We've Got The County Covered

Articles from the August 26, 2020 edition


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  • Time to Shine! Street Lights get an Upgrade

    Aug 26, 2020

    A work crew from Northwestern Energy was in Chinook this past Friday replacing street lights with LED bulbs. The crew replaced old, worn out lights on Main (Indiana) Street in downtown Chinook. Previously, crews had upgraded the lights in Harlem as well. The upgrade is a welcome sight, providing more visibility in much needed areas at night....

  • Grants Available to Benefit Blaine County

    For Immediate Release|Aug 26, 2020

    The Montana Community Foundation, Inc. (MCF) announces the opening of a grant cycle to benefit communities and residents of Blaine County. Grants will be made from the Blaine County Community Foundation Fund, established at MCF by Warren Ross in 1997. Financial support for this grant program also comes from the Ross 87 Ranch Endowment Fund, established by Warren Ross as well. Applicants must be either a 501(c)(3) nonprofit or an exempt governmental unit. Grants will range in size from $500 to $2,000. While grants must be used for projects...

  • 4-H Reports Successful Livestock Sale

    Donna Miller|Aug 26, 2020

    Held both virtually through Frontier Live Sale and in-person at the Blaine County Fairgrounds on Saturday, August 15, the Blaine County 4-H Livestock Sale is in the books. According to on-site auctioneer Kevin Elias, sixty-five market animals were sold for a total price of $106,262.90. That number included 15 market beef, which sold for an average of $2.59 a pound; 41 market hogs, selling for an average of $4.17 a pound; and nine market lambs, going for an average of $3.66 a pound. "The sale...

  • After 50 Years, Swift Fox Return to the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation

    Kody Farmer|Aug 26, 2020

    The Swift Fox once were very common throughout Montana and Southern Canada, but numbers quickly diminished significantly in the last quarter of the 1800's and early 1900s. This rapid decline was due in large part to Federal programs aimed at eradicating Coyotes and Wolves from the region. The Swift Fox was caught up in this eradication falling victim to trapping and poisoning efforts meant for coyotes and wolves. By 1969 the Swift Fox was considered to be extinct in Montana and southern Canada....

  • Blaine County Beacon: Taking a Leap of Faith Requires Belief and a Fundamental Trust

    Donna Miller|Aug 26, 2020

    Living the life you want often means making some big changes. For Cassie Johnson, that meant a change of career. Regardless of how outside the boundaries of reason others thought her decision to give up a steady paycheck and trade it for a commission-based income sounded, Johnson trusted in the vision of who, what, and where she wanted to be in the future and took the leap to sell real estate full time. Last August, Johnson was taking online classes through UM-Western and teaching K-2 students...

  • Montana Historical Society Encourages People to Answer the Call from History

    Donna Miller|Aug 26, 2020

    Committed to the preservation of history, former Blaine County Museum Director, Jude Sheppard has been serving as a member of the Montana Historical Society Board of Trustees since her retirement. The position allows her to remain connected to the promotion of educational programs and services so that Montanans might have an understanding of and an appreciation for their cultural heritage—past, present, and future. One of her colleagues in the Montana Historical Society (MHS) Research Center, State Archivist Jodie Foley has been busy a...

  • Journal Jots

    Aug 26, 2020

    Harlem Library The Book Challenge for August is to read a book set in another time. When you have completed the challenge contact the library to be entered to win a gift certificate from a local business. The Book Club will meet online via Skype. The new book is “There, There” by Tommy Orange and may be picked up Sept. 1-4. The first discussion will be Sept. 14, 4 P.M. You may attend at join.skype.com/OBq8EUM6IEwF. The library will keep the Wi-Fi on after hours beginning Sept. 1 to assist with the greater need during the COVID-19 pandemic. If...

  • Back to School: Be aware of School Bus Safety on the Highway and in front of the School

    Kody Farmer|Aug 26, 2020

    Well it's that time of year again and school is back in session. School might be a whole new ball game for the parents, students, teachers and staff, but ensuring their safe trip to and from school falls on all of us while we are in our vehicles doing our own things. This means that the streets surrounding the schools will be busy with kids hustling to and from school as well as the buses and parents or family members dropping their children or siblings off. It also means that while on the highw...

  • Earl Russell Furlong

    Aug 26, 2020

    Earl Russell Furlong, 72, passed away at home in Great Falls, MT on July 30, 2020. Earl was born on October 1, 1947, to Russell "Bing" and Evelyn (Earl) Furlong in Great Falls, MT. His education journey began at Great Falls Roosevelt Elementary School, then to Chester Elementary School, and graduating from Chester High School in 1966. In 1971, he received his bachelor's degree from Montana State University in Bozeman, MT. While attending MSU, Earl met and married his wife of 49 years, Anna May D...

  • Lilah Skoyen Orlando

    Aug 26, 2020

    Lilah Marion Skoyen Orlando passed away peacefully on March 13, 2020. She was born September 20, 1927. She was the daughter of John and Clara Skoyen who had moved from Wisconsin to the Chinook north county as early homesteaders. Lilah was the third of four children. She graduated from Chinook High School in 1945; worked as a bookkeeper for Doughten Ford Co. and the Robert Leeds MD clinic. During a summer picnic in Zurich park, she met a handsome young pharmacist named Frank Orlando of Havre MT....

  • Harlem Library

    Aug 26, 2020

    The library will leave the Wi-Fi on when the library is closed beginning September 1 to assist with a greater need to access the Internet because of the COvid-19 pandemic. Users may obtain the password at the front desk in the library. Please remember the library abides by Copyright Law. If there is any illegal activity using the library Wi-Fi we will be forced to shut the Wi-Fi off after hours. The August Book Challenge is to read a book set in another time. When you complete the challenge please contact the library so your name may be...

  • Chinook Senior Center

    Karyn Higgins|Aug 26, 2020

    The weather has been pretty nice, although really dry. Looking for a really nice rainstorm to cool things off and wet it all down. Keep those fires from starting. I hope everyone is doing well, and we miss seeing you at the center. We have a new cook at the Senior Center, Katie Newfield. Thank you to Wayne Maxwell for the box of carrots. Our meals are $5 for over 60, $6 for under 60. Please call by 10 a.m. for all pick up and deliveries. 357-2648. Our Meals This Week Wed. Aug. 26 Swedish Meatballs Thu. Aug. 27 Chicken Fried Steak Fri. Aug. 28...

  • Hogeland Happenings

    Anita Reed|Aug 26, 2020

    Jim, Helen, Susan, and Emily Billmayer had dinner at the Mark Billmayer home in Chinook on Sunday last week. Anita, Lucas, Brooke, and Bridget Reed, Linda Hauge, Susan Billmayer, Hilary Richman, and Diana Maloney visited Jane Krass on Sunday afternoon and brought banana cream pie and chocolate zucchini cake for lunch. Sandy Beck had pie and coffee with Helen Billmayer on Monday afternoon, Aug. 17. Linda Hauge, Diana Maloney, and Anita Reed and girls visited Jane Krass throughout the week and helped her do a few chores around the house. Helen,...

  • Alan J. Bachini

    Aug 26, 2020

    6, passed away at Northern Montana Hospital on Sunday, August 16, 2020. Cremation has taken place and a memorial service will be held when Alan’s friends and family can gather to celebrate his life. Family suggests memorial contributions in Alan’s honor be made to the Havre Trap Club or a memorial of one’s choice. Holland & Bonine Funeral Home has been entrusted with arrangements. Please visit Alan’s online memorial page and leave a message of condolence for his family at www.hollandbonine.com....

  • Blaine County Library

    Aug 26, 2020

    The Blaine County Library Board of Trustees will hold their regular monthly meeting Monday August 31st at 4:00 p.m. in the library meeting room. All patrons age 5 and over are required to wear a face covering to enter the building. The library made the decision to continue to require masks regardless of the active case count. It becomes too confusing for many of our patrons if we require masks one day and not the next, so we will continue requiring them until further notice and we thank the public for your cooperation. We require everyone to...

  • Alert reader identifies artist of old mural in Kuhr's Clothing Store

    Steve Edwards|Aug 26, 2020

    Alert "Journal" reader Shirley Gardipee, who lives in Shelby, read the recent "Journal" (August 5, 2020) story about the unknown artist of the 40-foot long western mural in the old Kuhr Clothing Store in Chinook. She called Daniel Dahl, the new owner of the building and told him, "I know who painted that mural. It was my father-in-law Martin Gardipee, Sr." Daniel shared the message with me. I talked a bit by phone with Shirley, then made a road trip to learn about her father-in-law. Shirley's...

  • Montana 2020 Census Partners Increase Outreach Efforts to Get an Accurate Count for Montana

    For Immediate Release|Aug 26, 2020

    HELENA, Mont. – The Montana Department of Commerce today detailed some of the increased 2020 Census outreach efforts made possible by statewide partners through funding allocated by Governor Steve Bullock from the Coronavirus Relief Fund. With 41 days remaining in the count, the state and partners are making final push to get a complete count of Montanans before September 30. “An accurate count in the 2020 Census will help Montana get its fair share of federal funding, put our state in the best possible position to gain back a second seat in...

  • Zoom Meeting with Candidate Successful

    Greg Jergeson|Aug 26, 2020

    Though a technology unfamiliar to many, the Blaine County Democratic “Zoom” meeting with Secretary of State Candidate on August 19 was a success, according to Democratic Chairman Greg Jergeson. Participants got the chance to visit with Senator Bennett, and as an added bonus, his mother Kathe McPherson, who grew up in Chinook. Most of the conversation revolved around the primary responsibility of the Secretary of State’s office to work with County Clerk & Recorders to facilitate every citizen being able to exercise their right to vote. “Whet...

  • Letter to the Editor

    Aug 26, 2020

    Blaine County has a long history of fair and non-partisan administration of our elections. Over the years that I appeared on the ballot, I had occasion to work with the chief election officer, our Clerk and Recorder, on how our elections were conducted. From my friend, Republican Lucille Oehmcke, through Democrat Sandy Boardman, and now Tammy Williams, our Clerk and Recorder has always conducted the election in this county so that the voters' will could be expressed, not how any party or candidate might wish to achieve some kind of advantage,...

  • 2020 Blaine County 4-H Cat, Rabbit and Poultry Results

    Aug 26, 2020

    Congratulations to all 4-H and FFA participants....

  • 2020 Blaine County 4-H Sheep and Dog Results

    Aug 26, 2020

  • Revised Fair Format Taught Some Promising Points

    Donna Miller|Aug 26, 2020

    The 2020 Blaine County Fair took place in a revised format that provided data from which the Blaine County MSU-Extension Office has begun to assess the event for what worked and what didn't. Ag/4-H Extension Agent, Juli Snedigar described the format as successful in some respects with ideas they will use again, while other aspects were less productive. Snedigar also reported that Natalie Richman, who is the daughter of Tim and Hilary Richman, was the Frances Pitsch Memorial Overall 4-H Project...

  • Zurich Elementary Goes Hybrid and Welcomes a New Teacher

    Donna Miller|Aug 26, 2020

    Zurich Elementary School began their first day of the 2020-2021 school year on Wednesday, August 19, with nineteen students and one new staff member: K-2 teacher Sherry Hofman. Originally from Belgrade, Montana, Hofman has taught since 2017 in Lustre, a community in Valley County with an elementary school that served 43 students last year. At Zurich, she has six students, two who were previously home schooled. For her students, Hofman identified one important goal: “I want them to learn what they need to know, not only about social d...

  • Labor Day: A End of Summer Celebration, or a Holiday with Bit More Meaning?

    Kody Farmer|Aug 26, 2020

    Summer in Montana is generally defined in two ways. The first being, it starts the day the kids get out of school and ends the day they go back. For some that certainly is the case. For most though we generally associate the summer season to begin Memorial Day weekend at the end of May and end Labor Day weekend the first part of September. Monday, September 7 we will celebrate Labor Day and enjoy the final three-day weekend of the summer. Memorial Day weekend has a long and purposeful meaning...