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What's Inside ...
New LHS teachers
Gridders win big
School remodel nears end
Paving, sealing to begin
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LOVELL, WYOMING • VOLUME 109, NUMBER 18 - THURSDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2014.75¢
SUSAN PECK
Rocky Mountain Preschool student Mylee Morgan is excited to "play fireman" and deploy the fire hose
during a visit to the Deaver-Frannie Fire Dept. fire station in Deaver Thursday. Assisting is fireman
Shang Clendenen. Other students are (l-r) Leland Hetland, Cache Thompson, Kaedon Carlson and Emalie
Gonzales.
BY BOB RODRIGUEZ
.... Sixteen persons seek-
ing various elective posi-
tions in the Nov. 4 Gener-
al Election consumed two
hours outlining their plat-
forms and answering au-
dience questions during a
Meet the Candidates Fo-
rum on Thursday night,
Oct. 9, in the Byron Recre-
ation Center auditorium.
The event was co-spon-
sored by the Byron Rec De-
partment and the Lovell
Area Chamber of Com-
merce, .... Most candidates
took time to voice high
praise for the sponsors. Un-
like the July. 9 forum held
for the Aug. 19 Prima-
ry Election, the room was
chilly rather than warm.
There also was a change in
format disallowing candi-
date statements to be read
by someone other than the
person seeking office. On
Oct. 9 if a candidate was
not present, he or she had
no voice, finished. Following are dis-
Approximately 80 Citi' tillations of statements:
zens attended the gather-
ing, a decrease of around
100 from July 9. Once again
the master of ceremonies
was Byron resident Caleb
Sanders, who teaches so-
cial studies at Lovell High
School. Each election hope-
ful was allowed a maximum
of five minutes to speak fol-
lowed by audience ques-
tions when all candidates
for particular offices were
BYRON MAYOR
Heidi Brightly, chal-
lenger to incumbent Pam
Hopkinson, noted her "suc-
cessful record" of varied
employment through the
years from field hand to
owning her own safety con-
sulting firm. "As I was born
SEE 'CANDIDATE OUTLINE
PLATFORMS,' page 3
to improve
BY BOB RODRIGUEZ
Lovell area resident
Dee Cozzens, running on
the Libertarian Party tick-
et for Wyoming governor
in the Nov. 4 General Elec-
tion, calls himself a "resto-
ration Republican," which
he describes as a political
sentiment rooted in free-
dom, small government and
the ideas of Thomas Jeffer-
son and James Madison.
Cozzens, who has a
long career in hospital
administration and the
pharmaceutical and mar-
keting industries, is chal-
lenging Republican Gov.
Matt Mead, who is finish-
ing his first term. Cozzens
also will face Democrat
Pete Gosar and indepen-
dent candidate Don Wills.
The Lovell High. School
graduate is the executive
director of the Worland
Healthcare and Rehabilita-
tion Center.
He has a considerable
career of at least three de-
cades in hospital adminis-
tration, having worked at
Candidate Dee Cozzens
top positions for hospitals
in Lovell, Cody and Pow-
ell. In several cases he is
responsible for major con-
struction and innovative
programs, he indicated. Be-
ing able to work with peo-
ple of all levels and ages
and directly addressing
SEE 'COZZENS FOR
GOVERNOR,' page 6
Grad date change for LHS students
BY PATrl CARPENTER
The Big Horn County School District No. 2 board of
trustees voted to move the graduation date up by one
week for Lovell High School graduating seniors. The new
date, May 18, 2015, allows students to have their grad-
uation ceremony and grad night party separately from•
Rocky Mountain High School graduates.
"The decision was made to have our graduation on the
same night as Rocky during the summer months when
students were not in session," said Supt. Rick Woodford.
"It seemed like a good idea at the time, to combine events,
but the students felt differently about it."
Lovell High School Principal Scott O'Tremba con-
curred that students expressed their preference to hold
their ceremony on a different night.
The decision to move the date to May 18, from the
previously scheduled date of May 26, was unanimously
approved by the board.
BY DAVID PECK
On Wednesday, Oct. 8, a Wil-
son Brothers Construction crew
prepared to place the last pipe
in the ground on Main Street in
Lovell - the last of thousands in
recent years.
In this case, it was the final
new fire hydrant for Main Street,
the last connection to Lovell's wa-
ter and sewer system that has
been almost completely rebuilt
over the last 10 years.
There's still work to be done
including some concrete work,
cleanup and the punch list, but
for the most part, the fifth and
final phase of the Lovell water
and sewer infrastructure project
is complete, the last four done by
Wilson Brothers.
After the difficulties of the
North Project in 2006-07, the fi-
nal four phases of the project
have run smoothly with the ex-
perienced Wilson Brothers at the
helm, as the project added four
more chapters to the storied his-
tory of the Cowley company.
Wilson was hired to step in
and finish the North phase in
2007, then won bids for the next
four phases of the project: South-
east in 2008, Southwest/Trans-
mission Line in 2009-10, South in
2011-12 and Main Street in 2014,
the final phase as the water and
sewer subcontractor working with
WyDOT street repair general con-
tractor Reiman Construction.
During the eight years, ac-
cording to Wilson Brothers
co-owner Kim Wilson, there are
four workers who have worked on
all phases of the project: operator
Mike Alcarez, lead foreman Ja-
son Coble, foreman Michael Wil-
son and operator/trench foreman
Kevin Gordon. Kim Wilson has
been the superintendent of the
four phases, with Lane Denzin
as project coordinator, Deb Nor-
denstam in the company office
and Lovell Town Manager Bri-
an Dickson overseeing the project
for the Town of Lovell as water
commissioner.
Looking back at the project,
Kim Wilson noted that his neph-
ew Michael Wilson is part of the
fifth generation of the Wilson
Brothers history, and Michael's
son Jessee, who works during the
summer when not attending the
University of Wyoming, is the
sixth generation.
Wilson Brothers Construc-
tion was formed in 1999, spinning
off of CA Wilson Construction af-
ter Charles A. "Chick" Wilson
died. His sons Boyd, Wes, Kim
and John formed the new compa-
ny. And now Boyd's son Michael,
Wes's son Danny and Kim's sons
Nick and Jeff are carrying on the
family business.
The first generation was
George B. Wilson, who helped
build the Sidon Canal and the
railroad grade through Pryor Gap
around 1900. George's son Ray
Wilson was part owner of Wil-
son-Welch Construction, and son
Chick Wilson formed CA Wilson
Construction.
A GREAT EXPERIENCE
Kim Wilson said working in
Lovell on the four phases of the
water and sewer project has been
a wonderful experience.
"The people of Lovell are great
to work with," he said. "We've had
very little trouble from the peo-
ple, and we've terrorized them,
because we go by (a house or busi-
ness) twice. The sewer line is laid
first, then the water line. They
can't be in the same trench to-
gether, and the sewer has to be
set on grade.
"It's been a wonderful experi-
ence for Wilson Brothers working
with the people, and the town has
been great to work with."
Kim said the company's vari-
ety of experience has paid off over
the years. The company start-
ed with building logging roads in
South Dakota, he said, and key-
stone retaining walls along the
Snake River between Alpine and
Hoback Junction.
"We have so much experi-
ence," he said. "We've been doing
this for 35 years. That's the differ-
ence. We were raised on a scraper
SEE /VILSON BROTHERS LOOK
BACK,' page 3
DAVID PECK
Posing with the last fire hydrant for the Lovell water and sewer
infrastructure project (with connecting stem to the water
main) are (l-r) Lovell councilman and water commissioner
Brian Dickson, project supt. Kim Wilson, foreman Michael
Wilson and operator Mike Alcarez, all of whom have worked
on the final four phases of the massive project. In the cab of the
backhoe is Jason Brothers.
IlllllUlJlllfllll
IIlIl! 45
The Lovell Chronicle, 234 E. Main, Lovell, WY 82431. Contact us at: i48-2217, www.lovellchronicle.com
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