Serving the Platte Valley since 1888
Serving the Platte Valley since 1888
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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...
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...
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 t...
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...
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 illegal...
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...
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...
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 abo... Full story
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 vacatio...
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 whe...
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....
I have a memory that is quite stellar when it comes to remembering the past, or at least I have been told by friends and family. I can actually recall events which happened as young as two. I never gave it much thought, but my sister Michelle has pointed out, not everyone is like this. She doesn’t remember a lot of our childhood and teenage years. Michelle isn’t amnesiac or anything, but I often remember things and times she really doesn’t–even the details, as often as not....
Between hurricanes and blizzards, this has been a winter to remember for retirees Jerry and Cassy Venters of Lander. Normally, they head to their condo on Sanibel Island off the Florida coast and never worry about cold weather or even winter-style clothes. But Hurricane Ian pretty much destroyed Sanibel and the Venters found themselves spending winter in Lander for the first time in years. No problem. Winters over the past three years have been warm and open. No snow. No harsh freezes. But this year? Yikes. “Thank God for Wal... Full story
Most people know I have a few chickens in my backyard, and sell a few eggs to my neighbors. It never seemed like much of a big deal to me until recently egg prices shot up. We've all heard the nursery rhyme of the goose that laid the golden egg, but I never thought I would see the day when a dozen eggs cost more than a gallon of milk. My little backyard flock has become very popular and that makes me happy. I usually consume six eggs a week unless I'm baking a lot, which I do...
There are several instances over the course of my life where I feel I was so very lucky when something bad happened to me. I am sure I am not the only person who ever experienced a terrible moment or time in life that actually turned out to be a great thing in the end. It has definitely happened to me, on a few occasions. A situation that comes to mind first and stands out is when I left my restaurant/bar business in Taiwan back in the late 2000s.. The name of the venue was...
I eavesdrop when I'm in a restaurant or a bar. It's hard not to hear what others say when they're only a few feet away. The other day I was in a local restaurant and overheard a conversation between four men and two women about their visit to our Valley. From how they were dressed, it was obvious they had come to enjoy our backcountry and some of the finest snowmobile and cross-country trail, and see some wildlife. Surprisingly or maybe not, they were complaining. They had...
When looking back on 2022, two explosions of totally different types dominated the news. One was political and happened in the hottest days of August. The second was by Mother Nature, which happened in coldest days of December. Those were the top two of my 10 top stories of 2022. In August, Wyoming became the political epicenter of the world as everybody wanted to see how our lone U. S Representative Liz Cheney would fare in her reelection bid when former president Donald Trump had put her in his cross-hairs. It was an...
With the start of 2023, I am hoping to commit myself to some better eating and exercise habits. I am pretty sure I won’t be the only person in the country doing this. This holiday season, well actually it started Halloween, more candy, cookies and baked treats have gone into my tummy than anytime in recent memory. Halloween can be like kryptonite for me. I steer clear of candy for most of the time which isn’t easy. For instance, I love strawberry Twizzlers. I love them too...