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My name is Owen Acord and I am a new summer writer for the Saratoga Sun. I chose to write for the Sun to dip my toes into the world of journalism before I go to the University of Wyoming in the fall to study it. I discovered that journalism is the career path I would like to pursue from a couple of different places. The first was my former job of waiting tables at the Bear Trap. The Bear Trap gets a lot of people from all over the country, and even from around the world. This gave me an opportunity to talk to a variety of people. I love that...
Summer is synonymous with relaxation and fun in the sun. Remembering these tips can help you enjoy summer as safely as possible. - Avoid heat-related illnesses: Hot summer days pose a significant threat if the proper measures aren’t taken to avoid heat-related illnesses. According to the National Safety Council, heat exhaustion, which occurs when the body loses excessive water and salt, and heat stroke, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes is marked by the body’s inability to control its temperature, can escalate rap...
I am endlessly fascinated by the mechanics beyond rhetorical argumentation and how we convince others that we are in the right. I spent about four years of my life where competitive debate was my primary focus - one year in high school, and two and a half years in college. Participating on both high school and collegiate debate teams has given me the love of breaking down arguments, and my experience in the activity was at the forefront of my mind when I got to attend the Judicial Learning Day...
Who best represents what Saratoga is? This is the question we at the Saratoga Sun find ourselves asking following the May 21 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council in which they refused to fill a vacancy on the Carbon County Visitors’ Council Board of Directors. With a month to fill the vacancy, weeks of advertising and a deadline of May 31 a motion to appoint the sole applicant—McCall Burau—failed due to lack of a second. When Councilmember Kathy Beck, who made the motion, asked why there wasn’t a second, Councilmember Jerry Fluty explain...
Seniors of Carbon County School District No. 2, you are about to officially take your first step into the “the real world.” I would make a reference to a popular reality television show which used to be on MTV, but I’m not sure if you’d get that reference. Nor am I sure I want to age myself, though I’m going to be doing that now. I, along with 35 other members of Saratoga’s class of 2005, sat through my own graduation ceremony 19 years ago. At 36 students, we were one of the largest classes to...
It has been said, “all gave some, some gave all.” This is what Memorial Day should be about. For some across America, they would rather spend the day barbecuing or going up the river for the Memorial Day Weekend. This isn’t what the weekend should be about. It should be all about taking the time to remember the brave men and women who paid the ultimate price. Those who went to the battles of D-Day on the beaches of Normandy, Iwo Jima, the Battle of the Bulge, the Korean War, Vietnam, and beyond....
These days it may seem as if election cycles never end, but only bleed into one another. While it can be easy to get fatigued by the constant election rhetoric, the civic importance of elections shouldn’t be lost. This year is a presidential election and, in Wyoming, one senate seat and the lone congress seat are also on the ballot. Also on the ballot are a number of county and municipal offices. Three of the five seats on the Board of Carbon County Commissioners will be on the ballot this e...
As Ruby Sunday steps out of the TARDIS, she enters a lush prehistoric world, standing on a cliff overlooking a broad river with waterfalls and groups of roaming dinosaurs. As she admires everything in amazement after having traveled back in time, the Doctor explains where they are. “The TARDIS stands for Time And Relative Dimension in Space. So we’ve moved location as well. This will be North America. One day this is Wyoming. Little town called Green River.” This exchange happens in the first episode of the newest season of “Doctor Who,” w...
Pet peeve time here. Are you familiar with the communications concept known as ghosting? For the uninitiated, the word refers to an electronic communication during which one of the parties simply stops responding to a conversation or disappears from contact in the first place. I guess it could also refer to any communication, such as refusing to return a call or something like that. But for the young people out there, I have one thing to say: Don’t do it. At least if you want to get or keep a job. Let me tell you, there are few things in b...
How and when Wyoming residents can vote will be slightly different this year. The August primary will be the first major election affected by two new voting laws that became law in 2023. One rule, designed to prevent crossover voting, makes May 15 the last day that registered voters can change their political affiliation. Historically, voters could change their party affiliation at the polls on Election Day, and many are accustomed to doing so. Voters are now prohibited from changing party affiliation during the 96 days leading up to the primar...
For about a million reasons far too complicated to go into, this seems to be absolutely one of the hardest things a human being can do. Even going way back to when a sibling or friend broke our favorite toy, it seems as if things are just never the same once you feel betrayed or hurt by someone else. Maybe things blow over and intense feelings of anger do subside, but to actually “forgive and forget” is far easier said than done. The question really is why is it so hard? Is it out of pettiness? Being stubborn? Just unwilling to let go of the...
Howdy, and welcome to Dee Dee’s Diner. Our special this week is one of my favorites, something that our short order cook, Dan, began making a few years ago and we just had to put on the menu. These brown sugar bourbon pork chops are just the right amount of sweet and savory to get your taste buds excited. I can guarantee that once you’re done eating the pork chops, you’ll be licking the plate, too. Brown Sugar Bourbon Pork Chops with Twice Baked Potato Mashers. Lets get started preparing and e...
April is nearing its end, and May is now in plain sight. Maybe more for some than others, it seemed as if this school year went by whirlwind fast. It seems as if virtually yesterday we were making sure kids had everything they needed for their first day last August. Here we are now almost nine months later with summer vacation in very close sight. But more importantly, graduation ceremonies no doubt have become the primary focus for local seniors and their families. Now, it’s crunch time. For the next few weeks seniors no doubt are going to be...
I’m not stranger to reporting on sexual assault. It is something I hate to talk about, however, it is important to me that I address this issue. The first time I ever covered a story on sexual assault was when I was a journalism student at Los Angeles Pierce College as a reporter, photojournalist, and opinion editor for Roundup News. Each year students across the country address this issue on college campuses. They would hang up t-shirts and jeans as a symbol of their being a victim of this h...
A housing needs report from the Wyoming Community Development Authority paints an ominous, but not surprising, picture of our community’s current housing situation. Housing issues have plagued Johnson County, northeastern Wyoming and the state over the past four years as population growth drove real estate prices and average rents to historic highs. While the housing market has cooled in recent months, advocates say the situation is still untenable for many residents. According to the report, anyone working for an average wage industry in t...
I was startled when I started going through my email on Tuesday, and was getting ready to mark “receive death threats” off my journalism bingo card. I had to read the email a couple of times as I tried to understand it, and understand why I had received it. It said: “First of all you are morally and legally responsible for the action taken again [sic] innocent Earth life in your establishment. You will be closed in a year. I hope you and your family starve and get ripped apart by the species you seem to enjoy contributing to the torture of. P...
The 2024 Wyoming Legislative session was February 12 to March 8, 2024, at the State Capitol in Cheyenne. With this being my first budget session, I learned a lot and have a new respect for the process and the work and time that is put into the state’s budget. We heard 350 bill and passed a $10.6 billion Biennium Budget. One of the big issues this session was to find tax relief for the people of Wyoming. We passed 4 new bills for tax relief - HB0045 Property tax exemption for residential structures. - HB0004 Property tax Refund Program is an e...
Our special this week is my delectable Creamy Chicken and Noodles. This recipe will fill up your belly with healthy vegetables, too. Let’s get started preparing and enjoying this delicious delight. You will need the following ingredients: - I whole chicken or 4 large chicken breasts - 6 carrots sliced - I medium yellow onion diced - 4 Celery stalks sliced - I can Cream of Chicken soup - 1 can Cream of Celery soup - I bag of Wide Egg noodles - 1/4 stick butter In a 13 x 9 inch pan place the c...
For several generations, the unofficial postal carrier motto was “Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor hail shall keep the postmen from their appointed rounds.” These days, the United States Postal Service motto – at least at the top level – seems to be “You’ll get it when you get it, and if you don’t like it, too bad.” Of course, as with all blanket overstatements, there are many exceptions to the rule. We know that there are many postal carriers who take pride in their work and still consider mail delivery to be a noble profession. We...
“Help others and give something back. I guarantee you will discover that while public service improves the lives and the world around you, its greatest reward is the enrichment and new meaning it will bring to your own life.” ~ Arnold Schwarzenegger. Last week, the Town of Saratoga began advertising for the vacancy on the Saratoga Town Council. The seat, previously held by Jacob Fluty, will be on the ballot as a two-year unexpired term this year. Whoever is appointed to the vacancy will onl...
Those unsure whether their elected representatives have enough flair for the dramatic need not worry. The day late, dollar short political posturing seen in the Cowboy State this week was fitting, and expected, coming from the same group of lawmakers who pushed the bounds of the state’s 20-day budget session, and only emerged successful in accomplishing their simple, utmost goal — passing a budget — by the skin of their teeth. Now they want a special session to run it all back. Apparently, these lawmakers didn’t get their fill in Cheyenn...
Women’s basketball, both in high school and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), is on the rise. Believe it or not it is catching the attention of those who follow sports especially those in the sports journalism world. One of the many reasons is because of Iowa University Lady Hawkeyes point guard Caitin Clark, who has been taking the NCAA by storm. Clark has broken a record no one ever thought would ever be broken. She became the NCAA’s men’s and women’s all-time leading...
Newspapers from coast to coast last week celebrated Sunshine Week, a time to champion openness and transparency in government in issues from access to public records to open meetings. Ironically, Sunshine Week 2024 happened to coincide with an example of transparency worth celebrating right here in our neck of the woods. Thursday night, Big Horn County School District No. 2 held a public forum during which citizens were able to question three finalists to be the next principal of Lovell Elementary School. We’re not sure most folks realize how r...
The Saratoga Planning Commission has its hands tied, for all intents and purposes and we at the Saratoga Sun believe it is a disservice to the planning commission itself and the residents of Saratoga. While it is an advisory board, the role of the planning commission is to not only interpret existing zoning code but improve upon it as well. Such is the case regarding short term rentals in residential zones, which culminated in an 18 month process of drafting a proposed short term rental permit. At the recommendation of Kylie Waldrip, legal...
In the past week, I’ve talked with a few people—many of them longtime Valley or Carbon County locals—about the issues of bullying. It was even a major topic during the recent community forum with the candidates for Encampment K-12 School principal. I won’t reveal the names of the people I’ve talked to nor the exact nature of what they spoke with me about. These were personal conversations and the only reason I’m bringing them up is due to a similar comment through most of the conversatio...