Au ust 6, 2015 The Lovell Chronicle I3
Artist Denney NeVille gives Cameron Carpenter
a few tips during a special workshop for aspiring
comic strip artists held at the Lovell Public
Library.
BY PATl'I CARPENTER
Well-known local art-
ist Denney NeVille of By-
ron treated an enthu-
siastic group of young
people to an art lesson at
the Lovell Public Library
this summer, finding two
young artists (Camer-
on Carpenter and Rhin-
ney Leonhardt) who rose
above the rest in the pro-
cess. The workshop, which
was very well attended,
focused on cartoon strip
drawing.
“I wanted to leave it
wide open to the imagi-
nation,” said NeVille. “I
told them to come up with
whatever came to mind,
like veggies talking to
each other or whatever.
I advised them to keep it
short and sweet and to get
to the message quickly.”
Carpenter’s cartoon
strip featuring potato
plants appealed to NeV-
ille’s quirky sense of hu-
mor, though the ending
was a bit sad with the
PATTI CARPENTER PHOTOS
Rhinney Leonhardt of Lovell is pleased with a
comic strip he created during a special workshop
led by local artist Denney NeVille at the Lovell
Public Library earlier this summer.
Cartoon strips get a little extra ink
potatoes ending up in a
frying pan. Leonhardt’s
comic strip was all about
pizza, with a very simple
punch line that was “a bit
cheesy,” even for NeVille’s
taste.
NeVille said he was
very impressed with the
work of all of the young
cartoonists who attended.
He said he thought most
of them had great ideas
and he enjoyed their very
imaginative drawings. As
a special surprise, NeVille
continued from page one
lack of communication be-
tween town officials and the
department.
On Monday, yet anoth-
er fulltime dispatcher, JJ
Callahan, also submitted
his resignation, giving two
weeks notice. Callahan has
worked as a dispatcher for
the Lovell Police Depart—
ment since October of 2012.
His last day on the job will
be Aug. 14.
Callahan said, “There’s
just too much going on and
I don’t want to deal with it
anymore. I feel like nothing
is being done to alleviate the
problem.”
Fire Chief Jim Minchow
expressed understandable
concern since his depart-
ment makes a significant fi-
nancial contribution to cover
the cost of dispatch services
required by the fire depart—
ment. He said that he is
concerned that there are
currently not enough dis-
patchers left to cover the
tasks at hand, including pro-
viding dispatch for fire, po-
lice and ambulance services.
He said, though he has con-
sidered the option of con—
tracting for dispatch services
through the sheriffs depart-
ment in Basin, he would pre-
fer to have it based in Lovell.
“It seems like we are
maxing the dispatchers out
as far as possible,” said Min-
chow. “The ones left (Jenni-
fer Massey, Angie Morley
Brown and two casual re-
lief operators) are bending
over backwards to get the
job done.”
He added that it made
him feel sad to see the com-
munity lose so many good of-
ficers and dispatchers at one
time.
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WYOMING
“All we can do is move
forward and stay positive,”
said Minchow. “I think the
mayor and the council need
to work together. It doesn’t
have to be this way.”
In an interview with the
Lovell Chronicle on Tues-
day, Mayor Angel Montanez
said interviews are already
scheduled for Friday to fill
the vacant positions left by
those exiting the dispatch
center. He noted that at
least one of the candidates
has previous experience and
he anticipates that the posi-
tions will be filled within a
short period of time.
Montanez said he was
somewhat surprised by the
resignation last week of Sgt.
Steve Allred, who had told
him during a chance en-
counter at the Brandin’ Iron
Restaurant the Saturday be-
fore his resignation that ev-
erything was going OK.
He denied that all of the
officers were putting in mas-
sive overtime hours, noting
that the Town Clerk Valerie
Beal told him it was mostly
Allred who took on the over-
time. He said he felt Allred
had control of the delegation
of overtime, since he was act-
ing in a supervisory capaci-
ty, and could have spread it
out among the other officers.
Montanez indicated that
Allred’s resignation may
have been somewhat prema-
ture, since he had already
appointed a hiring commit-
tee (Dan Anderson, Kris
Brimhall, Brandon Jolley,
Steve Coleman, Jason Beal,
Scott Allred and Minchow)
and the committee was al-
ready in the process of inter-
viewing several good candi-
dates for police officers. He
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noted that since Allred’s res-
ignation part—time officer
Matt Koritnik was promot-
ed to full-time, Luke Welch
was added as a full-time of-
ficer and David Blankenship
was hired as a part-time of-
ficer, essentially shoring up
the vacant positions on the
police force.
Koritnik began his ca-
reer with the Lovell Po-
lice Department but left
for a relatively short peri-
od of time to work with the
Lander Police Department.
Montanez said he checked
with Koritnik’s employer in
Lander and they were very
impressed with his work.
“It was kind of a
no—brainer,” said Montanez.
“He is very experienced, he
passed all the required tests,
had good references and he
was already working for us
part-time. So, when a full-
time position came up it
made sense to hire him.”
Though Welch is new to
law enforcement, Montanez
said the committee was very
impressed with him and he
thought Welch gave a very
intelligent interview, adding
that, though he sat in on the
interviews, he pretty much
went with the committee’s
recommendations.
Blankenship is new to
the area but has law enforce-
ment experience and is cer-
tified in another state with
more than 1,000 hours of
post-academy training. He
also has some criminal jus-
tice college credits and fami-
ly ties in the area.
Montanez said though
the search continues for a
chief, there are two candi-
dates that have expressed
interest and are under
NWCIS AN EOI
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inked the drawings made
by Carpenter and Leon-
hardt and said he planned
to present them to the
boys as a gift.
“I held very true to
their pencil drawings,”
said NeVille. “The ink just
brought out what was al-
ready there.”
NeVille said he real-
ly enjoyed working with
the kids and hopes he’s in-
.Vited by the library staff
to come back again next
summer.
consideration.
“We’re still looking, but I
don’t just want to take any-
one,” said Montanez. “I want
to make sure it’s the right
person and they are serious
about the position.”
In the meantime, he
said, Dan Anderson is acting
as lieutenant.
“I think the ones who
left (the police department)
were going to leave any-
way,” said Montanez. “I
think we have a good group
now. There was a lot of nega-
tivity with the old chief leav-
ing. These people have made
their choice to stay and I be-
lieve they are honestly here
for the community.”
Blackburn expressed a
certain amount of concern
regarding the turmoil in
Lovell, but said his depart-
ment stands ready to assist
in any way it can.
“Lovell has been without
a police chief for (several)
months and what I do know
is that it has created a tre-
mendous strain on officers,”
said Blackburn. “Leadership
is critical for the direction of
any department.
“People are prone to ra-
tionalize and make excuses
and to ignore the facts. The
facts are that this has been a
drain on everyone, including
the citizens of Lovell. I will
not speak ill of the public ad-
ministration in this matter;
they are trying to do the best
job they can.
“I am not going to get
into the politics of any situ-
ation. I was elected to help
the people of Big Horn Coun-
ty and Lovell is in Big Horn
County and we stand ready
to help them with any needs
they may have.”
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