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Saratoga’s downtown can be a beautiful location as locals and visitors alike shop and eat among historic buildings under the backdrop of gorgeous mountain vistas. We say “can be” as there are times when littering detracts from that beauty. A prime example is the morning of June 21. We at the Saratoga Sun noticed a few beer cans thrown into the sewer drain and a lovely floral arrangement in front of Bridge Street Bargains destroyed. That morning, we grabbed a trash bag, dust pan and push broom and not only cleaned up this mess but walked along...
Something amazing happened at the June 4 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council, something that gives us at the Saratoga Sun hope for the upcoming generations. Jaxon Owen, age 12, and Archer Burau, age 10, stood before the governing body to not only identify a problem, but provide a solution. While it came with some help from their parents, the fact that these young residents stood in front of the town council is impressive. In this day and age, there are adults who would rather make complaints on social media or at local coffee groups rather...
Who best represents what Saratoga is? This is the question we at the Saratoga Sun find ourselves asking following the May 21 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council in which they refused to fill a vacancy on the Carbon County Visitors’ Council Board of Directors. With a month to fill the vacancy, weeks of advertising and a deadline of May 31 a motion to appoint the sole applicant—McCall Burau—failed due to lack of a second. When Councilmember Kathy Beck, who made the motion, asked why there wasn’t a second, Councilmember Jerry Fluty explain...
The Saratoga Planning Commission has its hands tied, for all intents and purposes and we at the Saratoga Sun believe it is a disservice to the planning commission itself and the residents of Saratoga. While it is an advisory board, the role of the planning commission is to not only interpret existing zoning code but improve upon it as well. Such is the case regarding short term rentals in residential zones, which culminated in an 18 month process of drafting a proposed short term rental permit. At the recommendation of Kylie Waldrip, legal... Full story
In the past three years, the amount of short term rentals in the Saratoga area have grown from less than 25 to more than 70. In fact, they are now nearly 8% of the total housing in Saratoga. For the past year, the Saratoga Planning Commission has discussed short term rentals, whether they should be regulated and how they should be regulated. That discussion culminated in a special use permit for short term rentals, which was ultimately tabled last month. The tabling of the permit came following input from the Town of Saratoga’s legal counsel, K... Full story
While change is seldom welcomed, it is often necessary. It may appear from the outside looking in we are playing musical chairs here at the Saratoga Sun, but things are beginning to settling down into a routine here. As your new editor/publisher I—Virginia Parker—hope you, our readers and advertisers, will be patient with us. Joshua Wood, the operations director, is training and cross-training the entire three person team which currently makes up the Saratoga Sun crew. He can't stay with us forever, so we are working hard to learn all we can...
When overcoming an addiction, the first step is admitting there’s a struggle. The same is also true for a community to overcome a problem with drugs. The Platte Valley has a dilemma with drugs.. The increased number of drug arrests during the time the Saratoga Police Department had a K9 unit was evidence of this. It became obvious when two young people lost their lives. Though the cause of death is still unconfirmed, the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office suspects a fentanyl overdose. The Valley has many wonderful things about it. From the nat... Full story
Saratoga is growing. This is a fact. Whether you look at the updated signs at Saratoga Town Limits, try to find a home to buy or place to rent the evidence is there. With growth also comes change. Ten years ago, an agreement was reached between the Town of Saratoga and The Yard—a music venue owned by Cindy Bloomquist and Chris Shannon—in the form of Chapter 5.30 of the Saratoga Municipal Code. This chapter of the town’s code came as a result of a number of public meetings and discussions involving the community over a two year period. The f... Full story
Do you have what it takes to be a public servant? Next week—May 12—marks the start of the filing period for the 2022 Primary Election. In recent elections, the Saratoga Sun has encouraged our readers to head to the polls in both primary and general elections to cast their votes. What should be equally stressed is the need for people to run for those offices in the first place, especially at the local level. After all, there could be a great turnout of voters but it means little if there is nobody to vote for. Just two years ago, during the 202... Full story
If you received your newspaper on a Thursday, there’s no need to worry. The mail wasn’t late this week. Instead, this week marks the Saratoga Sun’s return to Thursday publication. We have switched to a new printer, one in eastern Wyoming, in our continued efforts to provide you with the best product we can each week. When we use the term return in regards to Thursday publication, it may be confusing to some of our readers. It may seem to some that the Sun has published on Wednesday forever. Long-time Saratoga locals, however, can tell you d... Full story
Growing, growing, gone? That seems to be the direction for House District 47 as the Wyoming Legislature, particularly the Joint Corporations Committee, continues their most recent redistricting efforts. What is currently the largest district in the state of Wyoming—12,188 square miles—appears to be on the chopping block as legislators attempt to go through their once-in-a-decade process of redistricting. We would like to first preface our concerns by stating we can appreciate the difficult task the legislators of the Joint Corporations Com... Full story
Nearly two years since the global pandemic began, the newest variant of the coronavirus (COVID-19) has been detected in the United States. We are still learning about omicron, the most recent variant first discovered in South Africa. Both the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have classified it as a Variant of Concern. Due to its early detection, it is still unclear if this variant is more severe than the original coronavirus or if it’s more transmissible. According to both organizations, while there is c... Full story
It isn’t a secret how busy the intersection of 1st Street and Bridge Avenue in Saratoga is on any given day. Wyoming Highway 130, which becomes 1st Street once it enters town limits, is the route to the Snowy Range, the Sierra Madres and Northern Colorado. For that reason, vehicles of all shapes and sizes—from sedans to recreational vehicles to semi-trucks—make their way through the center of town. This, however, also creates a safety issue. We at the Saratoga Sun would like to commend Councilmember Jon Nelson for speaking with the Wyomi... Full story
Independence Day has passed and the largest party in Saratoga every summer has concluded. From the Festival of the Arts to the Old Fashioned Family Carnival to, yes, even Chancey Williams and the Younger Brothers Band headlining Saratoga Days it appeared to be a successful weekend. Thought that may depend on how one defines success. Was it economically beneficial to the restaurants and businesses on Bridge Avenue? Yes, we would imagine so. When not taking part in the fun family games on West Bridge Avenue or the increasing festivities on East... Full story
This summer will mark 13 years since Staff Sergeant Tyler Pickett lost his life to a suicide bomber in Iraq. Since then, the promise of a memorial park for the Saratoga High School graduate has gone unfulfilled. Hopefully, that will be changing soon. A member of the Class of 2000, Tyler Pickett was 28 years old when he was in Iraq on June 8, 2008. By all rights, he should have been home as he was originally supposed to be on leave at that time. However, his leave had been deferred. Pickett would end up being the first and only Carbon County... Full story
It’s not easy serving the public. This was made clear on April 6, when Bob Keel resigned his position from the Saratoga Town Council. Keel, in his resignation letter, stated that he was choosing his family over the council. The Saratoga Sun applauds him for making such a difficult decision and wishes him well in his new venture. There may be many in the community who are disappointed that Keel did not finish out his four year term. A look into Saratoga’s past, however, shows that it is not at all uncommon for people to take their leave at some... Full story
When the Wyoming Legislature reconvenes in March, the perennial battle to keep public notices in Wyoming newspapers will return as well. On February 4, the Senate Corporation Committee voted 4-1 to advance to the Wyoming Senate legislation that would remove the requirement for counties and municipalities to publish minutes and salary information in newspapers. Senate File 17 was crafted under the guise of saving the counties and municipalities money during much needed budget crunches. During the nearly two hour meeting, which be found at... Full story
"... Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did. She just did it backwards and in high heels." ~ Ann Richards It's been more than 150 years since Wyoming gave all women the right to vote and earned it's official moniker as the "Equality State" and it's been nearly 100 years since Wyoming elected its first, and to-date only, woman governor; Nellie Tayloe Ross. This year, Wyoming elected its first woman senator, Cynthia Lummiss, and re-elected Liz Cheney, who is only the second woman to... Full story
Wyoming legislators, under the guise of “cost saving measures” for local governments, are again attempting to remove vital legal notices from the pages of your local newspaper. Though the Wyoming Legislature is not in session and many legislators will not return to the capitol in January following primary defeats, they are still working on interim topics. One of those topics, approved on a 10-3 vote by the Joint Corporations Committee on September 11, would remove the requirement for municipal and county governments to publish meeting min... Full story
The date of the 2020 Primary Election draws ever closer and, soon, voters will be going to the ballot to make their choice on who they want to move forward to the General Election to represent them. While there are plenty of choices on the national level—a total of 16 people are running for United States Senate between both Democratic and Republican candidates—the options are far more slim the closer one gets to local government with a few exceptions. In Encampment, three people are running for town council and, in Saratoga, that number has... Full story
Last month, the Saratoga Sun informed our readers of three pieces of legislation that had made their way through the House of Representatives and were headed to the Senate (see “Your right to know is at stake” on page 4 of the February 19 Saratoga Sun). Since then, we have kept an eye on that legislation. On Wednesday, all three bills were overwhelmingly passed by the Senate. The bills were then sent over to the House of Representatives for concurrence to determine if the House agreed with changes made by the Senate. All three bills passed con... Full story
Much like a bad penny, attempts by the Wyoming Legislature to remove public notices from the pages of Wyoming newspapers, and leading to less informed constituents, have returned. Despite the failure of three similar bills last year, these bills—HB0050, HB0051 and HB0052—would amend Wyoming State Statute to where the only notice required would be on the state procurement website. On Friday, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved these three bills. These pieces of legislation, having now passed the House, will go onto the Sen... Full story
It has been said that a community needs its newspaper. This is true. The community often depends upon its local paper from coverage of high school sports to reporting on the actions of the town council and everything in between. The newspaper, in many ways, serves as the conscience and the heart of the community. What’s not stated as often, but perhaps should be, is that a newspaper needs its community. Any newspaper that strives to succeed realizes this and a good community newspaper should have involvement from its readers. Much like a g... Full story
We at the Saratoga Sun would like to applaud Hanna Marshal Jeff Neimark and extend to him our gratitude. Last week, the Sun reported on an incident that took place in Medicine Bow involving an armed suspect. For approximately 20 years, this small town at the intersection of Carbon, Natrona and Albany counties has been without local law enforcement and has relied upon the Carbon County Sheriff’s Department. While they are attempting to get a law enforcement program started again, Medicine Bow is left unprepared for situations such as the one t... Full story
For quite some time, it has been apparent that one of the major economic drivers for Saratoga and the Upper North Platte Valley has been tourism. While both the extraction and energy industries have been top employers in the area, many locals are employed either in the service or retail industry. In fact, according to a study done for the Wyoming Office of Tourism, there were over 1,500 jobs in Carbon County as a result of the tourism industry. This has been a study increase since 2007, when 1,470 jobs in the county were attributed to the touri... Full story