Political, Wyoming Life Columnist

Dave Simpson

Dave Simpson started his newspaper career in 1973 as a reporter for the Laramie Daily Boomerang. He moved on to editing posts at the Rawlins Daily Times and the Casper Star-Tribune. He then published newspapers in Colorado and Illinois for Howard Publications owners at the time of the Star-Tribune for 17 years.

Dave has written a weekly column about a wide variety of topics for 39 years, winning top columnist awards in Wyoming, Colorado, Illinois and Nebraska.

He and his wife Caryl are retired and live on an old wheat field east of Cheyenne. Their dog Mitch the latest in a long line of black Labrador Retrievers was rescued from the pound in Torrington.

Dave built his log cabin in the Snowy Range of Carbon County in the 1980s, where he spends as much time as possible every summer.

Latest from Dave Simpson

Dave Simpson: Still Trying To Bake Like My Mom

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, “My mother once baked a pie for Amelia Earhart. Didn't make a big deal about it, though. In fact, her own kids didn't know about it until after she died, at age 99.”

Dave SimpsonDecember 24, 2024

Dave Simpson: They're Not Worried About The Debt

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "Some of the smartest guys I know aren't very concerned that our national debt topped $36 trillion last week. One told me, "'Why worry about it? We'll be dead before the (bio material) hits the fan.'"

Dave SimpsonDecember 16, 2024

Dave Simpson: She'll Never Re-Gift This Present

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "My late father in-law, a great guy, once gave his wife a butcher knife and a meat grinder for Christmas. There was speculation in the family about what she might cut off and grind up."

Dave SimpsonDecember 09, 2024

Dave Simpson: Government Waste And Inefficiency? Where?

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, “In the past, lawmakers have been a lot more interested in getting re-elected than in cutting waste and inefficiency. Maybe it will be different this time."

Dave SimpsonDecember 02, 2024

Dave Simpson: The Ugly Cookies Taste Just As Good

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, “Whenever Gramps visits, cookies are to be baked, first with the assistance of one grand daughter, then two years later, with two. (Red hair, blue eyes, both cute as buttons.)”

Dave SimpsonNovember 25, 2024

Dave Simpson: What Was Your Favorite Whopper?

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, “Oprah Winfrey told us if we didn't vote for Kamala Harris, it could be the last time we ever get to vote in an election. Hoo-boy, what a knee-slapper that was.”

Dave SimpsonNovember 21, 2024

Dave Simpson: No Thanks Liz, We'll Go It Alone

Columnist Dave Simpson writes: “Liz Cheney's help apparently didn't help Kamala Harris. It was more like throwing an anvil to a drowning man.”

Dave SimpsonNovember 18, 2024

Dave Simpson: Was That A Nightmare, Or What?

Columnist Dave Simpson writes: “The liberal Lilliputians will continue their efforts to bring down Trump any way they can. But, from where I sit, Trump 2.0 looks pretty ding-dong good.”

Dave SimpsonNovember 11, 2024

Dave Simpson: Old Dave's On Injured Reserve

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, “Until further notice, I'm like a beached whale, washed up on our living room floor, with a bulky cast on my leg that's like having a 10-pound Walleye strapped to my calf, only stiffer.”

Dave SimpsonNovember 04, 2024

Dave Simpson: Where's The Pony In The Pile?

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "What could a President Harris do to top the cabinet appointments of Joe Biden? I'm thinking that bald guy with the red lipstick who steals suitcases from airport luggage carousels would be a shoo-in for Secretary of Transportation."

Dave SimpsonOctober 28, 2024

Dave Simpson: Smile When You Call Us 'Far Right'

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, “Call us what you want – far right, farther right, right wing, whatever. It looks like good old conservative common sense to me.”

Dave SimpsonOctober 21, 2024

Dave Simpson: These Memories Last Forever

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "“Travel as many miles as you have to, pay whatever you have to for a ticket, and stand in line for as long as it takes to see the musicians you love, in their prime, live and in person.”

Dave SimpsonOctober 14, 2024

More from our columnists

Dave Simpson: Too Little, Too Late on Amendment A

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, “Given the sea change we saw in the legislative races in the August primary, let's see if a more conservative legislature can come up with something better than this flawed, last-minute constitutional amendment."

Dave SimpsonOctober 07, 2024

Dave Simpson: How Can The Election Be So Close?

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "Do we live in a country where endorsements by Taylor Swift, Oprah Winfrey and Meryl Streep overpower the fact that 10 million illegal immigrants – some say as many as 20 million – have entered our country illegally, and have been set free?"

Dave SimpsonSeptember 30, 2024

Dave Simpson: The One Thing We Aren't – Surprised

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, “Let's just hope the Secret Service gets its unexpectedly incompetent act together before some nut kills the former president.”

Dave SimpsonSeptember 23, 2024

Dave Simpson: Forget The Election. Let's Go To Dodge.

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, “If you don't love “Gunsmoke” and Marshal Matt Dillon, played by the late James Arness, well, there must be something wrong with you, mister. Get some help.”

Dave SimpsonSeptember 16, 2024

Dave Simpson: Cheneys Opt For 'Radical Liberal'

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "I figured there was nothing Liz Cheney could do to make me regret my three votes for her more than I already did. But, I was wrong. Good luck with those Democrats, Liz. They hated your dad, calling him Darth Vader.''

Dave SimpsonSeptember 09, 2024

Dave Simpson: The Freedom Caucus Suits Him Fine

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "'The old cigar club is closed.' So said my crustiest Republican friend from Casper this week, about the results of the Aug. 20th primary election in Wyoming."

Dave SimpsonSeptember 03, 2024

Dave Simpson: Nobody Told Us We're Too Old

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "Can two guys with a combined age of 146 years build a house high in the mountains of Wyoming? All by themselves? Without heavy equipment? Jury's still out on that."

Dave SimpsonAugust 26, 2024

Dave Simpson: Friends Don't Let Friends Vote Democrat

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "I can't figure out how anyone could vote for these Republican Lite, Rockefeller Republican, milquetoast, go-along-to get-along Republicans. These it-can't-happen-here, ersatz Republicans who vote with Democrats, and some even used to BE Democrats."

Dave SimpsonAugust 19, 2024

Dave Simpson: They 'Doth Protest Too Much, Methinks'

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "Plenty of opinions are flying around, as tends to happen in elections. But it strikes me as desperation to pin all this anger on the Freedom Caucus."

Dave SimpsonAugust 12, 2024

Dave Simpson: Our Guys Aren't On Gordon's List

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "I agree with folks who suggest using Gov. Gordon's endorsement list as a guide on who NOT to vote for.”

Dave SimpsonAugust 05, 2024

Dave Simpson: You Call This The Thrill Of Victory?

Columnist Dave Simpson writes: "A guy beating on a woman for 46 seconds before she gives up in tears sounds pretty damn Draconian to me. Good thing our lawmakers passed a bill, despite the governor's misgivings, to keep this insanity from happening here."

Dave SimpsonAugust 02, 2024

Dave Simpson: Harriet Delivered When No One Else Could (Or Cared)

Cowboy State Daily columnist Dave Simpson writes, "Harriet cut through the red tape and somehow got the Forest Service to do what it should have been doing for years.”

Dave SimpsonJuly 29, 2024

Dave Simpson: You Only Get Fired On 'The Apprentice'

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "“What does it take to get someone fired in this shockingly incompetent government? A dead former president? A dead candidate for president?"

Dave SimpsonJuly 22, 2024

Dave Simpson: Stay Tuned, Goldwater Republicans

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "With only seven actual Democrats in the legislature currently, we have a wave of Born Again Republicans, who claim to have seen the light, experiencing a miraculous political party epiphany. Well, I'm not buying it."

Dave SimpsonJuly 16, 2024

Dave Simpson: Unfriend My Wife? Probably Not

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "My finger may have mistakenly hit an option to declare myself offended, and perhaps put the social media lid on – who'd a thunk it – my wife.”

Dave SimpsonJuly 08, 2024

Dave Simpson: Bug Spray, Dish Soap And A Wine Chaser

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "A mischievous bear is tearing things up in my neck of the Snowy Range this summer, and folks up there are on edge about it."

Dave SimpsonJuly 01, 2024

Dave Simpson: He Led The Band That Saved The Bridge

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "Pat Mehle's expertise as an engineer, his machine shop magic, and his ability to organize his neighbors saved our bridge.”

Dave SimpsonJune 24, 2024

Dave Simpson: Kinder, Gentler Fan Wants Me Dead

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "One reader from the tolerant left writes, 'Thank goodness people like you will die out soon, and a kinder, gentler people will be able to write pieces... Good riddance.'"

Dave SimpsonJune 17, 2024

Dave Simpson: What's A Republican Voter To Do?

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "Mike Yin of Jackson was 'extremely confused' by my column last week. And I understand perfectly. I'd be confused too if I was a Democrat elected by Jackson Democrats."

Dave SimpsonJune 10, 2024

Dave Simpson: Rare Democrats Spotted In Casper

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "What do Wyoming Democrats and Weak Sauce Republicans have in common? They both can't stand the Wyoming Freedom Caucus."

Dave SimpsonJune 03, 2024

Dave Simpson: The Trump Trial -- What A Disaster

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "“Remember when convictions of black defendants in the south were reported with the words 'by an all-white jury?' If Trump is convicted, the media probably won't write 'convicted by an all-Democrat jury.'”

Dave SimpsonMay 27, 2024

Dave Simpson: Don't Be A Weak-Sauce Republican

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "A transplant from Oregon expected to find Republican Red-State nirvana when he moved to Wyoming. That's not what he found."

Dave SimpsonMay 20, 2024

Dave Simpson: I'm Not Buying Any Of This Crap

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "We're expected to believe that folks who don't want boys playing girl's sports, don't want porn in children's libraries, and don't want children switching genders, are all 'far right,' and don't want 'Wyoming solutions to Wyoming problems.' Not so."

Dave SimpsonMay 13, 2024

Dave Simpson: These Immigrants Loved This Land

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "Here are two families with remarkable stories of hard work, love of country, and determination to succeed. Stories like this are everywhere in a country that from its inception has been the beacon of opportunity."

Dave SimpsonMay 06, 2024

Dave Simpson: They 'Don't Want No Zionists Here'

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "Next time you see young, spoiled, antisemitic demonstrators on campuses battling police officers, think about President Biden's campaign to forgive college loans (many held by people earning big salaries today) by whatever means necessary."

Dave SimpsonApril 29, 2024

Dave Simpson: Going Cold Turkey On TV News

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "Pole dancers, ant poison, life insurance. Avoid those three things and your spouse is less likely to kill you. This is according to research I've been doing watching true crime reality TV shows..."

Dave SimpsonApril 22, 2024

Dave Simpson: Let Me Get This Straight. The Problem Is US?

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "Appearing on Bill Maher last week, Katie Couric said folks like us are driven by 'anti-intellectualism,' and we're jealous of elites like her. This, she theorized, is why so many of us voted for Donald Trump. And not just once, but twice."

Dave SimpsonApril 20, 2024

Dave Simpson: Exposed When The Tide Went Out

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "If your lawmakers voted to kill gun-free zones, then voted against a veto session, bring it up next time they come asking for your vote."

Dave SimpsonApril 15, 2024

Dave Simpson: Who Are These Strange People, Anyway?

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "People as nearby as Nebraska are already mowing their lawns. But we've still got the snowblower gassed up and ready to go, waiting for a Mother's Day blizzard. And the wind is howling like a banshee."

Dave SimpsonApril 08, 2024

Dave Simpson: Oh No! Another Adult In The Room!

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "If the governor is the adult in the room, what does that make the rest of us? (Asking for a friend.)"

Dave SimpsonApril 01, 2024

Dave Simpson: Have The Republicans 'Gone Off The Rails'?

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "Nah. The labels have changed, but the debate in the Wyoming Legislature isn't that much different from what we saw decades ago."

Dave SimpsonMarch 25, 2024

Dave Simpson: Gov. Gordon Protects Us From Ourselves

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "Don't you get the feeling that the governor is rapping our knuckles for things most of us support wholeheartedly? That the guy who spoke at Harvard apparently thinks he deserves a more appreciative constituency?"

Dave SimpsonMarch 23, 2024

Dave Simpson: Smile When You Call Me A Non-Native

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "We might be just as well off with lawmakers who live here because they made the wise decision to come here, not just because this is where their mothers delivered them."

Dave SimpsonMarch 18, 2024

Dave Simpson: I've Lost That Unified Feeling. Gone, Gone, Gone.

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "A testy President Joe Biden poured salt in wounds during his State of the Union address. He once promised to unite our country, but now hates half of us worse than he hates Putin."

Dave SimpsonMarch 11, 2024

Dave Simpson: Is The Wyoming Senate Acting With ‘Absolute Idiocy?’

Dave Simpson writes, “I have long suspected that here in Wyoming, the legislative powers that be allow one house to be the good guys, passing popular bills, confident that the second house would ultimately kill them, usually in committee."

Dave SimpsonMarch 06, 2024

Dave Simpson: Sticking With Donald Trump Despite The Bloviating Jackass Moments

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "Defending Trump can be tough at times, but it beats the daylights out of another four years of clueless Joe Biden."

Dave SimpsonMarch 04, 2024

Dave Simpson: Grab The Special Times Before They're Gone

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "These are precious moments. Whenever my grandkids have a Hershey's Kisses peanut butter cookie, I'm betting they'll remember Gramps, and the good times we had. Grab those special times."

Dave SimpsonFebruary 26, 2024

Dave Simpson: Once Again, Rush Limbaugh Was Right

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "Rush Limbaugh said the powers that be in Washington would do everything in their power to destroy Donald Trump, to destroy his businesses, to destroy his family, and to send the message that scruffy, no-account voters like us must never elect a person like this again. Rush was right."

Dave SimpsonFebruary 19, 2024

Dave Simpson: My Facebook Critics Got It Wrong

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "A critical Facebooker asked how it was possible for me to be wrong about virtually everything. Every. Single. Thing. Another called my columns observations 'from the shallow end of the pool.' (I'll admit I laughed at that one)."

Dave SimpsonFebruary 12, 2024

Dave Simpson: Beating Up Cops? Hey, No Problem!

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "The video last week of 13 thugs – apparently recently-arrived “guests“ in our country – beating and kicking the daylights out of two New York City police officers, shows just how far down the road to perdition we have come."

Dave SimpsonFebruary 05, 2024

Dave Simpson: So WE'RE Extreme? Are You Kidding Me?

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "We hear plenty about 'far-right extremists,' but never far-left extremists. I say throwing open our southern border is the very definition of extreme."

Dave SimpsonJanuary 22, 2024

Dave Simpson: Got Enough Fries In That Happy Meal?

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "The opinion that dangerous insurrectionists like us want to 'unravel democracy' was voiced by former Rep. Liz Cheney on CBS Sunday Morning. Talk like that got her defeated in the 2022 primary election by 37 points."

Dave SimpsonJanuary 15, 2024

Dave Simpson: Me? Hard Of Hearing? Impossible!

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "The sure way to tell when it's time to go get your hearing checked is when your spouse yells at you to go get your hearing checked. That's when."

Dave SimpsonJanuary 08, 2024

Dave Simpson: We Can't Let The Never-Trumpers Get Away With This

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "The Never-Trumpers pulled every trick in the book to stop Trump from draining their comfy swamp. But my guess is Wyoming, and Republicans across the country, will still vote for Trump for many reasons."

Dave SimpsonJanuary 01, 2024

Dave Simpson: 'Uptick?' 'Fair Share?' You're Killin' Me!

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "If this is an illegal immigration 'uptick,' I'd hate to see what a surge looks like."

Dave SimpsonDecember 25, 2023

Dave Simpson: It Was A Merry Walleye Christmas

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "We couldn't leave them home alone for Christmas. I told my mother I would drive the 420 miles, pick them up, and bring them down to our house for Christmas. Then after Christmas, I would drive them back home."

Dave SimpsonDecember 18, 2023

Dave Simpson: Wyoming Solutions To Wyoming Problems?

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "If the governor really prefers 'Wyoming solutions to Wyoming problems,' why the heck is he touting carbon negative at Harvard and on 60 Minutes?"

Dave SimpsonDecember 11, 2023

Dave Simpson: The One Question Nobody Seems To Ask

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "When the adults in the room start throwing around the terms 'sanctuary city,' 'gain of function,' and 'EVs,' we need to ask, 'What could possibly go wrong?'"

Dave SimpsonDecember 04, 2023

Dave Simpson: Fifty Years Ago Today, I Began My Career As A Newsman

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "One day at the police desk, there was a blotter item about a guy dressed up as the Easter Bunny, threatening people with a gun at Third and Grand in Laramie...

Dave SimpsonNovember 27, 2023

Dave Simpson: The Place That Makes You Happy

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "Picture a joyous black Labrador, ears flapping, racing through the golden prairie in hopeless pursuit of a jackrabbit. For me, this is the good life, pure and simple."

Dave SimpsonNovember 20, 2023

Dave Simpson: Wake Me When The Nightmare's Over

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "Over the last three months, our country has borrowed $3 trillion."

Dave SimpsonNovember 13, 2023

Dave Simpson: My Sad Smoke Alarm Tale Of Woe

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "At 2:41 am, we were awakened by a full-fledged, ear-piercing, all-hands-on-deck fire alarm, with the recorded voice of a lady yelling, “FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!” Every alarm in the house – 13 of them – was going off, and the dog was in a panic."

Dave SimpsonNovember 06, 2023

Dave Simpson: Not Exactly A Day At The Beach

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "What on earth was Gov. Gordon thinking when he spoke at Harvard University last week, advocating something called “carbon negative?” How did he expect that to go over in carbon-rich Gillette?"

Dave SimpsonOctober 30, 2023

Dave Simpson: Watching House Republicans This Year Is Like Watching The Denver Broncos

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "I don't lose sleep over government shutdowns, and so far I see life without a Speaker of the House as kind of refreshing."

Dave SimpsonOctober 23, 2023

Dave Simpson: Imagine If Trump Wasn't Running

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "Imagine the panic that would be running through the Democratic Party right now at the prospect of rapidly-declining, stumbling, mumbling Joe Biden running against an energetic, effective advocate of most of the Trump agenda who won his last election as governor of Florida by a million and a half votes."

Dave SimpsonOctober 16, 2023

Dave Simpson: Hillary's Gonna Need A Bigger Boat

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "I don't care if you disagree. I'm 72, too old to pretend this makes sense anymore. I didn't live my life like government operates in Washington – I saved - and you can't make me believe this kind of profligacy won't ultimately bring down our country."

Dave SimpsonOctober 09, 2023

Dave Simpson: Is 'Gender Queer' Author A Book Banner?

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "Is it the equivalent of Nazi Germany for library boards to decide that some books are appropriate for children, and others aren't? Even when the author agrees that her book is inappropriate for young children?"

Dave SimpsonOctober 02, 2023

Dave Simpson: 'Silver Wings,' Not 'Barbie,' Got Raves

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "Sorry I missed 'Barbie' with my friends Bill and Nancy Sniffin, but the highlight of the summer had nothing to do with sitting in a movie theater. It was sitting around a campfire while a retired eye doctor/musician from Nebraska sang 'Silver Wings.'”

Dave SimpsonSeptember 25, 2023

Dave Simpson: Did I Mention It Was 4 Whole Days?

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "Kids shouldn't be spending time every day watching cartoons on television or staring into an iPad. But I'll have to admit that the girls got their share of screen time during their visit, which gave Granny and Gramps time to regroup, catch our breath, and plan strategy."

Dave SimpsonSeptember 18, 2023

Dave Simpson: Oh Good, California Professors Want To Save Wyoming

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "Two professors in California have hope for us. They hope we can get over our silly concerns over vaccine mandates, gender-altering procedures on children, boys playing girls' sports, and talking sex to First Graders in Wyoming."

Dave SimpsonSeptember 15, 2023

Dave Simpson: I Call It The Lumpy Rutherford Party

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "My wife says the Democratic party is the Eddie Haskell Party, in that they are complimentary to June Cleaver's face - 'You're looking particularly beautiful today, Mrs. Cleaver' - but laugh at how gullible adults are behind her back."

Dave SimpsonSeptember 11, 2023

Dave Simpson: Welcome To The Twilight Zone, Voters

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "When guys like me find a Kennedy interesting, lions are no doubt lying down with lambs, pigs have taken wing, and monkeys are flying out of our cabooses. Beware the plague of locusts."

Dave SimpsonSeptember 05, 2023

Dave Simpson: Think You Used Enough Dynamite, Butch?

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "Our Trump-hating Democrat friends are determined, in the words of Sundance, to use enough dynamite to get rid, once and for all, of a guy so craven and evil and sick that he wants to make America great again."

Dave SimpsonAugust 29, 2023

Dave Simpson: Pry That Plastic Bag From My Cold, Dead Hands

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "Here in Wyoming, we shake our flat heads in disbelief at states where you can shoplift at will, where violent people get turned right back out on the street, and where you can pitch a tent on a city sidewalk and pee in the gutter as long as you like."

Dave SimpsonAugust 26, 2023

Dave Simpson: Back Then, We Agreed About Spiro

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "I don't remember any debate among Republicans and Democrats about the propriety of a vice president who accepted bribes. He had to go."

Dave SimpsonAugust 21, 2023

Dave Simpson: Not A Place For The Faint Of Heart

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "Yogi obviously climbed onto a picnic table at one end of the porch, and reduced a large hummingbird feeder to shards of red plastic. Yellow spouts, red perches and empty bottles littered the deck. He even took a swig of tiki lamp fuel."

Dave SimpsonAugust 15, 2023

Dave Simpson: These Guys Don't Take Prisoners

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "Not selecting how-to manuals on sex for a school or public library does not constitute 'book banning.' Caring what your little one is exposed to is not Nazi Germany."

Dave SimpsonAugust 07, 2023

Dave Simpson: Cheers To The Residents Of Gillette For Exercising Common Sense

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "If you buy the notion that not placing a book like “Gender Queer” in a library is a First Amendment violation, you must believe that every book that has ever been published must appear in every library. Baloney. Being a librarian includes deciding what will and what will not be on the shelves. It's part of the job."

Dave SimpsonJuly 31, 2023

Dave Simpson: Don't Make Us Drink The Skim Milk

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "Meanwhile, the Democrats were drinking papaya juice and mojitos, and dancing the Macarena. No holding back those randy party animals. At least they were honest about not caring about deficits ..."

Dave SimpsonJuly 24, 2023

Dave Simpson: Fending Off Those Negative Waves

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "A retired wife, mother, cook, and inveterate reader, Kitty was the only person I know who actually confronted a bear. And prevailed."

Dave SimpsonJuly 17, 2023

Dave Simpson: It's No Picnic In Either Party Today

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "At least Our Guy doesn't fall down, his sentences are mostly understandable, and he doesn't shake hands with people who aren't there."

Dave SimpsonJuly 10, 2023

Dave Simpson: Chipmunks Are Cute. Mice, Not So Much.

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "What Chip and Dale did for chipmunks, Mickey certainly hasn't accomplished for the public perception of mice. Cartoon Mickey is cute, but let's face it, he's vermin."

Dave SimpsonJuly 03, 2023

Dave Simpson: We Root For The Elk. Not The Wolves.

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "'What you have exposed,'” Harriett Hageman told John Durham, “'is that we are dealing with something so corrupt and so rotten that no amount of face paint, deflection, or whitewashing can fix this.'”

Dave SimpsonJune 26, 2023

Dave Simpson: More Evidence It’s Best Not To Leave The Sane Boundaries Of Wyoming

Dave Simpson writes: If Moms for Liberty is an extremist hate group, who's next? The Little Sisters of the Poor?

Dave SimpsonJune 19, 2023

Dave Simpson: Dipping A Toe Into Social Activism

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "If your scolding woke agenda is more important to you than your product, count me out. I've got options."

Dave SimpsonJune 12, 2023

Dave Simpson: Note To Donald -- Shut Up About Ron

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "Many here still prefer Reagan's 11th Commandment: Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican."

Dave SimpsonJune 06, 2023

Dave Simpson: Lander Valley High School Endorses This Book For Children? Seriously?

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "We're not talking about taking 'Catcher in the Rye,' 'Huckleberry Finn,' or 'To Kill a Mockingbird' off library shelves. This is about not making the most raw, obscene material available to young people at Lander's high school."

Dave SimpsonJune 03, 2023

Dave Simpson: Anybody Else Feeling The Anger?

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "Does the state that voted most enthusiastically for Trump like these attacks on DeSantis?"

Dave SimpsonMay 29, 2023

Dave Simpson: That's The Craziest Thing I Ever Heard

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "How on earth have we reached a point at which men dressed in women's clothes, 'twerking' for audiences often including youngsters, and simulating sex, is considered worthy of a how-to seminar at the University of Wyoming?"

Dave SimpsonMay 22, 2023

Dave Simpson: We Didn’t Know How Good We Had It

Dave Simpson writes: “What is happening at the Casper Star-Tribune, sadly, is par for the course at large corporate-owned newspapers. They are struggling with the paradigm of advertising dollars migrating to the internet.”

Dave SimpsonMay 17, 2023

Dave Simpson: With Tucker Gone, Scratch That Fox Nation Subscription

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "The theory that Murdoch family members don't like being shunned at liberal New York cocktail parties rings increasingly true."

Dave SimpsonMay 15, 2023

Dave Simpson: Forrest Gump Had A Term For This

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "We live in the Golden Age of Stupid. There's a cornucopia of faulty thinking out there. It's a clear case of stupid is as stupid does."

Dave SimpsonMay 08, 2023

Dave Simpson: Don't Look Now But No One's Watching The News

Columnist Dave Simpson writes, "More and more, people I know are cutting cords and simply turning off the news..."

Dave SimpsonMay 01, 2023

Dave Simpson: Spend Less? That’s Out Of The Question

Dave Simpson writes: “What doesn't work at home shouldn't work in Washington either, and heaping huge, ruinous debt on our grandkids is selfish and evil.”

Dave SimpsonApril 24, 2023

Dave Simpson: Speaking To The Dead? That's One Gadget I'll Never Need.

Columnist Dave Simpson writes: "This just in: Computer experts can now use Artificial Intelligence to reunite us with our deceased loved ones, compiling data and images to seemingly bring our loved ones back to life."

Dave SimpsonApril 17, 2023

Dave Simpson: The Property Tax Problem Isn't Just In Jackson

Columnist Dave Simpson writes: "Turns out you don't have to be part of the wine, cheese and granola set up in Jackson to feel the pinch of higher property values. Folks in nuts and bolts communities like Cheyenne are feeling the pain, too."

Dave SimpsonApril 10, 2023

Dave Simpson: The Never Trumpers Get Their Man

Columnist Dave Simpson writes: "They won't be truly happy until our 45th president appears in Alex Murdaugh jail coveralls, pink shower clogs, and gets his maximum-security head shaving."

Dave SimpsonApril 03, 2023

Dave Simpson: Thank Heavens It’s Just A Dream

Columnist Dave Simpson writes: "There are persistent news stories – in this dream – that the virus escaped from a lab in China. Worst of all, looks like some of our own tax dollars went into creating the Frankenstein virus that sickened pretty much all of us. Your tax dollars at work."

Dave SimpsonMarch 27, 2023

Dave Simpson: Wyoming House Leadership Scolds People Like Us

Columnist Dave Simpson writes: "At 25 feisty members now, and the real possibility of more in the future, the day may come when a Freedom Caucus member decides what bills get stuck in the dreaded drawer."

Dave SimpsonMarch 20, 2023

Dave Simpson: I’ve Been Married Longer Than Most Murderers Spend In Prison

Columnist Dave Simpson writes: Consider this rule of thumb, young fella: It's a lot easier to take out the garbage than to have a big honking argument about who takes out the garbage. Simple as that.

Dave SimpsonMarch 13, 2023

Dave Simpson: What A Disappointing Legislative Session For The Reddest State In America

Dave Simpson writes: "The real mind-blower was rejecting (via the Speaker's drawer) the bill prohibiting the teaching of gender identity and sexual orientation to children. Have we lost our minds? This is the bill they shoved in the Speaker's drawer to kill?"

Dave SimpsonMarch 06, 2023

Sally Ann Said It Best: ‘Terribly Sad’

Columnist Dave Simpson writes: "Where do you go for all those things my 70 co-workers in Illinois once did every day of the week, back when local newspapers were still viable, essential, and a great place to work?"

Dave SimpsonFebruary 28, 2023

Dave Simpson: Union Pacific Would Handle This Better, Right?

Columnist Dave Simpson writes: "It's hard to imagine how the Norfolk Southern Railroad could possibly have handled the disastrous derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, worse."

Dave SimpsonFebruary 20, 2023

Dave Simpson: Social Media Unleashes The Beast

Columnist Dave Simpson writes: No need to think twice about what you write. No talking a harried editor or libel-leery publisher into printing your angry thoughts. You're the editor now. You're the publisher now. So, let 'er rip!

Dave SimpsonFebruary 14, 2023

Dave Simpson: I Keep Thinking, ‘This Too Shall Pass’

Columnist Dave Simpson writes: "The look on my wife's face was one of shock, as if I'd gotten one of those Mike Tyson face tattoos instead of a simple haircut."

Dave SimpsonFebruary 07, 2023

Dave Simpson: Time To Put Another Log On The Fire

Columnist Dave Simpson writes: As Andy Griffith used to say, Put you feet up. Set a spell. It's a snow day for adults, so let's enjoy the heck out of it. Make hot chocolate. Grilled cheese. Snow angels.

Dave SimpsonJanuary 30, 2023

Dave Simpson: Full Faith And Credit In These Guys?

Columnist Dave Simpson writes: "These lawmakers who are worried about default are the very people who crammed their precious $1.7 trillion, 4,155-page omnibus budget bill full of porky earmark crap just last month."

Dave SimpsonJanuary 24, 2023

Dave Simpson: They’re Off And Running In Cheyenne

Columnist Dave Simpson writes: "If you get a chance, spend a day at the beautifully-restored Wyoming Capitol while the legislative session is underway. It's stunning. And it's never a bad idea to sit up in the gallery and get a look at how the legislative sausage is made."

Dave SimpsonJanuary 16, 2023

Dave Simpson: A ‘Runaway Beer Truck’ Of Chaos?

Columnist Dave Simpson writes: "It's a long shot, in a world controlled up to now by the pigs at the trough, but last week's 'chaos' could result in something really good."

Dave SimpsonJanuary 09, 2023

Dave Simpson: Barrasso Opposed The Omnibus Bill

Columnist Dave Simpson writes: "Checking in on the $1.7 trillion omnibus spending spree, lewd drag queens and little kids, and Wyoming's apparent proliferation of crazies (like us)."

Dave SimpsonJanuary 02, 2023

Dave Simpson: The Abrupt End Of A Life-Long Habit

Columnist Dave Simpson writes: "One thing I'll remember about 2022 is it was the year we canceled our local newspaper..."

Dave SimpsonJanuary 01, 2023

Dave Simpson: And Another Year Goes Belly Up

Columnist Dave Simpson writes: "Ever had a job where you could fail to submit a budget on time for 26 years, run up a huge debt, and still remain employed? Me neither."

Dave SimpsonDecember 26, 2022

Dave Simpson: Less Is More, But This Is Ridiculous

Columnist Dave Simpson writes: "For years we had natural Christmas trees, and my wife took the kids into town while I struggled to get the tree up, so the kids wouldn't learn new words from dad."

Dave SimpsonDecember 20, 2022

Dave Simpson: Tom Horn Got More Due Process Than Anthony Bouchard

Columnist Dave Simpson writes: "I hope Sen. Anthony Bouchard will continue to address the needs of his district and our state, and forego his pursuit of slime balls and swamp monsters."

Dave SimpsonDecember 13, 2022

Dave Simpson: The Best Darned Library In Wyoming

Columnist Dave Simpson writes: "Wyoming has an abundance of quality libraries and friendly librarians. But for the best, come to Cheyenne."

Dave SimpsonDecember 05, 2022

Dave Simpson: What’s The Name Of That Paper Again?

Columnist Dave Simpson got his start at the Laramie Boomerang 49 years ago this week. He covered everything from cattle mutilations and UFOs, failed prison escapes, and an intoxicated Easter bunny getting arrested.

Dave SimpsonNovember 28, 2022

Dave Simpson: A TV Dinner For Thanksgiving? Yup.

Columnist Dave Simpson writes: "One year we had TV dinners for Thanksgiving. The kids loved it. They could have whatever they wanted, and they chose macaroni and cheese."

Dave SimpsonNovember 22, 2022

Dave Simpson: Let’s Turn Our Frowns Upside Down

Columnist Dave Simpson writes: "Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina said a Republican wave would be tantamount to Hitler taking over the country. Maybe the limp showing by Republicans will result in some lesser despot emerging, say a Benito Mussolini, a Fidel Castro, or a Papa Doc."

Dave SimpsonNovember 14, 2022

Dave Simpson: Time To Forgive And Forget? Nope.

Columnist Dave Simpson writes: "After almost three years of vilifying us over one often contradictory decree after another, the folks who made no secret of their frustration with us even firing some for not taking an experimental vaccine now those folks want understanding. I don't think so."

Dave SimpsonNovember 07, 2022

Dave Simpson: Never A Better Time To Live In Wyoming

Columnist Dave Simpson writes: "Just once in the horrible surveillance videos we see of innocent people being beaten to within an inch of their lives, I long to see someone with the ability and the tools necessary to fight back."

Dave SimpsonOctober 31, 2022

Dave Simpson: You Say You Want More Of THIS?

Columnist Dave Simpson writes: "Why WOULDN'T there be a big Republican wave on Nov. 8th? Imagine looking around and saying, 'I gotta get me more of THIS!'"

Dave SimpsonOctober 25, 2022

Dave Simpson: Scary Talk In The ‘Nuclear Sponge’

Columnist Dave Simpson writes: "Call me paranoid, but when the president who can't figure out which side of the stage to exit from, and who shakes hands with people who aren't there when that guy talks about being on the brink of nuclear Armageddon, I get nervous."

Dave SimpsonOctober 17, 2022

Dave Simpson: Smile When You Call Me Extreme, Pardner

Columnist Dave Simpson writes: "When did wanting safe streets, fiscal restraint, smaller government, secure borders, and letting our kids remain innocent for as long as possible when exactly did those things become extreme?"

Dave SimpsonOctober 11, 2022

Dave Simpson: Wandering into Crudités Gulch

Columnist Dave Simpson writes: "Asking questions about vaccines or the 2020 election or what to call Latino people can get you branded as a 'domestic terrorist,' or a 'white supremacist.' And maybe prosecuted in California."

Dave SimpsonOctober 03, 2022

Dave Simpson: And The Long Winter Season Begins

Columnist Dave Simpson writes: "You know the party's over when the hummingbirds suddenly disappear..."

Dave SimpsonSeptember 27, 2022

Dave Simpson: Bottom Line, Stupid Is As Stupid Does

Columnist Dave Simpson writes: "When Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was asked about President Biden's screwy decision to wipe out $10,000 to $20,000 of most student loans on our dime - she said it wasn't enough. Not nearly enough! What do you say to an entitled brat like that?"

Dave SimpsonSeptember 20, 2022

Dave Simpson: Is The King A Regular Kind Of Guy?

Columnist Dave Simpson writes: "The only criticism I had with the Queen was those Corgis. Make me King and I'm going down to the London Pound and getting at least two black Labrador Retrievers (the Cadillac of Dogs), maybe more."

Dave SimpsonSeptember 13, 2022

Dave Simpson: ‘Hey You Kids! Get Off My Lawn!’

Columnist Dave Simpson writes: "If you think you know better than the voters of Wyoming (which didn't work out well for Cheney), let me paraphrase Jeff Foxworthy: Then you may be a RINO!"

Dave SimpsonSeptember 06, 2022

Dave Simpson: You Say Marmot, I Say Whistle Pig

Columnist Dave Simpson writes: "I'm a creature of habit, so most summer afternoons, up high in the Snowy Range, you'll find me listening to the Medicine Bow River, keeping an eye out for moose. And whistle pigs."

Dave SimpsonAugust 29, 2022

Dave Simpson: Ahab Institute Coming To Jackson?

Columnist Dave Simpson writes: "Unless Liz opens the Captain Ahab Institute for the Pursuit of The Great White Donald Trump Whale in Jackson Hole, I predict our news media appeal will quickly fade."

Dave SimpsonAugust 23, 2022

Dave Simpson: I’d Crawl Over Broken Glass To Vote

Columnist Dave Simpson writes: "We're witnessing all-out efforts on multiple fronts to keep the guy 70 million of us voted for from ever being president again, despite the many good things that happened when he was president."

Dave SimpsonAugust 14, 2022

Dave Simpson: Merle Was Right About These Years

Columnist Dave Simpson writes: "I was 67 when my first grand daughter was born, and 69 when her little sister arrived. Suddenly, things like highchairs, stuffed toys, and a wayward pacifier found under a bed, started showing up at our house."

Dave SimpsonAugust 09, 2022

Dave Simpson: The Mind Just Keeps On Boggling

Columnist Dave Simpson writes: "Now we're begging the Saudis to boost oil production, instead of unleashing our domestic energy industry. The mind boggles."

Dave SimpsonAugust 02, 2022

Dave Simpson: Plenty Of Good News Up At Buford

Columnist Dave Simpson writes: "This past weekend, gas at Buford was $4.15 a gallon. I never thought I'd see that as a bargain, but then we'd never had fossil fuel-hostile Joe Biden as president before."

Dave SimpsonJuly 25, 2022

Dave Simpson: These Are The ‘Adults In The Room?’

Columnist Dave Simpson writes: "If this is the best the adults in the room can do runaway inflation, gasoline prices through the roof, chaos at the border with Mexico, enough deadly fentanyl streaming in to kill us all, a thwarted murder plot against a Supreme Court justice, prosecutors who don't prosecute, and a nonstop stream of confusing word salad from our president and vice president?"

Dave SimpsonJuly 19, 2022

Dave Simpson: A Couple Very Tough Nuts To Crack

Columnist Dave Simpson writes: "Cheyenne guy and Casper guy can't figure out why Liz Cheney is on such a crusade against Trump, while representing a state where the former president got 70 percent of the vote highest of any state."

Dave SimpsonJuly 11, 2022

Dave Simpson: A Far Cry From The Watergate Hearings

Columnist Dave Simpson writes: "Some of us are old enough to remember the Watergate hearings back in the summer of 1973. Trust me on this: The January 6th 'hearings' ain't no Watergate hearings. "

Dave SimpsonJuly 06, 2022

Dave Simpson: Try Not To Spend It All In One Place

Columnist Dave Simpson writes: "The average American buys 400 gallons of gas a year, so three months of relief with Joe Biden's gas tax pause of 18 cents a gallon comes to a total of $18. Enough for three more gallons. Don't quit your day job, folks."

Dave SimpsonJune 28, 2022

Dave Simpson: Liz Pursues The Great White Whale

Columnist Dave Simpson writes: "The problem with Rep. Liz Cheney's Captain Ahab-like determination to see that Donald Trump never gets anywhere near the Oval Office again (her words) is that Trump was so much better at the job of being president than President Joe Biden."

Dave SimpsonJune 21, 2022

Dave Simpson: Worth The High Price Of Gasoline…

Columnist Dave Simpson writes: "Maybe something strong from the brewery can help us forget Joe's $4.69 gasoline. Wyoming's at it's best this time of year. It's worth the price of gasoline to get out and about."

Dave SimpsonJune 13, 2022

Dave Simpson: Still Four Feet Of Snow? You Betcha!

Columnist Dave Simpson writes: "As of Monday morning, the government reporting station at Sand Lake in the Medicine Bow National Forest showed 50 inches of snow still on the ground - four feet, two inches."

Dave SimpsonJune 06, 2022

Dave Simpson: Dave’s Hard-Learned Lessons For The Grads

Columnist Dave Simpson writes: "A high school graduation party for a young man I shadowed on his first day walking home from grade school reminds me that it's time for Dave's Hard-Learned Lessons for the Grads."

Dave SimpsonMay 31, 2022

Dave Simpson: A Time When Every Day Is Saturday

Columnist Dave Simpson write: "We're lucky in Wyoming, where most who head off to Washington stay for a few terms, then come home to the state they've professed to love for years. Most don't go native in Washington, and that's a good thing. (Sadly, Mike Enzi didn't get much time to enjoy life back home before his tragic accident.)"

Dave SimpsonMay 23, 2022

Dave Simpson: They’ll Call You Every Name In The Book

Columnist Dave Simpson writes: "Crazy increases in property values shouldn't result in crazy windfalls to government. Taxing bodies need to live in the real world, with the rest of us."

Dave SimpsonMay 17, 2022

Dave Simpson: Conspiracy Theorists, You Say?

Columnist Dave Simpson writes: State party politics is sort of a hobby like spelunking, or flying model airplanes with little connection to everyday conservatives who just want smaller government, fewer regulations, lower taxes, secure borders, less crime, inflation relief, and a whole lot less of this woke insanity.

Dave SimpsonMay 10, 2022