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In the state of Wyoming, executive sessions are not uncommon when it comes to public meetings of governing bodies. Indeed, the Wyoming State Statute allows city, county, state and local powers to enter an executive session to discuss a variety of issues ranging from discussion of personnel to matters of litigation or national security. Both the current and previous incarnations of the Saratoga Town Council have used their right to executive session, often remarking that no decisions were made...
More than a week after the catastrophic failure of the heating system at Memorial Hospital of Carbon County (MHCC), CEO Kenneth Harman provided an update to the Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCCC) at their February 18 meeting. Harman informed the commissioners how the incident occurred, progress on MHCC resuming regular business and what steps were being taken to try and prevent future incidents. According to Harman, heating loss to all of the third floor and portions of the second and...
Despite the predictions of Punxsutawney Phil, it has felt to some that the winter weather that was heralded by storms in October will never come to an end. The Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCCC) are among those frustrated with the extended winter and interstate travelers who continue to get stuck on county roads while following their GPS. During their February 18 meeting, the BOCCC discussed the ongoing issue and possible solutions with Road and Bridge Interim Coordinator Kandis Fritz...
The Saratoga Museum and Historical Society (Saratoga Museum) is beginning to follow through with steps to form a special museum tax district. At the February 10 meeting of the Board of Carbon County Commissioners, Carbon County Clerk Gwynn Bartlett informed the commissioners of the Saratoga Museum’s intent. Members of the Saratoga Museum board appeared before the Saratoga Town Council on February 18 to inform the governing body of the process. Connie Patterson, board president, spoke for the m...
The Medicine Bow Town Council met at 7 p.m. on February 10 at the Medicine Bow Community Hall. Mayor Sharon Biamon and all council members were in attendance. Before the minutes from the meeting of January 13 could be approved, resident Troy Maddox said he would like to correct the record. He said, in the January 13 meeting, it had been stated by Kenda Colman that he had been contacted by the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) about keeping pigs and had been told he could not keep them...
Growing up I lived in some small towns in Texas but, even then, they were in close proximity to Houston. When my folks moved to the D.C. area, my father had us live in suburbs. My mother liked living more rural. She and my stepfather liked being away from what they called “anthill living” which meant having a house with a bit of acreage and in small towns that were just outside the D.C. metro area. Dad liked the suburbs and, since I lived with him most of the year, that lifestyle was my upb...
Kenda and Jim Colman first came to Medicine Bow 42 years ago when Jim was hired at Medicine Bow High School. Kenda did not really know much about small town living. When she and Jim married the first place they lived was Omaha, Nebraska. "When Jim got hired at Medicine Bow, I thought I knew what the West was like having been raised in Ft. Collins but I was totally shocked. No paved streets, no sidewalks, no nothing," Kenda said. "I really felt like we had stepped back in time." Kenda said she...
The Saratoga Lady Panthers were dealt a home game heartbreaker for their final game of the regular season as they hosted the Little Snake River Valley (LSRV) Lady Rattlers (12-10, 5-3) on February 21. What started out as a successful game for Saratoga would ultimately end up as a loss for the Lady Panthers. "I thought the first half went really well," said Heather Bartlett, head coach of the Lady Panthers. "We shot really really well in the 1st half, we played really good defense in the 1st...
The Encampment Tigers started their regular season with running clocks and ended it the same way with two of their three games seeing nearly 50-point leads. The three-game weekend will likely serve as good practice for Encampment as they enter the 1A West Regional Tournament as the No. 1 seed for the Southwest. Beginning with a Thursday win over the Hanna, Elk Mountain and Medicine Bow (HEM) Miners, the Tigers went on to deal devastating losses to the Rock River Longhorns and the North Park Wild...
The Saratoga Panthers will be entering the 1A West Regional Tournament as the No. 2 seed this year, a vast improvement from the season before where they were denied entry following a loss to the Little Snake River Valley (LSRV) Rattlers during a pigtail play-in game. On February 21, the Rattlers (12-9, 3-5) attempted to deal a home game heartbreaker to Saratoga. Despite what seemed to be a slow start for the Panthers, they would ultimately overcome the lead that LSRV had and add a final conferen...
The Hanna, Elk Mountain, Medicine Bow (HEM) High School basketball teams have had more winning weeks, but both coaches were glad the weather did not cancel games like it has recently. Both teams played four games this week. One of them being at home against the Encampment Tigers. HEM boys played a non-conference game on February 17 against the Laramie sophomores and came out of it with a loss. The girls did not play because Laramie could not field a team and got a forfeit. The second game both...
The 2019/2020 season has been one of learning for the Encampment Lady Tigers. While they have spent the winter in pursuit of a conference win to try and secure a spot in the regional tournament, the major goal has been to provide the younger players on the team with experience to continue in the following seasons. Following two final conference losses the weekend before, the Lady Tigers appear to have decided to end their season with a roar rather than a whimper. With three games in a row this...
Out of the six Saratoga Panther wrestlers that attended the regional tournament over this past weekend, four will be advancing to the State Championship in Casper. While the Saratoga grapplers have a small showing, they are spread out over different weight classes. In the 106 weight class, while Cale Mowry did not bring in any points for the Panthers at the regional tournament, he did place 5th. He will start off the State Championship by facing Colton Coffman of Niobrara High School. In the...
A total of nine grapplers from Hanna, Elk Mountain and Medicine Bow (HEM) High School will be attending the State Wrestling Championship this weekend in Casper and will be represented across multiple weight classes following the regional tournament this past weekend. Beginning with the 106 weight class, Howard Bame placed 8th in his class. Bame will begin the weekend by facing Rylie Payne of Cokeville on the mat. In the 120 weight class, HEM’s lone female wrestler Charlee Solaas scored 4 team p...
The news of an earthquake near Saratoga is nothing new. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, there was a 3.0 magnitude quake February 4, 2020 at approximately 5:36 p.m. The epicenter was at 41.3810 N, 107.1370 W which is near the Jack Creek area at a depth of 5 kilometers. Five years ago there were two earthquakes of similar magnitudes. Earthquakes are the result of movement of the earth along faults, movements of magma chambers like in Yellowstone National Park and from man-made events...
The Saratoga Carbon County Impact Joint Powers Board (SCCIJPB) has cleared all initial hurdles in applying for a loan and grant program from the Wyoming Business Council (WBC). As was reported previously (see “Tapping into town services” on page 3 of the December 18, 2019 Saratoga Sun), Platte Valley Healthcare Project (PVHP) Chairman Will Faust had approached the joint powers board about sponsoring the non-profit group for funding from the WBC. Following a public hearing before their reg...
“If we just think something has happened and we don’t know more about it, then we’re talking about a significant amount of cost and a significant amount of time to tell people that nothing has happened there.” Following months of questions about the Town of Saratoga’s financial health and the status of several fund balances, there seemed to be some answers as James Childress appeared before the Saratoga Town Council on February 18. Originally engaged by the governing body on September 18 at a s...
When Stacy Crimmins first came to work for the Saratoga/Platte Valley Chamber of Commerce 17 years ago, she came in as a part-time administrative assistant to the director. The hours worked well for her since she had a family. She had been in her position a very short time when the director was let go. Crimmins said she was offered the director job then, but she didn't want it. She wanted to stay part-time to be able to spend time with her kids, who were starting school. Crimmins found herself...