Throughout the Year.... a look back

There was a lot going on in Blaine County over the past twelve months and as we get ready to turn the calendar to January, 2017 we at the Blaine County Journal~News Opinion would like to take the time to look back on some of those events.

We did not attempt to compile a 'Top 10' list as those seem to be arbitrary at best, but did want to include as many highlights from the past year as we could in our review.

In looking through a years worth of front pages we came up with this selection of stories to briefly look back on. Of course there were many additional stories worthy of reflection, but unfortunately we had to choose only a few. If you would like to read the stories and a whole lot more from the year check out our website at blainecountyjournal.com.

January:

Blaine County Undersheriff Frank Billmayer will be doing a presentation in Chinook on internet safety for parents. Much of the material will come from Billmayer's experiences while serving on the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force in Montana.

ICAC is a nationwide initiative started in 1998 under the U.S. Department of Justice. ICAC is charged with identifying, arresting and prosecuting predators on the internet who put children in harm's way. The Blaine County Sheriff's Office is one of 12 local law enforcement agencies as well as several state and federal groups that make up the task force in Montana.

February:

Milk River Disposal took over the solid waste pickup service for Chinook households and commercial businesses on February 1 of this year. Trevor Smith, who owns and operates Milk River Disposal, said he felt the transition has gone well. Smith added, "There are always a few bumps when a new provider takes over, but so far things seem to be operating smoothly."

Per Smith, household customers will have their garbage picked up on either a Tuesday/ Friday schedule or on a Monday/Thursday cycle. The household pickup schedule will start each morning at 7am. Commercial customers will still have five days a week pickup.

March:

The Fort Belknap Community Economic Development Corporation (FBCEDC) recently received a $30,000.00 grant from the First Nations Development Institute of Longmont, Colorado. This award will support the Red Paint Creek Trading Post Greenhouse Project.

The Greenhouse will provide the community with a longer growing season for fresh vegetables. This would enable us to compliment the Healthy Eating and lifestyles Initiative mandated by our tribal Council.

April:

Chinook and Harlem City Councils heard a summary of the final draft of the housing study conducted by KLJ Engineering. The housing report was one of the final steps in a study of current and future needs for housing development and how those needs can be met. The study was done in Harlem, Chinook and Malta.

Forrest Sanderson, with KLJ Engineering, presented the final draft of the housing needs study. The study was the result of a multi-month housing assessment by KLJ and input from several public hearings.

May:

Donnie and Bonnie Harmon, long-time members of the Big Flat's Blaine II Ambulance Crew, will receive Montana's 2016 EMS Providers of the Year Award at a ceremony at the state capitol on Thursday, May 19. The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services honors selected Emergency Medical Service providers and facilities during the annual ceremony, a part of National EMS Week activities. Individuals from around the state make written nominations for the awards and a committee makes the final selection.

"The Harmons are true EMS leaders in their community. Donnie was a founding member of the Blaine II crew in Turner in 1977 and Bonnie joined the crew as a responder in 1980. Bonnie was chief for over 20 years and just recently retired from that role." Leitner explained he made a dual nomination because "the husband and wife EMT team have made our service what it is today."

June:

Harlem students will soon receive new musical instruments, thanks to The Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation.

With many school music programs across the country losing vital funding, the foundation helps under-served schools with minimal budgets by donating new instruments, often replacing some that are more than 30 years old.

An application for support was submitted by Dan Owens of Harlem High School and the foundation found the program to be a worthwhile investment, allowing more students to be able to play and experience the benefits of music education.

July:

Island Mountain Development Group, the autonomous economic development arm of the Fort Belknap Indian Community, hosted a grand opening celebration of its Ecommerce Call Center last week in Hays.

The call center is a 5,200+ square foot state-of-the art facility equipped with a secure network infrastructure capable of high speed data transmission. The new Ecommerce Call Center has been open for a time. Operations from the old call center in Hays, was moved and about 40 new employees are expected to be added during the next few months. Call center employees assist in loan verification and loan processing, all on-line

August:

Michelle Sather, of Harlem, shared her cancer survivor story last week with the Cancer Support Group. The support group meets monthly at the Chinook Senior Center to hear information from the latest breakthroughs in cancer research to the personal stories of survivors and families who have faced cancer. Sather described the discovery of her cancer in 2012 as "having a routine removal of a lump for cosmetic reasons and waking up to learn I had two types of cancer." She said, "The doctor told me there was 4-5% chance that the lump would be cancerous. He described it as a 'one in a million chance' of being cancerous.

October:

Chinook resident Kay Johnson has held the position of Blaine County Clerk of Court since 1984, after 32 years of service to the community she will retire come January 2017.

Johnson first won election in 1984 after the incumbent Eleanor Felton decided not to run for a fourth term. Johnson, along with three other candidates ran for the position and the rest is history.

For seven election cycles Johnson would run unopposed, holding the position for a total of 32 years. Her time in service to Blaine County is the second-longest term by an elected official on the books behind John A. Stephens who served as Blaine County Commissioner for 36 years from 1941-1977.

November:

In April, a Statewide Meeting of the Montana Cooperative Development Council was held at Fairmont Hot Springs. The Big Flat Co-op was asked to attend to share their success as they were the "poster child" for cooperative success.

Shannon Van Voast, secretary of the Big Flat Co-op, was the representative of the co-op from Turner. She met Sam Rikkers who was the keynote speaker at this conference and apparently what Van Voast had to say made a lasting impression on him.

December:

Currently underway in Harlem is a two year, five-million-dollar project to upgrade the waste water treatment plant and transition from a river discharge system to a pivot irrigation system. This process began in 2009, but with two legislation sessions with no resulting funding the project was not able to be completed then. In 2013, the City applied once again, receiving a TSEP grant for $625,000 and after applying to USDA Rural Development they received the remaining funds for the project. Another setback to the project was an engineering firm change.

Once Rural Development confirmed the remainder of the funding was secured, the City put the project out for bid. This past summer, the City hired Century Companies out of Lewistown, and the long awaited first day of construction was September 12.