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What's Inside ...
Maxfield challenges
term limits
Lovell man gets
prison time
Harriers look to
Regionals
The missing Byron bell __
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LOVELL, WYOMING • VOLUME 106, NUMBER 17 • THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2011 • 75¢
PATTI
An automated piece of farm equipment pulls beets and loads them into a truck
that drives directly to the factory to deliver the load the same day.
BY PATTI CARPENTER
The sugar beet harvest is in full swing.
Local farmers are working sun up to sun
down pulling beets and delivering them to
the Western Sugar Cooperative factory site
in Lovell.
Farmer Chris Crosby and his broth-
er Brett began to harvest their 450 acres
of beets on Friday, Sept. 30, just outside
of Lovell. The Crosby family will work 90-
hour weeks for the next several weeks to
get their beets to the factory in a timely
manner. The farm has been in their family
for several generations.
i: Tl~:fact~y ~ccepts the beets from the
Cmsby operation and other local farmers
on a schedule that is dictated by weather
conditions. An agricultural biologist care-
fully monitors the schedule throughout the
processing season to be sure piles of beets
never sit in the hot weather for very long.
The factory, a cooperative owned by lo-
cal farmers, operates 24/7 to process the
beets into sugar. The finished product,
which is pure granulated sugar, is picked
up daily by truck and train and delivered to
commercial customers all over the country.
According to a spokesperson at West-
ern Sugar Cooperative, one acre of beets
will produce approximately 25.7 tons of
sugar beets. A ton of beets yields about 285
pounds of sugar or 2.8 tons of sugar. That is
1,150 five-pound bags of sugar that would
make a line of bags 810 feet long if you laid
the bags end to end.
The sugar beet crop is a primary source
of income for many farmers in the area.
The factory employs up to 125 local work-
ers during the processing season, or "cam-
paign," as it is more commonly known.
Clinics prepare residents for flu season
BY PA'B'I CARPENTER
When it comes time to fighting the flu,
the best defense is plenty of hand washing
and, for some, getting a flu shot.
"Every year they come up with a new
guess as to what antigens are going to
show up in the virus," explained Dr. David
Hoffman of North Big Horn Hospital Clin-
ic. "Essentially, what they are saying (for
this year's vaccine) is that it is the same
vaccine as last year with the indication
that it is still good to have a flu shot every
year because your immunization falls off.
So, it is still recommended that you have
the vaccine even if you were vaccinated
last year."
The immunizations are delivered in
two ways, either as a shot or inhaled. The
inhaled version is not egg based like the
shot version but contains a live virus. The
inhaled version is recommended only for
healthy individuals within a certain age
range. Hoffman suggests that individuals
consult their health care provider about
which version of the immunization would
be best for them, especially if they are al-
lergic to eggs.
"Most vaccines are inactivated," ex-
ploined Hoffman. "They can't cause dis-
ease. The biggest problem we have with
vaccines is that people have allergic reac-
tions to egg-based vaccination where eggs
are used to cultivate the virus."
Generally, the flu accompanies a
change in the seasons. According to Hoff-
man, health providers in North Big Horn
County see the flu sometimes in late fall,
again in winter, and then sometimes again
in the spring.
'~You want to time it (getting the vac-
cine) so you get it before influenza hits the
community," said Hoffman. "So you have
your immunity built up before it actually
strikes."
No shortages of the vaccine are antici-
pated like last year. The vaccine is avail-
able through special clinics or by appoint-
ment.
According to Hoffman, it is recom-
mended that "everybody of all ages from
six months and up get a flu shot." He also
recommends frequent hand-washing and
that people who have the virus to wear
masks in public to curtail its spread. He
also recommends that people with the flu
avoid others who may be vulnerable like
infants, the elderly or those who have com-
promised immune systems.
See 'INFLUENZA VACCINE' page 6
BY PATTI CARPENTER
One of the best crime
fighting tools out there is
a good information system.
According to Lovell's Chief
of Police Nick Lewis, the
Lovell Police Department
more than doubled the kind
of information available to
dispatchers and officers in
the field with their brand
new state-of-the-art system
that went into effect this
week.
The new system is
called RIMS and is used
by over 150 police depart-
ments all over the country.
The advanced data base
features of the system put
critical information at the
fingertips of each and every
officer in the field. Officers
will now walk into situa-
tions knowing the complete
history of calls to the loca-
tion, all prior contact and
arrest information about
everyone at the location and
even details about weapons
and vicious dogs that may
be present at the site.
"Information is avail-
able to officers for every
parameter entered in the
system," explained Betsy
McNutt, professional train-
er for Sun Ridge Systems,
the maker of the system.
The system is so sophis-
ticated that if a red car is
mentioned in a report, the
officer will be able to get a
list of all red cars registered
in the area. The same goes
for partial license plates
See 'LPD,' page 6
BY DAVID PECK
Any citizen interest-
ed in the continuation of
the Lovell Senior Housing
Project at the site of the old
hospital on East 10th St.
in Lovell is invited and en-
couraged to attend a meet-
ing next Tuesday morning,
Oct. 11, at the Big Horn
Federal community meet-
ing room.
The meeting is sched-
uled from 8 to 9:30 a.m.,
and all area contractors,
potential buyers and po-
tential investors are invit-
ed, Lovell Inc. Director Sue
Taylor said. A light break-
fast will be served.
Taylor said the meeting
is being held to once again
gauge interest in the senior
housing project. The Lovell
Town Council recently ap-
proved a subdivision plat
for the land, which has been
recorded with the county.
"It's been a while since
this project has been in
the forefront of builders'
minds," Taylor said, "and
now that the council is
getting close to deciding
whether to proceed or not,
we need to find out if build-
ers are still interested.
"We also want to get
a better idea of what they
feel is a reasonable sell-
ing price for a custom-
built house. Our original
target price was $95,000
to $120,000, and we want
to see if we're still in that
ballpark."
Potential buyers of the
senior homes are invited to
the meeting, to show build-
ers that there is interest in
the project, and potential
investors are invited: "any~
one interested in partici-
pating in a possible private
land trust that will hold
property for the long term
to allow affordable housing
to be built," Taylor said,
adding, "Also, an investor
could work with a builder
to construct a home to rent
to seniors."
It's an opportunity for
networking and to renew
contacts with people who
have been interested in the
project from the beginning,
Taylor said.
If interest is shown on
Tuesday, the town coun-
cil may be more willing to
proceed with demolition
and site development, Tay-
lor said. If the council de-
cides to proceed, the next
step would be accepting a
$491,000 grant awarded
to the town from the Wyo-
ming Business Council. De-
molition of the old hospital
could proceed as soon as
the bidding process is fin-
ished and weather permits,
she said.
Though the plat has
been approved and filed,
the town has not taken
ownership of the property,
Taylor noted.
"This meeting is a criti-
cal step to help them deter-
mine if taking possession
and proceeding is in the
town's best interest," she
said. "The end use (of the
land) must be tied to the
housing project."
Those unable to attend
the meeting or who have
any questions prior to the
meeting may contact Tay-
lor at 548-6707.
DAVID PECK
Students and teachers alike dressed up for Character Day at Rocky Mountain
High School Tuesday during homecoming week. Pictured are (l-r) Dorothy
(Karli Leonhardt), Lady Gaga (Cait Sorenson), Katy Perry (Ciera Coleman)
and Captain Jack Sparrow (Shilo Christman).
Grizzlies 'Rock the Wranglers' this week
BY DAVID PECK
Rocky Mountain High School is con-
tinuing with its annual homecoming cel-
ebration this week to the theme of Rock
the Wranglers, leading up to Friday after-
noon's game against the Shoshoni Wran-
glers in Cowley.
Student council sponsor Lea Sorenson
students decorated the school earlier this
week, with awards for the best sidewalk,
bulletin board and banner to be presented
later in the week.
Dress-up days are continuing with
Thursday being Geek/Nerd/Gangster Day.
Friday is Brown and Gold Day.
The annual Homecoming Olympics
was held in the auxiliary gym Wednes-
day after lunch, and on Thursday, boys
will gather wood for the bonfire while girls
paint the football field.
The annual Navajo Taco Dinner will be
held from 5-7 p.m. Thursday at the Great
Hall, followed by the pep rally and bonfire
on the football field. Homecoming royalty
will be crowned.
The Homecoming Parade will be held
Friday at 10 a.m. and will include floats,
the school drum line and banners. The pa-
rade will wind its way to the elementary
school, where students will conduct a pep
rally for elementary students. The pa-
rade will be preceded by a talent show and
awards assembly announcing decorating
winners and the winner of the spirit tro-
phy at 9 a.m.
The Rocky Mountain Grizzlies will host
PATT~ CARPENTER
Haley Strom and Jessica Allred dress
in colorful outfits from the 60s.
the Shoshoni Wranglers at 3 p.m. Friday,
a change from the earlier schedule due to
shorter fall days. "Senior Night" parent/
player announcements will be held before
the game for the football, volleyball, cross
country and cheerleading programs.
An evening volleyball match against
Bridger has been cancelled, but there will
be a dance from 9 p.m. to midnight Friday
at the Great Hall.
. IIpI!I!JIII!I
