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  • Some People Just Like To Get Things Done

    JOHN CLAYTON, Writers on the Range|Apr 19, 2023

    Although I’ve lived in a small Western town for 30 years now, I have never known much about one of its fundamental institutions, the service club. Many small-town residents still center their lives on Lions, Elks, Rotary, or similar organizations. Not me: I’m not a joiner. Yet as our national culture moves farther away from such settings for broad discussions, I worry that I’m part of the problem. A while ago when I was asked to speak at our local Rotary Club, I hesitated, picturing white guys networking with each other and complaining...

  • Medicaid Eligibility Redeterminations/Renewals Resume in April

    JON EBELT, Montana DPHHS|Mar 29, 2023

    The Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS) will begin conducting Medicaid and Healthy Montana Kids (HMK) eligibility redeterminations on April 1 for the first time in three years. Federal requirements during the COVID-19 pandemic led to the suspension of annual redeterminations, in order to keep every individual enrolled in Medicaid covered throughout the pandemic. However, last December’s federal omnibus spending bill directed states to resume evaluating the eligibility of Medicaid enrollees on April 1. Beginning in April...

  • Addressing The Root Causes of Pain

    JOHANNA PAULSTON, Sage Wellness Center|Feb 15, 2023

    Experiencing pain in some form is a fact of life on earth. Unfortunately, many people experience chronic daily pain and come to accept it as part of the “human condition.” But have you ever asked yourself why we experience pain? Pain is a teacher. It comes when we need to make a change, whether it be physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally, or relationally. Some of us avoid pain by silencing it or covering it, and some of us surrender to it as our forever reality. When we take these...

  • The Four Chaplains: The First Sunday of February

    JOHN DUFORD, Whitehall VFW and American Legion Chaplain|Feb 1, 2023

    At 12:55 AM on February 3, 1943, a torpedo from German U-Boat 223 detonated on the starboard side and well below the waterline of the USTT Dorchester. The former coastal luxury passenger liner converted to troop transport, carrying 904 servicemen, civilian workers, and crew, sank in only 27 minutes, taking 672 souls to the bottom of the freezing North Atlantic. It was one of the worst shipboard disasters in US naval history. The first Sunday of each February is designated Four Chaplains Sunday, commemorating the sacrificial service of...

  • Local School Nurse Receives DPHHS School Health Grant

    JON EBELT, Montana DPHHS|Feb 1, 2023

    Krista Glaus, RN, has been named a recipient of a School Health Mini-Grant Award from the Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS). She has received $1,000, which will contribute to staff CPR and first aid training in the Whitehall School District. Glaus provides nursing services to the Whitehall School District, where she works with students and their families to ensure students' health and well-being. She is among a select number of school nurses awarded grants by the DPHHS...

  • Montana Decides: Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

    JON STONE GOFF, Montana Decides|Feb 1, 2023

    "Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh my!" is a famous line turned into a cliché from the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz used to express fear. In the 2020s, the fear of "Lions and Tigers and Bears" has been replaced with the fear of "climate change and anti-vaxxers and Article V of the US Constitution," which are strange bedfellows indeed. Oh my! There has been the same banter going on back and forth around a resolution that has been trying to get passed through our legislature since 2015 to add Montana...

  • Murals Project Receives Exciting Grant

    JOHN KREIS, Whitehall Chamber of Commerce|Jan 18, 2023

    The Whitehall Murals Project, spearheaded by the Whitehall Chamber of Commerce, is excited to announce that it has received a tremendous, helpful grant from the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation. The grant consists of an immediate grant of $5,000 and a matching grant of $2,500. The matching grant has, of course, a stipulation. The stipulation for the matching grant is that an additional $2,500.00 will be granted to the project by the Washington Foundation should there be contributions of...

  • Help Prevent Respiratory Illnesses this Winter

    JON EBELT, Montana DPHHS|Jan 18, 2023

    Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS) officials are reporting substantial influenza (flu) activity during the first three months of this current flu season, from September through December 2022, that has far exceeded the prior five-year averages. Since the week of September 25 through December 31, 2022, there have been 408 influenza-associated hospitalizations reported to DPHHS, well above the five-year seasonal average of 88 hospitalizations for that same time frame. The five-year seasonal average for hospitalizations for an...

  • Dear Editor: Thank you, Mr. Buterbaugh

    JOY DES ROSIER|Jan 11, 2023

    Dear Editor, Thank you, Mr. Buterbaugh, for the information on the massive budget bill. The current spectacle of the House of Representatives is another example of what seems to be the inability to use reason. Joy Des Rosier Whitehall, Montana...

  • Dear Editor: A critique of Ledger's LTE 12/7/2022

    GERALD JOHNSON|Jan 4, 2023

    Dear Editor, A “critique” of the Ledger’s Letters to the Editor on 12/7/2022. “J. Butt” - Blah blah blah blah blah boring. Double dribble. “Computer Kelly” - the Earth is flat. Elvis is alive. And the cow jumped over the moon. “The Professor” - How does “civilized discussion” jive with the embrace and defense of the murder weapon, a gun, while lifeless school children are piled up in their Uvaldi classroom waiting to be identified by the “color of their tennis shoes.” And, two were decapitated - how? “The...

  • Dear Editor: The Terminator and the Constitution

    GERALD JOHNSON|Dec 7, 2022

    Dear Editor, The TERMINATOR - straight from the insurrectionist’s mouth: “I haven’t read the Constitution, but from what I’ve been told, most of it is a waste of paper quite frankly; the fifth amendment is the only part worth saving.” A former President of the United States and the freak has not read the Constitution. Wow. “When I left office, I took a lot of documents with me, but I had no interest in taking the Constitution. If I could have cut the 5th amendment out of the Constitution and put it in my pocket, I would have done...

  • Montana Decides: Congrats, Considerations, and a Clarification

    JON STONE GOFF, Montana Decides|Nov 23, 2022

    Much like vote counting results in some places around the country, I am a little slow on delivery. However, local elections are officially in the rearview mirror. Approximately 58 percent of registered Jefferson County voters participated from the ten precincts within the county. The good news is that this was on par with the state, whose total turnout was just over 60 percent. Since it’s our number one responsibility as sovereign actors within our government, perhaps we should expect higher...

  • Be Antibiotics Aware: Smart Use, Best Care

    JON EBELT, Montana Department of Health and Human Services|Nov 23, 2022

    Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS) officials are urging Montanans to be aware of the importance of appropriate antibiotic use during U.S. Antibiotic Awareness Week Nov. 18-24, 2022. This is an annual observance that provides participating organizations in the state’s Antimicrobial Stewardship Program an opportunity to raise awareness about antibiotic use to combat the threat of antibiotic resistance. DPHHS officials state that while antibiotics are a common treatment for numerous bacterial infections, they are not always...

  • DPHHS Reminds Montanans about Increased WIC Benefits

    JON EBELT, Montana DPHHS|Nov 16, 2022

    Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS) officials said today that increased benefits are now available to families through the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, commonly known as WIC. “We want to ensure that WIC recipients and those who are eligible, but not yet enrolled for the program, are aware that benefits increased in October,” said Kevin Moore, acting WIC Director for DPHHS. “This is great news because we know that with increases in food prices, times are tough for many...

  • Whitehall's First Updated Mural at Jefferson Fresh Foods

    JOHN KREIS, Whitehall Chamber|Nov 2, 2022

    After a summer of anticipation, information, and hard work by Kit Mather the old mural came down and the beautiful new mural went up last Thursday. If you haven't seen it please go to Jefferson Fresh Foods and see it. It is bright, beautiful, and clear. It was a full day to remove the old mural and reinstall the new one. Thanks are due to many people first of all to Kit Mather who gave up her entire summer and worked every single day to make this vision come to fruition. Thanks also to the...

  • JVCF Grants to be Awarded

    JOHN KREIS, Jefferson Valley Community Foundation|Nov 2, 2022

    The Jefferson Valley Community Foundation is pleased and excited to announce its Short-and Sweet awards evening. The awards event will be held on November 10th at the Whitehall Community Center beginning at 7:00 PM. Representatives of those non-profit organizations who have applied for specific monetary grants should be present to find out the results of the awarded grant. A pie social will provide delicious refreshments and make the event a special evening, Non-profit organizations who have missed the grant deadline or who were unaware of...

  • New Mural Going Up Thursday at Jefferson Fresh Foods

    JOHN KREIS, Whitehall Chamber of Commerce|Oct 26, 2022

    Wow, we’re finally there, the Lewis and Clark mural located on Jefferson Fresh Foods is going up this Thursday (weather permitting)to replace the original weathered mural. Local contractor Tim Geary has agreed to donate personal time to remove the old mural and put the new mural in place. The old mural originally painted by artist Kit Mather with calligraphy done by Carilyn Jenkin has been a beautiful, special, signature for our community’s enthusiasm for art and history. The Whitehall Chamber is looking for a new home for the old mural,...

  • Montana Decides: The Long Green Mile

    JON STONE GOFF, Montana Decides|Oct 19, 2022

    I’m going to combine two stories, one fictional and one real. In the 1999 fictional film, The Green Mile, the “green mile” referred to the stretch of green linoleum that death row inmates walked to Louisiana’s electric chair. When I was a kid, my father used to refer to cash as “long green.” What do you get when you combine the two stories? Like the prison inmates, perhaps what you get is the worthy dollars’ inevitable demise as a productive public resource at the end of that...

  • JVCF Grant Deadline October 28

    JOHN KREIS, Jefferson Valley Community Foundation|Oct 19, 2022

    The Jefferson Valley Community Foundation would like to remind all non-profits that plan to apply for grant assistance that the grant deadline is fast approaching. The grant deadline is October 28th. Completed grants should be turned in at the Whitehall Community Library and must be turned in by closing time at the library. Grants must be turned in by 4:00 PM on the 28th. Grant applicants are reminded that only grant applications that are completely filled out will be considered. In order to be complete, the IRS non-profit certification must...

  • 50 Years of the Clean Water Act: More Must Be Done

    DERF JOHNSON, MT Environmental Information Center|Oct 19, 2022

    The Clean Water Act turns 50 on October 18th. Over the past five decades, it has proven itself as one of the most successful environmental laws on the books. It has cleaned up contaminated waterways, helped to assure that the drinking water coming out of your tap is safe for your kids, and protected the ecological integrity of rivers and streams. Indeed, without the Clean Water Act, Montana would not be the state it is today. But far more must be done in order for us to reach the promise of the Clean Water Act – which is to prevent, reduce, a...

  • Dear Editor: Support Ronning

    JOHN DRISCOLL|Sep 28, 2022

    Dear Editor, I would like to encourage you and our fellow eastern Montanans to vote this Fall from our hearts. Republican, Independent, Green, Libertarian, Social Democrat, Trumpster, and Democrat are shorthand labels more serving the convenience of political and media consultants. Let’s agree that “grasstops” politics have replaced “grassroots.” Yet we all still have our friends and families. We’re grand-mothers and grand-fathers, or their children and children’s children, native-born or Montanans by fate or choice, veterans or...

  • Finishing Stretch for Whitehall's First Replacement Mural

    JOHN KREIS, Whitehall Chamber of Commerce|Sep 28, 2022

    The month of October is an exciting time for those involved in the Whitehall Mural Project. Artist Kit Mather has been working diligently day after day and essentially has given up her entire summer to finish the large mural that will replace the one on Jefferson Fresh Foods. Arrangements have been made to replace the current faded mural with a fresh new creative special work of art. The community of Whitehall has already generously contributed to this project and all who have done so are...

  • Montana Decides: If It Moves (or Doesn't), Tax It

    JON STONE GOFF, Montana Decides|Sep 21, 2022

    Most of you recall the famous quote from Ronald Reagan, “Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.” Yes, that means real property as well, which tends to not move but is taxed to help cover the costs of running schools and local governments. My last article, “When You Find Yourself In a Hole Stop Digging” which is still available at www.mont...

  • DPHHS Urges Montanans to be Fall Aware

    JON EBELT, Montana DPHHS|Sep 21, 2022

    Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS) officials report that nearly one in three Montanans aged 65 and older have reported falling at least once in the last 12 months. “Falling is not a normal part of aging, but knowing a person’s risk factors can reduce the chance of an unintentional fall.” DPHHS Falls Prevention Program Manager Melissa Dale said. “As a person ages, they are at an increased risk for falling and sustaining an injury.” National Falls Prevention Week is September 18-24. Dale notes that almost half (48%)...

  • Montana Decides: When You Find Yourself in a Hole - Stop Digging

    JON STONE GOFF, Montana Decides|Sep 7, 2022

    It was suggested that I could strengthen the logic of my last article, "To Record or Not to Record; Is that the Question?" which remains available at https://montanadecides.substack.com if you have not read it, by building on the principle that greater transparency helps to ensure accountability. The reason? It is in the individual's self-interest to have more information about issues that are relevant to them and serves the common good to have more people who are better informed. A great sugges...

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