Standing on the cusp of a new year it's probably a bit too soon to try and describe how we will recall 2017. Still, it's tradition with news outlets to try and summarize the major news that defined the year. This year we decided to summarize the stories we thought were of note by topic rather than in a chronological order. So, here's what we think were some of the significant stories for 2017.

Politics: While there were no regular national or state elections in 2017, there were elections at other levels of government and a special federal election in Montana. Here's a recap of local political happenings during the year.

National: When newly elected U.S. President Donald Trump chose Montana's U.S. Representative Ryan Zinke to serve as the Secretary of Interior, the vacant seat had to be filled by a special election. Counties already suffering budget shortfalls, urged the Montana Association of Counties (MACo) to push the Montana state legislature to hold the special election by mail ballot, a process that could have saved Montana counties as much as a million dollars.

The mail ballot proposal failed and a special election was held on May 25. Three candidates were in the race for the House seat and Republican Greg Gianforte won statewide with 50% of the vote. Democrat candidate Rob Quist won Blaine County with 49% of the vote to Gianforte's 43%.

State: Early in 2017 Greg Jergeson, D-Chinook, was appointed by Governor Steve Bullock to a four-year term as a commissioner on the Montana Transportation Commission. Jergeson, a former Montana State Senator and Public Service Commissioner, represents District 3 which covers roughly an area from Phillips County to the east, Glacier County to the west and south to include Great Falls and the Helena area. The board has five members. Among its many duties the Commission selects/prioritizes projects for construction and maintenance and awards highway construction contracts on a monthly basis.

Tribal: The general election for members of the Fort Belknap Indian Community Council was held on November 7. An earlier primary election in October was rescheduled after a serious snowstorm hit a sizeable area long the Hi-Line. Members of the tribal council are: President Andrew Werk, Jr. and Vice-President Gerald "Manny" Healy along with Representatives Brandi L. King, Phillip V. Shortman, Curtis Horn, Jeffery Stiffarm, Nathaniel "Nate" Mount, Dominic R. Messerly, Lynn Cliff, Jr. and Warren Morin. The new council members were inaugurated on November 8.

Municipal: Harlem's incumbent mayor, Bill Taylor, decided not to seek reelection in the November election. Kim Hansen, already a city council member, filed for the position of mayor. With no opposed seats for mayor or council an election was not necessary. Hansen will take office as mayor at the January 8, 2018 council meeting. Plans are to have an appointee to swear in to fill the council seat vacated by Hansen. Other Harlem City Council members include Ralph Schneider, Eva English and Marc Arensmeyer.

In Chinook incumbent Mayor Keith Hanson and council member Robert Smith both were unopposed. Meredy Phares was elected to fill the unexpired term she was appointed to fill earlier in the year. Incumbent council member Mitch Haider, in Ward 2 East, won after being opposed by James Hodgson. Clint Greytak is the fourth city council member and was not up for election.

Community and economic development: There were several projects during 2017 that did, or will, have an impact on local communities. The projects varied from educational to cultural. Some were small and others quite large and long term.

Changes on Main Street: In Chinook several business changes altered the look of downtown and Indiana (aka Main) Street. The local branch of Wells Fargo closed in May. Spokespersons said the closure was part of a national effort by the banking system to trim costs and respond to ways people are now doing their banking. The building is for sale and currently not being used.

Late in 2016 Steve and Lesley Zellmer bought the assets of Bear Paw Title from Pauly and Perry Miller. In 2017 they opened Treasure State Title Company and will be moving from their old location on Ohio Street to the former site of the "Blaine County Journal" and Greytak Realty. The Zellmers remodeled the offices and plan to be in the location by the end of December.

In June the "Blaine County Journal" and "Mountaineer" moved to the old Chinook Hardware location after razing part of the structure and remodeling the remaining building. Greytak Realty, along with Gretchens Getaways travel service, moved a couple of doors north to a new location.

In the same block as the new title company, Bruce and Patricia Hofeldt opened Miscellany, a second hand consignment and antique operation. They purchased the existing thrift store business in the Lohman Block and reopened at the end of August.

One other change in Chinook was a new owner for the State Farm Insurance agency. Crystal Stepper, who had ten years of experience in the insurance business, bought the agency from Thom MacLean. Stepper completely remodeled the existing office.

In Harlem, locals may have noticed the new building going up next to Harlem Lumber. According to Rod Wagner owner and operator of the lumber business, the 5000 square foot structure will be a new store for the lumberyard. He said he hopes to have the building completed sometime in the spring.

Final diorama completed at Blaine County Wildlife Museum: In late May the final diorama was completed at the Wildlife Museum. Acorn Exhibits owners Kurt Wohnsen and Liz Marshall completed the Foothills Exhibit. Acorn Exhibits did the major work on all the dioramas in the museum, beginning with the Buffalo Jump that was completed in 2001. Completion of the exhibit was the last major step in a multi-year master plan.

Fort Belknap's Island Mountain Development Group (IMDG): IMDG completed a major economic development project in Hays that will create a number of new jobs for the Fort Belknap Indian Community. The economic development arm of the local Indian community also purchased the Brekke Block in downtown Harlem. A new 13,400 square foot eCommerce center in Old Hays has space for 270 call representatives. Added to the existing call center, the employment level at the two locations could grow to 330 workers.

Plans for the property purchased in downtown Harlem is still being studied. Terry Brockie with IMDG said, "We are having a structural engineer evaluate the condition of the buildings." He added, "One idea under consideration is to have new storefronts along the street with affordable apartments on an added second floor." Earlier a spokesperson for IMDG said a major goal of the project was to reenergize the economy of Harlem.

Harlem's wastewater treatment upgrade: Harlem's Public Works Director, Richard Mohar, said the $4.8 million two-year upgrade to the wastewater treatment facility was completed this past summer. The innovative process uses a lagoon to store wastewater, then disperse the treated water through a pivot irrigation system. Two outdated lift stations were also replaced as part of the overall project.

Aaniiih Nakoda College (ANC) Nursing Program: The first class of ANC's Nursing Program completed their first year of the program at the end of spring, 2017. The second cohort of nursing students started their academic program in the fall of this year. The two-year program prepares students to become Registered Nurses (RN). The college and community worked together to establish the program and help solve a shortage of registered nurses in the Fort Belknap community.

Blaine County Fair Foundation created: The Blaine County Fair Foundation was created to provide a vehicle for donors to make tax free gifts toward projects at the county fairgrounds. The first major project is to erect an indoor arena that could be used for a variety of events throughout the year. Site preparation work for the new arena is slated to be started in the spring

Fire and weather. Wildfires and unusual weather all strongly affected the area in 2017. A prolonged drought, record warm temperatures, an early October blizzard and wildfires all left their imprint on various regions of the county.

Drought: Tracy Harshman, Executive Director for USDA's Blaine County Farm Service Agency said in mid-December, "In 2017 Blaine County is averaging 40% below normal precipitation. The majority of our moisture for this year came in two events, a rain in May and the blizzard in October." The U.S. Drought Monitor service changed Blaine County from a D-4 ranking (extreme drought) to D-3 (slightly below extreme) after the snow in October. The 40% figure is for the entire county and moisture levels vary by location. The normal annual participation is 13-15 inches. Drought conditions continued at the end of December.

October snow event: A snow event occurred in a fairly confined area along the Hi-Line on October 3. Snow accumulation varied from 12-30 inches with reported drifts up to 8 feet deep. At one point about 7000 residents were without power, some for more than two days. Because of the wet nature of the snow a large number of utility lines and poles were broken and/or damaged. Schools closed for several days and a primary election at Fort Belknap had to be rescheduled due to the snow.

East Fork wildfire: The East Fork Fire began late on Sunday afternoon, August 27, on the Rocky Boy Reservation. By week's end the fire spread north and east to parts of Hill and Blaine Counties as well as Beaver Creek Park. Eventually the fire burned nearly 22,000 acres before it was controlled in mid-September. In late November a number of property owners affected by the fire hosted an appreciation dinner for folks who fought the fire and helped in other ways during the fire. The dinner was attended by 400+ guests. Fundraising, providing supplies and food for the firefighters and helping after the fire was controlled were examples of how rural communities step up when their neighbors need help.

A couple other national stories with a Blaine County connection. These two stories involve national events but were connected to Blaine County. A TV program featured political views of some locals about the presidential election in the preceding fall and the other story involved the county in the celebration of a longstanding national holiday tradition about a special Christmas tree.

NBC visits Blaine County: In the spring a number of NBC network personnel visited Blaine County. The county was one of a few locations split evenly in how voters cast their votes in the 2016 presidential election. Eventually well known TV personality Harry Smith conducted interviews with several groups of people around the county. The program aired in late April.

U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree stops in Blaine County: Just before Thanksgiving the 2017 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree made two stops in Blaine County. The tree was making its way from where it was cut near Libby, Montana, to Washington, DC, and stopping along the way so people could view the tree. The tree was not scheduled to stop in Chinook, but local elementary principal Jon Martin made calls and got a short unscheduled stop for the tree at the Town Pump. Further east, the tree made a scheduled stop at Fort Belknap where it was celebrated with a native ceremony. The tree was lit December 6 on the U.S. Capitol grounds.

Sports: Hays/Lodge Pole Thunderbirds Northern C Champions. The Hays/Lodge Pole Thunderbirds had a spectacular season on the hardwood blazing through the District 9C regular season with a perfect 14-0 record.

The Thunderbirds cruised through their first two contest at the District 9C Tournament defeating the Chester-Joplin-Inverness Hawks 72-33. In the semi-final the Thunderbirds blasted the North Star Knights 80-36.

Saturday night at the District 9C Championship it was not meant to be as the Thunderbirds fell to the Box Elder Bears 71-57, but still advanced to the Northern C Divisional.

A week later in Great Falls the Thunderbirds were on a mission right from the opening tip where they blew by the Centerville Miners 75-37 to earn a spot in the semi-final round.

Hays/Lodge Pole faced the Chinook Sugarbeeters in the semi-final and after a back and forth opening half the Thunderbirds turned a two point halftime advantage into a 88-71 to head to the championship.

In the chipper the Box Elder Bears would again be the opponent. The District 9C powerhouses put on quite a show but on this night it was the Thunderbirds celebrating a Northern C Championship with a 65-61.

The Thunderbirds advanced to the State C and represented the community well, finishing fourth on the big stage.

State Track: Turners Eddie Harmon and Harlem’s Reece Hutton capture gold at their respective state meets.

Harmon entered the State C Track and Field meet in Laurel as one of the favorites. At the Northern C Divisional Harmon was edged out By Denton’s Kordell Carpenter who owned the Class C fastest time heading into the event Friday.

After 500 Meters it was Carpenter holding a 25 Meter lead over Seeley Swan’s Logan Maughan and Harmon. The distance looked insurmountable but as if lightning struck the field Harmon found a burst and began closing in on the leader with every stride.

As they entered the final turn Harmon was right on Carpenters heals and began setting him up for the pass down the stretch.

With only a few meters remaining Harmon overtook a falling Carpenter and broke the tape in a thrilling finish clocking in with a 1:59.33 time and becoming the first Turner Tornado to win a state championship in Track and Field.

Saturday in Butte at the Class B State Track and Field Meet Hutton claimed his spot at the top of the podium by winning the Shot Put with a mark of 51’5.5”.

Hutton was already the Wildcats record holder in the event eclipsing the 50’ mark his junior season and posting consistent 50’ marks this spring. The senior also found himself on the podium after finishing fourth in the Discus with a flip of 154’3” a personal best mark.