Powell to represent fictional town for new film

POWELL — In the movie world, Powell is now Dean, Wyoming, according to Jamie Lee and Junior Michael Ray’s film studio Crazy Mountain Productions. 

Filmmakers Lee and Ray are currently gathering B-roll in Powell for “Re-Ride,” a movie based on a book written by Ray. 

“Re-Ride” is the sixth book in Ray’s “Seven Roads to Cheyenne” series, which was finished over a decade ago with the mentorship of Larry McMurtry, who wrote “Lonesome Dove.” 

The series has not yet been released due to publishing complications, but Ray has plans to release it in the near future. 

The book follows a former rodeo champion in the fictional town of Dean, Wyoming. 

Ray, a former rodeo cowboy who has roughly 20 years of experience in film, wants to portray rodeo and its athletes the way he saw it, which was not always ideal. 

“One of the reasons I wrote ‘Re-Ride’ was I saw a former rodeo champion picking up trash on the side of the road,” he said. 

Ray and Lee have both worked in the Hollywood environment. After seeing how non-starring cast and crew were treated, they decided that they would rather make movies differently. 

“I will make movies for free to make them real and right before I go somewhere else,” Lee said. 

Lee and Ray hope to make movies where everyone on set puts in equal work and the projects serve the community in which they are filmed. It was important for Crazy Mountain Productions to choose a community that was welcoming to film projects. “We’ve never been more welcomed in a community than Powell,” Ray said. 

There is not currently a release date for “Re-Ride,” which they will begin editing soon.

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Kemmerer collects 26 tons of cardboard in the last eight months

KEMMERER — According to Kemmerer landfill operator Jodi Dillree, the local recycling of corrugated cardboard has been a success with 52,500 pounds (26 tons) recycled in the last eight months. 

“The public has really been responding. They are bringing truckloads of cardboard, and the bin at Ace Hardware for cardboard keeps filling up,” Dillree said. “Lots of the local stores and businesses, the post office and the school district are all participating and bringing in cardboard.” 

Dillree said she thinks the reason for so much cardboard is people got used to ordering basic necessities and other items online and having them shipped during COVID-19 shutdowns and the habit still persists. 

The landfill started taking cardboard this past September, and there is no fee for dropping it off. They take only corrugated cardboard, none of the flat cardboard such as cereal boxes, etc. 

The Kemmerer landfill also recycles metals, antifreeze, batteries and cooking oil, which it can sell. 

Dillree said Fossil Butte National Monument is in the process of adding a container for corrugated cardboard recycling as well. The cardboard is baled and shipped to a processing center in Oregon.

Recycling other products, Dillree said, would require more employees; currently, the Kemmerer landfill has only three equipment operators who handle all of the waste. 

“I’m just thrilled we are doing cardboard,” Dillree said, “We get so much of it, we can’t just bury it.”

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Byron likely to go without lights

LOVELL — Those looking to avoid light pollution will find themselves at home in Byron, as the town will likely need to wait until next spring to install lights on Main Street following this summer’s street project. 

In 2014, the Town of Byron attained a Wyoming Department of Transportation grant to replace the town’s street lights, receiving $400,000 for the project. Inflation has not been kind to it, with those funds no longer enough to cover the project. 

WYDOT will install electrical conduit and other infrastructure for lighting during this summer’s street construction project. Installing light poles and the lights within them will be up to the Town of Byron. 

The backup plan was to work out an arrangement with Rocky Mountain Power to install and maintain the lights for a monthly fee. That has also fallen through in recent weeks. 

“The Rocky Mountain Power application would require upfront funds and then a monthly fee,” Byron Mayor Pam Hopkinson said. “At this point in time, the town does not have the funding to pay the upfront cost of putting those lights in.” 

Hopkinson said Byron is preparing to apply for a Transportation Alternatives Programs grant, also through WYDOT, for a projected $200,000. That will only require a 9.7 percent match from the town, she said. 

The town will be able to begin applying for the grant in March. 

“I think that we feel good about having the infrastructure in place,’ Hopkinson said. “We just don’t have any lighting at this point.” 

In the meantime, she said she hasn’t heard much concern from local citizens regarding the town’s sudden darker aesthetic. 

“We talked about going dark, but I haven’t had any feedback from residents,” Hopkinson said. “I’m hoping people will hang in there with us.”