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LOVELL
LOVELL, WYOMING • VOLUME 110, NUMBER 01 • THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2015 • 75C
Taylor accepts job in Montana
BY DAVID PECK
Lovell Inc. CEO Sue Taylor
announced this week that she
has accepted a new position as
Economic Development Direc-
tor for Beartooth Resource Con-
servation and Development - a
five-county economic develop-
ment district in Montana with
headquarters in Joliet.
Over the last two years,
Lovell Inc. has attempted to ex-
pand its service area to include
all of Big Horn County, form-
ing the countywide organiza-
tion Grow Big Horn County.
Funding for the organization,
which has been primarily borne
over the years by the Town of
Lovell, was to be spread among
the nine county municipalities,
along with the Big Horn County
government.
When it was learned that
most of the municipalities and
the county commissioners had
opted to not include the invest-
ment in Grow Big Horn Coun-
ty in their 2015-16 fiscal year
budgets, the Lovell Inc. board of
directors and Taylor had some
tough decisions to make, Tay-
lor said, noting that the Town of
Lovell's requested investment
of $20,226 was included in the
budget being prepared by the
Lovell Town Council.
That amount would have al-
lowed Taylor to work only two
days a week, so she began to ex-
plore options. Her new job will
begin in July, and the Lovell
SUE TAYLOR
Inc. board and the Town of
Lovell will work on a transition
plan and decide if and how to
continue economic development
in the future.
Taylor was hired in April of
2008.
"I've really enjoyed my time
here and can see the difference
a consistent economic develop-
ment effort has made," Taylor
said. "I hope the positive for-
ward movement will continue
into the future. I wish the com-
munity well."
Current Lovell Inc. board
of directors members include
Elaine Harvey, Joseph Shum-
way, Sarah Johnson, Tom New-
man, Valerie Beal and David
Peck.
Follies to honor 'Hometown Glory'
BY DAVID PECK
Entertainment with a home-
town touch promises to delight
the audience next Wednesday
and Thursday when the annu-
al Mustang Follies variety show
is staged at the Hyart Theatre in
Lovell.
"Hometown Glory" is the
theme of the Follies, inspired
by a painting of the same name
by Lovell native Krystal Welch
Brown depicting Lovell Main
Street looking west toward the
sugar factory.
"We love the words, but we're
using the picture also, a digi-
tal image on the screen as peo-
ple walk in and at times during
the show," co-chairman Cristy
Jameson said. "Krystal will be
here with prints for sale, too."
The evening begins each day
at 7:15 p.m. with the Dollies of
the Follies and the Mustang
Band, directed by Michael Mon-
tanez, performing on the street in
front of the Hyart. Dollies, cho-
reographed by Nicole Hender-
shot, are Sara Green, Sara Fink,
Kari Angell, Shannon Warman,
Stephanie Wagner and Danielle
Peck.
SEE 'HOMETOWN GLORY' page 6
COURTESY PHOTO
Members of the North Big Horn Hospital's board of trustees joined CEO Rick Schroeder at a
ground-breaking ceremony on Tuesday afternoon. Celebrating the start of a much anticipated
construction project are (l-r) Chad Lindsay, Don Minchow, Bruce Wacker, Schroeder, Bill Camp,
Mary Mathews and Linda NeVille.
North Big Horn Hospital breaks
ground for construction project
BY PATTI CARPENTER
North Big Horn Hospital fi-
nally got the green light to break
ground on a project contractors
hoped to start more than two
months ago. According to Mitch
Goplen, Vice President of Facil-
ity Services for Billings Clinic,
and Ric Heldt, of A&E Architects,
staff changes and other ineffi-
ciencies at the state level caused
the approval to be delayed. Oth-
er hospital projects throughout
the state experienced similar de-
lays in approvals required to start
projects.
Goplen and Heldt updated the
hospital's board of trustees on the
project at their regularly sched-
uled board meeting on Tuesday
night. Members had participat-
ed in a groundbreaking ceremony
earlier that same day.
Goplen assured the board,
that, in spite of losing a full two
and half months on the project
while waiting for state approval,
he was confident the exterior as-
pects of the project could still be
complete by the time winter sets
in. He said, once those aspects
are complete, crews will be able to
continue to work on the interior
projects even in winter conditions.
Goplen said hiring a third
party plan reviewer helped move
the project along. With "paper in
hand" explained Heldt, general
contractor Sletten Construction,
of Cody, is now able to proceed
with the foundation and framing
while other aspects are reviewed
by the state. He said the remain-
ing plans are in the reviewer's
hands and he is waiting to re-
ceive additional comments early
this week. Both Goplen and Heldt
felt confident that, with the help
of the third party plan review-
er, they can keep the project on
track.
Goplen explained that the
state is now requiring NBHH to
agree to changes to some existing
areas to comply with certain re-
quirements before the new work
can be approved. Those require-
ments include adding fire sprin-
klers in certain areas and moving
some doors and windows, chang-
ing how the walls are rated for
fire protection in certain areas
and changing how the care cen-
ter connects to the hospital. He
said he expects that some of the
changes will actually reduce the
budget somewhat, especially re-
moving windows on the south-
west wall in the lobby/registra-
tion area. Some board members
expressed concern about losing
natural light in the area, but both
Goplen and Heldt assured them
that the lighting system designed
for the system would be adequate
and aesthetically pleasing.
Heldt said he was planning to
meet with contractors on Wednes-
day to go over the required chang-
es and to get new bids. He said he
expects impact to the budget to be
fairly minor, because deletion of
windows in the lobby/registration
area will actually reduce the cost
of the project by about $30,000,
acting as a "counterweight" to the
cost of the other required changes.
The two reported that the
general contractor jumped right
on the project as soon as the dis-
trict received the word that it
could proceed with the founda-
tion. The contractor has already
fenced off the area where the new
foundation will be built and has
already rented a nearby empty lot
for its onsite portable office and
equipment.
In the interest of time, Goplen
asked the board to authorize the
core construction team to make
changes that amount to a cost of
$10,000 or les without board ap-
proval. The request was approved
unanimously.
COURTESY PHOTO
An Eraser, played by Ethan McDowell, left, searches for some rebels during the science fiction
film "RZ-9." The first feature length film to be shown at the Hyart Film Festival, "RZ-9" will be
screened tonight (Thursday) during the science fiction session of the festival, along with two
short films.
Hyart Film Festival this weekend in Lovell
nights," Zeller said.
Each session will run just
about two hours, he said. Sessions
begin at 7 p.m. Thursday, Friday
and Saturday, plus the animated
session Saturday at 3 p.m.
Here's a look at this year's
lineup:
Thursday, June 18, is Sci-Fi
Night, featuring two short films:
plus the full-length feature "RZ-
9" - the first feature length film
SEE 'FILM FESTIVAL' page 6
BY DAVID PECK
The sixth annual Hyart Film
Festival kicks off tonight (Thurs-
day) in Lovell with a bang and
continues through Saturday night
at the historic Hyart Theatre.
Festival director Jason Zeller
said the festival will feature a sci-
ence fiction night and the best of
the animated films from the fes-
tival, plus some past favorites, a
full-length feature film and the
sequel to last year's award-win-
ning "Absaroka" filmed in North-
west Wyoming.
Films have already been pre-
judged, but festival attendees will
still vote for the annual People's
Choice Award.
There is no horror category
this year, Zeller said, but a new
genre has been added: historical
film, some of which have already
received high marks from judges.
"We have a pretty good dis-
tribution of quality over the three
Actor Ethan McDowell, LHS grad,
returns to Lovell for film festival
BY DAVID PECK
A lifetime love of movies has
taken a former Lovell resident
and Lovell High School graduate
to the silver screen - and he'll be
in Lovell tonight (Thursday) to
talk about his experiences as the
sixth annual Hyart Film Festival
opens.
Ethan McDowell, a 1998
graduate of Lovell High School,
stars in the science fiction film
"RZ-9" - the first feature length
film to be shown at the festival.
The 90-minute movie will be
shown during tonight's science
fiction session along with short
films "Schnitzel" and "Phoenix."
McDowell also plays a lead-
ing role in the newly made sci-
ence fiction film "Space Command
Redemption," continuing to build
his acting resume. And it all be-
gan in Lovell, where McDowell
lived for around seven years af-
ter moving with his family, father
and mother Jon and Kim McDow-
ell and brother Tyler.
"I've always loved movies,"
McDowell said during an inter-
view last week from Los Angeles.
"Even in high school my buddies
and I made a film as a book report
for LB Kummerfeld's class based
on the short story 'The Lottery.'
"Looking back, it (the film)
was absolutely ridiculous. It was
horrible. But it was a lot of fun.?
He also recalls a walk-on bit
part in the Mustang Follies one
year.
ETHAN MCDOWELL
After two years at North-
west College, McDowell earned a
bachelor's degree in kinesiology
and exercise sports science at the
University of Wyoming, graduat-
ing in 2003.
During his senior year at UW
he took a beginning acting class
as an elective and said he did well
in the class.
"The teacher said if I want-
ed to do something serious with
it (acting), I should pursue it," he
said. "That was kind of neat to
hear."
McDowell moved to Califor-
nia and was working in the An-
telope Valley area near Lancast-
er and Palmdale north of Los
SEE "MCDOwELL RETURNS' page6
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