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BY BILL VANDER WEELE SIDNEY HERALD “Eastern Montana has beauty that few behold. Eastern Montana is dry and it’s cold. Eastern Montana has badlands and buffalo. My house and the one that I love.” – Erin Espeland, Eastern Montana. Listening to Erin Espeland’s soon to be released CD, “American Siberia,” her folk music songs surely make you think of life in the plains. “I wrote most of the songs about this area,” Espeland, who lived in Sidney for three years as an agriculture scien- tist and now lives in Miles City, said. “There’s a couple about where I lived before – in Reno.” For example, the song “Eastern Montana” was written while Espeland was traveling back to eastern Montana from Missoula. Once she got to Circle, she felt at home and the words came to her. The CD has its official release when Espeland holds CD release parties in Miles City on Aug. 17 and in Wibaux Aug. 18. The cover of the CD features the artwork of Sidney’s Jerry Cornelia. Laura Castro, Sidney, provides backup vocal and fiddle playing. Espeland wrote 11 of the CD’s 12 tracks. “Sometimes a phase keeps go- ing through my head.” Many of the songs come to her while she’s driving, and eastern Montana is a good place for long drives. “That’s why I’ve been so productive here,” she joked. The song “Depression Times” may hit home for many area residents. Dur- ing the song, individuals from three different areas ask, “Is it expensive to live here? Do you think I can get a job?” Espeland said she named the CD “American Siberia” because as an ecologist she pays attention to plants and landscape. From that prospective, Siberia and eastern Montana are simi- lar. She recorded the CD at a friend’s barn in California. The CD will be available on CDBaby and iTunes. “I’m very pleased how it turned out, and I’m proud of it,” Espeland said prior to her performance at the Sun- rise Festival of the Arts Saturday. Chokecherry Jam, which features Espeland, Castro and Bob Enerson, will perform at the Yellowstone Conflu- ence Interpretive Center at 3 p.m. CDT July 29. Our newspaper carriers would like to say Thank You to our customers for the tips. WEDNESDAY JULY 18, 2012 104th year, No. 58 Sidney, Montana www.sidneyherald.com 75 CENTS Plan to attend Fairview Festival. Pages 1-4B. SERVING RICHLAND COUNTY AND THE SURROUNDING AREA FOR OVER 100 YEARS Bulletin Board Business breakfast There is a Business Over Breakfast event Wednesday (today) from 7-8 a.m. at the Elks Lodge. Representatives from Sidney Law Enforce- ment and Raleigh Peck, ElectricLand, will discuss business security. This is free to Sidney Chamber members and costs $10 for non-chamber members. Kids First Carnival Applications for booths are now being accepted for the third annual Kids First Carnival to be held at the Richland County Events Center on Sept. 15. Cost to rent a booth for this event is $25. Contact Elaine Stedman at [email protected]. mt.us or elaine@midrivers. com or 406-480-5719. Happy birthday The Sidney Herald wishes happy birthday this week to friends Shaun Jensen, Lilli Karlin, Yvonne DeTi- enne, Corey TwoHearts, Kelly Holst, Jordan Tyler, Courtney Sullivan, Michael Nelson, Sharon Carlson, Jared Kutzler, Kim Scheetz, Lorena New, Matt Shanower, Bailey Micheletto, Zack Nelson, Mary Geiger, Toni Fink, Amy Rosanna Russell, Janet Gullikson Pannell, Keelen Geiser, Steve Ham- mel, Karen Synak, Brenda Harris, Oleen Moore Carter O’Connor, Melanie Emmel Herman, Danny Erickson, Justin Boyer, Sara Stein- beisser, Carla Falcon-Grile, Kailee Anderson, Kirsten Degn, Michelle Miller- Smith, Nathan Finsaas, Ty Graves and Bobbi Scheetz Cozzens. Rau registration Rau Elementary School has registration for grades 1-6, July 24-26, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the school for the 2012-2013 school year. Class reunion Sidney Senior High School Class of 1982 Reunion is July 27-29. The no-social is at 7 p.m. Friday at the Winner’s Pub followed by ac- tivities Saturday, a banquet Saturday night and a no-host brunch Sunday morning. For more information, check out our Facebook page, Sidney Senior High School Class of 1982-Sidney, Montana or contact Kelly Dey at so40kelly@midriv- ers.com or 489-1396, Janae Finnicum at jcfinnicum@ho- tmail.com or Tanya Candee at [email protected]. Garage sale The Church of God will have its annual garage sale from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thurs- day and Friday. Deaths Michael “Mike” Cummings, 44 Evelyn Dreyer, 87 Jean Krause, 83 Kenneth Lebsack, 84 Alton Jens Thogersen, 84 Page 3A Inside Around Town ..... 2A Classifieds .......5-9B Deaths ............... 3A Dial an Expert..6-7B Oil report ........... 9A Opinion .............. 8A Sports . . . .. 11-12B BY LOUISA BARBER SIDNEY HERALD The county commission- ers agreed last week to move forward with the $2.55 mil- lion water and sewer lines project to serve new develop- ments in southwest Sidney. Seven stakeholders have made preliminary com- mitments to pay back the county. Four others, whose properties lie within a half mile of the future trunk lines, have shown interest. Two weeks ago commission- ers agreed to extend water and sewer lines from War- ren Lane (behind Pizza Hut) south to the Poor Farm then west to a proposed motel and future subdivisions in southwest Sidney, all the way to the Sidney-Circle Subdivision. The county wants to get the project under construc- tion this year to spur much needed housing and com- mercial developments. It appears the county could stand to receive up to $1.85 million from stakeholders over a 10-year period based on payback options selected by the stakeholders. The county will fund the project up front and in turn the city of Sidney will take over the system and will have the various developers sign the payback agree- ments that will be finalized by the county. When they hook on to the services, the city will collect the money from the develop- ers that didn’t pay up front and return it to the county. “You guys aren’t going to be the auditors. You’ll be the bank,” said Brian Milne, president of Interstate Engi- neering. Some stakeholders have indicated they’ll pay right away. If participants pay up front, the county stands to get a 63 percent return on the water line, compared to 73 percent if they defer payment for the 10 years. For the sewer line portion, the county would get a 67 percent return on the up front costs and 81 percent if deferred. In the end, the county would likely only spend $700,000. In addition to extending service lines, the city must eventually erect a new water tower to handle the added residen- cies. Construction of an 18” ex- tension for rural users will likely begin at the southwest corner of the Sidney city limits and continue west and south to the Sidney- Circle Subdivision. “Between now and when we open up bids in Sep- tember, we can continue working on payback agree- ments,” Milne said. The developer is still responsible for all costs associated with development on their prop- erty. “All that we’re doing is providing the spigot and the straw.” Commissioners agreed the project was the right direc- tion. “It’s a great investment on our behalf to get this thing kickstarted and going forward with the sewer and water,” Commissioner Shane Gorder said. Milne reiterated that the fees stakeholders will pay do not guarantee they’ll get hooked on. Instead, they’re to pay for their part of the construction and work with the city of Sidney on final connection fees and DEQ requirements. Once contracts are signed, the project will go to bid, the county will pay the bill and construction can begin. County provides ‘spigot, straw,’ to lead developers to water ‘It’s a great investment on our behalf to get this thing kickstarted and going forward with the sewer and water.’ Shane Gorder County commissioner BILL VANDER WEELE | SIDNEY HERALD Erin Espeland, left, and Laura Castro perform during the Sunrise Festival of the Arts in Sidney Saturday. Former local resident Espeland creates CD featuring songs about area Montana music National spotlight The omnibus hearings for the men charged with kidnapping and murder- ing Sidney teacher Sherry Arnold have been changed to a different date. The hearings for Michael Keith Spell and Lester Van Waters Jr. were scheduled for Tuesday and will move to Jan. 7, 2013, at 1:30 p.m. for Spell and 2 p.m. for Waters. The state did not object to the motion. In late June, Spell changed lawyers for the case. Previ- ously, he was represented by Randi Hood and Steven Scott. His new representa- tion features Alfred Arig- none, Bozeman, Lisa Banick, Bozeman, and Eric Brewer, Bozeman. On May 15, Spell and Waters pleaded not guilty to deliberate homicide and at- tempted kidnapping charges during their arraignment hearings. The deliberate homicide charge pertains to causing the death of Arnold by ei- ther choking her or holding her face in mud or water until she was dead. Richland County Attor- ney Mike Weber has filed a “notice of intent to seek the death penalty” on each defendant. Hearings for Spell, Waters moved to 2013 Local girl excels at competition BY BILL VANDER WEELE SIDNEY HERALD Imagine being an 11-year- old girl from Sidney in competition with girls as old as high school seniors on a national stage. That’s just what Cammy Heck recently did, and she succeeded greatly as she earned some of the top awards for singing and danc- ing at the National Finals Spotlight Dance Cup held in Seaside, Ore., last week. The honors included dancing at the championship extrava- ganza and earning the title of the 2012 Pacific Coast National Spotlight Finals talent show winner. How did the daughter of Brian and Robyn Heck get to that point? She qualified for the spotlight cup by winning the Junior Miss Spotlight title not only at the Billings competition but also the Bis- marck, N.D., competition. The outcomes at these events were based on solo dancing, answering a ques- tion and a dance combo step. Questions included which parent has a better chance to become famous and what for? “My mom because she is a fabulous singer.” Would you rather live in the ocean or on the moon? “I chose the ocean because you can’t dance on the moon. There’s no gravity.” Asked what makes her feel good, Cammy replied when after she dances, her family supports her no matter how she did. In Oregon, Cammy, who was representing the Cut- ting Edge Dance Studio, earned second-place rank- ings with both a song and dance number along with a tap dance. After performing all week with the Spotlight Elite team, she received SUBMITTED Cammy Heck dancing at the National Finals Spotlight Dance Cup held in Seaside, Ore. SEE HECK, PAGE 12A
