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FRIDAY
April 12, 2013 126th Year, No. 273 Serving Sheridan County, Wyoming Independent and locally owned since 1887 www.thesheridanpress.com 75 Cents
Press THE SHERIDAN
Local foods could provide economic boost
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Godwin signs to play football at Dickinson. B1
Wild & Scenic
Fair board approves purchase of equipment
BY PAOLO CISNEROS THE SHERIDAN PRESS
SHERIDAN — A nationally recognized food systems expert told an audience of about 25 people Thursday that while the effort to build a truly local food economy may take years of effort, the nutritional, economic and cultural benefits are likely well worth it for a community like Sheridan. Ken Meter, president of the nonprofit Crossroads Resource Center in Minneapolis, gave the presentation at the CTEL presentation hall at Sheridan College. Before launching into his speech, he told the crowd that despite some of the negative national statistics he was about to unveil, a burgeoning awareness of local foods has opened the door for areas like Sheridan County to become more economically self-sufficient while strengthening their communities. “I think this is really a very transformative moment in American society,” he said. Still, profits for food producers have failed to keep pace with inflation in recent decades, thanks largely to government policies and various other factors that Meter said have lessened Americans’ collective understanding of the importance of what they eat. “I would argue that despite all the bells and whistles our food policy has achieved today, we’re actually dumber about food today than we were 100 years ago,” he said. At the heart of Meter’s argument was the idea that investment in better food systems may well be the best path forward for improving the national economy. As the one sector of the national market that no one can opt out of, Meter said the willingness of communities to build stronger connections within a local food ecosystem can go a long way toward strengthening a given regional economy. “If you think differently about marketing, you can find a way to build wealth at the community level,” he said. Meter went on to discuss several examples of community farming across the country and how by building relationships between farmers, restaurants and other such entities, small towns and big cities alike are taking charge of both their health and their finances. SEE BOOST, PAGE 2
BY HANNAH WIEST THE SHERIDAN PRESS
COURTESY PHOTO |
"Eyes in the Forest: The Portraiture of Jim Lawrence" will be featured in the lineup of the Wild and Scenic Film Fest on Wednesday. The film captures rare scenes from British Columbia's remote Selkirk Mountains as seen by Lawrence, a wildlife photographer.
Join the film fest adventure BY CHRISTINA SCHMIDT THE SHERIDAN PRESS
SHERIDAN — The Powder River Basin Resource Council will host its second annual Wild and Scenic Film Festival: A Climate of Change on Wednesday at Centennial Theatre. “Some of them are eye candy but most of them have a story to tell,” said Bill Bensel, organizer for PRBRC. “Not just great scenery, but some issues that are facing people in the community or in the
SEEDA, DSA nab state grants FROM STAFF REPORTS
SHERIDAN — A pair of grant requests from two Sheridan economic development groups were approved by the State Loan and Investment Board earlier this week at a meeting in Cheyenne. The approvals mean Sheridan will benefit from the more than $8 million the group allocated to organizations across Wyoming. The Sheridan Economic and Educational Development Authority was awarded a $49,800 planning grant which will go toward updating a 2007 regional targeted industry study. Planners expect the study to be supplemented by about $25,000 in SEEDA funds and $16,000 in matching funds from the city. Set to be conducted in two separate phases, the first portion will focus on ana-
lyzing the existing workforce and educational opportunities currently available in Sheridan. From there, organizers will conduct an in-depth economic analysis of the area in order to determine how area industries and institutions might best adapt to changing times. The group hopes to finish the economic analysis portion of the study sometime this summer. Additionally, SLIB awarded the nonprofit Downtown Sheridan Association a $25,000 grant to fund a feasibility study aimed at revitalizing Sheridan’s downtown district. The effort is in keeping with the DSA's 2010 economic development strategy and its goal of spurring economic activity in the area. SEE GRANTS, PAGE 3
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globe generally and people stepping up to take them on. It is not just a recreation thing, it has more depth than that.” The local festival is a smaller, traveling version of the national film fest that kicked off in January in Nevada City, Calif. Though the main festival features close to 90 films, the Sheridan film fest will highlight a smaller group of the films along four environmental themes.
SHERIDAN — It’s all about the dirt — at the fairgrounds, at least. The Sheridan County Fair Association voted at its regular meeting Thursday to purchase a new arena disc to work, condition and level the dirt in the track and arena areas to provide the best possible footing for all users and events at the fairgrounds. The old disc appears homemade and was bought used, according to a report by Jamie Ringley, fairgrounds director. The axle is bent, bearings are worn out and teeth are broken or missing, which compromises the quality of the dirt. A new disc is estimated to cost approximately $1,400. “The dirt is what makes this place. On a dude ranch, it would be the horses. Here it is the dirt that is of the most concern. We want to have the right piece of equipment in place,” Ringley said. The board also voted to sell the DragMaster Arena Drag it purchased last July for $20,000. Although the DragMaster was bought with the intention of being an all-in-one piece of equipment that could do the work of the disc, the cultipacker and the arenavator, five hours of use have shown it is not heavy-duty enough for the deep, almost daily conditioning required by two outdoor arenas and an outdoor track, Ringley said. Fairgrounds staff have already replaced the teeth and sprinkler heads on the machine. “It was with the best of intentions that it was bought to be an all-in-one piece of equipment,” Ringley said. “It’s not just an arena here. It’s two arenas and a track that is fairly massive. It’s just one of those things.” Proceeds from the sale of the DragMaster will be used to purchase a new disc and for other projects around the fairgrounds as approved. “This body is not real interested in buying new equipment every year,” board chair Steve Eliason said, encouraging Ringley and his staff not to cut corners on equipment purchase. At the recent snowmobile expo event at the fairgrounds, it was discovered that the speaker system for the grandstands had blown off the roof of the
SEE FILM, PAGE 2
SEE FAIR, PAGE 3
Wyo. Game and Fish Department: Area game crime on the rise FROM STAFF REPORTS
SHERIDAN — Wildlife crime in the Sheridan region increased in 2012 but violations were less serious than years past, according to a press release from the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. Violations were up by nearly 6 percent from 708 in 2011 to 750 in 2012. The Sheridan region includes Sheridan, Johnson, Campbell and a portion of Crook counties. Cases of wanton destruction — sometimes called thrill killing — nearly doubled, rising from 15 documented cases in 2011 to 26 in 2012. In wanton destruction, meat, hide and antlers are left to rot in the field and the shooter recovers nothing. The Sheridan Press 144 Grinnell Ave. Sheridan, WY 82801 307.672.2431 www.thesheridanpress.com
“The people that commit this type of crime are not hunters,” said Bruce Scigliano, game warden and regional law enforcement coordinator. “They are killers. They appear to get a thrill by shooting an animal and watching it die.” Scigliano added that research shows that wardens may find as little as 10 percent of the animals killed in this manner. Most cases of wanton destruction, animal waste and over-limit are detected when members of the public report them. “The public plays a huge role in our law enforcement effort. It shows that they care and take wildlife crime seriously,” Regional Wildlife Supervisor Joe Gilbert said.
Today’s edition is published for: Darlene McNair of Sheridan
SEE CRIME, PAGE 2 OPINION PEOPLE LEGALS ALMANAC
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