Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 2065
The start of hunting season almost caught me by surprise this year. Almost. After selling our house in Malta and all the moving that entailed, followed by a trip to Australia, I’d been occupied with other thoughts. Lately, they’ve been centered around jet lag recovery — like why am I wide awake in the middle of the night? I suspect it’s related to the Saturday we lost at the start of the trip. Flying out of Bozeman on a Friday morning we spent 18 hours in the air, somehow arriving in Sydney...
It is August 28… So before I forget. Happy birthday to my father Hernando Bibbs. Love you and it was good to see you last week. Last week, I had the opportunity to fly out to my hometown, Bolingbrook, Illinois, to visit my mother, father and my stepmother. It was a good trip overall. It was full of highlights. There was some sadness because the family I grew up with has gone their separate ways, but we made the best of it and spent some time with my mother and father. One highlight was going t...
My weeklong visit to Loring has come to an end! I certainly enjoyed every day! Rod had done so much work cleaning out the dead wood in the free ground that we walked through the rows a couple of times! It sounds small but it was very enjoyable! On Monday I attended the GPDM meeting in Malta. On Tuesday Cindy Clark and I drove to Malta for a couple of appointments. We met Krystina Neilsen at the GN for lunch. In the afternoon I visited with Nancy Murdock and Chloe. Wednesday was senior meals at...
How about that Democratic Convention? It was great. It is sad that President Biden is not running for another term. Thanks, President Joe! The crowd at the convention really gave him a great tribute. Sympathy to the family of Von Holzhey. We went to the Sleeping Buffalo on Sunday. There were people from other states in the pool. Then we drove to Lake Nelson Reservoir. It was lovely, peaceful and the water was so calm. We had lightning and a thunderstorm which rocked the whole valley and lit up...
To the Citizens of Phillips County, I reluctantly write this letter of advisement of the extreme situation your Sheriff’s Office faces. We do not offer competitive wages for deputies or office personnel. This makes it extremely difficult to recruit or retain employees. Now, we are dangerously short-handed. I have advised the Commissioners of the situation repeatedly and have asked for a competitive wage to make your agency a more desirable option for individuals wanting to get into law enforcement or leaving their current position as a law e...
Dear Editor, Do you own a home and wonder what it’s worth? You can easily look up your address on Zillow and see the estimated value is rapidly rising, translating to more property taxes. Too many Montana families cannot keep up with an annual $249-million property tax increase imposed by Republican Governor Gianforte and his party in the Legislature. Yet, after months of analysis by the Governor’s property tax task force, they recommended a complicated process that will raise our taxes again! Why didn’t they didn’t consider the new taxes t...
I am a sucker for zoos. Tell me you’ve got some sort of exotic critter in a cage out back and I’ll cough up a few bucks to see it. To that end, I’ve visited some marvelous zoos in this country and across the globe. The San Diego Zoo tops my list closely followed by the Royal Dutch Zoo in Amsterdam and the Emperor Valley Zoo in Port of Spain, Trinidad. Woodland Park Zoo is a must-see whenever I’m in Seattle, as is the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens when Barb and I visit Palm Springs. Atlanta...
Out of necessity, this seems like an opportunity waiting to merge forth like the ever-so-soon approaching season changes. Seasons, as in season of summer freedom coming to an end! Wow, we started early, compared to many schools across the state that are beginning this week by opening the doors to education with a breath of freshness and “somewhat” renewed energy. Add to this a new four-day school week format with longer days...and a full moon coming up...nah...I’ll stick with where I am! Perhaps more prominent for some of you readers was the n...
What a welcome sight to see as I came across the North Bench, there were so many bales in the fields and stacked! They look really nice! The crops were in the middle of harvest and the combines were all resting! It had rained and given the farmers a little reprieve. Rodney Stordahl spent the week in Billings with Zoey. She came over for a couple of days to swim and paint. Then I came home with Rod. He dropped me off at Williams in Landusky where Lu Besel was visiting, and we attended the...
Whitewater Lutheran Church now has cool clear water which is safe to drink. Thymus Olson and crew put a new water pipe in the church. Wonderful! My daughter (Gale) and I went for a ride to Whitewater Dam, north of Whitewater. The dam used to be called Christofferson Dam. Adam Hellie plans on going antelope hunting in the Havre area. Guess I haven’t heard much about antelope hunting with a bow before. There was a wedding at Zortman, Montana. The bride is the daughter of the superintendent Darin C...
My wardrobe has changed little over the last two decades: Shorts and T-shirts in summer; Carhartts and wool shirts in winter. Dressing up means a clean shirt with a collar, and jeans. Even on vacation that wardrobe changed little. Until now. Tomorrow I board a flight to Australia. My talented wife is being honored at an authors conference in Adelaide, and I’m tagging along. While Barb — wearing fashionable attire — attends events at the conference, I’m free to explore. Carhartts should suffice...
Can you win a medal for dance by busting out one single move? I can confirm that the answer is yes! Our second night on the Carnival Freedom ended up being a lot more nostalgic than I had planned as we attended the 90’s Music Trivia Night event. I will not lie… I did not want to go. I am not a fan of popular music. Not then and not now. But I joined my wife and the adults in her family for the event. I did get more answers right then wrong in the trivia portion of the event, but for Susan and...
By the time you get this, the schools will be open with many children playing at recess and learning their reading writing, and ‘rithmatic! Wow! Seems like just a week or so when I watched the junior/senior highs present their final project! I hope everyone has a great year! Last week, I missed Etta Blunt winning a rosette for her pillowcase sewing project. Congratulations, Etta! A fruit truck comes through Billings every so often. This time it was peaches from Colorado. My sister Debbie and I d...
It is August 2024, Happy Birthday to all birthdays, including my son Mitchel Moore, from Seattle Washington. Also, Sally Austin. Did you go to the fair? Most of the county did. Many from Whitewater went and entered and won prizes. Jean Green from Arizona entered her bread, she won prizes for her entries. I won a blue for my cherry tomatoes. Congratulations to the Fair runners. Irene Wendalyn met us at the fair. It is good to see old friends. But it sure was hot at the fair this year....
Iris (Hunter) and her husband Wayne McDowell from Moose Jaw came to visit her cousin Margie Olsen and family, Jimmy and Nancy Murdock, as well as many other family members. They drove out to have a late lunch with Pat Murdock at the farm. They enjoyed going to the Sleeping Buffalo to swim and having brunch at their new restaurant. Iris’ grandfather was Agnes (Hunter) Murdock’s brother. A lot of credit has gone to the kids in 4H who had animals to show on a hot week at the P.C. Fair. Congrats to the winners. It cooled down for the Valley Co Fai...
The United States cattle industry has been trying to provide a hungry population with protein while fighting off attacks from all sides. Unfortunately, we are losing: cattle numbers and the number of ranches keep declining. The complaints ranged from overgrazing to negatively impacting biodiversity (most ranches are vastly more biodiverse than any city or suburb) and the current ridiculous claim that cows burping is changing the worldwide climate (don’t other ungulates, including bison, also burp?). Now ranchers in the ecoregion called the N...
Dear Editor and PCN Readers, My name Is Richard Barnard, I am the American Legion Post Commander of Saco Post 79. I am writing today about a scholarship program many parents, and students are not aware of. That is The American Legion’s Oratorical Contest. This program, is for High School students, 9-12, in which thy could win up to TWENTY THOUSAND DOLLARS in scholarships! With a college education costing over ninety thousand dollars, according to the latest figures, that is no small chunk of change. An ambitious student willing to put forth t...
Staying fit isn’t easy, especially as I grow older. It becomes harder all the time to avoid my slothful ways. To that end my smart watch keeps track of my daily exercise goals, encouraging me to step it up if I’m falling short, and praising me when a goal is achieved. “Take a 20-minute walk to close your exercise and move goals,” the watch will tell me as I’m curled up on the couch with a beer. I rarely respond. While I typically start the day with good intentions, by noon I’ve lost most of my...
Congratulations to all the people who got ribbons at the fair! I kept up on Facebook with everyone’s posts. Kennedy and Samuel Simonson did great with their steers and Kage Morrison showed his swine! The Blunt boys also showed their hogs! Great learning experience! Amus and Everette entered leather work and Everette entered sewing. His sweatshirt got judges choice award! The temperature is hot, hot, hot! I think the temp was over 100 for a week! It finally rained a while last night here in B...
It is August and Happy Birthday to all who are celebrating birthdays, including my son Mitchell and Sally Austin. Today here in Whitewater it is HOT! Typical Montana weather. There was a great birthday party for Pat Murdock. Very well attended. Here is a recipe for Chicken Bake: Ingredients-1 package of Stuffing Mix 3 chicken breasts 1 can of cream of mushroom soup 1/3 cup of sour cream 1 can of chicken soup Mix all together and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Here’s another recipe for P...
I remember being told years ago that if assault rifles were banned, my semi-automatic shotgun would be next. It was meant to scare me into joining the fight against gun control even though I didn’t understand why most folks needed a military-style weapon in the first place. I still don’t. But I’m apparently in the minority. It used to be that the majority of gun owners were hunters or folks who kept a handgun for “home security.” While military weapons were coveted by collectors, they weren’t t...
I never ever, ever, ever, thought that I would miss instant coffee, but I do. Not necessarily the flavor, but what it brought to our trip to the Bahamas. Upon leaving Malta, I brought a couple of bags of my coffee just in case I did not like the coffee on vacation. One bag was spoken for and the other went to a bandmate that lives in Florida. More on that at another time. So, there I was coffee-less on a ship. Or so I thought. Thankfully, the ship had coffee that I could buy by the cup or...
Still lots of smoke from the fires in the western United States aloft around Billings and Loring. I can’t smell it most days, but it sure looks foggy. I pray for rain even though the farmers are harvesting, but like my dad would say, “Never complain about rain in Montana!” So, we’ll take it whenever it comes! Mylee Clark is one of the actresses in Cinderella this month! Cindy Clark is busting at the seams she’s so proud of those grandkids of hers for following their dreams! Carol Lumsden c...
Come one, come all, and that is what they did on Wednesday to help yours truly celebrate her birthday at the North 40 Cafe. Many ladies, some kids, and a few good men all enjoyed senior meals, cake and coffee. Thank you all from GMA Pat. That same evening, we received sad news that another old friend, Virginia Larson Fewer had passed away in Lewistown from natural causes. On Monday, the funeral services of Kathy Faya Black were held in Malta. She was a relative of Pat Murdock as she was married to Pat’s second cousin Billy Black. Billy’s par...
Here in Whitewater, the weather is hot, about 100 and the air is smokey from the fires in the U.S. and Canada. Beware of all fires, especially when you are out camping. Happy Birthday to Pat Murdock. There was a nice birthday party for her at the Senior Meals at the North 40. Many of her family and friends were there. Hope you have many more Pat!! Also, Happy Birthday to all who are celebrating in July. Ashely Green said that Dallas and Rory are busy haying. They have lots of hay. Most ranchers...