Fallon County Times (Baker, Mont.) 1916-current, January 01, 2016, Image 1

FALLON County „,.. 0 111 .1 4 4c. 40 , 40$1,0411k „ rM fctimes@midrivers.com 406-778-3344 VOLUME 100 ISSUE 1 BAKER, MONTANA 59313 965 11010-£. $1.00 FRIDAY, JANUARY 1, 2016 LOOKING BACK AT 2015 Do You Remember When ... January 2 -- Baker City Council announced the appointment of Rich Batterman as the new City Attorney. Batterman has served as the County Attorney since 2000 and begins his service for the City of Baker with the onset of the new year. . . The county's nesOest and re- turning set of officials have been sworn in. Most of the offices were retained by incum- bents, but some officials were taking the oath for the first time. Those sworn into office in- cluded Deb Ranum,Commissioner District 1; Darcy L. Pankratz, County Attorney; Nicole M. Benefiel, Justice of the Peace; Brenda J. Wood, Clerk and Recorder/Supt. of Schools; Trenton Harbaugh, Sheriff/Coroner; and Bar- bara E. Ketterling, Treasurer/Assessor. Also sworn in were Debbie Wyrick, Deputy Clerk and Recorder/Supt. of Schools; Julie Post, Deputy Treasurer/Assessor; and Barbara A. Kiang, Deputy Clerk of District Court... Con- struction of the new indoor gun and archery range has been hampered by winter weather. It is expected to be completed by early summer. . . Third winner of the BeA Winner! Shop In Baker! promotion was Brittany Hoversland of Baker. . . Lacy Strohmeyer of Baker won $50,000 in the December 20 Powerball draw- ing. She purchased the ticket from Reynolds Market...The shelves at the Community Cup- board have been restocked and many people received food assistance for the holidays. Be- fore the holiday season the shelves were prac- tically empty, but numerous individuals, groups and organizations responded to the need. January 9.. Baker Rural Fire Department officially has a new fire chief on duty. Tom Bruha waiielected the end of December aithE new fire chief and is taking over for Randy Hoenke, who is aron the department roster. Hoenke served as fire chief for 24 years. . . Local landowners are forming a new advocacy group they say will give them a stronger voice concerning their property rights.. . A steady stream of tropical moisture over a cold air mass created a winter system which impacted Fallon County and most of Montana over Jan 4 and 5. Poor road conditions and low visibil- ity became a concern for travelers. Wind chills turned bitterly cold as readings went to -30 de- grees overnight. .. Montana has a new mini- mum wage with workers now being paid a minimum of $8.05 per hour compared to $7.90 per hour.. Robert and Wilma Rusley will cel- ebrate their 50th wedding anniversary Jan. 10 .. Joan Johnson will celebrate her 70th birth- day Jan. 17. January 16 -- They are being called \our miracle Uecker babies\. Aaron Uecker and Rachael Geehan of Columbus had twins born prematurely 21 days apart. Lincoln was born Sept. 24 weighing one pound four ounces, and Eleanor was born Oct. 15 at two pounds and one ounce. The babies have been at a Denver hospital since birth... Gas prices keep falling. Oil prices fell another five percent to near six year lows Jan. 12. Baker gas prices average $2.24 per gallon for unleaded. . . The Senate advanced legislation Jan. 12 to approve the Keystone XL pipeline despite President Obama declaring he would veto it. . . Arleen Graham will celebrate her 80th birthday Jan. 21. . . Picture: Karmen Bagley, on behalf of Continental Resources, presented Tiffany Davis and Carla Brown with a check in the amount of $4,000 -for the Community Cup- board. . . Speech and Drama team will be at the divisional meet in Plentywood Jan. 23,24. ..1\venty two teams and 58 hunters competed in the annual coyote calling contest held Jan. 9-10. A total of 28 coyotes were brought in at the conclusion of the one day contest. First place team was Rusty Ktiuths, Doug Stickney and Guy Sfickitey - brilltIVICTour coyotes. Segnd . place team was Charimk t jeageaatf Arnie Beardsley with 'three coyotes. Third place team was Will Ecord, Joe Teini and Levi Swyres with three coyotes; and fourth place team was Andy Cathey, Joe Brown and Zane Williams also with three coyotes. January 23.- Fallon County has seen an in- crease in flu activity over the past few weeks. Both Influenza A and B have been reported. The dominant strain reported is Influenza A/H3N2... Braylea Wyrick, a MIS senior, has been instructing and sharing her love of skat- ing with youth in the Fallon County Recreation Department's Learn to Skate program for five years. The Rec Dept. offers lessons to children kindergarten through sixth grade for four weeks in January on Fridays. . . Arnold Pin - now will celebrate his 75th birthday Jan. 31.. . Picture: Kayde,e Dyke, age four, and her mother, Jalyntt, enjoyed a great snow day Jan. 15. They started out with a giant snowman and soon included a whitetail buck and playful pup... New officers for the Chamber of Com- merce and Agriculture include Trish Barth as president; Kyle Medearis, vice president; Lori Kesinger. secretary; and Karol Zachmann, treasurer. Board members include Jade Boggs, Emily Medearis, Tammy O'Donnell, Merri Beck and Dean Wang. .. The construction of a new cold storage building at the Fallon County Fairgrounds has been completed. Elec- trical work will be finished when weather per - January 30.- Members of the Baker High School speech, drama and debate team earned a spot at the state tournament for Class B and C schools in Ennis Jan. 30 and 31. Members of the team going to state are lase Rost, Duman Davis, Wyatt Perry, Moriah Kesinger, Savan- nah Davis, Taiken Goemdt, Jaden M ler, Tan - non Dukart, Isaac Rost, Emalee Thurlow, Taylyn Dukart, Megan Greiff, Brianna Ram - bur, MaKenzy Shipstead, and Bo Rost... City of Baker is considering the creation of an Urban Renewal District without increasing property taxes. . . . About 40 people partici- pated in the March for Life Jan. 22. .. Fallon County's non -seasonally adjusted unemploy- ment rate rose to 1.7 percent in December. No- vember's rate was 1.4 percent. . . Baker Spartan wrestlers are off to their divisional tourney Feb. 7 in Shepherd. . . Cres%s began emergency work on the tributary through the City of Baker to alleviate flooding issues on Main and Monroe Streets, Jan. 27. The channel will be cleaned and widened so water will drain properly.. Temperatures reached into the 60s Jan. 27 and many creeks were running high. February 6-. Mona Madler, SMART direc- tor, is pictured accepting a check from Bud Anderson, TransCanada Corporation, Key- stone l'rojects representative. The company donated $6,500 to support the Baker Lake Tributary Project.... Baker high School first place winners at the Class II State Speech and Drama were Olivia Mahon and Brianna Ram - bur in serious duo, and Jaden Miller in original oratory.. ..The 100th day of school was cele- brated at Lincoln Elementary in Baker Jan. 30. .. Recent warm temperatures may have caused ice weakness on areas of Baker Lake. Outdoor enthusi:i.is should lake precautions heiore venturing out on the ice... The winner in the 2014 Wad drawing held in the mammography LOOKING BACK, PAGE 5 Back Row: (14) Luke Gonsioroski, Josh Stutts, Matt Packer, Shawn Hirst and Ben Fujimori. Front: Andrew Craft, Jordan Baxter, Austin Braun and Joe Fisher. 2015 District 3B All -Conference volleyball players Melissa Breitbach of Baker was selected to the 2015 3B All -Conference volleyball first team along with Bailey Poole, Emma Dudley and Malesha Seigel, all of Colstrip; Kaylee Zard, Kelsey Seleg and Samantha Hagadone, all of Forsyth. Second team: Madison Reddick of Baker; Constance Rollins, Amaya LaFranier and Kaylec Kerzmann, all of Col - strip; Mykaila Jensen and Laura Hein, both of Forsyth; and Shiloh McCormick of St. Labre. Left- right: Melissa Breitbach and Madison Reddick Russell's' 50% OFF Sale Starts Clothing Baker, Selected Racks Of Ladies' Fall & Winter Fashions Monday, CLOSED (All sales final on 50% off items) Jan. 4 , Fri. & Sat., Jan. 1 & 2 411thianwakerirdfidittaizsiz..ikris. - ar- .5ALO. , ---1-t:. 4 .. 4 • 4 omi 2015 District 3B All -Conference and All -State football players Spartans chosen for the District 313 All -Conference Football Team were: First Team Offense: Quarterback - Luke Gonsioroski. lineman - Shawn Hirst, center - Malt Packer, running - back - Joe Fisher, receiver - Austin Braun. First Team Defense: Lineman tackle - Ben Fujimori. line- backer- Matt Packer,defensise hack - 1.iike Gonsioroski Second Team Defense: Delensi%e end - Josh Stuns, linebacker - Andrew Craft. defensive back - Jordan Baxter, punter - Joe Fisher. District 3B players selected to the All -State Team were Joe Fisher. Ben Fujimori, Luke Gonsioroski, and Malt Packer along with Dean IleavyRunner of Iluntley. Jake Sessions of Colstrip, and Luke Weber of Forsyth. CLOSING at 2 pm. Dec. 31 ‘ , 10V lteco *aid It's been a pleasure serving you! Visit Our Website at www.FallonCountyExtra.com