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From Scoops to Hoops; Abandonded Mines and Basketball
February 22, 2012 - Geoff O'GaraIt’s possible that someone mined coal at the site of the University of Wyoming’s Arena-Auditorium a century ago, but I can’t find any record of it. Nevertheless, the Wyoming House of Representatives is advancing a bill
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Public Schools and Accountability
February 21, 2012 - Geoff O'GaraIt was the Wyoming courts – responding in the 1990s to lawsuits sparked by the uneven distribution of revenues to local school districts – that started a revolution in Wyoming education. The state courts shifted the power
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Devils and Bad Gods
February 16, 2012 - Geoff O'GaraIt’s no easy job being in the Wyoming legislature. Figuring budgets and revenue charts that include items like the $417 million “BRA (from FMRs)”, or divining complex formulas for educator accountability standards, or e
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Wolf Management and Sheep Dip
February 15, 2012 - Geoff O'GaraWolves are pretty smart animals, but it’s not clear whether they understand that it will likely make a big difference in their lives later this year if they tread on the north side of the Wood River west of Wyoming Highway
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Walrus in the Room
February 14, 2012 - Geoff O'GaraWyoming Senate President Jim Anderson and House Minority Leader Patrick Goggles provided some on-air Capitol Outlook commentary last night on Gov. Matt Mead’s State of the State address, and when we were done, Anderson ling
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The 61st Legislature Budget Session
January 11, 2012 - Thomas FischerCapitol Outlook, an award-winning public affairs report on state government, will return to Cheyenne this year to provide news, in-depth discussion, and commentary on the budget session of the 61st legislature. During the ses
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The Inner World of Interim
March 2, 2011 - Geoff O'GaraOther than waiting to see if the Governor vetoes anything, there’s not much for legislators to do in these last days except review the few compromise bills coming out of House-Senate conferences and go to a few end-of-se
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It’s March
March 1, 2011 - Geoff O'GaraWhew, it’s March, the eighth and last week of Wyoming’s 61st legislature. Senators are slumped in their chairs. The eloquence of six weeks ago is mostly gone – the last bills are trickling back and forth, eyelids are
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First Draft Report Card
February 27, 2011 - Geoff O'GaraWyoming’s 61st legislature enters its last week in a fairly relaxed state of mind. Most of the heavy lifting is done. Solons have done some smart things: education reform that may actually improve things in the classroom; t
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Open Meetings
February 24, 2011 - Geoff O'GaraThe press - all two or three of us - has been on the edge of its chair today waiting for the conference committee debate where House and Senate representatives will try to negotiate a compromise on the “validity of marriage
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