Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
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Dear Reader, Courier can be defined in two ways. First, as a person who transports goods or documents. Second, as a person employed to guide or assist a group of people, usually tourists. With that in mind, I wanted to take this opportunity to provide clarity to the Courier’s ideal mission for Valley County. As the Voice of Valley County since 1913, the Courier has served tirelessly to cover and report the events of our community. We have sought to provide those messages and to deliver the information you need to do your job as citizens. I b...
Dear Editor, Hello! I am a fourth grade student in North Carolina. In fourth grade, we research a state for our State Fair, and I have chosen your state! I am very excited to learn more about the great state of Montana as I work on my report. While we will research most of the information ourselves, we also like to get firsthand knowledge from people who live in the state. This is why I’m writing to you. I was hoping that you would be willing to send me some small items to help me learn more about the best things in your state. It could be t...
I would like to share with you some of the City of Glasgow’s accomplishments that took place in 2017 and what our goals are for 2018. I will be updating you on different subjects and projects, and our progress via Glasgow Courier, City of Glasgow website and KLTZ/KLAN. Today I would like to address our levee system. 2017 was a pivotal year for the City of Glasgow as we worked on numerous issues. Some of those issues were resolved, some were taken to the next level, and some evolved into other issues. We also took on a number of projects, s...
I could not do what our educators do. They deserve to be paid well. Very well. In recent news, educators in Oklahoma, West Virginia and Kentucky organized and implemented walk-outs in their states in an effort to secure more funding for education. In addition to near-poverty level wages, some teachers nationwide have also gone decades without wage increases, and are facing billions in budget cuts. In Montana, the beginning teacher salary is $31,456 and the average teacher salary is $52,776 (Montana Education Association – Montana Federation o... Full story
In a press release sent out last week, Superintendent of Glasgow Public Schools Bob Connors sought to explain the district’s proposed general fund levy. The proposed levy will be voted on at the May 8, annual school election. According to Connors, the district will be asking for a levy increase of 8.12 mills. This proposal will bring the new total school levy assessment to 85.10 mills up from 76.98 mills the previous years. The intent in increasing the general fund levy, according to the district’s release, is to increase wage com...
My memories are a jumble today. My first thought was hunting Easter eggs in the snow. I honestly do not remember ever hunting them in the snow, but as I tried to make my mind go back that far, it occurred to me that I really do not remember hunting for Easter eggs at all as a child. Yes, I have hidden my share of them, but how many of the “older” generation remembers spending the Saturday before Easter, hunting eggs, or finishing Easter dinner, impatiently waiting for the adults to finish up so that you could get on with the important bus...
Land Should Be Settled, Developed and Disbursed to General Public Please allow a response to Mr. McKean’s column on “The Local Value of Wilderness” in your March 21 issue. As a low-level party functionary and campaign contributor as well as a student of 20th century history and political science, I have written editorial page pieces on this subject. I have presented my concerns to candidates and elected officials in letters as well as face-to-face meetings when the opportunity has presented itself, for at least 30 years. As a first step, I end...
The City Council would like to ensure the community that we have a snow removal plan in place that tries to encompass all scenarios and flexibility as possible while addressing the needs of the public. In dealing with the recent 15-inch snow event, our Snow Removal Plan states the highest priority is to address all emergency routes first and then move to the designated snow routes. You may view the designated routes by going to the City of Glasgow website. After the designated snow routes are made passable, we move into the other areas. Once...
My grandson just returned from an out-of-state band trip. His trip made me remember the band trips of my school days. If you lived in the North Country, you may have gotten to take band trips out of the USA. I remember trips to Canada to take part in band festivals, but what I do not remember is crossing the border. Today, I would bet that each instrument case, as well as any luggage, etc would have to be inspected at the border crossing. If that had been what happened many years ago, I think it would have been something we all remembered. At...
Sometimes it’s very small. At other times it’s so big it seems to fill your world. But no matter the size, it’s always there. What is it? Hope. Hope can start out like a fully-grown plant. But it can also be like a tiny seed put into the ground, just waiting for the right time to germinate. It can lay there for a long time and then suddenly there is a need for it. So, like the seed that’s been planted, fertilized, and watered, it slowly begins to open. It seeks an opening in the ground surrounding it, searching for a place it can use to esca...
I have no idea how many miles of road there are in Valley County, but I do know that we are a very large county. I want to express my thanks to those of you that spent many hours opening and keeping open our roads during this last storm. Thanks to tractors and 4x4’s, my family was never “snowed in,” but what a great surprise to see the snow plow made a run down our road to the house, from the county road. Not only do we have a great path to the main road, it is now a wide path that will not blow shut near as quickly. I am sure I can exten... Full story
A few weeks back, Donald Trump implemented a tariff on imported steel and aluminum that instantly sent the free market capitalists and agricultural community into a head spin. Uncertain as to what the tariff’s will actually accomplish, Trump’s economic advisor immediately resigned following the announcement after spending, or wasting, most of his tenure trying to block those exact tariffs. Not surprisingly, Trump ran on a nationalist agenda that included closed borders, torn up trade agreements, and U.S. industry protectionism. Some in the Rep...
Do you remember when we did not have Daylight Savings Time? I was thinking about the time changes when I decided I might need to wear a watch today. (When you are retired and in the house all day, it is easy to not wear a watch). That, of course, involved setting it to the correct time. It made me think of how many clocks we have that needed resetting that magic morning of time change. Since we have more than one clock in our house that needs to be wound weekly, changing time is just one more little thing. Yes, I do love my old things like...
Local input is a hallmark of democracy. Good laws should and do bubble up from neighborhoods, country churches, and bar stools, just as bad ideas are often killed by the folks who have to live with the results. That’s why, if you’re running for public office, it’s a smart idea to say that you’re in support of local decisions. Imagine the alternative: “I’m from the distant government and I’m here to tell you how to live your life.” You probably wouldn’t win many votes. But that alternative is precisely what our lone U.S. Congressman, Greg...
Starting Sunday the 11th, news outlets nationwide will seek to call attention to the simple notion that democracy works only when it works out in the open — in the sunshine. The term that has come into use in recent years to describe the concept locally and nationally is “transparency,” which presumably means that there is no veil of secrecy over the activities of government. But “transparency” is too abstract a concept to do justice to a simple idea: In a democracy where citizens participate in decision-making, those citizens must be armed wit...
I was watching Valley View Home’s community input for support of the upcoming mill levy vote for funding the nursing home the next few years. There was one comment from a gentleman that indicated we did not maintain the building over the previous years. Well, let me give you some insight as to what we did in the twenty years I served at Valley View Home and how we invested back into the building that opened in 1969. In 1993, a new addition and remodeling of the nursing home was completed. The main focus was the new entry, lobby, activities, b...
In Ireland, St. Patrick’s Day is a religious holiday. In the U.S., it’s primarily a day to wear green, pinch those who are not, and very often for some, drink alcohol in excess. Unfortunately, this sometimes results in those people getting behind the wheel of a car. That’s where the fun ends and a potentially deadly situation begins. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 60 people died in drunken-driving crashes during the St. Patrick’s Day holiday period (6 p.m. March 16 to 5:59 a.m. March 18) in 2016, a...
In a surprise twist on Thursday, President Donald Trump agreed to a meeting with North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un. If the meeting takes place it would be the first ever between a sitting president and the leader of North Korea. Pyongyang has long sought a summit with the US to reflect what the regime sees as its status as an equal on the geopolitical stage. This is a big gamble for our President. Between Trump’s history of bungling other diplomatic relations and North Korea’s history of backing out of promises, this meeting has huge risks. Huge...
Do you remember the “Spit Test” of the past? No, this test had nothing to do with DNA or drugs. I am sure that wasn’t even thought of in past generations. A friend recently made me a gift of a “sad iron,” assuring me that it might be just what I needed for shoulder therapy after my surgery. I decided to take that with a grain of salt, but it did make me think of how often I would see my grandmother and mom do the spit test, checking to see if the iron was ready to be used. This was done by dampening your finger with spit (at least in my world,...
Last week I was recovering from an adverse reaction to an antibiotic that I had been prescribed. As well as trying to gain back my strength from that, I had my chemo treatment ,followed the next day by receving a pint of blood. All of that combined to sap my energy and I just wasn’t able to put together a column. By the way, if you don’t see my column, it’s because I’m either traveling or having a tough week. This is going to be a column about this and that this week. The storm of the last few days has been tough on a lot of people. First i...
Editor’s Note: This is an Opinion by Medical Directors from the Community-Based Mental Health Centers in Montana. Montana Substance Use Statistics: Since the year 2000, more than 700 Montanans have died from opioid overdose. Forty-four percent of all drug overdose deaths are attributable to opioids. One in seven high school students has taken prescription drugs without a doctor’s prescription. Ninety percent of Montanans with a Substance Use Disorder are not receiving treatment. There are 300 deaths attributed to alcohol in Montana annually. Ei...
The Glasgow Public School District wants to remind residents that to file to become a candidate for the school board you must fill out and turn in the correct form by March 29, 2018. The forms can be downloaded from the district’s website at www.glasgow.k12.mt.us. Forms must be turned into Kelly Doornek, and the election will be held on May 8, 2018. For more information contact the Glasgow Public School Office at 228-2406.... Full story
I was thinking about some of those comments that used to show up in conversations some years ago. Things like “two bits, four bits, six bits, a dollar.” Just what was a bit? “Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth,” that one pretty much explains itself. Then there was the one I disliked the most, used by my grandmother a lot, “Birds of a feather flock together.” I used to argue with Grandma and Mom a lot about that one. What about, “Can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” I must say many of us of the older generation relate to this one well. Then the...
Statistically or numerically, not that many people care about the Oscars. Only about 26 million people – worldwide – viewed this year’s award “ceremony,” which aired last Sunday night, March 4. And why should anyone watch it? People in the heartland have too many serious things to think about, plan, and do each day. If they even bother to see a movie, the motivating forces must override the hardships of getting real work done. People in the cities, too, are really only tangentially aware of cinema, what with the alternative distracti...
I am announcing that after 12 years as a Trustee for the Glasgow School District, I am not going to file for re-election. Being a Trustee has been a very gratifying experience and I thank the District voters for the opportunity to have served on your school board. I strongly encourage all eligible persons to run for a Trustee position, especially the interested persons who have attended school board meetings and voiced their compassionate ideas and opinions!! It is an important, fulfilling job that gives people a way to give back to our... Full story
