Serving Southern Jefferson County in the Great State of Montana
Serving Southern Jefferson County in the Great State of Montana
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On the first day of her freshman year in the fall of 2016, Madison Loomis had her sights set on becoming the 2020 Whitehall High School Valedictorian. Earlier this year, school officials informed Madison that she had accomplished the lofty goal. "I was so excited when I got the call. This has been my goal since the first day of my freshman year. I worked so hard to get to this point and am very proud of myself for sticking to it all four years. It is such an honor," she said. Getting to the...
The Whitehall Town Council discussed last week a possible mill levy increase on the general fund. The Council unanimously approved a motion that will set up two hearings for public comments on a possible Public Safety Mill Levy to generate funding for law enforcement and the Whitehall Volunteer Fire Department. Members of the governing body are asking county officials to see what the increase would cost local residents. This would be the first general fund mill levy increase in Whitehall since...
What started at out as a "goofy poem" has now turned into two published books and a third on the way for Whitehall based writer Shirley Baustian. After publishing the children's book "Good Friends" in 2017, Baustian recently received the published copies of the sequel "More Good Friends" on May 12. She describes the book as suited for kids aged kindergarten to third or fourth grade and teaches about friendship. She said in the first book a moose becomes friends with a mouse, in the new book he...
There was some great economic news last week with the Golden Sunlight Mine announcing they have secured a customer for their Tailings Reprocessing Project. Mine officials have been working meticulously with the project and this is a very positive sign. Not only will this allow the mine to reduce their overall environmental liability, but this will also add additional jobs at the site near Whitehall, as well as tax revenue. By securing Nevada Gold Mine's (NGM) as a customer, it is a win-win for b...
The Town of Whitehall Swimming Pool will not open in 2020. At Monday's City Council meeting, Mayor Mary Janacaro Hensleigh announced the news to the governing body. Hensleigh said pool operators will be unable to take a pool certification class, lifeguards will not be able to get training, and with the window of the middle of June to open it just can't happen. She added they are unaware when Phase 2 of reopening in Montana will kick in, but even when it does the guidelines for social distancing...
Jefferson County Events Coordinator Bruce Binkowski is hopeful phase three of the reopening of Montana will happen in time to still have local events this summer. At a Chamber meeting last week, Binkowski said that while Montana Mule Days and several other events in the northern part of the county have been cancelled, organizers of Frontier Days and Community Garage Sales in Whitehall and the Jefferson County Fair are moving forward with their events. He added the Headwaters Country Jam has...
Monday's daily Governor's Coronavirus Task Force report showed the third confirmed case of COVID-19 in Jefferson County. While the report did show the local case, Karen Wandel (BSN-RN) with the Jefferson County Health Department stated the adult male in his 50's was diagnosed out of state, is not in Montana at this time, and also contracted the virus out of state. Jefferson County had not had a reported case since March 27. According to County Officials, 73 residents have been tested for...
For about five straight days I don’t think I slept more than a few minutes. Just about every type of trouble I could get myself into I did, and it felt so good doing it 2,000 miles away from home. There were rules, but I was like a 1970’s punk rocker in London and I didn’t care. Despite all of this, I also learned a lot about the history of the United States. I was scrolling through social media the other day, which I complain about all the time, but spend half my time on anyway. I came across someone talking about how their kid would not b...
There will be a new head coach on the sidelines next season for the Whitehall High School boys basketball team. Mike Moulchin was recently hired to take over for longtime coach Zach McLean who resigned following the 2019-20 season. Moulchin began his coaching career in his early 20's in a biddy ball league at the Boys and Girls Club in Las Vegas. He would later go on to coach junior high and continued his path to McQueen High School in Reno and Clark High School in Las Vegas. Taking over for a C...
There will be a new sport next year at Whitehall High School. The school board of trustees voted earlier this year to add a boys and girls golf team. Julie Kieckbusch has been hired as head coach and Kerry Sacry will serve as an assistant. Kieckbusch is excited to be the coach and is hoping to generate some interest with kids prior to the season starting in the Spring of 2021. "Since this is a brand-new sport at WHS, I am hoping to get kids excited about trying it next spring. I honestly don't...
From February to April, the Whitehall Volunteer Fire Department responded to 14 wildland fires. To deal with the dry conditions, Fire Chief Joe Granvold recently announced all burning within the Whitehall Fire Department is closed. Granvold said during those 14 calls they have had to call out the Twin Bridges Department seven times. He added on April 26 they were at a wildland fire on Franich Lane for around nine hours. "We were really lucky it didn't get any structures," he said. "It's getting...
For the second consecutive year, Whitehall High School has been awarded the Montana IGraduate Grant. According to Principal Melissa Robbins, the grant supports post-secondary research and post-secondary option exposure for juniors and seniors. She added students will have increased opportunities to visit campuses and specific programs through these funds. With the last year's grant, Whitehall students were able to travel to Great Falls to visit the Montana Academy of Salons and another group...
I have witnessed a lot of aggressive debate over the past several weeks about how the government has been handling the COVID-19 pandemic. Some feel they are doing the right thing by keeping people at a distance and slowing it down, while others feel their rights have been stepped upon. That is certainly a debate I will never get into because nobody wins, people just seem to get mad. I also see non-stop bickering between political parties and that is also a can of worms I just cannot open....
The Whitehall School Board voted Friday afternoon to not reconvene onsite instruction for the last 20 days for the 2019- 2020 school year from May 7 to June 4. Prior to the vote, Superintendent Hannah Nieskens shared the results of a survey sent to parents asking for their input on if school should continue. Nieskens reported they had 211 responses with 64.5 percent saying they would not send their child back to school and 35.5 in favor of returning to school. In a release from the district,...
Lorie Steerman describes the Whitehall Library as the heart of the community. A member of the Friends of the Whitehall Community Library, she recently discussed the importance of the upcoming June 2 mill levy election. The Jefferson County Library board is seeking an additional nine mills, an approximate cost of around $141,534. According to Steerman, the increase at current value would annually cost county taxpayers an additional $12.15 on a home worth $100,000; $24.30 on a home worth $200,000...
With the cancellation of sporting events across the county, ESPN has really had to get creative to fill content not only on their network but as well as on their web site. One thing the network has always done well at not many people know about is their documentaries and "30 for 30" series which is high-quality television. They have also captivated viewers and earned big ratings the past couple weeks for the documentary "The Last Dance" which details the final world championship run of the...
The Montana High School Association announced last week spring activities would be cancelled for the 2019-20 school year. The announcement came shortly after Governor Steve Bullock issued a reopening plan for the state that allow districts to determine if they would return to school May 7. "Because of the previous MHSA Board action, resumption of spring activities depended on our student's ability to return to in-person instruction without restrictions by May 4th and if in-person instruction...
A major event scheduled for June in Whitehall will not take place until next year. Tara Price of the Montana Longears Association announced last week the 36th annual Montana Mule Days event scheduled for June 12 to 14 would be postponed until June of 2021. The event has taken place the past three years in Whitehall with spectator numbers over a thousand as well as over 100 classes. "We have continued to monitor the COVID-19 situation, and it is out of great concern to the health of our Montana...
Whitehall High School Principal Melissa Robbins connected with senior classes officers last week to discuss graduation for the class of 2020. Robbins said because timelines and opportunity to make a virtual production is limited, they have agreed to move forward to ensure something formal is completed and available to everyone pending the health situation at the end of May. "We have the opportunity to do something that does not impose any health risks to our community or graduates by a...
I was sitting at the drive-in window at the A&W/KFC in Whitehall last when a memory I had blocked out for good reason resurfaced and I really wish it wouldn't have. As I sat waiting for my Papa Burger, I was reminded of my first job interview and it instantly made me want to roll the window and spew. This is probably the first time I had thought about this wretched 15 minutes of my life since I had interview number two. I was a 15-year-old sophomore in high school and was encouraged to get a...
Local school officials are unsure of what is going to happen for the 2020 graduation ceremonies. Three Forks 6-12 Principal Greg Heys said he has been tossing around ideas with the staff and other administrators in the area to come up with the best-case scenario for students who are scheduled to graduate May 24. Ideas discussed by Heys include hosting "drive-in graduation at a nearby field, changing the date to June and hosting it on a football field, and a virtual ceremony. "None of them are...
My older sister lives in Los Angeles and probably has some of the best dining options in the country. She can experience the cuisine of so many different cultures, plenty of fresh seafood, lots of healthy options and of course can anytime go to In and Out Burger. Despite all the choices offered in California, her pallet has not completely changed since her days in high school in Rock Springs, Wyoming. She has not lived in her hometown for around 30 years, but one of her first stops is always to...
I am a true-crime junkie. It does matter if it is a book, television series, podcast, website, or documentary, I will check it out. To some, it certainly may sound like a macabre past time learning about serial killers or the mob, but I just cannot get enough of it. I usually spend at least some of my weekends working covering sports or other community events but this hasn't been the case for the past few weeks. This has allowed me to binge-watch a few television shows. I've always known people...
In June of 2019, Thomas Elpel of Pony led a small expedition down the 2,341-mile length of the Missouri River from Three Forks to St. Louis. During this five-month journey, Elpel shared his story with local residents in weekly columns that appeared in both the Whitehall Ledger and Three Forks Voice newspapers. Late last week, Elpel announced his book about the journey "Five Months on the Missouri River: Paddling a Dugout Canoe" had arrived from the printer. The full-color book features 270 pages...
I spend a lot of time cooking and take pride in the dishes I create. I would like to think they are generally pretty satisfactory but every once in a great while, it can be a real disaster. Unfortunately, this has been the case a few times too many lately. I absolutely love pizza and have tinkered with various homemade recipes over the years. I've always found that the biggest issue is getting the crust just right and believe I finally have this down. A few weeks ago, I decided I would make...
