Serving Southern Jefferson County in the Great State of Montana
Serving Southern Jefferson County in the Great State of Montana
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Dear Editor, Not to be too negative, but this is getting ridiculous! Mr. Johnson’s latest representative statement, “People do not control guns. Guns control people” has become reductio ad absurdum (reduced to absurdity). Although I can understand his reasoning, as he mentions addiction later on in his latest letter, it really should come as no surprise that he should stand upon such a blatantly ridiculous statement. In the past, Mr. Johnson, by his very questionable reasoning, has seemingly given life to what should be otherwise known as an...
The year was 1907. College was all but a fading memory, but Don was determined not to let the memories of his old college mate, Victor, fade with them! Victor Green and Don Carroll, both of whom played football for their respective colleges, had met in 1891 at the University of Iowa vs. Iowa (Grinnell) College game in Grinnell, Iowa. This was a very close game; in fact, the lowest scoring of the season. However, the Hawkeyes had lost 4-6. The mutual respect they found for each other carried the...
Dear Editor, Once again (probably not for the last time either), I feel compelled to respond to Mr. Gerald Johnson’s almost ignominious “war” on firearms. I say almost because I do not believe he means to bring shame on his obviously favored political position. Unfortunately, by claiming the “War on Terror” to be touted as America’s Longest War simply goes to show his seeming disregard for actual facts when it comes to his pet project, which, again, seems to be much stricter gun-control laws, or simply a gun ban. He goes on to list several inj...
Mr. Hyram P. Winkler, Finnie to those who knew and loved him, was a young lad of 16 years when he left his family's wheat fields in Dorchester to labor full-time at the relatively new Waukon Iron Company, which had opened an open-pit mine and ore-washing plant in neighboring Waukon, a mere 17 miles away. The photo pictured here was taken in 1892, several years after Finnie had begun work at the Iron Company. After a bit over a year of dirty work in the pit, Mr. Winkler, through much blood,...
Dear Editor, Again, I felt compelled to voice my opinion on the question of vaccination, particularly for the COVID-19 “virus.“ As I said in my previous letter on this subject, I do not plan to get vaccinated, but neither will I condemn (or ridicule) those who do. I mentioned the immune system thing, how many people, both young and old (mostly elderly, maybe), in the day and age in which we live, have a compromised immune system. If they have one at all? I’d be willing to say, with some surety, that people in general today are more unhea...
Little Chelsea loved everything about Easter, but her favorite part was bunnies! Those soft, cuddly little creatures that wiggled their cute little button noses most curiously, had enamored this little one since before she could rightly remember. A growing girl of six, Chelsea was looking forward to this year's celebration, because Mum & Dad had made her a promise; she should have her very own little furry bundle of joy this Easter. Born in 1893, Chelsea was born to Douglas & Marianne McGowan,...
Dear Editor, Yes, here is yet another response to Gerald Johnson’s stance on gun control. As he seems to target the events of December 14th, 2012 (Sandy Hook), we’ll start there. Whatever happened there, banning guns is NOT the answer! It should be fairly obvious, for one thing, that the perpetrator was NOT a law-abiding citizen, so even if there had been a gun-ban in effect, or some other form of gun control, the event would still very likely have happened. If indeed this event happened as reported, it was a very regrettable incident. It...
Dear Editor, Jim Buterbaugh’s letter to the editor from last week’s paper got me thinking. Actually, this subject has been on my mind for quite some time now. I’m admittedly a bit of a conspiracy theorist and one of the theories I’ve recently entertained is the connection between the COVID-19 ‘pandemic’ and 5G. I remember quipping once that “it may be killing us on the inside, but our internet will be so blindingly fast, we won’t care!” A bit harsh maybe and possibly overstated, but studies have shown the damage that these electric waves ca...
'Twas a soiree to remember! This past Saturday evening in mid-July, the Gentlemen's Club of Jefferson County met, in a tent erected for this shindig, in the environs of Whitehall, Montana. This spectacular event had been organized several decades previous by Mr E.G. Brook himself (not pictured). Although Mr. Brook had long passed, many of his descendants were present, as well as the spirit of the late "Founding Father." As this was supposed to be a male-only event, and indeed was attended by man...
Dear Editor, Are you ready for another rant? I’m sure I’m not the only one, but I’m getting tired of the disturbing fact that no one pays attention to signs anymore! I say ‘no one’, but I realize there are some who still do; the sad fact is, though, that more and more just pass them by without taking any notice. Signs do have an effect, don’t get me wrong, if nothing else, to post a warning, whether it’s the ‘recommended’ speed limit or when to merge with traffic, or what. In the past, I’ve patrolled a certain parking lot here in town becaus...
"C'mon, Princess; give us a smile!" Try as he might, young James Francis Ramsey, of the newly formed Cabinet Card Photographers, could only coax a ghost of a smile out of an even younger Barbara Stanwick, formerly of La Crosse, a mere 63 miles away. The reason that our poor little princess couldn't bring herself to smile: she was recently orphaned. Young Barbara and her parents, Ted and Viola Stanwick, had been looking forward to this long day-trip for almost a year now, ever since young James...
Dear Editor, What is the difference between someone saying “I love you” and the popular phrase we all love to bandy around: “love you?” How about the one that comes to one’s lips even easier, “love ya?” One might note a fairly close correlation between this and the subject at hand: “Do we really care?” The answer, of course, is “Yes, yes, we DO care!” The extent to which we care, however, is the issue. The care which the majority of us exercise (if we care at all) might seem rather generic, if you think about it. In this part of the country,...
Dear Editor, I’m not going to name any names or go into any details, but once again, we have witnessed the lengths that some people will go to in order to soothe their own wounded ego. I’d like to think most people have a good reason for treating others the way they do. But really, there’s no excuse for bad behavior. As a human being, my first reaction is to name names, share the details of the situation with anyone who will listen, and get in someone’s face. Then I realize - that’s my own ego talking! I was talking to an old friend of mine at...
Dear Editor, I’m just gonna say it outright, “Unless & until we know who we are, we will never be truly free.” With that said, I want to quote from ‘The Divine Right of Kings’, a blogpost I made about 5 years ago. “The question might well be asked, even though we won the War for Independence (AKA The Revolutionary War), have we ever really left the British Empire? Sure, you may say that we beat them back from our shores & sent them running back to England with their tails between their legs, but did we really become independent of them and thei...
Dear Editor, Okay, this may come off as a bit of a rant & maybe it is, but I’m not mad at anybody in particular. Hell, I’m really not even mad, just sad! The lack of empathy in the overwhelming majority of human beings saddens me. Yes, it does piss me off sometimes too, but really, that does nobody any good; they don’t care & it only sours the bearer of the ill-will until he or she becomes a hermit/recluse at best and a hater/murderer at worst! Now I’m not saying that nobody actually cares; many show this every day, but do they really care? Wou...
Dear Editor, It’s no big secret; I, along with quite a few others in this part of the country, to say nothing of a growing number around this ‘great’ nation, make a living, to put it rather crudely, ‘sucking off the government tit’. Quite a vivid picture, maybe, but the meaning is clear. ‘Yes, there are those who, probably undeservedly ( more or less ), ‘milk’ the system, while others, arguably, like myself, do ‘deserve’ it.’ The question might well be asked, though, ‘Is it REALLY a matter of who deserves it or not?!’ One objection you may hav...
Dear Editor, The most recent furor from the East has many of us scratching our heads . . . I mean, filling trash bags with gasoline, if you can believe it! What could possibly motivate someone to do something like that?! I mean, how much sense does it take to know that’s anything but safe?! Even filling plastic totes with the flammable liquid is well past the limits of common sense. So there’s a gas shortage, I get that, but why do some people have to horde it, knowing that means there may be none for somebody else? Do they just not think about...
Dear Editor, I’m not pro-vaccine, but neither will I condemn those who are. I may sadly shake my head and walk away, but I will not condemn their choice. I will not be taking the vaccine (not willingly, anyway), for somewhat the same reason as others who will not take it. "It’s too new!" That’s true enough, though apparently it has been tested to whatever extent. This, however, is not the main reason; the main reason I’m not going take it is because, admittedly, I’m a bit of a conspiracy theorist! No, I don’t wear a tin foil hat, though, som...
Dear Editor, To the truck driver’s wife (and damn proud of it) who submitted the anonymous letter to the editor last week; kudos to you: you should be VERY proud of your husband! And there are many truckers like him out there, feverishly driving their hearts out every day, making sure that we have the daily necessities (and some not so ‘necessities’). We thank them for their service and wish them nothing but the best! On the other hand, though, there are those truck drivers that tend, for whatever reason, to stretch (even to the breaking point...
Dear Editor, I have recently become aware of a disturbing event that happened the other day. The Ice Cream Lady, who is a good friend of mine, was just finishing up her route for the day, when her vehicle was blocked in & she was verbally accosted by a very upset man, who, for whatever reason, was obviously having a bad day. While this man, who remains anonymous, had quite a few complaints against my friend, none of which were grounded, he was apparently grasping for straws, so to speak. My friend, who showed herself to be a real lady,...
To begin with, I wanna offer a HUGE shoutout to those who labor for the good of our community, not just for their private interests and agendas; it is these unselfish labors that have made Whitehall the town it is! We, including the greater Jefferson Valley around Whitehall, are very blessed to have access to so many resources, both natural and human. All the complaints and negativity that we have been experiencing of late seem to have put somewhat of a damper on these blessings, but I believe we can say with all surety that these resources...
