Them on Us: Get on your knees in GTNP

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

By Jake Nichols

Engaging idea
Just in time for Valentine’s Day lovers, wedding Web site The Knot released its “9 Romantic Places to Pop the Question” list last Sunday. The rundown contained some eyebrow-raising locales like the Brooklyn Bridge and Jefferson Memorial, but we found the rest to be most sensible, especially the nod to Grand Teton National Park.

Hawaii’s Wailua Falls and the Top of the World restaurant in the Stratosphere (Las Vegas) were no-brainers, but if that outdoorsy type wants to bend a knee somewhere truly inspiring he should look no further than Inspiration Point on the west side of Jenny Lake. The Knot called the view of the valley from Cascade Canyon, “IMAX-esque.”

The greening of the ‘Ghee
Grand Targhee ski resort is making a green name for itself. The Alta resort was recently recognized by Skiing Magazine as the nation’s “greenest” resort. Now, the ‘Ghee plans to do that one better.

Beginning Feb. 12, the hotel is asking guests to sign their Electricity Conservation Pledge, which states that guests promise to turn down and turn off heat and lights when they are not in their rooms, and practice other energy-saving behavior. The reward for compliance is a free pair of Point6 wool socks and the knowledge that you are doing your part to conserve resources.

“We’re all guilty of wasting electricity on vacation,” said Christina Thomure, Director of Sustainable Operations at Grand Targhee. We found the scoop in Tonic, an online news source.

Thinking outside the bun
OC Weekly (Orange County) runs a regular column they call Taco Bell Crime of the Week. Jackson has a Taco Bell. Jackson has doofuses. Sooner or later the twain shall meet, eh?

Sure enough, Gustavo Arellano caught the story in the Jackson Daily concerning the insatiable hunger of Jed Mitchell. The 27-year-old Victor, Idaho man was caught smashing a window at the downtown Taco Bell after being peeved the late-night eatery was not open.

“I was hungry,” Mitchell told the arresting officer when asked why he did it.

Jackson’s dog doo big news in Boston
The fecal fiasco at Cache Creek made it all the way to Boston where the Globe took delight in rewriting the story about the dog poo problem in the popular winter recreation corridor. One Beantown blogger was flabbergasted at the BTNF’s count of 173 ‘steamers.’

“They actually took the time to count 173 piles of dog poo?” wrote orch Dawg. “How long did this take them? Why didn’t they just clean them up while counting? Then the problem would be fixed.”

ICE raids becoming more common
“It’s such a complex problem, getting into the economics of it, the politics of it, even some of the social aspects of it,” Eddie Munoz told the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle regarding increased cases of illegal immigration in the Equality State. Munoz is a professor of criminal justice and Chicano studies at University of Wyoming. “When we have tough economic times, we don’t want immigrants; but when we have good economic times, we want immigrants,” the professor added.

According to the Cheyenne paper, Illegal immigration re-entry cases tripled in Wyoming from 2008 to last year and increased nearly tenfold from a decade ago. Many of the illegal immigration cases come out of Teton County, the piece stated.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities said the increase in crackdowns and deportations are a result of additional officers in the field and a change of Wyoming immigration enforcement headquarters being moved from Salt Lake City to Denver.

Got milk?
One taste of raw milk and you’ll never go back to the pasteurized variety, assures Mike Reid. Reid runs one of two raw dairies licensed in Teton County, Idaho.
“People want to get back to more local, all-natural types of food,” Reid told the Idaho Statesman last week.

Twenty-three states currently ban the sale of raw milk while federal law prohibits its transport across state lines. JHW

Courtesy photo

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Them on Us: Get on your knees in GTNP | Planet JH News Article: General News

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