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It's been a year and what a year. I feel like I've just started to learn to crawl. I had no idea what owning a business meant. There are still somethings I need to learn. I wanted to be a part of a paper that celebrated our local culture. I believed it was important to support a rural economy and way of life. I told myself I had to learn how to put the Big Sandy Mountaineer together. I don't like jigsaw puzzles, so a six/eight/ten-page jigsaw puzzle is a little daunting, so I still haven't...
Every farmer knows the risk of hail, but when it comes, it’s devastating. This last week there was a storm that brought hail clear across the state of Montana almost. It wasn’t a wide swath, but where it landed, there was quite a bit of damage. No farmer wants a paycheck from insurance companies. They would rather harvest their crops, especially this year, because they looked so good. Nothing like bring in the crops! For those of you who don’t know, there is Crop-hail insurance. It is a type of insurance that pays the farmer for any damag...
Editor's Note: After this article on preparing for an emergency, we will do a series of articles concerning health and safety in your home. First, understand that no-one thinks a serious accident or illness will happen to them, so like almost everyone, we do not prepare for one. EMT personnel are well trained for emergencies and can help get the person to the medical facility. Do not try to take a seriously ill or injured family member to the hospital call 911. When I took training to become a C...
I hope our Chouteau County gardeners have had a productive year growing vegetables, flowers, trees and shrubs. Below are a few tips for the month of August. • Renovate strawberries by mowing a minimum of every three years. Some people mow their strawberries every year following fruit production. Be sure to set the mower high enough to mow the leaves. Mowing to low may damage the crowns and kill the plant. • Topdress strawberries after harvest with a complete fertilizer like 16-16-16. • Pinch the tops of indeterminate tomatoes and reduce water...
There has been one incidence of a positive test in Chouteau County even though it is not showing up on the State website. The reason for this is that the person who tested positive is visiting Chouteau County and gave her address in California when she was tested. Hence the positive will be counted by her home county even though she is temporarily residing and recovering in Chouteau County. There have also been other incidences of people testing positive outside of our county but having had contact with county residents. Armed with this...
Now and then, someone will ask me how Ron and Don and doing. "I haven't seen them around for a while." If you are new to town, Ron and Don Christensen, twins, for years walked the streets of Big Sandy collecting everyone's pop cans and visiting all the town down businesses. They are 74 years old and have a difficult time getting around, especially Don, who's had a few falls and a broken bone. But they still see themselves at home. They don't ever want to move. "No way!" I asked if I could take...
Despite the continued visitor restrictions, we are staying busy here at BSMC. The warmer weather has allowed for much needed and greatly enjoyed time outside. The flowers were planted in May; with this rain and sunshine, they are looking beautiful and we enjoy being on the patio with them. The Grace Lutheran Church, paired with an anonymous donation, funded the purchase of two outdoor rocking chairs for the patio. They have been a great addition that are enjoyed by the residents. If the weather...
For Immediate Release July 3rd, 2020 Novel Coronavirus Update On 07/03/2020, the Chouteau County Health Department received notice from a regional lab that 1 individual tested positive for novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). The case has been associated with recent travel. The individual is experiencing mild symptoms and is isolating. The Chouteau County Health Department is currently notifying close contacts of these individuals, and will continue to investigate and inform anyone else who may have been exposed. If you have not been contacted by the...
The City Council meeting with the Big Sandy Barracudas and the newly formed New Pool Committee was held. There were two items on the agenda. The Barracudas were pursuing permission to hold another swim meet in Big Sandy. This meet would take two days, and they would be inviting a few other towns to the event. Preliminary approval from Angel Johnson, the County Health Nurse, was brought for the council to review. There were a couple of items still be worked through. The board gave tentative approval for the swim meet to be planned, which would...
“Governor Steve Bullock and Lt. Governor Mike Cooney today released the Governor’s Plan for Reopening Safe and Healthy Schools for Montana to provide flexible guidance for public schools to prepare to offer in-person instruction in the fall,” on Thursday, July 2nd. They presented to the school a 17-page guideline for the school to implement. Ultimately the school board will need to apply those regulations by voting in Big Sandy’s 2020-2021 school year. There are guidelines for all three phases of reopening the schools, due to COVID-19. Kelly Ha...
Editor's note: Though these facts might be hard to read through, they were taken directly from the Montana Highway Patrol 2019 Annual Report. It is sobering. Chouteau is in District VIII. In that district, there are eight counties from Glacier to Phillips county. The population for District VIII is 60,078. We have 17 full-time uniform Positions. They drove 436,909 miles during 2019. There were 11,176 calls for service. There were 632 crashes investigated, 7,159 traffic stops, 5,386 citations...
Summer pneumonia in nursing beef calves is not uncommon, but occurs with low frequency. A wide variety of risk factors for summer pneumonia exist including relative success of colostrum antibody transfer, commingling of groups, weather changes, nutrition changes or deficiencies, pathogen exposure, handling stress, calving difficulty, and operation-specific risk factors like lack of labor. The immunity a calf receives through colostrum is called passive immunity, and is the major source of immune function in the newborn. If calves receive only...
This time of the year, Yucca dots the sides of the hills. I once showed my grandchildren, when they were little, the Yucca plant up close. They said, "Gramma, it's an ant home." Yucca, the plant is a perennial. There are 40-50 varieties of Yucca, depending on where you do your research. They can be like we see them here, a small plant with spiky leaves and beautiful white flowers or they can be shrubs or even trees "in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae. They are native to the hot...
July 4th usually means exactly what we all think. It’s a celebration that started in 1776 continues to the present day. It is the celebration of the birth of American independence. It usually has activities with fireworks. Other towns have parades and concerts to go to while most families have a more casual family gatherings with camping, fishing, or barbecues. Actually, the first public reading of the Declaration was on July 8, 1776. It wasn’t until one year later, on July 4, 1777, that Independence Day was first celebrated. They adj...
After Big Sandy lost a grain elevator in town when CHS closed its door, I stopped one day at EGT-Tunis to visit with Josh Wulf, the Elevator Manager. He immediately wanted to place ads in the Mountaineer and to support Big Sandy however he could. EGT build three identical elevators in Montana, one at Tunis, one at Chester, and one at Kintyre Flats/Frazer. A year ago, they also bought an Elevator in Sidney. The Export Grain Terminal, EGT, is a joint venture between Bunge North America, the North...
In 2017, a joint project between the City of Big Sandy and Big Sandy Public Schools presented a bond proposal to the voters to build a new pool for the residents of Big Sandy. Proponents and opponents of the bond issue seemed to agree that a new pool for our community would be beneficial, but how to pay for the project became the sticking point that kept the project from moving forward. The proposed pool project came with a $2.1 million price tag, which proved to be more than the voters were wil...
Bobcat is a high yielding solid stem hard red winter wheat with improved yield potential relative to other solid stem varieties. The variety will be available for non-certified seed producers in fall of 2020. The variety was developed by Phil Bruckner and Jim Berg from the Montana State University winter wheat breeding program. Bobcat is a selection from a composite cross of two unreleased Montana solid-stemmed experimental lines and an unreleased Montana hollow-stemmed line. Bobcat is awned, white-glumed, semi-dwarf wheat with medium to late...
More fraud and scam terms to discuss this week… Smishing is short for “SMS phishing”. The scammer sends a text message or SMS (Short Message Service) with a phone number or link claiming to be connected to your bank or another company. They expect you to call the number which goes to an automated system or click on a link leading you to provide personal, credit card and/or other financial information. Once they obtain your personal or financial information, they can access your accounts or even open new accounts without your knowledge. Do no...
It was a perfect day. Not too hot, although some would say if you sit outside in the sun all day, it doesn't matter what the temperature is, it gets hot. And if you saw any of the 22 garage sale participants on Sunday, many of them had sunburns. There were ten sites on the north side of Big Sandy and 12 sites on the south side. I was sitting in front of the Mountaineer when an older gentleman approached the sale from The Grocery Store. He bought a small item and then asked if there were any...
Although they held their regular meeting, some of the agenda items were regular, but others didn’t sound very normal. Yes, the building Maintenance Projects are going on as usual, with the FE Miley flooring progressing. And like every summer, deep clean takes place in each room, and some painting is going on in both the high school and grade school as well. The mirrors going up the stairs at the high school are being removed, and the area repainted. Travis reported, “All teachers will have computers that run Windows 10 that previously had windo...
One of the most favorite parts of the Big Sandy Mountaineer is the Old Timers section. It is research and written by Vicki Kulback and Lois Gay. When you see them on the street, acknowledge them for their continued support of our community and its history. The Big Sandy Museum is being affected by the COVID-19. It is open by appointment only in June. So, if you would like to take a relative or two down to the Museum to see our history call and someone will meet you and open it for you. They...
The Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS) has launched a statewide media campaign to remind Montanans to continue taking the right steps to fight the spread of COVID-19, especially as the state opens up. The campaign, titled “Protect Public Health in the 406,” consists of television, radio, newspaper, digital and social media ads emphasizing personal responsibility and the behaviors needed to minimize transmission of the virus. There will also be signage on gas pumps and in gas stations and pharmacies. The ads feature sim...
What is up with all of the ash trees not leafing out around the County? What we are seeing is a case of fall freeze damage. The green ash trees were actively growing in the fall until late September and early October when temperatures dropped into the low 20s or high teens. Many of the ash trees froze and dropped green leaves to the ground during this time period. Damage occurs before the plant becomes dormant as evidenced by development of fall leaf color and normal leaf drop. It is recommended that trees not be trimmed or cut down until July...
USDA/Farm Service Agency (FSA) county committees are a critical component of the day-to-day operations of FSA, and allow grassroots input and local administration of federal farm programs. Committees are comprised of locally elected agricultural producers responsible for the fair and equitable administration of FSA farm programs in their counties. Committee members are accountable to the Secretary of Agriculture. If elected, members become part of a local decision making and farm program delivery process. The FSA county committee nomination...
Continuing the topic of fraud and scams from last week’s article, it may help to know some terminology and understanding of how scammers operate to get your personal information. This week’s term is phishing. Phishing Scammer sends a fake email, text or website which appears to be from a legitimate source, like your bank or other company you know and trust. The email asks you to provide your personal or other sensitive information such as passwords or usernames by clicking a link. These fake emails may even threaten to disable your account if...