Newsmakers of the year, Decade recap

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

By JH Weekly Staff

Jackson Hole, Wyoming - It ain’t perfect or definitive, but it’s all JH Weekly – we dedicated a portion of the 2009 Newsmakers of the Year issue to stories of the decade, and on both accounts, our process to determine the most important of the most important was completely arbitrary. It went something like this: “So, what do you guys want to write about?” No, that’s exactly how it went, but in a last ditch attempt to sound respectable, we thought that the explanation behind our method would be that readers really want to know what the people close to the news, think is worth remembering or recounting. You’re welcome.

The Year of Barrasso
Senator John Barrasso has done much in a short time. The current junior U.S. Senator from Wyoming nabbed the seat from a list of 17 contenders in June 2007, putting him in the unenviable position of following up a beloved legend of a senator in the late-Craig Thomas.

But follow he did, carrying on many treasured conservative views of the Republican Party: limited government, lower taxes, less spending, and a strong national defense. He’s also scored an “A” rating from the NRA and votes with the GOP 94 percent of the time, according to the Washington Post.

The board-certified orthopedic surgeon later crushed Democrat Nick Carter with 73 percent of the vote in the special 2008 election – a year which saw a ‘blue’ wave sweep the nation. The 57-year-old celebrated by marrying his lifelong friend Bobbi Brown on January 1, 2008.

On July 29, while appearing on CNN’s Lou Dobbs Tonight, the now-resigned host asked Barrasso strait out: “Are you interested in running for President?” Barrasso laughed it off but it began a rash of rumors circulating around a possible presidential bid for Barrasso in 2012. – Jake Nichols

A little stimulation
Although hot on the heels of the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, there is talk of another federal stimulus. Maybe it’s time to take a look at funds designated so far for Wyoming and Teton County.

The sparsely populated state of Wyoming was allotted $476,390,000, of which about $60,000,000 has so far been received.  This is expected to create a total of approximately…are you ready? 861 jobs.  Just under half of the total dollar amount went to Laramie County ($230 million) while others received paltry sums, like Converse County’s $1.5 million, according to www.recovery.gov’s data map.
Of that half-billion for the state, $15, 855,000 with a job creation goal of 59 positions has been designated for Teton County, and $12 million of that belongs to zip code 83001.  Major recipients of funds include the Jackson Hole Airport Board (creating 35 jobs), the START bus (20 jobs), the Town of Jackson, and Teton County School District 1.

Teton County, ID, received about $5 million in grant money of Idaho’s 1.2 billion, and the City of Driggs, City Hall of Victor, and Teton County School district will split the vast majority of the money. – Brigid Mander

The year in obits
2009 was a year marked with what felt like an unusually high number of deaths of people you knew or felt like you knew. This was as true for Jackson Hole as it was on the national stage, which lost such icons as Michael Jackson and Ted Kennedy.
In June, 19-year-old Willie Neal was struck and killed by a car in Maine while training for the 2010 U.S. Junior World Championship biathlon team. The loss of any young person is tragic, but Neal’s early penchant for achievement – he was an accomplished athlete and student who went as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention – made his loss especially tough to swallow.

It was no less difficult for those who knew and loved 26-year-old Wesley Barron, son of Jackson Mayor Mark Barron, who died after a climbing accident in July.
Then in August, Erin Goodman, a recent graduate of Jackson Hole High School, died after a car she was driving went off the road, rounding out a succession of tragedies involving young people.

he loss of Jackson Hole ski patroller Kathryn Miller Hess in March, who died from injuries sustained in a fall while on-duty, prompted Jackson Hole Mountain Resort to implement a helmet policy.

In a death that was more milestone than heartbreaking tragedy, Jackson lost
longtime resident and political luminary Cliff Hansen, a former governor and U.S. Senator. Hansen passed away on Oct. 20, four days after his 97th birthday. – Ben Cannon

Comp Plan inched along
To the average person on the street, the process to update the community’s Comprehensive Plan in 2009 seemed to inch along at a snail’s pace. But the biggest milestone in the process so far occurred when planners released a developed draft, allowing planning commissioners and the public to review the document line by line, and with a thoroughness that would be excruciating to witness regularly for all but the valley’s most committed land use advocates.

The planning boards for both Jackson and Teton County have begun to separate in their recommendations for their own respective plan, although the goal at the outset was to adopt one unified community plan to steer growth and preserve community character over the next 20 years and beyond.

Most County Commissioners and Town Council members have taken a hands-off approach to sculpting the draft plans, allowing their planning boards to be as thorough as they want. But officials have said they expect the planning boards to hand drafts over to the community’s elected decision-makers by early 2010. Maybe then, as some have suggested, more residents will show a renewed interest in the plan update.     – Ben Cannon

News&Guide Staff:
It might cause a double-take that Jackson Hole News&Guide staff make our newsmakers list of 2009. Yes, that’s newsmaker, not news reporter.

Beginning like clockwork at the start of every new year, the NaG congratulates itself on a job well done:
Jan. 13, 2007: “Press peers recognize News&Guide workers.”
Jan. 18, 2008: “Reporters, designers win awards for work.”
Jan. 19, 2009: “Judges: News&Guide top Wyoming weekly.”

Sure, they didn’t give themselves the award, and one glance at the publication would confirm that this is a superb newspaper in every respect. It’s just that they never fail to mention it as ‘news.’ The item might work better on their Web site, or announced in another media form like radio, or feel right as a ‘house ad’ when advertising slacks.

Does advertising ever slack for the valley’s longest running weekly? Answer: A little, but it’s nothing to worry about. That’s a loose paraphrase of the NaG’s March 11 story, “Thinner News&Guide endures tough times.” The piece was written by staffer Kelsey Dayton who drew the tough assignment of interviewing her boss, associate publisher Kevin Olson. But Dayton pulled the information out of him.

“The community newspaper market is alive and well and healthy [across the country],” Olson assured Dayton, who was probably sweating her job. Olson went on to assure NaG fans that readership remained strong for both the weekly and daily and no one had been laid off yet. He wooed advertisers by reminding them of the paper’s budget-friendly “Shop Local” ad campaign.

“Our allegiance is to the community,” Olson concluded to the faint strains of “God Bless America,” or something like that.

Newcomer Kevin Huelsmann got into the act as well. His piece in November on the Town’s idea of charging a fee for accessing public records featured quotes from various Jackson “residents;” one named Angus M. Thuermer Jr. Now why does that name sound familiar? Oh yeah, he’s the co-editor of the paper, Huelsmann’s boss.
There is no “I” in reporter

Early in 2009, the News&Guide was tagging these ‘what-it-was-like-to-be-there’ stories with a “reporter’s notebook” notation. That got lost a few months later when Kelsey Dayton took NaG readers to new heights in her epic tale (2,300 words) of adventure in the Wind River range.

“Reporter becomes the story,” read one of Dayton’s subheads. She “cried,” she “heaved,” she “panted,” she “shivered,” she “screamed the sound of agony.”

Dayton’s attempted summit of Pingora Peak was cut short by a broken arm but the story languished on. Later, Dayton would write: “Guilt washed over me. What had I done wrong?” It wasn’t clear whether she was talking about the climb, the piece that ran in mid-August, or the earlier story about her accident by fellow reporter, Cara Rank.

NaG reporter: “This is about vanity.”
Rank, nee Froedge, had her own spotlight in an account of her visit to the Social Security Administration office in Idaho Falls to change her name. Rank guided readers through the mounds of government paperwork and hassle required to change one’s last name.

Readers also learned Rank was 31, Welsh, and recently married in September. Her mother’s name is Sara. Her old college boyfriend called her “Froggy.” And her dream is to publish a piece with The New Yorker.

Hey, we don’t mean to be snarky. Van Gogh, Warhol, Leibovitz all turned the camera on themselves at some point in their careers. But today’s readers just might crave a little more than whatever Johanna Love’s kid threw up on her last week. – Jake Nichols

A DECADE IN REVIEW

The Short List
A couple weeks ago, JH Weekly sat down with Jackson Hole News&Guide and a small panel at the library’s monthly What’s News program to discuss the decade’s biggest newsmakers. We came up with a list of about 10 items, based on the key condition that these events and people will have a lasting impact. In no particular order, these are most likely the biggest newsmakers of the Aughts, relative to Jackson Hole:

9/11; probably the biggest world event of the last decade, the attack on the World Trade Center really hit home with Jackson Hole residents who knew what the news reports meant when they said that Vice President Dick Cheney was safe in an “undisclosed location.” But Cheney is hardly the most relevant thing about 9/11. The collapse of the Twin Towers forced some valley residents to head east to support friends and family, while other people moved to mountainous regions to feel safer and far too many of their children went off to war. 

Four Seasons Syndrome – in other words, high-end developments, workers commuting from over the hill and down the canyon, sushi restaurants and Teton County as the wealthiest county in the country.

Latino Community

Patterns of development, including County land-use and Town redevelopment, from the Rockefeller preserve to the Center for the Arts.

The natural environment, including the green movement, and wildlife issues

Affordable housing as a political force
Rise of local nonprofits (how many can one town have?)
Real Estate (nuff said)
Media and media technology, including blogs, Facebook, Twitter, smart phones, JHN&G merger, and emergence of Planet JH Weekly.
Dick Cheney    – Matthew Irwin

Latino America
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Latino population of Teton County more than doubled in number from 2000 to 2008, and nearly doubled as a percentage of the total population of the region. Latinos also represented the largest increase in a particular group.

In 2000, the bureau recorded 1,185 Latinos at 6.5 percent of the population. In 2008, it recorded 2,547 at 12.5 percent.

What’s more, out of 2,125 new faces counted in 2008, 1,362 identified as Latino or Hispanic.

Teton County is also well over the state count, at 12 percent and 8 percent respectively.

One can hardly bring up topics from schools, jobs and healthcare to community identity without considering the influence and impact of the local Latino population. Fortunately, through groups such as Ladrillos and the Latino Resource Center, Jackson Hole is not waiting to take its cues from the national dialogue on how to integrate and appreciate its residents from south of the border. – Matthew Irwin

Dick Cheney, Jackson’s Baldest Eagle
Even with his homes allegedly censored from Google Earth, Jackson knows that Dick Cheney’s official residence is in the Teton Pines.

In this liberal town, Cheney elicited a mixed response.

The VP did not often have a pervasive political or physical presence in Jackson, preferring to spend much of his time here quietly fly-fishing on the Snake River.
Barring the Secret Service helicopters hovering overhead and the delays caused by Air Force Two clogging up the Jackson Hole Airport, you might never know he was here.

Except on election days. In 2000 and 2004, he cast his official ballot in Teton County for the elections that would make him vice president for most of the decade.

Beginning his first term, Cheney had the majority of the American public’s support, measuring 60 percent in April 2001 according to the Gallup poll. Public support only grew stronger after the security threat of 9/11.

But his public image deteriorated as the Bush administration began expanding executive power, endorsing “enhanced interrogation techniques,” and preemptively starting wars.

Two wars, a botched response to a national emergency in New Orleans, an injured hunting buddy and plenty of Darth Vader allusions later, Cheney’s national approval rating fell to 30 percent in 2007. The national disapproval was echoed locally.

In 2007, Jackson residents organized an anti-Cheney peace rally, featuring a mock beheading of the VP outside of his Jackson home, which garnered national attention.

At the end of his term, Cheney returned to Jackson Hole to gratitude and disdain. One of his loyal supporters ran a full-page welcome home ad that ran in the Jackson Hole Daily. It read, ‘Thank you Vice President Cheney…for keeping our country safe.’

In response, a fervent dissenter printed an ad in the JH Weekly that read ‘thanks for nothing’ and pictured original artwork of Bush and Cheney wearing Nazi uniforms. – Christie Koriakin

Center for the Arts
In 2003, shovels plunged into the earth on Glenwood Ave. and construction commenced on what is now arguably one of the most significant vehicles for art, education and art organizations in Jackson Hole.

The Center for the Arts is not simply a high-end venue that draws globally renowned performers such as the Neville Brothers, Willie Nelson and Bela Fleck – who plucked his banjo to a sold out crowd at the Center Theater just a few weeks ago.

The 41,000-square foot arts and education pavilion and performing arts pavilion that make up the Center are a major nucleus of activity for those interested in art, education, music, dance, film and theater.

Its sleek architecture might have you feeling like you just stepped into a museum but the Center decidedly doesn’t keep museum hours.

All week long, students, teachers and creative juices ripple through this mammoth structure. 

Dancers learning flamenco point their toes and curl their arms and belly-dancers gyrate at Dancers’ Workshop. Down the stairs, fingers glide against a muddy, slick surface on pottery wheels at the Art Association. And across a hallway, thespians roar during rehearsals for an Off Square Theater production.

Amid a challenging climate for the art world, contemporary galleries that provide a voice for a growing movement of art in the valley such as Teton Artlab have found refuge at the Center. 

But perhaps of even more importance is that the Center has created a permanent home for higher education in an area that is miles from a university or community college.  Both Central Wyoming College and the University of Wyoming have classrooms in the education pavilion allowing for students to fully participate in a distance curriculum ala audio and video courses that require correspondence beyond the online forum. – Robyn Vincent

Wolves

 Thirty-one wolves from Canada were reintroduced to the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem in the mid 90s, igniting a fierce and nuanced debate on wolf management that spanned the entire decade.  

In the first half of this decade, wolves enjoyed the protection of the Federal Endangered Species List.

The animal’s population in the Northern Rocky Mountain states of Wyoming, Idaho and Montana grew steadily, reaching their minimum recovery goal by 2002.

This was a major success story for pro-wolf groups, but a point of contention for a slew of groups opposed to the wolf’s federal protections for various political and practical reasons.

Ranchers and hunters disliked the growing wolf population, complaining that wolves were depredating livestock and killing big game.  State’s rights advocates argued that the federal government was intruding on their governance.

The wolf’s image underwent a propaganda war wherein the animal was decried as a vicious predator by some and touted as an essential and invaluable asset to the environment by others.

By March 2008, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services deemed the wolf population stable enough for delisting, and handed over wolf management to the state of Wyoming, a decision that didn’t last long.

An alliance of concerned conservation groups – worried that wolves would be massacred because the state allowed for wolves to be killed on site as predatory animals in 88 percent of the state – challenged the delisting decision with a lawsuit.

In January 2009, the courts found that Wyoming’s wolf management plan was not sufficient and wolves were put back on the Endangered Species list in Wyoming, but not in Montana or Idaho.

Idaho and Montana’s delisting have both been challenged by separate lawsuits, but for now the states remain the only two states in the lower 48 with control of their wolf population. Hunting was permitted under strict regulations in both states this year.

Wyoming wolves remain under federal protection, and their population is flourishing, up 12 percent from last year. – Christie Koriakin

 

JH Venues
Changes in venues often steer a music community. The death of the Shady Lady Saloon at Snow King Resort in ‘06 was a turning point for club musicians and deejays. New kid on the block, 43 North, was quick to step up to fill the demand for rowdy late night entertainment, hosting deejays and bands five nights a week, until recently. 

Bill and Ginger Baxter purchased the Wort Hotel in ’04 and remodeled it in ’06, which expanded the Silver Dollar Bar and revived the Greenback stage. They upped the music ante for country-rock and bluegrass dance bands, resulting in a resurgence of young locals, cowboys and tourists alike.

The Mangy Moose and Knotty Pine led the charge for touring acts on a club level. Quality lineups at each venue climaxed during ’04 to ‘05, delivering a swarm of memorable shows like Medeski, Martin & Wood, Galactic, Derek Trucks Band, Little Feat, Hot Tuna, and several from Carlos Washington and Giant People.

The addition of the Center Theater in the Center for the Arts raised the bar in ’07, enabling the community to attract a whole new tier of top-notch performers. And Dornan’s Spur Bar gets the sustainability award, keeping with a tried-and-true acoustic tradition.

One question still remains unanswered—where is the in-town, moderately priced music venue that features up-and-coming, touring acts of all genres?
– Aaron Davis

Pop of the Naughts
Top 40 in the 00s wasn’t quite a big yawn, but was ruled by some unoriginal pop diva rock stars like Britney Spears and Miley Cyrus. There were a couple of diamond divas in the rough (i.e. Alicia Keys, Amy Winehouse), and bands like Coldplay and Green Day added diversification to the charts that made a huge splash around the world.

But not enough changed. Country is the new pop. Pop is the new hip-hop. Continuing to base the industry towards entertaining rather than music will do nothing for the latter, except establish a model.

Thankfully, the dizzying variations of distribution channels make it easy to access the music that’s not smeared across commercial radio and TV. As mainstream pop erodes, there’s still an under skin of real pop musicians worth discovering, just have your sieve handy. – Aaron Davis

Lady Gaga
At only 23, Lady Gaga has ruled the pop and dance scene with enthusiasm and panache, monopolizing the pop charts with hits like 2007’s “Just Dance,” “Poker Face,” and the new hit “Bad Romance,” which has an astonishing 54 million hits on YouTube since its release on Nov. 10.

With only one album released, “The Fame” and an addendum eight track, it’s surprising that she has garnered recognition in such a short timeframe.  However, it’s becoming harder and harder to miss her elaborate costumes, and her powerhouse vocals and songwriting that’s been rocking concerts and music stations around the world.

She has established a dedicated fan base seemingly overnight, and has already reached the popularity standards set by artists like Madonna and Prince.  In just a few years, Lady Gaga has reignited the pop scene and has become an artist to be reckoned with.

Sorry Britney,your decade is up. – Andrew Munz

The Twilight Saga
By now there are very few of us who have not heard about the Twilight phenomenon. But what makes a simple story of Bella Swann, an innocent teenager, falling in love with Edward Cullen, a brooding vampire, so decade defining?
With more than 85 million books sold of the four-volume series (the first hitting bookstores in 2005), by Stephenie Meyers, and two blockbuster films, the series has become an international sensation and has been translated into almost 40 different languages.  Valley Bookstore alone has sold more than 1,000 copies within the last two years.

Riding on the cloaktails of the Harry Potter series, it seems young readers have found their new supernatural niche.  Girls can relate to Bella’s teenage alienation, and boys are just as addicted, finding solace in the high tensile action.  Though some parents are wary about the books’ sexual subtext, most are thankful their kids are actually reading.  The 400-plus page books are known to be devoured in a mere afternoon.

The saga’s popularity has inspired many other young adult authors to write vampire-themed novels, and has helped greenlight successful TV shows such as “True Blood” and “The Vampire Diaries.” 

If Anne Rice dominated the vampire scene in the 70s and 80s, and Buffy Summers defined the 90s, there’s no doubt the 00s are reigned by Twilight, and Mrs. Meyers is queen.  – Andrew Munz

25 Albums of the 00s
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Wilco (2002)
Kid A, Radiohead (2000)
Heartbreaker, Ryan Adams (2000)
Soul Journey, Gillian Welch (2003)
O.C.M.S., Old Crow Medicine Show (2004)
It Still Moves, My Morning Jacket (2003)
The Moon & Antarctica, Modest Mouse (2000)
Emotionalism, The Avett Brothers (2007)
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, The Flaming Lips (2002)
White Blood Cells, The White Stripes (2002)
Sea Change, Beck (2002)
Love and Theft, Bob Dylan (2001)
Brother Where Art Thou? Various Artists (2000)
Come Away With Me, Norah Jones (2002)
Trouble, Ray LaMontagne (2004)
1000 Kisses, Patty Griffin (2002)
Back to Black, Amy Winehouse (2003)
American III: Solitary Man, Johnny Cash (2000)
Look Into the Eyeball, David Byrne (2001)
World Without Tears, Lucinda Williams (2003)
Songlines, Derek Trucks Band (2006)
Van Lear Rose, Loretta Lynn (2004)
Stankonia, OutKast (2000)
Acid Tongue, Jenny Lewis (2008)
Plague of Dreams, The everybodyfields (2005)

King of Pop Lives On
Though Michael Jackson passed at age 50 this past June, his gargantuan stamp on pop culture will live on for decades to come. Elvis, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones come to mind when pondering the larger-than-life popularity in which he exists.

With the help of genius producers like Quincy Jones, he set the benchmark for pop production. His dominance of MTV and radio propelled him to be the most prominent music icon of the last four decades. And now his vocal phrasing is constantly imitated, the “moonwalk” and “robot” are forever engrained, and throughout his career he managed to donate and raise more than $300 million for charities.

The death of a super star exponentially mystifies his career and in this case, the drama may salt the news until next June. But like the early passing of John Lennon, Jackson’s untimely death will allow the next few generations to consume his music and stigma in a softer light.  – Aaron Davis


PERMALINK:
Newsmakers of the year, Decade recap | Planet JH News Article: Cover Stories

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