A couple of the regulars at the coffee meeting asked about the “one-lane” traffic on the east bound lane of I-90 where the road crosses US 16 next to Bighorn Tire.
Anyone driving under that bridge can quickly see the problem. Earlier this summer something hit one of the steel spans hard enough to bend it out and actually move the structure a tad to the west.
It was a “hit and run” kind of event, because no one reported the accident which will probably costs hundreds of thousands of dollars to repair.
But those inexpensive TV surveillance cameras are on lot of buildings around the village and local Highway Patrolmen were able to identify the rig that did all that damage.
It turns out it was a large excavator being hauled on a flatbed semi-truck. The driver apparently had neglected to “lower the boom” enough. A highway department employee told the Bench Sitters the guilty guy was “apologetic and cooperative.” Imagine his insurance company is not too happy however.
By looking at several cameras, they were able to identify the truck, trailer (from Campbell County) and now the WYDOT engineering department is designing the project for some major repairs.
We know some of the local people who are sick with the Covid Virus. A few are very sick. They all have one thing in common – they decided not to get vaccinated for one reason or another.
Some say they just “procrastinated” or thought they were in good health and it probably wouldn’t be any worse than the flu if they did catch it.
Guess it comes under the heading of “whoops.”
We hope they all recover without any lasting damage to their health.
Old Bad News claims he has proof Covid has been around for years. “I know a dozen locals who act and talk like they have serious brain damage and I’ll bet it was caused by this virus before they gave it a name.”
Meanwhile, back down at the feed store we are hearing complaints about how low the streams coming off the mountain are flowing. Some that usually run at least a trickle into the fall have stopped completely.
Pumping or hauling water for livestock is unusual, but apparently needed in a few places. Anyone driving around the county has noticed a lot of dry reservoirs.
And when the California smoke cleared out for a couple of days we all noticed the last of the snow banks on the peaks have melted away . . . just grey granite showing now.
Wyoming Jack O’Brian used to tell dudes the creek was so low he had seen trout carrying canteens.
Local bow hunters are going to be happy with cooler weather which is supposed to roll into the area over the weekend, and we hear there is even a possibility of a little snow in the mountains for the “pointy-stick” elk hunters.
And a couple of the early morning coffee group confirmed these early season bow hunters sometimes answer each other’s bugle calls and end up hunting each other down.
Good way to get acquainted with fellow hunters.
Local football fans were all smiles this week after the Bison got past Green River 20-19, the UW Cowboys won another thriller with last minute scores and the Denver Broncos handled the New York Giants on the road.
A good start for the season. The only downer was Pittsburg beating Josh Allen and the Bills.
The oldest member of the Bench Sitters spends so much time telling us about how it used to be around here that the boys have named him “Back When.” This week he told us the best bootleg beer in Buffalo during the prohibition was made and sold by a family named Lager who lived on Charles Street (now Lobban). He claims they had no problems with the law because they were among their best customers.
We’ll keep you posted on things you didn’t really need to know again next week.
