CHRONICLE
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4 I The Lovell Chronicle I April 26, 2012
iii!i
Wyoming cuts
while the crisis in
Washington grows
A couple of news items caught our eye this week and
are worth noting.
Last Friday, due to continuing low prices for natural gas
produced in Wyoming, Gov. Matt Mead ordered directors
of state agencies to prepare for an 8 percent budget cut
for the fiscal year that begins July 1, 2013 - twice what the
governor and Wyoming Legislature asked agencies to pre-
pare for during the 2012 budget session, though agency
heads were warned about the possibility of the deeper cuts
at the time.
When Gov. Mead prepared his 2012-14 biennial budget
last fall, he based his revenue estimates on an estimated
price of gas of $4 per thousand cubic feet, but by January,
the price had fallen to $3.25 per mcf at the Opal Hub in
Southwest Wyoming.
On Monday, natural gas was trading at $1.80 per mcf,
with continuing low prices triggering the response from the
governor. The state loses $200 million in tax revenue for ev-
ery dollar drop in the price of natural gas.
That belt-tightening is fiscally prudent. Given the glut of
natural gas in the market and not wanting to dip into re-
serves, the governor has asked agencies to prepare to cut
their budgets and also enacted a hiring freeze. There could
be further cuts ahead.
Wyoming is taking a reasonable, though sometimes
painful, approach to a difficult fiscal situation. Contrast that
to the federal government, which is spending money like a
drunken sailor.
The other news item that caught our eye was a report
that the poor state of the economy has worsened the out-
look for the Social Security Trust Fund. According to a report
by the trustees who manage the fund, Social Security trust
funds will run out in 2033, three years earlier than previous
estimates. Thatt 21 years from now, but according to the
report, the disability portion of the fund is set to run dry in
just four years, though money within the fund can be real-
located.
Even worse, Medicare is projected I;o run out of money
by 2024 -just 12 years from noW.
Of course, the U.S. Congress has raided the trust funds
for decades and has basically ignored the problem, placing
the future of the programs in serious jeopardy.
In their report this week, the trustees stated that Con-
gress should address the problem "as soon as possible," but
Tuesday story said that no action is expected before the
November election.
Well, of course not. The first priority of most, if not all,
members of Congress is to be re-elected, and that usu-
ally means putting off tough decisions, and decisions to
preserve Social Security and Medicare have been put off
for years and years. We can remember Sen. Alan Simpson
warning 25 years ago about the trust funds eventually run-
ning out of money.
Meanwhile, the federal debt has risen to a staggering
$15.6 trillion and is growing at the pace of nearly $4 billion
per day.
Sen. John Barrasso often says how Wyoming gets it
when Washington doesn't, noting that Wyoming consti-
tution requires a balanced budget, lawmakers are fiscally
conservative and the governor wields the power of the line-
item veto.
This week news out of Cheyenne and Washington ham-
mers that point home.
-David Peck
2012 MEMBER
2011 AWARD-WINNING NEWSPAPER
Postmaster: Send address changes to:
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234 E. Main, Lovell, Wyoming 82431
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Editor and Publisher: David Peck
Reporter: Patti Carpenter
Staff: Gladys McNeil, Pat Parmer, Ii i n unties $28
• Dorothy Nelson, Marwyn Layne, .. i i
Teressa Ennis, Jason Zeller,
Cheryl Jolley, Stormy Jameson
Puns can be fun
This was the week that I was going to
explain how I single-handedly prevented
the outbreak of World War III. Or I was
going to explain my foolproof plan for colo-
nizing Mars.
However, a friend who is familiar
with my fondness for words, and the puns
that can spring from them, has provided
the following Humor For Lexophiles (Lov-
ers of Words). WWIII and Mars will have
to wait.
So with apologies here goes:
*I wondered why the baseball was
getting bigger. Then it hit me.
*Police were called to a day-care cen-
ter where a 3-year-old was resisting a rest.
*Did you hear about the guy whose whole left
side was cut off?. He's all right now.
*The roundest knight at King Arthur's round ta-
ble was Sir Cumference.
*A butcher backed up into a meat grinder and
got a little behind in his work.
Bob
Rodriguez
... or dumb
*To write with a broken pencil is
pointless.
*When fish are in schools they some-
times take debate.
*The short fortuneteller who escaped
from prison was a small medium at large.
*A thief who stole a calendar got 12
months.
*A burglar fell and broke his leg in wet
concrete. He became a hardened criminal.
*Those who steal corn from a garden
could be charged with stalking.
*We'll never run out of math teachers
because they always multiply.
*When the smog lifts in Los Angeles,
UCLA.
*The math professor went crazy with the black-
board. He did a number on it.
*The professor discovered that her theory of
earthquakes was on shaky ground.
*The dead batteries were given away free of
charge.
Warmer temperatures than normal
This year we are currently about
two weeks earlier than normal as far
as temperatures are concerned. The low
predicted for the next 10 days is 39 ° on
Saturday. You should have planted your
semi-hardy plants that consist of beets,
carrots, parsley, parsnips, potatoes and
swiss chard. This year the end of April
or first of May would be a good time to
plant tender crops like bush and pole
beans, celery, sweet corn and lima beans.
Then close to the middle of May would
be a good time to plant cucumbers, can-
taloupe, peppers, pumpkin, summer or
winter squash, tomatoes and watermel-
on. Remember, if you are using walls of
water or other temporary covers you can
plant sooner and remember this guide is
for the lower elevations. Higher eleva-
tions like Hyattville and Ten Sleep will
need to wait a week or two later.
Many have asked me about planting field corn.
Iowa started planting field corn about April 10 and
we are about 19 to 20 days later on average for our
frost free days. Iowa did have corn that got nipped. I
am recommending to start planting field corn around
the first of May. How much in each direction of that
date you plant will depend on how much you have to
plant, because earlier is generally better as long as
it doesn't freeze. It is hard to predict the weather.
That is why we go on averages, but as we know, this
year is not average.
Dallen R.
Smith
BHC Extension
Agent
This has been a relatively dry and
hot spring, so I am recommending that
you deep water your trees. Run the water
at a very low volume for 12 hours on the
very large trees. You should do this ev-
ery two weeks. Newly planted trees need
to be watered every other day until they
get a good root system established. Wa-
tering trees correctly help them to resist
disease and insects. Even some healthy
trees need to be sprayed for insects and
disease from time to time. You need to
know what the problem is before you
select the product to use on your trees.
Keeping the lawn out of the drip line of
the trees will allow them to grow three
times as fast. Grass below the drip line
robs the trees of water and nutrients that
the trees need.
The extension department is doing
a chicken killing demonstration at the Larry Wer-
ner residence, 945 Hwy 20 South, just a mile south
of Basin, on May 26 at 9 a.m. We will teach the
low stress ethical harvesting of chickens using cones
and demonstrate the whiz bang plucker that can be
rented from the extension office. Then we will dem-
onstrate how to clean them and put them in shrink
wrap bags and they closely resemble chicken that
you purchase in the store. After harvesting chick-
ens the old-fashion way, I am amazed at how easy
it is with the right equipment and how good the end
product is.
Letters to the editor
A public meeting of the few
Dear Editor,
I attended the public meeting
at the community center, and oth-
er than the 12-14 people hosting
the meeting, the turnout was very
small. It was the usual 20-25 regu-
lars who go to this type of meeting
and is only about 1 percent of the
population.
To me, this shows how con-
cerned people are about their town.
They would rather just go with the
flow and complain about it later. I
believe you should complain about
it first, even if no one listens to your
opinions.
Although no names were men-
tioned in the Lovell Chronicle's
article about the meeting, I was
pleased to see a couple of my com-
ments made it in to print, so maybe
someone is listening.
About the center median, I
would remove it except for the west
end curves and go to single lanes,
east and west, with a center turn
lane. I would put the traffic light
at Nevada to blinking caution on
Main Street so the through traffic
would flow smoothly through town.
I don't know how many times
I got behind a car that did not use
a turn signal, wanting to turn lel
at the light with a semi in the right
lane and several cars behind me.
Aggravating to say the least.
I heard the traffic light was
placed at Nevada because of the
fire department. However, I have
seen the fire truck just slow down
and proceed through the red light.
A remote on the fire truck that
would turn the blinking caution
on Main Street to full stop red
would allow the fire truck to pro-
ceed in any direction.
The lovely flowers from the
center median could be put on ev-
ery corner down Main Street.
On the 6-cent tax I voiced my
opinion against the tax. Although
it is for a good cause I am just
against raising any tax. If you go
to Billings on a Saturday after-
noon to the parking lots of Cost-
co, Walmart, Lowes, Home Depot,
you can count 150-200 Wyoming
cars. Many with County 9 plates
and also County 11 and 20.
.I think the state should join
the lottery program like most of
the other states in order to raise
extra money. Many people think
betting is a vice and a sin, but it is
a vice of personal choice the same
as smoking and drinking is a per-
sonal choice. But both bring ex-
tra tax money to the state. I have
seen a member of the clergy with
Wyoming license plates buying
lottery tickets in Bridger, Mont.
Our local representative vot-
ed against the lottery as it was
against her beliefs and principles,
but I think the vote for the lottery
should be put on the state ballot
for voters to decide.
Enough of my opining. Let's
see some letters from other resi-
dents about these subjects that
were preoccupied with personal
matters and unable to attend the
meeting.
Jim Szlemko
Report the
foul odor
Dear Editor,
If anyone is having problems
with the foul odor permeating
throughout our little town, call
Greg Meeker at 1-307-335-6968.
He is the person in charge of air
quality control for the State.
The more calls he gets, the
more acute the problem is (as per
Mr. Meeker).
Tim Harris
Letters to the editor
The Lovell Chronicle welcomes letters from its readers and will
make every effort to print them. Letters longer than 400 words may
not be printed. Letters must be signed and include the address and
telephone number of the writer, Unsigned letters will be discarded.
Writers are limited to two letters in any 30 day period.
All letters must conform to the law of libel and be in good taste.
They may be mailed to The Lovell Chronicle, Box 787, Lovell, WY
82431, oi delivered to our office at 234 E. Main St., Lovell. A strict
1:00 p.m. Tuesday deadline will be enforced.
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