Sorted by date Results 1665 - 1689 of 3543
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...
Interestingly, the Sunshine Snippers 4-H Club choose to write positive quotes on the sidewalk downtown, fitting of their name Sunshine. They did ask the permission of the business owners. I just had to have every one written down, thanks to my granddaughter Faith, who walked the streets and wrote them in a tablet for me. It’s worth reading and implementing them. Be the reason someone smiles today. Spread joy! Throw love like confetti. In a world where you can be everything, be kind. Think positive. Feel Positive. Be positive. Don’t give up It...
Raea Pansch 's heart told her she could do something to help Wynter Parker. I asked her what made her work so hard. She said, "my mom was talking about it." To tell the full story, I quote here from KRTV "Ten-year-old Wynter Parker's life was turned upside down in an instant on Friday. His mother Rokki Ferguson (30), father Sage Ferguson (26), younger siblings Sage Jr. (5), and Lovelee Bearcub (8), and uncle Ryan Four Souls (30) died in a two-vehicle crash in Chouteau County, leaving Wynter...
For four years, Cassie Bahnmiller has made a small nitch business by selling her Gourmet Krispies treats. She has so many customers that like to do pre-orders, so when she does make them, she always sells out. Cassie is famous around here for her Gourmet Krispies treats Reese's, Snickers, Oreo, S'mores, and Turtle. Turtles are my favorite. But Cassie's husband says she collects hobbies. She has started a new business or "hobby" by making home-made silk-screen shirts. Cassie does the screen...
City Wide Garage Sale The city-wide garage sale is a go! A few more hoops to jump through this year, but there are still 22 individual garage sale sites in the town this Saturday June 20. The sale starts at 8:00 in the morning and goes to 3:00 in the afternoon, if everything isn’t sold out by then. As in years past the Senior citizen center will be selling tacos in a bag as a fund raiser for the Big Sandy Barracuda’s swim team. A map is being printed but with last minute adds to the list it wasn’t available at the Mountaineer before print...
A number of gyms and businesses are reopening and there is a discussion on why the high school gym cannot be open to the public. The following is from a letter from The Chouteau County Environment Health Guidance letter for re-opening. All Phases: Employee Health-Health assessments should be conducted for all employees at beginning of each shift including keeping a log of temperature checks at the beginning of each shift of less than 100. Employees who have a fever, cough, or shortness of...
The Big Sandy City Council met and used the majority of its time to discuss the town's pool opening information. As well, the Big Sandy Barracuda's swim team presented to the city council a plan to hold a local swim meet. It was discussed and approved that the swim team could hold a swim meet. There was a plan, submitted to the Chouteau County Health nurse, which met the needs of Phase 2, and the city council also approved it. (On a side note, the Big Sandy City Council has approved plans to re-...
After researching Father's Day, I discovered it isn't celebrated the same way, or for that matter, it isn't even celebrated on the same day around the world. In the United States, it is always the third Sunday in June. In 1909, a woman named Sonora Smart Dodd, "tried to establish an official equivalent to Mother's Day for male parents." She went around to local businesses to gather support for her idea, and on June 19, 1910, the state of Washington celebrated the first-ever Father's Day. In...
Jane Mangold (MSU Extension Weed Specialist) has been getting quite a few calls about the efficacy of a bacteria used for cheatgrass control in rangeland. Below is an abbreviated version of the study and results. Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) is one of the most widespread invasive plants in the western U.S. Because cheatgrass can form large infestations of hundreds to thousands of acres, often in remote and inaccessible locations, biological control is an attractive option. Various strains of the soil bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens (e.g. D7,...
A new committee has been formed to raise funds for a new city pool. The committee members are Shaud Shwarzbach, Diana LaBuda, Heather Pleninger, Melanie Shwarzbach, and Rich Jespersen. They made an announcement at the First Big Sandy Swim Meet. Published here is the announcement. “Welcome to the FIRST EVER BIG SANDY SWIM MEET! We would like to thank everyone that has come out today to support our Barracuda’s. This event is being put on to allow our swimmers the opportunity to have a swim meet this year since due to COVID19 many teams will not...
Reports of fraud and scams have, unfortunately, become a normal part of our lives. It can happen to anyone. As the fastest growing segment of the population in the United States, older adults are especially targeted and uniquely vulnerable to financial scams. Con artists find them as attractive prey because, older adults are thought to have a “nest egg,” have excellent credit, won’t say “no” because they were raised to be polite and trusting, are less likely to report the fraud for fear of appearing to have a weakened mental capacity because t...
Nathan Keane usually gets up, lets the dog out, and then makes coffee for himself. For some reason, on Wednesday, June 3rd, he went directly to the kitchen to make himself some coffee. Nathan looked outside his kitchen window to see 30 feet from the house and in the chicken coop a grizzly bear. He had to do a double-take. "I couldn't believe it. I would have never dreamed there would be a grizzle bear in my front yard." The grizzly was inside the chicken pen. They couldn't see what he was...
The Big Sandy Barracudas, under the direction of coaches Travis Baumann and Connie Reichelt, are back in the pool for their 9th season as a team. 36 swimmers are on the team this year and while they have taken to the pool to begin their summer training, they have been left with a very uncertain season. COVID-19 restrictions still in place have left teams in other towns unwilling or unable to host their regularly scheduled swim meets. These other teams are working with their local health departments and city councils to try to host meets, but...
Lift was required to close its doors on March 19th by the state of Montana because of COVID-19. Their doors were closed for 74 days and just opened this June 1st again. Lift is a CrossFit organization. The owner, Julie Myers, is happy. She said, "I'm very glad to be back open!" They do have to take precautions. "Everybody is supposed to wipe down every piece of equipment that they use." Clients are asked not to come if they have any of the symptoms of COVID-19. If you are sick, stay home....
It was fun to discover Mother Goose walking the streets of Big Sandy. Even more fun to see that she had ways to encourage the kids to read. According to Mother Goose, "This year's Summer Reading theme is Imagine Your Story, and challenge you to use your imagination. You can go on adventures with Jack and the Beanstalk or ride a wild unicorn. The adventure is yours to have." "Although this year's Summer Reading Program will look different than usual we have used our imaginations to come up with w...
MSU Agronomists (Richard Engel, Clain Jones, and Simon Fordyce) have put together a document on Soil Acidification Management. The document is available online at the following URL: http://landresources.montana.edu/fertilizerfacts/html/FF79.html. Paper copies are available at the Chouteau County Extension office. The study concluded that adding 90 pounds of seed-placed fertilizer-phosphorus (0-45-0) can mitigate aluminum toxicity and increase growth and grain yield of cereal crops in acid-affected soils. In addition, responses to...
Triangle Telephone Cooperative Association, Inc., doing business as Triangle Communications (Triangle), is planning to hold its 67th Annual Meeting of Members in a new way, with one northern meeting and one southern meeting. The meetings will be streamed live on our website. The northern meeting will be held Saturday, October 3rd, 2020 in Havre, MT on the campus of Montana State University-Northern. The southern meeting will be held October 17th, 2020 at the American Legion Hall in Big Timber. A quorum must be met at both locations, which...
The Booster Club met for the first time in four months. The essential discussion was probably the call to parents who care about their children's activities to get involved in supporting those activities. This Booster Club is like no other Booster Club. Usually, Booster Clubs are included only in high school sports activities. The Big Sandy Booster Club supports both grade school and high school activities, including all extracurricular activities, not just sports. An interesting fact is that...
The past few weeks I have covered canning and freezing foods. An additional method of preserving food is dehydration. Dehydration of food is one of the oldest and simplest methods of food preservation. During the dehydration process, moisture is removed from the food. Removing the moisture prevents bacteria, yeast and molds from growing preventing the food from spoiling. Maintaining cleanliness throughout the process and using food-grade containers and equipment also ensures a safe food product. There are a few ways you can dry foods. You...