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Providing healthcare for Carbon County is no easy task. With 10 municipalities and a county nearly 8,000 square miles in size, it can be difficult to try and meet the needs of every resident. That doesn't mean, however, Memorial Hospital of Carbon County (MHCC) isn't trying. On April 1, formally released their Community Health Needs Assessment. "Every three years, we go through this process. It needs to be this ongoing evaluation of our health needs within our area across the entire county. As w...
When I was younger, I used to wonder what it would be like to time travel. The ability to go backwards or forwards through time was such an exciting concept and I had a mental list of all the places I’d want to visit, from the Ancient Pyramids of Egypt—when they weren’t so ancient—to some far off future. As I’ve grown older, I’ve realized all one needs to do to time travel is blink. It seems like just yesterday my wife, Telitha, and I were dropping our son, Jareth, off for his first day of kind... Full story
The April meeting of the Carbon County School District No. 2 (CCSD2) Board of Trustees may get a dose of cheer. During the March 21 meeting of the Board of Trustees, CCSD2 Superintendent Jim Copeland and Saratoga Middle/High School (SMHS) Principal J.D. Johnson informed the board two parents had expressed interest in starting a cheer group for the high school. According to Copeland, the parents said they were considering self-funding the program. This would not be without precedent, as the six-m...
It might have been spring break for Saratoga schools, but that didn’t stop the Panthers from competing in the Wheatland Invite on April 1. On Friday, a number of Head Coach Rex Hohnholt’s student athletes placed in the top 10 of their respective events with some taking 1st place. The run to Wheatland gave the Panthers one more meet under their belt for the season as they prepared to host the Burt Willford Memorial Invite this weekend. Girls In the 200 meter dash, Whitney Bennett took 5th place w...
The Saratoga Town Council will be practicing bipartisanship and building bridges in the very literal sense. During the March 15 meeting of the governing body, Mayor Creed James read correspondence received from the Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) regarding the Federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, also known as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. "It says the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill dedicated $45 million per year for five years to the State of Wyoming to replace or r...
Place your bets! More than a year after granting approval to Wyoming Downs, LLC (Wyoming Downs), the Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCCC) have granted approval to yet another horse racing business to set up shop in the county. While Wyoming Downs has yet to secure any location in the county, another company appears ready to establish their fourth location in Rawlins. Kyle Ridgeway, CFO of 307 Horse Racing, Inc. appeared before the commissioners at their March 15 meeting along with CEO...
By Joshua Wood As the Saratoga Town Council seeks to, at the very least, start construction on Never Forget Park in Memory of Staff Sergeant Tyler Pickett this year there seems to be one minor hurdle for the governing body. A small sliver of land less than half an acre in size which the Town of Saratoga may have to conduct a land swap to obtain. The discussion came during the March 15 meeting of the governing body. For more than a decade, various incarnations of the town council have discussed...
In February, Darren Jennings, principal at Saratoga Elementary School, was offered a contract as district superintendent for Carbon County School District No. 2 (CCSD2). Jennings accepted, which left the CCSD2 Board of Trustees with the task of finding someone to fill his position for next school year. The search wasn’t long and came down to two candidates; Stephanie Long and Seth Hetherington. Long currently teaches 6th grade at Saratoga Elementary School and Hetherington currently teaches k...
As the end of Fiscal Year 2022 draws ever closer for the Town of Saratoga, the governing body has finally received the results regarding the audit of Fiscal Year 2020. On March 15, the Saratoga Town Council was provided a 30 minute presentation by Tim Fixter of Fagnant, Lewis & Brinda. The Lander-based accounting firm was engaged by the Town of Saratoga in May 2021 to conduct an audit of Fiscal Years 2020 and 2021. It is the third firm engaged by the town council in as many years. Joining the...
A matter of miscommunication. That’s what appears to have led to what Saratoga/Platte Chamber of Commerce board members Amanda Shahadey and Cheena Parsons have described as a “deer in headlights” moment. The board had hired Wyo Laffs Comedy, a duo consisting of Daren Bulow and Don Haines, to perform standup to the room of Chamber Members and award winners. Suffice it to say, the comedy routine was not well received. Haines began the routine and was eventually cut off while Bulow did not get a...
Does America have a “Free Speech Problem”? It probably depends on who you ask. If you ask the New York Times’ editorial board, it certainly does. In a March 18, 2022 column (“America Has a Free Speech Problem”), the editorial board wrote Americans are “losing hold of a fundamental right as citizens of a free country: the right to speak their minds and voice their opinions in public without fear of being shamed or shunned”. In the words of the great swordsman Inigo Montoya, “I do not think it mea...
Saratoga is no stranger to sports involving four-legged mammals, considering the popular rise of Skijoring over the past few years and the popularity of chariot racing the decades before. On March 18, another popular sport was held at the Saratoga Recreation Department. Donkey Basketball-a sport invented in the 1930s as Depression-era entertainment-is still alive and well in the 21st century and drew quite a crowd on Friday evening. A total of four teams took to Kristen Campbell Court for a...
The Saratoga Track and Field team ran off to Pavillion over the weekend to compete in the Wind River High School Invitation on March 19. While there, the girls team would place 2nd out of 14 teams with the boys team placing 8th. A number of the girls athletes also got their pre-qualifications for State Track and Field Meet out of the way early. Girls In the Girls 800 meter run, Madison Teichman placed 1st with a time of 2 minutes, 43.59 seconds and was followed by Rhiwan Williams in 2nd place...
For the past few years, the expenditure of county resources to rescue visiting motorists stranded on seasonally closed county roads has frustrated the Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCCC) and Carbon County Road and Bridge. The motorists, often passing through the county when winter weather forces the closure of Interstate 80, have relied upon the unreliable direction of their map applications. Despite ample signage or warnings from locals, the end result has been the need to rescue said...
The locking of doors during business at one of Saratoga’s liquor establishments was a topic of discussion during the March 15 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council. Saratoga Police Chief Ken Lehr informed the governing body of Saratoga of an incident involving Sergeant Tyler Christen on Saturday evening at the Rustic Bar (Rustic), which is one of three businesses on Bridge Avenue which holds a liquor license. According to Lehr, when Christen went to the Rustic to conduct a bar check he found t...
On March 10, members of the Saratoga/Platte Valley Chamber of Commerce (S/PVCC) gathered in the Great Hall of the Platte Valley Community Center (PVCC) to honor local businesses, organizations and volunteers from throughout the community during the Annual Chamber Dinner. Each year, the Chamber of Commerce honors the Volunteer of the Year, Organization of the Year, New Business of the Year and Business of the Year. A recent addition to the categories, Emerging Business of the Year, is also...
The French impressionist artist Edgar Degas once said "Art is not what you see, but what you make others see." On the afternoon of March 12, the Saratoga Museum held their first "Local Artists on Display" event. The first featured artist was, likely, a familiar face to those who frequent the local United States Post Office. The smiling face of Jessica Lane can often be seen behind the counter at the post office as she helps residents with their mail. Saturday afternoon, Jessica was not behind...
Less than a year after being hired by the Town of Saratoga, Sergeant Justin Brown was terminated following a 90 minute public hearing at a special meeting of the Saratoga Town Council on March 1. The termination of Brown from the Saratoga Police Department (SPD) comes three months after Carbon County Sheriff's Office (CCSO) attempted to execute a search warrant for a K9 dog, Shaw, owned by Brown. The hearing, which had originally been scheduled for February 11, had been postponed following...
To say the photo used for my column in the Saratoga Sun is outdated would be a bit of an understatement. In October 2021, I made the decision to finally commit to my balding and began shaving my head. Now I’m beginning to think it was some serious forethought on my part, presumably to prevent me from pulling out what was left of it. The past few months at the Sun office have been a little strained, to say the least. Change, they say, is the only constant in life. For those who pay attention t...
The season came to an end for the Saratoga Lady Panthers on March 4 as they were dealt their second of two losses at the 1A State Basketball Tournament in Casper. “State did not turn out exactly how we had hoped, but we are very happy to have made it to state nonetheless,” said Head Coach Heather Bartlett. “It is always a very big accomplishment to make it to state and I am beyond proud of the girls for making it there.” The Lady Panthers faced the Southeast Lady Cyclones—the eventual State Cha...
The Little Snake River Valley (LSRV) Lady Rattlers were able to play three games at the 1A State Basketball Tournament this weekend. Unfortunately, those three games did not all go the Lady Rattlers’ way as they went 1-2 to end their season. “We knew that when you get to State that we would have to put three solid games together and, unfortunately, we weren’t able to do that this weekend,” said Head Coach Mark Gillies. The Lady Rattlers faced off against the Upton Lady Bobcats—the eventual...
The Saratoga Panthers have ended their season as one of the top three teams in Wyoming following the 1A State Basketball Tournament in Casper this weekend. Facing off against three teams—including the eventual State Champions—the Panthers were able to end their season with a win. “I am very proud of the boys and the weekend that we had,” said Head Coach Jason Williams. “We came home with a 3rd Place Trophy and they worked very, very hard to get that trophy.” To get that trophy, Saratoga fa...
The season has come to an end for Saratoga Panther Wrestling as they competed in the 2A State Wrestling Tournament in Casper this weekend. The Panther grapplers took seven wrestlers to the Ford Wyoming Center and three of them saw individual placings while the team landed in the middle of the 2A rankings in 11th place with a score of 61.5, between Greybull/Riverside and Big Piney. 106 Class Representing the 106 weight class for Saratoga, Brain Smith placed 5th at the state tournament. In Champio...
The Saratoga Lady Panthers will be making their second trip to the state tournament since 2005. It also marks the second time the Lady Panthers will be going to the 1A State Basketball Tournament since entering the 1A Conference in 2017. "We are very excited to be going to the state tournament! It was an exciting weekend with many close games for us," said Head Coach Heather Bartlett. "I am very proud of the girls and their efforts in all of the games this weekend. They had to grit out four...
The Saratoga Panthers have officially punched their ticket to the 1A State Basketball Tournament, returning to Casper for the third year in a row. The Panthers' will enter the state tournament and will return to the Ford Wyoming Center as the No. 2 West Seed. That placing came after Saratoga dealt losses to the Ten Sleep Pioneers and the Farson-Eden Pronghorns before falling to the Dubois Rams in the championship round. "Our goal for the regional tournament was first and foremost to qualify for...