October 4, 2006
Brandie Bartelt, Staff Writer
The Lusk Herald

Governor Dave Freudenthal visited our small community Wednesday Oct. 4. Governor Freudenthal brought with him his daughter, Hillary Freudenthal, who is taking time off from college to help her father in his campaign for re-election this November.

The Governor first began his time in Lusk at the Niobrara Health and Life Center, where Randi Ross, Bob Brummond and hospital board member Melvin ZumBrunnen greeted him. Ross conducted the tour of the hospital showing the new improvements made to the hospital. Later after the tour Governor Freudenthal sat down and visited with several hospital board members before leaving to present a check to the Library.

Lisa Pischel, library board chairman, Ross Diercks, state representative, and Debbie Sturman welcomed the Governor to the Library. Gov. Freudenthal presented a check to the Library, for $92,164, which is part of a statewide public libraries.

After a short break Gov. Freudenthal met the public at the Senior Center as part of his campaigning across the state. "It has been an honor serving these last four years," Gov. Freudenthal said. After a short speech concerning his campaign, he stated that he and his wife had decided a long time ago that they would travel around the state to ensure that the people were able to have an opportunity to speak with him concerning Wyoming issues. Gov. Freudenthal stated that he would continue to do so and asked the people to continue to support him during his campaign.

Gov. Freudenthal continued by saying that the last four years has been a job performance appraisal for the people to decide whether he has done well. Many people from the community attended the meeting of Gov. Freudenthal. There were a few comments from the people.

One such question came from Rick Luchsinger,  asking about what the state could do to offer support with building housing for the community. Gov. Freudenthal was quick to respond that the state was only involved with sewer, curb, and gutter. He went on to say that he did not want the lines blurred between the states' involvement with housing and the private sector.

Another citizen asked about the road conditions with the highways and when the state would be repairing them. Gov. Freudenthal said that they had asked the legislature from $125 million for upkeep of the roads across the state but had only received $75 million. Gov. Freudenthal acknowledged the importance of maintaining the roads and highways across the state due to the primary use of travel in Wyoming. Gov. Freudenthal walked around and gave the people an opportunity to speak with him one on one before leaving to head home to Cheyenne.