youth Challenge Cadet

Jennie Ri-vera, Sidney, graduated June 16 from the Mon-tana Youth Challenge Academy in

Dillon.The academy is a 17 and a

half month, three-phase, tu-ition-free program designed to assist youth ages 16-18 by helping them to develop the academic and physical skills and abilities required to be successful.

Gay

Kune

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Cam

i Ski

nner Happy 4th of July!

INSURANCE AGENCY 406-433-1411 114 2nd Avenue S.E., Sidney

Happy 4Happy 4Happy 4Happy 4Happy 4Happy 4Happy 4Happy 4Happy 4 See us for all your insurance needs.

WEDNESDAYJULY 4, 2012104th year, No. 54Sidney, Montanawww.sidneyherald.com75 CENTS

Have a happy Fourth of July!

SERVING RICHLAND CoUNTY AND THE SURRoUNDING AREA FoR oVER 100 YEARS

Bulletin Board Jaycees’ breakfast

The Sidney Jaycees will have its community break-fast Wednesday (today) from 6 a.m. to noon at the Moose Lodge. Proceeds raised help to defray the cost of the fi reworks display.

Herald closedThe Sidney Herald offi ce

will close Wednesday (today) so employees can enjoy the Fourth of July holiday. Deadline for the Sunday paper is noon Thursday.

Kiwanis pie socialThe Sidney Kiwanis Club

will have its pie social from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. July 13 at Veterans Memorial Park. Menu includes a hot dog plate for $7, a brat plate for $9, hot dog for $3, brat for $5 and a slice of pie for $3. Whole pies are sold after 1:30 p.m. for $15.

All funds raised are used for youth programs and scholarships in Sidney.

Happy birthdayThe Herald wishes

happy birthday this week to friends Vicki Vaira, Ronda Welnel, Larry R. Miller, Ray Hansen, Trina Miller, Mark Weeks, Kayleen Searer, Law-rence Ault, Lauren Chase, Joyce Hall-Dey, Leanna Marsh, Dewey Moede, Joan Horton, Hailee Tighe, Jessica Buxbaum, Sandy Reiter, Jenna Lechner, Don Steinbeisser Jr., Gregg Alan Hunter, Barb Martin Highsmith, Stacie Hines, Michelle Gibbs, DeeAnn Siggard, Lexi Cayko, Kelly Berndt, Valeria Vrooman, Taylor Searer, JoEllen Bar-tels, Alice Keller, Danielle Knutson, Santos Escobedo and Roxie Britton.

graduation photosSidney High School 2012

graduates may come to the high school to pick up their graduation photo in the high school offi ce Monday-Thursday 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. or Friday 7 a.m. to noon.

Newsmaker

Deathsavis l. erickson, 93

gerald W. Hartland, 68scott norby, 40

Page 3A

Inside Around Town .....2AClassifi eds .......3-7BDeaths ...............3ADial an Expert..4-5B

NIE. ...................6AOpinion ..............8ARichland Living ...8BSports . . . ..... .1-2B

By Bill Vander WeeleSIDNEY HERALD

More than $2.8 million in improvements to the Richland-Sidney Airport will start taking place in the middle of July.

The project will include the construction of a new taxiway and the repairing of an existing taxiway.

“This will open it up for development and eliminate congestion,” Walt McNutt, a member of the airport board, said.

The FFA will pay for $2.525 million of the project. An-other $19,275 will come from a Montana Aeronautics grant and $39,275 will come from a low-increase loan from Montana Aeronautics.

McNutt explained the new east-west taxi area allows for development of the south side of the terminal.

“We’re in expansion mode,

working for the future,” McNutt said.

On Friday, the Richland County commissioners agreed to provide up to $225,000 in matching funds.

“To me, it’s an oppor-tunity you don’t want to miss,” Commissioner Shane

Gorder said. The move will provide

the possibility of using the south area for additional hangers.

The project will also in-clude the raising of existing lights and signs.

Offi cials are also research-

ing adding another route to the airport by putting in a bridge on Mount Pleasant Road.

Bill Henderson, airport manager, told commission-ers that the airport is close to 10,000 enplanements for the fi scal year that ended

Saturday. The offi cial fi gure won’t come out until the end of August. If that fi gure is reached, the airport will receive a $1 million entitle-ment.

editor@sidneyherald.com

BILL VANDER WEELE | SIDNEY HERALD

The airport in Sidney is becoming busier.

Taxiway improvements scheduled at local airport

BILL VANDER WEELE | SIDNEY HERALD

excited shoppersNathan Carlsen, 5, and Ben Carlsen, 8, look over the selection at the TNT fi reworks stand Saturday.

By louisa BarBerSIDNEY HERALD

In his 40 years of truck driving off and on, Marty Casey has seen his share of close calls. The last one was not too long ago when a fellow trucker cut him off in Williston, N.D.

“You see a lot of people pull out in front of you,” Casey, a driver for Red Rock Transportation and longtime Sidney resident, said. His opinion of truck drivers isn’t exactly a nice one. “Half of them shouldn’t even be there,” he says, alleging that many don’t know how to drive those mon-strous vehicles and that companies hire just to fi ll seats. Many drivers, both truckers and passenger vehicles, he believes, have zero respect for oth-ers.

In Williston, 40 percent of the traf-fi c is semi-trucks, so it’s no surprise accidents often involve these vehicles. However, drivers of passenger vehicles can’t claim innocence. Law enforce-ment and state agencies have long said

that these drivers often take unneces-sary risks because of lack of patience on the state’s two-lane highways.

Now, with additional traffi c possibly heading west with the oil, the Mon-tana Department of Transportation, with help from North Dakota State University, is studying the impacts to Montana’s highways due to oil devel-opment.

“MDT is very aware of the increased traffi c and highway activity,” Chris Dorrington, data and statistics bureau chief, said. “This study will help us understand the current situation and

forecast future activity so we can make sound investment decisions and plan for the transportation infrastructure in eastern Montana.”

The department is already conduct-ing a study from Glendive to Fairview and in Culbertson, in which offi cials are examining what can be done to improve driver safety on the corridor. Passing lanes and rumble strips are part of the discussion.

But this latest yearlong study which began in May seems to possess a larger focus. Staff studying the highway sys-tem, using North Dakota as a reference point for what could be expected, will examine seven aspects of the traffi c with these three as basics:

• Develop a comprehensive forecast-ing tool the MDT can use to predict truck traffi c.

• Identify potential oil and gas plays that might infl uence the state’s trans-portation system.

• Identify funding needs to maintain quality infrastructure, using North

Traffi c overfl owDepartment of Transportation, North Dakota State University studying impacts

see TraffiC, PAGE 10A

By louisa BarBerSIDNEY HERALD

A week after a series of storms ripped through northern Richland County, authorities said power was restored to a couple hundred homes.

“Everything’s cleaned up and back to normal again,” said Chris Hillesland, Lower Yellowstone Rural Electric Association’s operations manager.

It took a few days to get power back to residents. Some substations that lost power on June 24 were restored three days later. A substation in Sioux Pass was back on line Thursday, affecting between 100-200 homes.

The Spring Lake substa-tion on Highway 201 was back on line Friday morn-

ing; it affected mostly oil-related equipment.

Farms, ranches and stock pumps numbered at least 100 that had lost electricity. It took a while to restore a mile and a half of downed trans-mission poles, Hillesland said. Roughly 30 workers concentrated on downed substations and poles, impacting regular business. The association was already behind work.

“It set our schedule back a week and a half at least,” Hillesland said. “That’s not too bad, but it does make a difference.”

Workers at Lower Yel-lowstone may still have their hands full if forecasts prove true. A cold front was expected to move into eastern Montana, prompt-ing thunderstorms Tuesday night accompanied by large hail and damaging winds possibly, according to the National Weather Service offi ce in Glasgow. Tempera-tures for the rest of the week are expected to remain in the 80s and 90s.

REA workersrestore powerto residentsafter storm

‘it set our schedule back

a week and a half

at least.’

Chris HilleslandLower Yellowstone REA