Local Briefs

CHEYENNE

Meeting set for May 23 about proposed charter school here

A meeting will be held May 23 to provide more information about aproposed charter school in Cheyenne.

Personalized Learning Inc. plans to pursue the opening of TheProficiency Academy of Wyoming in Cheyenne. PAW will submit acharter school application to Laramie County School District 1 laterthis year, with hopes of opening in the fall of 2012.

PAW will be modeled upon the Redmond Proficiency Academy inRedmond, Ore., a Personalized Learning charter high school that isthe first of its kind in the nation. Like its predecessor, PAW wouldserve ninth- through 12th-grade students who desire a more interest-based or self-designed course of study; who seek an acceleratedcourse of study; or who desire a flexible schedule to meet theirpersonal needs, according to a news release.

Those interested in learning more about PAW are invited to attenda parent and community information and support meeting at 7 p.m. May23 in the Sunflower Room at the Laramie County Library, 2200 PioneerAve.

For more information about Proficiency Academy of Wyoming, visitwww.pawyoming.org.

Two state-run museums to offer free admission on Wednesday

The Historic Governors' Mansion and Wyoming State Museum willjoin other Cheyenne museums to celebrate International Museum Day onWednesday.

As part of the celebration, participating museum will offer freeadmission during normal hours of operation.

The theme for this year's observance of International Museum Dayis "Museums and Memory." Museums store memory and tell storiesthrough the numerous objects in their collections that are basic tothe memory of their local communities. These objects are theexpressions of the communities' natural and cultural heritage.

In addition to the Historic Governors' Mansion and Wyoming StateMuseum, other Cheyenne museums participating in the observance ofInternational Museum Day are Cheyenne Depot Museum, CheyenneFrontier Days Old West Museum, Cheyenne Botanic Gardens and theNelson Museum of the West.

Please call each museum for more information or hours ofoperation.

American Legion Post 6 elects new commander, other officers

Chris Allen of Cheyenne was elected commander of Francis E. SelfAmerican Legion Post 6 for 2011-12.

He is a 20-year continuous member of the American Legion and alife member of Post 6.

Allen served honorably for eight years in the U.S. Air Force,including service during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.He also served three years as a public relations representative withthe U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds jet demonstration team.

Throughout his civilian career in Wyoming, Allen has held severalnonprofit management positions, including at the Cheyenne FrontierDays Old West Museum, the University of Wyoming Foundation and withthe United Way of Laramie County, where he currently serves asresource development director.

Allen succeeds Bruce Koerwitz as commander of Post 6.

Other officers elected include Mario Montoya as first vicecommander; Wil Madrid, Zack Miller and Nick Nixon as second vicecommanders; and Bill Frye as trustee.

Cheyenne's Crawford named NCO of the Year by Army Guard

Sgt. Todd A. Crawford of Cheyenne was recently named the Non-Commissioned Officer of the Year by the Wyoming Army National Guard.

He is a member of the 67th Army Band, under the 94th TroopCommand.

Sgt. Tanner L. Wichern of Cody, from Battery C, 2nd Battalion,300th Field Artillery, was named Soldier of the Year.

The Best Warrior Competition, held April 22-23, tested the bestsoldiers from each battalion in the Wyoming Army National Guard onthe fundamentals of common warrior tasks and battle drills, coupledwith strenuous physical endurance, designed to push each soldier totheir limits and beyond.

Crawford and Wichern will compete in regionals in Bismarck, N.D.,June 4 -10. The regional winners will go on to a nationalcompetition later this year.

From staff reports

UW offers mountain pine beetle, grasshopper webinars this month

Information to help Wyoming residents wrestle with pine beetleinfestations and grasshopper invasions will be offered duringwebinars from the University of Wyoming.

Barnyards & Backyards, Rural Living in Wyoming, part of anoutreach effort in the University of Wyoming Cooperative ExtensionService, will sponsor the mountain pine beetle webinar Tuesday, May17, and grasshoppers Monday, May 23. Both start at noon.

Anyone with a computer, Internet connection and speakers orheadphones can participate. Those wanting to participate can visitwww.elluminate.com/Support/?id=62 before the webinars to ensurecomputers are ready to join the meeting.

Questions can be sent before or during the webinars tojsjones@uwyo.edu. Links to the webinars are available atbarnyardsandbackyards.com, click Events on the right-hand side; theevents are listed by date. Barring technical difficulties,recordings of the webinars will be available a few days after themeeting by accessing the same link.

LCSD1 reminds community about inclement weather procedures

As spring and summer weather patterns begin, officials at LaramieCounty School District 1 remind parents and students to heed outdoorwarning sirens, which signify a tornado warning or severe weathercondition exists for Cheyenne and/or Laramie County.

Dave Bartlett, LCSD1 assistant superintendent of supportoperations, explained each district facility has an identified areafor students and staff to seek shelter. In addition, the RiskManagement Department has worked with each school to develop theirplans.

If a tornado warning exists for Cheyenne/or Laramie County:

- Laramie County Emergency Management will activate outdoorwarning sirens.

- Schools will be notified of the threat through a radio alertfrom Support Operations. Students and staff will take shelter in thedesignated areas.

- Parents and staff will be notified through the rapidnotification system, ParentLink.

- If buses have already picked up students and are notified of atornado warning, the bus driver will drive to the nearest school andstudents will take shelter there. Driver and students will remain atthat location until the warning has been lifted. They will thencontinue with the normal route.

Outdoor warning sirens are tested at noon on the first Friday ofeach month.