Articles written by Mike Armstong


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  • Kindness in Carbon County

    Mike Armstong|Nov 10, 2022

    I am getting ready to do a presentation for an organization which wants to hear about my time in Asia. I have been looking over a lot of items and photos of my time in Taiwan and China. My years in Taiwan were in a big city, sort of, 3 million, but actually for Asia, Taichung is a medium city at best. Running a business, a restaurant/bar in particular that focused on Western cuisine, had me in the forefront of the expat community. I threw a lot of parties for different Western cultures and got exposed to tons of things I didn’t know about peopl...

  • In hope of honoring a father

    Mike Armstong|Aug 18, 2022

    A father and son bond can be one of the strongest there is, and Dr. Michael (Doc) Janssen, owner of the Saratoga Resort, was extremely close with his father Harold Janssen. According to Doc's wife, Dr. Sharon Janssen, Doc's father inspired his son with a strong work ethic and commitment to help others. Harold owned a small lawn and tractor business, which he built up himself. He left school in the 8th grade and became adept with taking care of machinery. Sharon said Harold was a genius in many...

  • Churches Honored

    Mike Armstong|Jun 23, 2022

    by Mike Armstrong The Medicine Bow Town Council met at 7 p.m. on June 13 at the Medicine Bow Community Town Hall. Mayor Sharon Biamon was present as were council members Lucy Schofield, Sharon Kahl and Cindy Chace. Council member Dawndee Yocom was absent. After the minutes from the regularly scheduled meeting on May 9 and agenda were approved, town clerk/treasurer Karen Heath reviewed the financials. The total expenditures came to $95,511.50. The council approved ratifying the bills presented. Sunrise Engineering said everything was in place...

  • Out but not down

    Mike Armstong|Oct 27, 2021

    The Hanna, Elk Mountain, Medicine Bow (HEM) Miners faced a determined Kaycee team on Saturday in Hanna. The Miners were down to seven players, but the scrappy team was ready to play their hearts out. They did just that against a larger Buckaroo team. The HEM team kept Kaycee scoreless until there was just a little over four minutes left in the 1st quarter. "The boys really stepped up defensively today," Head Coach Zack Scott said. "All of our coaching this season on defensive playing came out to...

  • Med Bow seats council

    Mike Armstong|Jan 27, 2021

    At their first meeting of 2021, three of the four people elected to Medicine Bow Town Council took their oaths of office. While Sharon Kahl, Lucy Schofield and Cindy Chace were all sworn in. Trevor Strauch, who has served on last council was re-elected, opted out of another term. He explained that he had not wanted to be considered when the primaries started, but he was written in. Strauch said he declined to be a candidate then, but the residents of Medicine Bow must have hoped he would change...

  • Rawlins adds representative

    Mike Armstong|Jan 27, 2021

    It has been several months since the Carbon County Visitors Council (CCVC) has met in person but, on January 20, the board met at Firewater Public House in Saratoga. In addition to the board members meeting face-to-face, the city of Rawlins sent Mary-Pat Whitfield to be their representative. The city has not had a representative since June 30, 2018. Whitfield has been a resident of Rawlins for 42 years and has worked with museums in the city. CCVC Medicine Bow representative Sharon Kahl resigned from the board because she was elected to the...

  • Local tourism saves 2020

    Mike Armstong|Jan 27, 2021

    International tourism took a hit in 2020 as a global pandemic brought travel to a halt and countries issued stay-at-home orders. In the United States, residents looked for places they could escape to without flying. Wyoming became a destination in the summer for many from out-of-state, although many events were cancelled or reduced in size. Carbon County scaled down many activities it had, but many tourists still came to visit the county due to the great outdoors and recreation opportunities...

  • Four Miners hit mats

    Mike Armstong|Jan 27, 2021

    The wrestlers from Hanna, Elk Mountain, Medicine Bow (HEM) High School traveled to Lingle over the weekend, where they joined the Saratoga Panthers. Head Coach Robert Riddle was pleased with the efforts of his grapplers. “The team wrestled well,” Riddle said. “Everyone worked hard and fought well.” The Miner wrestling team was down to four. Anthony Solaas wrestled at 106, as did McKaylee Widdison. Charlee Solaas wrestled at 132 and Tom Wagner wrestled at 138. “Strength is still an issue with the team,” Riddle said. “There are still a lot o...

  • Panthers see wins

    Mike Armstong|Jan 27, 2021

    The Saratoga High School wrestling team traveled to Lingle on January 23 to compete against Glenrock, Lingle Ft. Laramie/Southeast, and Gering, Nebraska. Head Coach Jared Mason said the first dual went well. "The Panthers began their day against Glenrock winning the dual by a 42-36 team score," Mason said. He said the next dual tested the Panthers. "They wrestled Lingle Ft. Laramie/Southeast next, losing the dual 18-60 in a rough outing for the Panthers," said Mason. The last dual went back to...

  • Tough week for Miners

    Mike Armstong|Jan 27, 2021

    The Hanna, Elk Mountain, Medicine Bow (HEM) Miners didn’t have the week they had hoped. First, the Dubois Rams were quarantined meaning HEM didn’t have a game on Friday. On Saturday going to Guernsey-Sunrise, HEM played a solid first half, but in the 3rd quarter the game got away from the Miners. “We played well in stretches, but in the 3rd quarter, they made a run that we didn’t recover from,” Head Coach Cliff Jones said. “At halftime we were tied 36-36 and then, the 3rd, quarter they outscored us 18-7. We found ourselves in hole that we cou...

  • Lady Miners bury the competition

    Mike Armstong|Jan 27, 2021

    The Hanna, Elk Mountain, Medicine Bow (HEM) Lady Miners played twice this week and crushed both teams they faced. Lady Miners vs. Dubois Lady Rams The HEM home crowd got to see the Lady Miners take on Dubois at 3 p.m. on Friday. The young Lady Rams, who did not have a deep bench, found out why HEM is undefeated at this point in the season. The starters played in the first quarter but, with the score 5 for Dubois and 15 for HEM going into the 2nd quarter, Head Coach Jackie Jones put in players th...

  • HEM muzzles Bulldogs

    Mike Armstong|Dec 23, 2020

    On December 15, the Hanna, Elk Mountain, Medicine Bow (HEM) Lady Miners and Miners hosted the sophomore teams of the 3A Wheatland Lady Bulldogs and Bulldogs. Lady Miners vs Lady Bulldogs The Lady Miners took to the court first. While it was only their second game of the season, the team showed how sharp they were as they quickly dominated the scoreboard. In the 1st quarter, HEM threw up 22 points on the board while keeping the Wheatland sophomores to a single point. The 2nd quarter saw Wheatland...

  • Shedding a mystery

    Mike Armstong|Dec 23, 2020

    Local historian Nancy Anderson was with her husband Victor some years ago taking care of their cattle, when they made a discovery in a gulley. A type of shed lying on its side, basically in the middle of nowhere. "Apparently, when the railroad disposed of these structures they just, as they frequently did, hauled them off to the nearest gulley," Anderson said. "This one had been lying on its side for quite a long time." She said Victor had to replace all the siding where the shed had rested on...

  • Miners go 1-1 over weekend

    Mike Armstong|Dec 16, 2020

    The first game of the season for the Hanna, Elk Mountain, Medicine Bow (HEM) Miners was against Riverside on Friday. The mask and social distancing protocols for attending the game by both teams were adhered to at this home game. Tickets were needed for fans to attend. Riverside The Miners started out scoring first and built up a 5 point lead before the Riverside Rebels scored their first points. HEM hit a 3 pointer with a six minutes left in the first quarter, making the score 8-2 and the...

  • Radionuclides down at wells

    Mike Armstong|Mar 27, 2019

    The Medicine Bow Town Council met at 7 p.m. on March 11 at the Medicine Bow Community Hall. The minutes for the regularly scheduled meeting on Feb. 11, a special meeting on Feb. 18 and another on March 7 were approved by the complete council. The agenda and financials were approved. Chris Sims from Wind City Church, introduced himself to the mayor and council. Sims said he was in charge of creating new churches and had acquired the deed to the Medicine Bow Baptist Church. Sims said during the spring and summer he was going to hold several work...

  • WYDOT at CCCOG

    Mike Armstong|Jul 26, 2017

    There was no quorum on Wednesday for the meeting of Carbon County Council of Governments (CCCOG) in Riverside. Although no business could be decided, the Wyoming of Department of Transportation (WYDOT) gave a presentation on WYDOT’s current funding situation, an overview of the selection process for projects and shared plans for existing and upcoming projects for District 1. District 1 includes most of Carbon County, Albany County, most of Laramie County and a small part of Sweetwater County. Tom DeHoff, district engineer, spoke about goals a...

  • Roads, wood piles and hours

    Mike Armstong|May 10, 2017

    The Upper Platte Valley Solid Waste Disposal District Board (landfill board) moved their meeting from the Encampment library to Riverside town hall May 3 at 7 p.m. Roads, wood piles, hours of operation and soliciting bids were the topics gone over. The landfill road’s width is now 18 and 20 feet but needs to be 20 to 30 feet to handle estimated traffic, said board chairman Randy Raymer. Getting gravel to improve the road was discussed to make the road better. Inexpensive options were being considered. Roads built or changed need an amendment w...