Posted: Tuesday, October 7, 2008 12:00 am
Enzi: Bailout bill falls short
CHEYENNE - The $700 billion bailout bill adopted by Congress last week did not solve the major economic problems with housing and credit for small business, Sen. Mike Enzi said Tuesday.
Enzi, who voted against the bill, said Congress could have done a better job if there had been more time to work on the proposal.
"We weren't leaving without getting something done," but Congress could have improved the bill and put in some things to stop the pressure on the housing market, he said.
He said members of Congress on the last day traded votes which is permitted in that governing body.
"If you trade votes in the Wyoming Legislature, it's a felony," Enzi said, during a talk to the annual meeting of the Wyoming Taxpayers Association.
Wyoming's senior senator, who is seeking reelection this year, said Congress will have to do more work on the economic crisis, noting the international impact and the erosion of confidence in the dollar.
"Don't panic over the market," he added.
The volatile stock market, he said, isn't necessarily a measure of how well or how poorly businesses are doing.
"It's a measure of people's emotions about the market," Enzi said.
Hospital picks interim CEO
Cheyenne - The Board of Trustees at Cheyenne Regional Medical Center announced Tuesday that John L. Lucas, M.D., has been appointed interim chief executive officer effective immediately.
Lucas has more than 30 years of medical, executive and administrative experience, according to a release from the hospital. He currently serves as the hospital's chief medical officer, a position he was appointed to in 2006, and before that he served for five years as president and CEO of St. Vincent Hospital in Santa Fe, N.M.
The hospital said a nationwide search to permanently fill the CEO position will begin within the next few weeks.
Guard awaits readiness center
CHEYENNE - The Wyoming National Guard will break ground at 10 a.m. today for its new Joint Forces Readiness Center at F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, according to the Guard.
The $34.7 million complex will be the new home of the Wyoming Military Department. It was funded with a combination of federal Base Realignment and Closure Process funds and state funds. The project should be complete by summer 2010.
The Guard also said this week that a $44 million Army Aviation Support Facility, located in the northwest corner of the F.E. Warren, is scheduled to be completed by January 2010.