We've Got The County Covered
We've Got The County Covered
Sorted by date Results 951 - 972 of 972
The regular November monthly meeting of the Harlem City Council was held on Tuesday evening, November 9 at City Hall. All council members were present: Kim Hansen; Ralph Schneider; Eva English and Marc Arensmeyer. Mayor William Taylor presided. City Clerk Rebecca Skoyen and Public Utilities Supervisor also were present. Mayor Taylor called the meeting to order and the pledge to the flag followed. Council motioned and approved the minutes from the regular October, 2015 meeting. Council also motioned and approved the current claims and payroll...
Jordan Salo began her duties as Blaine County's Deputy County Attorney on September 21. The Belgrade native said she saw the job posted just after she took the bar exam in July. She said, "I was hoping to find a position in Montana and be in a situation where I could get a variety of legal experience. At the job interview I felt Kelsie Harwood (County Attorney) would be a great mentor and that we had a similar outlook about how to approach legal issues." Salo comes from a family of educators,...
Last Thursday the Blaine County Commissioners hosted a public tour of the National Guard Armory in Chinook. In the spring of 2015, the Montana Department of Military Affairs announced plans to more efficiently use the available facilities around the state and reduce operating costs. Military Affairs planned to close at least one of its seven regional repair shops, noting the Chinook shop built in 1987, was the oldest of the new shops. A decision whether to close the Chinook shop, then operating...
A full schedule of activities has been set for the Chinook Area Chamber’s annual pre-Christmas event on Friday, November 27. Most activities will be in and around the downtown area throughout the day. Early evening the Parade of Lights will wind along the main street through downtown and the Festival of Trees live auction, a new activity, will conclude after the parade at the Eagles Club during the club’s Taco Feed. This year there will be a variety of related items for the auction. Organizations and families are encouraged to create and don...
Two vacancies occurred in the Chinook Police Department with the retirement of Chief Mark Weber and the recent leaving of another officer. Two new Police Officers recently joined the department. Mike Schmidt Mike Schmidt joined the Chinook Police Department as a Police Officer on June 23. He was born in Santa Cruz, California, then at age 16 his family moved to Smith Valley, Nevada, where he graduated from high school. Before joining the Chinook department he was a corrections officer at the...
Ray Cichosz, Program Coordinator of Language Preservation, is responsible for organizing and promoting various activities and programs that work to preserve the native languages of the Gros Ventre (White Clay) and Assiniboine tribes at Fort Belknap. Native language classes are being offered at various locations in both languages. Classes recently began at three locations around Fort Belknap (see locations and times at end of this story). Cichosz has been the Program Coordinator since May, 2014....
Chinook-area veterans were honored in a program held at the high school on Veterans Day. The program was hosted by Post 4620, Chinook's Veterans of Foreign Wars organization. Post Commander Ray Reid was the master of ceremonies for the annual event attended by junior and senior high students as well as the public. Perry Miller, also with Post 4620, assisted with the program. The program honored veterans through a number of presentations. After presentation of the colors by the Chinook Police...
Chairwoman Miller called the November 10, 2015 meeting to order. Board members present were Travis Buck, Michael Copenhaver, Scott Gunderson, Ernest Johnson, Pauly Miller, Joel Pruttis and Keith Raty. Absent: James Hodgson and Viki Tilleman (excused). FFA members Garrett Lowham, Tyler Ortner and Cord Schneider presented a recap of their trip to the national convention in Louisville, Kentucky. Chairman Miller gave an overview of this year’s MCEL convention held in Billings. There were no remarks during the public comment period. The agenda was a...
Municipal elections were completed on November 3 for city council positions in both Harlem and Chinook. Between the two councils there were five seats to be filled—two in Harlem and three in Chinook. In Harlem, Mark Arensmeyer was an incumbent in Ward 2 West and Kim Hansen an incumbent for the seat representing Ward 1 East. Both candidates were unopposed. Chinook’s three seats were all held by incumbents going into the election. Chris Thurman was unopposed and reelected in Ward 1 West. Clint Greytak and Mitch Haider were both unopposed for two...
The North Central Montana Stockgrowers Association and the MSU-N Collegiate Stockgrowers are holding a joint gathering on the MSU-Northern campus on the afternoon and evening of Saturday, November 14. It will be the first time the two ag-oriented interest groups team up for a joint effort-the annual meeting for the Central Montana group and an opportunity for the Collegiate group to meet and great with leaders in an economic sector the students aspire to be a part of. Teddy Crowley, from the...
The Chinook City Council held its November meeting on November 11. Councilmen present were Mitch Haider, Robert Smith, Chris Thurman and Clint Greytak. Mayor Keith Hanson called the meeting to order. Council motioned and approved the minutes from the October meeting. Approval of claims and reports was also motioned and approved. There was no public comment. Department reports followed. Police Chief Elmer Zarn showed new body cams that were purchased for officers to wear while on duty. The body cams will be used by officers once a use policy is...
While many locals were doing or thinking about big game hunting, heading to high school playoff games or just relaxing on a day off, a group of emergency services responders were training at the fire hall in Chinook. Region 2A emergency medical providers from Glacier, Toole, Liberty, Hill, Chouteau and Blaine counties were holding their fall training. The annual event moves each fall to one of the various towns and locations that make up the region in north central Montana. Laurie Huestis, a mem...
A group of volunteer firefighters recently spent a training session learning fire behavior and fighting real fires in the 'burn prop,' a mobile training unit designed to give firefighters experience with suppressing a real fire under controlled conditions. The tractor-trailer mounted training unit is one of two provided to local fire departments around the state of Montana through the Fire Training Services Training School (FSTS), a state level agency that is attached to the Extension Service...
The Chinook Area Chamber’s November Business After Hours will feature four local artists from the Chinook area. Business After Hours is a monthly meet and greet event that allows local business owners to showcase their products and services in a setting outside the normal business day. November’s event is being hosted by local artists Corey Couturier, Tomi Simenson, Ken Martin and Terri Meyer. Each artist will have a table with examples of their work for display and sale. Corey Couturier, best known for his large, mural like paintings, sai...
A group of local volunteers recently met to organize a drive to help assure fellow citizens have the cold weather gear they need for the upcoming winter season. Jessica Aberg, Loan Officer with the First Bank of Montana in Chinook, organized the meeting to explore ways to fill this need for warm clothing. She invited volunteers with My Neighbor in Need, another community-based support group, to help organize the project. The group decided to use contacts from schools, churches, day care facilities and other local agencies to assess needs, then...
The Harlem City Council held its regular monthly meeting on October 13. Prior to the start of the regular meeting there were two informational presentations to the council. Representatives of KLJ, an engineering firm hired to conduct a housing survey for Harlem, explained how they would evaluate the housing needs for the city. A combination of real estate and tax information plus a physical evaluation of the housing situation would be used to complete a final report by January, 2016. The report will summarize housing potential and possible...
Reporter's note: This is the last story of the 'murder in north country' series. It was a double homicide and all three people involved lived outside Blaine County, but one had a connection that was important in the eventual capture of the perpetrator. Nancy Mahns, the granddaughter of former Blaine County Sheriff Dan Hay and niece of former Harlem Police Chief Blaine Hay, got me interested in this double murder. Mahns sent a copy of a July, 1953 issue of "Official Detective Stories." The...
Chairwoman Miller called the October 13, 2015 meeting to order. Board members present were Michael Copenhaver, James Hodgson, Ernest Johnson, Pauly Miller, Joel Pruttis and Viki Tilleman. Absent were Scott Gunderson (Excused); and Travis Buck. Guests were welcomed. Elizabeth Hodgson, Chinook High Student Council President, reported on a successful Homecoming Week, expressed thanks to parents and staff for their support of the homecoming activities and introduced plans for a small recycling project that is being started. Craig Lowham, First... Full story
Reporter's note: This is part three of a four part series. Frank Sharples left a note on my desk asking if I knew about the Lidstone Murders. I recalled a photo in the Chinook centennial book, but that was about the extent of what I knew. I searched the archives of the "Chinook Opinion" and found many details of the 1932 double homicide in the northwest corner of Blaine County. In the local history of northwest Blaine County, "The Unyielding Prairie...," there was a lot of information about...
Three new CASA volunteers have officially joined the 17th Judicial Court District. Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) volunteers gather information and make recommendations to judges trying to make determinations for what is best for neglected and abused children thrust into the court system. Blaine, Valley and Phillips counties make up the 17th District, a state level court. Three new volunteers, from Blaine County, were part of a class recently completed to train first-time CASA...
Reporters note: I'm on my annual October temporary job at a pumpkin patch in western Washington State. It's the fourth year I've worked at the Black Crow Pumpkin Patch and Corn Maze-about 50 miles north of downtown Seattle, near Arlington, WA. It's a family owned plot of five acres of pumpkins, squash and gourds plus another five acre corn maze. The owner comes from a long line of berry and pumpkin farmers. I've learned this year, from various media outlets, that "pumpkins are out and gourds are...
Reporter's note: I was in the Blaine County Veterinary Clinic when two bird hunters were at the counter with their bird dog. The dog was sitting calmly, on leash, and looking around the clinic waiting room. The hunters were in the Malta area when their dog was bitten by a rattlesnake. With no vets available in Malta, they headed for Chinook. Dr. Roger Baxter had just treated the dog with antivenin for the bite and told me he had treated two additional snakebites to dogs in the last few days. A f...
