Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
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Spring is still late. Mostly it's missing, perhaps playing hookie. I feel like a broken record. Seriously, more snow?? We had another 6" of cold white yuck last Thursday night. The highway was solid ice Friday morning. And there's more of that nastiness coming according to my cheerful mate who keeps checking the forecasts. My sympathies go out to everyone living in flood zones. At least we can hope that the majority of the grasshoppers eggs got washed away. I did get out to my storage shed last...
It’s almost Earth Day, when people around the world focus on ways of protecting and preserving the environment. And the lessons from this occasion can be applied to other areas of life — such as investing. Here are some themes to consider: • Sustainability – From an environmental perspective, sustainability encompasses a range of issues, such as using natural resources wisely. As an investor, you, too, need to protect your resources. So, for example, to sustain a long-term investment strategy, you won’t want to dip into your retiremen...
I despise printers. They’re finicky, they’re expensive to run, and they encourage wasteful behaviors such as printing documents which could more conveniently remain digital. There is a type of printer however which I do have a self-professed soft spot for. It allows you to print objects, shapes, artwork; almost anything providing it’s small enough for your machine to handle. 3D printers are much, much more interesting, as with a 3D printer we’re able to do more than simply make physical copies of things you’re going to email anyway. Now way b...
Finally! We're getting some spring weather. The snow is melting. There's mud everywhere. Of course, as deep as the drifts are up here north of the middle of nowhere, we're going to be looking at and working around mud for a while yet. But there's hope of gardening budding in my heart. The seeds I've started are still growing. More of them are sprouting as well. Some are slow starters (looking at you, seed onions!). The snow has receded from my storage shed, so perhaps this week I'll retrieve at...
Here we are, suffering through yet another winter event even though the calendar tells us it’s spring. It’s so depressing to see more snow blowing sideways through the yard. Yesterday the highway up here was bare. Today we’re back to a total mess: patches of wet, flowed by slush, followed by snow-pack, followed by slushy drifts, soon to be followed by ice. There are long sections where none of the dividing lines on the road are visible because of the build-up of snow/slush. The fog isn’t helping at all. I have finally put some seeds into so...
We’re surrounded here in 2023, by so much technology. In some cases, when we count the smart devices, our connected homes, portables and wearables; quite literally surrounded. While in many ways it makes our day to day simpler, there’s also a strong argument that too much technology has a tangible negative effect on our lives. How much then is too much when it comes to electronic doodads? When do the devices which we rely upon for entertainment, planning, and generally keeping our lives in order start to have a negative effect instead? Tec...
By definition, business owners put a lot of their financial resources into their enterprises. But as an owner, you may need to invest in more than inventories and payroll to help achieve the future you’ve envisioned. Here are a few investments you may want to consider: • Retirement account – Depending on the nature of your business and how many employees you have, you can choose from a variety of tax-advantaged retirement plans, such as an owner-only 401(k), an SEP-IRA and a SIMPLE IRA. By contributing regularly to one of these accounts, you ca...
It’s no secret nowadays that people who choose technology as a career are likely to find themselves in demand. As more and more of our world converts to the digital, we need a growing pool of talent which is able to write the programs and apps which we run our daily lives on. These programing languages are powerful, plentiful and offer top dollar to those able to wield them effectively. Why do computers need a special language though, and where does someone even begin when starting out learning to write, or code, them? Computers operate u...
Becoming part of a blended family can certainly be rewarding. Of course, as is the case in all families, there will be challenges, one of which is financial. A blended family must deal with some specific financial issues, so it’s a good idea to become familiar with them. In particular, consider these areas: • Separate or joint accounts? – Should your two family units combine all your finances or maintain separate accounts? There’s no one correct answer for everyone, because this issue has emotional and psychological components to it, as well...
The official meaning of hiatus is "a pause or gap in a sequence, series, or process." I've been on an extended hiatus from gardening. Perhaps there's a word for this extension (forced vacation? jail sentence?), which I need, since I'd say this winter has been much more than a pause or gap. It's a yawning chasm, not a gap! Right now I'm doing my best to ignore all the snow outside my door. Those big drifts have compacted downwards quite a bit. The scratching noise from the lilac tree outside our...
Editor’s Note: This is part five of a five part series regarding e-cigarettes. The first part was printed in the Feb. 22 edition, the second part was printed in the March 1 edition, the third part was printed in the March 8 edition and the fourth part was printed in the March 15 edition. As a parent, you can make a lasting impression by staying open to continuing the conversation. Many teens are interested in learning more facts about e-cigarettes. If they aren’t familiar with FDA’s “The Real Cost” Youth E-Cigarette Prevention Campaign,...
With the closing of the Sugar Beet facility in Sidney brings to mind all of the sugar beet dumps located along the Hi-Line area. How many remember local train depots that had facilities for dumping beets for shipment, or the prisoners of war that were housed at the old airport facility. I understand that these “prisoners” were marched to our downtown area to be taken to the sugar beet fields to provide labor. If you remember sugar beets, you may remember one of the tools used in harvesting these beets, these sugar beet knife...
As we continue to add technology to our lives in new an interesting ways, we need to be equally innovative in the ways that we power those devices. One option, while not exactly a new concept but steadily progressing in its effectiveness, is solar power. We’ve been harnessing the potential of light to power devices like calculators for decades, how much more difficult could it be to scale it up and power larger stuff? Well as anyone who’s ever bought those barely functional, solar-powered garden lights knows, it’s not quite as simple as that....
Here I am, complaining about the weather again. But I feel like I'm in good company on that front: who isn't sick of winter by now? Could we please have at least a full week of no snow, sunny skies, and very little wind? I'm sure all the road crews agree with me. But I guess that's been too much to ask for this past month. We've made too many trips to and from Glasgow on snow-packed, icy, and/or slushy roads. Our highway has been treacherous. (I'm aware through second-hand reports that it isn't...
Many people would agree that preparation is the key to success in many areas of life. Yet, when it comes to being ready for a financial emergency, a sizable percentage of Americans are feeling distinctly unprepared — and that can lead to problems. Consider these survey findings from financial services provider Edward Jones and Morning Consult: • Nearly two in five Americans expect that their emergency savings would last no more than a month. • Less than 40 percent of respondents consider their emergency savings account to be fully funde...
Our ability to snap photos on a whim is something that most of us, with high quality cameras on the smartphones we carry everywhere, take for granted. Even over the course of the last decade or so, our phone cameras have gone from something only suitable for catching the very most candid of moments, to a level of fidelity enabling amateur filmmakers to record entire movies using only a smartphone. Does this mean then that phones have overtaken dedicated cameras? How many megapixels do you need before you can retire your bulky Canon, Nikon or...
This latest blast from Mother Nature has certainly dampened my enthusiasm for gardening out of doors. My plans to start some seeds are on hold, although they probably shouldn't be. I know onions started from seed take forever (a few months wouldn't be too long) to grow large enough to be transplantable. But I can be a lazy gardener and starting seeds is definitely a time and effort commitment. Those baby seedlings need almost daily waterings. Whatever you use to start those seeds (peat pots,...
Editor’s Note: This is part three of a five part series regarding e-cigarettes. The first part was printed in the Feb. 22 edition and the second part was printed in the March 1 edition. Some common signs of nicotine addiction are visible to others, such as increased irritability or anxiety, while others are experienced internally by the addict, such as cravings and constant thoughts of the next time they will be able to smoke. Once you’re having a conversation with your teen about the possibility that they might be addicted to vaping, you can t...
The Valley CARE Coalition proudly presents stories from Valley County residents who have struggled, continue to struggle, or have found peace surrounding mental health, substance use disorders, or behavioral health. Battling this is a symbol of strength and courage and should be highlighted as such. June 1st, 2018, at 18yo I decided today was the day I end my life. At first, I didn’t necessarily want to die. I wanted to sleep; I wanted the voices in my head to stop yelling. I took one pill. Then 2. Then 4… until the entire bottle was gone. I l...
The Montana Community Foundation, Inc. (MCF) announces $22,000 in grants awarded from Reimagining Rural to benefit 11 communities across the state with placemaking, leadership, and other community development projects. Reimagining Rural is a program spearheaded by MSU Extension – in conjunction with MCF and other partners – to provide small towns with opportunities and resources to shape their future. “The Reimagining Rural program features speakers with stories of success in rural communities and the positive trends in rural demog...
Low Income Subsidy (LIS/Extra Help) program helps pay for a portion of Part D prescription drug plan costs, including Part D premiums, deductibles, and copayments. Depending on your income and assets, you may qualify for a full or partial subsidy. The Social Security Administration (SSA) and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) work together to administer LIS/Extra Help. Online applications are available www.ssa.gov/medicare/part-d-extra-help. There is a prescreen to see if you should proceed. Paper applications can be requested from...
Portable technology is great but cables, and specifically charging cables, suck. They’re never where you need them, traveling around with them drastically shortens their life, and there are just enough different types to ensure you’ll be left searching through a drawer for the correct one. Happily, wireless charging has entered the fray and is now a totally viable alternative to digging around in that cable drawer for just the right type of USB cable. It’s quick, it’s safe and it’s widely available. How then does the magic happen? How’re we...
A year or so ago, I gave a couple houseplants to a friend up here in the great North of the Middle of Nowhere. I didn't have names for them, so she looked them up. I'm sure she gave me the correct names for them, but my brain changed the one. Therefore, for the past year I've been calling this lovely plant the Pearls of Omar. I stand corrected: it's the Jewels of Opar. Ooops. That's very similar, right? I've never heard the name Opar, but am aware of more than one Omar. The way I came to possess...
Editor’s Note: This is part two of a five part series regarding e-cigarettes. The first part was printed in the Feb. 22 edition. According to the 2022 National Youth Tobacco Survey, more than 2.5 million students used e-cigarettes in the last 30 days, and more than a quarter of high school aged users report daily use. Given those concerning numbers, many teens may find themselves on the path to nicotine addiction. This article is geared toward parents, though educators and other influential adults can also use these resources to make a p...
Badger versus skunk: this really doesn't have much to do with Green Spaces. But this particular battle occurred near my garden, and concluded underneath it! The column this week is going to stink, but not nearly as much as our house and garden did. (The next day Dennis discovered the fight must have started under his work pickup, which was parked outside the kitchen. The smell was intensified by a factor of 10.) In the afternoon on President's Day, Feb. 20, I was peacefully painting kindness...
