Serving the Platte Valley since 1888
Serving the Platte Valley since 1888
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The Saratoga Town Council failed to appoint a member to the upcoming vacancy on the Carbon County Visitors' Council (CCVC) at the May 21 meeting. Per the Carbon County website, the purpose of the board is to "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...
Every morning, Principal Mike Erickson greets students at Encampment K-12 School. Standing in the middle of the foyer, he gives fist bumps to both primary and secondary students as they start their day. On May 31, he will be giving fist bumps for the last time. After 19 years as principal and 30 years in education, Erickson will be retiring. According to the outgoing principal, now’s a good time to retire. Rather Early Than Late “There’s a lot of things that I’ll miss but any...
Bub Barhurkhust, who was appointed to the Saratoga Town Council on May 7, met with the Sun to share his reasons for applying for appointment and what he hopes to accomplish on the council. The council had a vacant seat in February due to the untimely passing of Jacob Fluty. Barkhurst, owner of Barkhurst Collision Center, was one of two people to send a letter of interest to fill the open seat. In his letter to the council, Barkhurst wrote “as a long time resident and business...
The Town of Saratoga Recreation Director Kim Hemenway resigned during the May 21 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council. Hemenway gave a report to the council during the meeting and discussed issues involving preparing the pool for the summer season. After her report, Hemenway gave the council a notice of resignation, saying her final day would be June 14. She thanked the Town for the opportunity of being employed there and the experience she gained from the position. She finish...
The second reading of the 2024-2025 Fiscal Year Budget passed in title only at the May 21 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council. Ordinance No. 869 provides the details of the budget. Estimated revenues are based upon the previous year and are prepared using the Budget Preparation Handbook created by the Wyoming Association of Municipalities. For the general fund, $3,395,844.43 is anticipated in revenue. $2,244,408.20 is anticipated to come from taxes. According to the Saratoga...
With a deadline of May 31 for candidates to file for the primary election, some races will see some competition while others are either uncontested or without any candidates at all. This year, three seats are up for grabs on the Board of Carbon County Commissioners with five candidates having filed as of May 28. John Espy and Sue Jones both have filed to run for re-election. Joining them on the ballot will be Gwynn Bartlett, who has served as the Carbon County Clerk since 2010 and was re-elected in 2022, James “Jimmy” Hin...
*Editor's Note: The online edition of this story has been updated to include comments from HF Sinclair received after the print deadline* The Wyoming State Engineer’s Office is holding a public meeting in June in Saratoga to allow the HF Sinclair Refinery to explain its proposed exchange of water rights and give the public an opportunity to comment on what effect that may have on their water rights. “The State Engineer’s Office is holding a public meeting on the proposed HF Sinclair Exchange to provide a public forum for t...
Many members of the public showed up in strong support of a proposed chicken ordinance during a public hearing at the May 14 Saratoga Planning Commission meeting. During a previous Saratoga Town Council meeting, resident Jon Nelson presented a proposed ordinance that would allow people to own chickens on residential lots within town limits, which is currently mostly illegal. Under Saratoga municipal code 18.42.150, the owning of chickens is prohibited in residential zones...
CASPER — How much does a single parent with one preschooler and one school-age child need to make in Wyoming to live comfortably, provide for basic needs and survive without public or private assistance? The answers are nuanced and vary by county. But the Wyoming 2024 Self-Sufficiency Standard, released by the Wyoming Women’s Foundation in partnership with the Wyoming Community Foundation and the Wyoming Council for Women, tries to provide those answers. The self-sufficiency standard was created at the University of Was...
CASPER - Ski weekends in the Snowy Range. Deer hunts in the Red Desert. Road trips through America's first national park. Travel and tourism is growing across Wyoming, and it's bringing a pretty penny to the state. Travelers spent $4.5 billion in Wyoming in 2023, according to a University of Wyoming report, vaulting the travel industry to the number two sector in the Cowboy State. But there's a problem: The industry's demand for skilled workers may not be met. "This sector is really forecasted to grow substantially. And the...
SHERIDAN — Fish that are illegally introduced to non-native bodies of water can cause lasting impacts to the water’s ecosystem and a community’s economy, according to Wyoming Game and Fish officials. An illegal introduction occurs when someone moves a fish from one body of water to another, Wyoming Game and Fish Department Chief of Fisheries Alan Osterland told the Wyoming Legislature’s Joint Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resources Committee earlier this week. Osterland said fishermen may have grown up catchin...
Filings for the 2024 Primary Elections are currently underway. Many candidates have already applied, however there remain many positions across Carbon County without any filings. The deadline to file for candidacy in all partisan and nonpartisan races is May 31. Here are the current candidates for the 2024 Primary Election as of May 21. For the Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCC), three seats are open to be filled. Sue Jones and John Espy will be running for reelection...
OV Consulting presented the updated progress on the Saratoga Transportation Alternative Master Plan (STAMP) on May 6 at the Platte Valley Community Center. The last meeting OV Consulting hosted was on January 17 when Vogelsang introduced the Transportation Alternative Master Plan. At the time, Saratoga residents had concerns about how the Town of Saratoga could follow through with the program without overspending. Some residents were either for or against the project while oth...
Photo by Kaitlyn Campbell The Aurora Borealis, or the Northern Lights, could be seen in much of the United States last week including in Wyoming....
Nancy Anderson, a local historian, was the special guest at the May 7 Tuesday Talks where she made a presentation on the life and times of Lora Webb Nichols. Anderson, a close friend of the Nichols family, is the author of “Lora Webb Nichols: Homesteader’s Daughter, Miner’s Bride.” She is also a close friend of the Nichols family. In her presentation, Anderson talked about how Nichols was a contributor to preserving Encampment’s history. According to the Nichols’ Archive web...
At the May 7 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council, Mayor Chuck Davis said the public hearing to consider whether to create a joint dispatch center to serve the sheriff’s department and the county municipalities set for May 13 was tabled for logistical reasons. “The council is working to get a date confirmed,” Davis said, referring to when to reschedule the meeting. Getting everyone’s schedules to agree had proven difficult. Police Chief Mike Morris said they have agreed “in principle” that the best way to create a joint dispa...
We live in a world where it is easy to become coldhearted, unsympathetic, unresponsive, even unconcerned. We watch the results of natural catastrophes, war, and political violence, sometimes unfolding on a minute-by-minute live feed. In order to cope with the pain and suffering that goes on around us, we have learned to not allow ourselves to dwell very long on the troubles of this world. In the process, we have become almost indifferent, merciless, or one might even say hardened. How does Jesus want us to respond? Jesus...
Some individuals are healthier than others, but the uncomfortable facts reveal the human body is generally frail and vulnerable. I occasionally joke around with my Son-in-law about him being from another planet because he claims he’s never been sick, however, like the rest of us, there will come a day when something will go wrong. As a minister, I’ve seen my share of sickness and pain and it hurts me to see someone suffer. My father was a very sick man, and our family watched him go through years of agony. With my par...
Today marks the opening of the 2024 Primary Election filing period with a deadline of May 31 for candidates in all partisan and nonpartisan primary races. A complete listing of all offices can be found in the 2024 Primary Proclamation on page B6 of this week’s Saratoga Sun. A few of those offices include three seats on the Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCCC), three on the Saratoga Town Council, two on the Encampment Town Council and three on the Riverside Town Council...
For over 50 years, Wee Folks Preschool has been an important part of the Hanna community in helping children succeed in early education. Recently, the program was on the brink of closing its doors. Due to a lack of funding, Wee Folks was left with no choice but to leave the building near Miners Plaza Shopping Center because of the cost of rent. This left parents concerned about where to send their preschool-aged children if the program couldn’t operate. Carbon County School D...
Southern Fryed brought their take on Red Dirt county to the Parco-Sinclair Theater on April 27. The band will be one of two opening acts in July for Lita Ford at Saratoga Days....
Nearly three months after the untimely passing of Saratoga Town Council member Jacob Fluty—and a month of advertising—the governing body received two letters of interest for the vacant seat. One letter was from Bub Barkhurst, owner of Barkhurst Collision Center, and the other was from Chia Valdez, owner of Saratoga Land Company and a current member of the Saratoga Planning Commission. Both applicants cited their long ties to Wyoming in their letters with Barkhurst stating his...
Ray Waliser and his sister, Karen Herold, were guests at Tuesday Talks on April 30. Wailser and Herold did a presentation on the history of their great-grandparents, John and Mary Swanson, and what they did for the Platte Valley. The Swansons raised five children and worked to give the next generation a better future. The Swanson family comes alongside Waliser and Herold’s Mother, Thelma (Swanson) Waliser. Waliser is the fourth-generation to be raised on his family ranch on S...