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  • Counterfeit bills hitting Havre

    Tim Leeds [email protected]

    The Havre Police Department said this morning it is investigating a local business receiveing counterfeit $20 bills, and is urging all to carefully check any 20s received. Sgt. Andrew Poulos said the bills being investigated look similar to the new style of $20s made in the last decade, although generally worn in appearance. He said the counterfeits do not have the paper strip embedded inside, and if held to the light people can tell if the bills are genuine. A genuine $20 bill of the new style will have a darker line where...

  • FEMA holds meeting with city, county officials

    Tim Leeds [email protected]

    Hill County, Havre and Big Sandy officials met with representatives of the Federal Emergency Management Agency Monday in Havre to start the next phase of recovering from June's flooding. The next step is submitting actual project proposals to the agency for approval, so repair work can be done with funding assistance from the federal government. "We're here to help, " Char les Bello of FEMA told the officials. The flooding devastated Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation, threatened Big Sandy and tore up Beaver Creek Park south of...

  • Great Northern Fair opens today in Havre

    Tim Leeds [email protected]

    Fair season has rolled around again, with the midway at the Great Northern Fair and displays opening today, and Hill County 4-H'ers already active earlier this week in fair events. Fair manager Tim Solomon said this morning that things are set to get the event going this year. "It went good once it dried up enough for us," he said. "Things are looking good." The carnival and food stands opened at noon today, with the 4-H Chuckwagon building scheduled to open at 4 p.m. The carnival is scheduled to run through midnight each...

  • Business license vote delayed

    Tim Leeds [email protected]

    Havre Ci t y Council had to delay its discussion and vote on impl ement ing business licenses due to a miscommunication, the c h a i r o f i t s Planning and De v e l o pme n t Committee said during the counc i l 's me e t ing Monday. Janet Trethewey said a glitch between city hall and the city attorney led to some problems getting the resolution on the agenda in time. "It was due to some confusion about the numbering," she said. The committee intends to submit the resolution for the council's next meeting Aug. 2, she said....

  • Durwards honored for decades of service

    Tim Leeds [email protected]

    A North Havre couple retiring from service on Hill County boards were honored Monday for their decades of service to the county. Charles Durward received a framed certificate recognizing his 41 years on the county planning board, and Gaynelle Durward received a framed certificate for 33 years on the county zoning board. Charles commented after receiving his award that he and his wife just celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary, with more than half of that spent on the boards. Gaynelle said their involvement stemmed from...

  • Customs and Border Protection sets Havre meeting

    Tim Leeds [email protected]

    U. S. Customs and Border Protection is holding a series of meetings, including one in Havre Thursday night, to seek public input on the environmental impacts of handling security on the U. S.-Canadian border. According to a press release from the federal agency, the input will be used for environmental impact statements to identify and assess potential impacts of ongoing and future activities to provide security on the border. The statements will be used to improve planning Cus tom and Bo rde r Protection's actions to meet...

  • Breaking news: Rocky Boy, U.S. government sign nation-to-nation agreement

    Tim Leeds [email protected]

    It was a historic moment at Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation Tuesday when the chairman of the Chippewa Cree Tribe and the regional director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency signed a nation-to-nation agreement allowing the Tribal government to administer its own disaster recovery funds. "I think it goes a long way for tribal nations as a whole, proving the sovereignty of the tribes," Chairman Raymond "Jake" Parker said in an interview after the signing ceremony. The Tribe elected to act as its own administrator after...

  • Breaking news: BNSF celebrates biodiesel testing

    Tim Leeds [email protected]

    A large group gathered early Saturday to celebrate a unique partnership in north-central Montana. Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway kicked off its year-long test of locally produced biodiesel in its locomotives. "I think it's something we're all excited about," said Beau Price, superintendent of BNSF's diesel shop in Havre, during the 7:30 a.m. kick-off. "My people who are working for me are excited about it and I think the community is excited to see this kind of relationship where we can do this kind of stuff." The proje...

  • Breaking news: Rehberg talks to small audience in Havre

    Tim Leeds [email protected]

    R Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., held a listening session with a small audience in Havre today during a beautiful summer afternoon. Rehberg, who said he tries to make sure he visits every county in Montana at least during each session of Congress, said he plans to take in the Blaine County Fair Saturday evening before holding a listening session in Chinook Sunday at 1 p.m. at the city library and then on to Glasgow for another session at 4:30 p.m. Rehberg responded to three individuals who spoke at the session, with one asking...

  • City looks at regulating trees, pets

    Tim Leeds [email protected]

    A Havre City Council committee will consider two proposed ordinances Tuesday looking at parts of nature: one on regulating pets and one dealing with trees. The Ordinance Committee during its 6 p.m. meeting will take one last look at a proposed ordinance on dogs, cats and other animals, and its first close read-through on a proposed ordinance on trees submitted by the city Parks and Recreation Department. Tree ordinance proposed The tree ordinance was submitted at the last committee meeting but was tabled until Tuesday's...

  • Feds will fully fund Rocky Boy recovery

    Tim Leeds [email protected]

    With a decision made over the weekend to have the federal government pay 100 percent of costs to repair eligible flood damage at Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation, a ceremony to sign an agreement to allow the money to start to flow is set for Tuesday. Work has been ongoing in assessing damage, setting a mitigation plan and looking at specific projects and work orders. "They' re in the queue; they're coming down the line," said Joe Castel of the Federal E m e r g e n c y Management Agency. "When they sign the agreement, they can...

  • FEMA gets down to business at Rocky Boy

    Tim Leeds [email protected]

    A spokesman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency said his agency has increased its presence on Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation and expects next week to start setting project numbers to reimburse disaster work on the reservation and in Hill County to repair the heavy flooding in mid-June. "We have been here since June 24," Ricardo Zuniga, FEMA external affairs officer said this morning. After high snowmelt and heavy rains in May saturated the ground and caused flooding in that month, 5 inches of rain that fell in the...

  • Brownfields Program moves forward to assess properties

    Tim Leeds [email protected]

    A recently established program to identify contaminated properties in the first step toward getting them cleaned up and back into use is moving forward. Bear Paw Development Corp. is now working on six properties in its five-county region. Christin Hileman of Bear Paw Development, coordinator of its Brownfields Program, said more than 40 sites have been looked at, with six approved by the federal Environmental Protection Agency as sites eligible to be assessed under the program. "We looked at a lot of sites," Hileman said, ad...

  • County sued over landfill access road

    Tim Leeds [email protected]

    The Unified Disposal Board is facing another obstacle over the new landfill being constructed just east of Havre — a lawsuit saying Hill County does not have the right to build the road it plans to connect the landfill to U.S. Highway 2. American Wind and Wheat Farms LLC filed a complaint in state District Court in Havre Monday alleging that the county "seeks to exploit and unlawfully take (the company's) land for the purpose of constructing a roadway along what it claims is an existing roadway." The lawsuit says the c...

  • Ground work begins on Havre East highway project

    Tim Leeds [email protected]

    To an improved two-lane configuration began in earnest this week, with heavy equipment moving dirt south of the road. Lori Ryan, Montana Department of Transportation public information specialist, said the work that began Monday was to do some work south of the existing lanes and some shoulder work. While 35 mph zones will be used in the sections where work is being done, Ryan said no major delays are expected. The construction has caused some controversy over the last eight or nine years. The Havre-to-Fort Belknap section...

  • County weighs options on Beaver Creek Dam repair

    Tim Leeds [email protected]

    Hill County officials are in a quandary about what to do with a problem at Beaver Creek Dam — the gate to the drain system is malfunctioning and the county has no way to regulate additional water flow or to drain the reservoir — and how to fund its repair. "You need money, and you have no income," said Marvin Cross, civil engineering specialist for the state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation during a meeting Tuesday. The issue is with operational problems at both the upper and lower gates on a drainage con...

  • City of Havre honored for safety record

    Tim Leeds [email protected]

    Havre City Council member Bob Kaul told the council Monday that the safety record of city employees nearly earned the city a major award this year. Kaul said the city received a letter from Gov. Brian Schweitzer that the city came in second in the 2010 Governor's Safety and Health Awards Program. "That's still awful good," Kaul said. He added, "If you see any of our guys out there working, tell them good job, because they're the ones who did it." Kaul said state officials came in to review the city and its workers and program...

  • City moves forward on business registry

    Tim Leeds [email protected]

    The Havre City Council Monday night discussed a new idea to create a voluntary business registry to let the city track what businesses are operating to help it in planning and in making any zoning changes. An idea to require businesses to purchase a business license from the city is "on the back burner," Planning and Development Committee Chair Janet Trethewey said. "There was some discussion in the committee that this doesn't have the teeth of an ordinance, but maybe it's a little more palatable," she said. "So (we could tak...

  • GOP to interview county treasurer candidate Wednesday

    Tim Leeds [email protected]

    The Hill County Republican Central Committee has scheduled a meeting Wednesday to look at finding a new party candidate for the Hill County treasurer and assessor position up for election in November. William "Bill" Gupton, who was the sole Republican candidate in the election, withdrew his candidacy after taking a job with the company that will administer the new power plant NorthWestern Energy is building near Anaconda. Hill County Republican Chair Andrew Brekke said this morning that the committee will interview Deputy...

  • County holds meetings on Beaver Creek Reservoir

    Tim Leeds [email protected]

    Hill County officials have set three meetings Tuesday about an issue at Beaver Creek Reservoir that Hill County Commission Chair Mike Wendland said this morning was at least a byproduct of recent flooding on Beaver Creek. Beaver Creek Dam, about 8 miles south of Havre, was built in the 1970s for irrigation storage, flood control and recreation purposes. During the flooding in June, a gate used to drain water from the reservoir stuck nearly closed, making it unable to be used to reduce water levels. Flooding in June — which h...

  • Breaking news: USDA to hold flood meeting today on Rocky Boy

    Tim Leeds [email protected]

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture is stepping in this afternoon to tell the Chippewa Cree Tribal govenment and residents of RockyBoy's Indian Reservation about programs it has to help people deal with damage from the recent flooding. Hill County Farm Service Agency Office Executive Director Mike Zook said this morning that the Emergency Conservation Program also has been approved to help Hill County agricultural producers deal with the cost of flood damage in the county. State directors of USDA's Farm Service Agency,...