Cheyenne, WY

Support the Cheyenne Little Theatre by attending its

2nd Annual Mardi Gras Masked Ball

Friday, March 4, 2011

6pm Cocktails, 6:30pm Dinner

Historic Atlas Theatre

(211 West Lincolnway, Cheyenne)

Join the Cheyenne Little Theatre playersfor a fun Mardi Gras Celebration including, dinner and desert, live and silent auctions, live entertainment featuring the Cheyenne East High School Jazz Band, DJ & dancing, including a traditional Mardi Gras Second Line Dance and more!

Costumes and masks are encourage!

Tickets are on sale now for $45 per person. Call the box office today at 638.6543 to purchase your tickets, or order them online.

This is a great opportunity to not only support a local Cheyenne organization, but to get out with some friends and have some 'masked' fun.

Do I need to have an escrow account? How does it work? When is it used? These are all great questions to ask a lender when buying a home. To start, here is a simple definition:

Escrow, an amount of money or property granted to somebody but held by a third party and only released after a specific condition has been met.

So how exactly does escrow apply when buying a home? In an article provided by the LendingTree.com, escrow and how it works and when to use in buying a house is discussed.

Escrow, what is its purpose?

The idea of escrow is to protect the lender by ensuring that you will pay your taxes and insurance on time. An example of this is if your house was to burn down and you had neglected to pay the insurance; if there was no escrow account, your lender would be left with no collateral.

Escrow, how does it work?

Money placed in escrow is held by a neutral third party who works for both the lender and the borrower. The third party's role is to carry out instructions agreed upon by both parties and releases the money when all the terms of the agreement are met.

Escrow, when is it used?

Your mortgage lender will usually require you to open an escrow account when your mortgage closes to cover property taxes and homeowner's insurance. You will then make an initial deposit that will followed by payments to the account every month. These funds will then be released by the escrow agent as taxes and insurance premiums come due.

Escrow, when can it be waived?

Money you place in an escrow account usually doesn't earn you any interest. For this reason, many borrowers like to pay their taxes and insurance directly. If you place a down payment on your home of more than 20%, lenders may agree to waive an escrow account. The downside to this however, is that some lenders may increase your interest rate slightly to compensate.

Before you sign on the dotted line, be sure to ask all and any questions you may have, especially when it comes to escrow. You can never be too informed.

Governor Matt Mead and state business officials announced Tuesday that construction will begin this spring on a $40 million wind tower manufacturing facility near Cheyenne. This is hoped to be the start of a flourishing industry in Wyoming.

The 30-acre facility will be a milestone in efforts to build a manufacturing sector around the state's growing wind energy industry, and will be Wyoming's first-ever wind energy manufacturing facility. This project should create about 150 new jobs.

Wyoming was chosen to serve as the North American headquarters for Worthington Industries' wind energy division because of its low business costs, work force and regional market projections and because there are no Wyoming-based wind manufacturers to compete with, said company president Ralph Roberts.

A recent federal study predicted wind development could pump $5.1 billion into the state's economy during the next decade and the hope is that building up the wind industry will help even out the boom-bust cycle that the coal, oil and natural gas industries (much of Wyoming's economy) suffer from.

Read more about the plan to build wind towers in Cheyenne on trib.com.

Sounds like this project could be a real boost to Wyoming's economy as well as the city of Cheyenne. What do you think?

When you begin the process of purchasing a home, there are many things that you want to make sure you do. But it is also important to think about the things you should not do before purchasing a home. Every last dime, nickel and penny you spend, and how it is spent, before purchasing a home can factor into whether you will be approved for a mortgage and at what rate.

Here are 10 things you SHOULD NOT DO before buying a home, provided by Move.com:

1. Don't buy any form of transportation that you will have to finance. This would increase your debt-to-income ratios and that is something important that loan officers won't want to see.
2. Don't change your job before applying for a home loan (unless absolutely necessary). You wan't to show lenders stability, which will show that you will be less likely to default on your loan.
3. Don't default on your credit card payments. A track record of responsibility and money management is a must.
4. Don't make large deposits into your bank accounts. Lenders like to see the money that will be used towards your down payment to be have been sitting in your account for at least two months to show that they didn't just appear out of no where.
5. Don't change banks. Like your employment history, you want your banking history to show stability as well.
6. Don't spend your money for closing costs. Part of the price of financing a loan is the closing costs and you will likely have some responsibility for paying them. Be sure to have enough money set aside to take care of these additional costs.
7. Don't co-sign a loan for anyone. Even when you're not the one making payments on a loan, co-signing will still increase your debt-to-income ratio.
8. Don't make large purchases on a credit card. Charging these items will also increase your debt-to-income ratio and now is not the time to do so.
9. Don't lie or provide false information on your loan application. This includes not leaving out any debts or liabilities you have. Remember, if you do it could be considered an act of fraud.
10. Don't have inquiries made into your credit. Keep in mind that every time you open up a new credit card account, an inquiry is made to your credit, even if you don't use the card. Looking for new credit is translated into higher risk for lenders. Mortgage related inquiries typically don't have this affect because the assumption is made that you are "rate shopping". These inquiries probably won't have a huge impact in calculating your ability to repay a loan, but why take the risk if there is no immediate need.

Valentine's day is a day about love. Whether it's love for your significant other, your children or your pets, it's a day to celebrate the love we all have for one another. And what better way to celebrate this Valentine's Day than with your son and/or daughter.

The Cheyenne Family YMCA will be hosting

Father Daughter Dance

Saturday, February 19, 2011

6 - 8 pm

Mother Son Dance

Sunday, February 20, 2011

6 - 8 pm

Enjoy live music, professional photos, dancing and dinner.

For daughters and sons of all ages. Cost is $20 per father/mother. Tickets are on sale at the YMCA (1426 E. Lincolnway, Cheyenne, WY).

Spend a night with your daughter/son, and dance the night away (just remember to wear some padded shoes for comfort of your young one dancing on your feet!).

Visit the Cheyenne Family YMCA website for more information or call 307-634-9622.

The purpose of the Cheyenne Family YMCA is to provide services to youth, adults, and families through physical, mental, and educational programs designed to cultivate physical, mental, and spiritual well being.