Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
Sorted by date Results 1189 - 1213 of 2305
It was 1936 when Mama made a very wise decision, moving lock, stock and barrel from our farm north 50 miles to the county seat, Malta, Mont. Mama related to me years later that during the winter of ‘35-36, our well ran dry and in the harsh winter, our cattle ran out of hay. Luckily, our grandpa and uncle, who lived on the adjourning farm, came to our rescue. When our widowed mother had her cows shipped to Chicago, the prices were so low that she received a bill to cover the cost of freight – no profit whatsoever! Our house was moved in as wel...
School has started for some, or is about to start for others. I have noticed lists of school supplies showing up in various stores, as well as in our Courier. If you have taken a few minutes to glance over these lists, you are probably amazed at what children need nowadays for school. First, one needs to realize that the suggested lists are for the year, so the amount of pencils per se are not quite so out of line. I am sure some of the young parents shopping for these items have questions as to the why some items are needed, etc., but for my...
My 39 years of medical practice has given me unique insights into Valley View Nursing Home. This facility has provided excellent care and support for countless residents and has directly or indirectly touched the lives of nearly all who live in Valley County. The nursing home is in a crisis, not one of its own doing, but because of our state legislature choosing to chronically underfund reimbursement for nursing home care. Approximately 70 percent of the current residents rely on Medicaid to cover their costs. That reimbursement amounts to a...
I’m voting No. I see signs all over Glasgow saying, “Vote Yes." We all agree that we need to keep Valley View Home, which is a private non-governmental institution. I’m voting no because of all the proverbial “elephants in the room.” First and most important, the person living in a $300,000 house, making $100,000 per year will pay 50 bucks! Anyone involved in agriculture out in the country (young or old), maybe living in a house built by their grandfather, will be paying hundreds if not thousands of dollars. Many are already maxed out tryin...
In response to the recent jabs and cheap shots that are being lobbed through the BS Buzz and the Glasgow Courier at the Valley View board members as well as the whisperings that are circulating about, some of you fools need to take a civics lesson... and in full disclosure, my wife Lisa is on the board of Valley View. A board of directors DOES NOT MANAGE and nor can they manage an entity, that would be illegal. Board members serve on a board to oversee management as a safeguard to management and that entity. In the case of Valley View, the...
I must join with Mr. Toews and Mr. Reinhardt in dissent of the permanent levy to save Valley View. I am hesitant to be critical of board decisions in most cases. However, the idea of a permanent tax to support the facility is unacceptable for me. Members of the task force certainly understand, as most of us do, that when an activity is subsidized, (as with wheat production) you get more of it. In other words, once property taxpayers are compelled to assist the facility, the escalation in need will not only never end, it will only increase over...
Why do I love our community? It’s my home. On Aug. 1, 1956, I rolled into Glasgow. To say I was welcomed with open arms would be an understatement. Since retiring from dentistry 31 years ago, I have visited most of North America, and many countries in six of our continents. My six brothers and sisters and many friends have invited me to relocate to “more desirable” parts of the country. My response, “No thank you.” I have found the most precious spot in the world, right here in Glasgow, Valley County, and northeastern Montana. Much of what i...
Here are some facts about the events in Charlottesville, Va., as they have unfolded over previous weeks: A rally, organized by known white supremacist blogger Jason Kessler, was held in Charlottesvile last week. The idea to hold the rally was sparked by the scheduled removal of a confederate statue (the statue was being moved, not demolished). Kessler told The Associated Press before the event that it was “about an anti-white climate within the Western world and the need for white people to have advocacy like other groups do.” The crowd include...
Sunday, my friend, my husband and I drove out to visit the Veterans Memorial located in Fort Peck, Mont. This is an absolutely wonderful monument, well planned out, lovely view and does a terrific job of honoring our veterans. Visiting this monument immediately brought to the forefront how extremely upset myself, and others, have been with what is going on with our historic monuments. Why is history of our past an embarrassment? History has made us what we are as well as helped us learn from past mistakes. And history does have a habit of...
In response to a revenue shortfall, the legislature is set to put into motion massive cuts to public health services funding. The proposed funding cuts include a decrease in reimbursement to mental health agencies of 41 percent for case management services, as well as 3.5 percent for all other children’s mental health services. These cuts come on the heels of a mounting public health crisis in Montana. Over the last several years, the state has seen a rise in suicide, an increased rate of childhood mental illness, a growing drug epidemic, a...
I can think back to the worst moments in our history, and find some inspiring tales. “Give me liberty, or give me death,” Patrick Henry. “For I have not only grown gray but almost blind in the service of my country,” George Washington. “My dream is of a place and a time where America will once again be seen as the last best hope of earth,” Abraham Lincoln. Or, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country,” John F. Kennedy. “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate;...
When long-time businessman Les Hanson donated land nearly 50 years ago, for what was to become the Valley View Nursing Home, he could not have imagined what it would grow into and the impact it would have on Glasgow and Valley County. It was a choice location, overlooking Glasgow and the Milk River Valley, providing a beautiful and commanding view for the Home’s residents. Beginning with a modest 60 beds, it soon grew to accommodate 92 residents and now has 96 beds. In the mid-1990’s, improvements were made to the dining and activities are...
Do you recall rodeos from generations past? I have had on occasion to travel Hwy. 2 a couple of times this last month and have noticed many pickups and horse trailers heading down the road. This made me think of earlier days. I am not going too far back when I ask, if you remember cars pulling a single horse trailer, headed for the weekend rodeo. If you looked into the trunk of many of these cars, you would find bareback riggings, rope cans, etc. If you were successful, and rodeo was truly your event, you might even upgrade to a four-horse...
Two Concerns Dear Editor, I would like to thank the Long Term Care Task Force for coming to Lustre to share their concerns and possible solutions. I would like to support this effort. There are two concerns that were not addressed with clarity: 1. Will the election of new board members to Valley View Home Board be open to the public and will it be able to address sloppy management quickly? Non-profit boards have a reputation of doing well for a short period of time and then quickly moving to sloppiness. This situation will happen again. 2. The...
In Northeastern Montana, over 50,000 acres of prairie, farming and ranch land are ablaze. Additionally, throughout the state, hundreds of thousands of acres are combating growing wildfire daily. Stakes are rising and funding is dropping in a race against the clock to halt Montana’s most pre-eminent natural disaster. The perfect kindling was piled up late last year for the current predicament; not for a cozy fire but for an unstoppable, costly blaze. Governor Steve Bullock proposed cutting 25 million dollars from the state’s wildfire fund. Thi...
By a prior agreement, Wednesdays are our special days together, right here in familiar surroundings. Most of the time I choose enticing things for the agenda such as bread making; grinding the homegrown wheat into fluffy beige flour. When Kelcie, my little granddaughter, gets a little older she will add the flour into the milk, which has already been mixed with the yeast, salt and sweetener, just as her sisters did ahead of her. Her part of the bread-making operation consists of cutting and shaping the resilient dough into whatever Kelcie’s h...
This year’s fair is now a memory captured in photos, ribbons and souvenirs. A change in medication made it possible for me to attend this year’s Cancer Survivor ride. Being able to participate in this event is truly an honor and fills my heart to overflowing with gratitude to all the doctors, nurses and researchers for their care, and to the local Relay For Life and businesses for their sponsorship. The other highlight of the fair for me was getting to see all the projects our grandchildren entered and the awards they received. That is alw...
For some time now my wife and I have planned to see the solar eclipse on Aug. 21, in Wyoming where the sun will be covered in its totality. My reasoning was that this was an awesome chance for our children to experience something entirely unique and pretty rare. Secretly, though, I was overly excited to experience the natural phenomenon first hand, which I have wanted to see after experiencing a partial solar eclipse at the age of five as a child. I thought it was a no brainer that everyone would want to see such a thing in its entirety and...
Editor's Note: The following letter arrived in my inbox on June 28. The delay was unintentional. I was struck by a paragraph in the Wednesday, May 10, 2017 Glasgow Courier (Pg. 2A A Regular Guy’s Money Problems). “With the Upper Missouri Breaks National Monument suddenly in danger of being privatized, we need a representative in Congress who values our public lands. He has spoken out against land grabs and trusts Montana farmers and ranchers to know what’s best for our land.” I find this paragraph striking, because sentence one is in diametrica...
Being the bad Montanans that we are, my mom and I went to Glacier National Park for the first time ever only a few weeks ago. Over our depressingly short three days in the park, we hiked until we could physically go no further, practically crawling back to our car every night, yet absolutely gleeful about our adventure. Our routes took us to literally breathtaking glacial overlooks, through meadows of alpine wildflowers, alongside a family of bighorn sheep, to the source of exquisitely raging waterfalls, and through a honest-to-God fairy...
It comes as a surprise to me when I find that people I know and trust support the current state of the country. I try to pry information as to why, what things have been accomplished, and what goods have been done? But I honestly never get a straight answer. Mostly I get agitation that I don’t see it. I hear constantly that this is better than the previous eight years, but I don’t see how. The Republican administration has pursued a hated health care policy to failing ends. They looked petty and fool-hearted the entire time. Especially whi...
The absence of a telephone didn’t bother our family, at least as I recall. We were a letter-writing group, especially during World War II with two brothers in the military awaiting news from home. People walked not for the exercise but to their place of employment, shopping, visiting their friends, library, post office, school, church, you name it, we arrived by foot power. The sidewalks were constantly used and well maintained. Cars were visible but actually not many on the streets. Wartime gasoline rationing made a real difference. Early o...
Do you remember before bottled water? Can you even imagine what our parents and grandparents would have had to say if anyone would have mentioned a business of bottled water! Of course, if it was a business, there would have to be a charge for it and just who in their right mind would pay for a glass of water? I am sure that plastic bottles were unheard of, and if you did have bottled water, it would have had to have been in glass containers. And my question is, would glass bottles be better than plastic? Would there be more recycling with...
Generations of Montanans have cultivated the land and passed family farms and ranches down to their children. Their work has built Montana’s economy and preserved a way of life that still defines our state today. But with the ground cracking underneath us, we are reminded of how fragile this way of life is. As our number one economic driver, Montana agriculture has supported our economy through seasons of plenty and seasons of drought, including physical drought and unseasonable rains. In Montana, we’ve seen them both and our farmers and ranche...
One day when I was in a chat room on the internet - one of my favorite places to go - the topic of conversation was centered around shopping. Not surprising since at that time everyone in the room was female. When a comment was made about going to a large department store, I said I didn’t often get to a store of that chain. “How far are you from that store?” I was asked. “Oh, about 130 miles one way,” I replied. “What?! How do you live without going to that store every day?!” came the question. “Actually, quite well. If I can’t find what...
