Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
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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
The Fort Peck Sailing Club will be hosting their annual Can-Am Regatta this weekend, Aug. 11 – Aug. 13. The events will kick off Friday at 2 p.m., with a sailing seminar on the lake. The seminar will be open to the public for, “anyone curious about sailboat racing in general.” Following the seminar at 6 p.m., will be the “on shore dinner” or potluck at the sailing barn. Saturday, Aug. 12, will launch the competition with registration beginning at 8 a.m., at the Marina and races starting around 10 a.m., going through 5 p.m. Saturday night, the c... Full story
The campaign “Vote Yes Valley View” has made headway in their efforts to pass a special hospital tax district for Valley View Home. As of press time, the organization has held six informational meetings in Opheim, Nashua, Fort Peck, Hinsdale, Frazer and at Valley View Home, with meetings still to come in St. Marie, Glasgow (during the NE Montana Fair) and Lustre. The organization has also acquired over 200 signatures towards the 600 to 800 needed to add the measure to next year’s Spring ballot. According to Petition Chair for the Valley View... Full story
The Lodgepole Complex fire continues to devour range land, homes, and farms in Garfield and Petroleum Counties, approximately 52 miles northeast of Jordan. At press time, the fires had consumed more than 250,000 acres and 16 homes across four different close burning fires, dubbed the Bridge Coulee, Barker, South Breaks and Square Butte fires, which make up the Lodgepole Complex fires. The fire had started just some six days prior on July 19. A release on the fire said that, "Firefighters were... Full story
The United States Attorney's Office announced that Toni Louise Plummer-Alvernaz was sentenced to one year in prison, $246,024 in restitution and a $100 special assessment for her involvement in a long running embezzlement scheme involving two northeast Montana charities. The sentencing occurred on July 14, before U.S. District Chief Judge Dana Christensen in Great Falls. Plummer had been the director for the Montana Native Women's Coalition and the Women's Resource Center in Glasgow. The... Full story
Organizers for the campaign to “Vote Yes Valley View Home” are hosting informational meetings around the county throughout July. Meetings have already occurred in Hinsdale (July 10) and Opheim (July 12). Future meetings will be held on July 13, at 6:30 p.m., at the Nashua Senior Citizens Center; July 18, at 7 p.m., at the Fort Peck Interpretive Center; July 19, at 4 p.m., and July 25, at 7 p.m., at Valley View Home in Glasgow; July 25, at 1 p.m., at Frazer High School; Aug. 1, at 6 p.m., at the St. Marie Town Hall and Aug. 6, at 8 p.m., at Lus... Full story
U.S. Congressman for Montana Greg Gianforte left his weekend schedule on July 8, to meet with local farmers, ranchers, agriculture industry supporters, implement dealers and the meteorologist-in-charge of National Weather Service Glasgow. Hosted by Farm Equipment Sales CEO Sarah Swanson, the intent of the meeting appeared two-fold. First, those Ag producers present focused on the drought conditions in northeastern Montana, and the foreseeable consequences. Second, they discussed regulations and... Full story
Co-chairs of the Valley View Home Long Term Care Task Force, Don Fast and Tom Markle, sat down with the Courier to discuss the sustainability of Valley View Home, and their proposed solution to operating a deficit. Established in March of 2017, the task force was charged with fixing the viability of Valley View Home in order to guarantee its success into the foreseeable future. In short, their solution in the long term to funding shortages at the home is to establish a “special hospital district” in order to fund the facility’s operations and m... Full story
With Northeast Montana experiencing its worst drought on record for June, the need to be extremely cautious with fire, fireworks and other fire hazards has grown substantially this summer. According to Crystal Beckman of the Montana Department of Natural Resource Conservation, the need to be cautious with fire safety cannot be stressed enough, “even the smallest spark has the potential to cause significant damage.” Beckman added that, “Fireworks are prohibited on state and federal lands; some counties and cities may have bans on firew... Full story
In 1957, brothers Darrell and Gene Morehouse opened the doors to their new sporting goods store. Originally located at the site of Holly and Co. in downtown Glasgow, they moved to their present location on 2nd Ave in 1962. Darrell Morehouse (Dale’s son) said of his father and uncle, “They just really loved hunting and fishing and there weren’t any good sporting goods stores in town at the time, so they opened their own.” In 1963, Dale purchased Gene’s share of the store, and in 1976, built a new store/building at the present location.... Full story
When we sat down with Dr. Scott Croft at his new office in Frances Mahon Deaconess Hospital, he was excited to skip talking about himself and move on to talking about the advances the orthopedic surgery department at FMDH was making. "We are doing surgeries that have never been done before at FMDH," explained Croft before telling the Courier that the hospital had taken on the task of updating the operating room table in order to accommodate the new operations. The first of the new operations Dr.... Full story
Valley County and the city of Glasgow saw a string of driving under the influence of alcohol cases over the weekend. Two DUI cases in the county involved vehicle crashes with one DUI occurring in the city limits. The first crash occurred on June 2, at 9 p.m., near the Milk River Bridge on Tampico Road. The driver, who is alleged to have been under the influence, collided with a truck pulling a camper trailer. No serious injuries were reported. Sheriff Vernon Buerkle commented, “It’s a miracle there were no serious injuries in that crash.” The s... Full story
On June 2, the Children's Museum in downtown Glasgow held a fundraiser, dubbed the 2nd Annual "School's Out Carnival." The event featured a street style fair with an inflatable water slide, games and activities for elementary and preschool-aged kids. With a total of 20 volunteers, the event brought in an estimated $1,000 to go to the museum. According to Haylie Shipp, notable additions to the carnival this year were the Salsbery Brothers' water slide and the Nemont Cooperative milk cow, both of... Full story
Despite being embattled by an alleged assault involving a member of the press, Bozeman entrepreneur Greg Gianforte won Montana’s sole U.S. House of Representatives seat in the May 25 special election. Facing opponents Democrat Rob Quist and Libertartian Mark Wicks, Gianforte received roughly 50 percent of the vote. In Valley County, he took home 62 percent of the vote or 1,902 out of 3,028 total votes. Quist received 855 votes and Wicks received 270 with one write-in vote cast. Only 18 percent of voters in the county cast ballots on election d... Full story
The Fort Peck Summer Theater will open their 48th annual season with Joseph Kesselring’s Arsenic and Old Lace. Directed by Heather Adams (director and choreographer of FPST hits Mary Poppins, Always, Patsy Cline, A Grand Night for Singing and The Music Man), this performance will showcase the talents of Pam L. Veis and Pat Sibley as the Brewster Sisters. An American classic, this dark comedy is sure to please. FPST bills the performance stating, “Laughs ensue, as a pair of lovable, spinster sisters ‘assist’ lonely elderly gentlemen by serving... Full story
It saddens me that this week we will memorialize a father, a husband and a Broadwater County Sheriff Deputy whose life was taken at far too young of an age. This being May, it is also the month of memorializing those who served and gave their lives in battle for this country. Not to make this about myself, but I served three tours over seas with the Marine Corps, and after returning to Montana, I tried my hand in law enforcement for a few months before taking the National Guard Recruiting job here in Glasgow. I will say that the two jobs -...
When we reached Mark Wicks by phone, he took a break at his Inverness cattle ranch. “I like to try to get a little work done,” he joked, adding, “I need to check my cows and make sure they’re where I left them.” From there, we started in on questions relevant to the Libertarian candidate’s bid for Montana’s at-large congressional district seat. Asked about the American Prairie Reserve’s attempts to introduce “free-roaming” bison in Northeast Montana, Wicks responded, “It worries me.” “As a rancher, I’m in a position where I could have the same... Full story
