Serving the Platte Valley since 1888
Serving the Platte Valley since 1888
Sorted by date Results 445 - 469 of 1483
Okay, Sun editor, you asked for it and I’m ready to give it to you. (see “Against the Grain” by Josh Wood on page 4 of April 15, 2021 issue of the Saratoga Sun) Right off, I want to compliment you on last week’s column, it’s the best you’ve written. Short, concise, to the point, informative and best of all you ask for reader input. Here are some suggestions if I—Dick Perue, former editor, publisher, printer and janitor of “The Saratoga Sun”—was once again running the award-winning weekly newspaper. Go to tab-size paper with... Full story
It’s not easy serving the public. This was made clear on April 6, when Bob Keel resigned his position from the Saratoga Town Council. Keel, in his resignation letter, stated that he was choosing his family over the council. The Saratoga Sun applauds him for making such a difficult decision and wishes him well in his new venture. There may be many in the community who are disappointed that Keel did not finish out his four year term. A look into Saratoga’s past, however, shows that it is not at all uncommon for people to take t... Full story
If you’re reading a physical copy of this week’s Saratoga Sun and you’ve made it to page 4, you’ve likely noticed that things are a little different. Change, it is said, is the only constant in life and that adage holds true for newspapers. Of course, the Sun is no stranger to change as it has seen staff come and go over the many years it has served the Platte Valley. In just the past 18 months, this paper has seen a number of changes. And now, one more. For the past several...
It is hard to believe that a year ago I was in quarantine for a virus that people were just learning about. I remember being told because I had symptoms to stay home and assume I had it by health officials. I was in quarantine for 27 days because I kept getting a fever and you had to be fever free for seven days. We have come so far in understanding the coronavirus since I got it a year ago. I can remember as we went into April all the spiking and how impossible it was for peo...
Dear Editor, For the past 20+ years, the Valley Service Organization and the Sorority in Encampment, (Xi Beta Delta), has hosted the yearly Wyoming Health Fair/Blood Draw. It is our pleasure to provide low cost services again this year. In 2020 we had to cancel because of Covid. We realize how important it is to have these tests so that each of us may stay abreast of our own health. We have welcomed everyone from Carbon County and even visitors from the different communities. The results of your tests are provided directly...
I will admit that there are times when I don’t want to recognize how much Saratoga has been growing in recent years. Part of me wants the sleepy little town I remember from middle school and high school to remain that way. Then I scroll through my social media feed and I see the posts that show growth is inevitable. “Looking for a two bedroom apartment, must accept dogs, can afford $800 a month.” “In search of an affordable house for rent. Single parent with three kids.... Full story
Recently, I did a series of interviews with people that work on family ranches. The subject matter was interesting and I learned a lot. During several of the interviews I mentioned that I came from farming stock. Dairy farming stock to be exact. My father was raised on a 200 acre dairy farm in Virginia. I have no idea how many cows were on the farm, although I do have an old picture of the place framed and hanging in my bedroom. I have always liked this particular picture beca...
Even though the idea of Wyoming spending a billion dollars on a gigantic swath of land had some of us scratching our heads about one year ago – well, at least you had to give the project (and Govenor Mark Gordon) high marks for bold imagination. That deal went away when a company outbid Wyoming. But thinking back about that, it makes me wonder if Wyoming should be just a little brash. Be a little bold. Just a bit? Our leaders sometimes act like the proverbial guy who was up to his waist in alligators and forgot all about d...
I’ve been hearing that there’s some outrage about cancel culture and that we need to “cancel cancel culture” and, honestly, I couldn’t agree more. The disservice that was done to The Dixie Chicks (now The Chicks) in the early 2000s after they simply expressed their opinion is shameful. Whether or not you agreed with their comments, having their careers effectively ended for a decade and being blacklisted from country music was just wrong. Wait, we’re not talking about that?...
When government fails, it’s the rare public official who says, “Oops. My fault.” That’s human nature, particularly for officials in the public eye who may have to run for office again. No one wants to be held directly responsible for letting the public down. Case in point is the recent catastrophe in Texas, when unexpected winter storms left 4 million homes without power, ruptured pipes and tainted the water supply for many. Texas’ energy grid essentially collapsed. While Texas Governor Greg Abbott was quick to blame fro... Full story
A little over a week ago, I was getting out of the shower and I saw something that unsettled me; a dime sized black patch on my back. I had never noticed it before and, because it was the size it was, I was surprised I hadn’t seen it before. I have a few moles on my body but, honestly, there aren’t that many. I had noticed a few skin tags popping up around my neck but I knew them to be fairly harmless, so I paid them scant attention. I couldn’t say the same thing about this...
Wyoming’s current economic situation reminds me of the famous business book Who Moved My Cheese? After living off severance taxes from the energy industry for half a century, the Cowboy State is enduring a time when the state is trying to maintain services without the money to pay for them. As fossil fuels decline, severance taxes paid by energy companies for coal, oil and natural gas extracted from Wyoming are diminishing rapidly. That famous Cheese book by Spencer Johnson is about how people react to unpleasant change. I...
Dear Editor, The arctic air mass that descended on Texas vividly illustrated the future of our country with the renewed push by leftists to cripple our capitalist economies. Subsidized renewable energy investments embraced by electricity generating utility companies are caused by buying into the fallacy of “green energy”. That causes the reliable backup generation caseload of gas, nuclear and coal to be severely neglected or even abandoned. How much of the pain and destruction could have been prevented by minimal common sen...
Stop me if you’ve heard this one. Saratoga needs traffic lights. I’ll wait for you to calm down from that statement before I continue. Take a couple deep breaths, maybe look at this week’s editorial cartoon and take a sip of coffee. Better? Ok. Saratoga needs traffic lights. Look, I hate writing that probably as much as you hate reading it, but I think it’s a hard truth that needs to be heard. Since moving back into town limits a little over a year ago, I’ve discovere...
"Tis funny about th' constitution," said Mr. Dooley, the legendary, philosophical Irish bartender created by Finley Peter Dunne. "It reads plain, but no wan can undherstant it without an interpreter." The Supreme Court is the final interpreter of the Constitution, but since the dawn of the republic, Americans have engaged in spirited, often heated, debates – constitutional conversations – about how it should interpret the Constitution. This is not surprising for a nation who...
Dear Editor A ban on federal oil and gas leasing in Wyoming could indeed push oil and gas companies to lease and develop more state and private land eventually. After 32 years as a habitat and mitigation biologist though, I have to say, concluding that a ban on federal oil and gas leasing will limit Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s ability to mitigate impacts to wildlife is a cop-out. Ideally, oil and gas development should be done in areas where they can avoid and prevent negative impacts to wildlife in the first place. I...
A couple weeks back, I was in the town of Elk Mountain and a snow squall was making my departure back to Hanna seriously questionable. I guess I have to acknowledge, my trusty white Mazda is not exactly the most snow worthy vehicle. Leaving town, I almost got stuck twice but my trooper of a car pulled through. Driving up WY 72, the road surface was white and I had a feeling it was going to be a harrowing drive. I wasn’t wrong. Because I know my car is not suited for travel i...
Using both tight budgets and a Covid pandemic as excuses, the dumb idea of limiting printed public notices in Wyoming newspapers has reared its ugly head again in the Legislature in Cheyenne. Wyoming citizens should be both outraged at this proposal plus the fact that their taxes are paying for the lobbyists who are pushing for it. Crazy. Here is a fact: There are some people in government who like working out of the public’s eye. They do not like reporters or, worse yet, pesky citizens poking their noses into their work. T... Full story