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14 I The Lovell Chronicle January 7, 2021
Lovell Bulldog Wrestling
squad rose to the occasion
and placed second in the
2A division at the Wyoming
State Wrestling Tourna—
ment Friday and Saturday
in Casper. Senior Quinton
Hecker had placed in the
top four in his first three
years of his high school ca—
reer,‘ but he was not going
to be denied this year as he
won the 126—pound division.
Senior Coy Trainor cap—
tured his second state title
and finished his high school
career strong by winning
the Z85-pound division.
It was the showdown
everyone was antici ating:
top-ranked and de ending
state champion Wyoming
Indian vs. second-ranked
Rocky Mountain for the 2A
West Regional Tournament
title. Rocky beat the Chiefs
67—60.
1 Horn County
School District
No. 2 voted to hire Doug
Hazen as the new District
Superintendent at Monday
night’s regular meeting.
Hazen returns to the Lovell
school district after serving
as the junior high principal
for Columbia Falls, Mont,
for under a year.‘
The Board of Big
Patrons of Big Horn
Count School District
No. 1 rom North Big Horn
County met the five final-
ists for principal of Rocky
Mountain Elementa-
ry School during a special
meet and greet event atthe
RMES' Gym Monday night
that capped a day of inter-
views with the school board
and individual forums with
school staff members for
the five.
As the coronavirus re—
mains a threat on the hori—
zon in the state of Wyo—
ming, local school districts
are preparing for the pos—
sibility of the pandemic
reaching local students.
Is Big Horn County pre-
pared to deal with the coro—
navirus or similar pandem-
ic outbreaks? The answer
is a resounding “yes,” ac—
cordin to Big Horn Coun-
ty Pubic Health Response
Coordinator Chad Lindsay,
who is also the Communi—
ty Prevention Specialist for
t e county, and Emily Neb—
el, the Infection Prevention
and Control Specialist at
North Big Horn Hospital.
As the coronavirus
. creeps closer to
the borders of
North Big Horn County,
North Big Horn Hospital
is preparing for the likely
onrush of patients.
Lovell’s only super—
market has not escaped
the panic buying that has
gripped the nation in the
wa e of the growing coro-
navirus (COVID-19) pan—
demic, with toilet paper
and certain cleaning prod-
ucts snapped up by cus-
tomers as soon as they hit
the shelves.
Updates from Dr. David
Fairbanks, Big Horn Coun-
DAVID PECK
Dozens, perhaps hundreds, of cars “dragged Main” in Lovell Friday
night, April 24, to participate in the “Corona Car
Show.” Above, Keith and Carol Rasmussen in their 1949 Ford F1 pickup
drive in tandem with grandson Derik and
wife Amber in the Rasmussen. family’s ’56 Chevy Bel Air.
DAVID PECK
LHS graduating senior Elena Garcia smiles and waves,
diploma in hand, during
ceremony Monday, May 18.
ty Health Officer, on the Big
Horn County Public Health
website state that Gover—
nor Mark Gordon has im—
plemented a Level 3 Health
Warning, which includes
eliminating community and
faith-based gatherings of
any size until April 3. Some
churches are suspending
public services until further
notice.
As of Wednesday, March
18, the North Big Horn Se-
nior Center will be closed
for congregate gathering
and all activities through
April 3, according to Julie
Durham, North Big Horn
Senior Center director.
The response to
COVID—19 is seeing
many entities
perform a makeover.
Wyoming distillers are
to begin making hand
the drive-up graduation
sanitizer. Factories
nationwide are re-gearing
to construct respirators.
And local schools have
started printing medical
masks with 3D printers.
A stroll up and down
Main Street in Lovell reveals
a variety of effects from the
recent Level 3 Health Warn-
ing and other measures
taken at the county and
state levels in the wake of
the COVID-19 coronavirus
outbreak. Some businesses,
offices and agencies are at—
tempting to conduct busi-
ness as usual, some have
been forced to or have cho-
sen to close public spaces
and others have temporar—
ily closed their doors, hop—
ing to wait out the worst of
the crisis.
Local schools have
transitioned from class—
": *ng ‘26, 2020
June 3,2020
RYAN FITZMAURICE
Former Lovell Middle School principal Doug Hazen
assumed the reins of School District No. 2 as the
superintendent in July.
room teaching to distance
learning.
School officials of Big
Horn County School
District No. 1 and No. 2
state they are prepared as
Wyoming extends its school
closure order to April 17.
As of Wednesday morn—
ing, every test has come
back negative. North Big
Horn Hospital has conduct—
ed 39 tests. All results that
have come back have been
negative, with 11 tests still
pending, according to Mar-
keting Coordinator Janet
Koritnik.
.The State of Wyoming
will be receiving a mini—
mum of $1.25 billion from
£3606 Scott Powell I
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gem-8.2%.;
the multiple COVID-19 re-
lief packages passed. Sen-
ator RJ Kost, in a conver—
sation Monday afternoon,
expressed hope the funds
could be used to help small
local businesses, non—prof-
its and other organiza—
tions weather the storm of
COVID-19.
Bighorn Canyon Na—
tional Recreation Area of—
ficials last Thursday an-
nounced that the Cal S.
Taggart Visitor Center in
Lovell would close Satur—'
day, March 28, and remain
closed until further notice
in light of the latest guide—
lines from federal, state
and local authorities to
promote social distancing
in the wake of the grow-
ing COVID-19 coronavirus
pandemic.
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Kenna May Kearney
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North Big Horn
Hospital is close
to entering into an
agreement with South
Big Horn Hospital, Hot
Springs Memorial Hospital
in Thermopolis and
Cody hospitals to share
supplies, staff and medical
personnel as they prepare
for COVID—19.
The COVID—19 crisis
has certainly altered life
in Lovell, with some busi-
nesses struggling and peo-
ple forced to change the
way they live, but Mayor
Kevin Jones and Town Ad—
ministrator Jed Nebel said
this week that they are im—
pressed with the. way c1t1—
zens are respondlflg-
As the coronavirus
makes its way through the
state, Lovell High School
and Rocky Mountain High
School seniors this week
said they were disappoint—
ed by the state’s school clo—
sures, which puts prom and
graduation in jeopardy.
There won’t be an out—
door track and field season
for the Lovell High School
and Rocky Mountain High
School thinclads, nor will
there be a spring golf sea—
son, as the Wyoming High
School Activities Associ-
ation cancelled all spring
sports due to the coronavi-
rus pandemic.
Recent days have
brought a couple
, of significant
firsts in the spread of the
COVID-19 virus, with Big
Horn County reporting its
first confirmed case on
Sunday afternoon and the
state announcing its first
death due to the virus on
Monday. A second death in
the state was announced
Wednesday morning.
Approximately 25
young adults were found
gathered together in a
close confined space Friday
by Lovell Police in an event
Lovell Police Chief Dan Laf—
fin called a blatant viola—
tion of countywide health
orders.
It’s been a hectic cou-
ple of weeks for local banks,
who ran into the proverbi—
al buzz saw of applications
when enrollment in the job
saving Payroll Protection
Program fired up on April
3 as part of the stimulus
package to help businesses
coping with the COVID—19
cr1s1s.
As COVID—19 spreads
throughout Wyoming, the
role of first responders is
both more important and
more dangerous than it has
ever been. As meetings and
trainings move online, and
supplies become further
taxed, the virus scare has
done nothing to stop first
responders from respond-
ing to the scene they are
needed.
management area
2 plan for the Pryor
Mountain Wild Horse Range
released by the Bureau
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A new draft joint
