Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
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In the inspirational movie “Field of Dreams,” a struggling Iowa farmer named Ray hears a mystical voice encouraging him to build a baseball field in the middle of his Iowa corn field. Ray embarks on a journey which carries him across the country where he meets old men who dreamed of playing major league baseball, but whose destinies took them down other paths. In the end, those lost dreams are fulfilled as the old players regain their youth when they walk onto Ray’s unlikely field and play the sport they love. I have found another field of dr...
This past week was an unusually busy one for me. I was on the go from Wednesday through Sunday. It started out by me having chemo and bone strengthening treatments on Wednesday, followed the same day by a visit with my primary doctor, which ended up in a change in one prescription and receiving two new prescriptions. The day came to an end with a stop at the grocery store to stock up the fridge and pantry with necessary foods. On Thursday, we went to the Glasgow airport to pick up my brother, Steve, who lives in southeast Iowa. He and I try to...
I cannot remember a year like this. I do know that weather records indicate that we have not seen this before, however I do know that our ancestors suffered major droughts during the dust bowl days. I think of all the old homestead sites located in our area. All of the hopes and dreams of those people. Almost all of those sites of course were located on or near a water source, but even so there had to be times there was no water. Maybe there was underground water, but no electricity for pumps, no solar energy, or generators to be used, just...
The controversy raised by Colin Kaepernick had been resurrected by none other than our president, who had suggested those protesting are not the children of morally upright mothers, and that their right to protest injustice is not legitimate. I would point out that the President swore to “preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.” It would seem he is not doing that at all. Instead, what he is doing is dividing us rather than uniting us, and seemingly claiming that some of our citizens do not possess the rights our...
Two years ago, lawmakers in Montana passed groundbreaking legislation to open new doors for people with disabilities and their families. This new law has now been fully implemented and made available to help change the lives of thousands of Montanans. Senate Bill 399, passed in the 2015 Legislative session, allows eligible individuals with disabilities to establish “ABLE accounts’’ that resemble the tuition programs that have long existed under the tax code. The new ABLE accounts will allow more autonomy and control over personal saving decis...
According to the American Society of Addiction Medicine, the leading cause of accidental death in 2015 was drug overdose. The life toll from the drug epidemic has been consistently growing over the past couple of years with opiate addiction and overdose being one of the lead causes. Each year, more people use drugs for the first time and wind up addicted. Right now, the highest number of opiate overdoses are in the Northeast. The problem originally started with heroin as the main contributor, however newer drugs have begun to escalate the...
I was most pleasantly surprised the other week when Donald Trump struck a deal raising the debt ceiling in return for Harvey disaster relief. It was a rare feeling, what with the hurricanes, the beating of war drums, and the countless other apocalyptic heralding scenes gracing our social media feeds and news broadcasts near daily. I was almost taken aback by the news headline “Trump Makes Deal With Democrats,” not that I was shocked he would leave behind his party leadership, for which I know he has no loyalty nor does he share any ide...
Not long ago, I heard of a friend who had to be placed in a nursing home because he has Alzheimer’s and it was no longer possible for the family to care for him at home. How difficult this decision had to be for his family. And how heartbreaking his diagnosis. A conversation overheard several months ago between two women, was about a friend of theirs who had been diagnosed with a seldom-heard-of disease, was about her being taken to a nursing home where she could also receive physical therapy in the hopes she could possibly return to her h...
On Sept. 17, America watched the Hollywood elite pat themselves on the back for their brave, selfless and virtuous work being celebrated at the 69th annual Emmys broadcast. Let me rephrase, no one watched the 69th Emmys. It was the lowest-rated broadcast in Emmy’s history. Spearheaded by the talented Stephen Colbert, lost in the political fog of war, he preferred to compare Trump supporters to Nazis and push skewed political agenda rather than host a genuinely comedic show for all. Recently, conservatives feel like second-class citizens w...
The Philosophy of Life...Don’t have one? Everyone has a philosophy. For example, the one that says, “That’s yours but I will take it.” That’s going on all over the world. Most likely you have encountered that; I certainly have. It happened 40 years ago, but I remember it as vividly as yesterday. My husband announced one morning that all of our 20-plus chicken friers were GONE! The door was closed so they hadn’t flown the coop. Nope, no fried chicken for our large family nor did the thieves invite us to dinner of our chickens! No siree ... o...
Montana’s crisis isn’t too much water or hurricanes – it’s fire. It’s smoke filling Big Sky Country and filling our lungs, communities being evacuated, structures lost and tons of fuels just lying on the forest floor waiting for a spark to ignite. In this year alone, over 1,600 fires have burned over 1 million acres in Montana - that’s nearly equivalent to the entirety of the state of Delaware being on fire. We are tired of being told that others know better than us while we watch our forests and grasslands burn every summer, our mills close, o...
Just want to say how much I enjoy Elizabeth Shipstead’s column [“Rural Sisterhood,” Hi-Line Farm & Ranch]. While she obviously tries to think positively, we all know the ag life can be a challenge, to say the least....
I have concern over the fact that a group from Helena is looking into getting Amtrak to stop the northern Empire Builder route along the Hi-Line and diverting the train on a southern route through the state to get more “tourists” to Helena. I would like this group to take my following remarks into consideration before they proceed. The Hi-Line, especially eastern Montana, is the most remote area in the state. We do not have access to interstate highway without considerable travel. We do not have access to bus lines. Our essential air ser...
I’m writing because I can’t sit silent while radical Republicans in DC rip away the safety net supporting working people. As a caregiver, I care for the sick and elderly, helping them live day to day. Because of my low wages and changing hours, I also rely on the SNAP program to make my budget stretch. I get $80 a month for food stamps. It’s a small amount but that helps offset my water bill. We were on TANF for a couple years to support two young kids, before my husband was able to move into a full time position, and I found a full time job a...
So I am usually kind of proud of how we as a state have to keep a balanced budget, and cannot over spend our capability pay. It is a fruitful endeavor for sure when applied with the logic and foresight of a well-crafted budget. What I do not support, however, is the arbitrary and hardship inducing budget cuts that loom in our state’s near future. As of this month, the state is ordering 10 percent budget cuts across the board from all its state agencies. That means that MDT, DOJ, DMA, and every other agency will share in cuts arbitrarily a...
On Labor Day this year, we attended the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Lauckner Farm. There were 120 people who signed the guestbook. Those who were there exchanged memories of the Lauckner family from over the years. It may have even been the first time some of these memories were discussed. As we were on our way home, I marveled at the number of 100th anniversaries that have and are planned to take place in this area. Last year, Wagner Farms celebrated 100 years. Several years ago so did Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Nashua. Th...
Hats off to Dan Miller and crew for the amazing work they have done on the Glasgow cemetery this spring and summer. Trimming and disposing of some trees and the removal of overgrown bushes has revealed gravestones that haven’t seen the light of day for decades. Although a work in progress, all these extensive efforts are resulting in a much-improved expanse and graveyard. We are very fortunate to live in a community that values caring for the grounds and graves of our departed loved ones. Thank you to our city government, taxpayers and c...
Remember before Ziplock (and other brands) of storage bags? I still have a hard time throwing away a bread bag. I come from a generation that never threw anything away, as you might need it later. Plastic bread bags were a classic example. These were, of course, washed and dried for use another day. I remember many housewives used the cardboard roll saved from wax paper, etc., to roll these bags on. I am sure that others might have just stuffed the dried bags into a kitchen drawer for the next use. This, of course, was “before the green t...
I’m not particularly shocked at where we are in September. Seems like Congress checked out for the summer, and the world kind of chuckled like a teenager getting the house while his parents leave town. Just to recap some of the things that changed. North Korea demonstrated an ability to nuke the contiguous United States, and a desire to provoke Japan. They showed off ICBMs and tested a hydrogen bomb nine times more powerful than anything they have tested to date. Second, the western half of the country is burning down. Notably, one of the m...
What would we do without the fire department? Do we know they are all volunteers? Sure, we’ve heard the words “Volunteer Fire Department” over and over, but do we stop to think about all that entails? I have a unique perspective as my husband and his son both serve on both Long Run Fire Department and the City Fire Department. I watch as this team of highly skilled dedicated VOLUNTEERS, work together in highly dangerous situations, efficiently and selflessly. They put themselves in places you and I would never go…all with the sole purpose...
I have been asked “How can a sitting judge set up an exploratory committee to consider running for the U.S. Senate?” I think the question is asked because, to my knowledge, it has never been done before in Montana. When I started considering a new chapter in my life, which will include starting my own law firm, my lifelong interest in our country rose to the surface as well. I had three interests in mind. First, I wanted to finish this judge job well. After 22 ½ years of a job I feel very blessed to have had, I want to leave my court in good...
Charlottesville: I enjoyed [Tess Fahlgren's] OpEd in the Aug 23rd edition “Talking to Kids about Race” very much. Keep up the good work! -Ted Jamba, Glasgow...
Valley View: There were several interesting letters to the editor last week regarding the upcoming vote on supporting Valley View. While we agree that some assistance in funding the home is needed, we feel the committee is taking the easy way out. The bulk of the proposed need of $300,000 will fall on the shoulders of the county’s property owners. Those of us farming are already being pinched hard this year. The drought is causing a great deal of hurt, not only on farmers, but also on all the businesses that rely on the farmers’ spending. As...
Every once in a while, something happens that not only surprises you but brings you back to the realization of how blessed you are. It has become increasingly difficult over the past several years for me to take a shower because I’ve had to step into the bathtub in order to do so. I had figured out to use two small stools to get into and out of the bathtub. Several weeks ago, one of my sons came over to my house, tape measure in hand. When I asked him what he was doing, he told me he’d show me in a couple of minutes. He disappeared into the...
Should the taxpayers support Valley View Home financially, or no? There have been some passionate and definitive statements regarding the topic. I was employed at Valley View Home for 27 years. I can assure you that this “fool” has first-hand knowledge of what happened there in recent years. I didn’t have to rely on what others told me because I was there. I experienced it. I can also assure you that none of the information that was fed to me came from any member of the board. They were noticeably absent in my final years of employment. That...
