The following Letters to the Editor appeared in the May 13, 2026 edition of the Star Valley Independent.

Standing up for Democracy

Dear Editor

Remember when we recognized that differences of opinion and ideas across our various representatives in government was what led to smart experiments and outcomes? Collaborative policies helped create a well-informed and thriving middle class, one that impressed the world with joyfully engaged everyday people in neighborly communities. We can choose to BE that way again—and that means leaving behind this idea that ONE PARTY knows best and everyone in that ONE PARTY must vote the exact way that ONE MAN tells them to. Our great Constitutional government creates checks and balances, but our entire Congressional delegation is convinced—somehow—to stay quiet and go along with ONE MAN and all his strange delusions. Legislating actually requires thinking, and having differences of opinion. Our delegation has expressed none.

The current administration openly threatens every member of its own party regarding party-line votes. Most of those are not in the public interest. A golden ballroom with advanced bunker capability to keep a few individuals “safe”? Originally a promise for private funding, but now a billion dollar taxpayer swindle. For example.

War profiteering, for another one—with the president’s family pulling in massive amounts from defense contracts, with profits at Shell up 112%, at BP 132%, and some anonymous investors raking in millions through insider trading just ahead of every government war announcement. While our young servicemembers are sent to the front lines.

The One Party that this administration considers its own is again using a special budget process to exclude any other voices. Money matters. Congressional budgets can restrict executive branch proposals that don’t benefit the people. We expect more from Wyoming legislators, with our tradition of free thinking and independence. That tradition, under this delegation, has been abandoned. We expect Wyoming legislators to do the hard, and valuable, work of negotiation.

Wyoming legislators must speak out against authoritarian tactics. One Party Rule never works in the public interest. Call your members of Congress, or write, telling them to stand up for our democracy. Before it disappears.

Sidney Woods

Enough Is Enough

Dear Editor

Once again, Lincoln County property owners are opening their tax assessments to an unwelcome surprise. After a couple of relatively quiet years, I recently received notice of a $2,029 increase in my property taxes — a figure that demands an explanation county officials have yet to provide.

I live on a gravel road outside the small community of Auburn. The services I receive from the county are minimal at best. Yet we are routinely told that taxes must rise because the county cannot even fund basic emergency medical services. That is a stunning admission — not a justification for higher assessments.

As a licensed real estate professional, I can say with confidence that property values in this valley are not surging. The market is stable and measured. Values are holding level. So why are assessed valuations climbing? If assessments are supposed to reflect market reality, someone in the assessor’s office needs to revisit that mandate.

I’d ask every reader of this letter to pause and consider their own financial picture. Are your wages rising enough to absorb simultaneous increases in property taxes, insurance, utilities, fuel, and groceries? For most working families in this county, the answer is no. And yet our county commissioners — who recently voted themselves a generous pay raise — seem insulated from the pressures the rest of us face daily.

What we have never seen is a transparent, responsible county budget that justifies these recurring increases. Where is the accountability? Where is the line-item scrutiny that taxpayers deserve?

Wyoming has long prided itself on fiscal conservatism and limited government. What we are witnessing in Lincoln County is neither. The illusion that spending can continue to rise without consequence — carried on the backs of average homeowners — cannot hold indefinitely.

Residents deserve answers. And those answers should come before the next assessment, not after.

Ryan Olsen— Auburn, Wyoming

A Nation Rededicated to God

By Amber Hyde

Disclaimer: The following article is protected speech under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and reflect the author’s opinions based on publicly available, information and legislative proceedings.

As America approaches May 17, 2026, many believers see more than a national call to prayer. They see a moment of rededication — a return to the spiritual foundations that inspired the Pilgrims and early believers who came to America seeking the freedom to worship God according to their convictions.

Author and speaker Sheila Holm has described this moment as a spiritual turning point for the nation. Long before political parties and modern government institutions existed, America’s earliest settlers believed liberty could only survive if people remained grounded in moral truth and accountability to God.

The Pilgrims did not come seeking comfort or wealth. They came seeking freedom to live according to biblical principles. They endured persecution, hardship, and uncertainty because they believed faith was worth defending. Their understanding of self-government was tied directly to personal responsibility, morality, and dependence on God.

Today, many Americans feel the nation has drifted far from those principles.

Families struggle under rising costs and economic pressure. Communities are divided by politics, anger, and distrust. Government continues to grow while many citizens feel increasingly powerless. In Wyoming and across rural America, small towns fight economic decline while local leaders debate taxes, budgets, and bureaucracy instead of restoring opportunity and unity.

That is why this call to prayer resonates with so many people.

For believers, this moment is not about politics alone. It is about recognizing that no government can permanently save a nation that has lost its moral foundation. Laws can restrain problems for a time, but they cannot restore honesty, character, or purpose within the people.

Throughout American history, times of national struggle were often followed by spiritual awakenings that renewed communities from the ground up. Many Americans now believe the country stands at another crossroads.

President Trump’s May 17 call to prayer has become symbolic of that choice. One path continues toward division, confusion, and dependence on government institutions. The other calls Americans back toward faith, responsibility, truth, and the principles many believe the Pilgrims tried to preserve.

Whether one agrees politically or not, the deeper message remains important: nations survive when people remain connected to values greater than themselves.

America cannot reclaim unity through politics alone. If the country is to be renewed, many believe it must first be rededicated spiritually — beginning not in Washington, but in the hearts, homes, churches, and communities of the American people.