Ledger Looking Back 25 Years: 1/7/1998

January 7, 1998

The first issue of the Whitehall Ledger for 1998 brought owner/publisher Glenn Marx making “10 Predictions of 1998 Events that Won’t Happen in Whitehall.” These included:

10) The Town council won’t pass an ordinance making it illegal to remove your baseball cap during the Pledge of Allegiance.

9) Ryan Patrick won’t grab Trojan Coach Jeff Kreis by the neck and threaten to take his life.

8) Dale Morse won’t purchase or wear a nose ring.

7) A trio of fourth graders won’t convince Paul Stremick to stick his tongue on the bike rack in February by telling him it tastes like a “North Dakota candy cane.”

6) Lisa Schmidt and her husband David Early won’t name their child “Lee Harvey Schmidt.”

5) Leonard Wortman won’t start his campaign for the Montana State Senate by calling Al Gore and asking about “good fundraising contacts amongst Buddhist monks.”

4) If Dale Morse does wear a nose ring, it won’t be a personal fashion statement but a belief that “Coast to Coast needs a more contemporary look.”

3) Donna Worth will not suggest the Whitehall Library be moved into the “ladies' bathroom at the Town Pump.”

2) “Off Road Digest” will not name the streets of Whitehall as the number one test of ORVs in America.” Whitehall will be ranked second, and a primitive bog in southern Oregon will be ranked first.

1) The Whitehall Volunteer Fire Department won’t open a casino called “The Hot Spot” and serve drinks called “The Chimney Fire” or "The Flameout” and if they do, they won’t play Blackjack unless the Attorney General agrees the house wins when the dealer and player tie with 17.

The lengthy and torturous road of the Whitehall water improvement project through the state legal system will reach an apex of sorts on January 13, 1998, when the Montana Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on the case. Patricia Day-Moore and Jack Morris, both Whitehall attorneys, prepare for their first-ever oral argument before the Supreme Court.

Oral comments are heard from Whitehall residents and Golden Sunlight Mine employees regarding the mine’s proposed expansion permit.

New Mayor Dale Davis was presented with ten questions by the Whitehall Ledger, including whether or not he believes professional wrestling is fake (to which he replied “No, I don’t think so. It’s an everyday occurrence.”)