Serving the Platte Valley since 1888
Serving the Platte Valley since 1888
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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 organization... 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 speak... 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... 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... 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 t... 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,... 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... 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 pub... 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 Sar... 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 thr... 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, wil... 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 r... 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 s... 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 attr... Full story
While the snow we keep on receiving makes it appear that winter cut the line ahead of fall, we are still very much in the autumn season. Next week, Valley residents should prepare themselves for quite a fright. Ghosts, goblins and ghouls will be out on the streets. Witches and warlocks will be out in broad daylight! Halloween has the potential to be a fun and exciting time of the year, but it can go bad in a hurry. We at the Saratoga Sun would like to take a few moments to give our costumed kiddos, those passing through town,...
We lost a fine soul last weekend. Keith McLendon was more than an employee at a newspaper. He was a staunch supporter of the community and an advocate for his employees. Keith won numerous awards for his service and artistic abilities, but it was not the awards he pursued, it was verification that he was doing a good job on your behalf. He may have ruffled a few feathers along the way...it comes with the territory. He always had what was best for citizens of the valley in mind. Keith was one of the most entertaining guys to...
On Friday, the Saratoga Care Center held its annual federally mandated disaster drill which involved the complete evacuation of the facility, a bomb going off, two woundings, a fatality and a hostage. At last year’s drill, members of the Saratoga Police and Fire Departments showed up along with a SCWEMS ambulance crew. That ambulance crew included, now, mayor of Saratoga John Zeiger. Mr. Zeiger was also the Carbon County Emergency Coordinator at the time and, in that capacity, has run or assisted in these types of disaster s... Full story
Chances are, by the time this editorial is being read, Saratoga will be “in the clear” as far as threat of flooding. With the alternating of warm and cool weather, the amount of run-off from the mountains into the North Platte River has been fairly regulated. Despite that there was still some risk of flooding for the area. Over the weekend of June 14, the smokebusters from the Newcastle Honor Conservation Camp came to the Valley and filled over 9,000 sandbags. This, combined with the 2,000 sandbags that were already fil... Full story
On May 7, the Carbon County voters will head to the polls to make a decision on the One Percent Specific Purpose Sales and Use Tax, more commonly known as the 6th penny tax. It’s hardly popular to advocate for a tax, but we at the Saratoga Sun feel that the importance of the 6th penny cannot be overstated. The improvement of inadequate infrastructure, especially aging water and sewer lines, will be on the line for several municipalities. For many towns, the 6th penny tax is the best option to fund these projects. As its n... Full story
We at the Saratoga Sun would like to applaud the Healthcare Sustainability Project Subcommittee (HSPS) for their efforts in trying to usher in a workable healthcare system. It is not just that the group is trying to bring a better medical facility and high quality doctors, nurses and staff to the Valley, it is the way they have gone about it. Representation The HSPS has done a good job representing the entire Valley in choosing their members. Leslie McLinskey is on the subcommittee to represent the Riverside/Encampment part... Full story
How much do you trust the government to police itself? This last election cycle, transparency was a big talking point for everyone from the gubernatorial candidates down to municipal positions. Upon being elected, Governor Mark Gordon even organized a transparency committee to find ways that the State of Wyoming could be more open and available to constituents and taxpayers. When the 65th Wyoming Legislature convened, however, three bills aimed at limiting transparency were introduced. These bills, in one way or another,...
Our local youths can be at their best when they play sports. They sacrifice their time and sweat to practice. They keep their grades up. They give their heart and soul to their team and the prospect of winning. They learn sportsmanship and teamwork. They also learn respect. In short, our student athletes learn all kinds of valuable lessons from the game. It is a shame that they also learn how petty adults can be. Not in our Paper The Saratoga Sun Facebook page bore a glaring example of that pettiness and poor sportsmanship...
It’s hard to advocate for a tax. Much less two. However, we at the Saratoga Sun feel that both the One Percent Sales and Use Tax (also known as the 5th Penny Tax) and the Two Percent Lodging Tax should overwhelmingly be passed once again. Fifth Penny It is not often a state with a small population has an opportunity to fund infrastructure improvement or vital services with a good portion of out-of-state monies. Roughly a third of the One Percent Sales and Use Tax is paid by visitors to Carbon County. Honestly, this sales t...
Medicine Bow recently demonstrated what we at the Saratoga Sun feel is a good idea. The town allowed children and adults alike to play with fireworks. The reason this was allowed is that the county, despite having a fireworks ban, cedes authority to a municipality to have fireworks if set off by appropriately trained individuals. Medicine Bow Fire Chief Peter Andrews asked for, and got, permission from the Medicine Bow Town Council to attend Fireworks School. Fireworks School is a two-day program that teaches the proper safet...
School is out, Memorial Day has passed and summer has arrived in an even numbered year. This signals, among other things, the beginning of the campaign season for elections. The deadline for filing as a candidate in the midterm primary elections was June 1 with those elections being held Aug. 21. Wyoming is one of 14 states that has closed primaries, meaning a person can only vote within their political party in the primaries. Just before the filing deadline, the Saratoga Sun noticed there were very few candidates for local...