HAVRE, MT (NMB) As previously reported, local historian Emily Mayer has received a Dave Walter Fellowship through the Montana Historical Society. That will allow her to search their archives and records for information about North Havre. Mayer says that she's been interested in local history her entire life.
"My family has been here for a long time. the Mayer side of the family arrived with the railroad in September of 1887. Seven generations of my family hav called Havre home at some point in time. I started really appreciating our local history from my family members when I was a child," said Mayer.
Mayer says that growing up on the north side of Havre has left her with a lot of memories that she would like to know more about.
"One of the things that I would like to find out is there used to be an African-American church somewhere on the north side. The only reference I have ever been able to find is in Great Guts and Gusto on the African-American church that was built in Havre. That's what I'm going to be looking for when I get down to Helena, is information of the African-Americans that used to live on the north side of Havre," said Mayer.
Mayer says that North Havre is sometimes forgotten, and she'd like to preserve its history. She says she'd like to write a book detailing her research so that other people can learn about the history there.
(Copyright 2010 New Media Broadcasters. All Rights Reserved.)
Havre could get tree ordinance
HAVRE, MT (NMB) Havre could be getting its own tree ordinance. Scott Sheppard with the city's parks department says a majority of cities across Montana have such ordinances, and the parks department has been working on one for some time. He submitted a proposed ordinance to the city's ordinance committee at their meeting this past week.
"One of the major things that it would do is to create a commission, like we have now with a streets and sidewalks commission or a parks commission in general. The commission or committee would help make decisions pertaining to trees in the community, hopefully allowing the city to better direct our work efforts and manage our resources more efficiently," said Sheppard.
And the ordinance would pertain to homeowners as well.
"Say a homeowner had a tree that was infested with insects that could potentially spread to other trees in the community. The city would then have the ability to help mitigate those problems," said Sheppard.
Sheppard says that the parks department is satisfied with their current ordinance. The committee said it would take it up at their next meeting in August.
(Copyright 2010 New Media Broadcasters. All Rights Reserved.)
FEMA continues help to Rocky Boy
GREAT FALLS, MT (NMB) FEMA crews are continuing their survey of damage on the Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation and working with local officials on those assessments. Ricardo Zuniga is an external affairs officer with FEMA's office that has been set up in Great Falls to oversee the efforts. He says that the assessments will help the tribe get reimbursements to do repairs. He says that while all of the decisions regarding prioritizing repairs will be handled by tribal officials, Zuniga notes that FEMA has done a lot so far in the recovery efforts.
"We have helped provide drinking water, while the water system was down. We've helped provide communication support with some extra radios to lift the burden on their fire radio system so they can get back and be prepared for fire season. We helped coordinate Verizon bringing in a cellular on wheels to bring a much more robust cellular communication," said Zuniga.
But, he says, their main goal is to make sure that proper aid money comes to the region.
"We would like to remind folks that all disasters begin and end locally with decisions made by the local government. We're there to provide as much support as possible and make sure that the applicant, whether it's the tribe or Hill County gets every dollar for which they are eligible," said Zuniga.
Zuniga says that the tribe has done well in helping coordinate the assessment efforts. He says there's no timeline as to how long FEMA crews will be on the reservation.
(Copyright 2010 New Media Broadcasters. All Rights Reserved.)
Local historian to focus on North Havre with Fellowship
HAVRE, MT (NMB) Local Historian Emily Mayer has been awarded one of two Dave Walter Fellowships through the Montana Historical Society. Mayer says it is a wonderful opportunity to research local history.
"I will be going down to Helena later this month and also for a few days in September. What I would like to do is go down and take a look at what they have in their archives. Come back, do the north Side history Gathering Sessions and get an idea of what I should be honing in on in September and then go back down there," said Mayer.
She says that she'll be focusing on North Havre. She says she wants to preserve that part of Havre's history
"Just to be able to have something that's out there that people can put their hands on. To the best of my knowledge, no one has ever done anything to record the history of Havre's north side. Its just kind of a forgotten part of Havre," said Mayer.
Mayer says she hopes to be able to write a book about north Havre. She'll host north side history meetings on Saturdays in August at the Havre Hill County Library to gather information from people about the town's past, especially its people and businesses.
(Copyright 2010 New Media Broadcasters. All Rights Reserved.)
Opportunity Link hopes workshop spurs green discussions
HAVRE, MT (NMB) Local community leaders gathered at HRDC on Thursday to meet with individuals from across Montana who are committed to making the state's cities greener. Presentations were given on farm to lunch programs, green blocks, and creating community energy action plans. Opportunity Link's Day Soriano says that these types of discussions are not common along the Hi-Line.
"These are all new to us and probably maybe to the region. its nice to have people who are educated about these types of initiative that we can probably learn from and apply here," said Soriano.
Alternative Energy Resources Organization Energy Program Manager Ben Brouwer says that in his experience, climate control initiatives are best started at the city level. "In Helena, we decided that we weren't seeing the kind of change and kind of action at the state or federal levels and that we needed to start initiating some of that from our individual communities. We saw a lot of potential for energy conservation and some real improvements to our energy scheme right there in Helena," said Soriano.
Soriano says that groups like Opportunity Link are trying to bring some of these ideas to Havre. She's hopeful that these sorts of meetings will help facilitate more of these discussions.
(Copyright 2010 New Media Broadcasters. All Rights Reserved.)
Saturday market continues to grow
HAVRE, MT (NMB) The Havre Farmer's Market continues this weekend, and so far on the summer it's been very successful says Havre Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Debbie Vandeberg.
"It has been a great farmer's market so far for the Havre Saturday market. We've had 21, 27, and 28 vendors respectively since we opened. With the warm weather, I think we'll see some of our local gardeners be there this weekend. I would say that we would exceed the 38 vendors that we topped out at last year," said Vandeberg.
Vandeberg says that after working with the market for ten years, it's nice to see it grow into the community event that it's become.
"It's very rewarding for those who participate in the market to see it grow to the capacity that it is. In reading some national averages in communities our size, vendor participation on a regular basis ranges from 25 to 35, so we've exceeded some of the national average numbers in the growth and size of our market," said Vandeberg.
The market runs from eight till noon at the Havre Town Square. it will be held each Saturday until it closes on September 18.
(Copyright 2010 New Media Broadcasters. All Rights Reserved.)
Violent offender assaults man fishing with son
GREAT FALLS, Mont. (AP) A registered violent offender has been charged with felony aggravated assault for an unprovoked attack that left the victim with a broken eye socket, nose and jaw. Bail was set at $50,000 Thursday for 30-year-old Ross Robert Habets of Great Falls, who is charged with beating Charles Stoner on Saturday while Stoner fished with his son. Cascade County officials say a tipster named Habets as the assailant. Court records say Habets told a deputy he punched Stoner twice. Amanda Stoner said her husband had surgery to have metal plates put in his face and will have his jaw wired shut for six weeks. Department of Corrections records show Habets was convicted of felony aggravated assault for a 1997 attack in Teton County and for failing to register as a violent offender in Cascade County in 2004.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Health Consortium to meet
HAVRE, MT (NMB) The Hill County Health Consortium will be meeting on Friday. Northern Montana hospital Compliance officer Christen Obresley explains what the consortium is all about.
"The Hill County Health Consortium was started several years ago for the purpose of establishing a group of people who could go together and apply for and receive and accept grants to promote health care in hill County," said Obreasley.
Obresley says another purpose of the consortium is to make sure that those involved in the county's health are on the same page moving forward.
"There are a lot within Hill County working towards common goals. one of the things that we can do at the Hill County health Consortium is talk about what each individual agency is doing and make sure we're not duplicating each other's efforts and we can work together and make collaborative partnerships for the success of hill County," said Obreasley.
Obreasley says that the consortium was first organized several years ago, and out of those meetings the county was able to plan for and build the Bullhook Clinic. Anyone is welcome to attend the meeting and discuss the health care needs of the county. The consortium will meet at 3:00 on Friday at the conference room in the Havre Holiday Village Mall.
(Copyright 2010 New Media Broadcasters. All Rights Reserved.)
Opportunity Link to show renovated bus barn
HAVRE, MT (NMB) Opportunity Link will be unveiling their renovated bus barn at a ceremony this evening. Opportunity Link Executive Director Barb Stiffarm says that transit system's old facility was not very energy efficient, and that Opportunity Link needed to practice what it preached when it came to conservation.
"We needed to figure out ways to reduce that cost. One of the things that we've done is a special green build project where we incorporated the traditional carpentry skills with those that would be utilized on a project that was actually striving to receive points for a leadership energy efficiency design project," said Stiffarm.
In addition to getting a new bus barn, the project was also part of the Construction and Energy Workforce Training Project.
"It's an extensive hands-on carpentry building construction training. It focuses on integrating energy efficiency materials, techniques and technologies with standard carpentry skills," said Stiffarm.
Stiffarm says that green construction was one of the things identified by work force development as a possibility for job growth in the region. The project was a partnership between Opportunity Link and Fort Belknap and Stone Child Colleges. The public is invited to the bus barn for a ceremony at 5:00 this evening. The bus barn is located at 3105 U.S. 2 NE in Havre. After the ceremony, a free barbecue will be held.
(Copyright 2010 New Media Broadcasters. All Rights Reserved.)
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