Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
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Mary Armstrong filed for the Valley County Commissioner race last week. She becomes the seventh candidate for the county job, joining ArlIe Gordon, Mike Carney, Renee Clampitt, Todd Young, Jim Uphaus, and Gilbert Mogan. If you ask Armstrong to describe her response is simple:. "I'm an engineer," she said, "and I don't take anything for granted." "I don't want to speak for the current board members," she told the Courier, " but I believe the land use is well represented and roads and county are w... Full story
Jay Witkowski was sentenced to 40 years in the Montana State Prison for his role in an attempted escape from the Valley County Detention Center on Feb. 20, 2017. Witkowski pleaded guilty to felony aggravated kidnapping as part of a plea deal arrangement. Witkowski was on trial for murder at the time of his attempted escape involving one other inmate at the jail. According to Sheriff Vernon Buerkle the two were never free from the jail complex but were in control of a jail employee for 19 minutes during the attempt. Witkowski was sentenced to... Full story
Anyone paying attention the last week has no doubt seen the Oxford study floating around that listed the top ten most “middle of nowhere” places in the country. Glasgow was fortunate enough to take the first place spot, and I was musing over the implications of such distinction. First off, we all already knew what they put out. Glasgow is pretty remote, pretty isolated, and pretty much amazing for that very reason. The breathing room is remarkable, and the random encounters with the ignorance of the rest of the world are more remote. Yeah, I lo...
In a Feb. 5 decision in Valley County District Court, Judge Yvonne Laird ordered Patrick Kelly, formerly of St Marie and President of the Saint Marie Development Corporation (SMDC), to pay to New St. Marie, LLC, owner Michael Mitchell a total of $12,518,734.60 for damages, interests and payments made for being found liable of fraud and breach of contract. Kelly had countersued Mitchell, but the Judge denied each of Kelly’s claims. According to Court papers Kelly had served on SMDC’s board of directors since its inception in 2002, following ban... Full story
Speaker of the Montana State House, Austin Knudsen, will be unable to run for his current seat in 2018 do to eight year term limits. In his place, Rhonda Knudsen, his mother, has become Montana House District 34’s next Republican hopeful. At press time, Knudsen was the only candidate filed to run in the district. The Courier reached Rhonda Knudsen to talk about her motivation for running, her policy priorities, and her experiences. A lifelong resident of Roosevelt County, Knudsen graduated from Culbertson High School, became a civil e... Full story
Strommen Talks Priorities A.J. Etherington FOR The Courier Luke Strommen, the current Undersheriff and nine-year veteran of the Valley County Sheriff's Office, has filed to run for Valley County Sheriff in the Spring election. So far, he is running uncontested. Strommen sat down for an interview with the Courier last week to talk about his vision, priorities and motivations for seeking Valley County's top law enforcement post. A native of the area Strommen's ties to the county run deep.. As a... Full story
One day after Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded the Obama era Cole Memo, directing federal prosecutors to focus resources away from cannabis related offenses that followed existing state laws, U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana Kurt Alme issued a statement indicating the impact this has on Montanans who own medical marijuana dispensaries and those who use medical marijuana. Alme told the Courier that Sessions' announcement would not directly affect Montana, as other laws still exist that protect medical marijuana. Clarifying, he... Full story
Valley County Sheriff's Office reported the recovery of a stolen vehicle the evening of Dec. 23, in Nashua. After noticing the suspicious vehicle on Saturday evening, the Valley County deputy ran the license plate and identified the vehicle as a stolen car out of Plentywood. While the vehicle was parked at a Nashua residence, the deputy surveilled the vehicle until the driver, Angela Sorenson, returned. Upon her return, the deputy than detained her and later placed her under arrest. Sorenson... Full story
Former Nashua mayor Pat Hallett remembers the conversations involving the initial planning for an overpass near Nashua being centered on safety and time delays. By her account, the need for an alternative route over the railroad tracks was needed for multiple reasons, but mostly for emergency services. Montana Department of Transportation’s Glendive District Administrator Shane Mitz also remembers safety being the primary concern, citing the trains are on the tracks for an excess of 30 minutes. The reasoning being the need for police, e... Full story
Local Girl Scout Brownies (ages 8-9) from Troop 2244 sought to broaden their understanding of their home state by earning the State of Montana Badge over the past few weeks. The endeavor included studying up on the states geography by reading maps and identifying places such as the State Capital, Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks and even the Continental Divide. The girls familiarized themselves with the State's many symbols ranging from the state bird, the Western Meadowlark, to the state... Full story
Cathryn Reitler is the upcoming featured Artist of the Month at Wheatgrass Arts and Gallery in downtown Glasgow. A well known local working artist, Reitler has been a staple of Northeast Montana's art scene for some years with displays at local events, the regional fairs and the recent Wild Bunch Art Show. Her work features realistic scenes of Northeast Montana landscapes and wildlife in mixed media with relics of the region, ranging from vintage maps, old glass bottles and rusted oil cans, to... Full story
A number of years ago, Lustre’s Jason and Stephanie Brown traveled to Haiti to adopt twins, and in the process met a young man by the name of Sandro, who was translating for the adoption agency. Recognizing his potential, the couple invited Sandro, who had self taught himself English and Spanish, back to Lustre to attend the local Lustre Christian High School as an international student. Following his graduation in 2014, Sandro began attending Liberty University, majoring in developmental psychology and counseling and minoring in biblical s... Full story
After 53 years of service to Northeast Montana, Farm Equipment Sales has announced that a letter of intent to sell has been signed with C&B Operations, LLC, headquartered in Gettysburg, S.D. In a press release, FES President and CEO Marc Swanson relayed comments made to employees stating, “After 53 years, we are excited to announce our alliance with C&B Operations, one of the nation’s largest and most successful John Deere dealer organizations. This partnership will ensure that all of our customers, employees, and communities have the con... Full story
In an Oct. 18, press call with Montana’s rural journalists, US Senator Jon Tester touted the agenda that he has worked to pass in gridlocked Washington. The Big Sandy Farmer opened about farm bill meetings he had held throughout the state, and then pivoted to tout border security, wildfire management, and the opioid crisis as more pressing issues. “There are folks out there who aren’t our friends and we need to protect both the northern and the southern borders of our nation,” remarked Tester adding that, “as the ranking member on the Senate Ho... Full story
In the past two weeks, two former Presidents, two current Republican Senators, and sleuth of commentators have railed against the “current state of political discourse.” I presently am doing the same thing here in this column, and that resounding chorus seems to fall on deaf ears. My question, as it were, is that following a remarkable few weeks culminating with the arrest of, not one, but three former campaign advisers to Donald Trump, one of which plead guilty already, will the Republican Party change in the coming months? Will the party of...
John Heenan of Billings has announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for Montana's sole U.S. House of Representatives seat. Currently, the seat is held by Greg Gianforte of Bozeman. Gianforte has already filed for reelection to the position. Heenan is a husband, father of four, and restauranteur in addition to being a consumer protection lawyer. He writes on his website, "I've spent my entire law career helping people stand up against powerful banks, insurance companies, and... Full story
Business executive and California Air National Guard Veteran Troy Downing is seeking the Republican nomination to challenge Jon Tester for U.S. Senate. A political newcomer, Downing enlisted in the Air National Guard following the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, and served two tours in Afghanistan. Downing grew up in California. After high school, he attended New York University, where he earned a degree in Information Technology. He then developed a startup company in California before relocating... Full story
The Boy Scouts of America made what many seemed to think was a controversial announcement this past week. The National Scouting Office said that they would open the Cub Scout and Eagle Scout path to girls. This seemed to shock some and it lifted what has been a long-time barricade for girls in scouting. The announcement had been signaled for some time, and in my opinion is a great thing for scouting, boys and girls. To dampen the scandal scouting has had coed programs since the early seventies with Venturing and Sea Scouts, and in fact the...
On Oct. 5, Larry Edward Gilbert II appeared at the Valley County Courthouse to face charges for multiple crimes, including assault with a weapon and criminal endangerment as well as lesser charges such as criminal mischief with damages in excess of $1,500, carrying a concealed weapon, criminal possession of dangerous drugs, and criminal possession of drug paraphernalia, in relation to a December 27, 2016 incident on Glasgow’s south side. A Valley County jury found Gilbert not guilty of four felony charges, but did convict on misdemeanor c... Full story
Following a recent market appraisal of $50,000, the Valley County Commissioners have decided to hold a public auction of the Magruder property (also known as the farmer’s market) on Oct. 25 at 9:30 a.m. at the Valley County Courthouse. The property comprises three lots along the south side of Highway 42 heading towards Fort Peck inside the Glasgow city limits. Recent concrete walkway renovations have improved use and have facilitated the seasonal farmers market held there on Saturdays. Sources indicate that the farmer’s market may be moved to... Full story
Jay Witkowski, who was convicted of murdering Evelynn Garcia (31) on New Years Eve of 2016, was sentenced Monday by the 17th District Court in Glasgow to 80 years in Prison with the possibility of parole in 20 years. Witkowski had arranged a plea agreement in which he was to receive 70 years for the December 31 murder and ten consecutive years for the use of a dangerous weapon. In order to qualify for parole Witkowski will need to complete his sentencing requirements. Those requirements... Full story
Montana’s congressional delegation recently issued statements claiming success in helping to convince Verizon Wireless not to expel numerous users across rural Montana from their cell service. Verizon had initially stated they would terminate the contracts of rural customers who used too much data, despite these customers having an unlimited contract through Verizon. Congressman Greg Gianforte said in a press release, “Verizon’s decision to reverse its plan to cancel contracts and leave hundreds of Montanans without cell service is a win for o... Full story
With 61 percent of the total number of voters participating, Valley View Home claimed a win in the Sept. 7 election to approve a temporary mill levy to fund the home over the next two years. With final vote totals counted, 1,571 people supported the levy, and 1,154 voted against the measure. The ten mill levy will raise roughly $300,000 a year for the nursing home over the next two years, and will increase tax payer burdens by $13.50 per $100,000 of property value per year. The generated revenue is to be used for operating expenses and... Full story
Jury selection for the Jay Witkowski murder trial has begun. 109 jurors have been summoned in the case. Witkowski is charged with the New Year’s Eve murder of Evelyn Garcia. Officials stressed that jury selection in the case will be overly crowded, and discretion should be used in deciding whether to attend the court proceedings over the next couple of days. The Valley County Sheriff’s Office is reporting that they are investigating, in cooperation with Roosevelt County Sheriff’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, an incid... Full story
The Valley County Sheriff’s Office reported that they had a rather uneventful four days at the Northeast Montana Fair. Sheriff Verne Buerkle told the Courier, “We were really glad to see the large crowds at the fair, and we had no major problems.” The Sheriff did say that a few “disturbances,” mostly fights, occurred and that there were a few missing children, but everything turned out in the end. The Sheriff also addressed the parking issue at the fair grounds stating, it was something his office was going to work on in the future. The Glasg... Full story
