jackson obstetrician. “It was worth it to go four years and keep it up and keep raising money and keep the awareness going. I’m really proud of our team. I’m really proud of what we accomplished.”
In reading the Supreme Court’s decision siding with plaintiffs, Anthony said, “Clearly, this is a court that holds a lot of respect for our constitution.”
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That’s because much of the decision hinged on constitutional language.
Anthony and other plaintiffs argued that abortion is enshrined in the “right of health care access” in Article 1, Section 38 of the Wyoming Constitution. The clause states, “Each competent adult shall have the right to make his or her own health care decisions.”
The state’s attorneys, meanwhile, countered that abortion isn’t health care.
But in deciding what that language means in this case, “all five Wyoming Supreme Court justices agreed that the decision whether to terminate or continue a pregnancy is a woman’s own health care decision protected by Article 1, Section 38,” the court’s summary stated.
As abortion rights activists in Wyoming and beyond celebrated the decision, the anti-abortion camp decried it and called for legislative action.
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“This ruling is profoundly unfortunate and sadly serves to only prolong the ultimate proper resolution of this issue,” Gov. Mark Gordon said in a statement. While the ruling may settle a legal question for the time being, Gordon said, “it does not settle the moral one, nor does it reflect where many Wyoming citizens stand, including myself.”
Anti-abortion activists in the silent March for Life in Cheyenne in January 2020. (Nadav Soroker, Wyoming Tribune Eagle/Wyoming News Exchange)
Gordon asked the Attorney General’s office to file a petition for rehearing the decision, which it will file within 15 days.
The voters of Wyoming should settle the matter once and for all, Gordon argued. “A constitutional amendment taken to the people of Wyoming would trump any and all judicial decisions.”
He called on the Legislature to pass such an amendment during the upcoming session and deliver it to his desk. A constitutional amendment requires a two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate to appear on the ballot in the following general election.
Gordon may get his wish during the Legislature’s 2026 budget session, which convenes Feb. 9.
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State lawmakers are already preparing a bill to modify the Wyoming Constitution and clear a path for another attempted abortion ban. Speaker of the House Chip Neiman, a Republican from Hulett, said that he’s been workshopping language with Torrington Republican Sen. Cheri Steinmetz.
“I’ve got to run it by a lot of other people,” Neiman said.
Reps. Rachel Rodriguez-Williams and Chip Neiman listen during a 2023 hearing on their request to defend Wyoming’s abortion ban. (Brad Boner/Jackson Hole News&Guide/Pool)
Ideally, he added, a single constitutional amendment would be considered, although the legislative strategy is still up for discussion.
“We’ve got a little over a month before we have to be in session,” Neiman said. “That’ll give us time to kind of see which is maybe the best plan of action.”
A constitutional amendment would have to navigate the legislative process in a 20-day session geared toward passing Wyoming’s budget. Then, in the 2026 general election, more than half of Wyoming voters who cast a ballot would have to agree to the constitutional change.
Neiman struck an optimistic tone about an amendment’s prospects of passing the first hurdle during the session in Cheyenne.
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“I can’t speak for the other chamber,” he said, “but in my chamber I’ve got a lot of phone calls and a lot of texts from a lot of my legislators who are just beside themselves at what happened.”
Senate President Bo Biteman did not return a phone call before this story published.
Victorious
Chelsea’s Fund, an organization that helps pay for abortion services, was another of the plaintiffs that challenged Wyoming’s abortion bans. Executive Director Janean Forsyth said Tuesday’s decision affirms what her organization has long known: “that abortion is essential health care, and Wyoming women have a constitutional right and the freedom to make their own health care decisions, and that should be without government interference.”
Forsyth was flooded with messages and calls Tuesday, she said, especially from the community of reproductive rights organizations.
“I think that [the news is] a beacon of hope for, not only Wyoming communities and families, but also nationwide,” she said.
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Christine Lichtenfels was Chelsea’s Fund executive director when the original suit was filed and throughout much of the legal battle. Relief wasn’t quite the word to describe how she felt Tuesday, she said.
“In reading the decision, there is just a sense that, ‘Oh, there is reason in the world,” she said. “It makes me think that, yes, Wyoming is the Equality State. We can say that now without cringing.”
(Disclosure: Lichtenfels is currently working with WyoFile on an unrelated legal matter.)
The Wellspring Health Access clinic in Casper is pictured in December 2022, and shows signs of May 2022 arson, including boarded up windows. (Dustin Bleizeffer/WyoFile)
Wyoming’s only abortion clinic, Wellspring Health Access in Casper, was also a plaintiff in the lawsuit. Knowing the decision would directly impact the facility’s fate, Clinic President Julie Burkhart was nervous when she opened it. Reading quickly dispelled her fears, she said, as it dawned on her that the justices sided with the plaintiffs’ legal team.
“We are delighted,” she told WyoFile.
Many people questioned her 2021 decision to open an abortion clinic in such a conservative state, she said. The court decision solidifies an intuition she felt back then about Wyoming residents’ sense of what’s fair and right.
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Burkhart and colleagues expect future challenges to arise, however.
“While we celebrate today’s ruling, we know that anti-abortion politicians will continue their push to restrict access to health care in Wyoming with new, harmful proposals in the state legislature,” Burkart said in a statement. “Patients should not have to live in fear that their health care decisions will be suddenly upended at the whim of a judge or lawmaker.”
Across the state in Jackson, Dr. Anthony anticipates the Wyoming Freedom Caucus will attempt to pass laws that impose targeted restrictions against abortion providers — such as forcing patients to hear a fetal heartbeat or wait a certain time period before the procedure.
“Unfortunately, the fight’s not over,” Anthony said, “but this is a great moment for us.”
Heartache
Abortion opponents expressed sadness Tuesday and vehemently disagreed with the court’s opinion.
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State Rep. Rachel Rodriguez Williams was lead sponsor of one of the abortion bans. The Cody Republican and chair of the Wyoming Freedom Caucus did not respond to a request for comment, but posted about the decision on X.
“My heart aches for Wyoming today,” Rodriguez Williams posted. “Thanks to the decision of four unelected, unchecked attorneys, it’s open season in Wyoming for innocent, preborn babies. Make no mistake: courts can get things wrong, and they sure did get this wrong. I’ll never stop fighting to protect life.”
Anti-abortion billboards can be seen along some Wyoming highways. (Tennessee Watson/WyoFile)
Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray also protested the decision, which he called “outrageously wrong” and “a leftwing activist decision totally out of touch with the Wyoming Constitution.”
Natrona County anti-abortion activist Bob Brechtel, a former Wyoming House member, also expressed frustration with the courts, criticizing the nearly two-year-long wait for a decision and saying he was “ashamed” of the outcome from the high court.
In 2011, Brechtel co-sponsored the bill authorizing a later-successful constitutional amendment ballot measure that now protects individuals’ rights to make their own health care decisions. Born out of opposition to the Obama-era Affordable Care Act, what became Article 1, Section 38 caused some lawmakers to worry about potential unintended consequences.
Fifteen years later, one unintended consequence came to fruition. Reached Tuesday, Brechtel confirmed that he did not intend to protect women’s right to have an abortion in Wyoming.
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“There was nothing in the legislation about killing innocent human beings,” he said. “This whole thing has been completely regenerated into something that it was never intended to be.”
It is Week 4 in the 2026 Wyoming High School boys’ swimming and diving season. It features several medium-sized competitions. After a dual in Douglas on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday are packed with meets. Jackson hosts its two-day invitational with four teams heading to Teton County. There are three-team events in Casper, Gillette, and Sheridan on Friday, plus two five-team meets at Cody and Rock Springs.
WYOPREPS BOYS SWIMMING AND DIVING WEEK 4 SCHEDULE 2026
Saturday also has swim invites at Evanston, Powell, and Sheridan. The schedule for Week 4 of the prep boys’ swimming and diving season in the Cowboy State is below. The schedule is subject to change.
RAWLINS AT DOUGLAS – dual
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3A Boys State Championship Recap 2025
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4A Swim Champ Cy Gallion in 2025
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4A Swim Champ Ben Forsythe in 2025
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CASPER TRI at NCHS – Cheyenne East, Kelly Walsh, Natrona County.
