Sugar beets: You be the judge

We have a story in today's paper about the ongoing Roundup Ready sugar beet lawsuit.

To summarize in less than the 40+ inches I took up in the print edition: the groups opposed to the genetically-modified beet plants are seeking a preliminary injunction that would stop the planting and use of Roundup Ready beets (and the sugar derived from them) at least until the U.S. Department of Agriculture has, as ordered by federal Judge Jeffrey White, put together an Environmental Impact Statement re-assessing the impacts of the crop.

Harvested sugar beets pile up just west of Powell in this October '09 photo by Kara Bacon

A hearing on the injunction request is slated for tomorrow (Friday) and it's in California, making it tough for folks like you and I to sit in. But if you'd like to read through the arguments likely to be made in the courtroom, and have some time for some not-so-light reading, well, ta-da!

1. Opposition groups request a preliminary injunction
2. Intervenors (the sugarbeet industry and Monsanto) voice their opposition
3. The US government voices similar opposition
4. The opposition groups defend their injunction request

As I understand it, those four documents (about 120 pages worth) pretty much lay out what everybody's arguing over, though, of course, there are hundreds of pages of more stuff and other issues, too.

I'm wondering, what do you think about the case? Weigh in down in the comments section below.

Sports Update thread for March 4-9

This will be a running thread for Quake hockey, PHS regional basketball and Region IX basketball for Northwest College. Check back here for updates on games, schedules, etc. and then pick up Tuesday's Powell Tribune for complete coverage.

QUAKE HOCKEY--Hockey season came to a close for the Yellowstone Quake on Sunday evening as the team fell 5-2 to the Helena Bighorns in the decisive fifth game of the America West division series. Chris Rinaldi scored late in the first period, then lit the lamp again early in the second period to temporarily give the Quake a 2-1 edge. Helena answered with two goals in a 63-second span in the middle of the period and added two third-period goals to advance to the NORPAC Cascade Cup.

For the second night in a row, the Quake was held to fewer than 20 shots on goal according to the unofficial statistics. Helena advances to face Seattle, the Pacific division winner, for the Cascade Cup.
====
NWC MEN'S BASKETBALL--The Northwest College Trappers were eliminated from Region IX tournament play 82-71 on Sunday afternoon by No. 18 North Platte. The Trappers and East sub-region champion Knights played more than 10 minutes of back-and-forth basketball with neither team establishing more than a three-point lead. NWC grabbed the upper hand late in the first half to open a five-point lead. North Platte closed out the first half on a run though, carrying a 36-35 lead into halftime.

The Knights' hot hand continued into the second half as the team from Nebraska quickly built a nine-point cushion. Northwest twice cut the lead to two points, only to see the Knights re-establish it on both occasions. North Platte had pushed its edge to 13 late in the contest before a final push by the Trappers cut the gap to 75-71 with under 90 seconds to play. North Platte closed the contest on a 7-0 run to bring down the curtain on an outstanding season by Northwest College.
====
STATE 3A BRACKET RELEASED--The Powell High School girls will open state tournament play on March 11 at 10:30 a.m. at the Casper Events Center against Wheatland. The two schools met to open the year at the East-West Showdown with Powell taking a narrow 42-36 victory in that encounter. Buffalo and Cody are the other two schools on Powell's half of the tournament bracket. The Panthers will face one of those schools on Day 2 of the Wyoming state basketball championships.
====
QUAKE HOCKEY--They'll be going to a decisive Game 5 in Helena on Sunday as the Bighorns scored a pair of third-period goals to tally a 4-2 victory over the Yellowstone Quake and level the series at two games apiece. Chris Rinaldi and Tyler Boyce each scored in the second period for the Quake, who escaped from a first period trailing just 1-0 after skating a man down for nearly half the period.

Helena scored its go-ahead goal two minutes into the third period and the Quake missed a golden opportunity to tie the game after going 0-for-3 on power-play opportunities in the first half of the third period. Helena scored its insurance goal with 1:57 remaining on a power play to give the game its final margin.

The winner of Sunday's game will win the NORPAC America West division pennant and advance to the league's championship series, which starts on Tuesday. A Quake victory will bring the series to Cody for Games 1 and 2.
====
NWC & PHS WOMEN'S BASKETBALL -- It's been an interesting night here at Casa de Sports Guy with two internet feeds and a radio station streaming three different sporting events. Two of those are now in the books, and neither of them went well for Powell fans.

At Sterling, Colo., head coach Janis Beal's first season on the bench of the Northwest College Trappers came to a close following a 76-69 loss to Northeast Nebraska. NWC fell behind by double digits early, but had fought back to within six late in the first half before Northeast Nebraska closed out the first half on an 8-0 run to carry a 35-21 edge into intermission. The Trappers were never able to fully recover from that spurt as they stayed within sight of the Nebraska school but were unable to conjure the run they needed to change the outcome. The Trapper women finish the year 11-19.

In Lyman, the Powell High School girls made a valiant late run, but started from too far behind to avoid a 42-36 loss to Jackson. The defeat might not be bad news -- remember, Jackson captured the state title last season as the 3A West runner-up. The two schools played to a 5-5 deadlock after the first eight minutes and the Panthers' offense never gained much momentum.

Jackson steadily pulled away from Powell throughout the middle of the game, pushing its lead as high as 13 points at one stage of the third quarter. After being held to just 19 points in the first three quarters, the Panthers found life in the final eight minutes, staging a late rally that brought the team to within 39-36 following a controvesial apparent late three-point bucket for which the Panthers only received credit for two points. Unfortunately, the team came up empty over the final 40 seconds while Jackson tacked on a trio of late free throws. Powell heads to Casper next week as the No. 2 seed from the 3A West.

As for that third streaming internet broadcast, the Yellowstone Quake and Helena Bighorns are currently tied 1-1 midway through the second period. The Quake hold a two-games-to-one edge in the series and are looking to close things out tonight with a win to earn a spot in the NORPAC championship series. Expect an updated post in 90 minutes or so with the final details from Game 4 in Helena.
====
NWC MEN'S BASKETBALL--The Northwest College Trappers watched a 17-point first-half lead nearly evaporate, but then re-established the gap midway through the second half to earn a comfortable 85-74 victory over Gillette College in the first round of the Region IX men's basketball tournament. The Pronghorns were never able to get closer than seven once the Trappers built theilr lead back into double figures.

Northwest College will face North Platte, the only member of the Region IX tournament field to be ranked nationally, at 3 p.m. on Sunday in the second round of tournament action.
====
QUAKE HOCKEY--The Yellowstone Quake moved within one win of an America West divisional title on Friday night by blanking Helena 5-0 in hockey action. Nick Kent, Matthew Tackett and Chris Rinaldi each scored in the first period as the Quake rebounded from a sluggish Game 2 to score all the goals they would need.

Rinaldi added a second goal to open the third period and Mathew Schulz closed out the scoring for the night with the Quake's fifth goal. Goalie Alex Larson was once again nothing short of stellar in posting the shutout.

Also stellar was the Quake's play in the defensive zone. After surrendering more than 50 shots in each of the first two games of the series, Quake defensivemen allowed Helena to make just 28 attempts on goal. The Bighorns came away empty on all 13 power-play opportunities as the Quake's penalty-kill unit took on a starring role.

The Quake will look to close out the divisional championship series Saturday night in Helena. Should the series go to Game 5, that game will be played Sunday afternoon. If the Quake win either Saturday or Sunday, they would open the NORPAC championship series against either Seattle or Eugene on Tuesday night in Cody's Riley Arena.
====
PHS GIRLS -- The Powell High School girls' basketball team advanced to the 3A West championship game on Friday with a 66-50 win over Park County rival Cody. Savannah Donarski finished with a team-high 22 points, but it was Kami Cooley's rarely-seen four-point play in the third quarter that triggered a 16-4 second-half Panther run that helped to blow the game open. Powell had the better of a fast-paced first half to lead 36-29 at intermission, but gave all but a point of that lead back to Cody in the early minutes of the second half before embarking on the decisive run.

The Panthers will play at 7 p.m. on Saturday against the winner of tonight's late game between Jackson and Mountain View.
====
PHS BOYS -- Boys basketball season came to an end for Powell on Friday morning as Lander delivered the Panthers their second defeat of the 3A West regional tournament, 47-39. A second-quarter Lander surge lifted the Tigers to a 23-12 lead at intermission. A 7-0 run by Powell in the third quarter pulled the Panthers back to within six points, but the Tigers immediately answered with nine consecutive points of their own, grabbing a 34-19 lead. A late run by Powell trimmed the gap back to single digits with fewer than 90 seconds remaining before time ran out on the Panthers' comeback efforts. Powell wraps up the year with a 3-20 record.
====
PHS BASKETBALL -- The Powell High School girls cleared their first regional hurdle while the Panther boys stumbled and will be playing on the elimination side of the bracket on Friday. The Panthers asserted themselves after a slow first quarter to pull in front of Pinedale by 12 points midway through the second period. From there, the team put it on cruise control, never allowing the No. 8 seed Wranglers closer than seven, but never really pulling any further ahead either as a spate of turnovers and missed layups prevented a broader final margin.

Powell's boys played their closest game of the season in three attempts against Worland, but were still unable to slow down the Warriors. The Panther boys, playing without the injured A.J. Anderson, fell by a 72-46 final count.

The schedule for Friday now features the Panther boys playing an elimination game against Lander at 10:30 a.m. The two schools split their regular-season encounters. Powell's girls will meet up with cross-county rival Cody at 4 p.m.
====
QUAKE HOCKEY -- The Yellowstone Quake and Helena Bighorns will head to Montana tied at one game apiece after the NORPAC America West regular season champs evened things up with a 7-3 victory on Wednesday night. After a scoreless first period, Helena scored three second-period goals and never allowed the Quake closer than two from that point forward.

"We just didn't do a very good job on our floor check tonight and we took some dumb penalties when we were down," Quake coach Sean Hogan said of the effort. "Helena is a more experienced team than we are, and that's what it looked like out there tonight."

All but five members of the Quake roster are in their first season of junior hockey.

Tyler Roberts' goal late in the second period put the Quake on the board and gave the Riley Arena crowd some hope. Helena's Cody Hess picked up a pair of power-play scores in the first 3:30 of the third period to move out to a four-goal advantage. The Quake got back to within 5-3 thanks to goals from Chris Rinaldi and Andrew Lord, but were unable to find the net again. Helena capped the game with a pair of goals in the final six minutes.

Game three will take place Friday night in Helena. There will also be games Saturday evening and, if needed, Sunday afternoon. Should the Quake win two in Helena, the NORPAC championship series would begin Tuesday in Cody.

Championship wrestling wrapup

SATURDAY -- The Powell Panthers crowned three state champions, but were denied their third consecutive state title by a single point. Douglas, trailing by 21 points in the team score with four matches remaining, responded with three wins by fall and an overtime victory to prevent the Panthers' three-peat.

Auston Carter scored a third-period takedown, then staved off multiple desperation shots over the final 25 seconds to capture his fourth state title with a 3-2 win at 145 pounds. Colt Nix dominated action at 130 pounds, winning by technical fall 19-4 when he scored the final takedown with one second left to get bonus points for the Panthers. Randy Andrews had a major decision victory, 8-0 at 140 pounds.

Jessee Craig, Trent Gillett, Jimmy Seckman, Cole Kary and Monte Nickles finish as 2010 state runners-up at their respective weight classes.

Out in Des Moines, Trapper head coach Jim Zeigler has crowned his latest national champion as heavyweight Landon Harris improved upon last year's runner-up finish and avenged his only junior college loss of the season with a 5-0 shutout in the 285-pound finals. As a team, the Trappers finished in a fourth-place tie with St. Louis-Meramec in the final national standings.

Complete coverage of both the Wyoming 3A and the NJCAA wrestling championship will appear in Tuesday's issue of The Powell Tribune.

Earlier updates follow below...
====
SATURDAY UPDATE #3 -- Powell still leads by 11.5 points at Casper as they head to the championship round. The Panthers will have eight wrestlers this session, current second-place Douglas has seven. There will be five matches featuring head-to-head pairings between the two contending schools.

In the medal round, it was a clean sweep of third place finishes for Powell. Robert Friday won a 3-1 decision to place third at 112. Olie Olson won the all-Powell battle at 125 over teammate Zach Thiel. Waylon Bays was a 10-4 winner in the third-place match at 145 and Joe Lujan wrapped up a 4-2 win to place third at 215.

Fasten your seatbelts, here comes the fun part.
====
SATURDAY UPDATE #2--They're getting ready to begin the championship round in Des Moines and the Northwest College Trappers have one wrestler in pursuit of a national title. Landon Harris gets to face off against the only JUCO wrestler to defeat him this seaosn, Roger McCovey of North Idaho. Should Harris avenge the one-point loss he suffered in the Apodaca Duals, he'll also wear the crown of national champion.

Elsewhere, the Trappers have been victims of close losses today. Mak Jones is your third-place finisher at 197. Jones lost a 4-3 decision in the semifinals before rebounding with a pair of 5-2 victories to earn a spot as NWC's second-highest finisher.

Next up are McCade Ford and Saul Guerrero, both returning All-Americans this season. Ford's stellar run through the tournament was stopped via fall in the semis. Guerrero fought back through the consolation bracket, dropped a 7-3 decision in the consolation semifinals before winning by fall to wrap up a fifth-place season.

Jesse Hillhouse lost in overtime 5-4 in the semifinals, then suffered a pair of decision losses to finish up in sixth place. Nick Petersen went 1-1 on the day, falling 6-3 early before recovering to win 9-7 to secure seventh place. Jarrett Baker was eighth after his day started with a 6-4 overtime loss and then a 4-3 loss in the seventh-place match.

As a team, the Trappers have slid to fourth in the standings. The top five scholarship teams are Iowa Central 107, North Idaho 99, Labette 95.5, Northwest College 92.5 and St. Louis-Meramec 92.5. The top five teams have opened more than a 30-point gap on sixth-place.
====
SATURDAY UPDATE #1 -- My apologies to folks who have been checking in hoping for results from consolation matches. The powers that be have evidently been slacking on updating online brackets. There's still no word out of Des Moines yet today, but I can finally offer some update on how things go in Casper, where they are getting ready to start the medal rounds.

The Panthers managed to build on their overnight advantage and currently hold an 11.5-point advantage over Douglas in what has become a two-team race that won't be decided until probably the last match of the day.

The Panthers have acquitted themselves nicely in the consolation rounds. Five grapplers navigated the back side of the brackets and will compete for third-place honors. Robert Friday (112) scored a couple wins by fall and a major decision in consolation action to reach the third-place match. At 125, Olie Olson and Zach Thiel had hoped to meet in the championship match. They'll have to settle for duking it out for third-place honors. Waylon Bays bounced back from a loss at 145 to register a pair of wins by fall and will also go after third place tonight. The Panthers' final third-place hopeful, Joe Lujan, rebounded from a loss in the semifinals to win by fall and score maximum points for the Panthers while reaching the consolation finals.

I'll be heading over the Casper-Northwest College basketball games soon, but I'll continue to check in and post updates as circumstances allow. With luck, I'll be back at the keyboard just as the championship finals begin.
====
FRIDAY NIGHT -- We'll start in Des Moines, where Northwest College head wrestling coach Jim Zeigler will be bringing home seven All-Americans from this year's national championships. The Trappers took eight wrestlers to Iowa and seven of them have reached the final eight of their divisions and will be wrestling on Saturday.

Four of those grapplers - Jesse Hillhouse (125), McCade Ford (141), Mak Jones (197) and Landon Harris (285) - will wrestle in the semifinals tomorrow morning. Harris needed less than a minute, pinning his quarterfinal foe in 59 seconds to advance with his second win by fall of the tournament. Ford was nearly as impressive, adding to his second-round win by fall by posting his second major decision victory of the tournament, 14-4 in the quarterfinals. Ford is wrestling extremely well for the Trappers. Hillhouse and Jones each had to grind out their spots in the semifinals. Hillhouse took a 4-2 decision while Jones followed late in the day with a 3-1 win.

On the backside of the bracket, Briston Brenton's dream of becoming an All-American came up one win shy as he dropped a 9-5 decision to narrowly miss a Saturday assignment. Saul Guerrero lost an 8-4 quarterfinal decision, but bounced back with a win by fall to secure his second season on the All-America roster. Nick Petersen took Iowa Central's chances of a national title defense down a peg by eliminating the IC wrestler at 174 with a first-period win by fall to reach the final eight. Jarrett Baker, at 184, joined Hillhouse as freshmen All-Americans this season by edging his foe 4-3 to wrap up his first day of action in the national tournament.

As a team, the Trappers are currently second in the nation with 72.5 points, 11.5 points behind surprise Harper. West Central regional champion Labette is third at 69 with Iowa Central fourth with 65 points. St. Louis-Meramec is fifth at 60 points. This is a tight field, so it is still anyone's game.

It is still anyone's game in Casper as well, but your Powell Panthers carry a 216-213 lead over Douglas into the overnight of the 3A state championships. After a disappointing quarterfinal round, the Panthers bounced back with an 8-3 performance in the semifinals, meaning eight Panthers will be wrestling for state titles tomorrow.

Auston Carter scored a 20-9 major decision against his Douglas foe. He needs a victory over Wheatland's Tyler Smart on Saturday to join the elite ranks of four-time Wyoming state champions. Jessee Craig also captured a pivotal win against a Douglas opponent and will head for the 119-pound championship match after a 10-7 decision.

If it wasn't for Carter's drive for history, Trent Gillett's pillaging of the 135-pound division would be the talk of the 3A tournament. Gillett finally had to work past the midpoint of the first period, but still made it look easy as he registered a win by fall at the 1:18 mark. Monte Nickles (189) also grabbed a win by fall, needing just 61 seconds to secure a place in Saturday's finals. Cole Kary (160) also scored a win by fall to reach the championships.

Your other finalists on Saturday include Colt Nix (13-11 semifinal winner at 130), Randy Andrews (13-5 winner at 140) and Jimmy Seckman (5-3 winner at 152). There are five head-to-head matchups between Powell and Douglas wrestlers slated for Saturday's championship round as the two schools are nearly 90 points clear of third-place Worland.

A host of Panthers remain on the consolation side of things as well. I'll try to provide a rundown of how things shape up on that side of the bracket first thing in the morning. Rest well Powell, Saturday is going to be a very pivotal day of action on the wrestling mats.
====
UPDATE #3 -- The two-horse race that many speculated the 3A state title race might turn into at the state wrestling championships is off and running. Right now, Panther fans, our horse isn't in front. Douglas holds a slim 124-120 lead in the team standings after the championship quarterfinals. It's a long way back to third place.

Eleven Panther grapplers remain alive on the championship side of the bracket, but Powell's three-peat hopes definitely took a hit by going 11-8 in the quarterfinals. One of those not affected was Trent Gillett, who continues to make very short work of the opposition. Gillett was one of six Panthers to win by fall in the first period, needing just 43 seconds to have his arm raised in victory. That means his time in Casper thus far has amounted to 1:16 of work to reach the semifinals.

Auston Carter's four-time championship dreams stayed alive as well. He needed just 1:08 to pin his opponent and advance within two victories of a prep career title sweep. Olie Olson, Randy Andrews, Jimmy Seckman and Monte Nickles also finished business before the first period clock expired. Also advancing to the championship semifinals are Jessee Craig, Zach Thiel, Colt Nix, Cole Kary and Joe Lujan. The possibility of an all-Powell championship match at 125 between Olson and Thiel is on the table.

Semifinal matches at 119 (Craig) and 145 (Carter) carry significant weight for the Panthers' title hopes as they feature the round's only head-to-head meeting of Powell and Douglas grapplers. Like Powell, Douglas also has 11 wrestlers still on the championship side of the bracket. As close as the team chase is, every match involving either school has state title implications. For the record, no other 3A school is carrying more than seven wrestlers on the championship side at this stage.

Team standings (top three): 1. Douglas 124, 2. Powell 120, 3. Worland 76.5.
====
UPDATE #2 -- With no team scores from the NJCAA national championships and another 90 minutes until the evening session begins out in Iowa, yours truly decided to get a little creative. Of the 27 schools with wrestlers in the championship quarterfinals, only four -- defending national champion Iowa Central (7), Labette County (7), Nassau (6) and St. Louis-Meramec (6) -- have more wrestlers remaining on the championship side of the bracket than NWC. The Trappers are joined by North Idaho and Southwest Oregon with five wrestlers in the quarterfinals. All in all, Northwest College is off to a solid start toward another top 10 finish.
====
UPDATE #1 -- All eight Northwest College wrestlers remain alive after four rounds of action today. Returning All-Americans Saul Guerrero (133), McCade Ford (141) and Landon Harris (285) are joined by sophomore Mak Jones (197) and freshman Jesse Hillhouse (125) in the championship quarterfinals. Guerrero, Ford and Harris have all picked up extra team points for the Trappers by recording wins by fall. Ford also had a 19-6 major decision in his opener. Brison Brenton (157), Nick Petersen (174) and Jarrett Baker (184) each won their opening matches before falling in round two. Each has since survived their first consolation match with Petersen advancing on a medical forfeit and Brenton and Baker both rolling to major decision wins. No word on team scores and it looks like updates from Des Moines will be sporadic, but we'll check in as events allow.

They're through the first round in Casper and the Powell Panthers' quest for a three-peat is off to a dashing start. Powell is in the lead, three points clear of second-place Douglas, after going 18-4 in opening-round matches.

Considering two of those four losses came in matches where two Powell wrestlers were forced to open state competition against each other, that's not looking too shabby at all. Charles Wittick, Drew Feller, Mike Mundy and Kurt Bullinger were the unfortunate four relegated early to the consolation bracket.

Auston Carter's quest for a fourth state championship got off to a positive start. Carter needed just 52 seconds to end his first-round match by fall. While that's an impressive start, it doesn't even begin to qualify for fastest pin of the tournament honors among Powell grapplers. That title currently goes to Cole Kary, who took just 24 seconds in dispatching Torrington's Isaac Brown. Honorable mention nods go to Trent Gillett (won by fall in 0:34) and Monte Nickles (0:35).

Team standings (top three): 1. Powell 52, 2. Douglas 49, 3. Worland 37.

More information after the quarterfinals.

State swim and Quake hockey

UPDATE #3 -- Why am I posting a hockey score in the same thread as the state swimming results? Well, hockeyis played on ice, which is, after all, frozen water. So there is a method to my madness.

Besides, I don't want to put too many different threads in the blog and risk burying other content that might be of interest to readers.

The Yellowstone Quake wrapped up their sweep of Missoula on Friday night with a 5-4 win over the Maulers in Montana. Jake Doty's game-winning goal came just seconds after the Maulers had rallied to tie the game at 4-4. Yellowstone jumped out to a quick lead, scoring twice in the opening five minutes, but Missoula rallied with a trio of goals for a 3-2 advantage after 20 minutes. The Quake took the lead back early in the second period and held the 4-3 cushion until Missoula tied matters with nine minutes left in the game.

The Quake host Helena, which wrapped up a sweep of Billings with an 11-1 blowout on Friday, in Game 1 of the NORPAC America West divisional championship series on Tuesday. The Quake will also host the Bighorns on Wednesday. Both games are tentatively slated to begin at 7:30 p.m., but check Tuesday's Powell Tribune for possible revisions to the playoff schedule for the best-of-five series.

Earlier updates follow below...

====
UPDATE #2: Devin Lynn turned in Powell's top performance in the second half of finals today, placing sixth in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:10.53. Teammate Billy Cummings was eighth in that race, swimming a faster time at 1:10.33, but only qualifying for the consolation race out of prelims. Cole Good was unable to climb higher in the diving finals, finishing in the same seventh place position that he began the round it. Good opened the finals just two points from sixth, but finished with a total score of 265.95 points, roughly 14 points out of sixth. Powell scored one other "near miss" this afternoon with a seventh-place 200 freestyle relay time of 1:44.27. Other consolation swim performers included Jarred LaPierre and Kyle Anderson in the 500 free, Trent Eckerdt in the 100 fly, and Billy Cummings in the 100 breaststroke. Powell's 400 free relay placed ninth overall.

UPDATE #1: The finals are underway in Gillette. The Panthers' 200 medley relay pulled through with a fifth-place finish, improving one spot on their prelim position, after clocking a time of 1:59.1 in the finals. Devin Lynn has matched his sixth-place showing in prelims by swimming to a similar finish in the finals of the 200 IM with a time of 2:18.04. Jarred LaPierre was 12th overall in the 200 free, clocking a 2:11.19 in the consolation race. Cole Good is up right now in the diving finals, having entered in seventh position, less than two points from a spot in the top six.

Getting the ball rolling on championship watch...Devin Lynn was sixth in the 200 IM prelims (2:17.91) and 100 breaststroke (1:10.14). Both times improved on season-best results based on information submitted for seeding and lane assignments. Cole Good was seventh after the diving semifinals with a score of 197.65, less than two points out of sixth position. The Panthers' 200 relay also turned in a sixth-place prelim time of 1:57.87.

More from Gillette as the finals continue today.

Championship Weekend Begins

With The Sports Guy still grounded from long travel pending the arrival of a newborn, yours truly is going to do his best to keep on top of things from a distance this weekend. Check in with The Powell Tribune's blog throughout the day as I'll post updates from the NJCAA wrestling championships, the state swim meet and the state wrestling championships. We'll let you know tonight if Wyoming's Junior-A hockey team, the Yellowstone Quake, is able to bring out the brooms and sweep Missoula and advance to the NORPAC America West divisional championship series...and then tomorrow we'll do it all over again.

No need to juggle websites or make cell phone calls to a bunch of your friends. Just poke your head in here from time to time.

Who knows...you might even get a sneak peak at next week's birth announcements.

An interactive map of the Halloween vandalism

There was a lot of vandalism last Halloween and I thought it might be interesting for folks to see the incidents plotted on a map, similar to the continually updated map the Powell Police department has on their Web site. However, this map includes just the Halloween vandalism, with their descriptions, some photos, and damage estimates of the various markings inserted.

An estimated $2,473 worth of damage was caused by graffiti around town, while vehicle damage at Bob's Auto was believed to be roughly $12,750. Criminal charges are pending in the two, unrelated, instances.

Information used in the map is drawn from Powell Police reports and statements from police and prosecutors. Click on each point to pull up a description.

View the Halloween Vandalism in a larger map

Nobody’s dupes

These Rocky Mountain sheep certainly know which side of the bread the butter is on.

Those darn sheep are an intelligent lot. They were sharp enough to hang in a location along the South Fork of the Shoshone River where hunting is prohibited.

Of course it’s winter, so there are no stalkers in blaze orange afoot, but these critters, nonetheless were practicing vigilance.

Anyway, I was out with Wendy Smith’s environmental science Wyoming wildlife biology class from Powell High School and had the opportunity to snap this picture. Stick around. I’ll have a story and a photo or two in the paper next week.

Being an outdoors buff, I had a blast.

Dennie Hammer of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, joined the party too, so I might’ve even learned something. Maybe.

Hammer, Smith and a couple of her brainiac pupils really tried to teach me, but unfortunately, I have a short attention span and my brain has been on the blink of late.

Where was I?

Don’t tell my boss, but it was marvelous getting paid to spend the day in a place I dig. It was also truly gratifying to see youth studying and appreciating nature in all its glory.

I might be going out on a limb here, but I believe Hammer and Smith enjoyed sharing the great outdoors with their youthful charges.