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Dr. Duane Abels will continue to serve as the Carbon County Health Officer following a unanimous vote from the Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCCC) on June 7. The renewal of Abels’ contract with Carbon County comes just one year after he was selected to replace Dr. Marvin Wayne Couch II, who served as county health officer for two years. The reappointment of Abels came with no discussion from any of the five commissioners nor with any of the polarizing politics which seemed to center a...
The now recognizable Carbon County seal-created by artist Bobbie Herman-will soon be trademarked by the Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCCC) for use on paper and stationary. While there was much discussion over the ins-and-outs of trademarks during the June 7 meeting of the BOCCC, the commissioners approved a motion to apply for a trademark of the seal. Commissioner Travis Moore and Carbon County Attorney Ashley Mayfield-Davis provided insight into the trademark process during the...
The date of the 2022 Primary Election continues to draw closer. With the filing period closing at 5 p.m. on May 27, some candidates will have a tough race ahead of them. Other seats, however, will have to be filled with write-in campaigns. United States Representative - Republican After well over a year of a number of potential candidates coming out of the woodwork to run against incumbent Representative Liz Cheney, the official number of candidates for Wyoming’s lone seat in the House of R...
Earlier this month, Memorial Hospital of Carbon County (MHCC) announced they would be terminating labor and delivery services. The decision, according to MHCC CEO Ken Harman, was not one arrived at easily. On May 3, Harman informed the Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCCC) what led the MHCC Board of Directors to come to the decision. According to Harman, the hospital had lost approximately $1.5 million in a three month period with $800,000 lost in January, $400,000 lost in February and...
As wind energy projects continue to blow into northern Carbon County, various entities have sought to determine the impacts it has or will have on wildlife. In 2021, the Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCCC) had considered a moratorium on any energy projects in the Shirley Basin area. The discussion of this moratorium came following a presentation from the Wyoming Game and Fish Department regarding a study of wind energy project impacts on the Medicine Bow Pronghorn Herd Unit. That...
The first gathering of the Rainbow Family of Living Light (Rainbow Family) took place in July 1972 at Strawberry Lake, Colorado. Now, 50 years later, the counterculture movement may be returning to the area. Other potential locations, however, could be closer to Carbon County and the Platte Valley. The Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCCC) were provided information on the potential gathering during the May 3 meeting by Lenny Layman, Carbon County Emergency Manager. “It came to my a...
The salaries for county officials have been set by the Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCCC). The commissioners approved Resolution 2022-16 during their May 3 meeting. The resolution sets salaries for all county officials from January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2026. Per Wyoming State Statute 18-3-107, county commissioners are required to meet before June 1 every four years to set those salaries. Under that statute, the following county officials are to be paid not less than $10,000...
As the State of Wyoming moves forward with the process of monthly mineral ad valorem tax collection, counties affected by the process are now eligible for loans impacted by delayed payments for production in 2020 and 2021. During the 2021 Legislative Session, Senate File 60 established a monthly collection of mineral ad valorem taxes, changing it from biannual collection of such taxes. Included within this legislation were provisions which deferred payment on production for the later half of...
By Micky Jones The Riverside town council had a filled agenda for the spring meeting April 14th. In attendance were Mayor Leroy Stephenson, council members Ed Golden and Fred Lorenz. Stephenson told the council he had to fix the lift station. “The backup generator was not working the way it should have been,” Stephenson said. “I had the people who built the control unit for the generator come down and they got a new motherboard for it, and now it is working perfectly. I don’t have a bill fr...
By Joshua Wood Of the four bridges maintained by Carbon County which were proposed by the Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) for repair or replacement using funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, only one will be substituted. The Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCCC) were first notified of WYDOT’s plan to use funds from the infrastructure law during their March 15 meeting. Kandis Fritz, Carbon County Road & Bridge coordinator, told the commissioners during that meeting s...
Nicholas Bair, CEO of Clean Energy Holdings and Bair Energy, spent this past weekend speaking with many residents of northern Carbon County.Friday, Bair went to Hanna where he met with Mayor Lois Buchanan, Public Works Director Larry Korkow, Water Work Director David Sutter and others. Joining Bair in Hanna were Tyler Boswell, the project's safety director. When Bair went to a packed house town hall in Elk Mountain on Sunday, he was joined by Boswell as well as Candice McGuire, Board Chair of Ba...
Outdated state salaries and higher paying alternatives appear to have all but depleted the amount of staff at Carbon County Public Health. Amanda Brown, Carbon County Public Health nurse manager, informed the Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCCC) of her ongoing staff shortage during their April 5 meeting. Brown, who was in attendance to request permission to advertise for three positions in her department, told the commissioners a full-time position had remained open for more than a...
The Saratoga Town Council will be practicing bipartisanship and building bridges in the very literal sense. During the March 15 meeting of the governing body, Mayor Creed James read correspondence received from the Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) regarding the Federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, also known as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. "It says the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill dedicated $45 million per year for five years to the State of Wyoming to replace or r...
Place your bets! More than a year after granting approval to Wyoming Downs, LLC (Wyoming Downs), the Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCCC) have granted approval to yet another horse racing business to set up shop in the county. While Wyoming Downs has yet to secure any location in the county, another company appears ready to establish their fourth location in Rawlins. Kyle Ridgeway, CFO of 307 Horse Racing, Inc. appeared before the commissioners at their March 15 meeting along with CEO...
For the past few years, the expenditure of county resources to rescue visiting motorists stranded on seasonally closed county roads has frustrated the Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCCC) and Carbon County Road and Bridge. The motorists, often passing through the county when winter weather forces the closure of Interstate 80, have relied upon the unreliable direction of their map applications. Despite ample signage or warnings from locals, the end result has been the need to rescue said...
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...
Carbon County commissioners discussed how communication among the county’s first responders could be improved but are still trying to figure out how to pay for a proposed $1.4 million communications upgrade. The equipment currently used by county fire, sheriff’s office and road and bridge personnel to communicate is “archaic,” according to Carbon County Fire Warden John Rutherford, who discussed possible improvements at the Feb. 15 meeting of the Board of Carbon County Commissioners. The communications equipment now in place on the county...
The Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCCC) have officially declared Carbon County a “Constitutional Republic County”. The declaration came via a resolution passed on January 18 which had been drafted by Commissioner Byron Barkhurst. While the resolution passed unanimously, discussion among the commissioners appeared to express concern about potential ramifications in the future. Barkhurst, having drafted the resolution, was given the opportunity by Chairman John Johnson to provide bac...
Omicron has officially been detected in Carbon County. The Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCCC) were updated on the detection of the most recent, and highly contagious, variant of the Covid-19 virus during their January 4 meeting. The update came from Amanda Brown, nurse manager for Carbon County Public Health, with additional information from Duane Abels, the Carbon County Health Officer. “Omicron is now the dominant variant in the US. It has been identified in Wyoming and, as of t...
As the Wyoming Legislature’s Joint Corporations Committee continues to discuss and debate their current redistricting efforts, the Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCCC) are concerned the rural residents of their county will be left without a voice in Cheyenne. Those concerns were raised by the commissioners at their January 4 meeting as they received an update on the redistricting process from Carbon County Clerk Gwynn Bartlett. According to Bartlett, her primary concern in regards to r...
Lindsey West may be the newest face leading the Carbon County Treasurer's Office, but she isn't new to county government. West was appointed to the position of Carbon County Treasurer by the Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCCC) on December 7, filling a vacancy left by the retirement of Pattie Bentsen. One of three candidates selected by the Carbon County Democratic Party Central Committee on December 4, West brings a variety of experience to her new position. The current treasurer first...
For more than five years, Jacob Mickelsen led the Carbon County Library System as director. He starts the New Year with a new position, departing his home state of Wyoming for Loveland, Colorado. The position Mickelsen has accepted in Loveland is Division Manager for Operations and Customer Service at Loveland Public Library. Along with being the "front face" of the Loveland Public Library, he will also oversee the building itself as part of his new responsibilities. "I'd been saying to myself...
The Saratoga Sun will, again, remain the official publication of the Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCCC) following their December 21 meeting. The commissioners voted unanimously to remain with the Sun for the third consecutive year following bids from the Sun and the Rawlins Times. Carbon County Clerk Gwynn Bartlett opened sealed bids from both publications where it was announced the Times had bid $6 per column inch while the Sun bid $5.94 per column inch. Both publications were...
Though the majority of their staff are vaccinated against COVID-19, Memorial Hospital of Carbon County (MHCC) is pleased with the injunction against a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) vaccine mandate announced in late November. At the December 7 meeting of the Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCCC), MHCC CEO Ken Harman informed the commissioners the mandate had been a point of discussion for the MHCC Board of Directors during their November meeting. “We’re very grateful tha...
While Wyoming and the rest of the country are currently dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, the opioid epidemic has raged on in the background. In April 2018, the Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCCC) engaged Jason Ochs to represent the county in litigation against the makers of opiates. At the December 7 meeting of the BOCCC, Carbon County Attorney Ashley Mayfield-Davis provided the commissioners with an update. “I don’t know if the public has thought about this or talked about this lat...