Vol. 127, Issue 106 >> www.rawlinstimes.

com >> Saturday, May 28, 2016 Serving all of Carbon County >> 50¢

Crowded race A virtue Under investigation

Liz Cheney among a dozen candidates Broncos LB Brandon Marshall waits Navy investigating cause of training
vying for Lummis’ seat in D.C. A7, State patiently for payday and playtime. B1, Sports mission jet crash. B8, Nation

Sinclair Oil announces major initiative for education

By Trudy Balcom
tbalcom@rawlinstimes.com
RAWLINS — There were
a lot of awards and applause
dished out at Thursday night’s
meeting of the Carbon County
School District No. 1.Board of
Trustees.
Students received awards
for perfect attendance. Retiring
teachers received golden apple
awards for their years of ser-
vice. Police Chief Troy Palm-
er and City Manager Scott
Hannum received plaques in
recognition of their service
and assistance to the school
district.
But the biggest award hand-
ed out came with no plaque or
trophy.
Joan Buckingham Evans,
representing Sinclair Oil
Company, came to announce
to the Board that Sinclair Oil
was prepared to partner with
the school district on a three-
year initiative representing an
investment of at least $400,000
to improve academic outcomes
in the school district.
Evans, the former state
Workforce Services Director,
now works as a consultant.
She gave a detailed presenta-
tion outlining the proposal.
Evans told the Board of
Trustees that Ross Matthews,
CEO of Sinclair Oil, asked her
what the company could do to
improve education and quality
of life for employees. That led,
in turn, to conversations with
the school district.
“Mr. Turcato has been very
generous with his time,” she
said. Evans also said she had
also been working with Prin-
cipals Darren Jennings and
Benita Allard.
Over the past several months,
Evans has built a proposal in
cooperation with the school
district that has been approved
— Sinclair Oil that will fund
four new initiatives within the
school district and the broader
community, she said.
“It’s a substantial invest-
ment. We’re going to start
work on these initiatives in the
next four to six weeks,” Evans
said Friday.
The four elements of the
proposal are: Kindergar-
ten-Readiness, the Scholastic
Book Trust, Graduate All Stu-
dents Successful, and Strive
Together Community Engage-
ment.
See SINCLAIR, A4

Rawlins Daily Times, Chad Abshire

New Zealand author Rob Cope is hitchhiking across the country,
looking to travel from San Francisco to New York City. He stopped
in Rawlins Friday afternoon, looking for a ride to continue his trav-
els. The name is his latest book is written on his refrigerator. Rawlins Daily Times, Trudy Balcom
Seniors at RHS brought the beach to the school Friday as part of their senior prank, complete with volleyball, a grill and even a makeshift swimming

Kiwi touring USA RHS prinicipal reflects on seniors’ success

pool. Check out more photos on A2.

New Zealand kind that maybe only two

author’s travels
bring him to
Rawlins
By Chad Abshire
editor@rawlinstimes.com
RAWLINS — Mike Morlan
and Rob Cope shared a hug
before saying goodbye.
A real goodbye. The kind
that says they might never
see each other again and the
County library system
responding to budget cuts
By Trudy Balcom
tbalcom@rawlinstimes.com
RAWLINS — Like all
other publicly funded agen-
cies in the county, the Car-
bon County Library System
is scrutinizing budgets and
taking steps to reduce costs
amid steep budget cuts.
Newly-hired library direc-
tor Bobbie Morgan stepped
complete strangers can
really enjoy.
Morlan didn’t know
Cope before he picked him
up off the side of the road
in Evanston, but seeing
him piqued his curiosity.
Armed with a nothing
but a refrigerator and
some stylish sunglasses,
Cope was looking for a way
to Rawlins.
“When you see a guy
on the side of the road in
Evanston, Wyoming, with
See HITCHHIKING, A4
into the budget fray from
her very first day on the job
in mid April.
When Morgan and mem-
bers of the Carbon County
Library board presented a
preliminary budget plan to
County Commissioners in
April that called for closing
some library branches in
order to cut costs, the plan
See LIBRARY, A5
By Chad Abshire
editor@rawlinstimes.com
RAWLINS — “They’re
great kids. I’m sure they’re
going to do just fine.”
Rawlins High School
Principal Tom Weed has no
worries about the 85 seniors
graduating from his school
June 3, even after they
brought in eight truckloads of
sand, a skid-steer and a trac-
tor onto the school’s parking
lot Friday.
For the senior prank, the
students brought the beach to
Rawlins — having a party in
the parking lot complete with
a volleyball net, a grill and
even a makeshift pool in the
bed of a pickup truck.
Weed said the sight wasn’t
a shock to him. He knew be-
forehand, saying the seniors
asked permission. He said it
was OK as long as they got it
cleaned up.
“They grilled some burgers
and hotdogs and shared them
with the office staff,” he said.
“They’re good kids.
“When I was that kid, I
couldn’t wait to get away,” he
said. “That speaks to the es-
tablished atmosphere in this
building. They’re a close-knit
community. All in all, our
students up here at the high
school are fantastic. They’ve
worked for it and they worked
hard.”
Weed said the final grad-
uating class was recently
awarded $560,000 in schol-
arships during the school’s
awards night.
“We have a young lady
who received $78,000 for a GI
bill,” he said. “She’s going off
into the Army.”
Weed said he felt a sense
of accomplishment in hav-
ing the entire senior class
graduating this year, saying
that while some students had
been behind, “they did it.”
Some cut it close, but “as of
(Thursday), everyone met the
requirements.”
“We had one student take
it down to the wire,” he said.
“At 3 p.m. he still had to do
final assessment and he did
well. He got an 88. That was
cool to see.”
Three students from the
school’s co-op also made it
back and will walk across the
stage for graduation.
Weed said he felt a sense of
See SENIORS, A5