Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
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Taryn Stebleton has served in the Valley County Clerk and Recorder’s Office for four years. In that time, she has gained experience with payroll and certifying elections while working her way up to her current role as Deputy Clerk and Recorder. Stebleton was born in Great Falls, but has roots in Valley County. Born to a pair of Hinsdale High School graduates, Stebleton has spent the majority of her adult life working and living in the area. Stebleton began working at the Clerk and Recorder’s Office in 2014 and says it’s a job she is passi... Full story
Ashley Stephenson has worked as a Certified Nursing Assistant, Medication Technician and the Memory Care Unit Coordinator at Valley View for eight years. In that time, she has worked hard to make the memory care unit, where they care for patients with dementia and Alzheimer's, at Valley View Home a better place to live. Stephenson has worked to implement "memory boxes" which use memorabilia from a resident's life to calm and divert residents who may experience anxiety or other reactions to... Full story
After a six year hiatus, a large number of supporters were drawn to the Cottonwood Inn on March 16 for the Valley County Lincoln Reagan Dinner. Glasgow native Aaron Flint, host of the conservative talk radio show Montana Talks, served as emcee and carried a sense of positive energy albeit with maybe one too many Hillary Clinton references. In hopes of wooing donors and winning votes, the night featured Republican candidates looking to secure the Party's nominations for U.S. Senate, public... Full story
Valley View Nursing Home hired Navy Veteran Frank "Wes" Thompson to take over as the permanent administrator for the home. Thompson will be the first permanent administrator to fill the role at Valley View since the dismissal of Health Management Services in early 2017. Prior to the hiring of Thompson, the position was held by interim administrators Judy Melin and Kent Hanawalt. Thompson, a native of Texas, joined the Navy out of High School as a Corpsman, or medic. After serving some time... Full story
When forced to take their toddler daughter to the emergency room on Oct. 10, 2017, the last thing on the minds of Lacey Brelje, and her husband, was to grab a phone charger. But, hours later they sat with their other toddler in the ER waiting room unable to inform their family of their problem or to get a ride home for the uninjured child. It was that moment that Brelje started thinking of things her employer, Nemont Wireless, could do to help the situation. "It happened around bedtime,"... Full story
Following the March 12 deadline to file as a candidate in Montana’s November election for House District 33, which covers Malta to Glasgow, and 34, which covers Glasgow north to Scobey and around to Cubertson, were decided by default as the candidates ran uncontested for the election. As a result, Casey Knudsen will remain the representative for House District 33 and Rhonda Knudsen will replace her son, Austin Knudsen, as House District 34’s representative.... Full story
Dana Nixdorf has worked at Valley View Nursing Home since 2004 with a few exceptions. Following last years change in management she returned to take over as the Director of Nursing (DON). She sat down with the Courier to talk about the implementation of a new nursing apprenticeship program being launched at the home, a program she believes will draw people into the nursing profession as well as let Valley View invest in their employees and improve long-term retention. The apprenticeship was... Full story
Erika Bengochea was recently appointed as the President of the Valley View Home Foundation Board following the expired term of Ken Jansa of Valley Bank. Other changes to the foundation board include the installment of Mike Slaats of All Seasons Hardware as vice president; Lori Viste of First Community Bank as secretary and treasurer, and the addition of Teresa Breipohl to the board. Other board members include Opheim farmer Jeff Larson and Arron Franzen of First Community Bank. Bengochea, a native of Glasgow and co-owner of United Insurance... Full story
The last week for law enforcement was uneventful according to accounts coming from the Valley County Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff Vernon Buerkle reported that a vehicle roll-over occurred outside Hinsdale on Sunday afternoon at around 2:31 pm. According to Sheriff Buerkle an off-duty Highway Patrol trooper and retired Valley County sheriff were traveling on U.S. Highway 2 east of Hinsdale when they saw the vehicle in the ditch. The two decided to investigate more closely, and discovered the driver was still in the vehicle. Sheriff Buerkle s... Full story
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
