Serving the Platte Valley since 1888
Serving the Platte Valley since 1888
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People are always curious what the rest of the world thinks of Americans and our way of life. Here are my wife’s thoughts on the subject. “Both places have their positives when it comes to the daily life experience.” Angelique Vallat is a French native who moved to the valley. She is married to Dallas Fields and they have one son who is in elementary school. They have lived together both in the U.S. and in France. One positive that stands out in living in Wyoming is how well mannered and open pe...
As Spring peels back the icy fingers of Winter, we are all taking a step back and breathing a little sigh of relief, at least for the moment. The clean, crisp air is filled with bird songs, ducks, geese and leaf blowers. Wait a minute, what? Waterways and lakes are filling quickly with melting snow, snow drifts have receded to reveal all the bits and pieces that blew into the yard or up against the fence during winter's blast through Wyoming. With the blessings of so much moisture comes some...
I started playing football in Saratoga back in seventh grade. I played until graduating from Saratoga High School. At that time it appeared that playing again would never happen. That changed when I moved abroad to live in Europe. I still remember the first time putting on the equipment again . It was a surreal feeling. The most memorable part of the first time playing was simply checking to make sure my body was ok after making the first tackle. Leaving the field that day covered in mud and in...
The idea of spring cleaning seemed so doable when I was sitting in my bed on Saturday evening, jotting down a few to-donotes. I like to live in a some what clutter-free environment, it gives me a feeling of peace when I come home. From my closets to my mind, cleaning out the detritus, making room for more useful items. This last weekend I began my cleaning frenzy in the garage. Over the winter, empty boxes and chicken feed bags had piled up everywhere because I wasn't willing to spend any length...
If you read or listen to certain media outlets, you might be under the impression that an army of men, dressed as women, are coming to destroy everything you hold dear in your life. They're coming to invade women's sports, indoctrinate little children and spy on sorority houses. If you believe all this, I have some prime ocean-front realty in Wyoming to sell you. Complete with a bridge. Compete Like A Girl The biggest front of the culture war over whether transgender people should be treated...
It's not enough for a newspaper to cover the community, it also needs to talk to the community. This piece of sage advice came from Virginia Parker recently. This comment, along with her involvement in the community prior to her time with the Saratoga Sun, made it quite obvious she would be a good fit for the position of publisher. This hasn't stopped the amount of times I get asked if I'm back with the Saratoga Sun following my brief departure from print this last summer. Though I may be seen...
While change is seldom welcomed, it is often necessary. It may appear from the outside looking in we are playing musical chairs here at the Saratoga Sun, but things are beginning to settling down into a routine here. As your new editor/publisher I—Virginia Parker—hope you, our readers and advertisers, will be patient with us. Joshua Wood, the operations director, is training and cross-training the entire three person team which currently makes up the Saratoga Sun crew. He can't stay with us forever, so we are working hard to learn all we can...
Thomas Wolfe once wrote, "You can never come home again." All respect to Mr. Wolfe, but he was wrong. My name is Dallas Fields. I grew up in Saratoga and graduated from Saratoga High School in 2005. I then attended the University of Wyoming where I earned a Bachelor's of Science Degree in Physical Education. Since then I have worked as a fitness instructor, teacher, and coach. For the past five years I have been living abroad in France with my wife and son. During that time my motivation for com...
When you're hungry, you eat. When you're cold, you turn up the thermostat or build a fire in the stove. That is what the majority of us do. Sadly, this isn't the case for nearly 60,000 people in Wyoming, 1 in 8 of whom are children. It's hard to believe, but there are people in Wyoming facing the trade-off between food and heat. This dilemma has the potential to result in worsening the quality of diet for people who are already suffering, prolonging illness and in the case of the elderly, could...
If you made a movie about this year’s Wyoming winter, it would have to be a survival story. There have been so many great rescue stories but also some awful accident stories. The worst was the deaths of five Missouri high school kids on Interstate 80 east of Rawlins. Another horrible Rawlins death was when a semitruck collided with an ambulance killing a young man who left behind his wife and three kids. The body count has been extraordinary with at least four wrecks each killing a pair of siblings. I just cannot imagine the devastating l...
Editor, He’s nailed it again. Each new book CJ Box publishes is eagerly awaited by Wyoming, especially those living in Carbon County. From cub reporter onward we have watched him make his mark. His latest book in the Joe Pickett series does not disappoint. He updates us on the exploits of not only Joe, but also his family. I’m eagerly await the tidbits he slips into his books about locals and politics in the state. Now, he is cagey, but I think he is a moderate Republican, conservative, but middle of the road...just saying. H...
Dear Editor, The right to access public lands was codified into law in 1885. The Federal Unlawful Inclosures act.43 U.S.D.A. was passed to stop private landowners from inclosing public lands for their exclusive use. The act prohibits the maintenance, erection, construction, or control of an enclosure to prevent access to public lands. From its enactment, it has been contested, ignored and state laws passes to undermine it. Throughout the years, this law have been upheld in the courts.In the following cases illegality of enclosure and...
Like many Davids fighting their Goliaths, the heroes picked by author Rodger McDaniel in his new book suffered greatly, but caused great change in the Cowboy State. The book “Profiles In Courage, Standing Against The Wyoming Wind,” recently came out and features some old friends of mine. Rodger sent me a copy, and folks like the late Tom Bell deserve some mention. It was more than 50 years ago when a rancher named Herman Werner went to war against various endangered species at his Douglas ranch. During hearings before U.S. Sen. Gale McG...
A few weeks ago I wrote a column about my encounter with some dunderheads that were visiting our wonderful state and weren’t happy with their experience. I got to thinking about Wyoming, and what makes me love it here so much. I spend my childhood on the west coast, and sometimes I get homesick, but not enough to move out of the Cowboy state. So, I started pondering and researching what is so appealing about Wyoming, where winter can seem a year long, and it take two hours to get to an Olive Gar...
When overcoming an addiction, the first step is admitting there’s a struggle. The same is also true for a community to overcome a problem with drugs. The Platte Valley has a dilemma with drugs.. The increased number of drug arrests during the time the Saratoga Police Department had a K9 unit was evidence of this. It became obvious when two young people lost their lives. Though the cause of death is still unconfirmed, the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office suspects a fentanyl overdose. The Valley has many wonderful things about it. From the nat...
Growing up in the Washington D.C. suburbs, in a planned community of ‘Leave it to Beaver’ style homes, one facet I took for granted,was having neighbors watch out for you. As a teenager, I sometimes found the neighbors a tad annoying because they seemed to report my comings and goings to my folks when it didn’t serve what I thought was my best interest. Remember, I was just a kid. I am lucky they were concerned. I won’t ever forget when my folks went to Germany for a vacation and I was busted...
People feel sad sometimes, that’s normal. Emotions are what make us human and capable of the amazing acts of kindness and love toward our fellow man, however winter can bring on more frequent bouts of sadness and lack of motivation, as well as insomnia. During the winter people usually go to work in the dark and come home in the dark. This can definitely affect a person’s disposition. Being indoors so much usually means increasing screen time. It is recommended, to help minimize stress, sadness and despair–turn off the news. It’s recommended to...
Guns, guns, guns. Wyoming is Gun Central in the United States. Two-thirds of the residents own guns and there may be more guns than citizens of this fine state. There are at least three gun-related bills grinding through the Legislature as I write this – gun ownership is a big, big deal here in the Cowboy State. Wyoming is full of funny and weird gun stories. • Back on Dec. 3, 2012, a burly guy walked into the Modern Nails Salon in Casper and offered to sell diamonds to an employee working the front desk. He got upset when the employee tol...