Articles from the April 28, 2004 edition

HELENA - Average income in Montana climbed faster last year than in all but four other states, but still remains among the lowest in the country, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Tuesday. The agency said the 4.4 percent growth in per-capita personal income in Montana from 2002 was nearly twice the national average increase of 2.3 percent. The change also improved Montana's national income ranking from 45th to 44th, and means Montanans made 82 percent of what the typical American made during 2003. However, a Monta...

Havre Pride organizer Kim Cripps said she has heard from many volunteers for Saturday's cleanup of the city, but more are always needed. "I'm excited. It's going to be great weather. People can come and have breakfast and come clean Havre," she said Thursday. The twice-a-year event, sponsored by the Havre Area Chamber of Commerce, asks people to come out and pick up trash in the community. Cripps said she wants to concentrate on the east edge of Havre this year to give people coming into town a good impression as they...

This year's A Taste of Jazz will feature bassist Clipper Anderson when it hits the state Monday at 7:30 p.m. at Havre High School. Anderson has been described by Seattle's "Earshot" jazz magazine as "a player for the connoisseur to savor." A native of Polson, he graduated from the University of Montana, where he studied bass with Frank Diliberto. After a professional stint in the Spokane area, he moved to Seattle. Anderson has toured and played with a number of internationally known jazz artists, including Randy and Michael...

Imagine a post-war world, where families have to hide from enemies seeking to capture and imprison them, learn to live on the land, without electricity, without cars or tractors, without modern conveniences. Imagine a family trying to do that in the Bear Paw Mountains south of Chinook. That is the story told in the first work of fiction by a Hi-Line native whose love of children and the outdoors, combined with a disabling illness, led her to a new career as an author. BilliJo Doll's first novel, "The Seekers," hit the...

As April showers prepare to usher in May flowers, so too come the tree, grass and weed pollens that trigger allergies in up to a quarter of the population. While seasonal allergies are on the rise, heading them off early by seeking treatment before the runny nose, congestion and watery eyes set in can help keep these uncomfortable symptoms at bay. "It's a lot easier to treat the allergic reactions before they start happening than to wait until you've had symptoms," Andrew Singer, an allergist at the University of Michigan...

At first glance, it looked as if the Havre High girls track team should have won Tuesday's dual track meet against Great Falls High. After all, the Pony girls won eight of 16 events and swept the 100-meter dash. But with a pair of consistent placers fighting nagging injuries, Havre lost some much-needed scoring depth and came up just short, falling to the Bison 75-70 on a gusty day at the Havre Middle School track. The Havre boys had depth problems of their own - as in lack of - falling to the Bison 94-51. "I was kind of... Full story

With a couple of breaks, it could have been a complete sweep for the Havre High tennis teams. The Pony girls had another great afternoon, sweeping C.M. Russell and Great Falls High in dual tennis action. The Pony boys came up just short of their own sweep, defeating Great Falls High, but unfortunately coming up just short against the top-ranked Class AA Rustlers. The loss to CMR was particularly tough for head coach George Ferguson and his boys players because they were so close to ending the Rustlers' 11-match dual winning...

It's funny how something as little as fielding the ball cleanly can make a difference. But for the Havre fast pitch softball, fielding the ball is far from a little thing. After struggling with defensive inconsistency early in the season, Havre put together its best defensive performance of the season in a 9-7 win over the Glasgow Scotties Tuesday afternoon at the Sixth Avenue Memorial Softball Field. It was far from perfect as Havre committed three errors in the field and a few mental mistakes. But after watching her team... Full story

EVERETT, Wash. - Ryan Daniel Schaller, 23, of Everett, Wash., died tragically Monday, April 8, 2004, as the result of an accident on his birthday. A service was held April 15 at Hope Church in Everett. Ryan was born on April 8, 1981, to Dan and Linda Schaller at Everett. He graduated from Woodway High School in Everett in 1999. He worked with his father and sister in the family owned tanning salon business in Lynnwood. Ryan joined the Navy in August 2003. Ryan was preceded in death by his grandfather, Rodger Schaller....

The Havre City Council will vote next week on whether to amend the city's water ordinance to make tenants ultimately responsible for water bills. Havre landlords have been responsible for water bills since 1997, when the policy was changed after a contentious public debate. Several local landlords have pressed the council to revisit the issue for months, arguing that they get stuck with large water bills by tenants who waste water or leave without paying the bill. In response to the landlords' complaints, the council's Water...

A Chinook judge has sealed evidence in the trial of a Harlem man charged with killing a Blaine County sheriff's deputy and wounding another. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Laurence Jackson Jr., 26. His trial is scheduled to start June 7 in Missoula. District Judge John McKeon on Friday granted a defense motion to suppress statements made by Jackson after the shooting. Jackson attorney Ed Sheehy of Helena argued on Feb. 10 that the judge should suppress Jackson's statements because they were obtained in...

HELENA (AP) - A former executive's written history of the Montana Power Co., a document that the company refused for three decades to allow to be published, is finally seeing the light of day. Cecil Kirk's 483-page, three-volume history, which he completed in 1970 after his retirement, was donated Monday to the Montana Historical Society by NorthWestern Energy, which took over Montana Power's energy transmission systems two years ago when they were sold to NorthWestern Corp. Kirk's son, Donn Kirk, said the donation fulfills...

This Story originally appeared on Tuesday, April 27, 2004. Editor's note: This is the second of four profiles of candidates running for two seats on the Havre school board. Drawing on a wide variety of experiences - from studying theology in Milwaukee, to teaching school and coaching in Hays, to working construction on Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation - school board candidate Mike Ley approaches education issues with a mix of principle and practicality. "My attitude is that I believe in the absolute dignity of every person, so... Full story

A long-awaited book promoting craft trails in north-central Montana will be available for sale at a workshop to teach business owners featured in the book how to sell their products and themselves. The organizers of Hands of Harvest said they will have 2,500 copies of the guidebook they have printed for sale Sunday at the Hands of Harvest Roundup in Great Falls. "We are very excited about that coming out and being able to release it to everyone who has had faith in what we are doing," said Wendy Wedum, a member of the Hands o...

ByJerome Tharaud/Havre Daily News/[email protected]@havredailynews.com Editor's note: This is the third of four profiles of candidates running for two seats on the Havre school board. The election is Tuesday. Havre school board member Kathie Newell, running for her fifth full term on the board, describes herself as a candidate with a wealth of experience and a finger on the pulse of her community. "I think most importantly I'm a community member who cares about my community, and I guess I want to play an...

HELENA - Average income in Montana climbed faster last year than in all but four other states, but still remains among the lowest in the country, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Tuesday. The agency said the 4.4 percent growth in per-capita personal income in Montana from 2002 was nearly twice the national average increase of 2.3 percent. The change also improved Montana's national income ranking from 45th to 44th, and means Montanans made 82 percent of what the typical American made during 2003. However, a Monta...

Havre Pride organizer Kim Cripps said she has heard from many volunteers for Saturday's cleanup of the city, but more are always needed. "I'm excited. It's going to be great weather. People can come and have breakfast and come clean Havre," she said Thursday. The twice-a-year event, sponsored by the Havre Area Chamber of Commerce, asks people to come out and pick up trash in the community. Cripps said she wants to concentrate on the east edge of Havre this year to give people coming into town a good impression as they...

This year's A Taste of Jazz will feature bassist Clipper Anderson when it hits the state Monday at 7:30 p.m. at Havre High School. Anderson has been described by Seattle's "Earshot" jazz magazine as "a player for the connoisseur to savor." A native of Polson, he graduated from the University of Montana, where he studied bass with Frank Diliberto. After a professional stint in the Spokane area, he moved to Seattle. Anderson has toured and played with a number of internationally known jazz artists, including Randy and Michael...

Imagine a post-war world, where families have to hide from enemies seeking to capture and imprison them, learn to live on the land, without electricity, without cars or tractors, without modern conveniences. Imagine a family trying to do that in the Bear Paw Mountains south of Chinook. That is the story told in the first work of fiction by a Hi-Line native whose love of children and the outdoors, combined with a disabling illness, led her to a new career as an author. BilliJo Doll's first novel, "The Seekers," hit the... Full story