Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
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Dear Editor, During the 2019 Legislature, Gov. Steve Bullock, legislators, and Montanans across the Treasure State worked tirelessly to keep history alive in a variety of ways. Senate Bill 338, also known as the Montana Museums Act, is best known for providing a portion of the funds to build the new Montana Heritage Center. But the legislation also creates an ongoing historic preservation grant program for counties, incorporated cities or towns, tribal governments, associations and incorporated...
Dear Editor, Many wilderness advocates, scientists, and public land managers have long recognized the threat that excessive recreational use poses for Wilderness. Howard Zahniser, the Wilderness Act's author, warned over 50 years ago that Wilderness can be threatened "from development for recreation." He emphasized the need for humility and restraint in our dealing with Wilderness. The 1978 edition of Wilderness Management, the definitive professional tome on Wilderness management, summed it...
Can you name, or even remember, all of the service (gas) stations that existed just on 1st and 2nd Ave. So., in Glasgow? It takes very little effort for me to name, or at least remember locations of these stations. I am thinking of the stations just on Front and Main Street, but there were also many located on Highway 2 within the city limits. Aw, yes, service stations of the past. I would be happy to list those that come to mind, but I do know that I would miss several, so I will leave that to you. You were able to pull into your favorite...
Dear Glasgow School District Community Member, School funding formulas are complex and confusing. To simplify things, our district receives direct state aid payment equivalent to about 44 percent of our general funds. According to the Montana OPI document, "Understanding Montana School Finance and School District Budgets," the general fund is defined as the fund used to account for the financing of a district's operation and maintenance costs not accounted for in another fund. Some examples of...
Dear Editor, Dear City of Glasgow Police Department Attn: Chief of Police On the cold and snowy sub-zero Monday of Jan. 13, I had an appointment with the Motor Vehicle Department to renew my driver's license at 2:20 p.m. After completing the procedure with the very nice and professional technician Angela France, my car, parked on the street outside the office, wouldn't move forward very good and backward some. Teasing it through town and out on the highway to Jordan, moving so slow and awkward,...
Dear Editor, Senator Daines seeks to create better public banking. Postal Banking would help Montanans gain better access to banking services. Federal law requires one post office per zip code, but this isn't the same expectation for banks. US Postal Service can already complete banking services like check cashing and money orders; this bill would allow them to offer bank accounts and even offer short-term, small dollar loans. Representative Gianforte wants to stop robocalls by requiring...
Dear Editor, We've reached a pivotal moment for Montana farmers and ranchers, as three critical trade deals are finalized and implemented. The benefits here are enormous, and I strongly believe Montana's agricultural industry can look forward to renewed success and optimism this year. As a fourth-generation Montana rancher from Miles City, and the President of the Montana Stockgrowers Association, the steps we took over the last year will deliver big wins for Montana agriculture. First, the...
Dear Editor, I am writing to thank Glasgow residents for sharing the true meaning of Christmas with children in need this past holiday season. Because of the generosity of donors in Glasgow and across the United States, Operation Christmas Child, a project of Samaritan's Purse, collected more than 8.9 million shoebox gifts in 2019. Combined with those collected from partnering countries in 2019, the ministry is now sending 10,569,405 shoebox gifts to children worldwide. Through shoeboxes-packed...
Dear Editor, America is a powerful country. We have the strongest military, but it's not the source of our true strength. The true measure of the power we possess is not enhanced nor embraced when we are fighting a war but rather when we are leading the charge in diplomacy and peace-building to ensure a more prosperous future for our children. War should be the very last resort for a country that is made up of all the different places and regions of the world. War should also have a defined and...
Dear Editor, Recently one of our members submitted a letter expressing his opinions about the Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame. We disagree with his characterizations of the past few years of challenges that our organization has faced. We have engaged with this member over the past two years to address this, yet he persists in his misperceptions. We are moving forward and I am optimistic about the future. First, we are excited to celebrate our 12th class of inductees into the Montana Cowboy Hall of...
Do you remember the days when there were ushers at the Survant Theater? This was a position that deserved uniforms. Please feel free to correct me, but I vaguely remember the color of these uniforms as gold and burgundy. Did the Roxy and Orpheum Theaters have ushers also? The ushers not only took you to a seat of your preference, but monitored customers during the show. It was common to have the usher or ushers walk the aisle with a flashlight to make sure none of us had our feet on the seats or were annoying the patrons seated in front of us....
Dear Editor, As your U.S. Senator, it's been my top priority to bring Montana commonsense to Congress, and in spite of the partisan politics that exist in Washington D.C., I've been working across the aisle this past year to get results for Montanans. We recently secured the largest pay raise in nearly a decade for our troops, strengthened our southern border to protect our communities from illegal drugs, empowered law enforcement to combat Montana's growing meth crisis, protected the mission...
Dear Editor, My Fellow Montanans, I feel compelled to bring to your attention an issue that should concern you. The Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame (MCHF) Board of Directors wasted nearly $1 million in taxpayer and contribution funds and no one has been held to account. The MCHF Board has lost the trust and support of Montanans. The membership dues have declined from its peak in 2013 of $41,527 (that was before the news of the Big Timber Debacle was made public) to net dues of $13,634 in 2018. Membe...
Dear Editor, This week, members of the Montana Legislature will head back to Helena to participate in "Legislative Week." This is an opportunity for our state lawmakers to continue to engage each other and the broader public in important policy topics on the minds of many Montanans. Just three short years ago, Montana faced massive cuts to the state budget, which decimated services across the state. As a result of the budget reductions, many communities lost access to behavioral health...
Dear Editor, January 11th is Human Trafficking Awareness Day. Recently we have seen too many missing youths in Montana who may be human trafficking victims. Learning what we can do to stop this crime may help these, and other, victims of human trafficking. I am a registered nurse, domestic violence advocate, and prosecutor who has dedicated my career working for children and people in need. As a prosecutor I fought against human trafficking on the front lines: I stood up for children victimized...
I was flipping through a three-ring binder filled with newspaper clippings from the past, when the title of one of the clippings caught my eye, “Remember when???.” This was a clipping taken from the Glasgow Courier and covered memories of some of the local butchers and meat cutters of past years. How many of us remember days of head cheese, blood gravy, pickled pigs feet and hams and bacon actually smoked in a smoke house? Oh, remember when bacon was purchased with the rind? Maybe you remember the days before refrigeration and the use of ice...
Driving to town Sunday morning on our ice glazed roads made me think of days before four-wheel drive, front-wheel drive and all-wheel drive vehicles, like the days of using horses and the methods used for that type of transportation. My mind went to my early days and the things I can vaguely remember. That thought was immediately followed by thinking of all of those acquaintances around me that do remember those “winterizing” preparations that were carried out if you used horses or mules as teams for driving or as personal conveyance. Tod...
Dear Editor, Ranchers running livestock on federally managed lands are facing a major taking of which few appear to be aware. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has filed thousands of water rights with the Montana Department of Natural Resources (DNRC). The problem is these filings conflict with the vested water rights of the allotment holders. Montana is a prior appropriation doctrine state which means, 'first in time, first in right' (miners' law). Most of the ranches using federal lands...
Along with hitting the gym more often and starting a diet, quitting smoking tops many New Year’s resolution lists. There are currently more than 146,000 smokers in Montana and about 50 percent of them tried to quit last year. New ads from e-cigarettes companies would have those smokers falsely believe that switching to vaping is quitting smoking. The American Lung Association is reminding Montana residents that the Food and Drug Administration has not found any e-cigarette to be safe and effective in helping smokers quit. This year, the Lung A...
Dear Editor, I am a resident of Nemont Manor and would like to express my gratitude and appreciation of the staff of same. I moved in about a year and a half ago to the Middle of Nowhere and was welcomed by a few of the other residents that live here. I was having a rough time in my life when this opportunity opened so I would have a place to live. In my short time here, I have seen residents come and go (thru death or moving out). Changes come if you live in a home of your own or in an...
I am sure that I am not the only one not ready for Christmas Eve and Christmas. A lot of those undone things are associated with childhood memories of past Christmas seasons. Things that come to my mind that I haven’t done in several years, that were always a part of childhood Christmas memories include homemade peanut brittle, popcorn balls, divinity, homemade fudge and caramels. I almost forgot shortbread. That was always the cookie dough used for cutout cookies. I can’t even remember if it tasted that much different than the sugar coo...
Dear Editor, At a gubernatorial campaign fundraiser, Congressman Gianforte pledged to cut taxes 30% over his first two years. The promise of “huge tax cuts” is attractive, but “voter beware”: Tasty bait often hides painful hooks. State government runs on income taxes. Local cities, counties, and schools run on property taxes. 91% of state taxes support locally delivered services, the big three being education, healthcare, and incarceration. Montana’s Balanced Budget Amendment prevents deficit spending, so… under a Balanced Budget Amendment, cut...
Dear Editor, Trade is good for small businesses and the U.S. Small Business Administration has programs to help you grow in international markets. Recently, President Trump and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan reached two agreements to rebalance trade between our two great nations. These agreements, which were launched at last year’s meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, achieve concrete outcomes from negotiations. Japan is one of America’s most important trading partners and this agreement will serve to enhance our robust two...
Remember those wonderful days when answering the telephone was important? You could almost count on it being family, friend, acquaintance or a bona fide business call. I am sure that I will not be the only Senior Citizen that looks forward to mid-December when that deadline date arrives to sign up or change carriers for your new Medicare, Medigap or drug plan. And don’t be foolish enough to think you will use the computer to compare or choose a plan, as this just generates more phone calls and e-mail. I guess the upside is having caller I.D. w...
Dear Editor, The holiday season is upon us. Montana families across our state are giving thanks and enjoying quality time with their families and loved ones. As we gather around the dining table this year to express our gratitude, let us not forget the extraordinary privilege we have as free Americans. I want to give thanks to our Montana service members currently deployed, unable to be home for the holidays this year. Thank you for protecting our nation. I also want to express my gratitude to...
