The Casper Journal :: Casper's Community Newspaper

Grump, grump, grump. Seems like this is a week for complaints.

Spring is late in coming and it has been a hard and relentless winter by comparison with the last dozen or so. Nearly everyone is ready for warmer weather.

Except I heard someone complaining that the snow on Casper Mountain has never been better and how it’s a shame the warm weather will ruin the skiing. I can see both sides of that one.

And in a way, that would put a smile on King Solomon’s face; nobody will be happy when everything on the mountain turns to mud in the coming weeks.

It is tax season too. Whether you are one who regularly receives a refund or one who owes money, the April 15 deadline no doubt rings a bell with you.

My uncle, Bruce Ward, once said to me, “Son, if you don’t owe taxes, you probably didn’t make any money.”

I’ve learned that statement is true enough. But I, like most everyone, still am weary of the reality of the adage.

And then, on the street just outside my office on Wolcott Street in downtown Casper, there are parking problems!

Ugh. The bad thing is that they are very real in some blocks. The good thing is that these problems are in some way an answer to prayer.

Just a few short years ago, the downtown merchants and professionals were begging for people to come downtown. Now they are. The downtown is more vibrant than it has been in recent memory. There are more people living above the first floor, more shopping options and more restaurants.

So we have parking problems. But they are not terrible, and the City of Casper is addressing them with more enforcement and higher fines for overstaying the two-hour limit. That should help.

Plus the Chamber’s parking garage is better managed than ever, and has become an attractive option that many people are using as a result of tighter parking.

We are really lucky that these are our problems. Looking around the world, things could be worse. Stories where the downtown is so dangerous that business dries up after dark are not uncommon.

Rigged elections where voters fear marauding thugs trying to influence the vote in any upcoming election are a reality in some parts of the world today.

And while we may not enjoy paying taxes, at least they don’t disappear into a government that does not provide the level of service we have come to expect.

So all in all, I’m happy with our set of problems. I’ll take them gratefully. Because as real as they may be, springtime is finally coming, and there’s a place to park right outside my office door.

I just checked.

E-mail Dale Bohren at publisher@casperjournal.com

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