Serving the Platte Valley since 1888
Serving the Platte Valley since 1888
Sorted by date Results 1438 - 1462 of 1488
Editor: Our front porch caught on fire the night of St. Patrick’s day. The wind as we all know was bad. Everyone in the house was sleeping except for my son. I had been sleeping maybe 20 minutes when my son came and told me there was a fire. The flames were about three tall and spreading fast. The whole family immediately grabbed pots of water and put out the flames. I called the Saratoga dispatch, to have someone come out and make sure everything was completely out. In less than five minutes, a police officer, a fire c...
Art is a many splendored thing. Witness the full room collection of people at the recent school board meeting—no two people were wearing the same thing. Even Superintendent Bob Gates was adorned in fine fabrics, from his underwear and socks, to his sweater and tie. Art is texture, color, pattern and material, and it comes together in a visual explosion and feel. Be it art on a wall or the design of clothes and jewelry, art is everywhere. The room that held the meeting had floor tile with a design and laid in a pattern. The c...
Recently, I have noticed some disturbing (to say the least) advertisements on television. Some advertisers are unnecessarily portraying their services as “good”, some are unintentionally putting themselves in the “evil” category, and more than a few come up as just plain ugly. ChristianMingle, an online dating site for Christians, uses the tagline, “Find God’s match for you”. While I have no problem with Christians finding a mate and concede that ChristianMing...
No one loves hitting the open road like I do, but after the past few years, I am about to drive myself crazy. I met the love of my life while attending the University of Wyoming. During my fourth year, I popped the question, she said yes and we lived happily ever after. Wrong. Shortly after I proposed to Aya, she was accepted into a graduate school in Aurora, Colo. Committed to making our relationship work, I decided I would drive to Aurora every other weekend, a 151-mile...
Although Carbon County School District No. 2 is in a tough position with its budget, district officials need to carefully consider where to cut the $15 million budget. The district identified at least $160,000, or two full-time teaching positions, it needs to cut from the budget. Cutting personnel is an option the district needs to avoid if possible, especially if the cuts are to affect art-based programs. Studies have shown students who are involved in the arts have better test scores. These Children are four times more...
Editor: Art is one of the most important things for a developing student. Art helps kids with critical thinking and cognitive ability. Art is essential in a child’s education. With Pam Kraft’s upcoming retirement the Carbon County School District has decided to cut the Encampment art program to half time. This is a tragedy. Pam Kraft spent her whole life developing one the greatest art programs in the state, even my college art professors admire her for what she’s done and the artists she’s emerged from Encampment. The No...
Editor: Why the big fuss? As planning commission members, city ordinance 18.03.10 gives us some general guidelines for deciding the issues brought before us. I personally have some guiding principles. First, I try to always be even handed in my decisions. I consider neighbors, property values, and any future impact my decision might have. Recently there has come an issue before us as to the interpretation of what requires a special use permit as to home occupations, particularly as to how our ordinance 18.06.190 is...
Editor: Reading and the love of reading is important in a young child’s life. The appreciation, care, ownership, and love for a book, a physical, hardbound, in-your-hands book, is how the love of reading begins. Learning to read, appreciating the book, and wanting to read more is accomplished by truly educated and experienced librarians. So why would an elementary school or even a school district want to cut a full-time, experienced, educated, dedicated elementary librarian and reassign her to a classroom, where she can a...
This week the nation celebrates the industry that feeds the world—the agricultural industry. Being a city girl who has lived in Wyoming for 25 years, I have lived in this rural state longer than I lived in Iowa. While Iowa is considered a rural state, I was not a rural girl. Since living in Wyoming, I have learned to cut and wrap beef, feed chickens, pluck chickens, feed pigs, buck bales of hay and ride a horse. My education in Wyoming agriculture grows every year. My h...
Editor: As someone who has subscribed to the Saratoga Sun for some forty years, and seen the newspaper’s ups and downs, you are to be commended for carrying substantive information and opinion about the Encampment arts program. I would observe, however, that opponents to cuts in the program may have missed the most compelling arguments. First, the foundation for all learning is built in the primary grades, and earlier. Second, exercises in the arts encourage creativity in all fields, something which is becoming more and more...
Editor: I’m disappointed. I’m saddened. I’m frustrated. The more I think about what could happen here in our district the more I feel like I’m going to throw up. I know there are board members fighting for our youth and for their educations. I know there are those fighting for our youth and their opportunity to have exposure to activities that matter, activities that can change the world for the better. The elected board is charged with the responsibility to ensure the retention, growth, and quality of education our youth r...
Editor: I am writing this letter in regards to the current situation regarding the proposal by Superintendent Gates to eliminate the elementary art program in Encampment School after the retirement of our long-time teacher Pam Kraft who was assured her programs would stay intact upon her retirement. Mrs. Kraft and her art program is top notch. I started in her program in kindergarten and continued through elementary, middle school and high school. My senior year I received an art scholarship to the University of Wyoming. I...
Editor: It is with a heavy heart that I am writing this letter. While I was attending Encampment School I understood that talk about closing the art program was something being discussed within the hierarchy of the school system. However, I do not fully understand why this change is being put into effect. I transferred to Encampment School in fourth grade. Since then, art was one of my favorite classes; I felt like it was my home away from home. I learned so many things through the art program. We did not just dwell on puttin...
Editor: I write this letter out of great concern for the School Board’s decision not to renew a full-time art program at Encampment School following Mrs. Kraft’s retirement this year. As a graduate of Encampment School and a Fine Arts Major at Michigan State University, I am deeply troubled by this decision. The primary art education that I received has been critical to my success in numerous professions, including architectural lighting, freelance graphic design and restaurant management. Beyond my personal feelings, num...
March 17 is again upon us. The holiday that falls on this day marks the death of Saint Patrick in the fifth century and lands itself fairly in the middle of the Lenten season. To be brief, Lent is a Christian observation lasting 40 days. those 40 days are a period to be observed through prayer, penance, self-denial and repentence.1 All that (including restrictions on meat and alcohol) gets lifted for St. Patrick’s Day, also known as the Feast of St. Patrick. To me, this helps...
Editor: I am writing to you after recently learning of potential plans to cut the arts program at Encampment School from a full K-12 program down to half its current size, thus eliminating the elementary portion of the program. I urge them not to do this! Please allow me to give background on the merits of, not only this program, but what it has the potential to achieve for many students, both current and those students yet to come. Born in Carbon County, I spent the first 18 years of my life in Encampment. I was fortunate...
I want to kick off my first column by introducing myself. I am the newest reporter for the Saratoga Sun assigned to cover Carbon County School District No. 2 and the town of Saratoga – not an easy task, although I feel I will find most of my stories enjoyable to report on and write about. I have only been at the Saratoga Sun for a few days, but I have already met some real rich characters, all of them incredibly nice. I can’t wait to start digging into this community and fin...
The Saratoga Planning Commission has a difficult job in keeping up with modern technology. More and more workers are doing business in their homes, on cell phones, laptops and iPads making enforcement of regulations more difficult. Last month, the Planning Commission had an important discussion on the definition of “permitted – meaning allowed” and “permitted – those requiring a permit.” This is not the first, nor will it be the last time this important discussion has been on the table. The Saratoga Sun commends the commissio...
Editor: I would like to comment on what was described by Zach (Saratoga Sun reporter Zachary Laux) as a controversy on the Planning Commission. The alleged controversy is directed towards a single member of the Commission and not the Commission as a whole. It has been questioned as to if Bev Hempel had been officially re-appointed by the council to the Planning Commission. We are researching the minutes so we can get a correct answer to the question. If we find that we haven’t reappointed her, then the Mayor’s re-appointment...
Thanks to the Saratoga Town Council. After hearing public complaints, the council made changes to its agenda and meetings. Issues were discussed openly by council members. Employees of the town were asked to explain processes and procedures during its reports. The Saratoga Sun commends the Saratoga Town Council for this action. The town council plans to further change its agenda to have items from the public after report items and before business which allows the public to comment on what was discussed in the meeting. The...
The last time I walked into the Event Center in Casper was for the State Wrestling Meet exactly 20 years ago. Back then I was a contestant in the meet and all the teams came through the doors in the back of the complex. All the busses for all the teams in the state still line up in this parking lane to drop off wrestlers, coaches and team managers. The meet brings 2A, 3A and 4A classes from the entire state, from as far off as Jackson and Saratoga. The spectators enter the...
Editor, The last edition of the Saratoga Sun blew me away. For years and years my favorite column has been the reflections from the archives from the Saratoga Sun. The editor Joe Elder goes through the files and picks a story from 100, 75, 50 and 25 years ago and simply reprints an article of interest, after editing of course. I always read that column. This week, it made me lose my breath! There was a story about the convention about the American National Livestock Association convention in Cheyenne on Jan. 27, 1938. It...
Editor, We are writing this letter today to commend two of our Saratoga teachers for their recognition of the importance of youth volunteerism in our community. As you know, Bridge Street Bargains is the Saratoga thrift store managed, staffed and supplied strictly by volunteers and donations. Proceeds from the sales of items at the store directly benefit youth activities in our area. Funds are distributed through a grant program, which, in keeping with the volunteer core of the organization, requires the youth benefitting fro...
Editor, Where and when are the private Saratoga Town Board meetings held to discuss the issues so that those issues can be voted on at the public Saratoga Town Board meetings without discussion? Lois Rupert Saratoga & Dillon, CO...
It’s winter in Wyoming and I feel I would be remiss if, at some point, I did not write something about snow. There are several directions that can be taken with this subject. I could write about the serenity of snowfall, the poetic beautify of a pristine snowscape, the thrill of skiing through fresh powder, the fun of getting out and seeing white vistas on snowshoes or the value in moisture snowpack brings to the Valley. Maybe I’ll put these down on paper eventually. It...
