Ledger Looking Back 25 Years: May 13, 1998

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 total of 6,988 voters were registered to vote in 11 precincts at eight polling places in the 1998 primary election, reports Jefferson County Clerk & Recorder Bonnie Ramey. Ramey said the registration is close to the county average in recent primary elections.

Susan Foster, a geologist with the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology at Montana Tech and a Pipestone resident, spearheaded the Community Gardens at Pipestone. Foster and volunteer help planned to grow produce for the Whitehall Food Pantry and similar programs in Butte.

Diana Parks was Montana’s Greatest Mother Contest Winner on May 8, thanks to a poem written by her son, Brian French. French, who had been writing poetry since 1995 and been published consistently since, entered the poem in the KCEI-TV (Missoula) contest, and won $1,600 in prizes for this “world’s greatest mom.”