Serving Southern Jefferson County in the Great State of Montana
Serving Southern Jefferson County in the Great State of Montana
Sorted by date Results 60 - 84 of 140
OCTOBER 14, 1998 Dan Reum, Whitehall Elementary School educator since 1969 and elementary school principal since 1991, was resigning. Reum was also the athletic director of the Whitehall School District. Reum said that in 1995 he traveled to the Philippines for his son's wedding and had an interest in working overseas. He also had an interest in working in Alaska, where another son resides. The Tri-County Retired and Senior Volunteer Program at Rocky Mountain Development Council received an...
October 7, 1998 After hearing 17 different witnesses during the October 5-6 trial, a Jefferson County jury found Jason Marker guilty of aggravated assault by accountability for his role in the January 2, 1998, Mint Bar incident, but reached no verdict on two counts of misdemeanor assault. Marker, 22, was charged with aggravated assault for kicking Bill Arnold in the head. Arnold suffered a broken nose, broken cheek, broken eye socket, and broken jaw during a violent incident that occurred close...
SEPTEMBER 30, 1998 The Parent-Teacher Hotline came to Whitehall, which meant parents and community members could dial up school information at any time with a simple local telephone call. The Whitehall Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA) spearheaded the effort to bring the hotline to Whitehall schools, and about 65 specific four-digit access numbers were provided for Whitehall parents. Last Monday, 40 Jefferson County residents made the long drive to the Sweetgrass border crossing to...
SEPTEMBER 16, 1998 Construction began on an expansion project that would nearly double the size of the Whitehall Post Office. The 1,978-foot expansion would extend the post office west, through the back parking lot toward the Whitehall Medical Clinic. The post office would grow from 954 boxes for rent to 1,360. The post office was also redesigned with two entryways located on the north side of the building with access to the front counter, which would be located in the southeast corner of the...
SEPTEMBER 9, 1998 Smoldering cottonwood tree limbs erupted into a full blaze at the Whitehall dump on Tuesday, September 1 and county officials were considering a range of options to prevent a repeat incident. Moist cool air and scattered rain showers on Labor Day dampened the emergency fire threat in southwestern Montana, and crews at the Bear Gulch fire south of Whitehall were pulled off the fire on September 6th. Augie Brower and Jackson Truckle were selected to perform at the 1998 Montana...
SEPTEMBER 2, 1998 A lightning-strike fire near the Jefferson River shortly before midnight on Saturday night, August 29 burned approximately 160 acres, forced a one-day closure of Lewis & Clark Caverns, and took the collective efforts of close to 150 firefighters to control. Linda Williams, information officer for the Greer Gulch Fire, said the fire started about 11:30 PM on private land, about 1.25 miles northeast of Highway 2 and the Lewis & Clark State Park Campground. Tony Nix of Whitehall...
AUGUST 26, 1998 A settlement was reached mid-trial in Montana District Court on Monday, August 24, and resulted in a change of plea for the youth accused of setting fire to the railroad depot in Whitehall and financial reimbursement to depot owner Steve Warmoth. The agreement apparently negotiated by District Court Judge Frank Davis stipulated that Christopher Lerman, 14, and his parents make a $3,000 restitution to Warmoth for personal property loss and cleanup costs associated with the fire....
August 19, 1998 Two suspects were charged with burglary in connection with the break-in of Jefferson River Auto Repair on January 16, 1998. Alan Wehner, who according to Jefferson County Attorney Valerie Wilson was also charged with burglary in Madison County, and Bryan Buchholz, who was being held in North Dakota on other charges, were both charged on August 11. Wehner was charged with burglary by accountability, a felony, theft (possession of stolen property), and a misdemeanor. Buchholz was...
August 12, 1998 An August 31, 1998, District Court date was set at the Jefferson County Courthouse in Boulder for Christopher Lerman, the youth charged in the Whitehall Railroad Depot fire. Lerman, 14, was charged with felony negligent arson and misdemeanor trespass in the wake of the March 24 fire that razed the historic depot near Legion Avenue in Whitehall. Bill Dietz arrived in Whitehall in late July and assumed his new duties as principal of Whitehall High School on August 1. Dietz had...
AUGUST 8, 1998 Jefferson Valley Baptist Church officials reached a settlement with Safeco Insurance Company, and made a decision to rebuild the Jefferson Valley Baptist Church - and modify the building design - at its present site on the west end of Whitehall off Highway 2. They came to the decision based on the fact that there was too much damage to simply remodel. Terry Kostelecky, foreman for the Dumar Construction crew worked on erecting the new Whitehall water tank on August 3. The new...
JULY 29, 1998 Area rodeo fans were treated to back-to-back nights of outstanding action during the 1998 Frontier Days NRA Rodeo at the Whitehall Rodeo Grounds on July 24-25. Some of the top-ranked Northern Rodeo Association competitors participated in the Whitehall rodeo, and cowboys and cowgirls from throughout Montana rode and roped their way into prize money. The 1998 Frontier Days Rodeo was a true Whitehall production: Lillian Rodeo in Whitehall organized the event and provided stock, Brady...
JULY 22, 1998 Construction was underway on a 7,600-square-foot assisted living facility in Whitehall, and it was planned for the facility to be ready for occupancy as early as January 1999. Dr. Gayle and Kathryn Sacry of Whitehall were developing Meadowlark Manor, a 13-unit assisted living facility just west of the Whitehall town limits, next to the Sacry residence. Through Meadowlark Manor, the Sacrys hoped more people who might be forced to move away due to health issues would have the opportunity to remain in Whitehall. The Montana...
JULY 15, 1998 The suspect in the Jefferson Valley Baptist Church fire was charged with two counts of felony arson in Montana District Court on July 14 and was expected to undergo a psychiatric evaluation before a trial date would be scheduled. Golden Sunlight Mine announced on July 9 that it received formal approval from the Montana Department of Environmental Quality to expand current operations, extending the mine’s expected life by seven years. Christopher Lerman, a 14-year-old Whitehall youth, pled “not true” to felony arson charges stemm...
JULY 1, 1998 Road construction crews resurfaced the I-90 interstate, and the benefits of the resurfacing extended far beyond the four lanes of I-90. After the top layer - millings - were stripped off, they were being hauled in and around Whitehall to improve five area roads. The millings were spread on Piedmont Road (about 1.1 miles), Yellowstone Trail (1 mile), Kelly Road (.3 mile), First St. extension (.5 mile), and the entirety of Pipestone Road. After the millings were stripped off the interstate, they were hauled to where they were dumped...
JUNE 24, 1998 The Department of Justice sent warning letters to three Whitehall entities - including the Whitehall Volunteer Fire Department - and is proposed to impose $250 fines on three Whitehall taverns as a result of gambling infractions stemming from the Whitehall Fire Department’s 1997 Casino Night. The Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) jointly issued an emergency order prohibiting motorized vehicles from driving off established roads and trails in the Delmoe Lake area northwest of Whitehall, between Whitetail R...
JUNE 17, 1998 The Jefferson County Economic Task Force is history. It was replaced by a newer, bolder, stronger - and riskier - entity called the Jefferson Local Development Corporation. At its June 11 meeting in Montana City, the 14-member task force voted unanimously to create the Jefferson Local Development Corporation (LDC). The LDC will have much more autonomy, more flexibility, and more responsibility than the task force. The task force, established in 1995 through the passage of a resolution by the Jefferson County Commission, was...
JUNE 10, 1998 Whitehall would get a brand-new water tank built and operational by August 1, and the Whitehall Town Council was assured of full warranties and full compliance with water tank specifications as called for in the Whitehall water improvement project. The Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) public information officer Dennis Unsworth said the department timetable called for between two or three weeks of rock removal before Highway 2 would be reopened for travel. Unsworth estimated the cost of the road clearing to be between...
MAY 27, 1998 The Whitehall Business Association (WBA) selected the Grand Marshals for the Frontier Days parade by nominating Lisa Schmidt and Michelle Tebay to serve as parade Grand Marshals. Tebay and Schmidt were the founders and leaders of the “One Good Cow” program, a nationwide effort that called for the donation of livestock to blizzard and flood-stricken ranchers in South and North Dakota. The “One Good Cow” effort received national attention and was recognized as an example of a well-organized and well-executed volunteer program...
MAY 20, 1998 The race in the Republican primary election for Senate District 20 saw current State Representative Duane Grimes running against current State Senator Dan Hurwitz, and despite the relatively high-profile stature of the two candidates, the campaign was relatively quiet. That wasn’t exactly how the candidates wanted it. Both Grimes and Hurwitz were pounding the district (all of Jefferson, Meagher, and Broadwater counties and parts of Lewis & Clark and Cascade counties) looking for support. Instead, they found indifference. The W...
MAY 13, 1998 The Whitehall Town Council approved a zoning variance for the proposed library expansion, discussed at length the plan to repair and rebuild the new water tank, and decided to explore the possibility of providing liability insurance for the Whitehall Farmer’s Market, in action at the May 11th regular council meeting. During a Thursday, May 7, 1998 sentencing hearing in federal court in Helena, the three men arrested during an August 6, 1997 drug raid south of Whitehall each received a minimum prison sentence of five years. A t...
MAY 6, 1998 Whitehall High School Academic team number two won first place in both the written competition and the oral competition at the First Annual Southwestern Academic Olympic contest held in Bozeman on May 4th. The team consisted of Meghan Hoopes, Augie Brower, Kyle Ross, Natasha Momsen, Heidi Sulzdorf, and alternates Mike Welch and Jan Malinchak. Ken Kinzer, a science teacher at Whitehall High School, was honored by Montana State University-Bozeman as a Montana “Influential Teacher.” The award came through the nomination of former WHS...
APRIL 29, 1998 The Star Theatre in Whitehall, which faded to black in the mid-1990s, planned to reopen on Friday, May 18 with a showing of the movie “As Good As It Gets,” followed later in the month by the blockbuster film “Titanic” and critically acclaimed “Good Will Hunting.” Whitehall residents Kerry and Karen Sacry were purchasing the theatre from Eunice Hansen. Kerry Sacry said restoration work on the theater began in January, and virtually everything - floor, sets, ceiling, projector equipment, sound system, popcorn machine, plumbing -...
APRIL 22, 1998 Gordon Sampson, originally charged with two counts of felony aggravated assault stemming from separate 1996 and 1997 incidents, pled guilty to two misdemeanor charges in Madison County Court as part of a plea bargain agreement. Sampson had been charged with felony assault and aggravated assault after the two incidents in which he admitted to firing a rifle in front of a Vigilante Electric Co-op meter reader on private land south of Whitehall and firing a rifle in the direction of Whitehall residents on his property. He was r...
April 15, 1998 In major developments at the April 8 Whitehall Board of Trustees meeting, the board accepted the recommendation of School Superintendent Paul Stremick and voted to not renew the contract of Principal Jim Taylor. The board also accepted the resignation of Brent Mabbott as the varsity volleyball coach. Taylor had been hired to replace Barb Thronson, who resigned in the spring of 1997. A year earlier, Jim McCrossin stepped down as principal. The Jefferson County Commission learned during the regular meeting held on April 8 in...
APRIL 8, 1998 Dean Hunt, a rancher south of Whitehall, and Joan Jones, former owner of the Whitehall A&W, won the two open spots on the Whitehall Board of Trustees during the April 7 school election. Hunt garnered the most votes with 223, followed by Jones with 208. A total of 457 votes were cast, 41 percent more than the 270 votes cast in 1997. Actual fraud and game rigging have been ruled out, but the investigation into the Whitehall Volunteer Fire Department’s 1997 Casino Night fundraiser has been referred back to the Montana Attorney G...
