Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
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City Wages: The Glasgow City Council overhauled the way they pay employees at the meeting on July 20. The vote to change the city from the traditional pay scale to a “wage matrix” was split four to two with Rod Karst and Dan Carr voting against the measure and Butch Heitman, Stan Ozark, Doug Nistler and Todd Young voting in favor. Months of preparation were needed to hash out details and set employee wages. The new matrix will establish periodic wage increases for employees and add the ability to provide an incentive bump based on per...
The Glasgow Kiwanis Swim Team traveled to Lewistown on July 18 and 19 where they claimed second place, behind first-place Lewistown, competing with the western teams of the eastern division. The teams competing were Malta, Chinook, Harlem, Lewistown, Roundup and Glasgow. The Thunder traveled with 26 athletes out of 150 total swimming in the weekend. From here the Thunder will head to Sidney on July 25 and 26 for the season closeout meet for the eastern division. There is no scheduled state meet this year due to public health restrictions. Head...
The Glasgow City Council is in the process of passing a new city ordinance to increase penalties associated with weedy lots. Ordinance No. 968 will amend the city’s already existing weed ordinance to increase fees for non-compliance in an effort to increase compliance with the lot standards. Currently, nuisance weeds are deemed any weed, grass, wild vegetation and any uncared for vegetation that grows to a height in excess of eight inches and any vegetation that poses a fire hazard inside the city limits. Under the current system, a notice i...
Frances Mahon Deaconess Hospital reported in a press release on July 9, that zero of the 256 participants in the county’s surveillance testing on June 25 tested positive for the coronavirus. “Frances Mahon Deaconess Hospital and the Valley County Health Department are happy to report that 100 percent of the asymptomatic COVID-19 tests run at the Community Snapshot testing event at the NE MT Fairgrounds on 06/25/20 are NEGATIVE,” read the press release. At the time of the tests, there were no reported cases of COVID-19 in Valley County and healt... Full story
A jury of 12 found ex-Valley County undersheriff Luke Strommen guilty of sexual intercourse without consent in the afternoon hours of July 17, 2020 at Valley County District Court. The State's case had argued that Strommen began raping a 14-year-old girl while she stayed in a hotel room with the family in Great Falls in September of 2009. In the night, Strommen initiated digital intercourse and continued to repeatedly meet the girl to rape her throughout the course of the following months to yea...
The Valley County Health Department reported an additional case of COVID-19 infection in the county on July 1. According to a joint press release from Frances Mahon Deaconess Hospital and the health department, the fourth Valley County related case is an asymptomatic “male in his 30s who is not hospitalized and is isolating at home.” The department also said the case was identified through contact tracing and the man had been quarantining prior to receiving the test result. The health department is following up with people who had close con... Full story
The Governor of Montana Steve Bullock announced in a July 2 press conference his plan for reopening schools in the fall. Citing the reliance students and parents have on schools for nutrition, socialization and education, and the health benefits of having children in schools, the governor and Lt. Governor Mike Cooney announced that reopening public schools is a top priority. Similar to the rest of Montana, the school plan will also follow a three-phased approach to reopening that aligns with the same phase as the state. So, as the state... Full story
The Glasgow Thunder stayed home this past weekend, but did not have to host the latest West of the East meet. That privilege fell to Harlem whose pool is out of commission for the time being, so their swim team has been hitting the road this season. In total, six teams made the trip or stayed home to partake in the Fourth of July competition in Glasgow. According to Thunder head coach Ethan Shrader, the meet was a success for the team as athletes shaved seconds off their time, completed races...
July 1 Update: Since the publication of this story, an additional lab-confirmed case of COVID-19 has been identified in Valley County. Case #4 is a male in his 30s who is not hospitalized and is isolating at home. The case was identified through contact tracing and had been undergoing quarantine. The individual does not have symptoms. Valley County reported two lab-confirmed cases of Covid-19 on June 28. Both cases affect Valley County residents currently in the county. According to county health officer Dr. Anne Millard, the two cases were inf... Full story
People lined up an hour early June 25, to be the first in line to be tested for coronavirus during the county's first surveillance testing event at the county fairgrounds. In total, Frances Mahon Deaconess Hospital tested 256 individuals for the disease over a five-hour period in a statewide effort to detect the virus in asymptomatic people. Assisting FMDH was the Montana National Guard, who supplied 14 soldiers and airmen to help control traffic, distribute information and collect and... Full story
When Valley County Sheriff Deputy Jesse Vaughn responded to a call about a man in dark clothes walking northbound along Highway 117 between Fort Peck and Nashua in the evening hours of June 9, it was like every other call, that is to say, he had no idea what to expect. When he found the man in the dark and approached him it did not go according to plan. Vaughn told the Courier, at first he was trying to help the man find a safe alternative to walking in the dark, but after some awkward...
Valley County recorded its first COVID-19 case last week. According to the health department, a local man in his 60s tested positive for the disease while he was outside of Valley County and is being isolated in the county he tested positive in. At press time, no further information had been released about the case to include how long he had been out of the area before testing positive and how many suspected contacts he may have had with local residents while infected. According to the press release, they were working to identify and contact “a... Full story
It is no secret that Glasgow’s roads are in disrepair. A drive down 2nd Street South will confirm a stretch riddled in potholes, dugouts and cracks. For years the city has contended with the quick pace of roads crumbling and decaying while revenues drop and resources dwindle. Director of Public Works Rob Kompel and Glasgow Mayor Becky Erickson sat down with the Courier to discuss the city’s 2020 plan for roads and to lament the lack of money to rectify the situation. To illustrate the problem, Kompel presented a series of past year revenue to...
The Glasgow Kiwanis Swim Team Thunder hosted the western half of northeast Montana's Federation Swimmers on June 20 and 21 at Hoyt Park for the season opener. Traveling to Glasgow were dozens of swimmers and spectators from Lewistown, Roundup, Chinook and Malta. Highlighting the weekend, head coach Ethan Schrader,provided the following standouts: Haylly Turner, 15 years old, swam her best 50-meter Freestyle in a time of 32.33 and took first in the event. She also took fourth in the 100-meter...
The Glasgow City Council moved one step closer to adding a resolution to the November general election ballot that would allow residents to raise chickens inside the city’s limits. The motion to draft a resolution for both chickens and to eliminate the ward-based city council with an at-large city council, were first discussed and passed last week in a working session on June 10 and were finalized at the June 15 regular city council meeting. The move will allow the city attorney to go forward with drafting a ballot resolution that would put t...
A primary record 62.71 percent of the registered voting population in Valley County cast ballots in the all-mail state primary on June 2. In total, 2,943 of 4,693 voters cast their ballots with 686 cast for Democrats, seven for the Green party and 2,250 cast for Republicans. In local races, Casey Knudsen held on to his nomination over challenger Joyce Stone across HD 33. Stone managed to carry the portions of the District that reside in Valley County by 53 votes (493 to 440). She lost the overall bid significantly as Knudsen carried 68 percent...
Glasgow native Ethan Shrader has returned to the Bonnie City for the summer to take on the head coach role for the Glasgow Kiwanis Swim Team. Shrader, who currently teaches English at Butte Central High School, said he took the job after Michelle Huntsman asked him to apply to the open position. Shrader has been a competitive swimmer since he was six years old and first showed up for the GKST Thunder some 22 years ago. He has raced or coached in some way ever since and even went on to swim...
For the Valley County Landfill, illegal dumping is not a new thing. In fact, an article in the Courier from 1995 and an article in the Good Evening Glasgow in 2000 each address illegal dumping or the assessment of fees for dumping “above and beyond household garbage” at sanitary landfills around the county. The issue has been so widespread in fact, that the first camera monitoring systems went in 20 years ago and the fees—the exact same ones in place today—were established around that same time. “We just didn’t put any teeth into them,” expl...
They were short but not sweet. They were not loud or flashy. And, due to the state of the world, they were not even crowded. Rather, they were quiet and solemn; humble yet proud; filled with the dignity and respect befitting the men and women the veterans of Valley County were duty bound to honor this past Monday-the ones that never came home. After laying flags on the gravesites of veterans that have passed on May 22, the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3107 and American Legion Post 41 regrouped...
It was, by all accounts, a beautiful day on May 20. Temps had soared into the 80s, the dew point was high and the wind was low. So, Joe Simmons decided to take his dogs for some exercise. He had just returned at about 9:15 p.m., put the dogs in the kennel and went to go inside. Just about the time he was putting his hand on the garage doorknob to open the door, he heard a roaring sound and turned to look out the carport opening to see his boat blow by in the wind. Just about that same time he...
“I don’t like going around asking for free publicity,” explained Casey Knudsen, speaking to the Courier about why it had taken so long to do the interview. “It’s hard right now to go around asking for money from people and asking for free publicity is like asking you for money.” Knudsen is currently the sitting representative for Montana House District 33 which spans from Havre to Glasgow mostly north of Highway 2 until it hits the Glasgow area where it encompasses a large portion of Glasgow’s westside to Highland Drive. Knudsen was elected i...
Glasgow Mayor Becky Erickson teamed up with the Montana Aviation Research Company and TC Energy to fund an essential item giveaway on May 14. The event stuffed 400 plastic totes with items like laundry detergent, bleach, disinfectants, dish soap, Dial soap bars, toilet bowl cleaner, a cloth, deodorant, shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes, paper towels, facial tissues and first aid kits. All 400 totes were given away in just about an hour. According to Erickson, cars had started lining up for the...
The residents of the Glasgow School District delivered a decisive victory to its students, teachers, staff and administration in the vote for the school’s general operating levy on May 5. With a vote margin of 214 votes, the district’s levy passed with 1,049 voting yes and 835 voting no. Seventeen ballots were turned in where the voter did not vote one way or the other for the levy making the total number of ballots cast 1,901. It is the first time since 2015 that the voters in the district approved a general levy. Also on the ballot were two...
Glasgow natives Brenner and Jason Flaten snatched the first-place prize at the 2020 Yellowstone Challenge Catfish Tournament this past weekend. The tournament, which was founded by one of this year's champions, Jason Flaten, in 2007, takes place along the Yellowstone and is headquartered at Cowboys Bar in Huntley, Mont. This year 51 boats took over the waters of America's longest free-flowing river to net massive cats, but only one team could become the champs. The Flatens managed a basket of 29...
It was May 11, primary ballots had just arrived, and Kevin Taylor was looking forward to voting for his candidate of choice in the Montana HD 33 representative race, but there was a problem. Taylor's preferred candidate was not on his ballot. Figuring he must have gotten a state-wide ballot and would later get the local ballot he filled out his votes and returned it by mail. Then he talked to Valley County Republican Central Committee Chair Sara Swanson about the vote, asking if he would see...
