Serving Southern Jefferson County in the Great State of Montana
Serving Southern Jefferson County in the Great State of Montana
Sorted by date Results 101 - 125 of 139
October 15, 1997 The Jefferson County Commissioners took a tentative first step toward creating a local development corporation (LCD) with a vote to “approve, encourage and support” research into creation of an LDC. Jefferson County Economic Development Agent Scott Mendenhall said an LDC would not only enable the county to move more rapidly on potential economic development projects, but would also better sustain efforts on long-range projects. The Whitehall Town Council learned that the leaks in the new water tank slowed considerably, but not...
October 8, 1997 Borden’s Hotel, a Whitehall landmark on the corner of Legion Avenue and Main Street since 1913, was sold. The property - an unused hotel upstairs, restaurant, and bar downstairs - had been on the market for three years. On Monday, October 6th, Vickie and Linda Dyar, two sisters who owned a gift shop in West Yellowstone, signed the papers and purchased Borden’s from Butch and Mary Jones. The Joneses had owned Borden’s for five years. They bought the property in partnership with two other couples, but through a series of event...
October 1, 1997 For the first time in nearly two decades, a chartered 10-car tourist train operating under a company named Northern Parks Limited brought 44 people to Whitehall for an overnight stay on Friday, September 26. The train, powered by MRL diesel engine cars, entered Whitehall just past dusk on Friday, stayed overnight on the tracks in the area behind the fire station, and pulled out about 10:45 AM on Saturday. The Whitehall Volunteer Fire Department helped provide the train water. Each car had a 500-gallon tank for cooking and...
September 24, 1997 A federal grand jury issued federal indictments against the four individuals apprehended during the August 6th drug raid south of Whitehall. Jason Schwartz and his wife Theresa Jo Schwartz, Mitch Bakken, and Eric Decker, were all charged with conspiracy to manufacture marijuana, the manufacture of marijuana, and use of the premises to manufacture marijuana. Jason Schwartz and Bakken were also charged with the use of a gun-related to drug trafficking. In a unanimous 3-0 vote, the Jefferson County Commission opted to officially...
September 17, 1997 Stacey Ness, the 11-year-old sixth-grade daughter of Tom and Sanya Ness of Whitehall, died Saturday, September 13 after a farm accident south of Whitehall. Ness was riding in a hay swather on the Bill Gillespie ranch when the swather hit a bump. Ness and another youth were pitched forward and knocked the window out of the front of the swather cab. Ness tumbled out and hit her head on the sickle and suffered a fractured skull. The other youth held on to the ledge of the swather and was unhurt. The Jefferson County Commission...
September 10, 1997 The Whitehall Town Council rejected the possibility of a mail-in ballot during the November 1997 town elections, heard from some concerned town residents about private property damage during the construction of the new drinking water system, and gave conditional approval of improvements at the Whitehall Rodeo Grounds/Ballfields Complex. All the actions happened during the council’s regular monthly meeting. The vote against the mail-in ballot was unanimous and firm, and members of the public in the audience made it clear t...
September 3, 1997 Work continued on installation and readying the new telecommunications equipment needed to eliminate long-distance charges on calls between customers in Butte, Anaconda, Opportunity, Warm Springs, and Whitehall. As of the middle of September, calls between these communities would be completed as local calls. There would no longer be a need to dial 1-406 before the phone number. Five new teachers joined the hundreds of students during the first week of school in Whitehall. New to Whitehall were: Rod Stout, a new high school...
August 27, 1997 Nearly 70 fiberglass street signs were stored in the workshop of Jim and Kathie Moerbe’s Rader Creek home. The signs were purchased by the county to identify the confusing and changing Rader Creek roads, and are part of national, state, and county programs created to help emergency vehicle drivers locate streets and residences. However, the signs divided the rapidly growing Rader Creek area, and it was uncertain if the green signs would be erected, and if erected, how long they would stay up. The population seemed to hold one of...
August 20, 1997 Two new school administrators, five new teachers, one new teacher aide, a new proposed tardy policy, and about two dozen new computers were among the changes awaiting students when schools opened. The Whitehall Board of Trustees approved the purchase of over 20 new computers for the Whitehall school system. About half of the computers were earmarked for the school computer lab, and the other half were distributed throughout the school. The Jefferson County Fair, “A Fair of the Heart” was planned to run for four big days and off...
August 13, 1997 Local and state law enforcement officers made four arrests and confiscated nearly 300 marijuana plants during an August 6, 1997, pre-dawn raid on a home about eight miles south of Whitehall that resulted in what officials called one of the biggest drug busts in Jefferson County history. Jefferson County Undersheriff Tim Campbell, a 19-year veteran of the County Sheriff’s office, said the drug operation at 150 Fish Creek Road was “very sophisticated” and the biggest in his memory. Jason Schwartz, 28, and his wife Theresa, 29, b...
August 6, 1997 The Whitehall Farmers’ Market was set to become a reality in the summer of 1997, reported Dr. Kathy Meyer, who helped spearhead the proposal. A series of technical difficulties and logistical problems made it nearly impossible to find a proper location or suitable dates at other possible sites. The Farmers’ Market idea grew from the Whitehall Vision 2010 project, which identified goals and objectives for Whitehall. The project was sponsored by the Whitehall Business Association. Myrtle Sankey, who would turn 84 years old in Oct...
July 23, 1997 Whitehall’s biggest weekend of the year, the tandem events of Frontier Days and the Whitehall All-Class Reunion was planned for July 25-27. Close to 600 WHS alumni and hundreds more rodeo fans, parade lovers, craft shoppers, and interested residents and tourists were anticipated to make it one of the most memorable in Whitehall history. Lightning touched off two small fires west of Whitehall Sunday evening. One lightning strike set a single tree afire on land administered by the Bureau of Land Management, near Whiskey Gulch, n...
July 16, 1997 The Whitehall Town Council approved spending an additional $9,300 on the water improvement project to replace two old water lines that broke on July 7 and July 9. The two old cast iron water lines, one behind the Town Hall and the other at Legion Avenue and Railroad Street, ruptured when the new water tank began to fill and increased pressure throughout the town’s water distribution system. The Bureau of Land Management was working on a habitat project in the Toll Mountain area about 13 miles west of Whitehall. Most of the s...
July 9, 1997 A gifted and talented program, the teacher master contract negotiations, and a pair of new school policies were the dominant issues at the July 2nd Whitehall School Board meeting. The Board unanimously approved the teacher contract, which ended three months of negotiations between the Teacher Union and the Whitehall Board of Trustees. The contract called for a 2.38 percent pay increase in each of the next two school years and for the district to contribute to the teacher health insurance program. The Jefferson County Commissioners...
July 2, 1997 The Jefferson County Commissioners extended the engineering contract for construction of Whitetail Road and planned to begin road construction in the summer of 1998. The commission made the decision at its June 25 meeting in Boulder. This would enable construction of the approximately $3 million road project to begin in the summer of 1998. Plans call for paving about 1.5 miles of Whitetail Road beyond the overpass, and to chip seal another 8.5 miles north toward Boulder. Whitehall was home to Montana’s only custom manufacturer o...
June 25, 1997 The Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway (BNSF) and Montana Rail Link (MRL) were discussing possible arrangements that would lead to MRL operating freight trains over the trackage west of Whitehall over Homestake Pass. Both BNSF and MRL officials confirmed that negotiations were taking place, but it remained unclear if the negotiations would produce a sale of the track from BNSF to MRL, a lease agreement, or any agreement at all. A Pasco, Washington resident was fined for damaging a rock formation at Lewis & Clark Caverns....
June 18, 1997 Whitehall small business owner Bill Baycroft and Whitehall resident Chad Murphy - a warden for the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife & Parks - were appointed and sworn in as new town council members during the regular Whitehall Town Council meeting on June 16. The Jefferson County Economic Task Force planned to expand, become more aggressive, and looked at the potential of modifying its organizational structure. The Task Force, created in 1995, was funded through a metal mines tax and was designed to find approaches to improve...
June 4, 1997 An overflow crowd of approximately 1,100 people watched 49 Whitehall High School seniors graduate during a ceremony held Sunday, June 1, in the varsity gym. The audience heard brief speeches from the valedictorians Keli Mabbott, Shaunda Glaus, Andy Sorensen, salutatorian Ben Sorensen, and WHS Principal Barbara Thronson before commencement speaker and outgoing music instructor, Bobbie Robertson, gave her remarks. Speeches were followed by a performance by the Whitehall Choir, the announcement of scholarships, and a presentation of...
May 28, 1997 A six-member jury listened to 13 witnesses during six hours of testimony and then split the verdict in the Perry Jones trial in District Court in Boulder. The jury rendered a verdict of not guilty to the charge of resisting arrest and guilty to the charge of disorderly conduct. Both charges were misdemeanors. Judge Dennis Giulio imposed a fine of $100, a ten-day suspended jail sentence and half of the court costs. The charges stemmed from a January 3, 1997 altercation between Jones and Topper Giono, Whitehall town marshal, during a...
May 21, 1997 The Whitehall Business Association (WBA) spent most of its regular meeting on May 15 planning Whitehall’s premier summer event: Frontier Days. In other action, the WBA voted to approve a raffle to raise funds for the association and to provide college funds for Whitehall students. Roy Mulligan, representing the Jefferson Valley Museum, presented the WBA with a check for $250 to help fund the Whitehall promotional sign along I-90. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Headwaters Resource Area initiated an emergency closure to m...
May 14, 1997 Trojan Educator of the Week was Diane Larsen, the Whitehall K-6 secretary. Mrs. Larsen has been the secretary for three years and is greatly appreciated for her efforts. Mrs. Larsen and her husband, Bruce, have two children - Kurt and Paul, a daughter-in-law, Danelle, and a granddaughter, Trystin. Mrs. Larsen enjoys hunting, fishing, gardening, and her family. Trojan Students of the Week were the twenty new members of the National Honor Society - who are recognized for their scholarship, leadership, character, and service. Our...
May 1, 1997 Trojan Educator of the Week was Mike Welsh, a PE instructor at WHS. Mr. Welch, who has been with the district for three years, was nominated for his excellent PE and weights programs, as well as relating well with students. Mr. Welch enjoys weightlifting, hunting and fishing. He and his wife have two children, ages 16 and 12. Trojan Student of the Week was Candy Raisor, a freshman at WHS. She was nominated because of her caring, cooperative attitude and for doing more classroom work than necessary. Candy is the daughter of John Rais...
“Call 911!” This exclamation brings a sense of panic yet reassurance knowing help is on the way, but what does that really mean in a rural area? Realistically, it means there may not be anyone to respond or the resources aren’t available. According to a report by the Montana Department of Health and Human Services only about three-fourths of Montana is covered by volunteer Emergency Medical Services (EMS). The report also details the challenges of recruiting and retaining volunteers to provide services due to high education requirements and l...
April 24, 1997 Justice Department officials arrived in Whitehall and took several Casino Night records as part of the department’s investigation into allegations surrounding the Whitehall Fire Department’s April 5 Casino Night fundraiser. Allegations of Casino Night gambling fraud and administration violations were brought forward by Whitehall area resident Holly Stratton who originally filed the complaint with local law enforcement officers. The Justice Department did make it clear that the playing of blackjack or other house games is ill...
April 17, 1997 Casino Night, the Whitehall Volunteer Fire Department annual fundraiser, was under investigation by the Montana Department of Justice regarding a complaint filed by Holly Stratton of Whitehall alleging improper actions during Casino Night. The complaint was divided into two parts: 1) apparently involved alleged fraud associated with one dealer, one table, and one group of players; and 2) possible permit, procedural and administrative violations by the department. Other legal questions included the legality of blackjack and...
