We've Got The County Covered
We've Got The County Covered
Sorted by date Results 551 - 575 of 971
In late June the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) issued a notice describing its plans to “repair/replace up to 37 culverts spanning about 24 miles of U.S Highway 2 east of Chinook in Blaine County.” The area of roadway involved begins at mile marker 404.0, just east of Chinook, and extends for 23.9 miles to marker 427.9, near the Milk River Bridge north of Fort Belknap. Greg Jergeson, a commissioner on the Montana Transportation Commission representing District 3 (an area from Phillips to Glacier County and south, including Gre...
The 2017 Blaine County Fair is history. In many ways weather was the 'fair story' with hotter than normal temps, a couple of days of serious wind, a "crash bang" storm with very little rain as a result, then one more relatively cooler day with a mild breeze, but still with temperatures in the mid-90's. Don Richman, Fair Board Chairman, described this year's edition of the fair as "the best ever!" It was a year of several new features, a return of many old favorites and some expressions of new...
A typical warm and somewhat breezy July 4th made for good conditions for several local celebrations around Blaine County. There were family gatherings as well as more organized community-based events. In Chinook at mid-morning of the 4th, the 71st edition of the July 4th Races, put on by the VFW, did not disappoint. There was a good turnout as youngsters, and oldsters, battled for prize money and bragging rights. Local VFW Commander Ray Reid said he was pleased with the turnout and the weather....
A week before the Blaine County Fair kicked off, two 12 by 24 feet electronic sign boards were delivered and set up at each end of Chinook on Highway 2 (believe me, they are hard to miss). The signs are provided through support from the two Diamond level businesses that support the fair-Triple T Sales and Shipwheel Cattle Company. John Skoyen, Fair Board member who first floated the idea of using the signs, said, "This year we'll be using the signs to recognize the businesses and individuals who...
The 2017 edition of the Blaine County Fair opens today and runs this Wednesday through Sunday (July 16). The Kids' Rodeo kicks thing off, literally, at 5 pm at the grandstand arena at the fairgrounds. Other events fill virtually every day and evening until the final hurrah at 5 pm, on Sunday, with the Pig Wrestling event in front of the grandstand. Don Richman, Chairman of the Fair Board, said he believes, "This will be the biggest and best fair in several years." Citing the return of Cale...
The first weekend in July Fr. Felix Nayak celebrated mass with three congregations he served after first arriving in Montana from Orissa, India in June, 2012. He conducted mass at St. Gabriel's in Chinook, St. Thomas the Apostle in Harlem and St. Thomas Aquinas in Hogeland. They were his second good-bye masses as he had said his good-byes last September when he moved to Malta to take on new responsibilities at St. Paul's in Hays, St. Thomas in Lodge Pole and Sacred Heart at the Agency. In...
Reporter's note. During the Fourth of July parade in Harlem I saw several folks handing out candy that I had never seen before. One of them, offering my wife a piece of candy, said something about a sports camp for kids. With no kids still camper age, we didn't really connect to what she was telling us. After the parade we ran into the same lady at the Harlem Senior Center. We began talking and we learned she was with a group of people doing soccer camps in Harlem, Hays and at the Agency. There...
In late June the oldest operating business in Chinook moved to a 'new, old location.' The "Journal," which published its first edition in May of 1890, moved south on Indiana Street to the set of buildings recently referred to as "the old Chinook Hardware." The newspaper is now operating from a building that was built around 1912, then modified over the years with additions and, more recently, the remodel of one of the original buildings and the removal of the wooden structure on the southside...
An especially dry spring and warming temperatures are resulting in several official actions that will affect commerce and life in Blaine County. Montana Governor Steve Bullock issued an executive order and an official request to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue. Both actions have to do with providing help to nineteen eastern Montana counties as well as Fort Belknap and Fort Peck Indian Reservations. An inter-agency order for Stage I Fire Restrictions affected several areas in north...
Fresh from a success in the recent special election to fill Montana’s sole Congressional seat, Montana’s Republican Party held its annual state convention in Billings on June 9 and 10. Delegates selected a new state chairman, heard from Republicans who hold statewide elected offices and were updated by Montana’s Republican U.S. Senator Steve Daines and new House member Greg Gianforte. There were 37 of Montana’s 56 counties represented by 162 voting delegates. Convention attendees also heard from four probable challengers who plan to seek th...
For some time I've been wanting to do a story about snow planes...those exotic looking forerunners of the modern snowmobile. Snow planes were popular on the upper plains of the Midwest, first as a means to travel over the snow, later as a form of recreation. Many were built on the chassis of old airplanes-using the plane's cabin as a passenger compartment, moving the engine and propeller to the rear for push and adding skis. In Montana ranchers built and used the machines to check on cattle and...
Two Blaine Countians received "Senior Citizen of the Year" awards at the regional meeting of the North Central Agency on Aging's gathering on July 21 at the senior center in Choteau. Karin Roehm, Director of Area III, said, "The annual award program is an opportunity to honor volunteers who have made significant contributions at the various centers in our region." The Area III Aging Council includes senior centers in Blaine, Chouteau, Liberty, Pondera, Teton, Glacier and Toole counties. Award...
Reporter's note: Jim Nissen told me about the upcoming August 3rd induction of Harlem native Bob Ragsdale into the PRCA's Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame. I'd seen bits and pieces of the National Finals (NFR) on television and attended a few local rodeos. That was about the extent of my knowledge of the world of rodeo and I knew nothing about Bob Ragsdale's illustrious career as a professional cowboy. I soon learned more about rodeo and the Ragsdales. I met Bob Ragsdale and his wife, Ree, in their...
Plans for the Blaine County Fair are in place. Starting with a daytime horse show and Kids' Rodeo on the evening of Wednesday, July 12, the five-day event concludes on Sunday afternoon with the 4-H/FFA livestock sale just after lunch and Pig Wrestling at 5pm. In between will be the PRCA Bear Paw Roundup Rodeo, premium judging from canned goods to livestock, the Blaine County Showdown Demolition Derby, live music by Cale Moon, Pipi the Clown entertaining the kids, fair food of all sorts, a...
Clifford the Big Red Dog was in Blaine County, first in Chinook at the library last week, then in Harlem earlier this week. Anyone who's watched children's programming on Public Television during the last half century, has likely seen "Clifford the Big Red Dog." But to see Clifford up close and real, that was a special treat for kids and parents alike. Perhaps some viewers will be surprised to learn that Clifford will turn 55 this fall, he already qualified for AARP membership a few years ago....
Kiley Huravitch, of Chinook, was recently named a "top Cookie Entrepreneur" for the Girl Scouts bi-state council that includes both Montana and Wyoming (GSMW). As part of this year's celebration of the 100th anniversary of the iconic cookie sales program, GSMW named its 100 top cookie sellers and recognized them with a special patch. Kiley, who will be a third grader at Meadowlark Elementary next year, sold 1006 boxes of cookies. She's no stranger to cookie sales sharing "this was my third year...
Reporter's note: Back in mid-spring my wife and I made a 3,500-mile road trip to Louisville, Kentucky and back. She went to attend a church-related conference and I was, well, going as a tourist. About 20 years ago I had gone to a conference in Louisville but saw virtually none of the city as I was tied to the conference while there. Interestingly, we stayed this time at the same hotel I'd stayed in years ago-the Gault House, a large hotel and convention complex located downtown right on the...
Reporter's note: If you happen to be near the Chinook Assembly, at the corner of West Fourth and Pennsylvania in Chinook, and smell coffee, you are enjoying a whiff of 'coffee with a purpose.' The new ministry called Ground Breakers is described on the church website as "a donations-based coffee shop operated within Chinook Assembly for the purpose of giving to missions both locally and globally, so that Jesus Christ may be known everywhere!" How the Assembly started the ministry is a story itse...
It's the time of the year when student athletes are recognized and celebrated for their sports accomplishments during the previous sports seasons. Forty graduating high school football players from across the state of Montana have been nominated and selected to play in what many call the premier, "best of the best" post season game-the Annual Montana East-West Shrine Game. This year's game will be played Saturday, July 15 in Billings on the campus of Rocky Mountain College. Coach for the East...
The Chinook Chamber schedules its monthly Business After Hours on the first Thursday of the month. June's featured business was the Sweet Medical Center, which had its event set for 6-8pm, the normal time for the after hours gathering. The Blaine County Wildlife Museum scheduled the first public viewing of the new Foothills Exhibit, inadvertently, on the same night, from 7-9pm. The museum board wanted to make sure the Acorn Exhibits principals, who finished the exhibit, would still be in town....
On Memorial Day a group of Boy Scouts held a 'retirement ceremony' for 125+ U.S. flags that were no longer serviceable. The ceremony was part of an Eagle Scout project designed and carried out by Kougar Lanier. His idea for an Eagle project that would gather used flags to be "destroyed in a dignified way" was in large part based on inquiries from citizens to Scout troops about retiring flags. Lanier said, "I discovered there was no regular, ongoing process to retire U.S. flags." Lanier...
Meadowlark Elementary Principal Jon Martin gave the signal for the assembled students to quiet down, but there was still an undercurrent of excitement on the last day of school. It was Awards Day and students would be recognized for superior attendance, completing an online course to learn about managing money, being good citizens and reading achievements. Sixth graders, who would be moving on to junior high next fall, got a sendoff from their fellow students with a song, cheers and high-fives....
Reporter/grandfather's note: Many readers met our granddaughter, Kayla, who spent a couple of months living with us in the spring of 2015. Kayla has epilepsy and was recovering from a seizure while at college, that required her being flown from Pullman, Washington to Seattle for treatment. She was forced to withdraw from college for the semester while recuperating. While with us she worked some for the school system as a sub and did some writing for the "Journal." (she's studying communications...
A chance comment by a customer to a local merchant eventually resulted in a patented product now being used at Sweet Nursing Home in Chinook. Kelcey Diemert, a local pharmacist, said, "About 17 years ago Russell Benson came into the pharmacy and said, "I was just visiting some of my buddies at the nursing home. They were all rocking away in their wheelchairs but weren't going any place. You should invent a wheelchair that rocks." Diemert shared the idea with John Iverson, a classmate when the...
The public is invited to a preview of the recently completed Foothills Exhibit at the Blaine County Wildlife Museum on the evening of Thursday, June 1 from 7-9 pm. Museum Manager Tammy Edwards said the event is the opening day for the museum's summer season that runs through the end of August. She added, "There will be no charge for that evening and this will replace the regular free admission Saturday held each June." Kurt Wohnsen and Liz Marshall, the owners and operators of Acorn Exhibits,...
