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Dinayla Augustine performs a Young Ladies Fancy Dance at Saratoga Head Start while her shadow looks as if a bird is watching over her. The Wyoming Indian High School Heritage Club Youth Dancers stopped and performed on September 25. See more photos in next week’s Saratoga Sun....
*Editor’s Note: This is the third in a series of stories about the Sierra Madre Fire Mitigation meeting held September 9.* Chris Otto, Fire Management Specialist with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), was at the Sierra Madre Fire Mitigation meeting on September 9 to explain the BLM’s role in fire mitigation. Otto explained there is not a lot of timber relative to the United States Forest Service (USFS) lands on BLM land, but they have had two commercial timber sales in the Encampment Riv...
Following its work session before their regular meeting on September 16, the Carbon County School District No. 2 Board of Trustees has formed a working group to work on a concealed-carry policy for district employees. This process, following state statute passed in 2017, is happening at the same time the Joint Judiciary Committee is proposing yet another bill to repeal gun-free zones in Wyoming. The most recent attempt, House Bill 125, passed both chambers of the Legislature but was vetoed by...
The Carbon County Library System is now down to seven branches following the closure of the Sinclair Branch Library on Monday. The announcement came from Maria Wenzel, executive director of the Carbon County Library System, in a press release late Thursday morning. According to the press release, the majority of the funding for the library system comes from the Carbon County Government at approximately 80%. This funding primarily goes to staffing and operations of all eight branches of the library system. Following a county budget session for...
JACKSON — With the Town of Alpine signaling that it will consider a lease on city-owned property for the construction of a charter school, two powerful allies, Sen. Dan Dockstader, R-Afton, and Alpine Airpark resident and developer Steven Funk, have championed the Utah-based American Preparatory Academy for consideration of the only available western Wyoming charter school slot. While there has been broad, longstanding support in Alpine for a new public school, even a charter, not all residents support the application from American P...
CHEYENNE — As the University of Wyoming considers allowing conceal carry on campus, students, faculty and other community stakeholders took the opportunity to express their concerns during Thursday’s Board of Trustees meeting. Current campus regulations prevent dangerous weapons from being carried in university facilities. According to the university, exemptions can be granted on a case-by-case basis by the UW Police Department. The university sought input on potential changes to campus firearm policies following Gov. Mark Gordon’s direc...
A community meeting on property valuation, taxes, and relief will be presented by Carbon County Treasurer Lindsey West and Carbon County Assessor Renee Snider in various locations from October 7 through October 23. The discussions will involve property assessment, Wyoming property tax structure and calculations, and existing and new relief programs available to qualifying Wyoming residents. Time will be set aside to answer questions from attendees, and applications for 2024 HB0003 will be available. 2024 HB0003 is legislation involving long ter...
Photo by Joshua Wood All volleyball fans were encouraged to wear teal at Tuesday night's match in Saratoga to honor Laurie Johnston, who lost her battle with ovarian cancer last month. Laurie was involved in the community for more than 40 years, coaching volleyball and track, refereeing volleyball games, working as an aide at the Saratoga Schools and served on the Carbon County School District No. 2. Announcer Larry Cloyd let the audience in a moment of silence before the matches. “We are f...
David Rousu, who purchased a lot at 804 W Bridge Avenue earlier this year, will have to wait to find out whether or not he can build a house on the property. Despite being surrounded by residential homes, the lot is located in retail business as are the other lots surrounding it. While the Saratoga Planning Commission recommended approval of a zone change for Rousu’s lot—with Mayor Chuck Davis providing the tie-breaking vote—the Saratoga Town Council voted to table the zone change at their September 17 meeting. Davis was not in atten...
Town & Country Realty recently announced Broker and owner Amanda Shahadey had been elected the National Association of Realtors’ Director as Wyoming’s Small Board Representative. A National Association of Realtors’ Director has duties and responsibilities for governing the association. The association counts on directors to participate daily as issues in deliberation may impact the members’ business lives. Amanda’s responsible role beginning in January, 2025 will play in the growth and development of the association. She will be asked to...
*Editor’s Note: This is the second story in a series about fire mitigation in the Sierra Madre Mountains.* Since 2018, the United States Forest Service (USFS) has been working on the Medicine Bow Landscape Vegetation Analysis (LaVA), which includes most of the Snowy Range and the Sierra Madre Range. The effort is to mitigate fires burning at a high heat intensity when and if a forest fire begins in the Medicine Bow National Forest (MBNF). This is a formidable task, since LaVA includes v...
This week, Governor Mark Gordon ordered the Wyoming State Flag to be brown at half staff at the Capitol in Cheyenne and in Carbon, Albany and Sweetwater counties. The order will be in effect from sunrise to sunset on September 28 in honor of Loren “Teense” Willford. Willford, a fourth-generation Wyoming native, served in the Wyoming Legislature from 1987-1988 representing Carbon County and again from 1993-2002 representing House District 47. He passed away on September 3 following an extended battle with cancer. He was 85 years old. Ser...
After six months of planning, the Sewer Lagoon Project - Phase 2 for the town of Encampment is getting closer to a design. Jon Nelson, with North Fork Engineering, proposed a design review workshop for the Phase - 2 project to the Encampment Town Council September 12, as the deadline to submit the design to the Department of Environmental Quality is November 22 The town council voted to hold an hour-and-one-half hour workshop on Oct. 10 at 5:30 p.m. The design, while it has taken time, is right...
The Wyoming Department of Health is inviting teachers, law enforcement representatives, clinicians, loss survivors, community members and other stakeholders to attend the 2024 Wyoming Suicide Prevention Symposium in Casper. The free two-day event begins at 9:30 a.m. on October 3 at the Best Western Downtown in Casper. “While we have started to see potential signs of fewer deaths in recent years, Wyoming continues to have one of the nation’s highest suicide rates,” said Rachel Nuss, Community Prevention Unit Manager with WDH. “There is a lot o...
Discover Carbon County recently announced it has been awarded a Wyoming Office of Tourism Destination Development Grant which will be effective for the 2024-2026 Biennium. According to the press release, the Destination Development Grant Program is a biennium grant program that was created in early 2023 by the Wyoming Office of Tourism’s 27 local Lodging Tax Boards. “This grant will enable Discover Carbon County to come along side and partner with communities, organizations and agencies on new or continuing projects,” said Leslie Jeffe...
CHEYENNE — Teachers at Ten Sleep School are allowed to conceal carry firearms in the classroom, but some school officials and students are worried about letting just anyone walk into the building with a gun, according to school representatives. Washakie County School District 2 has one K-12 school and is a concealed carry district, said Superintendent Annie Griffin. It takes law enforcement 18 minutes to reach the school, Griffin told lawmakers Thursday afternoon, which is why the district allowed its staff to carry concealed weapons with a p...
Investing local funds to achieve higher returns on investments re emerged on the agenda at the September 3 Saratoga Town Council meeting. Another local government investment pool representative visited the council to inform them about governmental investment opportunities and options. As was previously reported, on August 6 Troy Hunsacker from Wyoming CLASS presented information from their investment pool. Joan Evans of Wyoming Government Investment Fund (WGIF) said “Saratoga already has some funds in WGIF in the liquid asset series,” but off...
Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series of stories of fire mitigation in the Medicine Bow National Forest. More than 30 people attended the Sierra Madre Fire Preparedness meeting September 9 at the Encampment Opera House. Lenny Layman, Carbon County Emergency Management Coordinator, organized the meeting with several county and local entities as a panel to explain their coordination when and if there is a fire. Layman said he decided to organize the panel because residents of Encampment w...
CHEYENNE — Detainment time for adjudicated undocumented inmates was increased from two hours to 48 hours by Laramie County Sheriff Brian Kozak. The change will bring detainment times in line with a nationally accepted standard and has been a long-term goal of Kozak’s since he was elected sheriff. Federal law states that state and local law enforcement authorities may only hold persons on immigration detainers for 48 hours after the completion of their jail time. “I know that some criminal aliens were released into our community, into Cheye...
LARAMIE — More than two-thirds of University of Wyoming students recently surveyed by the Wyoming Business Council said that a future in Wyoming is a “maybe” or a “no.” Additionally, more than 60% of people who are born in Wyoming leave by the time they’re in their 30s. Most do not return. Rather than lament statistics, the Wyoming Business Council came together with University of Wyoming students Tuesday night for a comprehensive event and panel discussion to encourage discussion between leaders and students in the hope of better understanding...
With a resonant voice and a beaming smile on his face, to say Loren “Teense” Willford had a presence in the Valley and beyond would be an understatement. “You can’t fully understand Teense unless you were one of his friends and, of course, everybody was his friend [in] one way or the other,” said former governor Jim Geringer. “If you didn’t get along with Teense, it wouldn’t take long before you did.” Teense passed away early on the morning of September 3 following a long battle with cance... Full story
After more than a year of discussion and apparent false starts, the Saratoga Planning Commission may have a path forward in the regulation of short term rentals (STRs) in municipal limits. At a special meeting on September 5, the seven member board—joined by legal counsel Kylie Waldrip—discussed and debated the best approach to address short term rentals—such as those listed on AirBNB and VRBO—in Saratoga. Throughout the more than 90 minute meeting, the biggest point of disagreement between...
The discussion of creating a brand for Saratoga leapt back into the spotlight at the September 3 meeting of the Saratoga Town Council. Leslie Jefferson, executive director of Discover Carbon County, started an over 30 minute discussion about a tourism master plan for Carbon County and the creation of an authentic Wyoming experience for visitors. Jefferson apologized for the miscommunication on changing Saratoga’s town motto “Where the Trout Leap in Main Street”. The CEO of Carbon County Visitors’ Council said “she was questioned about bra...
The option for voters on whether or not to establish a hospital tax district to benefit Memorial Hospital of Carbon County (MHCC) will be placed on the general election ballot in November. The decision to place it on the ballot came following the August 6 meeting of the Board of Carbon County Commissioners (BOCCC). The proposed hospital district would give an increase in property taxes to those living within its boundaries. Proponents of the measure say new taxes will provide financial support...
Gas prices edge slightly higher in Wyoming in the past week CHEYENNE (WNE) — Average gasoline prices in Wyoming have risen 0.9 cents per gallon in the last week, averaging $3.29 per gallon Monday, according to GasBuddy.com’s survey of 494 stations in Wyoming. Prices in Wyoming are 4.1 cents per gallon lower than a month ago, and stand 62.6 cents per gallon lower than a year ago. According to GasBuddy price reports, the lowest price in the state Sunday was $2.79, while the highest was $4.29, a difference of $1.50 per gallon. The national ave...