One Nation, Under God
One Nation, Under God
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The snow that fell during a blizzard early last month has pretty much disappeared across most of the state. Except here. The streets in town are still icy and a covering of settled, hard snow blankets the landscape. I used to take pride in that distinction when I lived in Cooke City. Early snows there tended to hang around until spring, and folks quickly embraced winter, firing up the snowmobiles and dusting off the skis at first chance. But I no longer live in Cooke, nestled in a mountain valle...
Sympathy to families of Dorothy Johnson (former Whitewater math teacher) and also Dr. Veseth (PC dentist for many years). “Happy Retirement,” and “Goodbye and God Bless” to Lynn and Eunice Simonson, who sold their farm near Whitewater to Bergtoll Farms, and also “Happy Retirement” to Ree Simonson (Lynn’s mom) who moved to Malta. We hope you come back to visit us often. In Whitewater, there was Turkey Bingo. Hope the winners enjoyed their prizes Thanksgiving Day. We should all try to be thankfu...
So, here it is. With both sadness and excitement, I sit in the PCN office on Saturday morning penning what is likely my last column for this newspaper. After nearly seven years as the publisher of the Phillips County News, I am setting sail for Texas to start a new career as a social media director for an Italian restaurant. This column is dedicated to all of you who faithfully read the newspaper and I would like to say, it has been quite the ride. I have been my honor to be at the head of the newspaper for the past seven years and I have...
I don’t pay much attention to all those television ads for medications aimed at my generation. Still in relatively good health, I’ve yet to begin taking pills that will improve my memory, help me sleep all night, or shrink my enlarged prostate. I figure the longer I go without, the better chance the pills will work when I really need them. Soon enough I’ll join the ranks of those fragile, befuddled old folks looking for a cure. In the meantime, I’ll just try to suck it up. An ad I watched...
It always passes too quickly. When I parked my truck at dawn on the opening morning of bird season I was surprised to see a sage grouse sitting on a rise, silhouetted against the lightening sky. I took it as a good omen even though the bird flew as soon as I stepped out of the truck. That seems a long time ago now and it has been nearly three months that I’ve been hunting this fall. For the first six weeks I hunted the early mornings to beat the heat and avoid the snakes, sneaking Ace out to t...
The Congressional Desert Land Act of 1877 severed the non-navigable surface water and the ground water from the western federal lands and gave them to the states. This resulted in a split estate of the western public lands. The Act of 1890 declared all lands west of the 100th meridian were under the "Prior Appropriation Doctrine" as it applied to water rights. It contained three main components: A. First in time, first in right, B. The user of the water and not the owner of the land gets the water right, and C. The water must be diverted and...
Eight months ago Barb and I cut short our vacation and raced home to take shelter. It was a scary time. So much about the pandemic was unknown. We kept to ourselves, wore masks when necessary, and carried on with our lives as best we could. At the time, however, Covid pretty much remained a problem elsewhere. A lot of Montanans began to doubt the threat the virus posed. They railed against health measures they said weren’t needed. Reports that coronavirus affected primarily the elderly fueled th...
2-11. This is election day, November 3, 2020, and maybe by tomorrow we will know who the president and other candidates are in their offices. More on the election next week. Happy birthday to all November birthdays, and those who are celebrating November wedding anniversaries. Get well to all who are sick, especially those who have the Corona 19 virus. Take precautions, so you don’t catch the virus. Today, a man from Triangle Communications named Tyson out of Havre came to upgrade my t...
Dear editor, To the People of Phillips County: Sometimes we need to work to unite for the mental health of our county and country and following this election is one of those times. We propose that everyone take the time to enjoy, sing, or share a rendition of the old time favorite hymn: “My Country, “Tis of Thee.” This is our unofficial national anthem and it is exactly what we need right now. A decrease in controversy. It includes God and it doesn’t include proper body stances. It’s not too difficult and it’s not too easy. WE need peace and a...
Every angler is looking for an edge, a technique or perhaps a secret lure sold on late-night television that fish simply can’t resist. I’m still looking, but apparently I’ll have to check drones and remote-controlled boats off my list. Montana wildlife officials are considering rules that would prohibit fishing with both. Not that drones or RC boats are sure-fire fish catchers. They’re just annoying. Both sound like a swarm of angry bees. However, they do provide anglers with new ways to deliver...
1-28. Sympathy to David Lightfoot and family on the loss of his sister who resided at the Hi-Line Retirement Center. David lived at the Whitewater Youth ranch and now he is driving the Whitewater Stagecoach from here to Malta. His number is 647-5446 if you need a ride. Last Friday I met my daughter Gale at the Sleeping Buffalo and we sat in the hot tub. We then went to Malta to shop before heading home. It was a nice day. It is weaning and shipping time in Whitewater and most of the county....
Dear Editor, This has come up time and time again that this would take away their right to restrict gun sales to undesirables, If you can call them that. All of the points mentioned in the front page article by Alex Miller in last week's paper, are fundamentally wrong. I have listed the things, in the federal government law, that prohibits these people from owning firearms. Montana law cannot supersede or undermine it. The Gun Control Act (GCA), codified at 18 U.S.C. § 922(g), makes it unlawful for certain categories of persons to ship,...
I have heard the grumblings about the PCN office being closed to the public (for the most part) and about the “No Mask, No Entry” signs I have posted on the front door. I am sorry if you are upset. I am not sorry for the decision. A popular opinion around town and on social media is “don’t live in fear.” I am not afraid of Covid-19, but I am afraid of people who don’t take it seriously. It doesn’t matter if you believe the conspiracy theories about this deadly disease. Equating COVID-19 to “people die in car accidents, so we should we stop...
It seems only yesterday I was diving off the dock to cool off in the lake. It was just last month. Now I’m digging through my drawers looking for long underwear, regretting not putting the snowblower on the tractor, and trying to find the water hoses under the snow. Winter arrived abruptly last week. It wasn’t the usual fall equinox storm. That one usually hits in September and gives us a preview of what’s to come. This year, however, September was warm and dry from beginning to end. Octob...
So, here’s the question: How much power should local governments have to regulate firearms or prevent their possession by felons, minors, undocumented immigrants or people judged mentally incompetent? Not much, according to backers of Legislative Referendum 130, the ballot measure sent to voters by Montana lawmakers last session. Specifically, Legislative Referendum 130 asks voters to remove local governments’ power to regulate the carrying of concealed firearms – or to restrict the open carry o...
Marijuana is back on the ballot — the third time in the last five election cycles — but this year Montanans will decide for the first time whether to follow other states like Colorado and Washington in legalizing use for all adults. The issue comes in the form of complementary ballot initiatives I-190 and CI-118. I-190 creates the rules for a recreational marijuana system in Montana, including a 20% tax. It also allows each county the option to prohibit dispensaries in their county. CI-118 would amend the Montana Constitution to allow the state...
On Monday morning, It just sat in my car for ten minutes. I had started my car 15 minutes before I starting my first snow of winter sulk. It’s not even that I hate the snow or winter. I honestly enjoy having the break from doing yard work and swatting at mosquitoes and wasps. I enjoy smoking meat in subzero temperatures, mostly because it is quiet outside. I enjoy watching large snowflakes fall. I enjoy a cup of hot cocoa or apple cider during the cold days. Sometimes, I even enjoy a nice Christ...
Be sure to vote. I voted by absentee ballot and I will be glad when the election is over. Congratulations to the Penguin/North Country Mavericks team for winning games against the Circle Wildcats! The Wildcats had cheerleaders who were wearing facemasks painted like cats. They even made horrible wildcat sounds! It was senior night for our Penguin girls, Miss Cummings and Miss Wasson. Good luck to them. On Saturday night there was a dart tournament, auction and dinner at the North 40. It was...
My 13-year-old grandson Isaac shot his first pheasant last week. He was using the shotgun I’d given him last year. A Model 1200 Winchester pump, it had been a Christmas present to me from my father more than 50 years ago. I never saw the bird that Ace flushed from a thicket of willow saplings as it rose cackling into a stiff wind blowing off Fort Peck Lake. I yelled “Rooster!” but Isaac and his father, Aaron, didn’t need the warning. The bird dropped at Isaac’s shot and their English cocker Ch...
I’ve never used electronic collars on my dogs. A whistle always sufficed. But as I begin training what may well be my last bird dog, I’m considering a change. All my friends use electronic collars, and I can’t help but notice that their dogs are a bit more under control than mine. It didn’t used to bother me. I always put more emphasis on enthusiasm for the hunt than any strict protocol. I bend to the dogs’ will as much as they do mine. Last season, however, there were two occasions when my whis...
A couple of weeks ago, my family experienced their first rodeo together. I was delivering papers to one of the local gas stations and saw a flyer in the window for a rough stock rodeo. I knew right then and there that it was time to go to a rodeo together. I had taken my oldest son PJ to his first rodeo earlier this year in another town. Though he said that he enjoyed the event, it was a ranch rodeo and it was harder for him to understand. With respect to the sport, I knew that he would enjoy a...
1-7. Sympathy to all who are victims of the COVID-19 virus. Sympathy to George Taylor, of Whitewater, on the loss of his father, George Taylor Sr. Get well soon to Guy Simanton of Whitewater, also. Get well to all who are sick. Congratulations again to all volleyball and cross-country runners including Samantha Wisher. Sorry I missed your name last week. Good luck to all. Shout out to my sister Janet Brown and family, who I visited last week. Jeanne Green and I went to Billings. We met my...
Dear Editor. If you get a chance, you should tour the County dump station that's south of Saco. This is about the most wanton disregard of the regulations that the county would like to have observed at these dump sites. Like different sites, we have a burn pit for people to deposit wood products, tree limbs and yard cleanup sacks into for burning. I was out there just this morning, 9-30-2020, and I see, mattresses, Metal water tanks,not little ones, but giant size plus many blocks of cement and lots of barbed wire. Do people really think that...
Question: Who do you think of when you think of legendary characters from Phillips County, past or present?...
I wonder what this hunting season will bring. The weather and number of critters, however, aren’t foremost in my mind. The number of hunters is. If the summer months are any indication, there will be crowds. When things shut down last March and we were told to shelter in place I expected the outdoor industry would take a big hit. Instead it appears that just the opposite happened. Folks flocked to the outdoors. Trailheads were packed, boat ramps crowded, and campgrounds full. I had been w...
