Serving the Platte Valley since 1888
Serving the Platte Valley since 1888
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The New Year, in the cases of some governing bodies, also means new leadership. In other cases, it means the same familiar faces. Here is where changes did, and did not, occur in the Platte Valley, Rawlins and on the Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCCC). Carbon County Commissioners For the past two years, Commissioner Sue Jones has served as chairperson of the BOCCC with Commissioner Travis Moore serving as vice chairperson. On January 7, Moore was officially voted...
Carbon County Commissioner Sue Jones received the 2024 Riding for the Brand award from the Wyoming County Commissioner Association during the WCCA Winter meeting in December. “I was very surprised and pleased,” Jones said about receiving the award. “ In my mind, that award has been historically given to people, like John Espy, that are going to Washington D.C. for the National Association of Counties and not somebody day-to-day in the trenches.” Her work in the trenche...
D’Ron Campbell, a 24-year resident of Saratoga and the Platte Valley, has been named the editor and publisher of the Saratoga Sun. Campbell previously served on the Saratoga Town Council, Saratoga/Platte Valley Chamber Board, and Saratoga Recreation Commission and is a current member of the Saratoga Airport Advisory Board. She joined the Saratoga Sun in August 2024 as a reporter. “I am more than pleased that D’Ron has accepted the position of editor and publisher,” said Joshua Wood, operations director with Stevenson Newspap...
The two Saratoga Town Council meetings in December wrapped up business, saw a councilwoman’s term end and set the stage for a new council in 2025. The first item to be cleared was the ongoing liquor license saga for the American Legion Post 54. The issuance of the liquor license was tabled and delayed for the month of November due to complaints filed with the Town and the State of Wyoming Liquor Division. The American Legion Commander, James Olguin, attended the December 3 m...
Saratogans may have noticed the big-eared-fluffy-four-pawed member of the police force patrolling the streets alongside Officer Casey Lehr. Argus, who turns three in February, was approved to join the Police Department by the Saratoga Town Council earlier this month. Finding and training Argus It took Lehr awhile just to find Argus. “You can’t just find any dog off the street to do police work,” he said. There are three main breeds for Police work – German shepherds, Dutch s...
*Editor’s note: This is the first of a series on the Valley Village Childcare as it approaches its one year anniversary in their new building.* When the doors opened up in January at the Ray A. Corbett Building, new tenants were getting used to a remodeled building that went from being a clinic which had served the Valley for many years to a childcare facility and preschool that had previously operated in separate buildings. Valley Village Childcare (VVC) became the b...
Despite taking less than an hour, the last meeting of 2024 for Riverside Town Council had no shortage of items for discussion. The governing body remembered those the Platte Valley lost this year, heard of a rate increase from the Sierra Madre Water Joint Powers Board and discussed statutory obligations regarding the publishing of minutes and ordinances. A Moment of Silence “We don’t normally do this but this past year just seems to have been fraught with people who meant a l...
It seems that every small town and every community has a coffee klatch, a group of people—typically older—who gather at a chosen place to talk over their morning coffee. I’ve never had the time to sit in on one of those klatches, which seem to be overflowing with both coffee and wisdom. Yet, for some reason, I know where most of them are in Saratoga. To the best of my knowledge, our little town of less than 2,000 people has at least four coffee groups which meet at diffe...
We at the Saratoga Sun have much for which we are thankful. For 137 years, the Saratoga Sun has had the honor and the privilege to serve the fine people of the Platte Valley. The weight of that responsibility is not lost on us, especially as we go through our archive when compiling ‘Reflections from Our Files’ each week. Even 100 years ago, there are names which are recognizable. It is humbling to see the articles on town council meetings, local events and high school sports over the past century and knowing that our own art...
The two Saratoga Town Council meetings in November centered around the renewal of liquor licenses for various businesses in Saratoga. Two of the businesses, the Rustic Bar and Lazy River Cantina, have seen fights and unruly behavior at least twice a month. According to acting police chief John Moore, fights and other disturbances at the businesses have not caused problems for the department. Every liquor license was renewed at the November 5 meeting except for one. The only...
The results of the 2024 General Election are now official following an audit held by the Carbon County Clerk’s Office on November 7. Along with certifying the results of the general election, the clerk’s office also reported a 105% turnout. The audit was conducted in the Carbon County Commissioner’s Room at the Carbon Building — Courthouse Annex Room by Gwynn Bartlett, Carbon County Clerk, and Lisa Smith, Chief Deputy Clerk. Of the 6,446 ballots cast, 75 were randomly selecte...
With a projected 277 electoral college votes and more than 71 million votes as of November 6, former president Donald Trump is the presumptive president-elect according to the Associated Press. Meanwhile, Carbon County cast more than 6,000 ballots in the 2024 General Election, turnout surpassed the primary election by more than 1,000. With 6,446 votes cast, the amount was more than the 2022 General Election which saw 5,860 ballots cast. It was just barely under the number of...
“I did not have it in my mind to be involved in the business,” said Mike Glode, 3rd generation co-owner of Shively Hardware in Saratoga. “That came later on when I was too stupid to get a real job.” Mike, at 75 years old, still heads in each day to the business which was bought by his grandfather, E.J. Shively, in 1925. He’s not hard to miss, he’s tall and has a broad smile on his face. Mike will often stand near the entrance to the local hardware store, greeting people as t...
On Wednesday, October 16, a fire broke out at the gun range outside Saratoga igniting the tires used as a backstop at the far side of the range and the surrounding sagebrush. Firefighters from Saratoga immediately responded to put out the flames and tamp down the black smoke which could be seen all over town. Units from Ryan Park, Encampment, Sinclair, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and the United States Forest Service joined in the containment that occurred an hour after...
Department of Public Works (DPW) director Emery Penner and his streets department were heralded throughout the Saratoga Town Council meeting October 15 for their recents efforts all over town. According to Penner, on two projects alone — Greater Road and South River Street — his team and contractors put in 1,400 feet of 12-inch water line, chip sealed four miles of roads and mended 9,000 feet of streets with mill and overlay to the tune of $4 million of work. “We [stre...
Though a few months away, the next session of the Wyoming Legislature will likely showcase the recent powershift towards the Wyoming Freedom Caucus if the general election goes the way of the primary election. Meanwhile, next month, the Management Council may be considering a policy which would limit access to the People’s House. Last month, the Select Committee on Legislative Facilities, Technology and process voted to effectively ban photojournalist and broadcast journalists from entering the halls which run next to the H...
As 2024 begins to draw to a close, the Town of Encampment has begun the process of switching who they contract with for dispatch services. At the October 10 meeting of the Encampment Town Council, the governing body briefly discussed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Carbon County for dispatch services. Historically, the Town of Encampment has contracted with the Town of Saratoga for dispatch services. Earlier this year, however, Saratoga’s governing body began d...
The Saratoga Town Council is continuing to amend sections of its municipal code regarding council member participation on committees, a process which began last year with the Saratoga Recreation Department. At the October 1 meeting of Saratoga’s governing body, the municipality held the first reading of two ordinances which would amend code regarding the Saratoga Planning Commission and the Saratoga Airport Advisory Board. Saratoga Planning Commission While the current code r...
Zoning was the main topic of discussion during the October 1 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council as the governing body denied a previously tabled zone change and discussed the zoning and restrictive covenants of the former skilled nursing facility. Rousu Zone Change For nearly two months, David Rousu has been undergoing the process of a zone change for property he purchased at 804 W Bridge Avenue. The application was approved on a split vote at the August 13 meeting of the...
There are probably few faces as recognizable as that of Josh Craig. With a handlebar mustache and a smile which never seems to leave his face, Josh seems to be almost everywhere in the Valley. Josh, like others closely involved in their community in the Platte Valley, wears multiple hats. He works for Carbon County School District No. 2 (CCSD2) as the district facilities supervisor while based at Encampment K-12 School. As cliche as it might sound, it’s a job that Josh says h...
Following an article regarding a traffic light in Saratoga in “Reflections from Our Files” in the September 19 Saratoga Sun, a reader reached out asking about what happened to the light, and when. According to a September 22, 1949 article (New Traffic Signals Arrive and Will Be Installed Soon): The new traffic stop light and two caution lights for Saratoga, which had been on order for some time, arrived the first of this week, and will be installed as quickly as possible, acc...
This year’s Platte Valley Hay Bale contest is being dubbed the Fab Fifteen by the Platte Valley Arts Council board. “I am very excited to see so many newcomers join in this friendly competition,” said Mary Martin, the Chairperson of Platte Valley Hale Bale contest. In its eighth year, the competition exploded to 14 entries, many of them signing up just a few days ahead of the deadline. It is the most entries to date, Martin said. Martin is on the board of the Platte Valle...
This past week, the Platte Valley was witness to what one may call odd thefts. The rash of thefts began in Riverside. According to Lee Ann Stephenson, co-owner of Lazy Acres Campground, the Town of Riverside had installed the last of its three repainted and repaired entry signs on September 22. Just five days later, on September 27, it was discovered someone had stolen the Turkey Crossing sign north of Riverside on Wyoming Highway 230. According to Stephenson, it appeared that someone “of less than stellar breeding” had use...
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...
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 n...
