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  • Regarding Saratoga Lake

    Aug 10, 2023

    I think it’s timely to review the results of the chemical poisoning of Saratoga Lake by the Game & Fish Department. First f all, I am confident the fisheries department mixed their chemical well and killed everything they wanted to (plus everything else). However there are some rather obvious side effects that are annoying for the lack of a better word. The large rafts of rotting, odorous, grass is one of them. They greatly hinder boats and fishermen. The delay in refilling the lake to capacity is another. The city was unable to float the p...

  • John Lund: The Master of Reinvention

    Joshua Wood|Aug 3, 2023

    In the Platte Valley, where there is no shortage of colorful characters, there wasn’t anyone quite like John Lund. John, who lived to the age of 92, was proof that it was never too late to reinvent for someone to reinvent themselves again and again and again. In his lifetime, John was a veteran, a University of Wyoming graduate, a civil engineer, a mountaineer and an archeologist. He was also a philosopher, a writer and a dear friend. He had a style all his own, usually wearing khaki-colored pan...

  • Life on the pond

    Virginia Parker|Aug 3, 2023

    Research indicates that water has an impact on all five senses at the same time, immersing our psyche in a rest and digest response. It triggers a parasympathetic nervous response that lowers your heart rate and your blood pressure, stimulates your digestion and makes your body relax. If that all sounds too high falutin, just remember slowly wading into the pond and feeling that cool water sink into your pores. Not far to the south of my house is an irrigation pond that calls to the locals when...

  • Letters to the Editor

    Jul 27, 2023

    Editor, I just finished reading the article about Never Forget Park and would like to offer comments and a suggestion. You stated that “there are individuals who have wanted to donate funds to the park but are hesitant because of how long the project has languished in the planning stages.” Truer words have never been spoken! Personally, I think the amount of money invested in studies is abhorrent to most of us. How long must we study something and how much money must we spend? It sounds like there is a plan for Never Forget Park. If we don...

  • Shoutout for Saratoga Days

    Gary Honodel|Jul 27, 2023

    This was my first Saratoga Days. Despite being a working day, covering the events from the Neal McCoy tour bus pulling in at about 7:30am to Neal’s performance, I did enjoy myself. Mostly though I ended the day impressed by the event, by everything. All three music acts were great; the bluegrass boys, West King String Band, That 80’s Band were a cover band of the highest quality, and then the headliner Neal McCoy. I felt that if you weren’t a Neal fan at the start of the show, you probably were...

  • Sheridan County school district providing new teachers with housing amid countywide shortage

    Caroline Elik, via Wyoming News Exchange|Jul 27, 2023

    SHERIDAN — Sheridan County School District 2 is offering staff a solution to the Sheridan housing shortage by renting out properties on the old Normative Services Academy, Inc. campus to incoming teachers. The district bought six housing units on the 227-acre NSI property, which is now owned by Community Impact LLC, earlier this year for a purchase price of $1,046,571 and is currently renting out those units to new faculty. Community Impact LLC, an entity of the Homer A. and Mildred S. Scott Foundation, also donated around $500,000 to the d...

  • Editorial Cartoon

    Jul 27, 2023

  • Letters to the Editor

    Jul 20, 2023

    Dear Editor, Saratoga Forest Management has been pleased to offer free firewood to residents of the Valley (mostly Saratoga and Encampment) since 2012. Most of the residents appreciated the opportunity to get free firewood. However, the past few months, some people have been disposing of their garbage at the free firewood loading area at Saratoga Forest Management. Consequently, the area is now closed to the public for gathering free firewood. In a few weeks, we will open the area for people to get free firewood and will stay open unless the...

  • Obey the signs

    Buffalo Bulletin|Jul 20, 2023

    For weeks muddy conditions on the Bighorn National Forest have been the norm. Some roads have become impassable, exacerbated by irresponsible motorists. It has become all-too-familiar to witness or hear about travelers and recreationists stuck on muddy mountain roads, despite the warnings from the U.S. Forest Service. Repairs necessitated by these incidents can strain limited resources, resulting in longer closures that impact everyone’s access to the forest. Moreover, travelers risk damaging their equipment and personal property, p...

  • They're everywhere

    Jul 20, 2023

    Thermopolis Independent Record, July 13 Scammers are targeting us all and they seem to be coming at us from every which way. There are lottery scams, package delivery scams, open enrollment for benefits scams, utility delinquency scams, identity theft scams and the list goes on and on. Several years ago, scammers primarily targeted senior citizens who they believed were the most vulnerable. They have advanced their scams to a point where each and every one of us is vulnerable. Their tactics have improved to a point where they are tricking...

  • Lessons Learned in Pursuit of Food

    Joshua Wood|Jul 13, 2023

    In the past year, I’ve discovered my inner chef and it’s something I’ve come to really enjoy. Of course, it isn’t something that happened right away. In fact, I’ve made periodic voyages into the culinary world in the past and learned a number of lessons along the way. To be honest, I’ve always been a fan of food, though it may not have appeared as such when I was a child. While I inhaled childhood favorites such as pizza, hamburgers and hotdogs I would struggle with foods like poor man’s strogan...

  • The real Wyoming – beyond the fences

    Virginia Parker|Jul 13, 2023

    “You just can’t see him from the road”, a line from one of my favorite Chris LeDoux songs is true of so many that live and work in this area we call home. Cradled in the arms of the Medicine Bow Mountains and the Sierra Madres the history of the North Platte Valley is brought to life with a spotlight on those we can’t see from the road. Summer events include Woodchoppers Jamboree, Grand Encampment’s Cowboy Gathering, Living History Days at Grand Encampment Museum and the Sierra Madre Muzzleloa...

  • WyoGives includes local nonprofits

    Jul 13, 2023

    The fourth annual WyoGives virtual event, hosted by the Wyoming Nonprofit Network, will commence at midnight on Wednesday, July 12th, and will unfold over an exhilarating 24-hour period. With over 300 nonprofits participating, some of them local, this year’s event promises to be the most impactful yet. Through the website platform at WyoGives.org, individuals can easily contribute to their favorite causes and organizations. The website allows donors to search for nonprofits based on cause, location, or name. Each participating nonprofit has a...

  • Patriotism - love it or leave it?

    Virginia Parker|Jul 6, 2023

    In a recent poll by Wall Street Journal it was found that the percentage of Americans that say patriotism is an important part of their lives has dropped from 70 percent to 38 percent. Religion also took a nose dive from 62 percent to 39 percent. Community involvement plummeted as an important part of life, from 47 percent to 27 percent, and having children went from 59 percent to 30 percent in importance. Are these statistics surprising? Not really. I hear it all the time from people, that...

  • Editorial Cartoon

    Jul 6, 2023

  • Editorial Cartoon

    Jun 29, 2023

  • Things I didn't know till I got old-er

    Virginia Parker|Jun 29, 2023

    I love learning new things and watching videos about life hacks. It’s fun to see something as simple as fillinga long neck glass bottle with water, turning it up side down and sticking it in your potted plant for a self-waterer, and wondering why you never thought about doing that? Getting older has its perks. You get good at using what you’ve learned, it’s called crystalized intelligence. Also, it turns out you might not be a grumpy old man or woman, after all. In your 60s you’re likely...

  • Greetings to my close, personal friends

    Gary Honodel|Jun 29, 2023

    Hello to all the subscribers, readers and advertisers of the Saratoga Sun. My name is Gary Honodel and I was recently appointed to be the publisher of this great newspaper. It is quite an honor. Virginia Parker will be staying on at the Sun. I'll let her address this in her own words, but will say that while she did want to achieve a more flexible schedule, she is also dedicated to our local paper. I sort of think of her as the Air Boss, a Navy carrier position that might not be flying the plane...

  • Letter to the Editor

    Jun 22, 2023

    Dear Editor: Has Hobo Pool been sold? If the “Private Property, KEEP OUT” and “No Trespassing” signs posted on the four hog wire fence barricades blocking access to the free flowing mineral hot springs are official and accurate, the “publicly-owned, open and free forever”, Hobo Pool has either been sold, given away or somehow ended up in private hands. None of the signs indicate by whose authority the barriers were erected. (See photos). The barriers and signs have been up for a couple of weeks, with no effort by the town to open the healing...

  • Editorial Cartoon

    Jun 22, 2023

  • Find compassion for those struggling with mental health

    Joshua Wood, Stevenson Newspaper|Jun 15, 2023

    Communities in Carbon County have had a dark cloud settle over what is typically a sunny summer with the loss of three lives to suicide. This overwhelming loss proves two things: it is difficult to know what battle someone is fighting internally and we need to talk about it more than we already do. I am no stranger to the tragedy of suicide and the struggles in Wyoming with mental health. Nearly four years ago, the Saratoga Sun lost its publisher to suicide. It was a shock and one which still...

  • Bugs are FUN!

    Kaitlyn Campbell|Jun 15, 2023

    One of the most interesting parts of college is getting to take classes you didn’t even know existed. Now I’m a computer science major, and one of the requirements for being a computer science major is taking actual science classes. This was devastating news to me as I did not like Chemistry, Biology, or Physics in high school and knew having to take those classes in college would be a struggle. Thankfully, if you don’t want to take actual Biology, Insect Biology works as a great alter...

  • Changes

    Virginia Parker|Jun 15, 2023

    Life is full of changes, as I've mentioned in my columns of the past. Well...here comes another change in my life. I've decided to step back from editor/publisher and return to reporting, writing, photographing and spending time with friends and family. Josh has taught me so much about publishing a newspaper, and some of it has enhanced my life already. Learning is my favorite thing to do, so I happily latched on to all the new skills I could, but now, it's time to back off a little bit. Change...

  • Fun, so far

    Kaitlyn Campbell|Jun 8, 2023

    College has been a great experience so far. Granted, it's not very exciting considering I spend most of my time outside of school work being on the debate team and playing video games. I also spend time with friends, with that time revolving around debate and video games. Usually that time is dedicated to both. A semi-tradition formed during the past school year where a group of friends on the debate team would go to Taco Bell after practice and then spend the rest of the night playing Nintendo'...

  • Editorial Cartoon

    Jun 8, 2023

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