Serving the Platte Valley since 1888
Serving the Platte Valley since 1888
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The Valleys and Headwaters Restoration project in southeast Wyoming has been awarded $2.8 million in funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to support landscape restoration through targeted forestry management. The project is focused on the Medicine Bow National Forest and adjacent state and private lands in Albany and Carbon Counties. It is one of 17 new projects financially supported by the Joint Chiefs’ Landscape Restoration Partnership, w...
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...
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 Joh...
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...
On January 11, the Hanna Town Council meeting was nearly cancelled due to lack of a quorum. At 6:30 p.m. there was only Mayor Lois Buchanan and Councilmember Sam Sikes. The mayor waited 15 minutes and, with no other council member showing up, went over the board reports. Public Works Director Larry Korkow said snow removal had been the focus of his team for the past month and everything was running fine. Vivian Gonzales, director of Parks and Recreation, said the pool was at...
The Encampment Town Council’s January 13 meeting was full of activity, though it all moved rather quickly. Heard at the meeting was a letter of interest for South Central Wyoming Emergency Medical Services (SCWEMS) Joint Powers Board. The 35th Annual Sierra Madre Winter Carnival held four spots in the new business section of the agenda, along with 2022 recreation board ideas appearing on the list as well. Designated depositories, official newspaper and posting places were deci...
Recent reports of property damage and theft across the Valley seem to have some residents on edge. On the Southern end of Carbon County, citizens of Encampment have been faced with property damage in particular. The Carbon County Sheriff’s Department is handling various reports of damage from residents. Encampment Chief of Police Kevin Shue is also on regular patrol and on duty in town. Property damage is defined as some harm inflicted upon someone’s property as the res...
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...
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 c...
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 W...
Four Missouri residents were recently rescued while snowmobiling in the Snowy Range, according to a press release from the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office. On December 17, at approximately 7:34 p.m., the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office received a call regarding four snowmobilers who had three machines break down and were trying to make it to shelter at the Nelson Warming Hut. Deputy Patrick Patterson responded to the call along and activated members of the Rawlins, Ryan Park, Saratoga and Encampment Search and Rescue teams. In...
Winter logging activity near Ryan Park on the west side of the Snowy Range has temporarily closed two National Forest System roads and rerouted portions of three snowmobile trails. The impacted routes are near Wyoming Highway 130 in the Medicine Bow National Forest. Forest Roads 225 and 231 are being used as haul routes and have been temporarily closed by a Forest Order, until April 1, 2022 or operations cease. The closures will be in effect 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Forest Road 225 is also the Q groomed snowmobile...
The Carbon County Visitors Council (CCVC) Board met on December 8 via conference call and Google Meet. The board had not met in November and the meeting was a combination of both months. Five board members were present and four were absent. CEO Leslie Jefferson started the meeting by introducing guest speaker Brook Kaufman, CEO of Visit Casper. Kaufman spoke about the CCVC having a Destination Marketing Association of the West (DMA West) Membership. Visit Casper has been a...
The Medicine Bow Town Council met on December 13 at the Medicine Bow Community Hall, with all council members and Mayor Sharon Biamon present. After the agenda and minutes from the regularly scheduled meeting of November 8 were approved, Town Clerk/Treasurer Karen Heath read the bills to be ratified. Biamon said she would like a printout of the credit card statement and petty cash book pages when asked to pay those bills. The council approved the financials. Braeden Hyde of...
At approximately 7 p.m. on December 28, 2021, the Saratoga Volunteer Fire Department was called to 308 N. State Street in Saratoga for a trailer fire at Dan's Trucking. The call was placed by Officer John Moore, who was on shift with the Saratoga Police Department the night of the fire. According to Moore, he had just finished conducting a routine check of the Saratoga Lake Campground and was on his way into town when he saw smoke rising from the east side of Saratoga. The...
For over a decade, as a park in memory of Staff Sergeant Tyler Pickett has been discussed, planned and a seemingly far-off dream, it has gone through many names. During that time, it has often been called Tyler Pickett Park. That has changed following the December 21 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council. Councilmember Ben Spaulding, a veteran of the United States Marine Corps, has been the council representative on a steering committee formed by Spaulding and American Legion...
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...
The Saratoga Town Council and the Saratoga-Carbon County Impact Joint Powers Board (SCCIJPB) are beginning to look at projects for the One Percent Specific Purpose Sales and Use Tax (6th penny tax). During the December 21 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council, Councilmember Jon Nelson informed the rest of the governing body the SCCIJPB had selected a project for the 6th penny tax funds. According to Nelson, a water main break on October 5 in front of Town Hall made the...
The Hanna Town Council met at 6:30 p.m. on December 14 at Hanna Town Hall. The mayor and three council members were present. Council member Jayson Nordquist was absent. The Council in a matter of moments approved the agenda and the minutes from the regularly scheduled meeting on November 9 and the special meeting on November 29. Public Works director Larry Korkow reported the snow that had fallen in the past few weeks had been removed as quickly as possible, but due to the...
A vaccine clinic held on November 18 at the Platte Valley Community Center may be the last traveling clinic for the foreseeable future. During the December 7 meeting of the Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCCC), Amanda Brown, Nurse Manager for Carbon County Public Health, provided the board with an update on vaccine progress in the county which included the suspension of traveling clinics. “We have been getting a lot of questions on whether we’re going to be doing any...
Less than a month after the Omicron variant of COVID-19 virus was detected in the United States, it’s presence has been confirmed in Wyoming. In a press release from the Wyoming Department of Health on Friday morning, it was reported lab sequencing had confirmed an Albany County adult with recent domestic travel was infected with the variant. Confirmation was also pending for a second Albany County adult as of Friday afternoon. Both cases were initially identified by a University of Wyoming laboratory with WDH involved w...
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...
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....
