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Wyoming’s unofficial motto “water’s for fighting, whiskey’s for drinking” was on full display as people from across the Platte Valley attended a public hearing held by the Wyoming State Engineer’s Office on June 4. The hearing was in regards to State Engineer Docket No. 2023-6-2024, over the HF Sinclair Water Exchange. HF Sinclair purchased the Encampment River Ranch in January 2023 to supplement the refinery’s water supply during dry months, when the refinery’s water rights are not enough to f...
Saratoga residents are one step closer to being able to own poultry within town limits following the June 18 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council. Ordinance No. 870, previously preferred to as the "Chicken Ordinance" was passed unanimously on first reading at the second June meeting of the governing body. A proposed draft of the ordinance was presented to the Saratoga Town Council in March, discussed by the Saratoga Planning Commission in April and the subject of a public hearing at the May 14...
The Saratoga Recreation Department faced multiple resignations at the June 18 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council. Councilwoman Kathy Beck resigned from being town council liaison to the Saratoga Recreation Department Board. She read a letter to the community members, talking about her history with the board and her passion for recreation. In her letter, Beck listed health and wellness, physical activity, community engagement, economic impact and quality of life as reasons why recreation is...
At June 14’s Encampment Town Council meeting, the council discussed changes in water and sewer rates, a land dispute, a donation to the 4th of July Firework Display, and a request for use of town land with the Cheyenne Board of Public Utilities. Encampment sewer rates have increased from $23 a month to $26. According to Town Clerk Doreen Harvey, this was done due to the additional expenses and man labor caused by the upgraded lagoon system which is more resource intensive and requires more maintenance. The water rate has remained at $46 a m...
The Riverside Town Council met June 13 to discuss a plethora of subjects. The agenda included approving liquor licenses, issues with sewer, changing a street name in remembrance, and some discussion on a possible rate change. Liquor licenses applications for the Bear Trap and the Mangy Moose were submitted for renewal which were passed by the council. Mayor Leroy Stephenson reported that, while personnel were in the sewer lift, a battery was blown. Mayor Stephenson presented the idea that a street name was changed in remembrance of long time...
The Independence Day weekend and Saratoga Days are just around the corner, bringing with it headlining act Lita Ford. With yet another big name in music coming to perform for free in Saratoga, the Saratoga Police Department is working to prepare for the event. “Last year, the Saratoga Days Committee did an exceptional job of planning,” said Chief Mike Morris. “It was very well run. We had very few issues last year.” Few issues, however, doesn’t mean there weren’t any issues. According t...
Flush valley residents are urged to buy a breakfast or bake sale item Saturday, June 29, so less fortunate folks may enjoy a free meal once a month. A fundraiser bake sale and homemade breakfast, sponsored by the “Gather at the Table” committee, will be held Saturday from 8 a.m. to 12 noon in the Saratoga Presbyterian Church Fellowship Hall at the corner of Bridge & Third streets. In addition to all the delicious bake sale items, folks may purchase a homemade breakfast consisting of biscuits and gravy or a breakfast burrito, to be eaten at the...
The Wyoming Arts Council announces that a new call for entry for public art is now open. The University of Wyoming is constructing a new building that will house dining facilities, offices, and student residential rooms. Through the State of Wyoming’s Art in Public Buildings program, artwork will be commissioned for the interior of the facility. A Request for Qualifications (RFQ) is open to artists with a deadline of July 12, 2024. This is a national RFQ open to artists residing in the United States. Wyoming artists will be given preference. T...
As the summer has returned to Saratoga, so too has the frustrating bites of mosquitoes and the familiar hum of the Town of Saratoga’s mosquito fogger. By now, all neighborhoods in town have likely seen the white single-cab truck with the red fogger in its bed driving through their area. According to Director of Public Works Emery Penner, residents should expect to see fogging on Monday evenings, Wednesday evenings and Friday evenings. That schedule, he added, is dependent on the weather. T...
At the June 18 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council, the governing body received a total of nine resolutions from the Wyoming Association of Municipalities (WAM) following their 2024 conference, including one focused on how public notices are published under law. WAM is a non-profit organization representing various local governments from across the state of Wyoming. The association holds conferences to discuss and inform on municipal leadership. The resolutions from the conference not are not...
Authorities from across the county met to hear comments and concerns regarding combined dispatch during a public hearing hosted by the Town of Saratoga on June 12. The Saratoga Town Council was joined by Saratoga Chief of Police Mike Morris, Rawlins Chief of Police Michael Ward, Carbon County Sheriff Alex Bakken, Carbon County Dispatch Supervisor Tracy Newbrough, Saratoga Dispatch Supervisor Alex Munson and Rawlins Dispatch Center Supervisor Valeta Rodabaugh. The public hearing was held to hear...
Carbon Power & Light, Inc., a nonprofit member-owned cooperative that distributes electricity, has established a new rate which affects three members operating utility-scale wind generation systems in its service area. Carbon Power and Light, Inc. serves 1,974 miles of energized line across 4,500 square miles in portions of Carbon and Albany counties in south central Wyoming, according to its website at https://www.carbonpower.com/service-area. This new rate does not affect the remaining 4,397 members belonging to the cooperative, said Joe...
Hard questions regarding zoning were grappled with at the June 4 meeting of the Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCC). During the meeting, the commissioners held a public hearing regarding a zone change for the Blackhall Minor Subdivision near Riverside. The 40-acre area was originally zoned as ranching, agriculture and mining (RAM) before being redesignated as residential (RD-10) in 1982. The requested zone change in the June 4 meeting was from RD-10 to residential (RD), which would...
A fundraiser bake sale and homemade breakfast will be held Saturday, June 29, from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon in the Saratoga Presbyterian Church Fellowship Hall at the corner of Bridge & Third streets. Proceeds from the event will help provide “free meals and fellowship” for those who “Gather at the Table” the first Monday of each month. The next meal will be Monday, July 1st from 5:30 to 7 p.m. (See accompanying news item). In addition to all the delicious bake sale items, folks may purchase a homemade breakfast consisting of biscuits and gra...
Hot dogs with homemade chili and coleslaw plus toppings, loaded baked beans, summer mac-n-cheese salad, layered cheesecake and drinks are on the menu for the next “Gather at the Table” free meal Monday, July 1, from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. in the Saratoga Presbyterian Church Fellowship Hall. Everyone, especially the hungry and lonely, are invited to gather for this popular monthly event which attracts 80 hungry folks at the June 3rd meal. No reservations are needed and no restrictions apply. Folks just need to show up. “Gather at the Table” is a no...
The annual Rancher’s Family Camp was unfortunately canceled this year. The Rancher’s family Camp is an interdenominational organization where people from all of the state come gather for the celebration of religion and community. The cancellation has occurred because many of the committee members of the camp have been struggling with health issues and are unable to organize and run the event. This year would have been the 78th annual camp. They look forward to making a return in 2025 once the committee is back to health....
JACKSON—Naysayers were nowhere to be found Thursday in the Teton County commissioners’ chambers, where residents showered praise on a plan to lease a 640-acre swath of state land on Munger Mountain to keep it open to the public and undeveloped. The occasion was a hearing of the Wyoming Office of State Lands and Investments, which is formally analyzing a 35-year “recreational lease” proposal that Teton County sent the state agency this spring. Accolades followed accolades as one Jackson Hole re...
KEMMERER — Monday, June 10, may have started like a normal day for Kemmerer, but as black vans rolled in single file to pick up more than 200 people to shuttle them to the official TerraPower groundbreaking ceremony, it was apparent this was no ordinary day. Heavy excavating equipment set against the big open sky with the Naughton coal plant — which is scheduled for retirement — across the way, served as an appropriate backdrop for the event. Attached to a dozer and an excavator were the American and Wyoming flags, which blew gently in the b...
Photo by Richard Espinoza The Platte Valley was recently treated to an impromptu air show as United States Army helicopters, including two Chinooks, landed at Shively Air Field on June 6. The aircraft had been taking part in a military exercise and landed in Saratoga to refuel....
Two appointees were approved to the Carbon County Visitors’ Council (CCVC) at the June 4 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council. Per the Carbon County website, the goal of the CCVC is to promote “local travel and tourism within Carbon County and its municipalities and to receive and expend the revenues from the excise tax on lodging services.” Members of the council are appointed by several separate municipalities in Carbon County, as well as one appointment from the Board of County Commi...
Carbon County School District No. 2 is being awarded the Innovative School Lunch Makeover Award, in recognition of their efforts to improve the nutritional quality of school lunches. The district applied for the Healthy Meals Incentives (HMI) grant from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), which provided $149,589 to go towards equipment, supplies, training, student engagement and farm-to-school activities. The Innovative School Lunch Makeover “recognizes improvement in the n...
Following a collision near the Saratoga Hot Springs Resort, an investigation by the Saratoga Police Department determined the incident was caused by tractor-trailer traffic in the area. On May 31, around 9:40 a.m., the Saratoga Police Department received a report of a traffic collision on Pic Pike Road. According to SPD Chief Mike Morris, officers arrived on the scene and found that a pickup truck driven by an area resident had collided with a fence. “The driver of the truck reported they had b...
GILLETTE (WNE) — A new program to help Gillette residents with their mental health has gotten off to a fast start. Earlier this spring, the Northeast Wyoming Community Health Foundation launched Hope Source to help people pay for therapy and counseling costs. Nachelle McGrath, executive director of the foundation, said she’s received 20 applications, and 10 of them have been approved. The other applications were sent back because they needed more information, and they will be re-submitted. “I didn’t realize we’d have so many so quickly,...
JACKSON (WNE) — A 0.1-acre wildland fire that broke out in Yellowstone National Park, dubbed the "Milepost 17 Fire" and the first of the season, was on track to be contained on Tuesday, the park announced in a Monday press release. The lightning-ignited fire was detected by a motorist driving on Highway 191, on the west side of the park, after lightning torched a single tree almost a mile west of Highway 191 and 17 miles north of West Yellowstone, Montana. Yellowstone wildland firefighters were suppressing the fire and expected it to be c...
The mismatch between the supply of water the Colorado River can provide and the demand for its resource throughout the West has given rise to plans proposed this spring to reduce the level of consumption and rebuild storage at Lake Powell Reservoir. The states that draw water from the river proposed the plans this spring. They have yet to reach a consensus. The two largest reservoirs on the Colorado River are Lake Powell and Lake Mead. Reservoirs are man-made lakes designed to store water during wet years and supplement natural precipitation...
