Mar222024

Yet I hope He Found Christ Before He Died

Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor,

Rev. Gene Douglas, I’m not taking exception to your commentary of 3-15-24, but I do question your remarks on salvation. Yes, John 3:16 is a favorite verse for some, and I believe it’s a verse that many will question, will be driven to read the Bible and hopefully accept Jesus as Saviour.

I disagree with your thought that “believing is just step 1 of 100 steps that get us to the heavenly goal.” And you also say that answering an alter call is not enough for salvation. If that is not enough in your view, what must we CONTINUE to do for our salvation? You must have missed the verse that assures us that God’s salvation is free: Ephesians 2:08 states that God saves us by His Grace, (His gift), and it’s NOT a read more

Mar202024

Only Difference Between Madoff and Trump

Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor,

The only difference between Madoff and Trump is one played people and the other played banks.  A version of the check kiting scheme. Borrow money from one bank to pay the other and forget to pay for construction and or contractors. 

      I will be honest I never was a Trump fan.  After I read his and Robert K’s book about wanting everyone to be rich, I was less impressed. Of course, Robert took the fall for that university catastrophe. 

   You are right a third party does divide up the votes so the wrong person will win. Then, again, there are enough people fed up with both parties an independent might have a chance.   

    As for inflation where have you been? That ten-cent candy bar I bought in high school is now a read more

Mar192024

Two “Crisp” thoughts;

Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor,                                                                                    

Two “Crisp” thoughts;

     My money is on the fact that David Crisp, the person, is a very nice, well intended, good hearted person. I personally read all of his columns; however, very seldom do I agree with his points more than I disagree.

     This past week, he referred to Donald Trump as digging a deep hole and keeps on digging. David states of Trump’s “unwillingness, perhaps inability, to even admit he’s wrong”. Could that apply, at least, on occasion, to David Crisp as well?

     For example: David’s final closing argument, and I quote: “For Trump, a big shovel isn’t enough. He needs a bulldozer.” A bulldozer does not dig a hole. It digs a trench. One can typically walk out of a trench. The primary purpose of a bulldozer is to “MOVE DIRT”, which in my opinion, needs to happen in order to “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN”.

   To my second point: I mentioned last week, that I am currently reading read more

Mar162024

Taxpayers are also to blame for not speaking up and demanding officials do regular maintenance before things go to hell.

Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor,

            Maintenance – our friend Webster defines it thus: to preserve or keep in a particular state or condition; the preservation and upkeep of buildings, roads and machinery.

            There are those in city and county, public and private places who do not seem to understand that definition.

            In private places we cannot demand maintenance until the place becomes a public nuisance and usually by then it can only be torn down. Those places usually belong to greedy slumlords who do not maintain their rentals.

            In public places, government places funded with our tax dollars, we should expect better maintenance than what we see and hear read more

Mar152024

Shepherd School Confirms Head Football Coach and Athletic Director Resignations

Top Stories • Shepherd

After posting a message on social media that read, “As of this morning, I have been let go as the football coach at Shepherd High school. I’ll post a video later today addressing what I know.”  Assistant Coach Russ Hale’s message quickly ignited lots of speculation on what happened and his reasons for his termination with the team.  [His comments were inappropriate enough that we won’t include them in this article.]

In a later Facebook live video online, Hale addressed the reasons he learned through Head Coach Lucas Logan as why he was being let go.   

Assistant Coach Russ Hale addressed the inappropriate read more

Mar142024

Conflict in the Middle East is a War Between Cultures

Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor,

The conflict in the Middle East is a war between cultures.  Our Judeo-Christian traditions come from the old republics of Greece and Rome where each individual citizen was respected and had a say, a vote.  In contrast Authoritarian Societies value the state (Communist countries as Russia, China) or the tribe (American Indians, Arabs, “Islam”) more than the individuals in it.  Typically a few individuals in the society will organize,  chose a master plan. and pick a leader (the “Authority”) to guide them.  Individuals out-of-sync with the master plan are ignored or if troublesome, eliminated. 

Democracies periodically take a read more

Mar142024

Skyview Girls Wins 1st Place with Undefeated Season

Sports • Billings-Heights

Head Coach Randy Chase, middle of huddle, instructs the Lady Falcons during a time out at the state AA Tournament in Missoula while Skyview Falcons Cheer team energizes the team, fans and student section in the background during the championship game. (Courtesy photo)

With a perfect regular season of 18-0, the lady Falcons of Skyview set their eyes on the prize of achieving the state Championship title Saturday at the University of Montana’s Dahlberg Arena in Missoula. 

For the First time in school history, the lady falcons achieved another state championship trophy but the icing on the cake this time was the perfect undefeated season of 24-0. The latest Championship title is the second in school history which was achieved three years earlier.

However, the championship game against Missoula Helgate created an early point deficit where the lady falcons battled back to win the final 54-36 as senior Breanna Williams posted up read more

Mar142024

Engineers Discuss Issues with County Water District

Top Stories • Billings-Heights

Three representatives from Interstate Engineering were guests at the Heights County Water Board work session, last Wednesday morning. In an over view of what the engineering company does for the water district a wide range of subjects were discussed, including the extent pipes must be replaced, progress of the two PERS (Preliminary Engineering Reports), status of the ARPA grant, etc.

At the end of an hour long discussion, Board President Doug Kary thanked the guests for coming and said that their information was very helpful.

Attending the meeting from Interstate Engineering were Brent Moore, Regional VP for the Western region of Interstate Engineering, Lowell Cutshaw, main engineer, and Brad Boehm, Plan Manager for the Heights.

According to Boehm, Interstate Engineering has been the water district’s “on-call engineer” since 2004. They have provided planning services such as Preliminary Engineering Reports, funding and grant coordination, mapping and GS system management, water model management, development, review, design, bidding and construction of infrastructure projects, and troubleshooting services.

Boehm talked about the two PERS that are in progress. One is a system wide PER, which he said is not a main focus at this time. It includes a storage analysis and an inventory of piping, focused on the presence of asbestos pipe in the district.

Boehm said that 45 percent of the system is asbestos pipe. There is a total of 556,100 read more

Mar142024

Two Candidates Recommended for Lockwood Superintendent Position

Lockwood

The names of four applicants for the position of Superintendent at Lockwood School will be moved forward to the Board of Trustees at their regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, March 12. The applicants are among nine applications that the District received in their quest to find a new Superintendent.

Serving as Lockwood’s Interim Superintendent, Assistant Superintendent Don Christman was among those candidates, as were Leland Stocker, Director of Schools at St. Labre Indian Catholic School, James Drake, former educator and Senior Administrator and CFO of a company in Westmont, IL, and Monte Silk, Interim Superintendent at Colstrip School District.

The Board’s committee appointed to oversee the superintendent search, comprised of Josh Skidmore, Cory Shock and Jamie Fandrich, met last Wednesday evening to discuss their choices and how to proceed in the process. Shock said that he spent three days reviewing all of the applications in detail, the same due diligence expressed by all of the committee members.During the regular monthly meeting of the Board on Tuesday, a dramatic change was made in the candidates the Superintendent Selection Committee recommended to the Board.

The four candidates originally approved to be interviewed were reduced to two, because of new information about two of the candidates that made them unacceptable, reported read more

Mar142024

Road Connection Completed

Yellowstone County • Billings-Heights

Knife River recently completed a section of the Billings Bypass that connects the Yellowstone River crossing with the railroad and Coulson Road overpass, according to Dowl, the lead project engineering company for the Billings Bypass.

Construction on the Montana Department of Transportation’s (MDT) Billings Bypass project continues with the completion of the Railroad Overpass roadway section. Billings Bypass is a six-phase project that will provide a new arterial roadway.

The Railroad Overpass is the third read more

Mar142024

McNiven Meanderings: My two cents: “Let’s Rally Together”

Meanderings

Well folks, here’s my two cents about the Shepherd school situation with the Athletic Director resigning and football coach’s situation.

But first, congratulations to both of our YCN Sports teams that placed at state. Our Skyview Lady Falcons are the AA State Champions for 2024 and our other YCN Sports team we followed this year was the Huntley Project Lady Red Devils who placed 3rd in Class B and brought home their first ever hardware to Huntley Project girls basketball program in school history.  We at YCN Sports are taking a break until this fall.  We’ve completed over 200+ games this school year and want to thank all the sponsors, advertisers, supporters and listeners over this year. We could not nor would we do all these broadcasts if it was not for the help and support of the sponsors, advertisers, supporters and listeners like you. I look forward to a break but then we’ll get back to it this fall.

Ok, I want to address the unfortunate announcement that read more

Mar142024

Obituary: Mary Anne Souza

Obituaries

Mary Anne Souza

Mary Anne Souza

Mary Anne Souza passed away peacefully, with family at her side and Elvis Presley singing in the background, on Feb. 11, 2024, after a long, happy and eventful life. She was born on March 13, 1943, to Anne and Jim Rowe in Kalispell. She grew up as the only child of parents who owned a busy restaurant/drive-in, as her twin sister had passed away at birth. She graduated from Flathead High in 1961 and started college the following fall at Western Montana College. After completing her freshman year, she followed her dream of moving to the big city of San Francisco, where she found employment at the brokerage firm of Sutro & Company. Shortly thereafter, she eventually met her future husband, Manuel P. “Mac” Souza, who lived in the same apartment building as her when she asked to borrow his record player. Mac and Mary Anne were married in November 1964 at the Old Saint Mary’s Cathedral in San Francisco. After starting their family in the Bay Area, she and her husband moved to Billings in 1969.

During the 1970s, she and her husband were founding parishioners in the new read more

Mar82024

Order – Chaos – Consciousness!!

Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor,

Order – Chaos – Consciousness!!

I’m currently reading Jordon Peterson’s book titled “12 Rules for Life”.             In reading rule #2, he dissects and contrasts the fundamental elements of Order, Chaos and Consciousness!!  Being in an election year and the direction we’ve experienced over the past 7 years, I can’t help but apply those 3 elements to where we are today.

Order, per Jordon Peterson, is the “desire to be in a place where all things turn out the way we want them too”.  Everything goes as planned.  Not rocking the boat?  Nothing “new or disturbing”.  A world of peace, stability, unity, etc.  Government “is” the solution toward a utopia if you will.  Consequently, throwing money at it creating a National Debt which is outrageous.  On top of that, absolutely no read more

Mar22024

Is is true?

Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor,

Is is true?

Conservative Corner columnist TJ Smith notes that representatives of both major parties approve spending without supporting the taxes necessary to pay for the spending.  Voters have supported the spending by spending the largesse while resisting tax increases to pay for the increased spending.  The city of Billings spent ARPA funds for police and fire salaries.  Montana is spending federal money for infrastructure and benefiting financially from federal lands and the tourists’ dollars spent to visit Yellowstone and Glacier. 

Republicans have tried to defund the IRS claiming they are coming after you.  You probably pay your taxes every year; we do.  On March 1 of this year The Internal Revenue Service is going after 125,000 high-earning Americans who read more

Mar12024

Election Judge Training is Going On

Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor,

As the election year approaches.I was surprised to have an advertisement for a candidate in late July or August on Facebook.  I have been getting cardboard flyers for several months now. The information is from a Political Action Committee (PAC), in fine print, not endorsed by a candidate or party. The PAC does have a Helena address.  Now there is another PAC looking for “grassroots” volunteers.  Both are out of state PACs but some state oficial prohibited “dark money”.  So how many millions are they going to spend for a primary three months away?  And the general election five months later. If they can read more

Jan192024

Superintendent Sandbox: Lockwood School District by Don Christman

Features

Prioritizing Mental Health in Schools: Nurturing a Resilient Society

In recent years, the conversation around education at Lockwood Schools has expanded beyond academic excellence to encompass a crucial aspect of holistic development: mental health. Public schools, recognizing their pivotal role in shaping future generations, are increasingly prioritizing mental health initiatives to foster healthier, more resilient individuals.

The understanding that education extends far beyond textbooks and exams has led schools to acknowledge the significance of nurturing well-rounded individuals. It’s about equipping students with the tools not just to excel academically but also to navigate life’s myriad challenges with resilience and empathy.

Investing in Holistic Development

Schools are embracing mental health initiatives as an read more

Jan192024

Huntley Project Irrigation Recovers from Cyberattack

Local • Huntley Project

Huntley Project Irrigation District (HPID) reported at their January 10 board meeting that they narrowly avoided a total loss of digital records after becoming the target of a ransomware virus.

Ransomware is a type of malicious software that locks a person or agency out of their files until they pay a sum of money to the attacker.

HPID Secretary, Sandra Rush, said the virus surfaced about three weeks prior to the meeting and that the attacker demanded $10,000 to unlock the district’s files. She consulted with a local cybersecurity firm, Haralson Consulting LLC, who advised the district not to pay the ransom because read more

Jan192024

Candidates Line Up to File for Office, Including Waters for County Commissioner

Politics • Yellowstone County

2024 is expected to be a really big election year.

It’s predicted that the entire nation will be closely watching Montana’s US Senate race in which Sen. Jon Tester (D) will vie for re-election, with the outcome of that race possibly making the difference in the balance of the US Senate.

On opening day for candidate filing, January 11, numerous candidates filed for the US Senate and for the US House for eastern Montana, with the big question looming about what incumbent US Rep. Matt Rosendale (R) will do. Rep. Rosendale is considering not running for re-election in the House but to challenge Sen. Tester, which would leave the field wide open for Montana’s eastern House district.

Rep. Rosendale has until the closing of candidate filing on March 11 to make his decision. Several Republican candidates who have filed for the eastern district have said that they will withdraw if Rep. Rosendale decides to run for re-election to the US House of Representatives.

The office of Governor is open for election, as are hundreds of state legislature positions and judicial seats, for which many candidates have filed and more are likely to do so. On Tuesday, Governor Gianforte announced that he has filed for re-election.

On the more local front – the county — there have read more

Jan192024

Obituary: Don Shaules

Obituaries
Don Shaules

Don Shaules

Donald Frank Shaules “Don” died peacefully in Billings, MT at St John’s United on January 12th, 2024, at the age of 86.

And that’s as formal as this is going to get. If you knew Don, you know he would say something about his life reminiscent of a John Wayne movie like, “I have tried to live my life so that my family would love me and my friends respect me. The others can do whatever the hell they please.” Don loved John Wayne movies and lived the ranch life similar to a cowboy in them, with hard work, rough times, and romance all tied up with something witty to say. So here’s “The Life of a True Cowboy” starring Don Shaules

He was born on October 5th, 1937, in Billings, MT, and like an old western rode a Shetland pony to the little Indian Arrow schoolhouse in read more