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Lovell, Wyoming 82431
Price 75¢
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Volume 105, Number 49
DAVID PECK
Lovell Elementary School students had a grand time during the University of
Wyoming Sports Festival last Wednesday, May 11, as they interacted with UW
coaches and student athletes in an afternoon of activities. Here, UW women's
basketball player Kristen Scheffler of Lovell signs Kelsie Mollett's T-shirt as
little Sophie Fink (5), looks on during the autograph session.
Lovell, Rocky celebrate
commencement next week
BY DAVID PECK
Lovell High School will
graduate 38 students Mon-
day night and Rocky Moun-
tain High will follow with
34 graduates Tuesday as
both local high schools cel-
ebrate the end of the school
year with commencement
exercises.
Lovell will celebrate its
92nd Commencement Mon-
day, starting at 7 p.m. at
the LHS Johnny Winterhol-
ler Gymnasium. The Class
of 2011 motto is "Do not go
where the path may lead;
go instead where there is
no path and leave a trail,"
quoting Ralph Waldo Em-
erson.
The class colors are
blue, black and silver, and
the class flower is the white
rose with a blue tip. "Won-
derwall" by Oasis is the
class song.
There is no commence-
ment speaker at LHS this
year, but Jennifer Long
will give the valedictory ad-
dress and Ethan Croft the
salutatory address. Stu-
dent Body President Jani-
ka Steenbakkers will also
speak.
Special music will in-
clude a bagpipe and trom-
bone duet by Peter Moncur
and Nicole May Emmett,
who will play "Amazing
Grace," and the vocal solo
"Never Alone" by Rachel
Carter. The LHS band will
play the processional and
recessional.
School board vice chair-
man Bruce Jolley will pres-
ent retirement honors, and
Supt. Dan Coe will pres-
ent the senior class. School
board members will pres-
ent diplomas.
Rocky Mountain will
celebrate its 28th Com-
mencement but the first at
the new building in Cow-
ley Tuesday at 7 p.m. in
the main gymnasium. The
Class of 2011 motto is "In
the end, it's not the years in
your life that count, it's the
life in your years," quoting
Abraham Lincoln.
The class colors are
brown and gold, and the
class flower is the chrysan-
themum. The class song is
"Don't Stop Believing" by
Journey.
Cowley Mayor Joel Pe-
terson is the commence-
ment speaker and will be
introduced by Senior Class
President Leslie Black-
burn.
Kyle Peterson will de-
liver the salutatory ad-
dress and Sheralee Lynn
See 'GRADS' page 6
Getting acquainted
with Big Horn Lake
BY BRAD DEVEREAUX
Department of the In-
terior Deputy Assistant
Secretary for Water and
Science John Tubbs met
with local stakeholders at
the Bighorn Canyon Visi-
tors Center Tuesday before
taldng a boat ride on Big
Horn Lake to view the re-
sources up close.
Appointed in 2009,
Tubbs said the purpose of
the visit was just to take
a look 'at resotr.ces in the
spring, when the issues of
water management are vis-
ible. With the lake at an el-
evation of 3,607 feet during
Tubbs' planned boat ride,
he got a view of Horseshoe
Bend while it was too low
to launch a boat and most-
ly mud except for a wind-
ing channel of water.
While local stakehold-
ers were curious about the
reason for the visit, Tubbs
said he was not invited to
tour the area by congres-
sional representatives of
either state.
"The bureau has been
doing great work," Tubbs
said. "This is just an op-
portunity to come see the
issues at the forefront of
management."
During the Lovell meet
and greet, Tubbs heard
from State Rep. Elaine
Harvey and County Com-
missioner Keith Grant
about the recent history
of management from their
perspectives. Harvey drew
attention to several docu-
ments that she and other lo-
cal stakeholders unearthed
in recent years that man-
date specific outflows at
Yellowtail Dam and laws
that stress preference for
recreation opportunities at
Big Horn Lake rather than
Montana fisheries.
"The reason I'm going
through all of these docu-
ments is to let you know
what the law is. Because
we feel, on our end, busi-
ness hasn't been tended
to," Harvey said.
She talked about the
thousands of acres that
were converted into gov-
ernment land and the
farmers who were forced
to sell their land during
the construction of Yellow-
tail Dam and the creation
of the Bighorn Canyon Na-
tional Recreation Area.
She said the change
was meant to create a tour-
ism economy to replace the
farming economy that was
lost, but because of factors
like an incomplete trans-
park highway, the area has
not experienced the tour-
ism boom it was promised.
"Tourism is the num-
ber two industry in Wyo-
See 'LAKE' page 6
DAVID PECK
The Lovell High School boys and girls track and field squads swept the first-place trophies at the 2A West
Regional Track Meet Saturday in Lander. Here, members of the winning team circle the track with a
victory lap. Pictured at the front of the pack are (l-r) Nicole Emmett, Kyle Wilkerson, Kenneth Moncur,
Kale}) Leithead and Darren Ballard.
Bid approved for work on U.S. 14A
BY BRAD DEVEREAUX
A bid was awarded
Thursday, May 12, to a lo-
cal contractor to remove a
rocks from a landslide that
partially blocked Hwy. 14A
east of Lovell in mid-April.
Out of five bids sub-
mitted, WyDOT awarded
EHC, llc., of Deaver the
project. EHC was the low
bidder at $237,000 out of
five bids received, accord-
ing to WyDOT.
The approved bid was
4.9 percent above WyDOT's
estimate of $226,000.
The project involves
blasting, scaling, loading
and hauling rock three
miles to a stockpile along
Hwy. 14A. The rocksllde
occurred at mile marker
73.4 between Lovell and
Burgess Junction.
As of Monday, EHC
was working to get paper-
work signed and in order to
start work as soon as pos-
sible.
The completion date
for the project is June 3.
Why Byron? Citizens state case for Byron Post Office
BY BRAD DEVEREAUX
Marcela Juarez Rive-
ra handed a home-printed
business card to a patron at
Tuesday's meeting regard-
ing the future of the Byron
Post Office.
"Budget cuts," she said.
"We're doing everything we
can."
Rivera's card states she
is the Post. Office Review
Coordinator for the Colo-
rado/Wyoming District. Be-
fore taking questions and
comments from Byron resi-
dents, Rivera explained the
grim financial situation fac-
ing the U.S. Postal Service.
"With the wave of elec-
tronic media we've encoun-
tered in the last decade, our
our first class mail volume
has decreased," she said,
noting that the USPS expe-
rienced an $8.5 billion def-
icit for the 2010 fiscal year
and 2011 doesn't look much
better, with estimates of a
$6.5 billion deficit this FY.
"The postal service is hav-
BRAD DEVEREAUX
Tom Langston Sr. was
among the crowd in
Byron Tuesday evening
to discuss the future
of the Byron Post
Office. Byron residents
questioned the cost
savings of closing the
office in Byron.
ing to respond and make
some dramatic changes."
She said the USPS has
eliminated positions at ev-
ery level, adjusted carri-
er rates, frozen executive
spending accounts and cut
expenses in all areas to try
to correct the problem. Look-
ing at post offices across the
country for possible closure
or reorganization is anoth-
er cost-saving measure the
USPS is taking.
Rivera said the USPS
is going through the review
process in Byron and in a
few other Wyoming commu-
nities. Post offices under re-
view were selected based on
one or more of the following:
declining volume, vacancy
of a career postmaster, sub-
standard building condition
or declining revenue.
After the Byron office
was selected for the review
process, Rivera said Byron
residents were sent a ques-
tionnaire to fill out and re-
turn to give feedback. She
said there were a large num-
ber of written comments re-
ceived and more people at-
tended the Byron meeting
Tuesday (nearly 200) than
the other eight or so meet-
ings held recently.
Rivera said the majori-
ty of cost savings that could
come from shutting down
the Byron Post Office would
be in savings to the cost of
the building and a decrease
in salary expenses. Cur-
rently, Byron's postmas-
ter also works as a clerk in
Cody. Contracting with a
Byron business to provide
postal services would allow
the current postmaster to
be used elsewhere within
the Organization.
After the meeting,
USPS officials will compile
the public comments and
submit a report to USPS
national headquarters in
Washington, D.C. A pro-
posal drafted in Washing-
ton will then be posted at
the Byron Post Office and
at town hall for 60 days,
which will give residents a
chance to make sure their
comments were properly in-
corporated and the proposal
is factually correct. After 60
days, the USPS will make a
final determination, which
will be posted for 30 days.
Residents have the op-
tion to appeal the decision
within the 30 days and if a
decision is approved after
the 30-day waiting period,
residents have a chance to
appeal the decision to the
Postal Regulatory Commis-
sion, which would extend
the process by 120 days.
Gary Sims, Manager of
Post Office Operations for
Area 5 Wyoming, told the
crowd that if the proposal
goes to USPS headquarters
without showing a substan-
tial savings, the Byron of-
fice would not be closed.
The USPS could decide
to re-organize the post of-
rice, possibly contracting
with an existing business
to provide most postal ser-
vices. Delivery could be re-
structured to either a con-
The Lovell Chronicle, 234 E. Main, Lovell, WY 82431. Contact us at: 548-2217, www.lovellchronicle.com
I I / II I II I I I II lilllll II I i III
tracted rural route, cluster
boxes or be left at a location
for pickup.
Tom Langston Sr. said
many people in Byron like
to "do it the old-fashioned
way" and send letters and
packages via USPS, but he
thought limiting services in
town could push more res-
idents to use a competing
carrier or e-mail for com-
munications.
"I'm wondering how
many people will be pushed
away by the postal service,"
he said.
He went on to say that
the post office plays a vital
role in the town of Byron, as
a meeting spot and a place
to exchange information.
"It's not just a post of-
rice, it's an important part
of our community," he said.
Karma Sanders ques-
tioned the cost savings of
closing or reorganizing the
post office, and pointed out
See 'USPS' page 6
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