Serving the Platte Valley since 1888
Serving the Platte Valley since 1888
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Photo by Joshua Wood All volleyball fans were encouraged to wear teal at Tuesday night's match in Saratoga to honor Laurie Johnston, who lost her battle with ovarian cancer last month. Laurie was involved in the community for more than 40 years, coaching volleyball and track, refereeing volleyball games, working as an aide at the Saratoga Schools and served on the Carbon County School District No. 2. Announcer Larry Cloyd let the audience in a moment of silence before the matches. “We are f...
David Rousu, who purchased a lot at 804 W Bridge Avenue earlier this year, will have to wait to find out whether or not he can build a house on the property. Despite being surrounded by residential homes, the lot is located in retail business as are the other lots surrounding it. While the Saratoga Planning Commission recommended approval of a zone change for Rousu’s lot—with Mayor Chuck Davis providing the tie-breaking vote—the Saratoga Town Council voted to table the zone change at their September 17 meeting. Davis was not in atten...
Town & Country Realty recently announced Broker and owner Amanda Shahadey had been elected the National Association of Realtors’ Director as Wyoming’s Small Board Representative. A National Association of Realtors’ Director has duties and responsibilities for governing the association. The association counts on directors to participate daily as issues in deliberation may impact the members’ business lives. Amanda’s responsible role beginning in January, 2025 will play in the growth and development of the association. She will be asked to...
*Editor’s Note: This is the second story in a series about fire mitigation in the Sierra Madre Mountains.* Since 2018, the United States Forest Service (USFS) has been working on the Medicine Bow Landscape Vegetation Analysis (LaVA), which includes most of the Snowy Range and the Sierra Madre Range. The effort is to mitigate fires burning at a high heat intensity when and if a forest fire begins in the Medicine Bow National Forest (MBNF). This is a formidable task, since LaVA includes v...
This week, Governor Mark Gordon ordered the Wyoming State Flag to be brown at half staff at the Capitol in Cheyenne and in Carbon, Albany and Sweetwater counties. The order will be in effect from sunrise to sunset on September 28 in honor of Loren “Teense” Willford. Willford, a fourth-generation Wyoming native, served in the Wyoming Legislature from 1987-1988 representing Carbon County and again from 1993-2002 representing House District 47. He passed away on September 3 following an extended battle with cancer. He was 85 years old. Ser...
Donald Lee Ellis, Saratoga, Wyoming, was born on March 16, 1929, to John and Florence Hankins Ellis in Worland, Wyoming. He passed away on September 18, 2024, at the North Platte Valley Medical Center in Saratoga, Wyoming at the age of 95. Don was raised on the Ellis family ranch on Difficulty Creek near Medicine Bow. He began his education in a one room schoolhouse on the Difficulty ranch, high school in Elk Mountain and Medicine Bow, graduating in 1947 from Medicine Bow High School. He joined...
With the ballot for the 2024 General Election set, voters in Carbon County School District No. 2 (CCSD2) will have the opportunity to ask questions of the candidates running for office this year. According to a press release from the Carbon County 2 Education Association, a School Board Candidates Forum will be hosted at the Platte Valley Community Center. Of the four offices up for election this year, only one of them is a contested race. Incumbents Nick Wamsley, Joe Gaspari and Georgia Miller will be running unopposed. Elk Mountain’s Paul C...
After six months of planning, the Sewer Lagoon Project - Phase 2 for the town of Encampment is getting closer to a design. Jon Nelson, with North Fork Engineering, proposed a design review workshop for the Phase - 2 project to the Encampment Town Council September 12, as the deadline to submit the design to the Department of Environmental Quality is November 22 The town council voted to hold an hour-and-one-half hour workshop on Oct. 10 at 5:30 p.m. The design, while it has taken time, is right...
The Wyoming Department of Health is inviting teachers, law enforcement representatives, clinicians, loss survivors, community members and other stakeholders to attend the 2024 Wyoming Suicide Prevention Symposium in Casper. The free two-day event begins at 9:30 a.m. on October 3 at the Best Western Downtown in Casper. “While we have started to see potential signs of fewer deaths in recent years, Wyoming continues to have one of the nation’s highest suicide rates,” said Rachel Nuss, Community Prevention Unit Manager with WDH. “There is a lot o...
Discover Carbon County recently announced it has been awarded a Wyoming Office of Tourism Destination Development Grant which will be effective for the 2024-2026 Biennium. According to the press release, the Destination Development Grant Program is a biennium grant program that was created in early 2023 by the Wyoming Office of Tourism’s 27 local Lodging Tax Boards. “This grant will enable Discover Carbon County to come along side and partner with communities, organizations and agencies on new or continuing projects,” said Leslie Jeffe...
It has recently dawned on me that I’m getting old or at least getting older. As if the aching back, popping knees and difficulty standing up weren’t the obvious sign then social media has certainly been doing its part. When doomscrolling through an app which focuses on short-form video, I’ll see trends like “Bet You Can’t Name These 5 Classic Songs.” Fully prepared to show off my knowledge of classic bands such as Queen, Kiss or Fleetwood Mac I am instead greeted with bands from my youth like No...
To whom it may concern, I lived in Saratoga a long time ago. My parents and brothers moved to Saratoga when I was 12 years old. I spent 7 years altogether there but we moved back to Vermont and I graduated with my cousin who also had been to Saratoga. I still get the Saratoga Sun and know a lot of people there. My dad was Oscar Lane and mother [Not Sure Name] Lane and brothers Jesse, Ted and Jim. They [Ted and Jim] lived in Saratoga. All my brothers were in the military. We had uncles who worked on the Silver Spur Ranch; Frank, Roy and Howard...
When it comes to the ins-and-outs of town governance, we will admit we can understand how easy it can be for people to zone out so to speak. Despite that, we cannot overstate the importance of paying attention at local meetings. A prime example would be found during the September 17 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council. Among the number of things which were tabled by the governing body in the absence of the mayor, one of those was the recommendation of a zone change in the neighborhood of 8th Street and Bridge Avenue. David Rousu, who...
At first, a swimming pool and an industrial park might not seem like they have much in common. After all, one is designed for business and the other is designed for fun. But both are key players in economic development. And this week, Gillette and Campbell County saw some progress on their respective pool and industrial park projects. At their meeting this week, Campbell County Commissioners awarded a $2.15 million contract to begin construction work on the Pronghorn Industrial Park on a 247-acre piece of land east of Cam-plex. For 10 years,...
I think we all want a life that is carefree without any major complaints so “Don’t Give The Enemy A Seat At Your Table.” This is the title of a book written by Louie Giglio. The book is about how and where we live our lives. It’s not about what type of house we live in, the number of children that we have or how great our marriages are, but how our spiritual lives affect our emotional lives. It’s about what goes on inside our minds, souls, and spirit and whether we navigate our lives with or without Jesus. The question that is asked is, where...
In Luke 10:27 and Mark 12:30, we notice that both passages use a fourfold description to explain how we are to love God: Heart, soul, strength, and mind. In the Old Testament we find a similar command in Deuteronomy 6:5-6, “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thine might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart.” It leaves out the word mind, but the Greek words for ‘heart’ and ‘mind’ translate the full spectrum of meaning in Hebrew for our inner sanct...
CHEYENNE — Teachers at Ten Sleep School are allowed to conceal carry firearms in the classroom, but some school officials and students are worried about letting just anyone walk into the building with a gun, according to school representatives. Washakie County School District 2 has one K-12 school and is a concealed carry district, said Superintendent Annie Griffin. It takes law enforcement 18 minutes to reach the school, Griffin told lawmakers Thursday afternoon, which is why the district allowed its staff to carry concealed weapons with a p...
What do you do when the power goes out for your event? You hold the event anyway. That is what happened on Saturday, September 14 at the Ten Mile Inn’s Inaugural Car Show. The event was held to celebrate the September birthdays of Troy Wallace, owner of the Ten Mile Inn, and his best friend, Vance Mockensturm. Dan & Trisha Jones provided and served a meal of pulled pork sandwiches as a fundraiser for the Ryan Park Fire Department. Raffle tickets were also sold for a one pint jar of Wyoming B...
A new director and assistant director are leading the recreation department in Saratoga. Director Carter Edwards and Assistant Director Kelsey Huntoon are excited to have the opportunity to be a bigger part of the community as the faces of recreation. Originally from Scottsdale, Arizona, Carter said he “played all kinds of sports and was ready to teach life skills to the kids through sports and activities.” Carter moved to Saratoga in 2016 working in the kitchen at Brush Creek Ranch. He has sinc...
It was a cold and blustery day when the 41 students from Encampment’s kindergarten through third grade got off the bus at Lewis Lake in the Snowy Range. Rayna Greenwood, the third-grade teacher, had all the students gather at a picnic table to be divided into groups. The goal for September 18 included doing environmental artwork inspired by Andy Goldsworthy, a scavenger hunt and the study of rocks and minerals, led by Justin Stern, the education coordinator and resource specialist with the S...
When is a rodent not a rodent? That is exactly what the Saratoga Elementary School’s kindergarten class was looking to find during their September 19 field trip to the Snowy Range. Children explored the rocks around Mirror Lake looking for the elusive pika. Kindergarten teacher Jaimie Lee led the expedition to catch a glimpse of the elusive critter. According to the National Park Service, while pikas may resemble a rodent they are closely related to rabbits. Pikas have tan- to grey-colored c...
The Saratoga Lady Panthers (1-2) gave the Encampment Lady Tigers (2-1) a run for their money September 17 in the Saratoga gym. The match went to four sets with the Lady Tigers coming out on top with three set wins, but not without a lot of work to get past the Lady Panthers defense. The conference match was the third southwest conference match for both teams and the Tigers walked away with 21-25, 25-22, 20-25 and 20-25 scores. "The girls have grown tremendously already this season. As a...
Though they have yet to play a conference game, Encampment Tiger football appears off to a strong start this season. After taking down the Riverside Rebels, the Tigers dealt a nearly 40-point loss to the junior varsity team of Natrona County High School on September 10. Throughout the entire match, Encampment kept their scoring in double digits, only being outscored in one quarter. “It was good to start fast again in this game,” said Head Coach Kegan Willford. ‘I felt like we gained the momen...
The Saratoga Lady Panthers came home with three wins from the Thermopolis Invite this past weekend. The Panthers’ only loss was to the 2A Southwest Conference Rocky Mountain Lady Grizzlies. Friday the Panthers played a two-set match against 1A Northwest conference Burlington Lady Huskies and won 25-23, 27-25. The Huskies currently lead their conference 4-0, so this was a huge win for the Lady Panthers. Addie Collins had 22 attempts at kills while Josie Little had 19 attempts. Cassidy Herring h...
The evening of August 31 provided a beautiful setting to enjoy a meal and fellowship with friends and new acquaintances. Fairy lights seemed the perfect setting for a summer night outside to take a walk through the gardens at the Saratoga Community Garden for their 4th Annual Pesto Festo. The community comes together every year for a fundraiser to raise money for the garden’s upkeep and other needs. Mary Fabin, a local performer, and her sister, Angie, delighted guests with their soulful s...