Sorted by date Results 1 - 14 of 14
Lana Claassen, Chouteau County Clerk, from the Chouteau County Clerk and Reporters office, whose primary job is to ensure we have a fair and reliable voting process, is 99.99% sure voting is fair. Every person who is registered to vote has a statewide registered number. If you have requested a mail-in ballot, there is a name and number on the outside envelope, requiring your signature. It contains your inside envelope with your ballet. She said, “we double-check every single day, making sure that what the computers say is accurate. There are s...
In a year with an unusually small number of staffing changes for Big Sandy schools, one major change isn't a new face. It's a well-loved teacher in a new role: Ms. Amy Terry has shifted to a full-time focus on Special Education at FE Miley Elementary School. For the last two years, she has been operating in a dual capacity, as both the second-grade teacher and the Special Education teacher. The shift in roles took place after the school went through a period of rapid turnover in Special...
Running the school year safely during the COVID pandemic has been challenging and required significant precautions be taken. One of the courses that faces the biggest challenges in meeting safely is music education. TJ Bond is the music teacher for Big Sandy Schools, and I sat down with him to discuss these challenges. The problem arises in the strange fact that airborne illnesses spread more effectively through singing, and the playing of wind instruments than through ordinary talking....
According to Laurie Kerzicnik (Montana State University Entomologist), grasshoppers continue to be an issue for several areas in Montana. Grasshopper infestations will continue to extend into the fall. High grasshopper populations this year could be due to a couple of factors including an abundance of a yellow sweet clover in 2019 and a cold, wet spring in 2019 where grass was abundant and rising grasshopper populations were tolerated and mostly not managed. Most grasshoppers overwinter in the egg stage in the soil. After egg hatch in mid to la...
Rutledges are not just my neighbor. Both Lance and Andrea Rutledge had impressive accomplishments in the Red Angus beef industry. Lance Rutledge was one of the 24 Nile Merit Heifer Program participants in the class of 2020. He'll be showing his heifer in October of this year. I visited with Lance about his selection, and although I asked him to brag a little about himself, he played down his accomplishment. His application clearly showed his work in 4-H and FFA. It also required he had three...
For the past 3 years, I have maintained a fairly rigid morning routine that began at 4 AM, when I would get out of bed, read for an hour, walk to the gym, and exercise. 6 months ago, the Covid lockdowns began and my carefully established routine fell apart. I no longer needed to get up so early to do my morning exercise, because the gym was closed and the kids didn’t need to be pushed out the door to school. Though my schedule continued for a little while, I slowly began to enjoy the bliss of sleeping later and later now that it was no longer n...
You may have all seen this on TV Friday night but did not realize Big Sandy’s own Kris Kulbeck partially designed it. The TV story was about technology using UV lights to Kill COVID-19 germs. Kart Kleen Technologies showcased the system, “Freq Kleen-e” at Hellgate Middle school, which kills 99.9 percent of all bacteria and germs. It was the first working model in action. It takes 28 seconds to kill all bacteria and germs. They use a conveyor belt to place objects on, it then passes through an enclosed UV light tunnel and then it comes out o...
4 has been, at least to this point, quite a year! We tend to concentrate on what's wrong, I mean, what else can go wrong! We are trying hard not to step on people's toes, not to express an opinion that will alienate our friends. Joyce Meyers wrote, "Statistics prove that 10 percent of the people we encounter will not like us. There is nothing we can do about it, except worry, but even that won't change their minds." On Friday, while I was in town working on getting the paper out early, I rece...
Menu Thursday, September 10- Sausage Stir fry with rice, fruit and bread. Friday, September 11- Crab salad, Cream of Potato soup. Monday, September 14- Baked Ziti, veggies, Garlic toast, and sheet cake. Tuesday, September 15- Chees burger DXL, chips, baked beans, Frog eye salad. Wednesday, September 16- Seadogs, tota, Carrot Salad, and Apple pie bars. Zucchini Brownies Ingredients ½ cup vegetable oil 1 ½ cups white sugar 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 2 cups all-purpose flour ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda 1 teaspoo...
Summer is nearly gone, and I cannot say I will miss much of it. I was dealing with back pain most of the summer, which definitely puts a damper on gardening and doing the work I usually enjoy. Generally, we have an enjoyable summer, busy working, but still having time to stop and smell the roses. Nevertheless, this summer, it seems the wind blew more, the grasshoppers were overwhelming, and irrigating and watering was never done; we just went from one field or garden to another. The respites were not there from an occasional rain shower or...
The following is a list of the 4-H and FFA member who received the top awards at the 2020 Chouteau County Fair and the businesses and individuals who generously sponsored the award. Top Rabbit Project – Faith Gasvoda – Sponsored by: Jay and Patricia Eklund Senior Rabbit Showman – Faith Gasvoda – Sponsored by: Rick & Kay Bailey Junior Rabbit Showman – Tiegan Mortensen – Sponsored by: Chouteau County 4-H Council Novice Rabbit Showman – Parker Mortensen – Sponsored by: Mary’s Little Lambs Junior Poultry Showman – Jayton Ophus – Sponsored by: Joyce...
The new kids on the block might just be the toughest kids on the block. The Fort Benton Longhorns left no uncertainty on the floor Friday night that they will challenge for a district crown, as they swept away visiting Big Sandy, 25-3, 25-5, 25-12. The Pioneers fell to 0-3 in league play and could salvage little more optimism for the ride home than that at least it made for a short trip. “It was just disappointing because, obviously, last week we didn’t win but we showed up to play,” said Pioneers head coach Brittany McKenney. “To turn around...
Big Sandy made quick work of North Star, Saturday afternoon in Rudyard, beating the hometown Knights 42 -7. Overall it was a solid day of football for the Pioneers with Seniors setting the tone and young leaders like Kody Strutz stepping up big with flashes of greatness. The pioneers showed some creativity early on the offensive side of the ball with Kade Strutz starting the afternoon with a 12 yard completion (yes I said completion) to Parker Proulx, before pounding his way in from 20 yard out...
