Serving the Platte Valley since 1888
Serving the Platte Valley since 1888
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I'm Elliott Deins. A born-and-raised Floridian, Navy veteran, recent University of Oregon graduate and the new reporter at the Saratoga Sun. After a childhood of fishing, boating and diving around the Gulf Coast of Florida, I attempted community college. After seeing my terrible grades six weeks into my first semester, I enlisted into the Navy serving five years as an infantry corpsman. In 2018, I deployed as part of a Marine Expeditionary Unit - spending six months squeezed...
It seems that every small town and every community has a coffee klatch, a group of people—typically older—who gather at a chosen place to talk over their morning coffee. I’ve never had the time to sit in on one of those klatches, which seem to be overflowing with both coffee and wisdom. Yet, for some reason, I know where most of them are in Saratoga. To the best of my knowledge, our little town of less than 2,000 people has at least four coffee groups which meet at diffe...
Tempers flared last week, as Democrats sought to cast blame for the Republican landslide - I was particularly galled when a friend laid the blame on, “newspapers who are too chicken to …” Hold it right there. Losing my cool was a regular occurrence 30 years ago but it takes a lot to get my Irish at age 64. Journalists, particularly the people in the newspaper business, are the most courageous people I know. Yes, soldiers and cops are brave but in my industry we don’t carry guns, at least not yet. When I started in this busine...
We at the Saratoga Sun have much for which we are thankful. For 137 years, the Saratoga Sun has had the honor and the privilege to serve the fine people of the Platte Valley. The weight of that responsibility is not lost on us, especially as we go through our archive when compiling ‘Reflections from Our Files’ each week. Even 100 years ago, there are names which are recognizable. It is humbling to see the articles on town council meetings, local events and high school sports over the past century and knowing that our own art...
I was very fortunate to have a dad who was involved in my education. In the third grade, I struggled with math. I had trouble with the times table. Dad was an electrical engineer and worked for the State of Iowa almost all of his career. When I was in the third grade, teletypes were the form of communication back then and dad brought home scrap paper to write out problems for me to work on. Every night he would give me a half page of 8 ? by 11 paper which had several multiplic...
Editor, The world is an ever-more complicated place. It can be difficult to know what the facts really are. Back in the day when we all watched Walter Cronkite give us the news on TV we all got the same facts. And they really were true. We might have disagreed on solutions to issues, but we all had the same facts to work from. So, now, when there are so many sources to get news from it can be daunting to get to the truth. But, keep in mind that there are still journalists out there—as opposed to some news hosts/anchors and w...
Earlier this month, the Campbell County Chamber of Commerce recognized the Gillette News Record at its annual awards banquet with the Legacy Award. The Gillette News Record is a legacy to our community, from the many that pioneered its beginning to those who built it to what it is today. From its early inception started by the Nisselius family to the Kennedy/Turner family, the Gillette News Record has seen many changes in our community with a goal of providing the community with the news and reporting that have made an impact...
In the search for the balance of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, this past week saw tributes and thanks for those in our community who have served not only in the military but in the polling centers during our election process. We heartily thank our veterans for serving not only their communities but their country in their military commitments as the staff of The Saratoga Sun now includes members of the United States Army, Air Force and soon the Navy with our new reporter starting later this month. The military...
We all have our guilty pleasures. Those things that we know we shouldn’t enjoy, but we do anyway. For some people, it’s eating dessert first while for others it's drinking a soda from time-to-time. My guilty pleasure is Aaron Sorkin’s “The Newsroom.” There are multiple reasons, perhaps even countless reasons, why this is a guilty pleasure. First, it's not at all lost on me that I-someone who works in print journalism-enjoy watching and rewatching a show about a fictional...
Fall has definitely arrived with this cooler weather. When I think of fall, I immediately think of caramel apples. If you love caramel apples, then you’ll love our desert special: Caramel Apple Bundt Cake. This has quickly become a fall favorite in my house and I’m sure it will be come one in your house as well. Caramel Apple Bundt Cake - 6 apples or 1 can of apple pie filling - 2 C white sugar - 1 1/2 C vegetable oil - 2 tsp vanilla extract - 3 large eggs - 3 C all - purpose...
The Sheridan Press, Nov. 2 Sheridan County needs to return to a society that settles issues outside of court. In the last three years, Sheridan County residents have taken government entities to court at least four times, all of which in part sided with the government entities. Sheridan County School District 2 Superintendent Scott Stults told The Sheridan Press following this week’s Pollak v Wilson et. al. decision the school district is considering appealing the matter in Tenth Circuit, “which previously ruled in favor of...
The athletes and the coaches of Carbon County School District No. 2 should be proud of themselves. We at the Saratoga Sun certainly are proud of them. All three high school volleyball teams went to Regionals. Saratoga and Encampment volleyball players participated in Lander at the Southwest Regionals and Hanna-Elk-Mountain-Medicine Bow competed in the Southeast Regionals in Guernsey. Saratoga qualified for the playoffs in 9-man football with an impeccable season and...
The Wyoming Tribune Eagle recently reported on a bill before the Legislature’s Corporations, Elections, and Political Subdivisions Committee that would allow Wyoming municipalities to build and operate power plants, which could become another source of revenue. It remains obscure while in committee but will come before the full legislature in 2025, likely bringing with it some controversy. “I asked the legislature to study giving us the authority to do this,” Mayor Patrick Collins of Cheyenne told the Enterprise. He credi...
It’s not often there’s a win for transparency in our line of work but, last week, Wyoming’s Fourth Estate got one. After first voting to recommend a policy change which would restrict the access of photojournalists and broadcast journalists, the Select Committee on Legislative Facilities, Technology and Process reversed course on October 24. The policy change first passed on a 4-2 vote, with Senator Cale Case (R- Lander) and Representative Mike Yin (D - Jackson) voting against the measure on September 18. With the recommendat...
I have never been a very creative person. I do not do crafts or artwork that require drawing or painting, even though I have tried. It all comes out abstract. In elementary school, I had an art teacher that was more interested in the final product than the process and I never developed an interest in art. For those of you who know me, know I am a professional photographer and love taking photos of nature. I always say my husband is the true artist, as he creates his art and I...
The Sheridan Press, Oct. 19 As the Elk Fire continues to rage and the situation changes daily, if not hourly, you’ve likely spent some time on The Sheridan Press’ social media pages. During your time there, you’ve likely seen a recurring question, or even asked the question yourself: Why do we have to subscribe for this content? Why can’t it be available for free to the community? The reason is simple: The Press fully functions as a private business like any other in downtown Sheridan. Our business has revenue and expendi...
I recently had the opportunity to welcome the Encampment K-12 School 3rd grade class at the Saratoga Sun office and I can’t speak highly enough of these young students. At the beginning of this school year, Rayna Greenwood—who is the new 3rd grade teacher—had emailed me about a field trip to the Saratoga Sun. I was ecstatic as I’ve always welcomed the opportunity to talk about this newspaper and the industry itself. I’ve given tours of the office to people just coming th...
Dear Editor, Thank you for the invitation to submit opinions in last week’s paper. Appropriate discussion during the political decisions should be part of every voter’s day. One hot button is property tax increases. The only way to be fair to the taxpayers is cap the annual increase to the rate of inflation. As it is, the increase or decrease in valuation is driven by the boom of the recent real estate market. Consequently, that sector of property tax has risen at the rate of the percent increase in values. Every gov...
Dear Editor, People have asked why the Wyoming REALTORS are backing Amendment A. The answer is straightforward: We believe in homeownership and will always support any effort to keep people in their homes. Our Wyoming Constitution currently has three classes of property for the purpose of property taxation. First is Minerals, second is Industrial, and the third class is “all other.” All other encompasses Residential, Commercial, Agricultural, and personal property. Our constitution says that “all properties shall be taxed...
Though a few months away, the next session of the Wyoming Legislature will likely showcase the recent powershift towards the Wyoming Freedom Caucus if the general election goes the way of the primary election. Meanwhile, next month, the Management Council may be considering a policy which would limit access to the People’s House. Last month, the Select Committee on Legislative Facilities, Technology and process voted to effectively ban photojournalist and broadcast journalists from entering the halls which run next to the H...
A few weeks ago I wrote that words matter, referring to verbal words, and this week, as we observe National Newspaper Week I am going to discuss other words that matter — printed words in newspapers. This year’s theme is Tell Our Stories, meaning for us newspaper folk to tell why we got into this business and for me the theme says it all. That’s why I do this — to tell our stories. I started in Thermopolis at the Independent Record while a senior in a career class. Students were placed with businesses in areas where they ha...
It may come as a shock to members of Gen Z, but there was once a way to communicate with others before the days of social media. Over the past few weeks, the Saratoga Sun’s opinion page gave a preview of how that once looked as we received at least one Letter to the Editor a week since the end of August. I was absolutely delighted to see a letter come through the mail or email because it showed that people were invested in their community. Letters on the topic of “Where the...
This week, the final series of a story on fire mitigation runs and I hope you have read them. If not, take the time to go back to the last three issues and read them. I learned so much, and thought it was important to pass on to our readers in the Saratoga Sun. I got to know people I haven’t met before and watch them as they talk about doing jobs they love. It is not easy being in a public job where you are criticized no matter what you do. The amount of work, planning and e...
If there’s any segment of our society that should be most concerned about young people leaving Wyoming after high school or college and not coming back, it’s business owners. That’s why we weren’t that surprised to see Wyoming Business Council CEO Josh Dorrell recently lead a conversation with University of Wyoming students about their post-college plans. Still, it’s refreshing to see anyone in state leadership actively pursuing the idea that something needs to be done to address the exodus of youth from the Equality State. L...
Dear Editor, I recently shared this story of our visit to Saratoga to my social media account, and someone suggested offering it to the local paper. The backstory: We are camped in the middle of nowhere in the small town of Saratoga, Wyoming, I’ve been here a number of times over the past 12 years because there are wonderful (free) hot springs here and good people, some of whom have become friends.. While my fianc? and I were soaking late Thursday night, someone stole the $900 customized hitch off the back of our car. C...