Until just last year, Wyoming has led the country in the suicide death rate since 2018, according to the most recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. This is an issue of life or death; and as a pro-life legislator, I have joined many in the Wyoming Legislature who understand we can no longer, in good conscience, continue to force the obligation of this critical issue of Wyoming lives at the feet of families, churches, nonprofits and volunteers.

Until just last year, Wyoming has led the country in the suicide death rate since 2018, according to the most recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. This is an issue of life or death; and as a pro-life legislator, I have joined many in the Wyoming Legislature who understand we can no longer, in good conscience, continue to force the obligation of this critical issue of Wyoming lives at the feet of families, churches, nonprofits and volunteers.

It is hard to be optimistic about the state of politics in our nation. Both in Washington and Wyoming, we are faced with many problems and few solutions. Elected officials refuse to work toward solutions and instead spend their time trying to get one over on the other side.

I wasn’t expecting trouble when I called a certain national company. I was sure the friendly, helpful folks at the branch nearest me could handle my issue — until one of them put me on hold. Two hours later — or maybe it was 10 minutes — a recorded voice said, “May I have your zip code please?”

Editor: With Veterans Day approaching and the year quickly coming to an end, I would like to express my appreciation of the community, along with businesses and individuals within that community that have supported American Legion Post 36.

Let me pose a few questions. • Why would the state of Wyoming want to spend millions of dollars to tear down solid brick buildings when investors are interested in refurbishing them? • Where does the money trail lead? • Does the Wyoming Department of Health have an alternative plan for that property when the buildings are gone? • Why has the state allowed in the buildings or equipment to be vandalized? • What will happen to the barren land after the buildings are removed?

For many years there have been various “Palestinian Gandhis” leading nonviolent struggles to gain rights while under Israeli occupation. Ayed Morrar led his Budrus villagers to a victory to save their olive groves, their way of life, when the Israeli Defense Force was ordered to push a wall through. Or Mubarak Awad, Palestinian nonviolence leader and founder of Nonviolence International — a man still calling for nonviolent struggle.

Editor: The Union Presbyterian Church would like to thank everyone who purchased tickets for the fundraiser held on Oct. 4. The church is very grateful for the overwhelming community support for the stained glass window restoration project.

I’ve been feeling a little inadequate ever since I overheard a conversation between two dreamers in a restaurant recently. I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop. It’s not my fault people talk so loudly — and about such interesting things.

OK, my fellow Republicans, you got rid of Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Eight of you joined with every Democrat in the House of Representatives — the only part of the federal government we control — to vote McCarthy out, 216-210.

I was leaving a parking lot when I saw a man jump out of his car, wave his arms, shake his fists and rant at a woman in a car that had nearly collided with his. Given the particulars of the near miss, it’s hard to say whose fault it would have been had they connected, but I can tell you whose side I would have taken.

My retired teacher friends and I had lunch at the Bear Ponds. There was a slight breeze, and the leaves were turning their fall yellow. The river was so beautiful and calming. As we enjoyed this beautiful, very usable location, I thought of who was responsible for this area — Paul Knopf.

Editor: I feel that I need to address a matter that I should have cleared up in my letter to the paper last week. The information I received about both the shed and the snow removal at Tom’s HVAC was told to me AFTER the planning and zoning meeting when the vote was taken that ended up in Dominion’s favor.

I’ve noticed a change in my behavior since COVID. Nowadays when I cough in front of someone else I feel obligated to explain it away. “It’s just a little tickle.” Or “I’ve got seasonal allergies.” Or “You must have cat hair on your sweater.”

Even given the opportunity to right a wrong, the Evanston City Council showed it’s not interested in representing its citizens during a special meeting on Sept. 12. At stake was the installation of a gas regulatory station proposed — with “DANGER” signs plastered all over it — for smack dab in the middle of a neighborhood, close to a young children’s learning center, a middle school and a church.

I want to encourage our constituents to take a few minutes to help us continue to get the word out about both the rate increases proposed by Rocky Mountain Power and the proposed changes to the BLM’s southwest Resource Management Plan (RMP) for multiple use. Both of these entities have failed to consider the long-term and short-term repercussions from both of these poorly thought-out decisions.

There have been times that I have been misquoted in this newspaper and I have just let it go. But this time I am appalled at the misinformation and poor reporting printed in your Sept. 20 edition.

I recently saw a thought-provoking question on a sign outside a hair salon. “We make people beautiful. What’s your superpower?” Several days later, I saw a survey that said the number one most desired superpower is invisibility. If you can’t have that, and you probably can’t, I think making people beautiful would be a pretty close second, depending on what you have to work with.

Sen. Charles Scott (R-Casper) says he wants to do “some radical things” to change Wyoming’s energy policy. But what’s so radical about abandoning free-market principles and ignoring the facts to suppress anything and everything that might possibly compete with fossil fuels? The Legislature has been doing that for years. Perhaps the only thing “radical” about Scott’s most recent demonization of renewables is his unabashed disregard for the available data.

What’s it like to try to organize a union in one of the reddest states in the country? When Starbucks employees in downtown Cheyenne first took their complaints public June 25 at a one-day strike to protest working conditions, one woman carried a sign on the picket line that read, “If baristas are out here, something is WRONG in there!”