Serving the Platte Valley since 1888
Serving the Platte Valley since 1888
Sorted by date Results 1252 - 1276 of 1488
Editor, I write in opposition to the Town Council passing an ordinance which would add a 4% franchise fee to the franchise agreement in negotiation now with the Carbon Power and Light (CP&L) which would begin July 1, 2014. This would affect the CP&L bills of the 1032 households and 262 commercial accounts within the Town of Saratoga. This is an anti-business maneuver by this administration that will last for the next 10 years. In the last 10 years our water bills have gone up greatly, despite the “money-saving” wells tha...
Editor It is time to dump our Mayor and his administration and get new blood to run our town that will hopefully demonstrate some administrative competence that has been totally lacking. Here are a few of the in-competences demonstrated by the current administration: 1) The new $4M budget they approved that is an 84% increase. That is ridiculous! 2) The disastrous water meter/sewer line replacement project. I am an engineer and I watched the implementation of this project with total dismay. I did not see a city official...
Editor: Is Saratoga friendly to bicycle tourists who come peddling through town almost every day in the summertime? I’m inclined to think not after observing a situation that occurred this last Friday the 27th. I watched two young men as they approached town hall after 5 p.m. Since the business day was over, they went around the corner to the police station, where I learned later, they asked directions to the nearest camp site and were told they had to go to Saratoga Lake. As I was finishing up my recycling for the day, I w...
As one of my favorite musicians, Red Knuckles, used to say “mighty fine and a great big howdy!” After 17 years of being an archaeologist I am very happy to be starting a new career as a reporter and photographer here at the Sun. My wife and I have been in Saratoga full time for just about two years now, but since I still don’t know many of you I’ll give you a brief introduction to myself. I was born in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, but raised in the suburbs of Washing...
A handful of representatives from the Platte Valley non-profit organizations attended a meeting sponsored by Brush Creek Ranch on June 17 at the Platte Valley Community Center. Michael Williams, with Brush Creek Ranch announced that Valley Strong, a non-profit organization is bringing Sawyer Brown to Saratoga to perform at 8 p.m., July 20 at the PVCC and that local non-profit organizations will benefit from any tickets sales they make. Williams explained three tiers of ticket...
Editor, I am writing to express support for the Lodging Tax, it’s Board of Directors and to clear up some apparent misinformation submitted by Leroy Stephenson in his letter to the editor on Thursday, June 19th. (Editor’s note: the letter was submitted to the Rawlins Daily Times and the Saratoga Sun. Since Stephenson is a candidate for mayor in Riverside, the Saratoga Sun is not printing the letter.) Before I begin, let me first disclose that I have previously served on the Carbon County Visitors Council (CCVC) Board of Direc...
Editor, And the Three Ring Spending Circus came to Town again last night! And the Un-Thrifty Mayor who won’t Resign was in Center Ring and prevailed again to over-spend next year’s budget (2014-15) by $89,000.00 on top of this year’s budget (2013-14) over-spending of $659,000.00. This Three Ring (2 Council Members and Mayors yes vote and one sane no vote) in spite of Citizens objections to another unbalanced budget. Saratoga Jonny Homeowner’s must balance their budgets to avoid bankruptcy or negative Credit Ratings. No cons...
So you’re running for office. Congratulations. No, really. I commend your effort and desire to make things better. There are a few things you should know though. People are going to start giving you their “Here’s what you need to do …” speech. I won’t be doing that here. Folks will be telling you to “Go door to door”, “Get out and knock on some doors” and the like. The reason I never did that when I ran two years ago is that A.) I’m basically lazy and B.) I don’t like it w...
Editor, First I want to all the people who were involved in the effort to keep the river out of Saratoga: the military, the volunteers, the town staff, and the local businesses and employees who supported those who were doing the work of filling and placing sandbags. Thanks to Mayor Zieger for making it all work smoothly. It is my understanding that some people think it is up to you to get the river work done and that you have the money to do that. Please write a letter to the Sun explaining what all is needed to make that...
My son Josh got married earlier this month. I didn’t think there was too much to planning a small wedding. My husband and I offered to help where we could, and we were happy to be able to do it. My husband and I eloped to Esbjerg, Denmark, so we never had a real wedding. It was called the Darling Denmark Tour. It sounds romantic, but is wasn’t. We checked in on Sunday, registered on Monday, toured the city for three days and got married on Thursday. We said our vows so fas... Full story
Editor: How many of the newspapers that come into Saratoga each day or week get recycled? As the Paper man I bring 1,378 papers into Saratoga each week. This paper, the Sun, brings in another 1,700 papers each week. That means we bring in a total of over 3,000 papers a week, or 12,000 a month. That works out to be well over 144,000 newspapers a year that come into our fair town. How many of these papers get recycled? This large number of incoming papers does not include all the other news papers, magazines, periodicals and...
Editor At the WAM meeting last Friday, I had the opportunity to personally thank Governor Mead for sending state resources to help with the flood efforts in Carbon County and Saratoga. With the 2014 flood event behind us and if there are no unforeseen damages to the water line that crosses the river at the Saratoga Inn or damage to the bridge at Veterans Island, the estimated cost to the Town of Saratoga is estimated to be between $125,000 and $150,000 this includes all costs not just sandbagging. The State of Wyo. cost was...
Editor, An acknowledgment to the Saratoga’s “Magnificent 9” - Glee Johnson, Lynda Healey, Ed Glode, Don Sherrod, Chris Duke, Joshua Wood, Will Faust, Dave Jeffers and Richard Raymer. You have stepped forward and committed yourselves to keeping the Town of Saratoga and its checkbook above water. Thank you for caring. Lois Rupert Dillon, Colo. (Part-time Saratoga resident)...
When the Saratoga Sun’s Mike Dunn interviewed the retiring teachers this year, one theme was common. The teachers will miss the students. We are very fortunate to have the quality of teachers in our school district that we do. The teachers retiring this year are no exception. Their experience varies from 20 to over 40 years and in that time these teachers have seen a huge change in technology, school curriculum, superintendents, principals and school boards. It is not easy adjusting to a new boss every few years, or to e...
Editor: "I am not a teacher, but an awakener."-- Robert Frost This past weekend, I visited my hometown of Saratoga, Wyoming. The reason for the trip was bittersweet. My favorite teacher retired this year. He was honored Saturday evening, and I was blessed to be a part of the celebration. Mr. Patrick was my English and Humanities teacher, and my Speech and Debate coach for four years. He, and his infamous red pen, served to strengthen my early writing by, often, not-so-gentle critiques. It stung to see the red lacerations on m... Full story
After more than a year writing for Saratoga Sun, I am officially moving on and heading back to the big city soon. It has definitely been a nice trip and I’ve met a lot of great people, but being a young single guy, it’s time to move on to other opportunities in a place with more people. I have definitely had a lot of fun covering all the summer and winter gatherings here, and of course, all the high school sports events running from August through May. I made a lot of good fri...
I am a writer. I get paid to write. Sometimes, I write things that I like to write about. Sometimes I write things I do not like to write about. I like when I can write well; when I can go for hours without stopping. When my thoughts are perfectly in-line with what I want to write. That kind of writing makes me enjoy what I do. As I write, it is 9:21 a.m. on Tuesday morning, we are only a few hours until we are going to press. It is my week to write a column. I have to write... Full story
Editor, In the next couple months the council will be considering if the town is going to start charging a franchise fee to Carbon Power and Light for the use of town easement/right-of-ways for their power lines. If the decision is made to charge a franchise fee it will be the first time in Carbon Powers history that they were charged a fee by the Town of Saratoga. Carbon Power currently pays the City of Laramie a 5 percent franchise fee on 6-8 meters that are within the City of Laramie and absorb that cost because it is...
Greetings Saratoga, After completing my 3rd semester in the LCCC nursing program in Cheyenne and receiving my LPN I accepted a temporary nursing position at the Wyoming Cowboy CalleNGe Academy at the Wyoming National Guard Camp in Guernsey. As I was sharing lunch with some acquaintances I was asked “Are people in Saratoga mean?” I was taken back and didn’t know how to answer so I asked “why?”. I was informed that members of the Wyoming National Guard and been called to help with the flood efforts in Saratoga and that it h...
Editor: First of all let me say thank you to the Saratoga Sun for the opportunity to review and address the comments made by Mayor Zeiger in his letter to the editor included in this week’s edition of the paper. After reading Mr. Zeiger’s comments and as I began writing my response, a quote from the late Paul Harvey kept coming to mind…something about “The rest of the story”. For the most part, the statements made by Mr. Zeiger in his effort to justify the Town of Saratoga’s (Town) need to charge Carbon Power and Light (Carb...
There is nothing that gets a newspaper reporter’s heart pumping than breaking news. The average blood pressure of the staff at the Saratoga Sun rose considerably last week as we scrambled to cover all of the events happening due to the flood preparations. Long days and long nights became the norm as the staff worked to cover all of the flood events, graduation activities, award events and more. Breaking news never happens during a slow week, but we have discovered there is never a slow week in the Platte Valley. Without t...
Was it that last snow? Was it the re-emergence of the sun? Rising springtime temperatures maybe? I don’t know what exactly sets off the infernal bloom, but it happens all across the West … every single year … right about this time. They pop up faster than head shops in Colorado. They are more pervasive than celebrity award shows. More perfidious than stupid text abbreviations. What am I talking about? Road cones. Not just road cones either. Orange barrels, construction signs...
Editor, Last week when I asked Town officials to empty half-filled 55 gallon barrels of dog poop and spray some tumbleweeds along the dog park new trees on the road right-of-way, I was told the Town had no money. Down to only $200. Maybe just facetious comment, but very disturbing when for years our current Mayor and Majority of Board members have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on frivolous and unnecessary projects and litigations. I am not alone in being “Mad as Hell” at this extravagance and incompetent spe... Full story
Many people who may be interested in running for office, may have too many fears about being in such a position. They may be afraid of the responsibility, or of too many people disagreeing with their ideas. They may also think their voice does not matter, or that no one would be interested in what they have to say. For anyone who has ever felt that way, it’s time to overcome those fears and realize that your voice does matter. Every voice counts and has worth in a small community. Many of the Valley’s younger residents may...
High school graduation time for the Platte Valley is right around the corner, and for some reason I can’t help but feel a little depressed all of the sudden. I know you’re probably wondering why a guy like me would be bummed about graduation. I don’t have any kids or other close relatives receiving their diploma and moving on this year. I also remember feeling like I escaped prison when I myself left high school, so I’m definitely not nostalgic for my own graduation experie...