Articles from the September 23, 2020 edition


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  • Mullen Fire savages wilderness area

    Joshua Wood|Sep 23, 2020

    High winds and warm temperatures over the weekend worked in favor of the recently established Mullen Fire, which had consumed much of the Savage Run Wilderness over the weekend and put several communities at risk. As of Monday morning, the fire had grown to 13,835 acres and was two percent contained. At approximately 3 p.m. on Thursday, local volunteer fire departments were called to respond to a fire east of the A-Bar-A Guest Ranch outside Encampment. While multiple fire engines did respond to...

  • USDA approves loan application

    Staff Report|Sep 23, 2020

    The USDA has approved the Platte Valley Healthcare Project’s loan application to build the North Platte Valley Medical Center (NPVMC) as a Critical Access Hospital in Saratoga. The USDA has obligated $18,392,000 in long term financing to get the project off the ground. When it is completed next year, NPVMC will be the most up-to-date medical campus in southeastern Wyoming. In addition to a 24-hour emergency room, NPVMC will offer advanced imaging capabilities, including ultrasound, X-ray, MRI and CT, and feature an inpatient pharmacy, l...

  • Covid in Carbon 2

    Joshua Wood|Sep 23, 2020

    A month into the 2020/2021 school year, Carbon County School District No. 2 (CCSD2) has its first confirmed case of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). The announcement of the positive case came from CCSD2 Superintendent Jim Copeland on Friday morning. Using the district eNotes service, Copeland informed parents that a CCSD2 staff member had not been in direct contact with students and had been home since the onset of symptoms. “The staff member will follow the Carbon County Public Health (...

  • Saratoga plans for filling vacancy

    Joshua Wood|Sep 23, 2020

    Previous suggestions by Councilmember Jon Nelson to wait on an appointment to the vacancy for Saratoga mayor until after the general election appear to have been taken quite literally by Mayor Pro-Tem Bob Keel. During the September 15 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council, Keel had proposed rescheduling the first November meeting of the governing body from November 3 to November 4. “Looking ahead, the general election is the 3rd of November which is the night of our town council meeting. I would...

  • Eventful changes for Saratoga

    Joshua Wood|Sep 23, 2020

    Eight years ago, the Town of Saratoga passed Ordinance 809, which created regulations for specially permitted events within the town limits. At the September 15 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council, Councilmember Jon Nelson proposed changes to Chapter 5.30 of the Saratoga Municipal Code. Since taking his seat on the council in January 2019, Nelson has been consistent in his ‘nay’ votes on special events applications that have not followed the current town code, specifically the 30 day dea...

  • Riverside moves funds

    Dana Davis|Sep 23, 2020

    The September 9, 2020 Riverside Town Council meeting was short but industrious. The meeting opened with a Public Hearing for the transfer of liquor license for the Mangy Moose. Having submitted the proper paperwork and transfer fees the license was transferred in name from Joelle and Desi Vacher, owners of the Mangy Moose, to the Mangy Moose, LLC. There were no comments from the public so the hearing was adjourned. A motion was made and passed to transfer the liquor license. Minutes, financial s...

  • CCVC meets in Saratoga

    Mike Armstrong|Sep 23, 2020

    The Carbon County Visitors Council (CCVC) met at 10 a.m. on September 16 at Firewater Public House in Saratoga. The agenda and minutes from the regularly scheduled meeting on August 19 were approved. A presentation was made by Leanna Jones, CEO of the Saratoga/Platte Valley Chamber of Commerce, for a visual guide on the businesses and special services in the Valley area. “It will have table of contents that help you key on what you are looking for,” Jones said. “I am hoping for help with the p...

  • Keeping Track of Time

    Mike Armstrong|Sep 23, 2020

    Probably one of the smartest things I have ever done was start to keep a journal my senior year of college. I can’t say it was my idea. A friend of mine was relentless in keeping track of her day to day life in a book I first met her in the dorm while we lived at the University of Maryland. Trish had been doing it since she started high school. She was a smart young woman, starting college at 16 and finishing law school when most are getting their undergraduate degrees. I am still in touch a... Full story

  • Editorial Cartoon

    Sep 23, 2020

  • A flood of data

    Joshua Wood|Sep 23, 2020

    As the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) rolls out updated flood insurance maps for Carbon County, the Saratoga Town Council is asking residents to closely examine the changes that have been made and how it will affect them. During the September 15 meeting of the governing body, Councilmember Jon Nelson gave a brief synopsis of the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) Open House that had been held by FEMA concurrently on Zoom and at the Platte Valley Community Center the night before. “I t...

  • LSR Museum planning fall trek

    Staff Report|Sep 23, 2020

    For the 26th year, members and friends of the Little Snake River community will make a fall trek. This year the trek will be close to home, straddling the Continental Divide. It will be a time to enjoy the fall leaf colors and to learn more about the area's history. The treksters will leave Baggs at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, September 26, with stops for additional treksters in Dixon and Savery. They will travel to Brown's Hill where a stop will be made with information about the homesteaders and...

  • Wind and water at CCCOG

    Mike Armstrong|Sep 23, 2020

    The Carbon County Council of Governments (CCCOG) met at 6:30 p.m. on September 16 at the Medicine Bow Community Hall. Baggs, Dixon, Elk Mountain, Hanna, Medicine Bow, Rawlins and Saratoga had representatives. Chairman Morgan Irene, Vice Chairman Jon Nelson and Travis Moore, Secretary/Treasurer, were present. After all attendees made introductions, the council approved the minutes from the July 15 regular meeting. The treasurer’s report was approved after a quick review. Kara Choquette, Director...

  • Managing a coordinated plan

    Joshua Wood|Sep 23, 2020

    by Joshua Wood Lenny Layman hasn’t been the Carbon County Emergency Manager for very long, having taken the job in May, but recent events—such as the RR 316 Fire in Hanna—have kept him busy. For Layman, that fire provided a great example of why Carbon County is in need of a coordination center. It just so happens that the Layman and the Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCCC) recently accepted a check for $15,000 from the Sinclair Oil Corporation (Sinclair) to go towards such a facil...

  • Lady Miners Bury Opponents

    Mike Armstrong|Sep 23, 2020

    “To be fair, all the teams that we played this weekend were young and we have a core of young ladies that are solid,” said Jackie Jones, Hanna, Elk Mountain, Medicine Bow (HEM) Lady Miners head coach. “The team played very well this week too.” They Lady Miners played very well indeed against three teams, one a conference opponent. Glendo On Friday, HEM went to Glendo to play a conference team at 4:30 p.m. The Lady Miners made quick work of the Lady Eagles in three sets. The 1st set the HEM tea...

  • Lady Tigers still growing

    Joshua Wood|Sep 23, 2020

    The Encampment Lady Tigers had only one game last week following the duo of conference losses to the Saratoga Lady Panthers and the Little Snake River Valley Lady Rattlers. Hitting the road, Encampment was hosted by the top-ranked Farson Eden Lady Pronghorns (4-2, 2-0). While the Lady Tigers managed to keep their scores close across three sets, they fell 0-3 to Farson-Eden. Head Coach Robin Brown, however, is looking at the positives from the conference game. “We served much better overall as a...

  • Saratoga dealt duo of losses

    Joshua Wood|Sep 23, 2020

    Coming off their first conference win of the season, the Saratoga Lady Panthers suffered a slight setback as they followed that win with two conference losses. Saratoga was hosted by the Little Snake River Valley (LSRV) Lady Rattlers (4-2, 2-1) and the Cokeville Lady Panthers (5-4-1, 1-0) on Saturday. Despite the losses, Head Coach Shayley Love saw positives for her team with both matches. Lady Panthers vs. Lady Rattlers “The LSRV game was a tough one for us. We just really struggled getting o...

  • Panthers come close to first win

    Mike Armstrong|Sep 23, 2020

    The Saratoga High School football team went to Pine Bluffs to try and get their first win of the young season. A valiant effort was put forth said head coach Logan Wright but, in the end, the Panther team came up on the losing side. "Pine Bluffs got two touchdowns back-to-back in the 1st quarter but, after that our defense kept them scoreless the rest of the 2nd quarter," Wright said. "We scored in the 2nd quarter and we were down to Pine Bluff's five yard just before the half was over." Wright...

  • Encampment trails Pronghorns

    Joshua Wood|Sep 23, 2020

    Following their first conference win against the defending 1A Six-Man State Champions, the Little Snake River Valley (LSRV) Rattlers, the Encampment Tigers hit the road to take on yet another conference foe, the No. 1 ranked Farson-Eden Pronghorns (3-0, 2-0). The Tigers would, ultimately, fall to Farson-Eden but not without securing at least one touchdown each quarter of the game. “We played a really good and disciplined team in this game,” said Head Coach Kegan Willford. “I felt like we playe...

  • Running close to home

    Joshua Wood|Sep 23, 2020

    Saratoga's long distance runners didn't have to go far on Friday as they competed in the Rawlins Invitational at the Sinclair Golf Course. While there, the cross country teams saw decent placings, which included the Bartlett Twins securing top spots as Grant Bartlett continues to defend his state championship this season. Boys Grant Bartlett secured yet another 1st place win on Friday, as he finished with a time of 17:40. Twin brother Grady Bartlett wasn't far behind as he came in 5th place...

  • Lummis visits the Valley

    Joshua Wood|Sep 23, 2020

    Senate candidate Cynthia Lummis made a stop in Saratoga on September 19 as she gears up for the general election. Lummis, who served as Wyoming's sole representative from 2009 to 2017, was hosted at the Platte Valley Community Center (PVCC) by Teense and Sandy Willford. Prior to running for the U.S. House of Representatives, Lummis had served in the Wyoming Legislature alongside Teense Willford. Despite a packed agenda for the day, Lummis paid a visit to the Saratoga Sun where she answered...

  • Pacificorp invests in recycling

    Staff Report|Sep 23, 2020

    PacifiCorp is supporting a new technology that holds promise for recycling fiberglass products such as decommissioned wind turbine blades that might otherwise end up in a landfill. With funding from the U.S. Department of Energy's Small Business Technology Transfer program and Wind Energy Technologies Office, the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, is developing technology for large-scale recycling of wind blades for new uses. PacifiCorp, along with sister utility MidAmerican, will be...

  • Sep 23, 2020

  • Sep 23, 2020

  • "Do ruffle the feathers"

    Dana Davis|Sep 23, 2020

    by Dana Davis Mayor Greg Salisbury was unable to attend the Encampment Town Council meeting on September 9, 2020. Councilmember Bill Craig acted as mayor pro-tem. After the expedient approval of the agenda, minutes, financials and bills, several guest speakers were heard. Sandy Martin gave an update on a Carbon County Visitors Council (CCVC) Project. Three signs around Encampment are being repainted. Maretin requested one sign that contains the community slogan “where nature waits to greet y...

  • Mullen Fire grows in size

    Joshua Wood|Sep 23, 2020

    *Updated: information is current as of September 27 at 12:41 p.m.* The Mullen Fire, which began on September 17 and quickly grew over the weekend, has now increased in size to 14,653 acres according to information on Inciweb. On the morning of September 22, at approximately 6 a.m., a Type II Incident Team-the Rocky Mountain Area Incident Management Blue Team-took over management of the Mullen Fire. A virtual open house was held at 5 p.m. that same day. A Type II team is a federally and/or... Full story

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