Mar192019
Marjorie Brown
If you have ever seen Margie smile, you will understand why she is loved by so many. She has a smile that will brighten any day. Her warm personality matches that bright smile.
Margie was the 5thchild and 3rddaughter of John and Vera Chappell. She grew up on a sugar beet farm in Pompey’s Pillar, Montana about 35 miles east of Billings. She went to grade school in Pompey’s and then to high school in nearby Worden, Montana.
She fell read more
Mar182019
The Shepherd School Bond has become a topic of heated debate as the upcoming bond vote on read more
Mar182019
Dear Editor,
Unintended Consequences of the $18 Million Bond
There are some hard realities that come with a small community school equipped with a Hospitality Room for sports tournaments. Shepherd is not a large, wealthy or fast-growing tax district. We pay more than 70% of our property taxes to the school. The tax cycle was quietly changed by the legislature from 6 years to 2 years because the schools kept failing to get bonds past the folks that pay the bills. read more
Mar172019
Dear Editor,
I am a freshman at Rocky Mountain College and the treasurer of Young Americans for Freedom which is a club that was established on campus this school year. It is a national, non-profit organization that is a project of the Young America’s Foundation. read more
Mar162019
Dear Editor,
Judy Trenka’s letter of 2-10-19 nagged me. I must write to the YCN to support her for her treatment by Jon Tester’s office. Ms. Trenka, I too had a similar experience with Tester’s office. read more
Mar152019
Kathy Jones
On their 39th anniversary, March 8, 2019, with her devoted husband by her side, Kathy passed away peacefully, surrounded by her loving family.
Kathy was born on June 1, 1951, in Crookston, MN, to Jerome and Bonna Stroot. After proudly graduating nursing school in 1971, Kathy started her lifelong career as a caring, compassionate, hardworking LPN, retiring in January 2017, after 39 years with read more
Mar152019
Well, folks, can you see the tip of the iceberg now? Did you see our big announcement all over the front page of last week’s paper? If you can’t see the tip of the iceberg now and where we, as a newspaper, are going, then you must have read the wrong newspaper. read more
Mar152019
The Huntley Project has over a hundred years of rich homestead fruit history. Homesteaders planted apples, plums, and pears to feed their families and neighbors. We are partnering with Montana State University Extension Office’s Heritage Orchard Program (mtorchards.org) to: locate and map old fruit trees, identify and document fruit varieties, preserve and propagate both the heritage trees and the stories people have of them. The project is especially interested in “heirloom” trees, which are 50 years or older. read more
Mar152019
HELENA – For the first time since LR 129 passed in the November 2018 election, the “Montana Ballot Interference Prevention Act” will be enforced with the first elections of 2019. Any authorized ballot collector must now register with a county elections administrator and unauthorized ballot collectors could be assessed a $500 fine for each collected ballot. read more
Mar152019
by Evelyn Pyburn
The Federation of Public Employees, which represents Yellowstone County employees, has filed two law suits against Yellowstone County, claiming unfair labor practices. read more
Mar152019
Dear Editor,
In light of recent discussion throughout news outlets and social media regarding the new Shepherd Schools bond levy that is running, I feel compelled to add my voice to the discussion.
I’m just a kid. I don’t have 30 years of working experience with asbestos removal. I haven’t been a fire marshal for 22 years. What I do have, however, is a love for the Shepherd School District and everything it represents. I have spent nearly 12 years at this school, and I am well aware of many of the same issues that have been called out. You don’t need a specialized degree to recognize that our school is old. read more
Mar152019
Dear Editor,
Thanks for printing my recent letter to the Editor in the YCN, March 1, 2019, issue. However, it was a bit embarrassing to see it posted beneath “The Outdoors” column by Mr. Wolf. His pictures and words of frozen wildlife may be a reality, but I could not find the same inspiration as I did in his previous columns. So I turned the page and read “Progressive Pioneer” by Jennifer Merecki. She wrote that the state of Montana is being considered to be sold to Canada? Well, better to Canada than to other possible foreign clients?
There was the historical “Louisiana Purchase” when the United States paid France 50 million francs and a cancellation of debts worth 18 million francs for a total of 68 million francs, thereby acquiring approximately 827,000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi River in 1803.
What I don’t understand is, how can land in North America be sold or claimed by anyone as a debt when because of violated treaties with the American Indians by the United States government, the land must first honor its Native peoples?
Ann Chontos
Custer, Montana
Mar152019
Dear Editor,
I would like to invite any veteran who has flown in combat for our country to join the Red River Valley Fighter Pilots Association. When this organization first began, it consisted of those of us who had flown in combat over North Vietnam during the Vietnam war. The Red River Valley refers to the area that was flown over to get to Hanoi when attacking North Vietnam.
You can find their web cite by using Google. Although many of us who belong to the association are retired military, you do not have to be retired to join. You only have to submit appropriate documentation that you have flown in combat for our country.
Dr. W. David
Herbert ESQ
Billings, MT
Mar152019
Dear Editor,
(In regards to last week’s Sheriff’s report)
Just letting you know the Editor’s notes that you added to the police reports on the back page are VERY UNPROFESSIONAL and just add FAKE NEWS to your paper. Bad choice.
Donnie Qualen
via Facebook
Mar112019
An article that ran in our February 22nd issue titled Shepherd School moves on bond levy stated that the bond levy would result in a tax increase of ten times per month for residents of the Shepherd and Pioneer School Districts. We apologize for the misprint. The actual increase is estimated to be 21 percent in the Shepherd district and 11.5 percent in the Pioneer district as is demonstrated in the tax estimations provided by two local residents of the district. We thank our readers for their continued feedback.
Anonymous current Tax Assesment in Shepherd:
$362,000 which they are currently paying $273.80/month in combined taxes. After this Bond passes and they have the wraparound affect, their taxes will increase to $347.25/month. That’s just over $73/month which is an increase of 21% in their monthly taxes. No where close to ten times our monthly taxes…
Rental House: Tax assesment of $154,500 they are currently paying $119.18/month. After the bill passes, that will rise to $150.53/month which is an increase of $31.35 a month or a 21% increase.
Anonymous current Tax Assesment Pioneer District:
$351,500 which they are currently paying $241.67/month in taxes which will increase to $272.87/month which is an increase of $31.20 a month, or 11.5% increase.
Mar102019
Dear Editor,
Jennifer Merecki speaks gibberish in the Mar-01-2019 issue… a thesaurus gives us related meanings, e.g., nonsense, rubbish, tripe, bull, mumbo-jumbo and so on. That is what you sound like, Mam. I did complete the 6th grade and am able to read at a level slightly higher than that, but Jennifer what is “Giv’n’r,” “no way eh,” and a “double-double two four”? I can’t find them in my Dr. Seuss dictionary – argot, no doubt, peculiar to Liberals. read more
Mar92019
Dear Editor,
John Adams famously said: “Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.” How true.
I wanted to address something I read by The Progressive Pioneer in the March 1st column. In said column, she addresses the recent petition to sell Montana to Canada. While it was an interesting column, and I agree 100% that Montana should not be sold to Canada, I took issue with a specific line in there: read more
Mar82019
Dear Editor,
Without a doubt Shepherd schools are in desperate need of repair and upgrade. The Shepherd school bonds are in need of a “Yes” _vote from our community. A “Yes” _vote means we care about our school and our community. “Yes” _means that we care about education. “Yes” _means we care about our future generations. “Yes” _means we care about safety. Our school, our kids, our school staff, and our community needs your “Yes” _vote.
It has been said that there is no common sense being put into this bond issue. That is far from the truth. Our school administrators, our school staff, and our elected school board have been working on these issues since the last school bond failed and before. These people have been put in place to educate and facilitate the education of our youth. It is time for our community to get behind these people and vote “Yes”. read more
Mar82019
Well folks, we have finally gotten to a place that we can announce our 1st big announcement: WE HAVE DOUBLED OUR CIRCULATION! Yes, that’s right. We have double the amount of newspapers that are being circulated in Yellowstone County!
Do you remember four years ago in October 2014 when it was announced that the newspaper was sold? I remember when Becky Robison, former publisher of the newspaper for 20 years, came to me asking if I was going to buy her newspaper which I said I don’t have time. After three years, she convinced me that I was the right guy to take “her baby” and carry it to the next level. She cared enough for the future success of the Yellowstone County News that she offered support in the transition because she wanted it to succeed and wanted us to succeed. Well, I can assure you that Becky has done her part in supporting the transition. Since the initial transition, it’s been on us to try to take it to the next level.
Becky gave me some direction and advice in things that she would do with this paper. Some we have done already and we are still working on the other goals she recommended. We’ll announce those future changes at the right time.
Because of the increase of circulation, we have divided our delivery route in two. In fact, I’m already starting to think we might need three delivery routes. However, we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.
This is what I hope to accomplish in this column! First, what this increase means for our readers, advertisers, and supporters. Secondly, I’ll explain our focus, and third is how you can help our cause.
First, as we are a hyper-local newspaper covering the fiscal issues in Yellowstone County that affect you, the reader, we will keep it local as we are doing. If the story or article does not have to do with Yellowstone County, then it won’t be in our newspaper. If it is statewide or national news information, then you can get that somewhere else. We want to find the human element of each story that connects the reader to this community, local events, news and/or activities whether it be through the local schools, organizations and/or individuals. Hence the name Yellowstone County News. read more
Mar82019
Dear Editor,
I am responding to the Progressive Pioneer opinion piece by Jennifer Merecki on February 4, 2019. Her assertion is that the religious right must be Republican and not enough attention is paid to the religious left. Her piece seems to attack the Catholic Church in a roundabout way by asserting that the current Pope is bringing progressivism to the Church. Nothing could be further from the truth. read more
