Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
Sorted by date Results 1587 - 1611 of 2308
Let’s take a look back in history to Ronald Reagan’s reign as POTUS. He was a half-month short of being 70 years old when he was sworn in the first time. There were no outward signs of the loss of mental acuity in the first four years of his presidency other than the fact that he really didn’t wear the pants in the family letting Nancy pretty much control him. But that didn’t effect his running the country ... much. However he was 74 years old when he took the reins in 1985 making him 78 when he left office. He had been diagnosed with early-s...
We’ve all seen them: bad calls or no-calls by referees at basketball games, as well as games that have gotten “out of control” with athletes sustaining serious injuries as a result. We’ve also seen athletes display inappropriate behavior, coaches bullying or intimidating student athletes, and parents and fans shouting at referees and reacting poorly to perceived – or even obvious bad calls. As a society, we have seemingly decided that it’s okay to behave badly at sporting events – and seldom do we apologize for it or even take responsibilit...
Many of you watched the Oscars on Sunday. Many of you also probably saw Leonardo DiCaprio awarded his first Oscar (the entire Internet erupted in applause). What struck me was what he said during his acceptance speech: “Climate change is real, and it’s happening right now. It is the most urgent threat facing our entire species.” In today’s global civilization, we are very connected. However, our current system of transporting goods, information and people has caused a crisis that needs to be addressed. It is scientific fact that global warming... Full story
Now that things have calmed somewhat, I'd like to thank all the volunteers and other law enforcement agencies that helped us reunite Maci with her family. This was an enormous task and it would've been nearly impossible to accomplish on our own. We are grateful beyond words. Those that helped did not hesitate and in fact, most contacted us to see what they could do. The following law enforcement agencies provided officers and/or resources: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Ft Peck Tribal Police, Ft Peck Tribal Fish & Game, Roosevelt County...
Going into Super Tuesday, the count shows Trump leading with 82 delegates, Cruz with 17, Rubio with 16, Kasich with 6 and Carson has 4. Looks like a landslide for The Donald doesn’t it? But wait, there’s more. A lot can change when only 125 delegates out of 1,237 are declared. How will the remaining delegates vote? You already know what’s going on because you are reading this on the Wednesday or Thursday after Super Tuesday has come and gone and all the questions have been answered. I’m doing this broadcast on the Sunday preceding Super T...
Traveling around our state, from the wheat fields and rolling hills in the east to the jagged snow-covered peaks almost 500 miles to the west, it is easy to understand why our state really is Big Sky Country. That’s why it’s so important to ensure that Montanans in rural communities can easily travel not only across our state, but the region and country as well. Amtrak’s Empire Builder runs approximately 660 miles across Montana and connects 12 rural communities. For the many Montanans who live a long ways from an airport, but live close to a...
Our vacations are over and we are back to the reality of spring [cross that out] winter in Northeast Montana. We only came back because we had dental appointments which had been set a year ago. (That and the whole running out of money thing.) People are always surprised when we say we go to Plentywood for our dental care. We go there out of loyalty to a dentist who had sympathy and who understood what it is to be in pain. Early in our marriage, we went to Dr. Martens in Glasgow. When he retired, he didn’t sell his practice but instead closed h...
A new study shows that many teachers aren’t aware of the strong consensus on human-caused climate change and instead overstate material from a thoroughly discredited minority.1 They don’t realize that 97 percent of climate scientists – those who qualify as experts capable of testifying in court on the issue - conclude from their many studies that humans are causing the earth to warm. Knowledgeable teachers will clarify that 809 scientists who helped review 9,200 scientific publications for the 5th Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Repor...
According to the Opinion section of the Courier as of late, it seems many people in Valley County believe that Middle Eastern people are posing a threat to the community. I, however, do not believe this. The general consensus seems to be that the government wants to bring around 100 Syrian refugees into our area. These people are no harm to us. According to Assistant Secretary of State Anne Richard and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Leon Rodriguez, Syrian refugees are already subject to the most rigorous screening process... Full story
We have been lucky enough to have basically skipped the month of February in Montana, shortening our winter by a month. The beginning of the month was spent in Florida, just south of Tampa, visiting our middle daughter and her family. That family includes her husband, a newly teenaged son, a five-and-a-half-year-old son, and a soon to be four-year-old son. We had several side-trips while there, including Dinosaur World, Legoland, the Tampa Aquarium, the Florida State Fair, a trip to view the manatees, and a pro-hockey game, in which the Tampa...
As in most of the stuff you hear on Thanks for Listening, today’s story will deal with something foreign to most of us in this sparsely populated part of the Big Sky Country. Oh sure, we’ve seen it when we make trips to Billings or Great Falls where there are more cars and trucks on the streets in three city blocks than there are in the whole town of Glasgow! I’m sure most of you listeners have had the experience of having a semi-truck crawl up your tailpipe and ride your bumper. I know I have and it makes me madder than a wet rooster. It’s...
There have been a lot of Facebook entries circulating concerning “The Green Thing” and yes, most of us do remember and wonder if we have truly progressed in our lives. I am sure there are quite a few area residents that can remember the days before electricity was a “given” in our homes. Although I am sure that was all a part of my first years of life on the farm. I do remember not having the luxuries we now enjoy. I also remember what a treat I thought it was to spend the night with some friends of the family. These friends did not have el...
Montana has a rising wave of conservationists from near and far choking the interests of our state’s historical and economical foundation. Squeezing slowly, our governor, the American Prairie Reserve and Bureau of Land Management have tightened their grip, choosing the health of bison population over the well-being of one our state’s most important contributors, our farmers and ranchers. The BLM’s recent prefatory approval given to the APR regarding grazing permits for bison is a scary foreshadowing of further decline of the use of priva... Full story
I remember being a kid and having my mom telling me what could happen if I didn’t learn to be good. The very worst case scenario was to be put in jail and being fed only bread and water. I couldn’t even imagine! Bread and Water only. I could envision the glass of water, but I was never sure in my mind if your bread would come cut into pieces, or just one big slice. The good point was, it was probably homemade bread. Some years later I lived in the small town of Opheim and got to see the local jail on a daily basis. Yes, I was even in it onc...
First off I want to tell Hillary that the word protect is not pernounced pertect in polite sirkuls. Hillary tries so very hard to use good speech. Sometimes so much so that she comes across as being phony. Hey! I’m certainly not perfect as the 16.7 readers of Thanks For Listening can tell you. I’m not running for the highest office in the world (although I probably should be) but I think those who are should have proper language skills and enunciation. Trump can be exempt because he’s not trying to be anyone but himself. I watched the Democ...
I’ve been gathering some background information on our Constitution as regards the Supreme Court. This was considered so very important by the drafters of the Constitution that it is in the Second Article. It says of the President: “ … he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate … shall appoint Judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall also be established by law … “ Since Justice Antonin Scalia died unexpectedl...
It is interesting to watch the American Prairie Reserve ramp up its public relations effort by bringing out their top gun, Sean Gerrity. His recent letter to the editor perpetuated the myth that bison magically time control their grazing. If this were true, why did Lewis and Clark find such poor condition range land in their travels through this country? Sean, the difference between commercial bison herds and your herd is not numbers but the fact they manage their animals. You will learn, as many of them did, that unmanaged ungulates will...
This ‘60s group The Animals’ song rings in my head. I look back on my letters in response to Mary Honrud with the thought that instead of coming off passionate and loving I might be taken as an uncompromising ideologue who isn’t willing to listen to the other side. I have been so troubled by this I could not come up with anything else for my letters, often giving up on the ideas I had as they spiraled back to that concern. I’m just a soul whose intentions are good! Oh Lord, please don’t let me be misunderstood! So with the knowledge that I ca...
I’m ordering a latte in downtown Missoula. Behind me in line a young man has a yoga mat slung over his shoulder. Behind him, a woman in a suit dress. My barista is young and cheerful; I tip my change plus a buck. The only thing wrong with this picture are the walls. They are decorated with ugly, mass produced images. Not art. Not even paintings. Purchased, boring frame filler. In Missoula, arguably the Montana city with the most local artists, this is inexcusable. There and in other cities where I’ve lived, local businesses not supporting local...
The picture in the Feb. 3 issue of the Glasgow Courier triggers some additional memories concerning the early day sheep and wool industry. Many of our Western states, including Montana, grew and prospered because of sheep. If you sit down with area history books you will find that many of our early day residents, as well as present day cattle ranchers, got their start with sheep. We may have a few local residents who can remember how wool was transported before grain trucks and semis were on the scene. Wool was an important source of income...
This week, at my request, the Glasgow Courier is honoring Chinook’s Jesse Dannels as Athlete of the Week. Jesse was killed in a motor vehicle accident on Sunday. As many of you know, when your child is involved in sports for any length of time, that sport and its participants become family. Jesse had a huge family. He was a Sugarbeeter, participating in multiple sports. In Glasgow, our student athletes knew him from swimming and wrestling. At the divisional wrestling meet in Big Sandy last weekend, Jesse placed second in his weight class and w... Full story
There are thousands of rules, regulations and laws that supposedly control guns in the United States. We do not need MORE laws. We simply need to enforce the ones already on the books, leaving the stupid laws and keeping the ones that actually make sense. Here’s some personal data from my life that maybe will shed some light on a couple gun laws. It will shed some new light for a few of the newer listeners of Thanks for Listening who are not privy to my past altercations with the law. I wrote some hot checks for which I paid with three years o...
Along with others, I attended a rally on Feb. 1 in Missoula protesting the bringing of un-vetted refugees to Montana. I intended to write a letter to the editor but after reading this article by Leo Hohmann (a writer for wnd.com), it occurred to me that it might work better. Mr. Walling has agreed to play along by running the following excerpt. To read the article in full, visit mobile.wnd.com/2016/01/plan-to-infuse-small-towns-with-muslim-migrants-meets-resistance/#ORBH2vu6xGHY0FIU.99. – Dave Pippin, Glasgow “Rural folks in Montana are pus...
Many of us applaud the Courier for the fine publicity given to the art scene in Glasgow. It is a pleasure to bring out of town guests for a cup of coffee at the Loaded Toad and then proceed through the building to view Sean Heavey’s fine photos of the Montana scene and on to the Wheatgrass Gallery to see what local artists and craft persons have to offer. With more empty spaces being available in our downtown area I wonder what might occupy them? Maybe an antique store? It is sad to see empty store fronts but some towns have revitalized main s...
I wasn’t planning on writing about the Super Bowl. It seems to me that Virgil Vaupel covered the subject pretty well last week, and anyway, the game sort of speaks for itself. However, the entertainments transcended the competition so profoundly that I was moved to take up the pom poms. Messages of inclusion and togetherness infused Lady Gaga’s rendition of the national anthem, and the weird assemblage of Coldplay, Bruno Mars and Beyoncé proved to be much more than the sum of their parts (mainly thanks to Queen Bey). Think about it. This year’s...
