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When asked how he came to join the Army, Slim says, “The judge sent me.”  In December of 1962 he was caught with “adult beverages,” but he was not an adult. In January 1963, he had a choice to make, and joining the Army seemed to be the best of the choices the judge gave him. Slim remembers going by bus to Butte, Montana on Jan. 20, and in honor of the occasion, the temperature was -39. He was formally “in” on his 17th birthday. For eight weeks, Slim took basic training at Fort Ord, California. He says he was just a kid, and it was all right. Farm kids were used to stuff like they had in Basic. He continued at Fort Ord for the next eight weeks ...

POLSON – Payton Fitzpatrick was named to the four-man squad representing Montana in the Battle of the States bull riding event. The competition will be held at the Reno-Sparks Livestock Event Center in Reno, Nevada, on Nov. 10. According to the Rodeo USA website, “the Battle of the States is a...

Part 3: This is the third part of a three-part story on the role of community health workers in rural health care from the Montana Gap project. Two months ago, the boys played like children do, clambering around a ruined building just down the lush green hillside from their home. Now their mom, Moslene,...

MONTANA – The controversy over ballot Initiative 186 seems to be about two competing visions for Montana’s future economy, and water quality underlies them both. The ballot measure, if passed, would amend the state’s 1971 Metal Mine Reclamation Act to provide for an additional $115,00...

Tom Siple February 23, 1967 Desert Storm Era: Iraq, Bosnia, Somalia, Germany U.S. Army – 52nd Signal Battalion Tom Siple wanted to join the military, but there was a problem -- he was an early high school graduate and was too young. Not wanting to waste time, Tom went to college until his 17th birth...

This is the second part of a three-part story on the role of community health workers in rural health care from the Montana Gap project.  The Partners In Health headquarters resides in a huge state-of-the-art hospital in Mirebalais, about a half-hour drive southwest of Cange. On what has become a typ...

An in-depth newspaper investigation revealed that a state-operated home for aged military veterans was providing sub-standard care and that taxpayer money that was to go to improve the home was spent elsewhere. The result was the replacement of the state’s veterans secretary and numerous corrections at...

This is the first part of a three-part story on the role of community health workers in rural health care from the Montana Gap project. Part one: What’s working abroad? In rural Haiti, locals trained as community health workers help mentally ill neighbors where full-fledged physicians are few and far ...

There are a lot of different reasons for joining the military. When in high school, Jim Pettit took the opportunity through the 1973 CETA program (Comprehensive Employment and Training Act) to work with the Ronan, Montana Police Department. Things weren’t good at home, and deciding he liked law enforce...

LAKE COUNTY – Two notable men from Lake County have been chosen to join the Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center based on their contributions to the culture and history of the region. Asa Clayton “A.C.” Brooks, who lived in St. Ignatius, and Carl V. Moss of Polson are the...