The Montana Highway Patrol commissioned eleven new troopers at the 68th Advanced Academy graduation ceremony Sept. 3. Attorney General Tim Fox addressed the graduates at the event, which took place at the Kleffner Ranch in East Helena. Captain Derek Werner of Poplar is now District VIII Commander in Havre. Werner told the Northern Plains Independent that he joined the highway patrol in 2007

Obituaries Keith Red Elk Keith Lyle Red Elk, 67, died Aug. 29, 2020, in Billings. He was born in Geneva, N.Y., at Sampson AFB. He was the son of Kenneth and Pat Red Elk. He graduated from Eastridge High School in Rochester, N.Y., in 1971. After high school, he joined the Army and was honorably discharged in 1977. He was a welder by trade. When he returned to the reservation in

I was working at the Roosevelt County Sheriff’s Office when patrolman Delmar “Butch” Olsen came in with new patrolman Larry Irwin who was reporting to his first station, Wolf Point. It was early 1992. Little did I know I would later be able to tell people I met my husband at the jail. Larry likes to tell people I asked him out. Butch Olsen has always claimed he matched Larry and me together.

Obituaries Ernest Carlson Ernest Fredrick Carlson, 66, of Circle died Aug. 14, 2020. He was born in Circle on April 17, 1954, and grew up on Prairie Elk, attending Prairie Elk School and graduating from Circle High School in 1972. From his youngest days, his musical talent and genuine interest in people made him a friend of many. His ready smile and wave will be missed in the Circle community

Robert Belton, 56, of Wolf Point died Saturday, Aug. 22, 2020, in Billings. He was born Dec. 5, 1963, in Wolf Point to Ronald Belton and Beatrice Redwood Belton. He attended school in Poplar and was a devout Poplar Indian. He was a All-State player and he received a full athletic scholarship. He graduated from Poplar High School in 1982. In 1983, he married Sheila Spotted Bull. From this union,