Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
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FMD is a very contagious viral disease of cloven-hoofed animals, wild and domestic. It causes high fever, lameness so severe the animal often refuses to stand, severe slobbering, and refusal of food. Most animals recover after an outbreak, but the disease can lead to permanently unhealthy individuals. The viral strain involved and the species sickened causes wide variations in signs of the initial disease and the lingering after effects. Just like the annual debate about which flu strain will be prevalent this winter, the disease strain can...
In a couple of weeks, the parishioners of Queen of Angels Church in Nashua will have a special service and a potluck dinner to celebrate their parish. In June of 2017, the 100th anniversary of Queen of Angels will take place at the church. As I was working with several other ladies on decorations for the upcoming celebration I got to thinking about other churches in the immediate area that have had celebrations honoring their 100th anniversary. I thought about the people who built these churches. They didn’t have construction equipment like w...
Occasionally, as a reporter, you come across a cache of high quality information about a pressing subject of both local and broader significance. The immediate question is what to do with it. When it comes to the Stoneberg/Holts and the cast of regulars at their storied Horse Ranch south of Hinsdale (MT) at Timber Creek, the answer is clear: Share it, especially when it comes to bison. Ron and Rose Stoneberg and their daughter Sierra Holt are the sort of Montana conservationist/ranchers (around...
Sometime after 12:30 a.m. last Sunday, July 12, on Millionaire Mile at the Fort Peck cabins, a person decided that a Canadian flag flown on private property was somehow offensive – even though it was being flown along with an American flag. That person snapped the Maple Leaf off its flag pole and took it. My husband, Don, and I, who were flying these flags, regard this as a hate crime, and he has reported it to the police. I don’t need to explain why we were flying this flag, but I will. I am American, raised right here near Glasgow. My husband...
Mr. Vaupel, Regarding your “dilemma” about my signing the original letter as Paul Harvey, which wasn’t published: You asked what my reaction would have been if you would have told your readers (and me) you had received a letter from “the” Paul Harvey… and then went on to wonder whether I would have written, “Hey Virgil, you Dumas. Paul Harvey is dead. Or didn’t you know?” Even if I had your talent for that “causerie” (informal but intelligent) writing style of yours, I wouldn’t have disrespected you in that way in a public format, any more...
I was visiting with Bernie today as he combed loose hair off three or five of his 10 dogs. See, Bernie rescues dogs from the pound and people bring him old dogs to take care of. Mostly black labs. I have to drive (slowly) through his yard in order to get to Chisholm's alfalfa field to pick bales. Chisholm grazes cows there in the winter. He's one of several young Valley County folks who have graduated from MSUB with degrees in farm and ranch management and have returned home to work on or actually take over the family farm/ranch. twenty-five ye...
I am sorry to say that today’s update brings no good news. When I wrote the Legislative Update on May 4th just after the conclusion of the Legislative Session I had explained that SB 157 (Tax Reappraisal legislation) had been signed into law by Gov. Bullock and that more than likely it would cause the real estate taxes to be raised throughout most of Eastern Montana. Those of you who have received your tax bill already know this to be true. I have had phone calls from individuals whose tax bill has doubled, tripled and even quadrupled! Many o...
People around here aren’t afraid to fight. It even seems to come highly recommended on occasion. It could be the pleasant release of a street (fight) dance in Hinsdale, as I experienced on a fine July evening a few Fridays back. Or it could be the calm but spirited discourse that seems to be unfolding between Virgil Vaupel and an anonymous reader right here on this page. Take your pick. In either instance, a counterintuitive truth about living the good life in America is on full display: Namely, the idea that mutual understanding frequently c...
Last Saturday night I went to a dance at the Nashua Senior Citizen Center. The Cap Holter family provided the music. As I listened to the songs I thought how great it was that Cap Holter, who is in his 90s, was joined by his daughter, Joyce, who played the guitar and sang, and his son, Curt, who played his fiddle. Cap played his accordion with an ease gained over the years. Although there weren’t many people there, you could tell they all enjoyed the music. Granted, it was classic country, but it’s the kind of music that still draws people to...
I decided to take a vacation to visit my granddaughters Lily (11) and Maggie (9) out in Washington and to get out of the smoke from all the fires up in Canada that have inundated Hinsdale recently. Most of my 12.783 faithful know the problems I have had with cars and pickups since I kilt the Crown Vic and I should have known better, but I did it again. I took an untested 1994 Ford Ranger 4X4 that I had just bought at a farm auction to see what it needs to make itself whole. Remember four years ago I took the Ford half ton I got from my son in...
Do you remember the hours you spent in grade school drawing circles on lined paper? Actually, I don’t think you would really call them circles, but it was an exercise we all did in preparation of learning cursive writing. I think that we can all recall the cursive writing charts, which were usually located above the black board behind the teacher’s desk. I have noticed that persons that went to the same country school often had very similar handwriting. I can’t come up with any idea of why that might be, but maybe each teacher had a disti...
I'll admit I've been a little hesitant to report in on the goings-on at the intersection of Boxcar Road and Hwy 117 near Park Grove. Recent calls into the Courier office over the holiday weekend about the demolition unfolding at the site would doubtless have prompted a story of some kind in the coming weeks. My concern stems from the fact that I, as many readers will already be aware, am in the process of purchasing the place. So in a way (gulp), it's a story about me. My plan is to...
Sometimes when looking at nature, I get curious about things I see. For instance, have you ever seen a rainbow that has jagged edges? I haven’t. And the colors are always in the same order. Why is that? Watching rain or snow falling, I wonder what determines its rate of fall. Why does it fall at different rates ... from slow to downpours or blizzards. And then there’s the branches on a tree. Two trees of the same variety, side by side, do not have the same number of branches nor are they of the same exact formation. Trees are like people in...
Mr. Vaupel’s “causerie” style plays well here in rural N.E. Montana. I enjoy it myself. But, to this observer, he lacks the broad perspective and open mind necessary to objectively seek out facts beyond those that serve his occasionally ill-informed and seemingly prejudiced opinions. The conservative Mr. Vaupel appears to play as free and loose with his facts as liberals on the opposite side do. At a time when our country is in dire need of unity, and citizens willing to stand up to the divisiveness of ideologues on either side, it was refreshi...
This week, I'm happy to include a letter from one of our staff on the subject of gay marriage. I should say a thing or two about that. Firstly, we welcome letters from anyone who wants to have their voice added to the broader discussion on virtually any topic relevant to this community. That said, if a staffer wants to chime in, I tend to err on the side of featuring their commentary as a column. Given more time, we would have done just that with Georgie Kulczyk's fine letter. In this case, the letter in question is short and was originally...
To our community: I’m seeing a lot of posts (Facebook) about gay marriage. Lots of words being used like abomination, sinners, Christians, opinions, morality, etc. (I’m no expert, but I’m thinking a lot of those words were used during the civil rights movement). I can only say how thankful I am that I live in America where people can express their opinions freely. I am thankful for the men and women who fought and continue to fight for our freedoms. I am thankful that I am alive to see the world changing. I am thankful for those who are not i...
Youth today face many challenges in terms of financial management, decision making and the use of credit, which may either lead them to or prevent them from, achieving financial success. Student loan debt, estimated at over $1 trillion is just one example of how young people today begin their adult lives in a less than ideal financial position. Credit scores and wise use of credit also play a role in the success or lack of success of today’s youth. The need for improved financial knowledge and behaviors is increasingly important and as adults,...
Once again it seems time for a bits and pieces column. A couple of weeks ago, I decided to dye my hair. No particular reason for it other than I thought it would be fun to do. Because my hair was completely white, the light golden brown dye I chose turned my hair to a copper color. It’s been a good 30 years since my hair was that color. But that’s okay. I like it enough I just may keep it that color for a while. One of my sons said he wasn’t shocked at the color change. He told me that he and his siblings know to expect the unexpected from...
Most of my 12.438 readers know that I have been a trucker in a past life. Up until my retirement in February 2000 I had set a tire on every foot of United States Interstate save I-4 which diagonals across Florida, and assorted bypass routes. In my nearly 2.5 million miles I never received a moving violation. That’s not to say that maybe sometimes I warranted a speeding ticket but I managed to dodge the bullet on a couple occasions. One of those times was in Nevada on I-80 coming off Golgonda Summit which is a pretty straight 6% grade of m...
The Fourth of July will soon be here. Do you remember how you used to celebrate this holiday? You may even remember when it wasn’t a three-day holiday. My thoughts turn to fireworks. Remember when fireworks were done on an island in Fort Peck Lake? You may remember the bumper-to-bumper traffic returning home from the night’s entertainment. That might have been before camping at the lake was so common. There may still be a lot of you that never spent the night camping at Fort Peck or the Pines unless you attended a summer camp there. You may rem...
I wanted to share some information on the Gregg Gianforte “Bring Our Families Back” tour that was held at the Cottonwood on June 11, 2015. Gregg and his wife Susan visited with us and we found them to be very informative. They have many ideas on how rural Montana cities and towns could see many Montana folks moving back to their roots and still holding high paying jobs by telecommuting. Gianforte and his wife Susan have called Bozeman home since 1995. They are parents to three boys and a girl and fully understand the concern parents have when t...
There is something about songbirds this time of year that can catch the ear, eye and heart of even the most preoccupied person. It doesn’t matter where: mountain tops, middle of the prairie, downtown, uptown. It doesn’t matter what you call them: tweety birds, little brown jobs, neotropical migrants. Songbirds are nesting, raising young and – at least the males – singing their blessed little hearts out. Sure a dedicated birder with keen hearing can tell the difference between the songs of a savannah sparrow and vesper sparrow. Or with a quick...
This column originally ran Jan. 1, 2014. We are reprinting it due to its author's recent Second-Place honor for Best Column Writing at the 2015 Montana Newspaper Association's Better Newspaper Contest. I thought I’d better get this off my chest while I still have a chest to get it off of. (Off of which to get it? … From which to get it off? … Forget it, I am what I am.) See, here’s what happened over Christmas. I was sitting in my recliner, reclining watching football when I had an attack of “heartburn” or acid reflux as those in the know at th...
Do you remember highways from previous days? Of course a lot of them, or maybe I should say all of them, no doubt started out as gravel roads and as traffic and funds allowed, roads were paved, but what I notice as I drive our present highways is the changes made over the years. Of course the width of even our two lanes is much greater than past generations drove, but what interests me are the changes made in the layout of the roads of the past. If you observe, you will notice the grades and bridge abutments of previous roads. I am sure that...
City workers fill potholes downtown just before 5 a.m. on Friday, June 12. Street Foreman Karl Krause assured attendees at the June 15 City Council meeting that road crews are hard at work despite intermittently inclement weather conditions and a long list of damaged streets to patch up.... Full story
