A cowboy stays on top of a bucking saddle bronc during the Bucking Horse Sale. Photo by Steve Allison

 

 

Tuesday, Aug. 31

Bike 49 inspires others to think about energy
By Amanda Breitbach Ragsdale
Bike 49, a group of four bicyclists traveling through all 49 continental states on an educational tour, passed through Miles City last week, making presentations to interested residents at the Miles City Public Library and AWARE, Inc.
Montana was the group’s seventh state, following California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Idaho and Wyoming, as well as over 2,000 miles in Canada.
Sara Dykman, Matt Schiff and brothers Tommy and Aaron Viducich reached Miles City Monday night, on their 100th day of the project.
Although they had already biked over 4,000 miles, they still had 11,000 more miles and 42 more states to go.
“We’ve got a lot of bicycling ahead of us,” Tommy Viducich told a group of local residents at the library on Tuesday.
The group stayed in Miles City for a few days before continuing east on a route that will take them through North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine by November. Their route will continue down the East Coast and through Southern and Midwestern states until they return to California, where they started. They hope to finish almost a year from now, in July 2011.
It is an ambitious plan, but so far the group is ahead of schedule and below budget.
They camp most nights and generally cook over camp stoves to save on expenses.
“My favorite statistic is that we’ve spent more money on cookies than on camping or lodging,” said Tommy, grinning.
The group travels without support vehicles, carrying everything they need on heavy-duty touring bikes that weigh about 90 pounds fully loaded. Their waterproof saddlebags contain tents, sleeping bags, camp chairs, clothing, books, bicycle repair tools, air pumps, cooking equipment and more.
They travel 50-60 miles per day, averaging 250 miles a week with five days biking and two days of rest.
“A lot of people ask us why we’re biking,” said Schiff, introducing the group’s goals to the library audience.
In fact, the trip, two years in the planning, was designed as much more than an entertaining jaunt. Members of Bike 49 are focused on a mission: to create a mobile community promoting healthy lifestyles for a healthy planet while showcasing the practicality and fun of bicycle travel.
Along the way, they do presentations for students and adults, adapting their message according to the audience. For example, kids often take part in an activity that involves comparing the energy needed to travel by bike and by car. Energy is converted to calories and then to sandwiches, to make the message more immediate and understandable. Younger kids, like those at the Miles City presentation, are invited to draw their “dream bikes,” and every audience enjoys watching the cyclists unpack their surprisingly full saddlebags.
Their schedule has varied as they travel. When they started out biking through the Pacific Northwest, school was still in session, so they had a lot of engagements. Since summer began, the group has been on its own break, said Dykman, who makes contact with superintendents and teachers along their route.
“I’ve got, like, 25 schools in Kansas lined up,” said the Kansas city native. “I’m very excited to do a presentation at my old elementary school and my old high school.”
Dykman noted that she always felt inspired by outside speakers when she was a student, adding, “Teaching kids is also a good learning experience for us. We’re always making changes. It’s fun to be out of school and still learning a lot.”
Group members have learned about lesson plans, fine-tuning their presentations according to audience reactions, and also about maintaining a Web site and creating an online presence, she said. Visitors to Bike49.org can read about the group’s members and its goals, follow a blog, and even track their progress.
They are also keeping trip journals, which are interesting to reread, Dykman said. Sometimes it’s hard to believe how far they’ve come or to remember how recently they were somewhere else.
“You’re always thinking two days ahead,” she said.
“We definitely find ourselves saying every few days, ‘Where are we?,’” added Tommy.
Overall, people have been very friendly and receptive to their project, they said. In Miles City they were welcomed with a group barbecue, where they met lots of local people, including Mayor Joe Whalen, whom they were able to assist after he was stung by a wasp. That kind of event is often the highlight of a day.
“That’s sort of the fun of it all, is just going out and meeting people,” said Dykman.
The biggest challenge they have faced so far was a storm that came up on their third day biking. As they were traveling through a canyon on the coast, the storm produced strong winds unlike anything they had experienced before. Tommy estimated the winds may have been as much as 100 mph.
“When I went to turn around, it pushed me over,” he said. “It threw us all around like rag dolls.”
With a route that was about to cross a bridge with steep drop-offs on both sides, the group was forced to wait it out, he said.
Weather remained challenging as they moved up the coast. Aaron said it rained approximately 19 of their first 20 days on the road. Fortunately, the rain came early in their trip, when they were still full of enthusiasm, he noted.
They expect to hit more weather challenges as winter approaches.
Their motto has become, “Nobody said it would be easy,” Dykman related, adding, “Sometimes when you’re ready to scream somebody will say, ‘Nobody said it would be easy.’” A second motto could be, “We’re just going to wing it,” she laughed.
Despite those challenges, they have been really pleased with the trip so far and said it has been progressing surprisingly smoothly.
“We always wanted to go on a big bike ride,” Dykman concluded. “We’re trying to do our part to inspire people to rethink how they travel and their impact on the environment in a solution-based, positive way.”

New face in MCC administration
By Don Cogger
The new school year is in full swing at Miles Community College, and as the students settle into their classroom routine, a new face is also settling into MCC’s administration office.
Lisa Watson was introduced as the new vice president of Administrative Services and Finance at last week’s MCC Board of Trustees meeting. Watson replaced former vice president Tad Torgerson, who resigned last spring to pursue an opportunity in North Dakota.
Watson is a Montana native but was raised in Colorado, earning her bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Colorado. She moved to Florida in 1990, where she obtained a master’s degree in business at the University of Miami. Watson and her husband, Tom, both Certified Public Accountants, moved to Montana in 2005.
“We had been looking for a change for a couple of years,” Watson said. “Tom was given an opportunity to work at Rowland Thomas & Company, so we decided now was the time to make a move.”
Prior to the move, Watson worked nine years for Franklin Templeton Investments in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., a global investment manager. She worked her way up to managing the Ft. Lauderdale office, the Scotland office and the office in the Bahamas before realizing she was spreading herself a little thin.
“That job kept me crazy busy,” she said. “That was part of the reason we made the move to Miles City, to have a little more time together and to be able to catch your breath after a day’s work.”
Watson worked at Rowland Thomas part time during tax season, as well as Solaris Feeders since 2005, giving her the opportunity to learn a little about the business of agriculture. This past spring a friend informed Watson of the opening at MCC and encouraged her to pursue the position.
“I was accustomed to working for businesses with big organizational structures, so I was convinced I could do this job,” Watson said.
“I am new to education, but when you come from an accounting background, there are things about that industry itself that are pretty standard. There’s definitely going to be some learning involved, but basically as the chief financial officer, my job is to oversee all the fiscal affairs of the campus while assisting President Hicswa with financial data and budgets.”
It’s been a smooth transition for Watson, as well as for MCC President Stefani Hicswa, who said the change from Torgerson to Watson has been almost seamless.
“Lisa Watson is fantastic,” Hicswa said. “I am thrilled to have her aboard. We went through a national search to replace Tad, and after a month we narrowed it down to three candidates. To have her CPA experience is really beneficial, and she will do very well for us. She’s asking very good questions, implementing new ideas and coming up to speed very quickly.
“Coming into education when you haven’t worked in that area before can be a challenge, but she has stepped up to the plate. She’s a home run.”
Watson also has high praise for Hicswa and the rest of the staff, crediting their professionalism and dedication in convincing her she made the right choice in accepting her position. With budget concerns always present and a legislative cycle looming, she looks forward to the challenges her first year at a learning institution will present.
“I’ve really enjoyed getting to know the staff; they’ve all been very helpful and supportive,” Watson said. “We’re working on a lot of projects and it’s very exciting. It’s going to be a good year.”
Other items on last week’s agenda included updates on the facilities projects, as well as a first reading on a proposed internet connectivity project. The facilities projects continue to progress on schedule and on budget, with successful tests of the new circulation units, as well as new carpeting installed earlier in August. New water heaters and light fixtures have been installed in the Centra and window and blinds installation is also complete.
The Science Lab construction has been completed and supplies arrived before the beginning of classes last week. Expenditures for the facilities projects totaled $1.7 million.
The internet connectivity project is a bit more complex. MCC is, according to Hicswa, under implementation of a new student data system (Banner). This is the same system used throughout the Montana University system, creating an integrated information system for education. Because of the Banner implementation, internet connectivity needs have changed.
“We need increased bandwidth for Banner to work, plain and simple,” Hicswa said. “Because we are partnering with the University of Montana, we need the same connection that U of M uses. Our data needs to flow through the same network, called the Northern Tier network.
“Where the problem lies is that Midrivers, with whom MCC has a good relationship, is of the opinion that it doesn’t make sense to duplicate something that already exists through the local telephone co-op.”
Hicswa said she believes the position of Midrivers is if MCC and the co-op work together, MCC won’t need the stand-alone system. Midrivers is willing to negotiate the rates to reduce the chance of cost being an issue in the decision-making process.
“Certainly for me and the board, the money is a piece of the equation,” she said. “The other piece is that we’re a community college and we want to support our local providers as much as possible. From an economic development standpoint, community colleges are catalysts for development and if we support each other, the pie grows bigger rather than dividing it into smaller pieces. At the same time, quality and costs are issues.”
No decisions were made during last week’s meeting; the topic will be up for a second reading and further discussion at the next meeting.

Monday, Aug. 30

Visiting toddler drowns in pool
By Elaine Forman
A Minnesota toddler died tragically in a 4-foot pool at 815 N. Haynes Ave. Saturday afternoon.
Rylan Sean Dyba, 14 months, is the son of Joshua and Jaime Dyba of Maple Grove, Minn. The family was in town visiting family.
The call came in at 1:45 p.m. Saturday.
Custer County Undersheriff Pat Roos said the little boy had been playing with his brothers and sisters when he went missing. The pool was level with the floor of a deck and the pool was covered. When it was discovered the boy was missing, the cover on the pool was undisturbed, so people didn’t think he could be there.
He was found under the cover.
“It happened in a matter of minutes ... it was purely accidental ... it’s just tragic,” Roos said.
“There was absolutely no sign of neglect” in the situation, he said.
People at the site performed CPR.
A Miles City Fire and Rescue ambulance continued to work on him and transported him to Holy Rosary Healthcare, where he was declared dead.

Travelocity Gnome adds Miles City to his roaming
By Don Cogger
His travels around the globe have become legendary.
He has 20,000 followers on Twitter and Facebook. He maintains his own Web site, which gets thousands of hits a day. His MySpace profile boasts 24,590 friends.
And he’s coming to Miles City.
Not the lead singer for Sawyer Brown, though he and the band were here (albeit briefly) this past weekend for the Eastern Montana Fair.
This celebrity has become an institution all his own: The Travelocity Roaming Gnome.
The Gnome is making a trip west to Glacier National Park as part of a Travelocity promotion/volunteer clean-up project, and making several stops along the way. One of those stops will be in Miles City Sept. 7 and 8, with a return trip next May for the World Famous Bucking Horse Sale. And as with any celebrity, he’ll be traveling with an entourage.
“He’ll be traveling with what they call a handler and a photographer/Twitter operator,” said John Laney of the Miles City Area Chamber of Commerce. “When Travelocity informed us that they were interested in stopping in on the way to Glacier, they also mentioned they’d like to have a presence at the Bucking Horse Sale next year. With that, they’re going to make a sizable contribution to the sale as a sponsor.”
Laney said he was contacted out of the blue by Natasha Carvell, director of external and government affairs at Sabre Holdings, the public relations firm for Travelocity. She told him the company was helping with a clean-up project for Glacier National Park in the fall and would be interested in stopping in Miles City for a few photo opportunities. Carvell outlined for Laney the criteria of what they are looking for in terms of locations – and the rest, as they say, is history.
“The Gnome and his group are going to stay up at Yellowstone Bluffs Bed and Breakfast and eat in a couple of different spots here in town,” Laney said. “Photos will be taken at all these different locations, then placed on the Twitter site.”
Perhaps even more exciting as far as exposure for Miles City will be the inclusion of the Bucking Horse Sale on the 2011 Things to Do list, an annual list Travelocity compiles to showcase events for customers searching for unique vacation destinations. The combination of both visits by the Gnome, according to Laney, will generate a ton of free publicity for Miles City.
“Just the social media involvement of this whole thing is huge,” he said. “We couldn’t buy this kind of advertising. To get on the Travelocity Web site which people from all over the world have access to, it’s just amazing. Never in a million years could we come up with the money to buy our way into something like this. I’m a firm believer that if we get a chance like this and make the best of it, it will happen again. This is just huge for Miles City.”
For Carvell, a North Dakota native, the opportunity to represent her company and show off her region of the country at the same time was too good to miss. Carvell worked with Sen. Max Baucus’ office to schedule the Montana tour for the Gnome, discovering all the places to visit in the process.
“We asked the senator and his staff to help us identify places and events that are quintessential Montana, and the Bucking Horse Sale was at the top of everyone’s list,” she said. “It was a no-brainer for us and became one of the first stops we added to our list.
“For this first trip in a couple of weeks, we have an abbreviated amount of time to work with, so we’re going to try to get in as much of the sights as possible before we have to hit the road again.”
Growing up in a neighboring state, Carvell had always heard of the Bucking Horse Sale but was never able to attend. She’s excited to finally get the chance – in a working capacity, of course.
“Working in the travel industry, you always want everyone to know how great your part of the country is,” Carvell said. “At Travelocity, we get like a billion visitors to our Web site every day, and the Gnome will be doing live updates on Facebook and Twitter, so it will be a really fun way to get the word out about Montana. “Everyone knows about the Big Sky country, but there are other parts of the state that don’t get as much attention. One of the goals of our trip is to give some of the lesser-known, lesser-traveled parts of the state some attention.”
As Laney gears up for the big visit, he couldn’t help but marvel at how fortunate Miles City has been lately in gaining some well-deserved national exposure, at very little cost to the city.
“You look at the Maurice’s advertising thing, coupled with this thing, Miles City has been fortunate that we’re getting such a nationwide presence without really spending any money,” Laney said. “In comparison with a lot of places, our advertising budget is fairly small. Towns like ours and lifestyles like ours are what people are looking for. Montana, especially eastern Montana, has been dubbed the ‘Last Best Place,’ and I think it’s our lifestyle more than anything that people are enamored with.”

 

Fair enjoys solid weekend
By Amanda Breitbach Ragsdale
In spite of a storm that forced Saturday night’s concert to be cancelled, the Eastern Montana Fair enjoyed another very successful year, with good overall attendance numbers.
About 13,200 people came through the gates this year, down slightly from last year’s high of 15,500 people, said fair manager Gail Shaw.
The third annual Southeastern Montana Tractor Pull drew a crowd of about 520 people Thursday night, offering a unique experience for the audience. Friday night’s rodeo attracted just over 1,000 people, a very good result in its second year as an NRA event. Approximately 1,500 people attended Saturday night’s Sawyer Brown concert, which was unfortunately rained out after just two songs. Sunday’s demolition derby, typically one of the most popular events at the fair, also drew about 1,500 people.
Crowds each night were slightly smaller than last year’s, a fact that Shaw attributed partly to timing. The fair was unusually late this year, and students in many other counties had already started school, making it more difficult for them to participate. The Custer County District High School Cowboys also played their first home game Saturday, which competed for the local audience.
The fair board has called a special meeting Tuesday night to make a decision about how to handle the cancellation of the concert.
“There are several entities that come into play when a situation like this occurs, most of which work normal business hours (Monday through Friday) and have not been contacted,” stated a press release issued by the board on Monday. “The fair board is in the process of contacting everyone concerned in this matter ... An announcement will follow after the meeting as to what will be done.”
Shaw said the board did purchase a $30,000 insurance policy on the concert, but members have not yet heard from the insurance carrier to learn what losses may be covered. Rainfall must be measured and recorded, she noted, and Saturday night’s storm totaled about .4 inches.
“The lightning is the worst part,” she added.
Besides the rain, only a few minor accidents marred the fair. The power went out briefly Thursday night, but it was quickly restored and Shaw said the fair office had not heard any complaints.
There was one ambulance call on Thursday for a young girl who fell from a horse, but she was unhurt.
“There were a few bumps, and there are still things to learn,” said Shaw, who is in her first year as fair manager, “But it was a good fair, and the weather cooperated very nicely.”
“I think it went very well,” said Custer County Extension Agent Tara Andrews. “The livestock sale went really well.”
Andrews said she heard a lot of positive comments about improvements to buildings and the midway, accomplished by the Fairgrounds Improvement Committee and a number of other local groups. A landscaping project in front of the 4-H building, done by the Crow Rock Coyotes 4-H club, was named “Yard of the Week” by the Miles City Garden Club during the fair, giving that club some extra recognition for their efforts. The 4-H building looked its best with the new landscaping and planters from every club on display, she added.
There were fewer Champion of Champions exhibits from other counties, Andrews noted, again attributable to the scheduling of the event.
“I think it went great,” agreed Extension Agent Christina McRae. “We had a lot of support, especially at the livestock sale.”
Cooler weather Friday, Saturday and Sunday was nice for the animals, she noted.
Judging for market steers in the Show of Champions will continue on Thursday, Sept. 2, with carcass judging, beginning at 6 p.m. at Butcher Block Specialties. Carcass judging is open to the public.
Winners of various competitions at the fair will be featured in later editions, and an After the Fair Memories special section will be published soon.

 

Friday, Aug. 27

Local programs offer help to catch cancer early
By Amanda Breitbach Ragsdale
Early detection of cancer dramatically reduces mortality from breast, cervical, colon, rectum and uterine cancer.
In the wake of Miles City’s annual Relay for Life celebration in support of the American Cancer Society, Kim Jerke, a registered nurse with the Custer County Health Department and regional coordinator for the Montana Cancer Control Programs, hopes to build awareness of local cancer screening programs.
Local programs provide screening for breast, cervical and colorectal cancer for men and women through services like mammograms, clinical breast exams, Pap tests, pelvic exams, colonoscopies and FOBT tests. Diagnostic testing is also provided to follow up any abnormal screening tests.
Screenings are free for patients who meet age and income guidelines. The program covers six counties, including Custer, Carter, Rosebud, Powder River, Treasure and Garfield.
The health department works with enrolled area providers to provide the screenings.
“We give people the choice of who they go see. They can see people at Holy Rosary, at Billings Clinic or Custer County Community Health Center,” Jerke explained.
“The providers have really been good about referring people ... It’s the relationships that you build with other health care providers that keep this program working. It’s really a group effort.”
Age and health guidelines for free screenings are different for each program, and income guidelines are set at 200 percent of the federal poverty level. For people who do not qualify under the income guidelines, the department is sometimes able to use funds from other local organizations, such as the Southeastern Montana Health Coalition or the Schoolhouse Art Center of Rosebud County, to provide assistance. Billings Clinic also offers the Susan Komen program, which can provide assistance to people who meet age guidelines but have no health insurance.
“We try to plug people into programs if we can’t fit them into our free screening programs,” said Jerke. “So far I don’t think I’ve ever had to turn anyone away with no assistance.”
The Custer County Health Department took over the cancer screening program last November, and the public’s response has been growing as more people become aware of the services offered.
Jerke said she wants people to know the resources that are available to them, not only to help them detect cancer early, but also to help cancer patients minimize debt and stress.
“For the ones that don’t know about it that might qualify, they should at least find out if they’re eligible,” she concluded.
Mary Wolff was the first patient to go through the colorectal cancer screening program in the region.
Through the health department, she set up an appointment for a colonoscopy with Dr. Thomas Beeson, a specialist in general and vascular surgery at Holy Rosary Healthcare.
“This was just the 50,000-mile checkup, I think,” Wolff said, noting that she had not had a colonoscopy since she was a young woman.
“I had a job and I always had health insurance, but when you lose your job, everything falls apart,” she added. “It’s been the first time in my life that I haven’t had health insurance.”
Knowing that she should have a checkup but did not have the insurance to pay for it weighed on Wolff’s mind, and when Jerke suggested that she get screened through the department’s program, she agreed.
“I’m a reasonably healthy person, but it’s better to be careful,” she said.
The procedure was not as unpleasant as she expected. Preparations for the colonoscopy were worse than the procedure, itself, she said. In addition to some nausea, she was nervous.
“You want to get it done and get that peace of mind, but what if they find something?” Wolff said. “I felt so much better after I had it done.”
She was able to come home about four hours after she went in and was moving around, doing laundry and feeling fine an hour later.
The doctor and his staff were professional and friendly, Wolff said, and she learned her results within a day from the health department. Official results giving her a clean bill of health were mailed to her within three days.
“That was nice,” Wolff said. “You didn’t have to sit around and wonder.”
Once she was finished, she felt like she had been “all worked up over nothing,” Wolff said, adding, “I tell everybody I know about all these programs that are out there, because it’s important for people to know this.”

 

Screening makes a big difference
According to statistics from a 2010 report by the American Cancer Society, 60 percent of breast cancers are diagnosed at a localized stage, and the five-year survival rate of these cancers is 98 percent. The AMS recommends that women in their 20s and 30s have a clinical breast examination every three years and begin getting annual mammograms at age 40.
Cervical cancer rates have dropped 67 percent in the last 30 years, largely because of screening that detects lesions in their earliest stages. For women who discover precancerous lesions through a Pap test, the likelihood of survival is nearly 100 percent. The AMS recommends that cervix cancer screening begin when women are no older than 21 and be done every year.
Colorectal cancer is the third leading cause of cancer death in the U.S. for men and women, but the relative five-year survival rate for patients diagnosed at an early stage is 91 percent. Screening can even prevent the development of colorectal cancer, because precancerous polyps can be identified and removed. The AMS recommends a flexible sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy for men and women every five to 10 years, starting at age 50, to detect colorectal cancer.
To learn more about cancer screening programs and eligibility requirements, contact the Custer County Health Department at 874-3377.

 

City clerk resigns position
By Elaine Forman
Miles City Clerk Kori Pray has resigned from her position, Mayor Joe Whalen announced at Tuesday’s Miles City Council meeting.
He received the letter of resignation at 5 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 19, with the next day being Pray’s last day.
Whalen said that when an appointed officer hands in a letter of resignation, he or she has 72 hours in which to withdraw it. She did not withdraw it.
Deputy Clerk Linda Wildman will be the interim clerk. The city clerk position has been posted in house.
Whalen said in respect to Pray’s privacy, that is all he will say about her leaving.
Online documents from the City of Douglas, Wyo., show its city council voted to hire Pray as administrative services director/treasurer pending a routine background check. The vote was held on Aug. 9 and was to be effective Aug. 16.
n The two-week public hearing on the preliminary budget was closed at the meeting, but comments still can be submitted until the Sept. 14 council meeting, where oral comments will be accepted.
n The council gave final approval to this year’s resolutions levying and assessing six lighting districts in town and three street maintenance districts.
Two of the street districts (paved and unpaved districts) have a 5 percent increase. Milestown Estates has a separate maintenance district and had no increase because the streets are so new.
Four of the lighting districts saw a decrease because of improvements made through federal stimulus money.
— Council members unanimously denied an encroachment request from Silver Star Casino out of concern for pedestrians.
Located on the corner of Main and North Eighth streets, the casino wanted to put up a structure on the Eighth Street sidewalk that extended four feet out from the building for smokers.
The Public Service Committee members unanimously agreed to recommend to the council to deny the request.
Councilman A.C. Ronning said with the structure and angle parking on the street, which results in bumpers hanging over the sidewalk, there would be very little room for pedestrians.
Councilman John Uden said he believed in being accommodating, but not to the point of impeding on the public.
“We are trying to improve the business district,” he said.
Citizen Mary Partridge said there is a parking space behind the building that is at least a car-length long where the structure could be placed.
— An industrial park lease for Stabler Trucking was unanimously approved by the council despite legal concerns by the mayor.
TireRama decreased their lease by five lots, and Ken Stabler was interested in it.
Whalen said there are a finite number of lots in the industrial site, and he was concerned about leasing simply through “word of mouth” and by first come, first serve.
He feels the city should public notice that the land is available, and added that if the council passed this lease, “I think we may be in legal jeopardy.”
“I’d like to postpone the vote until we can public notice (the available lease),” he said.
Councilman Mark Ahner said another party made two attempts to sublease the property without following the legal procedure.
“Stabler has been upfront and honest for a year and a half,” he said.
(The land was up in the air for more than a year, but only officially became available.)
Ahner recommended the council accept the lease, then work on procedure for public noticing future leases.
Councilman John Hollowell said he agreed in principle with the mayor but did not want to postpone the lease any longer for a business.
—Pace Construction of Billings was awarded the bid to clean and video inspect storm sewers that are mostly in Ward 4.
The council waived the requirement to have the bids reviewed by the Finance Committee, because federal stimulus money is involved and must be spent by Sept. 30, and the two bids were not close.
Pace gave a bid of $145,772 and Robert Gibbs and Sons of Fargo, N.D., bid $216,602.
Ahner said “it seems rather obvious” who would be awarded the bid.
The stimulus money available for the project is $125,068. The council gave city Public Works Director Bruce Larson the authority to cut the project so it would not go over the $125,068 figure.
— A bid of $50,490 was submitted by ABT Electric to reroof City Hall.
The bid was referred to the Finance Committee. Only $42,000 had been budgeted for the project.
— Magic Construction submitted a bid of $91,431 for phase two of installing a heating and cooling system in City Hall (and the removal of the boiler). The bid was sent to the Finance Committee for review.
“It’s been a long time coming,” said Whalen to the audience of the need for the system. “If it passes, you won’t have to do this (making a fanning motion).”
It is common for the audience to fan themselves at council meetings due to the heat.
A heating and cooling system has been in the preliminary budget for many years, and each year has been cut before the final budget was approved due to not having enough funds.
— The council approved two amendments that were made to the preliminary budget and denied one:
$7,200 for the wastewater treatment plant repair and maintenance line due to an unexpected failure of a major part.
$13,970 to the grants and contributions of the Eastern Montana Drug Task Force due to additional money received.
A $25,000 Miles City Public Library amendment request was denied by a vote of 1-7, with Bill Melnik voting in favor of it. The request was for repairs to the lighting system that has become a safety issue, according to Librarian Sonja Woods.
A number of interior and exterior lights are not working. Woods said there are areas in the library in which a patron cannot read the book titles because of it.
Woods hope to have an additional $25,000 in her budget for two years to cover the repairs.
Ahner told the council that, according to City Attorney George Huss, the city is obligated to budget the library the same as the previous year, plus an inflation factor, so if the city granted the additional money this year, it would have to give it every year.
Woods had talked with the State Library, which did not agree with Huss’s opinion. She said they had never heard of that before for a city library and are looking into it.
— The council approved the first reading of Resolution No. 3352 to authorize an increase in budgeting over last year’s property tax revenue. The resolution is needed each year since voters voted to freeze property taxes in 1986. This allows for inflation. The state gives cities an inflation figure, by which the cities can raise property taxes over last year. This year it is a 1.14 factor over last year’s taxes.
— The first reading of Resolution No. 3353, which authorizes the city to levy an annual tax to help pay for employee health insurance, was unanimously passed. They can only raise enough to cover the insurance’s increased amount. Last year the city levied 7 mills (a mill was valued at $6,828). This year they would levy only 5 mills (valued at $6,793 each).
— The council unanimously approved Resolution No. 3348 for a revocable license to Robert and Hazel Stabler for an encroachment upon the city’s right of way at 319 S. Third St. The Stablers wish to build a four-foot retaining wall, two feet from the curb. Road construction during Milestown Estate’s development and this year’s heavy rains has caused potential erosion problems for several residents.
— A loading zone request on an area on the south side of Phillips Street at Sacred Heart School was granted by unanimous vote. The restricted parking is in effect from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday.

 

Thursday, Aug. 26

Custer Country proposals weighed
By Amanda Breitbach Ragsdale
An evaluation committee for the Montana Department of Commerce and the Office of Tourism is examining proposals today from groups that expressed interest in the contract to promote Custer Country, a broad area of southeastern Montana, including 13 counties and two American Indian reservations.
Promotion of Custer Country is funded through a portion of the tax collected on hotel and motel lodging in the region and is worth about $400,000 a year. The Montana Department of Commerce ended its contract with Custer Country, Inc., based in Forsyth, earlier this year, after an investigation by the Department of Justice found it and its executive director guilty of breaking contract and procurement laws in the Request For Proposal process to publish the Custer Country Vacation Guide. The department has sought proposals from non-profit groups to take over tourism promotion in the region.
Penny Moon at the state procurement bureau said the department received three proposals by the deadline on Aug. 18. These came from the Billings Area Chamber of Commerce/Convention and Visitors Bureau, a revamped Custer Country, Inc. and the Miles City Area Chamber of Commerce/CVB.
All three proposals met requirements for the initial review, Moon said. An evaluation committee made up of Paul Tuss, a member of the Tourism Advisory Council from Havre; Stan Ozark, a Glasgow resident and the outgoing president of the TAC; Jason Smith, the state’s tribal economic development program manager; and Anna Marie Moe, the acting division administrator of the Office of Tourism, will examine the proposals in depth today and score them according to criteria laid out in the RFP.
John Laney, director of the Miles City Area Chamber of Commerce/CVB, said the RFP, itself, was 57 pages long, and the chamber’s response was a little over 100 pages in length.
“A lot of work went into it,” he said. “It was a lengthy, lengthy process, and we’re happy with how it turned out and what it looked like. Now we just sit back and wait.”
Laney noted that the Miles City chamber would need to add at least one half-time person if it did win the contract, adding, “It would be such a boost to the community.”
Following scoring of the written proposals today, the evaluation committee may need additional time to seek clarification on some issues, Moon said. The committee also plans oral interviews with one or more of the groups submitting the top-ranked proposals. The number of interviews will depend on how close the scoring is, she explained. Those interviews will probably take place within seven to 10 days.
The department’s decision will be announced following the interviews, and minutes of the evaluation meeting, along with scoring sheets for each of the proposals, will be made public at that time.
“I would expect that we would be to that point by the second or third week of September, at the latest,” Moon stated.

 

Wednesday, Aug. 25

2010 Eastern Montana Fair

THURSDAY, AUGUST 26
3 p.m. THURSDAY – ENTRY DEADLINE FOR OPEN CLASS ENTRIES. All photography, art, crafts, food, clothing, vegetables and grain must be entered by 3 p.m. All 4-H and FFA exhibits must be in place by 6 p.m. on Thursday.
(Tentative judging schedule)
8 a.m. Official 4-H & FFA Horse judging (Horseman’s Park)
10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Senior Trail Class
Junior Trail Class
Yearling Trail Class
11 a.m. 4-H Foods Judging
3 p.m. Open Class Entries Close
3:30 p.m. Southeastern Montana Fiddlers on Free stage
4 p.m. Thomas Carnival Opens
Petting Zoo opens
5 p.m. East Main Pet Show on Free stage
6 p.m. All 4-H entries must be in place.
6 p.m. Eastern Montana Tractor Pull
6 p.m. Official weigh in of Market Livestock for Sale
FRIDAY, AUGUST 27
8 a.m. Official Judging Beef & Dairy Projects
9 a.m. Official Judging of 4-H Vegetables & All (Except Flowers) Open Class Exhibits
9 a.m. Accepting flowers at Flower Booth
11 a.m. Youth Vegetable Entries Close
12 p.m. Goat Showmanship
1 p.m. Official Judging Flowers Open Class
4 p.m. Junior Round Robin Small Animal
4 p.m. Senior Round Robin Small Animal
Thomas Carnival Opens
Petting Zoo Opens
5 p.m. Studio M Dancers (Country Rock)
6 p.m. $50 Cash Attendance Drawing
8 p.m. Rodeo
SATURDAY, AUGUST 28
8 a.m. Official Judging Swine & Sheep
10 a.m. Sr. Sheep Showmanship, etc.
11 a.m. Tongue River CattleWomen Cooked Beef Contest
12 p.m. Thomas Carnival opens
2 p.m. Petting Zoo opens
4 p.m. Junior Market Livestock Sale, 4-H Arena
4:30 p.m. Studio M Dancers (Country Rock)
5 p.m. Registration for Stockman Bank Stick Horse Rodeo-Free Stage Area Stockman Bank Stick Horse Rodeo for children 8 & under. Trophies, barrel racing, steer roping, buck”n”bronc
6:30 p.m. $50 Cash Attendance Drawing-Free Stage
Champion of Champions 4-H Market Beef Show, Agri-Sports building
8 p.m. Concert - Sawyer Brown
SUNDAY, AUGUST 29
9 a.m. Church Service 4-H Show Arena
10:30 a.m. Sr. Large Animal Round Robin Showmanship Class
Jr. Large Animal Round Robin Showmanship Class
(All Showmanship Classes except Stocker-Feeder & Pre-Junior Horse Showmanship are eligible in the Round Robin)
1 p.m. Thomas Carnival Opens
Demolition Derby
Petting Zoo Opens
4 p.m. $50 Cash Attendance Drawing-Free Stage
5 p.m. Exhibits Released
ALL EXHIBITS MUST REMAIN IN PLACE UNTIL 5 P.M. SUNDAY EVENING WITHOUT EXCEPTION.
Home Show Exhibitors Must Remain in Place until 5 p.m. Sunday

 

Thursday's tractor pull promises unique show
By Amanda Breitbach Ragsdale
Thursday night at the Eastern Montana Fair will be all about having fun and throwing dirt.
Now in its third year, the Eastern Montana Tractor Pull continues to attract more participants and observers.
In addition to a lot of local people, “There’s people coming from Great Falls, Red Lodge, Kalispell, South Dakota,” said organizer John Kountz.
Organizer/sponsors Kountz, Dusty Davis and John Muggli decided to purchase a large tractor pull sled three years ago because they wanted to add some new entertainment to the fair.
The big sled weighs approximately 40,000 pounds and can stop machinery as large and powerful as a D7 Caterpillar dead in its tracks, Davis noted. A smaller sled weighing 10,000 to 11,000 pounds is used for smaller horsepower tractors and antique equipment.
A tractor pull sled is a trailer with wheels at the end and a flat steel plate on the front. At the beginning of the pull, a carriage loaded with steel plates is balanced over the sled’s rear axles, to give an effective weight of the sled plus zero. As the sled is pulled along the track, the carriage moves forward and increases pressure on the plate at the front. This causes an increasing drag on the tractor.
“The further down the track you pull the sled, the heavier it gets,” explained Kountz.
For first-time spectators, there is a lot to see.
The sport is diverse, Kountz said, with competitors driving everything from restored antique tractors to modified pickups and high-horsepower, souped-up tractors.
“For me, the high-horsepower stuff (is the most fun),” he said, “but we’ve got a lot of farmers and ranchers who like to watch the old antique tractors, the kind of stuff they grew up with.”
“Anybody’s welcome to enter – big or small,” added Davis.
Tractor pulling got its start in the 1920s and 1930s, fueled in part by the natural rivalry between tractor manufacturers. People got fired up promoting names like John Deere, Case and International.
For Kountz and Davis, the Minneapolis-Moline brand is a personal favorite. Three restored antique MM tractors are displayed in front of their repair shop, Eastern Montana Ag Repair.
“They were kind of the underdog of tractors. Everybody wanted the John Deeres or the Internationals,” Davis said, explaining his affection for the brand.
Modern tractor pulls continue that rivalry, with many fans cheering for a specific manufacturer, but these days the powerful machines may sport multiple engines and all kinds of modifications. Vehicle divisions include modified, stock and super stock tractors, two-wheel-drive and four-wheel-drive trucks and even super semis.
“You can spend no money for very little, or if your checkbook is fat, you can spend whatever you want,” Kountz said. “But it doesn’t come down to who spends the most money. It comes down to who is the best driver.”
He encouraged spectators who have never seen a tractor pull to come out Thursday for some unique entertainment.
The Eastern Montana Tractor Pull will begin at 5 p.m. on Thursday at the Eastern Montana Fairgrounds. Due to some confusion about the start time, organizers plan to start with the antique tractors and bring on the main event categories between 7 and 8:30 p.m. Last year the event kept going until 10:45 p.m., so there is plenty of time for those coming out after work to catch some pulling action.
Organizers apologized for not beginning with the national anthem last year and promised to play “The Star Spangled Banner” before the event gets started this year.
“Let’s have some fun and throw some dirt!” Davis concluded.

Chamber has fair tickets

The Miles City Area Chamber of Commerce has tickets available for admittance to the Eastern Montana Fair, plus the fair concert, demolition derby, rodeo and carnival.
Tickets will be available at the chamber through Thursday at 5 p.m. and Friday morning at the office at 511 Pleasant St. The phone number is 234-2890. Tickets are also available at the fairgrounds.
Gate passes for fair admission are $2 per day per person, or people can purchase a four-day pass for $6 per person. Kids age 5 and under are free.
Advance tickets for the Sawyer Brown concert on Saturday night are available at the chamber, at a cost of $20. Tickets are $25 at the door. The concert begins at 8 p.m. in the grandstands.
Thursday night and Sunday afternoon are wristband days for the Thomas Carnival, and a $16 wristband lets the wearer ride all the rides between 4 and 10 p.m. on Thursday and 1 and 6 p.m. on Sunday. If people purchase a wristband but do not use it on Thursday or Sunday, they can trade it for a sheet of 30 tickets to be used on Friday or Saturday.
Tickets for Thursday night’s tractor pull, Friday night’s NRA rodeo and Sunday afternoon’s demolition derby are all $10 for adults, $3 for kids ages 6-12, and kids under 6 are free. Prices are the same at the chamber and the gate. The tractor pull begins Thursday at 5 p.m., the rodeo Friday at 8 p.m., and the demolition derby Sunday at 1 p.m. All events are at the fairgrounds.
The fair continues its tradition of free acts roaming the midway and performing on the football stage.
Highlights on Thursday include the Southeastern Montana Fiddlers on the free stage beginning at 3:30 p.m., followed by the East Main Pet Show – always a favorite for animal lovers – at 5 p.m. (see page 2 for more details). On Friday, Dancers from Studio M will entertain on the midway stage beginning at 5 p.m.
Studio M returns on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. At 5 p.m. youngsters 8 years old and younger can register to compete in the Stockman Bank Stick Horse Rodeo at the Free Stage Arena for trophies in barrel racing, steer roping, and the buck ‘n’ bronc contests.
Also entertaining fair crowds will be magician Jeff Martin and Lou’s Traveling Zoo, as well as new faces like juggler Paul Isaak and Penelope the Clown.

River rescue brings recognition
By Elaine Forman
A treacherous rescue in the ice-filled Tongue River last year saved a Sidney man’s life, leading to Miles City Fire and Rescue being featured in a national magazine and earning recognition through a national team award for swift water rescue in May.
The rescue of the partially submerged vehicle’s driver, Floyd Wentz, occurred on March 4, 2009 when his pickup went off Interstate 94 and into the river. The rescue was featured in “Advanced Rescue Technology” magazine in December, and the Higgins and Langley Memorial and Education Awards were given in May 2010. The magazine cover featured a photo of the rescue, with local firefighters using a small boat to climb aboard the unsteady pickup and extract the driver through the back window.
At the Aug. 10 Miles City Council meeting, certificates were handed out by Fire Capt. Derrick Rodgers to firefighters who were part of the rescue: Tim McGlothlin, Branden Stevens, Stan Wheeler, Justin Russell, John Caylor, Rich Kransky, Scott Moore, Tyson Wilcox, Dale Berg and Todd Miller. Rodgers also had received one.
At the meeting, Rodgers said, “This is a very prestigious award that we weren’t expecting to receive.”

THE RESCUE
The rescue occurred after an amazing string of incidents, starting in 2008.
“It’s kind of amazing how things happen. It’s unbelieveable how a few years ago we had no pieces of equipment (for this type of rescue),” said McGlothlin.
“From the very beginning Branden got into the swift water rescue,” Rodgers said. Stevens had taken a class in Big Sky in the summer of 2008.
The fire department often sends a firefighter to get specialized training; then that person comes back and trains the rest of the department, which Stevens did shortly after he returned.
The city pays for training classes and the firefighters try to provide their own meals, lodging, etc. to make the training fund stretch a little further, Rodgers explained
“All of us do it,” Stevens said. “We all step up to make sure things get done that the city can’t provide. We feel the citizens need that level of protection.”
“They do it by their own initiative,” Rodgers said of the firefighters.
Life jackets and helmets were purchased by the department, with half the money from their budget and half from the firemen’s fund.
As a private citizen, Mary Elizabeth Irion made a donation by purchasing a rescue vest for the department , one of which was stored at the Oasis because the city did not have any lifeguards at the pool that summer (2008).
About the same time, McGlothlin, Moore and Brad Blumhagen attended a dive rescue class in Baker.
McGlothlin purchased his own diving equipment for his professional and personal use, and at 8 a.m. on March 4, 2009 his dry suit arrived. He tried it on, and 15 minutes after he had taken it off the call came in that there was a vehicle in the Tongue River.
McGlothlin thought “Holy crap!” he said.
The call was initially very confusing, Rodgers said.
McGlothlin said he wasn’t out of his home before the report was that four children were in the water.
The fire department responded, as well as the Custer County Sheriff’s Office, Montana Highway Patrol, Miles City Police Department, Montana Department of Transportation and a helicopter from the Billings Clinic, which flew over the river to look for victims.
In the end they found out there was just one man, who was still in his truck cab, sitting in the ice-covered river. The ice was in the process of going out. The truck was partially submerged.
While McGlothlin was in his dry suit for the call, Stevens was dressed in a T-shirt and shorts to go into the ice-filled water. Stevens wasn’t on duty but was at the fire station when the call came in. (He bought his dry suit shortly after this experience.)
Wentz, the victim, was westbound that day when his pickup left the interstate, drove through a fence and into the middle of the river.
On one side of the pickup the ice was going out and on the other the ice was cracking. The river current was fast. There wasn’t much time.
Since the rescuers couldn’t walk on the ice, they used a rope system to get a boat to the pickup.
Stevens and McGlothlin got in the boat and braved the frigid water. The chunks of ice made the river rescue extremely treacherous.
The icy water was in the pickup and Wentz was suffering hypothermia.
They reached the pickup and Wentz’s condition was deteriorating. They broke out the back window and got Wentz out. By this time he was “unresponsive,” Stevens had said after the rescue.
The vehicle was unstable and moved from time to time against the ice, and the current pulled the boat away from the pickup. Getting Wentz out of the vehicle, then onto the boat was difficult.
“We knew we didn’t have a whole lot of time,” Stevens had said. “The vehicle could go ... we saw it slipping.”
“Right after they got out the ice came and took out the safety line,” Rodgers said at the time.
Less than an hour after the rescue the ice went out and the truck was totally submerged.
“We got lucky. We were close to getting submerged ...” said McGlothlin said in an interview this year.
Wentz also was lucky because he fully recovered and returned to the fire department to thank his rescuers in person.

EQUIPMENT NEEDS
Currently the department has a sufficient, but limited, amount of equipment for this kind of rescue — not only for those who go into the water but also for those on shore who are supporting the effort.
Rodgers said the rescue was successful, but the department’s equipment for a water rescue is “very, very limited. ... We need more equipment to do this kind of rescue safely.”
The rescue had no backup. “If a rescuer goes into the water, who is going to rescue him?” McGlothlin asked.
The department also was involved in a similar situation when a car went into the Yellowstone River and 19-year-old Eddie Whittenberg died in November 2008. In the summer of 2009 there was also a canoe with four people in it on the Yellowstone River that needed aid.
The city usually gets at least one call a year for some kind of water rescue.
Stevens said in one call a boat capsized after it hit a sandbar on the Tongue River near the 12-mile dam. Fortunately, no one needed to be rescued, “but the potential is always there.”
“We just want to make sure we are prepared the next time the call comes in,” he said.
In March the department received a $5,000 Montana-Dakota Utilities grant for basic water rescue equipment.
The money was used for equipping rescuers with additional vests, dry suits, gloves, helmets, fins, ice picks, etc.
(In the past MDU provided funds to buy the department the equipment needed for trench rescue.)
A flat-bottom boat was donated to the department from firefighter Dale Berg’s family, but the department still needs an inflatable boat. An inflatable boat is best for this type of rescue since inflatibles are more stable and are less likely to tip.
Firefighters still have nothing for ice rescues, which require a special rescue raft.

THE AWARD
Higgins and Langley Memorial and Education Awards are given in memory of writer and filmmaker Earl Higgins, who lost his life in 1980 while rescuing a child in the Los Angeles River, and in memory of Los Angeles County Firefighter Paramedic Jeffrey Langley, who lost his life in a helicopter incident in 1993.
On the Higgins and Langley website, it states that the awards are not for heroism but in recognition for preparedness, teamwork and “a job well done, sometimes under extreme conditions, where training is vital to the success of rescue missions, as well as the safety of rescue personnel.”
In a letter to the fire department, the organization’s secretary, Cody Harris, wrote that the award was given “in recognition of the excellence in the dangerous technical rescue discipline of swiftwater and flood rescue.”
The award was given at the National Association for Search and Rescue conference in Mississippi on May 14.