LANDER — Surprisingly, one member of the Fox News All-Stars is vehement in denying he would vote for Donald Trump in the upcoming presidential election.
Cowboy State Daily visited one of Wyoming’s oldest coffee klatches to listen in on what they talk about every morning, which is mostly politics.
Full disclosure, I have been going to this coffee group for over 50 years.
With a name like the Fox News All-Stars, there is little doubt as to the majority political persuasion of the group. They are almost unanimous for former President Donald Trump — except for Stan Cannon, an attorney.
Stan says he can never vote for Trump because of the activities of Trump followers invading the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
As a staff member for former U.S. Sen. Al Simpson, Cannon had the unique position of being just one of 15 congressional staffers who had a pass to go on the Senate floor.
“That was hallowed ground,” he said. “I can never forgive Trump for inciting that riot that led to all those hooligans trashing that place that always meant so much to me.”
Does that mean he’ll vote for Kamala Harris? He said he’s not sure yet.
The coffee group spent this morning covering lots of subjects, from national to hyper-local.
Ax The Tax
They passed around brochures from an “anti” group called Ax The Tax, which was upset with how a half-cent county economic development tax had helped local businesses with grants.
Grants totaling $1.2 million were made to a Riverton group that is planning to build a totally new $47 million hospital in competition with their privately owned hospital.
Despite some grumbling that sounded like old-time Lander versus Riverton rhetoric, most folks around the table expressed concern about the current state of medical service in Fremont County.
There were also grants made to outfits named High Country Fungus, Bucket Truck and Lander LLC. Some of the largest grants were made to guarantee air service ($430,000) and local bus service.
School Board Campaigns
Lander’s, like so many school districts around the state, has seen big discussions over arming teachers (they did) and debating having pornographic books in school libraries.
As expected, the Fox News All-Stars generally support a conservative slate of candidates running for three seats. A more liberal group has been campaigning hard for these seats as well.
Retired banker Charlie Krebs, 78, wondered why so much money was being spent on securing seats that paid nothing for serving?
A conservative slate that includes incumbents Taylor Jacobs and Scott Jensen, plus newcomer Virginia Arbery, is being challenged by a liberal slate that includes Mara Gans, Buck Tilton and Daniel McLane.
Local Issues
Several members questioned why the Lander City Council was working so hard to figure out how to provide more affordable housing.
To the chagrin of several members of the coffee group, the council has been approving some high-density structures on small lots with little concern about providing adequate parking.
A new six-plex was recently built across from Gannet Peak Grade School that seemed to provide very little parking, Del McOmie said. As a former four-term mayor, parking is a big deal to him.
Retired radio station owner Joe Kenney,76, said there didn’t appear to be enough room for the cars, let alone all the boats, snowmobiles, campers, and other toys people like to park on the street.
County, State Issues
County Commissioner Mike Jones, 67, is not running in this election cycle. He says he loves mixing it up with the variety of topics that he has to deal with, along with his four other commissioners.
State Sen. Cale Case, R-Lander, said he had to spend most of the week in Cheyenne because of two legislative committees he is on.
He said he is going to miss the Indian summer weather in Lander while he is gone.
Case has long been the guiding force behind maintaining the creeks and ditches running through the town. Lander may have more of these water courses than any other city or town in the state. He has set up a meeting for folks along the creeks to meet with City Council aspirants on Monday.
Rooting For Yankees, Dodgers
Krebs was relieved that his beloved New York Yankees made it to the World Series.
Former mayor and legislator McOmie, 88, was pleased that his favorite team, the Los Angeles Dodgers, made it.
You can expect to hear some serious debate between the two of them concerning the games.
The coffee group started more than 60 years ago in the Noble Hotel and three of its current members had fathers in that original group. Case (George), Tony McRae (Ray) and Ben Freedman (Stan) all trace their roots back to those original days.
It has always met at 7:30 a.m. six days a week, and now meets at the Inn at Lander Travelodge, owned by Case and his son George.
It never had a formal name until about 15 years ago when it became the Fox News All-Stars, echoing a segment on the popular cable news channel.
The coffee group is quite notorious. It was featured in a full-page spread in USA Today during the Cheney-Hageman political campaign two years ago and was covered by TV stations from Finland, Japan and France plus a myriad of American news organizations.
