Serving the Platte Valley since 1888
Serving the Platte Valley since 1888
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Four years ago, I started a small internship here at the Saratoga Sun. I started with zero pay, zero idea what I was doing, and zero plans for the future. I don’t think I was engaged with the idea of the internship very much at first. I thought it might be fun, and that it might look good on my resume, but I don’t think I saw myself consistently returning to work at the Sun every summer I was home from college. I am now headed into my senior year at the University of Wyoming. These past few mon...
The option for voters on whether or not to establish a hospital tax district to benefit Memorial Hospital of Carbon County (MHCC) will be placed on the general election ballot in November. The decision to place it on the ballot came following the August 6 meeting of the Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCCC). The proposed hospital district would give an increase in property taxes to those living within its boundaries. Proponents of the measure say new taxes will provide financial support...
Carbon County saw its lowest voter turnout in six years during the primary election on August 20. Voter turnout in Carbon County was 56.72%. Registered voters were also down from 2022, with only 5,388 registrations compared to the previous election’s 5,860. Along party lines, voter turnout for Republicans was 60.21% while turnout for Democrats was 54.41%. Turnout for nonpartisans was 28.15%. This is a significant decrease in voters from the previous primary election, which had 75.07% voter t...
A public hearing on short term rentals (STRs) at the August 13 meeting of the Saratoga Planning Commision saw fiery discussion from a packed crowd. Many members of the public participated in the hearing, giving reasons both for and against regulation of STRs. Discussion on this issue originally began in 2023, when the Planning Commission considered creating an ordinance to limit the number of STRs in Saratoga. The proposed ordinance was tabled after Town Attorney Kylie Waldrip raised concerns it...
Complex questions regarding zone changes were raised during the August 13 meeting of the Saratoga Planning Commission, following a public hearing on a zone change request from retail business (RB) to residential (RD7200). David Rousa said he was requesting the zone change for his property on 804 W Bridge Avenue. Emery Penner, Director of Public Works, said the buildings on the land currently surrounding the plot were residential, making them non-conforming lots. Rousa said his intention was to...
Pickleball was back in the Saratoga Town Council’s court as a proposal for a pickleball facility was presented at the August 6 meeting of the governing body. Cindy Loose and Cindy Carnes, representing the Good Times Pickleball Association, went before the council in order to ask the Town for land to develop a “state-of-the-art pickleball facility.” Carnes said the group currently has 25 members that play off and on at the Platte Valley Community Center Gym. “Currently, our residents have ac...
As a computer science major, one of my biggest pet peeves is the way people talk about and use artificial intelligence (AI). Here’s the deal: a lot of the messaging around AI is all hype. Major tech companies are exalting the immense power of AI as a tool because they want more people to buy into it, and therefore make their billions of dollars of investments into the technology worthwhile. This technology is not as powerful as you have been led to believe. First of all, what we call “artificial...
When going to the Carbon County Fair, it’s a given that you have to enjoy the fair food. The grounds hold a wide variety of vendors who spend the week at the fair, from various food trucks to people in stands selling lemonade outside the exhibit hall. The concessions stand is a mainstay, offering a wide variety of foods to fair goers. The stand is run on a volunteer basis, with all proceeds going to Carbon County School District No. 1 (CCSD1). Students from CCSD1 work at the stand, giving t...
Hundreds of kids participated in this year’s Energy Day at the Carbon County Fair on August 5. The annual event is sponsored by the Carbon County Economic Development Corporation (CCEDC), which focuses on providing support to businesses in Carbon County. The goal of Energy Day is to educate members of the public on various energy initiatives within the county and let participating groups showcase their businesses. “Carbon County Economic Development Corporation has been instrumental in par...
Valley residents saw new and returning candidates for the Board of Carbon County Commissioners participate in the Valley Service Organization (VSO) public forum on July 9 in preparation for the 2024 election. The candidates running for the three open seats are Gwynn Bartlett, Sue Jones, Jimmy Hinkle, John Espy and Garrett Irene. Jones, Espy and Irene all currently serve as commissioners and are running for reelection. Irene did not attend the forum. Patterson began the forum by asking Bartlett,...
The Saratoga Town Council heard from their new appointment to the Carbon County Vistor’s Council (CCVC) during their regular meeting on July 16. Ellie Dana Raymer, the Saratoga representative to the CCVC, spoke to the council to talk about recent initiatives and the 2023 Tourism Master Plan. She highlighted specific portions of the master plan that she thought the town council “might be interested in.” Under “The Visitor Experience” portion of the master plan Dana Raymer focused on goals suc...
Members of the public got a chance to interact with and ask questions to local political candidates at the July 9 Valley Service Organization (VSO) Public Forum Three of the five candidates for Saratoga Town Council attended the forum, with Mike Cooley and Chia Valdez being the four-year-term candidates and Bub Barkhurst being the two-year-term candidate. Sophia Borg, the other two-year-term candidate, and Cory Oxford, a four-year-term candidate, did not participate in the forum. Each candidate...
The current election season chaos continued in full force at the national stage as President Joe Biden announced he was ending his bid for reelection on July 21. The move, coming after weeks of calls to end his candidacy, was a huge upheaval for both parties. Republican nominee and former president Donald Trump quickly decried the move, saying the Republican party should be “reimbursed for fraud” for the money spent attacking Biden. For the Democrats, the party has been left with no primary can...
The Memorial Hospital of Carbon County (MHCC) is looking to form a tax district which would help provide funding for the hospital. Stephanie Hinkle, MHCC Director of Strategic Operations, spoke with the Saratoga Sun to discuss the initiative and the process for the potential district. The Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCCC) will vote during the August 6 meeting to determine whether the formation of the hospital district will be put on the November 2024 ballot. If the resolution during...
Public notices and lifeguards were discussed at the July 2 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council. Joshua Wood, vice president of the Wyoming Press Association (WPA), gave the council a presentation on open meeting laws and the importance of using newspapers for public notices. Wood discussed the Wyoming Association of Municipalities (WAM) Resolution 24-09, regarding legal advertisements. WAM resolutions are not law, but rather suggestions for laws to be enacted by the legislature. The resolution...
Discussion regarding putting the formation of a hospital tax district on the 2024 election ballot took place at the June 18 meeting of the Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCCC). The proposed district would add taxes in certain areas in Carbon County to go towards the Memorial Hospital of Carbon County (MHCC). MHCC Board of Trustees members Garry Goergen and Jerry Steele presented the plan to the BOCCC. “Our hospital is in dire financial straits quite frankly,” Goergen said. “I think we’re...
Fiery back and forth took place as the Saratoga Town Council held a special meeting to hire a new pool manager on June 26. Emery Penner, Director of Public Works, began the meeting by presenting the hiring recommendations from the interview board formed by Mayor Chuck Davis for the pool manager position. The board interviewed two candidates for the pool manager position. They recommended the council hire Sandy Beffa as the pool manager. Councilwoman Kathy Beck questioned whether Beffa was...
Discussion on short term rentals (STRs) is likely to pick back up in the fall as the Saratoga Planning Commission has scheduled a public hearing on the matter for August 13. STRs are housing rented out for a short period of time, typically ranging from a few days to a month. Long term rentals are leased for time periods ranging from several months to years. Previously, the STR discussion began in 2023 when the Planning Commission discussed passing ordinance to potentially regulate the rentals....
The Hotel Wolf brings a classic fine dining experience with a western theme to downtown Saratoga. The historic hotel and restaurant provides a wide variety of meals for both lunch and dinner. For lunch, burgers reign supreme. Each burger patty is made in-house, ensuring juiciness and quality. The Wyoming Whiskey Burger provides a great option, served with an excellent barbeque sauce and bacon. The sauce and bacon gives a one-two-punch of flavor and crunchiness. Moving into sandwiches, the Spicy...
Wyoming’s unofficial motto “water’s for fighting, whiskey’s for drinking” was on full display as people from across the Platte Valley attended a public hearing held by the Wyoming State Engineer’s Office on June 4. The hearing was in regards to State Engineer Docket No. 2023-6-2024, over the HF Sinclair Water Exchange. HF Sinclair purchased the Encampment River Ranch in January 2023 to supplement the refinery’s water supply during dry months, when the refinery’s water rights are not enough to f...
The Saratoga Recreation Department faced multiple resignations at the June 18 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council. Councilwoman Kathy Beck resigned from being town council liaison to the Saratoga Recreation Department Board. She read a letter to the community members, talking about her history with the board and her passion for recreation. In her letter, Beck listed health and wellness, physical activity, community engagement, economic impact and quality of life as reasons why recreation is...
One of the recent resolutions from the Wyoming Association of Municipalities (WAM) would give “local governments the choice of how and where to publish the required memorialization and notice under Wyoming law.” I don’t think this implementation is a good idea, for several reasons. Firstly, this phrasing gives no minimum requirement for where memorialization and notice should be published. If the goal is to allow greater reach of notice by allowing local governments to post notice online this...
Utah State University Professor Mike Glauser recently traveled through Saratoga as a part of his seven week journey to raise money for student scholarships. The goal of the fundraiser, called “Pedaling to End Poverty,” is to dramatically reduce poverty around the globe. Glauser is joined by his wife, several colleagues and a documentary crew to film the experience. Glauser and his team are following the TransAmerica Bicycle Trail, a 4,228 mile route that runs from coast to coast. The trial was...
At the June 18 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council, the governing body received a total of nine resolutions from the Wyoming Association of Municipalities (WAM) following their 2024 conference, including one focused on how public notices are published under law. WAM is a non-profit organization representing various local governments from across the state of Wyoming. The association holds conferences to discuss and inform on municipal leadership. The resolutions from the conference not are not...
Authorities from across the county met to hear comments and concerns regarding combined dispatch during a public hearing hosted by the Town of Saratoga on June 12. The Saratoga Town Council was joined by Saratoga Chief of Police Mike Morris, Rawlins Chief of Police Michael Ward, Carbon County Sheriff Alex Bakken, Carbon County Dispatch Supervisor Tracy Newbrough, Saratoga Dispatch Supervisor Alex Munson and Rawlins Dispatch Center Supervisor Valeta Rodabaugh. The public hearing was held to hear...