Serving the Platte Valley since 1888
Serving the Platte Valley since 1888
Sorted by date Results 201 - 225 of 1211
Saratoga is growing. This is a fact. Whether you look at the updated signs at Saratoga Town Limits, try to find a home to buy or place to rent the evidence is there. With growth also comes change. Ten years ago, an agreement was reached between the Town of Saratoga and The Yard—a music venue owned by Cindy Bloomquist and Chris Shannon—in the form of Chapter 5.30 of the Saratoga Municipal Code. This chapter of the town’s code came as a result of a number of public meetings and discussions involving the community over a two y...
Do you have what it takes to be a public servant? Next week—May 12—marks the start of the filing period for the 2022 Primary Election. In recent elections, the Saratoga Sun has encouraged our readers to head to the polls in both primary and general elections to cast their votes. What should be equally stressed is the need for people to run for those offices in the first place, especially at the local level. After all, there could be a great turnout of voters but it means little if there is nobody to vote for. Just two yea...
In Saratoga, there are various signs pointing to the approach of summer. For some, it’s the opening of the Snowy Range Scenic Byway. For others, it’s the steady increase in out-of-state license plates. In the council chambers of Saratoga Town Hall, it is the perennial discussion of the process through which special events in town limits are permitted. On May 3, the Saratoga Town Council held their second reading of Ordinance No. 862 which amends portions of Chapter 5.30 of...
The Medicine Bow Town Council held their regularly monthly scheduled meeting on April 11 at the Medicine Bow Community Hall. Mayor Sharon Biamon was present along with council members Cindy Chace, Sharon Kahl and Dawndee Yocum. Councilmember Lucy Schofield was absent. The council listened to Town Clerk/Treasurer Karen Heath review the financials. The total to pay out was $151,884.65, which the council approved. The meeting went into a public hearing at 7:12 p.m. for a...
The Encampment Town Council held their regularly scheduled meeting on April 14 with Mayor Greg Salisbury in attendance along with council members Bill Craig, Shannon Fagan-Craig and Gary Stull. Town Clerk/Treasurer Doreen Harvey went over the financials and, when she finished, the council approved paying the bills. Loretta Hansen and Dawndette Spaulding came before the council and asked the Town to endorse a proclamation acknowledging National Crime Victims Rights Week....
While the date of the 2022 Primary Election—August 16—is more than four months away, those considering a run for Saratoga Town Council will be able to file their candidacy as soon as May 12. It was announced during the April 5 meeting of Saratoga’s governing body that candidates for municipal seats would be able to file beginning May 12. This election cycle, nearly every seat on the council is open with three council seats and one mayor seat set to appear on the ballot. The te...
The 2022 Governor's Tourism and Hospitality Conference was held from February 28 through March 1 at Little America in Cheyenne. The annual conference has been virtual for the past two years and both attendees and speakers were clearly glad to be meeting in person. It was a constant theme heard throughout the conference. "This was a gathering of the movers and shakers in the Wyoming tourism industry," Governor Mark Gordon said. "Wyoming really is a lost treasure and it is so gr...
Elk Mountain may be in the sights of Bair Energy as the potential future home of a green hydrogen plant, but that hasn’t stopped CEO Nicholas Bair from making the rounds to other communities. On April 5, Bair appeared before the Saratoga Town Council alongside Yvonne Johnson, executive director of the Carbon County Economic Development Corporation. While Elk Mountain—specifically Simpson Ridge—is being proposed as the site of the green hydrogen plant, Bair told Sarat...
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 Wyom...
By Joshua Wood As the Saratoga Town Council seeks to, at the very least, start construction on Never Forget Park in Memory of Staff Sergeant Tyler Pickett this year there seems to be one minor hurdle for the governing body. A small sliver of land less than half an acre in size which the Town of Saratoga may have to conduct a land swap to obtain. The discussion came during the March 15 meeting of the governing body. For more than a decade, various incarnations of the town...
The Carbon County Council of Governments discussed a variety of topics during their March 18 meeting in Hanna. Chief among those was the recent catastrophic water break in Rawlins. The member municipalities also discussed the proposed fire district and provided updates on their respective communities. Rawlins Water Event Lenny Layman, the Emergency Management Coordinator for Carbon County gave a presentation on how the Carbon County Coordination Center (C4) performed recently...
As the end of Fiscal Year 2022 draws ever closer for the Town of Saratoga, the governing body has finally received the results regarding the audit of Fiscal Year 2020. On March 15, the Saratoga Town Council was provided a 30 minute presentation by Tim Fixter of Fagnant, Lewis & Brinda. The Lander-based accounting firm was engaged by the Town of Saratoga in May 2021 to conduct an audit of Fiscal Years 2020 and 2021. It is the third firm engaged by the town council in as many...
On March 10, members of the Saratoga/Platte Valley Chamber of Commerce (S/PVCC) gathered in the Great Hall of the Platte Valley Community Center (PVCC) to honor local businesses, organizations and volunteers from throughout the community during the Annual Chamber Dinner. Each year, the Chamber of Commerce honors the Volunteer of the Year, Organization of the Year, New Business of the Year and Business of the Year. A recent addition to the categories, Emerging Business of the...
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, howev...
The locking of doors during business at one of Saratoga’s liquor establishments was a topic of discussion during the March 15 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council. Saratoga Police Chief Ken Lehr informed the governing body of Saratoga of an incident involving Sergeant Tyler Christen on Saturday evening at the Rustic Bar (Rustic), which is one of three businesses on Bridge Avenue which holds a liquor license. According to Lehr, when Christen went to the Rustic to conduct a b...
Less than a year after being hired by the Town of Saratoga, Sergeant Justin Brown was terminated following a 90 minute public hearing at a special meeting of the Saratoga Town Council on March 1. The termination of Brown from the Saratoga Police Department (SPD) comes three months after Carbon County Sheriff's Office (CCSO) attempted to execute a search warrant for a K9 dog, Shaw, owned by Brown. The hearing, which had originally been scheduled for February 11, had been...
Three months after the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) attempted to execute a search warrant for a K9 dog owned by Justin Brown, the Saratoga Police Department (SPD) sergeant has been officially terminated by the Saratoga Town Council. Brown had initially been placed on suspension from the department effective January 17 per a letter from the SPD dated January 14. The decision came following a 90 minute special hearing open to the public and an hour long closed s...
The Medicine Bow Town Council met on February 15 at the Community Hall, rescheduled from February 14. Those present were Mayor Sharon Biamon and Councilmembers Lucinda Schofield, Cynthia Chace, Sharon Kahl, and Dawndee Yocom. Others present were Town Clerk/Treasurer Karen Heath, Public Works Director Hayden Bricker, Town Marshal David Redding, Town Attorney Robert Piper, and Fire Chief Robert Maddox. The minutes from the regular meeting on January 10, 2022, and special...
Later this year, construction will be complete on the North Platte Valley Medical Center (NVPMC), the critical access hospital at the corner of 13th Street and Bridge Avenue. The facility—which will hold a 24/7 emergency room, an extended care wing and an acute care wing—will absorb both the Saratoga Care Center and the Platte Valley Clinic. The building which currently houses the Platte Valley Clinic at 1208 S. River Street will then be vacant, which had previously rai...
An officer with the Saratoga Police Department (SPD) is currently on suspension after having been arrested by the Carbon County Sheriff's Office (CCSO) on February 9 based on allegations he threatened CCSO deputies attempting to execute a search warrant. SPD Chief Ken Lehr has publicly questioned the arrest and the investigation. According to an affidavit of probable cause filed with the Circuit Court of Carbon County, Brown is being charged with felony threatening an...
The Town of Saratoga will be joining an effort to contest the results of the 2020 Census. During the January 18 meeting of Saratoga's governing body, Mayor Creed James informed the rest of the council of an email received from Justin Schilling, member services manager of the Wyoming Association of Municipalities (WAM). According to James, Schilling reached out to member communities regarding their concerns over the 2020 Census results and if they were interested in contesting...
Mayor Sharon Biamon called the Medicine Bow Town Council meeting to order at 7 p.m. on January 10 at the Medicine Bow Community Hall. Councilmembers Lucinda Schofield, Cynthia Chace, and Sharon Kahl. Others present were Town Clerk/Treasurer Karen R. Heath, Acting Public Works Director Hayden Bricker, Town Marshal David Redding, and Fire Chief Robert Maddox. Heath read the bills to be ratified. Kahl asked where the Chase bil credit card was. Heath said an amount was reimbursed...
Who does and who does not have a conflict of interest was at least one highlight of discussion during the January 12 meeting of the Saratoga-Carbon County Impact Joint Powers Board (SCCIJPB). As the relationship between the Saratoga Town Council and the joint powers board appear to grow strained month-after-month, tensions have risen in the monthly meeting of the water and sewer joint powers board. During the most recent meeting, accusations regarding conflicts of interest...
After more than a decade languishing in the pre-planning stages, Never Forget Park in Memory of Tyler Pickett may finally become a reality this spring. During the January 4 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council, Angus England American Legion Post 54 presented nearly $50,000 to go towards the park. According to Vice Commander Joe Parsons, the total amount came from a combination of sources. “Tonight we would like to present, specifically for the park, a check for $47,000,” sai...
Though the New Year has just begun, concerns over being unable to get on a construction schedule this year has motivated the Town of Saratoga to move quickly on the replacement of the Spring Street water main from River Street to 3rd Street. At the January 4 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council, replacement of the water main was heavily discussed. Though it had been a topic for the final meeting of 2021, following a recommendation from the Saratoga-Carbon County Impact Joint...