Serving the Platte Valley since 1888
Serving the Platte Valley since 1888
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There is a guy out there who, according to western legend, puts people to sleep by sprinkling magical sand onto people’s eyes. That guy is the Sandman. He even has a famous song: “Mr. Sandman.” Yeah, well, the Sandman needs to hire some Sandlings, because he has apparently fallen asleep on the job. Some soporific servants might be a good thing. He probably doesn’t want to add anyone though. I hear Sleep Stewards Local 101 is a tough union. Of course, all this may be tied to the supernatural sedative sand shortage of ’16. Whatever. I think it...
I have been immersing myself in the world of spirits lately. Not the Halloween ghostie spirit type, but the culture of alcohol. A project I am working on has me coming across bits of info I have found interesting on the consumption of spirits. A lot of what I have come across, is mostly historical and not so relevant to modern times. Still, more than once when looking through my books—I have over 200 books on bartending, spirits and recipes published before 1930’s and another 500 or so from the decades after—I find myself saying to mysel...
You may have noticed there are quite a few headlines on the internet designed purely to lure you into clicking on them. These story titles, dubbed “clickbait,” are designed to pique your curiosity and quite often have absolutely nothing to do with the story that comes up when you get there. Kinda like my headline here. Sorry. Not really. ; ) Hey look, I even used an emoji in one of my columns! Anyway … As much as I like to write good headlines that actually have something to do with —and are descriptive of—the stories they go with, I decided t...
I commute 40 miles one way every day I work at the Saratoga Sun. My job before had me going back and forth from Laramie. That means I have been exposed to a fair amount of driving in Wyoming, most of it in Carbon County, just going to work There are elements of being on the road in Wyoming I find so much better than any place I have ever lived and other facets that scare the hell of out me when I am driving. The Wildlife Might as well start off with my biggest fear being on the road in this...
The Saratoga Town Council is currently reviewing the Planned Unit Development (PUD) proposal submitted by the Saratoga Planning Commission. This plan is designed to allow more flexibility and creativity in site planning. The PUD also streamlines the development process for mixed usages and/or higher allowable densities. Current zoning regulations do not allow flexibility in site planning and limit what can be built on a site. With the PUD a plot of land can be residential, commercial, light industrial and/or heavy industrial instead of just...
Here it is again. National Flatulence Day. In observance, I ate beans all day yesterday. You should see the look on my coworkers faces—I am worried they might stick like that. Okay, you got me. There is no specific National Flatulence Day. I celebrate it year-round anyway. Too much information? Sorry. Like most people with adolescent-level minds, I think fart jokes are funny. But there are a “butt-load” of National Days. I took a look at nationaldaycalendar.com where there are clickable icons for every month. Once you click on a month, you g...
I grew up hearing that “real men don’t cry.” What a load of crap. Fortunately, I never heard this kind of drivel from my parents. But parents aren’t the only influence in someone’s life. Shedding tears helps you recognize your feelings and deal with them. I have also read that crying helps your body regain an equilibrium by shedding toxins. According to the article “Cry it out: 6 Surprising Health Benefits of shedding a Few Tears” found on medicaldaily.com, crying releases toxins and stress hormones. Tears also kill bacteria and improve vision....
Editor, Recently, out of rather immense frustration, I addressed the Saratoga Town Council concerning the scourge of methamphetamine addiction/use and attendant crime in this community. Although the Police Department inferred my criticisms to mean that my complaints were directed specifically at that department, this was not my intention. However, after speaking with the police chief, I at least understood his position, agreeing in part and disagreeing in part. Perhaps most significantly, I was impressed with the passion our police chief...
Editor, In response to Mr. Armstrong. There are so many things to talk about in your editorial, so many. I start by mentioning how very sad it is that we have an entire generation now that believe public policy and even history should be written or written according to out “feelings”. Life is not kind. It can be very tough and it is rarely if ever fair. Revising history, ignoring our past or trying to eliminate parts of it entirely will not change it and serves merely to ensure that we do not learn from our or others history. The vast maj...
My father’s side of the family are Virginians and have lived in Fauquier County for close to two centuries. It is a beautiful place with tons and tons of history. He was raised in a small town about the size of Elk Mountain and almost everyone is related to one of two families. Family reunions in Virginia were made up of touch football games, picnics with awesome fried chicken, hams, salads, watermelon, corn on the cob, fresh baked breads and desserts that would be county fair quality. Time stands still in many ways in this part of Virginia. I...
There is at least one appliance I have yet to mention in my periodic discourses on such things. It has become invaluable tool in our everyday life, but it didn’t start that way. That device was … the telegraph! Alright. No. But the telegraph was the precursor to Alexander Graham Bell’s 1876 invention, the telephone. While the original telephones were not much more than an electrified tin can and string system, they soon became widespread and commercialized. In 1877 the Bell Telephone Company was founded and 3,000 private phones were activ...
It has come to our attention at the Saratoga Sun that there is a movement afoot to curb runaway political spending. We agree with this so wholeheartedly we are running two letters to the editor this week on that topic. We at the Saratoga Sun feel no candidate should be able to “spend their way into office,” so the Saratoga Sun joins republican and former Wyoming Senator Alan Simpson in backing this effort. The amount of money corporations and special interests can throw into elections has unbalanced our political system alarmingly. While the...
This is probably to seem like it is going to be about one topic, but then it goes in another direction. It will tie together, I promise. Last week, Milton Ontiveroz, University of Wyoming Communications Specialist came to the office of the Sun. After a bit of time we realized we had met before at my restaurant/bar in Laramie. He said some great things about my place and our drinks. Milton made me feel proud of what I had done in Laramie even though it is gone now. A key component to the success...
Wyoming Promise volunteers are collecting signatures across the state for a bipartisan citizens’ initiative to restore free and fair elections. Wyoming Promise is a citizens’ grassroots effort to get big money out of politics by calling on Congress to pass a 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It is working with several national organizations, including American Promise, which are coordinating similar efforts in many states, but Wyoming Promise is an independent group comprised solely of Wyoming residents. “The Wyoming Constitution guara...
Dear Senators Enzi and Barrasso and Representative Cheney: In a public opinion poll taken in 2016, Rasmussen Reports found that 76% of Americans “believe the wealthiest individuals and companies have too much influence over elections,” while 80% “agree that wealthy special interest groups have too much power and influence over elections.” Bloomberg conducted a poll in 2015 that showed that 78% of Americans had an unfavorable view of the controversial Citizens United v. F.E.C. decision. Overwhelmingly, Americans agree strongly that money i...
It was a Monday. If you know anything about my normal Mondays they are usually pretty hectic and go fairly late as we try to get as much of the paper done as we can so the staff and I can proofread on Tuesdays before we get the Sun to press. This particular Monday we had our normal frenetic day, but were mostly done by 5 p.m. I was relieved and decided to go have a drink after work. The plan was to just have one or two then go home and use the unusual free time to clean house a bit. You know how...