Articles from the January 30, 2003 edition

CHESTER - Robert Owen "Bob" Aitken, 69, died Monday, Jan. 27, 2003, at a Chester hospital due to cancer. Funeral service will be 2 p.m. Friday at Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Chester. Burial is to follow at the Chester Cemetery. Bob was born on July 9, 1933, at Conrad to Forrest and Inez (Palmbush) Aitken. He grew up in Conrad and received his education there. During his school years, he was active in FFA and 4-H. He graduated from Conrad High School in 1951. Bob began working as mechanic at the Ford dealership in Conrad...

[email protected]@havredailynews.com Havre residents will have the opportunity to see some of othe best talent in the region Saturday when performers audition for the Montana Performing Arts Consortium here. The purpose of the gathering is for various nonprofit organizations in the region, which includes Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, to select artists for community performing arts series, like Havre's Northern Showcase. Each artist or group, selected in advance by a consortium jury to perform on Saturday, will...

[email protected]@havredailynews.com Three Chippewa Cree police officers and the tribal prosecutor were fired Tuesday, tribal officials said today. The officers dismissed by the Chippewa Cree tribal council were Rocky Boy Police Chief Arthur Windy Boy and criminal investigators Stan Gardipee and Richard Morsette. Also fired was Tribal Prosecutor Mike Parker. Tribal attorney Dan Belcourt said today that the firings stemmed in part from an investigation of the Police Department and from budget considerations....

[email protected]@havredailynews.com Hill County residents have passed up an opportunity to open new taverns in the county. Monday was the deadline to apply for the chance to float excess liquor licenses from other counties into Hill County, excluding Havre and Hingham, but no applications were filed, said Cynthia Piearson of the state Department of Revenue. Jupe Compton, owner of the Palace Bar in Havre and president of the Hill County Tavern Association, said he didn't hear about anyone who was interested in...

[email protected]@havredailynews.com About 30 potential jurors were sent home this morning after a woman accused of criminal distribution of imitation dangerous drugs reached an agreement with prosecutors. During the jury selection process, state prosecutor Daniel Boucher offered Jodell Downhour, 40, of Havre a deferred prosecution. The offer came after prosecutors realized that the state may not have called enough jurors for the trial. Rather than face a mistrial as more and more potential jurors were...

[email protected]@havredailynews.com A coalition in north-central Montana is seeking volunteers to help plan for long-term solutions to poverty. The group is building teams from an 11-county region to assist in the planning and implementation of a 10-year program to bring relief to destitute families. The Northcentral Montana Community Ventures Coalition was formed in the fall of 2001, and has been responsible for identifying ways to improve the quality of life among low-income people. In June the coalition...

[email protected]@havredailynews.com When Victor Spinler was about 30, he took a job for a couple of days helping John Hary do some work on Hary's building, the Park Hotel. Nearly 43 years and about seven owners and managers later, Spinler is still at the hotel, serving as custodian, caretaker and handyman. Hary had seen Spinler helping a man move some displays out of a store while Spinler was visiting Havre, in from his family's farm north of Hingham. "I had come into town - I was a man of leisure," he said....

[email protected]@havredailynews.com And down the stretch they come. The end of the 2002-03 high school winter sports season is nearing just as the weather is turning worse. This week marks the beginning of the high school wrestling post season and boys and girls basketball is less than three weeks from finishing their regular season schedule. In Great Falls, the Class AA Eastern seeding tournament in wrestling will be held and Butte will host the Western AA seeding tournament. Meanwhile, the Havre Blue Ponies will...

[email protected]@havredailynews.com All season long, the Havre High boys basketball team has faced a rigorous schedule of Class AA, A and B opponents. Nothing will change as the Ponies continue their tough schedule continues and the 2002-2003 winds towards the Central A divisional tournament in Belgrade. The Blue Ponies will look for a little redemption when they travel to Malta tonight while on Friday night, Havre will play its fifth game of the season against a defending state champion when they host Central A...

[email protected]@havredailynews.com Something that looked so good to Montana State University-Northern wrestling coach David Ray a week ago, is now looking a little like a mistake. After about four weeks of tough competition, the Lights took a short break from competition last weekend. Ray hoped that the break would allow his wrestlers to rest and recharge for the stretch run to the NAIA National Tournament on March 7-8 in Great Falls. Instead, the break may have been more hurtful than helpful. Ray will find...

[email protected]@havredailynews.com The Havre Ice Hawk varsity boys team hasn't gotten to play a wealth of home games this season. So when they do, they make the most of the it. The Ice Hawks swept the Helena Bighorns in a pair of games this past weekend at the Havre Ice Dome. On Friday night, Havre got a pair of goals from Mark Benjamin, a goal and an assist from Cody McLain and two assists from Chazz Hurlburt in the win. The Ice Hawks got two goals from Jon Johnstone on Saturday to complete the sweep with a...

JOLIET - Philip 'Phil' Staudinger, 84, of Joliet died Saturday, Jan. 25, 2003. Cremation has taken place. Memorial graveside services will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday in the Rockvale Cemetery. He was born April 30, 1918, at Richardton, N.D., to George and Rose Staudinger. He moved to Edgar in the spring of 1935. Phil was married to Mary Buechler on July 23, 1940. They lived in Carbon County their entire married life. Phil enjoyed spending time with his children and grandchildren, enjoyed animals, farming, ranching, having...

John "Jack" N. Murphy, 66, died Jan. 25, 2003, at a Helena hospital after a battle with cancer. Cremation has taken place. A service will be held at the VFW Club in Havre at 2 p.m. Thursday. A luncheon will follow the service. Jack was born Jan. 3,1937, to Margaret Faber and Timothy Murphy, he was raised at the Murphy ranch south of Chinook. He joined the Army in 1955 and was honorably discharged in 1957. He married Carolyn Woronik in 1969. They resided south of Chinook. In 1988 they purchased the Ranger Bar in Dupuyer. The...

HAYDEN LAKE, Idaho - Breta Olivia Kravik, 85, formerly of Havre, died Monday, Jan. 27, 2003, in Hayden Lake, Idaho, after a long struggle with Alzheimer's disease. A memorial service will be held at 4 p.m. Feb. 5 at Dokken-Nelson Funeral Home, 113 S. Wilson, Bozeman. A reception is to follow at the Bozeman Senior Citizen Center, 807 N. Tracy Ave. Interment of ashes will be at the Montana State Veterans' Cemetery at Fort Harrison. Breta was born March 12, 1917, in Laurel to Carl and Helen Anderson. She graduated from Bozeman...

CHESTER - Robert Owen "Bob" Aitken, 69, died Monday, Jan. 27, 2003, at a Chester hospital due to cancer. Funeral service will be 2 p.m. Friday at Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Chester. Burial is to follow at the Chester Cemetery. Bob was born on July 9, 1933, at Conrad to Forrest and Inez (Palmbush) Aitken. He grew up in Conrad and received his education there. During his school years, he was active in FFA and 4-H. He graduated from Conrad High School in 1951. Bob began working as mechanic at the Ford dealership in Conrad...

[email protected]@havredailynews.com Havre residents will have the opportunity to see some of othe best talent in the region Saturday when performers audition for the Montana Performing Arts Consortium here. The purpose of the gathering is for various nonprofit organizations in the region, which includes Montana, Idaho and Wyoming, to select artists for community performing arts series, like Havre's Northern Showcase. Each artist or group, selected in advance by a consortium jury to perform on Saturday, will...

[email protected]@havredailynews.com Three Chippewa Cree police officers and the tribal prosecutor were fired Tuesday, tribal officials said today. The officers dismissed by the Chippewa Cree tribal council were Rocky Boy Police Chief Arthur Windy Boy and criminal investigators Stan Gardipee and Richard Morsette. Also fired was Tribal Prosecutor Mike Parker. Tribal attorney Dan Belcourt said today that the firings stemmed in part from an investigation of the Police Department and from budget considerations....

[email protected]@havredailynews.com Hill County residents have passed up an opportunity to open new taverns in the county. Monday was the deadline to apply for the chance to float excess liquor licenses from other counties into Hill County, excluding Havre and Hingham, but no applications were filed, said Cynthia Piearson of the state Department of Revenue. Jupe Compton, owner of the Palace Bar in Havre and president of the Hill County Tavern Association, said he didn't hear about anyone who was interested in...

[email protected]@havredailynews.com About 30 potential jurors were sent home this morning after a woman accused of criminal distribution of imitation dangerous drugs reached an agreement with prosecutors. During the jury selection process, state prosecutor Daniel Boucher offered Jodell Downhour, 40, of Havre a deferred prosecution. The offer came after prosecutors realized that the state may not have called enough jurors for the trial. Rather than face a mistrial as more and more potential jurors were...

[email protected]@havredailynews.com A coalition in north-central Montana is seeking volunteers to help plan for long-term solutions to poverty. The group is building teams from an 11-county region to assist in the planning and implementation of a 10-year program to bring relief to destitute families. The Northcentral Montana Community Ventures Coalition was formed in the fall of 2001, and has been responsible for identifying ways to improve the quality of life among low-income people. In June the coalition...

[email protected]@havredailynews.com When Victor Spinler was about 30, he took a job for a couple of days helping John Hary do some work on Hary's building, the Park Hotel. Nearly 43 years and about seven owners and managers later, Spinler is still at the hotel, serving as custodian, caretaker and handyman. Hary had seen Spinler helping a man move some displays out of a store while Spinler was visiting Havre, in from his family's farm north of Hingham. "I had come into town - I was a man of leisure," he said....

[email protected]@havredailynews.com And down the stretch they come. The end of the 2002-03 high school winter sports season is nearing just as the weather is turning worse. This week marks the beginning of the high school wrestling post season and boys and girls basketball is less than three weeks from finishing their regular season schedule. In Great Falls, the Class AA Eastern seeding tournament in wrestling will be held and Butte will host the Western AA seeding tournament. Meanwhile, the Havre Blue Ponies will...

[email protected]@havredailynews.com All season long, the Havre High boys basketball team has faced a rigorous schedule of Class AA, A and B opponents. Nothing will change as the Ponies continue their tough schedule continues and the 2002-2003 winds towards the Central A divisional tournament in Belgrade. The Blue Ponies will look for a little redemption when they travel to Malta tonight while on Friday night, Havre will play its fifth game of the season against a defending state champion when they host Central A...

[email protected]@havredailynews.com Something that looked so good to Montana State University-Northern wrestling coach David Ray a week ago, is now looking a little like a mistake. After about four weeks of tough competition, the Lights took a short break from competition last weekend. Ray hoped that the break would allow his wrestlers to rest and recharge for the stretch run to the NAIA National Tournament on March 7-8 in Great Falls. Instead, the break may have been more hurtful than helpful. Ray will find...

[email protected]@havredailynews.com The Havre Ice Hawk varsity boys team hasn't gotten to play a wealth of home games this season. So when they do, they make the most of the it. The Ice Hawks swept the Helena Bighorns in a pair of games this past weekend at the Havre Ice Dome. On Friday night, Havre got a pair of goals from Mark Benjamin, a goal and an assist from Cody McLain and two assists from Chazz Hurlburt in the win. The Ice Hawks got two goals from Jon Johnstone on Saturday to complete the sweep with a...