Serving the Platte Valley since 1888
Serving the Platte Valley since 1888
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With the scenic Snowy and Sierra Madre mountain ranges, the North Platte and Encampment rivers and breathtaking vistas many Platte Valley residents have likely thought it would only be a matter of time before Hollywood arrived. It has, but probably not in the way most would expect. According to Lieutenant John Moore with the Saratoga Police Department, prop money has recently been found throughout Saratoga. The props are realistic enough, judging by the $20 bill Moore brought with him to the...
Following a chase in vehicles and on foot the afternoon of November 10, a Saratoga man is facing multiple charges, including two felonies. The charges were so numerous, in fact, they required seven feet of paper to print the citations. Aiden Swanson is facing charges including felony possession of methamphetamine, convicted felon in possession of a firearm and nine misdemeanors including littering. The chase, which began in Saratoga, went out onto county roads and through private property as...
The Never Forget Park committee recently received word that the Town of Saratoga will be a recipient of an award of approximately $278,200 from the federally funded Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). Wyoming's LWCF project is administered by Wyoming State Parks and Cultural Resources, Grants Office. Using no taxpayer dollars, the LWCF invests earnings from offshore oil and gas leasing to help establish and improve parks and other outdoor recreation areas. This award requires a match from the Town of Saratoga, which includes cash and...
The Encampment Town Council had a full agenda November 14. The most difficult decision was what to do about a resident who had ignored their request to stop building an overhang on his property. The overhang is encroaching on state property and was denied a building permit at the November 1, 2023 meeting of the Encampment Planning Commission. According to the minutes from that meeting, the resident had already begun to build the overhang, but did not provide sufficient evidence in his plan. The...
DOUGLAS - When graphic novelist and author Jason Viola visited Douglas elementary schools last week, he found not just a warm welcome but an excited bunch of students eager to learn about his writing and art. Viola came from Boston, Massachusetts where he co founded a non-profit organization, Boston Comic Arts Foundation. Through his foundation, Viola assists others through the power of comics to educate, inspire and bring people together. "I co-founded the Boston Comic Arts Foundation to...
RIVERTON - On Monday afternoon, a semi-truck loaded with hurricane relief supplies rolled out of Riverton High School and began the long journey to North Carolina. Dozens of RHS National Honor Society students stood by for the sendoff, exhausted from a long day of packing boxes and satisfied with the completion of a multiweek effort. "The idea first started during our NHS meetings shortly after the hurricanes," said RHS Student Council and Honor Society member Aquinnah Wiblemo. "Some of our...
Photo by D’Ron Campbell. Mr. Robby Follum, Encampment music teacher, leads the elementary students in "You're a Grand Old Flag" at the K-12 assembly honoring local veterans. See more photos on A8 of this week’s Saratoga Sun....
CHEYENNE — Senate Vice President Dave Kinskey proposed a rule to fellow Wyoming legislative leaders on Thursday that would have expanded media access for photographers and video crews on the chamber floors. The proposal came after lawmakers voted, and later rescinded, a proposal to bar media access on the chamber floor entirely. Kinskey, R-Sheridan, proposed a rule to the Management Council that would have allowed photojournalists and TV broadcast journalists behind the bar on the chamber floor, unless otherwise directed by the presiding o...
CHEYENNE — As the 2024-25 school year began, teachers across Laramie County School District 1 had a new lesson to add to their first day agenda: How to comply with the district’s new parental rights policy. Specifically, teachers had to explain to students the new rule that requires teachers to report students’ preferred names to their parents. School districts across the state were mandated by the Wyoming Legislature to pass a parental rights policy outlining the situations in which the schools are required to notify parents about chang...
CODY - Cody chiropractor Vince Kalkowski and his son Garrett vividly recall the close encounter they experienced with a grizzly bear on October 3 east of Meeteetse. "All seven of us left camp and headed up the same drainage that day. My friend's daughter got her first bull on that trip and the other guys helped her take care of it," he said "Since I still needed to fill my tag and it was still early, my son and I decided to keep hunting." Kalkowski and his son, after tying up their mules, hiked...
BUFFALO - On Thursday mornings, there's no livelier place to be than Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4969 in Buffalo. The coffee is brewing and pancakes and bacon are on the stove before sunrise. Veterans representing nearly every branch of the U.S. military come for the breakfast, and they stay for the camaraderie. "It's just a tight-knit gathering of folks that have experiences in common," said Jurgen Hakert, who served in the Air Force for 23 years. At the VFW, every member is, as the name...
CHEYENNE — The Wyoming Legislature could be back on track to fully funding its K-12 public schools after a committee of state lawmakers voted Friday to adopt a $66.3 million cost adjustment. The state funds its public schools through the K-12 education resource block grant. Every year, the Legislature’s Joint Appropriations Committee must make an external cost adjustment (ECA) recommendation from this block grant to the governor and legislative body by Nov. 1. There are two different funding models that calculate the cost of education fun...
SHERIDAN — When it comes to housing, Sheridan is already doing some things right. The city and county have adopted a joint planning agreement that governs land use in a 60 square mile area surrounding the town, Stephen Whitlow, a consultant with Abt Global — a firm working with the Wyoming Community Development Authority on a Statewide Strategic Housing Action Plan — said at a forum in Cheyenne on Oct. 21. The joint planning agreement between Sheridan County and the city is focused on preserving agricultural and rural areas, while also devel...
CHEYENNE — More than a dozen Wyoming schools had received threats of either an active shooter or a bomb on campus as of Monday afternoon, according to the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation. Part of a national trend, Wyoming is not unique at this moment, and these threats appear to be “spilling over” from other states, DCI’s Ryan Cox told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle. Based on current information, it appears that threats have been made in other states in the past month. Schools and local police departments are responding to threats...
JACKSON - Rain and snow fell Saturday evening on Town Square as a group of soaked, candle-holding mourners listened to wildlife guide Bo Welden talk about one of his life's most meaningful, one-way relationships. "Seeing 399 is like falling in love for the first time," he said. "Every time you got to see her, it was kind of like you forgot to breathe. You will just bail on your friends and your family to go spend time with that first love. And I argue people do that with 399 all the time."...
GILLETTE - Dogs from Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota, Iowa and more were at the Cam-plex Wyoming Center last weekend for the first American Kennel Club scent work trial held in Wyoming. Hosted by the Icelandic Sheepdog Association of America, three judges - from South Dakota, Arizona and Idaho - were on hand to judge the dogs on how well and how quickly they could sniff out cotton swabs scented with essential oils hidden throughout different rooms. "It's like police dogs, only there's no drugs or...
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 the discovery of the...
History of Saratoga’s famous “Hobo Pool” and “Mineral Hot Springs” will be revealed Thursday evening, Nov. 14th, during a slide program at the Saratoga Public Library. Friends of the Saratoga Library invite folks to soak in the photos and stories beginning at 6:30 p.m. Come for the show, stay for the conversation and refreshments. Local historian Dick Perue will present more than 100 photos of the healing waters, with support from Chilly Rolison concerning Indian lore and Jamie Campbell...
GILLETTE —- Gillette College is in the process of approving new language to give more direction to students and teachers on artificial intelligence when it comes to academic dishonesty and potential uses in the classroom. The additions to the college’s academic dishonesty policy and classroom syllabi were developed by the college’s AI task force, which was put together this spring. The task force, led by Dean of Letters and Sciences Martin Fashbaugh, has been working throughout the summer on a slate of broad goals related to developing the c...
CHEYENNE — The Wyoming Community Development Authority presented the first draft of its statewide strategic housing plan this week which identifies the state’s greatest housing needs and how to address related concerns. WCDA selected Abt Global, a consulting and research firm, to craft the plan and it held its second of two public meetings Monday in Cheyenne to share what it has learned so far and get more feedback before finalizing the plan in November. A statewide housing needs assessment released by the WCDA in March shows that Wyoming nee...
CHEYENNE — Lawmakers unanimously voted Thursday to rescind a previously voted-on rules change that prohibited photojournalists’ access to the chamber floors during legislative session. Last month, members of the Legislature’s Select Committee on Legislative Facilities, Technology and Process voted four to two in favor of a policy change that barred photojournalists’ access to the hallways on the chamber floor. This issue grabbed the attention of news outlets across the state, which re-sparked the conversation during the committee’s Thursday...
CHEYENNE - South High senior Deanna Davis spent Tuesday morning before class working at the polls at the Laramie County Governmental Complex. At just 17 years old, Davis is making big strides toward a future in politics. This year, she's the youngest poll worker in Laramie County, and next year, she'll be headed to the University of Wyoming to study political science and communication, eventually aiming to get her law degree. Davis is more than just a poll worker, though. She's also your...
POWELL - Step after step while climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro, the endeavor by area residents Deb White and Cathy Blanchard was as much mental as it was physical. For nine days the retirees pushed toward the summit on the mountain with the world's fourth highest vertical climb, cementing a lifelong bond through their adventure on the 19,340-foot behemoth. "I had never been tested to the full extent of my physical and mental capabilities," said Blanchard, a 70-year-old making her home in the shadow of...
Trees and fires were the hot topics discussed, though not together, during the October 17 meeting of the Riverside Town Council. Members of the governing body discussed how and when to remove aging cottonwood trees in Rick Martin Memorial Park and whether to plant new trees before or after the older trees were removed. They also discussed changes to Ordinance No. 106, which covers the burning of waste within town limits. Tree Removal The discussion of the cottonwood trees in Rick Martin...
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 [streets department] dug up ro...