Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
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Too often, policy debates in Washington, D.C., devolve into partisan fist-fights. Each side becomes so focused on landing a punch that they forget why they climbed into the ring in the first place. Just a few years ago, one in five Montanans did not have access to health insurance, and people couldn’t afford to get sick. When we passed health care reform, we took a big step forward, and today, more Montanans have access to health care than ever before. But the current health care system is not perfect, and there are still folks in Montana who a...
I was raised to regard tofu as a joke rather than an actual nutrition source, much less one that could actually taste good. In my mind, it was this mysterious lump of matter that those crazy vegans forced themselves to eat to prove their unwavering vegan-ness. This past fall then, I was shocked when my very omnivorous friend whipped a carton of tofu out of the fridge as casually as a head of lettuce. But impressionable, little amateur foodie that I am, I was also inspired. Then, when I found out how inexpensive and packed with protein tofu...
Not long ago with a conversation with a gentleman, the topic came up about how if you happen to stop in to visit with someone, they will insist you join them for lunch or supper. I made the comment that that is just the way it is where we live. Years ago, there was a man who lived in Wolf Point and made his living traveling around a large area selling Fuller Brush products. One day when he stopped by our farm, it was close to time for lunch. It so happened I had a ham and sweet potatoes in the oven. I told him we’d have lunch and then I’d pla...
I know that there are still a lot of us around that remember the old cream separator. Many people started with the crank separator and later progressed on to the luxury of an electric one. In my mind the process of separating the cream from the milk, whether by hand, crank or electricity, was the minor part. Anyone who has the experience of separating cream no doubt can also remember the joy of washing this wonderful piece of equipment. Many of you have seen the old separator bowls that are mostly used as flower planters, and that was the easy...
She is 17 years old. And she has an attitude. She also thinks she is entitled to have some of everything we eat, whether it is part of our meal or our snacks. She is a cat and her name is Rosie. Because of health issues, her owner had to move to an assisted living facility and could not take Rosie with her. Her owner’s sister wanted to take her, but that wasn’t feasible as she is allergic to cats. So unless a forever home was found for Rosie, she was going to be euthanized. My son saw a picture of Rosie and he showed it to me as he related her...
Editor's note: U.S. Senator Jon Tester announced at press time that farmers and ranchers in six Montana counties will have access to drought assistance through U.S. Department of Agriculture disaster relief programs. The following is an open letter Tester sent to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue last week. Today I write to urge you to work with agricultural producers in Montana who are facing severe drought disaster conditions. The U.S. Drought Monitor, in recent days, designated six Montana counties at the second-highest drought...
Senate Republicans have crafted a plan that will unhinge our nation’s health care system and leave Montana families and the people who care for them scrambling to pick up the pieces. To make matters worse, they’ll vote on the bill next week without public input. This commitment to secrecy is more than concerning. It has clouded what should have been a transparent and collaborative process of strengthening America’s health. And it has set an unnerving tone for future Congressional action. GOP leaders rejected the House plan to allow insur...
In April, Senator Jon Tester joined an unsuccessful partisan effort to filibuster Judge Neil Gorsuch’s nomination to the Supreme Court. To justify his actions, Tester said at the time, “With Judge Gorsuch on the bench, I am deeply concerned that dark money will continue to drown out the voices and votes of citizens.” It seems Tester has changed his tune on “dark money” just a few months later. While the liberal “dark money” group, Majority Forward, has been pummeling Montana’s voters with television ads on Tester’s behalf – Senator Tester has...
O.K. readers, I lied a little bit. I have been fortunate enough to not have a second elbow surgery immediately, so will try to come up with a few memories. I have heard on the radio that our weather conditions are being recorded as the driest since the 30s. I thought the early 80s were bad, but like a lot of things, we find there are always worse situations. Those of us that make a living from the soil remember those years more than others. I know that we have areas locally that are drier than others, but I think that good crops, whether...
The Courier brought home six awards from the annual Montana Newspaper Association Better Newspaper Contest in Lewistown this weekend, including three firsts: Sports Editor Georgie Kulczyk won first place for Best Headline Writing and second place for Best Sports Feature Writing. Sean R. Heavey won another first place this year for Best Lifestyles Photo (see image above) and third place for Best News Photo. Courier regular Carlos Valle placed second and third in the Best Feature Photo category. Congratulations to our winners! And thanks for...
We all know how fickle Mother Nature can be. I don’t think there’s one month I haven’t seen weather that is unusual. Take this month -- June -- for example. Normally we have a pretty decent growing season. But one year, the growing season was only 69 days. We had a foot of snow in mid-June. I’ve seen snow fall in every month except July and August. One year, it was so cold in July, I remember wearing my winter coat as I watched the free show at the fair. I think that was the same year as when it snowed in June. We’ve not had much rain so f...
I’ve been running ever since it became glaringly obvious, at a very early age, that I was basically physically incapable of playing any sport requiring hand-eye coordination, and I love it. I find it to be wonderfully exhilarating, while simultaneously being extremely peaceful, which makes it the perfect stress reliever and way to get my “me time.” Unfortunately though, my runs, so vital to my mental stability and necessary training for my collegiate cross country and track seasons, are interrupted way too frequently by random catcalls from...
From a safe distance we were able to witness the distilled truth of how barbarous, fiendish and merciless the world can be. No parent should live to bury their young, and fortunately, for most of us, the closest clash of reality with this ever happening occurs only in a fever-pitched dream. But last week, for Mr. and Mrs. Warmbier of Ohio, their son was delivered from North Korea in a vegetable state and has now passed away. As the story started to trickle into the news, it became apparent that this unfortunate event is a stark prompting that i...
Every year over one hundred thousand people ride the Empire Builder, many stop in Glasgow. Those people frequent the small businesses, spending their hard-earned money and sustaining good-paying jobs for Glasgow and the surrounding areas. For 88 years the Empire Builder has brought folks from across the country to the Hi-Line, and under the President’s proposed budget the Empire Builder, and the economic activity that comes with it, would go away. As the Courier reported, the President’s budget would leave 140 million Americans without acc...
I found myself thinking about Sunday church services the other day. Many changes have come about since my Sunday school days. My Sunday school experiences was not related to one church. Growing up in a small community, plus several moves during my youth, gave me the opportunity to become acquainted with customs of several different religions. Do you remember attending a Catholic service when you were expected to wear a hat, or head covering to church? And if you weren’t Catholic, there were other things that were different for the young P...
The 65th Montana legislature ended in late April by balancing a $10.3 billion-dollar- budget for the biennium of 2018 and 2019. My first session was in 2013, and we had about $550 million of general fund cash on hand. However, because spending was not curtailed and the revenue projections did not materialize, at the end of May 2017, only $76M remains in the general fund cash balance. A year ago at this time we had a balance of $343M. The budget is based on revenue and expenditure estimations. If estimations deviate then you are not balanced....
Two years ago this week, we embarked on our new adventure to Glasgow from Grand Forks, N.D. With a two-week old baby girl in tow, and a caravan consisting of a U-Haul and three vehicles stocked full with most of our belongings, we started the long nine-hour journey. Moving weekend didn’t start out very easy or stress-free, never mind the fact we were also moving a baby and all of her belongings. We started the moving process a day later than planned, because the U-Haul wasn’t available when it should have been, all of our belongings did...
Sunday was a delightful day for me. Our son, Carl, and his family treated me to the Sunday matinee of Arsenic and Old Lace at the Fort Peck Summer Theatre and dinner afterwards at the Gateway. The people who worked so hard to bring live theatre to our area deserve a huge amount of thanks. Over the years, so many local people have taken up the challenge of appearing on stage, giving everyone who attends the theatre a sense of pride and even ownership in this phenomenal project. So if you are looking for somewhere to take your guests this summer...
If you're not a "local" from the Nashua community, and you've visited the Nashua cemetery for whatever reason, you may wonder or perhaps have even commented that it's a pretty lonely-looking place to be buried. No, it's not surrounded by beautiful bushes or proud-standing pine trees landscaping its outskirts, but there is lots of other never-ending beauty. We enjoy harmony of wild birds, sightings of Bald Eagles passing through, a night owl perched high on the white cross, the distant sound of cattle bawling, the sights of the gorgeous Montana... Full story
Many people do not know that most Montanans living with disabilities are veterans. As a caregiver, I've seen firsthand the difference the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid expansion has made in our community when seniors and people with disabilities were finally able to get healthcare. Senator Daines needs to oppose the American Health Care Act. If passed, it would slash funding for Medicaid and hurt working families and seniors especially those living Glasgow. Medicaid expansion has a positive impact on our community because it provides health... Full story
wouldn't want to live anywhere else. Sure we have some people that we wish would bless other communities and counties with their presence; and yes we have some individuals who like to inform God and the UN of everything that goes on that they don't approve of (which is just about everything); BUT. I love this place! The people aren't hicks, they are pretty savvy when it comes to modern electronic devices, their usage and pitfalls; they won't give you the shirt of their back, instead they go out and buy you a new one; the past, it's just that, t... Full story
No matter what side of the aisle you come from, an open, honest and curious mind has most likely confronted the ideas of climate change. When it is described on the news as a revelational end times dilemma by Al Gore and other pundits it deserves a fair look. A recent effect of globalization brought the world together in 2015 to implement the Paris Agreement, also known as the Paris climate accord, to revolutionize the regulation of carbon emissions globally. By fulfilling a campaign promise, the President of the United States removed our count...
I’ve always been a rather anxious person. As a kid, my parents learned the hard way that I needed to be told the exact schedule for all family trips, or else I’d be a sobbing, cranky mess in the back of our periwinkle blue van. In high school, I was that person who studied for hours for a subject that I already knew better than my family tree. I was able to survive my freshmen and the start of my sophomore years of college with my overly detail-oriented and obsessive attitude without having a nervous breakdown, but only because I was mar...
Moving from the wooded hills of southeast Iowa to the prairie of northeastern Montana was quite a change for me. What I missed the most was the sparsity of trees. Going down the hill of Highway 438 to join U.S. Highway 2 in October of 1968, I was struck by the pangs of homesickness when I saw the bright gold of trees along the Porcupine Creek. Suddenly I missed all the colors of the fall foilage where I grew up -- all the differerent shades of red, gold, green, brown, and orange. I soon learned this was just the first of many differences I...
I had to laugh at the site of Gianforte and Daines on horseback touring a coal mine near Colstrip. It is laughable because the Montana way of life, the outdoors or agriculture, and coal are not the best of bedfellows. The other issue with Greg Gianforte, Steve Daines, Ryan Zinke and Donald Trump supporting the coal industry at all cost is that it isn’t their call to make. Utility companies are the main consumers of coal, and we are the main consumers of energy. Coal has grown in price and as a result has become nonviable as a competitor to n...