MontanaWithKids.com

Bob and the Elvis Girls at the Viva Elvis show in Las Vegas

Dateline: Terry, Montana
By: Bob van der Valk
March 3, 2010

The sad truth is I worship my heroes from afar with the hopes that some day I will get to meet them and tell them how they made a difference in my life. Condoleezza Rice is one those people and strange but true so is Elvis. (more…)

I don’t know if you’ve ever been to a fortune teller before or have thought about going to one, but I have and let me tell you, there are some that get things so right it’s spooky and then others who just give general readings that could be meant for anyone. So, suffice it to say that I really didn’t know what to believe when I went to a fortune teller to find out what was in my future. (more…)

Aaron Flint Host of Voices of Montana Radio Show

Aaron Flint will be doing his Voices of Montana radio show on Friday, November 27, 2009 from Terry, Montana. He will set up to do his one hour broadcast live from the Badlands Café and Scoop Shoppe starting at 9 a.m. and will be interviewing Bob van der Valk about happenings in Terry and Prairie County.

All residents of Terry and Prairie County are invited to join Aaron Flint and Bob van der Valk at the Badlands Café. Coffee will be served compliments of Arline and Inger Koppenhaver, who are the owners of the unique retro-50’s styled restaurant with the rear end of a ’55 Chevy sticking out of the front façade of the building. (more…)

There is a lot of talk about the Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFL Lights) on the market today, and some discussion about whether or not they’re a good thing overall. These have been legally mandated in other countries like Australia for years because the government feels it’s easier to make them the law rather than build more coal-fired power plants they can’t afford. But is it really cheaper for you, the consumer? Here’s a quick run-down that will show you the real costs, real savings and real benefits of letting the century-old incandescent light go the way of the dodo. (more…)

Blockbuster films probably aren’t the first thing you think of when you make your list of booming businesses in Montana, but, the film industry, flush with a new blast of cash from the stimulus package, has set its sights once again on the big sky state, and is already making strides to aid the state’s economy.
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We spent three weeks in Montana last June/July and another three weeks last August, so when we announced our nine week tour for this summer, friends and family said, “Boy, you guys sure like Montana, don’t you?” Well yes we do, and there are a number of reasons why. Rather than email every single person individually, we decided to publish a story detailing some of the many reasons why big sky country is a place that, once you see it, you just can’t get it out of your head.
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Super Bowl Fever is gone, March Madness is over but April swine flu fever is now spreading throughout the world. This dreadful disease has to be stopped dead in its tracks at least by calling it at least calling it something else. (more…)

One of the biggest, best, baddest and oldest sites in the satire / spoof news game has stepped back up fron their former glory back to the prominence they once held. The site is Glossy News, and they’ve run more articles than almost any of their competitors, and done it with a degree of heart and cooperative help that makes it obvious why they’re back up to full speed just as the mainstream news outlets are left fumbling and stumbling to find their way through the fiscal valley of the dark.
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A study released last December refuted the effectiveness of the “Montana Meth Project”. With the 2009 Legislative Session approaching, MMP will soon be fighting for its fat slice of the budget pie to continue radio, television and billboard advertisements, even though the presence of which have only witnessed an increase in meth use among teens and adults.
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Republican leaders are up in arms over the apparent concession from democratic leaders over radio host Rush Limbaugh and his elevation to the leadership position over the GOP. Republicans have called the move “strategic”, “cynical” and an “outrage”, among other things, while failing to understand the reasoning behind it. The republican party was waiting for a leader to step up, Limbaugh took the reigns and nobody stopped him… Why is that so hard to understand?
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THE VAN DER VALK GAS PRICE ADVISORY FOR 2-26-09 – There is good news or bad news these days depending on which side of the fence you are dealing in the petroleum market. The April WTI crude oil price surged back over $44 a barrel on Thursday. This was mainly due to The United American Emirates cutting back on some more oil exports to Asia in anticipation of the March OPEC meeting.
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Since our purchase of the Nintendo Wii last year, we’ve been doing our best to consider games as they come around, and do our best to review them as it’s appropriate. We’ve been shopping since then like regular folk, but we’ve been suckered in to at least a couple lackluster Wii purchases, and this terrible game is just one such example.
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This coming Tuesday is National Pancake Day. Sure, it’s only marked on the most comprehensive of every-holiday calendars, but it happens every year, and it’s a day for win-win benefit all around, so maybe you need to gear up for a hot breakfast this Tuesday, February 24th, and get ready to chow down… for the children.
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A wicked combination of negative economic news from around the world has pushed crude oil back under the critical benchmark of $35 a barrel. While some analysts suggest prices will immediately rebound, others are looking at the dismal global forecasts, unusually high reserves and an apparent absence of OPEC control… some are predicting that oil will hit $32/barrel within a week, and $20/barrel within a month. Here are the reasons they’re probably right, and why it’s a good thing.
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Helena, MT – Montana is officially the third state to allow assisted suicide, according to ruling by Helena District Judge Dorothy McCarter. She moved to allow the practice in December and again in January, dismissing a request for an injunction during an appeal. Judge McCarter decided in December that the terminally ill patient Robert Baxter can self-administer lethal drugs provided by a physician.
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Big Sky Resort’s 3rd annual Big Sky Big Grass bluegrass festival will begin February 13 and play in Whiskey Jack’s, the Carabiner and Missouri Ballroom. This three-day music exhibition features artists and bands coming in from all over the country, and this year it promises to be bigger and better than in past years. Pulling out all the stops, they’ve booked 12-time Grammy Award winning artist The Jerry Douglas Band to headline.
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Of all the cut-rate games I’ve bought for the Nintendo Wii, none meant much for me than headache. After buying the Nintendo Play (which came with a controller, so I was warned to have low expectations,) and falling for another title I won’t even bother naming, my faith in the system was entirely shaken… and then I found Lego Star Wars, and my modern gaming life just may now be complete.
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Seems like you’d want a comedian, like Jon Stewart or that (committee) guy from the Onion, to pick the best satire news story to win the annual prize, but the time-tested system of Humor Feed has a leg up on the competition. Already famous in their own right, HumorFeed.com does it differently, and it’s a difference you can plainly see. They start by making their already elite members select just one story each for nomination, then they test them among their own ranks, and from their it goes to the expert panel of judges… and every year, the winner is an absolute gem.
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Plum Creek Timber Company may be citing a decline in home building wood products for the reason their laying off more than 145 workers, but the bottom line is looking more black than red, and an 11th hour Bush shift in land use rights is to blame.
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The recent blast of cold that’s frozen roadways from Seattle to Chicago and beyond has taken a heavy toll on travel conditions in north-central Montana. Highway Patrol reports that they’re still responding to accidents and incidents throughout the area, though the high of 100 stuck and stranded vehicles on the highways has since passed.
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Wildfire suppression costs in Montana have continued to climb, even during this period of falling revenues and tightening budgets, yet other states still feel they have no reason to assist with the cots of Montana Firejumpers, despite the benefits they’ve brought for decades.
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There was a recent raid of a “canine sanctuary” that resulted in the seizure of 189 English shepherds from a tenement kennel in Billings, which also turned up 10 frozen dog carcasses and a dead dog found beside the breeder’s bed, according to authorities. Deputy Yellowstone County Attorney Mark Murphy has not yet said whether or not he will file charges against breeder Linda Kapsa, but may make his decisions in coming days.
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The $20 tickets, on sale since November 1st, are about to get a little more popular, at least in Butte, a town long famous for gambling of the less-than-legal variety. It seems the top prize ticket was issued there at a Town Pump, and one lucky resident is seeing green.
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The rate of growth in taxes Montana collects on video gambling machines fell to 4.4 percent in fiscal 2008, which is believed by some to be the lowest rate since the 2.5% level recorded in 2001. Between $1.2 and $1.4 billion was wagered on state-regulated video gambling machines in 2008, up only slightly from the dollar range in 2007, so growth and taxation is worse than stagnant. What does it all mean?
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Amtrak`s Empire Builder delayed more than 3,000 Amtrak passengers after 16 rail cars carrying new cars to the Pacific coast derailed over last week in northwestern Montana. The Empire Builder runs through North Dakota from Minneapolis to Seattle.
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