DAVID MIRHADI Star-Tribune staff writer | Posted: Sunday, July 30, 2006 12:00 am
If giving birth is a life-altering experience, imagine giving birth to twins. Twice. In the same day.
Okay, so it didn't happen to the same person. But it did happen in the same hospital in Cheyenne on July 18. On that day, the maternity ward at United Medical Center was abuzz with the birth of two sets of twins. It's the first time in recorded history the feat has occurred in Cheyenne, the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle reported in its July 23 edition.
Brian and Jackie Carragher gave birth to Maddison and Haley; and Viola Knight gave birth to twins Lucas and Tayla.
Viola Knight's babies were born a few days ahead of schedule, while Jackie Carragher told the newspaper her children weren't due for another month.
"Just trying to keep up with a feeding schedule for two is phenomenal," said mom Viola Knight. "But I wouldn't give it up for anything."
In preparation for the new arrivals, Knight added more bedrooms, a bathroom and a larger laundry room.
Jackie Carragher's babies were due to arrive home around their original Aug. 17 due date. She plans to stay close to the hospital until then.
"I don't want to be home without them," she said.
Getting a chili reception
For years, Rick Kaan and his girlfriend trudged out their Coleman stove and set up shop on his driveway, bubbling away pot after pot of Kaan's secret chili recipe.
Just as they would during chili cook-offs, they hand-crank the vegetables for their chili, making everything from scratch, including Rick Kaan's secret blend of spices, some of which he created specifically for his chili.
In two months, Kaan's creation will be put to an Oktoberfest of chili, of sorts at the National Chili Cookoff in Omaha, where Martin will be simmering pots with chili champions in the hopes of securing a $25,000 grand prize, according to the Gillette News-Record's July 24 edition.
Quite simply, making the chili is an art, Kaan admits.
"We're mixing chemicals here," he said, careful not to reveal the secret blend of spices in his culinary creation.
At the competition, Kaan's chili will be tested for its color, smell, flavor as well as "front heat" and "back heat" - the fire when the food both enters and leaves the mouth, the News-Record reported.
As for their chances, Kaan shrugs. After all, palates are subjective.
"It's a crapshoot," he admits.
Cops go batty
Ringing alarms at Riverside High School have cops in Basin working extra hard the past few weeks.
The culprit, however, isn't some snarky student who didn't get to graduate or an incoming freshman out on a dare. It's bats.
Seems that bats have set off alarms at the school under demolition, the Basin Republican Rustler reported in its July 20 edition. A group of the bats took up residence in a math classroom. A maintenance worker for Big Horn County School District No. 4 said the situation has driven him almost…well, you know.
"We've disarmed the room for now, to wait for them, so we can all get some sleep," Dave Tharp told the newspaper.
The situation coincides with an alarming number of people calling the police about bat sightings.
"We don't do bats," Basin police chief Dennis Peters joked, adding that residents should call the police only if they've been bitten.
Workers are tearing down part of Riverside High to make way for a lobby and restrooms.
Pitch perfect
Maybe they should have received a congratulatory presidential phone call. With apologies to our commander in chief, the Willoughby family from Daniel appears second to none in the president's favorite pastime.
In the recently completed World Horseshoe Pitching Tournament in Gillette recently, the family took the top three places.
Derek, the youngest, took first in his division. His mother, Linda, took third; his dad, Dave, took second; grandfather Frank placed sixth in their respective divisions, the Pinedale Roundup reported in its July 20 edition.
Professionals can hit "ringers" (placing the horseshoe around a bar) up to 70 percent of the time. The Willoughby clan can do it about half the time.
"We're just peons," Frank, 86, told the paper. "Those professionals, they do it for a living. They even make their own horseshoes."
"It's a sport you can do all your life," Linda said.
Seeing the world on horseback
Ezra Cooley has rode through rain, snowstorms, ice and blazing sun. And, he figures, it's bound to get worse.
Such is the life of a man who planning an around-the-world trip on horseback.
"I'm one of them people, if I think up something that's neat, nothing's gonna stop me from doing it," Cooley, 26, told the Laramie Boomerang during a stop in Wyoming on July 22.
The Chico, Calif., native got to talking with his dad about riding a horse around the world, after first considering doing a cross-country trip. So he sold his pickup and horse trailer and bought a tent, campstove and a .22 rifle. His plan includes riding to New York, then taking a boat to Spain, riding down to Africa, the middle East and Australia, then up to Alaska, through Canada and back to California.
Is this guy nuts?
"Everybody thought I was full of it, but here I am," said Cooley, who began his trip in April.
"I don't ever get bored," he told the newspaper. "I know we'll get there eventually. I've just gotta keep rolling. …Mostly, I've learned that this country is still filled with real good people."
Night editor David Mirhadi can be reached at (307) 266-0616 or david.mirhadi@casperstartribune.net