BUFFALO BULLETIN

$1.00 Issue 4 January 26, 2017 The Voice of Johnson County Since 1884 www.buffalobulletin.com Buffalo, Wyo. 82834

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Buffalo Bulletin

HB019 Sales from remote sellers

An act that would allow Wyoming to collect
sales taxes from remote sellers who sell at least
$100,000 in goods to Wyoming residents or com-
plete 200 transactions with Wyoming purchasers.
Sponsor: Joint Interim Revenue Committee
Status: Received for introduction to the
Senate.

HB082 Local optional sales and use taxes Bulletin photo by Thom Gabrukiewicz

An act that would allow local voters to approve President Donald Trump, also known as Johnson County Commissioner Bill Novotny, made an appearance Friday and Sat-
urday nights during the Susie Bowling Lawrence Hospice variety show that raised funds for the local hospice program. For
incremental changes in optional sales and use tax. more photos from the event, see page A11.
Sponsor: Joint Interim Revenue Committee
Status: Recommended unanimously to House
by Committee

HB0108 School finance K-12 class size

An act relating to education; modifying educa-
tion resource block grant model class size compo-
nents; amending core teacher class size from 16
for elementary school and 21 for middle and high
schools to 24; amending foundation account eligi-
bility requirements for class size.
Sponsor: Rep. Mike Madden, R-Buffalo
Status: Received for introduction in the House.
HB0138 School finance class sizes 5
An act relating to education; modifying educa-
tion resource block grant model class size compo-
nents; amending the core teacher class size to 18
for elementary schools and to 22 in school year
2017-18, 23 in school year 2018-19 and 24 in
school year 2019- 20 for middle and high schools;
JCSD graduation rates up in 2016
State graduation rates
increase slightly
BY STEPHEN DOW
stephen@buffalobulletin.com
According to recent numbers released by
the Wyoming Department of Education, 83
percent of Johnson County School Districts
senior class graduated in 2016 a 3 per-
cent increase from 2015. According to Chad
Bourgeois, principal of Buffalo High School,
this is a number worth celebrating.
This is good news, and everybody in the
community played an important role in help-
ing us get here, Bourgeois said. The school
board should feel good about this, parents
should feel good about this, and teachers and
students should certainly feel good about this.
This is something we should all be proud of,
but at the same time, we shouldnt rest on our
laurels. We want to see this number continue to
grow from year to year.
The school district also saw a jump in the
number of female graduates this year from
approximately 83 percent in 2015 to 89 percent
in 2016. The number of male students stayed
roughly the same at 78 percent. In total, 85
students graduated from the district last year.
Seventy-five students graduated from the high
school in 2015.
Superintendent Gerry Chase said he was
pleased with the districts numbers this year
and attributed that success to a caring commu-
nity of teachers and administrators who wanted
to see students succeed.
GRADUATION
continued on page A12

Familys barn a total loss

amending foundation account eligibility require-
ments for class size. Funding cut proposed for
Sponsors: Reps. Northrup, R-Laramie; Brown,
R-Albany County; Burkhart, R-Carbon County, prevention management
and Madden and Sen. Driskill, R-Devils Tower. Boden family loses bums. She had a hard time with that. Its
the hardest tragedy theyve had to deal PMO could be facing a complete
Status: Received for introduction in the House. 4-H animals in fire with. Its just mostly the animals things evisceration, CEO says
BY JEN SIEVE-HICKS can be replaced. That was tough.
SF0003 Public lands constitutional amendment jen@buffalobulletin.com Boden said she moved the three bum BY STEPHEN DOW
A joint resolution proposing to amend the piglets out to the barn around noon on stephen@buffalobulletin.com
Wyoming Constitution to provide for the manage- Its only January, but already Tera and Tuesday and plugged in the heating mat,
ment of and public access to lands granted by the Lane Boden were looking forward to fair As the Wyoming Legislature works to find a solu-
then she left for Sheridan for an appoint-
federal government to the state after Jan. 1, 2019. time and 4-H. Earlier in the month, the tion to Wyomings $78 million budget deficit, one
ment.
Sponsor: Select Federal Natural Resource familys sows had farrowed and there were A little before 2 p.m., neighbor Barry thing is for sure, according to Sen. Dave Kinskey,
Management Committee seven wiggly piglets in the barn. Bauer drove past the farm, which is about R-Sheridan: There will be cuts and no state agency
Status: Not assigned to committee. On Then tragedy struck on Jan. 17 when a 14 miles east of Buffalo, and realized the is going to come out unscathed.
commercial heating pad used to warm bum The Prevention Management Organization of
Friday, Senate President Eli Bebout, R-Riverton, barn was on fire. Cell service is spotty in
piglets caught fire and burned the fam- Wyoming, based in Buffalo, is no exception.
announced that he would kill the bill due to ilys barn down. The family lost a sow, the that area, so Bauer texted the news to his
public opposition. wife Shirley who called the fire in. Both In a perfect world, we could say that things
seven piglets, a couple of chickens and all like the prevention management organization could
the supplies the kids use for showing. city and county fire crews responded.
You can track the status of bills as they move The Bodens had a pickup truck and come out of this without any new cuts, Kinskey
The things the barn its replaceable,
through the Wyoming Legislature at https:// horse trailer parked next to the barn, which said. Theyre a great organization that does a lot of
but the animals, it was a hard loss, said
legisweb.state.wy.us/LSOWEB/Session/BillsInfo. Bev Boden, Tera and Lanes mom. Kodi Barry moved. good for the state of Wyoming, and Ive fought like
aspx. had the hardest time, shes the youngest BARN the dickens in previous years to make sure that they
and she was helping me take care of those receive funding. But the reality of this situation is
continued on page A8
that were in a deep enough hole that I dont know

Beef insiders bemoan trade deal withdrawal

how any state agency is going to escape this budget
session without getting some sort of cut.

In the short run, without a doubt, PMO

BY JEN SIEVE-HICKS
jen@buffalobulletin.com
Mondays news that President
Donald J. Trump had signed an
executive order to withdraw from
the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or
TPP, came as a disappointment to
cattle producers. Beef production
is the primary agricultural com-
modity in Johnson County with
$42 million in gross sales in 2012
the most recent data available
according to the United States
Department of Agriculture.
Theres no doubt about it that
TPP represented a tremendous
opportunity for the beef industry
in terms of getting us more into
the Southeast Asian markets, like
Japan, Wyoming Stock Growers
Association Executive Vice
President Jim Magagna said, add-
ing that Japan has a steep tariff
on American beef and a much
smaller tariff on Australian beef,
meaning America often loses out
to Australia.
The fate of the embattled TPP
faced an uphill battle, at best, in
Congress. However, with cattle
prices lagging behind what pro-
ducers were earning last year and
many economists predicting that
2017 holds little reason for opti-
mism, Magagna was hopeful that
it could initiate another downturn in the cattle cycle. continued on page A9
Prices are going to be affected nationally, and then
sift back to Wyoming
Roger Coupal, head of the
Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics
at the University of Wyoming
the TPP would be the shot in the lion in gross income, accord-
arm that beef producers needed. ing to Wyoming Agriculture
The cattle industry is the larg- Statistics. There are more than
est component of Wyoming 694,000 beef cows in the state;
agriculture accounting for over about 7 percent of those cattle
half of all cash receipts. And call Johnson County home. Bulletin photo by Stephen Dow
in 2014, cattle production in Bill Hawley, with the Prevention Management
Wyoming was valued at $937 BEEF Organization, teaches a suicide prevention QPR
million and generated $1.2 bil- continued on page A12 (Question, Persuade, Refer) class.

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