{M3CODY - If the unmuffled Harleys didn't produce the ringing in your ear, check the land line. The city's playing one big game of telephone.

Where typically, residents direct their thoughts to the main line at City Hall, officials opened two phone lines this week specifically for people with Hells Angels queries. As of 2:30 p.m. Friday, 37 calls had been placed.

All were from locals, said City Administrator Laurie Kadrich, who answers one line.

The changing topics from the voices on the other line follow the patterns of conversation overheard in restaurants and casual conversations.

Early on, people asked the most general of questions. When the bikers planned to arrive. When they planned to leave. As more members of the club rumbled into town for the Hells Angels World Run this week, the callers pondered more specifically.

"We saw a Hells Angel in the store," Kadrich recalled one from one caller, "and they had this {M3one percent{M3 patch."

She informed the caller it meant the group embraced its rebel image. Similar to 911 dispatchers, she and Parks and Recreation Director Rob Schoeber used information sheets to help answer common inquiries.

"Some people are calling with rumors that they hear," Kadrich said. "'The Banditos were in Red Lodge, and they were all forming in the command center, and then they were coming down to Cody. Is this true?'"

It in fact was not, according to law enforcement meetings she attended and a few phone calls to the police.

Mirroring the talk of the town, callers complained Wednesday and Thursday of overpolicing.

"People who were themselves pulled over, or a friend who was pulled over and they think that was wrong, or some kind of treatment," Kadrich said. "Then what Rob and I try to do is figure out what kind of agency this is and then get them in contact with the person who can help them."

Police Chief Perry Rockvam fielded several, and learned of the tone in many callers' voices.

"We're very sensitive to that," he said via telephone. "We're a tourist community."

Constituents dialed state Rep. Colin Simpson with multiple complaints. They also dialed Colin Simpson the lawyer with business, complaining that the hundreds of police officers in town for the Hells Angels were stopping folks for petty traffic violations. He said traffic stops are difficult to challenge because probable cause is broad, but some potential clients have sought his defense in drunken-driving cases he might take.

Then news reports told of a decrease in police presence, thanks in part to calls made to the right people. Now, callers want the cops back.

"Really, the tenor has changed during the last 24 hours," Schoeber said Friday. "They're calling and saying, 'We don't want you to cut back. We just want to let you know we appreciate what the officers are doing. We know some of the officers aren't doing what you want, but we appreciate them being here.'"

Someone wondered where the police were who once stood near the public library, where bikers apparently sat on a nearby bench. A Cody Nite Rodeo employee requested an increased presence, and three squad cars responded.

A mother said her teenage son was on a United flight, full of Hells Angels coming in from Denver, and wanted to know if some officers would be present. Six more came to the airport.

"I think some people want to feel comforted," Schoeber said.

As the World Run winds down this weekend, Kadrich said city officials will be ready to get back to work after spending seven or eight months preparing for the Hells Angels. The call volume, one would expect, should die down.

Or maybe not.

"The summer's just a busy time," she said. "It's street repair time. It's water line repair time."