Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
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This week, I'm happy to include a letter from one of our staff on the subject of gay marriage. I should say a thing or two about that. Firstly, we welcome letters from anyone who wants to have their voice added to the broader discussion on virtually any topic relevant to this community. That said, if a staffer wants to chime in, I tend to err on the side of featuring their commentary as a column. Given more time, we would have done just that with Georgie Kulczyk's fine letter. In this case, the letter in question is short and was originally...
There was a packed house at the June 17 meeting of the county commissioners. Members of the Valley County Fair Board and individuals from the public spoke for and against a recommendation to the commission that Glasgow resident Gene Hartsock be removed from the board for a list of reasons relating to alleged use of foul language, threatening behavior, and other largely unsubstantiated accusations. All attendees who spoke on the subject allowed that Hartsock has done excellent work for the county and other peripherally related civic...
Former county commissioner Dave Pippin has resigned his position as executive director for Two Rivers Economic Growth after approximately one month in the position. The outgoing director cites adjusted priorities and a desire to be useful to the citizens of Valley County in other ways, particularly in rural areas and elsewhere throughout Valley County and outlying areas. “I like what Two Rivers is doing,” Pippin told the Courier, “but I just want to be more involved in the well-being of our rural areas.” Pippin describes much of the work he...
The Glasgow Reds put in a laudable performance at the Lewistown tournament this weekend with strong hitting and a final loss of 4-3 to the Dickinson Rough Riders for a second place finish. Reds pitcher Keil Krumwiede hit 1-3 during the first game of the series, aiding the team to a 4-1 victory over Great Falls Electrics. Pitcher Kasey Seyfert allowed just two hits, one walk and no earned runs before closer Jason Thibault recorded the save. The second game was a 7-6 victory over the Gallatin Valley Outlaws. Parker Kulczyk hit well for the Reds,...
This will be the first in a series of travel segments focusing on various sections of Valley County and beyond. A special thanks to Glasgow's Dave Pippin for providing insight, personal connections, and transportation. A quartet of area elders headed out early June 12 from Happy Flats in Hinsdale on a mission of general education for the Courier's newest managing editor. The lesson was a profoundly edifying one. The group included Sherman Lacock (79), John Mogan (88), and one of Hinsdale's...
Undersheriff Vernon Buerkle was honored for 37 years of service in the Glasgow area with a Distinguished Career award by the Montana Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association June 11 in Missoula. Buerkle moved to Glasgow from Southeastern Montana 37 years ago to take a job with the Police Department. After 21 years with the GPD, Buerkle moved to the Sheriff's Department, where he has served for 16 years. He has been Undersheriff since October of 2000. Sheriff Meier nominated Buerkle for the award...
Questions and comments from the public at the June 15 City Council meeting put a temporary halt to the passage of Ordinance No. 952 regarding limits on the number of cats and dogs residents can own and maintain within city limits. The proposed number is three animals in any combination, but after objections from concerned citizens, the ordinance was tabled for further consideration. Mayor Erickson took the lead in stating that while the pet owners and shelter operators present at the meeting were more than likely responsible animal caregivers,...
Few things bring up the standard of living more effectively than a really good coffee shop. For residents of Nashua, Park Grove and Fort Peck--as well as a steady stream of Corps workers, tourists, and sportsmen--the living is very good indeed around Stillwater Brew. After securing their location at 9 Stillwater Road near the dam on the way to the Downstream Campground and the Fort Peck Interpretive Center and Museum in 2008, business owners Marlyce and Kiley Braaten opened their smartly...
It was a good week for us here at the Courier, at least when it comes to wins and placement in the Montana Newspaper Association's Better Newspaper Contest Awards for 2015. Our own Sandy Laumeyer took First Place in the Column Writing category. Her submission was titled "The Touch of a Hand." Congratulations, Sandy! The Courier also took Second Place for Best Newspaper Promotional Ad for a selection from our popular special section, "Hi-Line Farm & Ranch." Second Place for Best Sports Story went to former publisher Jim Orr for his entry, "The...
Had a great idea last week. Or rather, Facebook tipped me off to a great idea. There are a lot of potholes around the place generally and someone shared a pic of a flower that had been planted in what appeared to be one of the many road gashes here in town. I loved the idea for the paper and thought I’d loop the city into my scheme by encouraging them to fill one pothole per week for an ongoing series sponsored by Glasgow Flower and Gift. I got our sponsor on board (thanks, GFG!), sent a reporter to place a daisy in a local pothole. She took a...
The Glasgow Reds won their first two home games of the season handily at Bill Connors Field June 3, against the Miles City Mavericks. The score for game 1 was 12-1, with the second game clocking in at 13-2. The stomping was not too much of a surprise to Head Coach Jack Sprague. "They're rebuilding from least season," he explains. "We played well and the scores were a little bit one-sided." Miles City had trouble with numbers, with many players down from what started out this season as a full...
The secrets of local fishing here in Valley County are a mystery to me. Thankfully, local sportsman Gene Moore from Lakeridge Motel and Tackle and Marc Kloker from the FWP have teamed-up to provide me with a balanced (if occasionally oppositional) short course on the ins-and-outs of dredge cuts, tempting bait, and local fishing hotspots. This is the first installment. Enjoy! To begin with, I asked Gene for a little gossip and he delivered the dirt along with a touch of the obvious thrown in for good measure. The typical question for customers...
Glasgow Mayor Becky Erickson invited me to lunch at Sam’s Supper Club for an informal chat May 28. The setting for our meeting clued me in to the fact that I could leave my notebook at the office, as I tend to do when meeting potential subjects of my own reporting on a friendly level around town. I didn’t expect the full court press on stories for the paper, in other words, and I didn’t get it. Erickson’s main concern was personal: “I hope you aren’t finding it difficult to make friends and meet people,” she asked, kindly, during what we both...
Brian James Wiese of Opheim was arrested by officers from the Tri-Agency Drug Task Force and the Valley County Sheriff’s Department May 18 on criminal possession of dangerous drugs charges for methamphetamine (felony) and marijuana (misdemeanor), He is also charged with criminal possession of drug paraphernalia (misdemeanor). As of print time, Wiese is being held in the Valley County Detention Center on $5,000 bail. On the evening of May 22, the Tri-County Drug Task Force and Valley County Sheriff’’s Department arrested Wesley William Cooke...
Our controversial contributor Virgil Vaupel is well known for his curmudgeonly tales spiced with vitriolic viewpoints. I've been here less than a month and there is much we disagree about already. You'll read plenty about that in columns to come. Since he sounds off this week on a subject about which we largely agree (shocker!), I'm taking the opportunity to talk about how much I admire the guy. During a recent lunch at the Cottonwood, Mr. Vaupel raised the bar on my estimation of his talents. For starters, he introduced me to a journalism...
The built-in audience for theatre in this community is an extraordinary thing. Crowds fill the 975-seat theatre in Fort Peck consistently and contentedly. It just isn't like that elsewhere. The only thing that could be better in the way of audience participation can be summed up in a sentence: Don't miss the first show. In any case, the production team behind this current season certainly earns their keep. With a new show every three weeks through Sept. 6, the workload involved would be taxing...
Joe Carson might as well be Joe Peck. He's the closest thing to a living embodiment of everything the town of Fort Peck has come to represent. The affable veteran is calm, stoic but cheerful, and proud of the area that he and his wife Mary Ann have called home since May 2, 1959. His memories are far from sensational. When asked how he feels about the Army so many years after his experiences in World War II, he replies simply and emphatically, "They gave me a good job." It's hard to imagine a...
Astrology columns drive me crazy. People love them, I know, but it's not science. And these things are often in a newspaper, so even though every reader knows full well that the stars are about as reliable as a fortune cookie when it comes to the subject of, say, one's personal destiny, it still looks official somehow. Sanctioned even. That seems ridiculous to me and makes me worry about the state of things generally. One alternative is an astronomy column. I've been hunting around for a few stargazers with a background in actual science to chi...
Congressman Ryan Zinke of Whitefish stopped into Glasgow for a visit with local and regional media, concerned citizens, supporters and schoolkids Thursday, May 7. His message was clear: "I am for local control," he explained generally, in quiet conversation with attendees at Farm Equipment and Sales. Our sole at-large congressional representative, Zinke has made his allegiances plain in the past. He describes himself as, "a Republican," but qualifies the statement by adding that he is "a...
Montana native BilliJo Doll has lived a rich, alternately painful and poignantly interesting life. Mystery, science-fiction, and other variations aside, she has written about her past with honesty and insight. Her 2011 memoir, YeeHaw! Hang On for the Ride: a celebration of life and love, is both forthright and sensitive to the real-life characters who appear in her personal narrative. It's quite a story. And based on true events, as the saying goes. Hers is a story of chronic pain, deep local ro...
A good chunk of my professional background is in film criticism—I have served as a staff critic at home and internationally—but I actually have something better for you in the way of movie reviews. D.K. Holm is a Portland-based film critic and author with the kind of regional respect afforded to old journalistic veterans. His work as a film critic, commentator, and reporter has appeared most notably in Willamette Week and other regional publications in the Pacific Northwest, as well as online, and on the radio. His published works include boo...
At the time of writing, I'm on day four as your new managing editor. I'm happy to be here. Our outgoing editor Bonnie Davidson (she prefers "reporter") has done an extraordinary job along with the rest of the staff of covering controversial subjects and issues that are important to this community and the region. I'll pick up where Davidson leaves off and continue the many rich veins of reporting that she has spearheaded during her two years on the job. If the April 4 city council meeting was... Full story
