Independently owned since 1905
Independently owned since 1905
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An extreme makeover is planned for Wild Goose Landing Park in Thompson Falls. As part of its ongoing relicensing process with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), last week NorthWestern Energy presented plans for renovating the park on the east end of Thompson Falls. The current license for the Thompson Falls dam expires December 31, 2025, Andy Welch, manager of NorthWestern Energy's Hydro License Compliance, told the crowd of about 30 people at the Rex Theater last Thursday. The...
Thompson Falls Main Street and the Sanders County Chamber of Commerce are gearing up for the annual community Christmas celebration. The theme of this year’s Christmas on Main Street is Old World Christmas. Several fun and festive events are planned for December 6-7, 2024. “We are truly thankful for all our community volunteers working to create such a wonderful event,” said Kayla Mosher, chairperson of the Thompson Falls Main Street board. For information on any of the activities, contact Thompson Falls Main Street at (406) 827-0487 or email...
Twenty-two military veterans from the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard were on hand at Plains School last Monday for the school's Veterans Day Luncheon. "It's always an honor to be recognized for what we did. I didn't do much, but I did it. Both of my brothers were in, so I thought I should do my part," said Betty Meyer of Paradise, a World War II veteran and at 100 years, the oldest guest at the event. Retired Army Lt. Col. Samantha Bebb said she was honored to be...
A community fundraiser for a local family became a countywide tribute to a longtime pastor last week. Pastor Charlie Denson of the Assembly of God church in Thompson Falls passed away October 31 after a brief battle with brain cancer. Denson was pastor at the Thompson Falls church for 38 years. The church community originally scheduled the Nov. 12 fundraiser to help with medical expenses. When Denson passed, it became a fundraiser for his family. Bruce Donaldson, who has been a member of the...
The Thompson Falls City Council met last week to discuss various projects in the city. Mayor Rusti Leivestad, in the ongoing discussion about flashing crosswalk signs, stated in a report of the street and alleys committee that she met with the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT). MDT told her that in order to add crosswalks, the average daily traffic needs to be about 14,000 vehicles, and the latest speed study in the city showed about 5,000 daily vehicles. The mayor said the Thompson Falls Woman’s Club continues to show interest in t...
Tiny Bees Daycare owner Holly Sanders (which we wrote about earlier this month) is also part of the Falls Chapel Events nonprofit organization. Sanders said the group does community outreach and offers free events for families. They do movies, a Valentine’s dinner, a fall harvest dinner and kids carnival at Falls Chapel. They are even planning a murder mystery dinner on January 3. The events are free for the community, though the group also takes donations. Last Saturday at the Fall Forest Festival at Ainsworth park, the church had a c...
When nearly half of your team is seniors, the final game of the season is bittersweet. Hot Springs' six seniors played the final football game of their high school career last weekend as the Savage Heat lost to Box Elder 57-54 in the 6-player semifinal game. "They've been in the playoffs every year, but haven't been to a semifinal game," Hot Springs Coach Jim Lawson said of the 2024 seniors. "They had been working their whole career to get to a game like this. It's not easy getting to where you...
Last week I wrote about the miles and miles that the Hot Springs football team has traveled this season. It's definitely a commitment to play 6-man football in Montana. Thanks to assistant coach Anderw Leichtnam for pointing out a key mistake in my map last week. The Savage Heat also traveled to Big Sandy this season. The mileage below is distances from town to town straight from Google Maps. According to Coach Jim Lawson, with stops, etc., the team went about 4,400 miles this season and racked...
Thompson Falls High School welcomed more than two dozen veterans and their family members on Monday for a special luncheon and Veterans Day ceremony. Mike Bruse, a veteran of the U.S. Marines and a former teacher at Thompson Falls, served as emcee for the event, welcoming the veterans and thanking them, as well as the students, school and kitchen staff. The kitchen staff served baked chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, fruit cocktail, rolls and a special apple crisp dessert. As the veterans...
I only made it to one Veterans Day event with it being on Monday, but it was still an endearing day. Thompson Falls High School put on a lovely assembly with the choir and band. They also served lunch to veterans and their families. I was impressed with the students who helped serve the veterans their meal. There probably was a bit of coaching from school staff, but they thanked each veteran for their service as they served their meal. More students then came in to sit amongst the veterans during the performances. I heard students again...
Two Sanders County 4-H members were recently honored as top exhibitors in the lam carcass division. The Montana State University Extension Service, the Montana 4-H and FFA Programs and Montana Woolgrowers sponsor the program. The Montana Youth Certified Fair Lamb Contest is ranked in two divisions on a statewide level, carcass and ultrasound. John McNamara earned first place in the carcass division. His 115-pound lamb yielded a Choice+ quality carcass with .05-inch back fat and 4.15 square inch...
In support of Red Ribbon Week, an event was held at First Baptist Church in Thompson Falls on October 26. Karren McKinzie with Sanders County Public Health coordinated the event with the Clark Fork Valley Elks. The event included a coloring contest with nearly 150 entries from five school across the county. The Rex Theater donated a movie ticket, drink and popcorn for each winner. McKinzie, as part of the presentation, talked to kids and adults about alcohol use and vaping issues in schools....
Volunteers recently completed installing the playground equipment at Ainsworth Park. The equipment was donated by Montana Dakota Services of Thompson Falls.. Pictured are from left, Dave and Norena Mahler, Mitch and Mary Noack and Curt and Chery Kegel. After constructing the playgorund equipment, volunteers spread mulch and installed plastic edging. At Thompson Falls Main Street's Fall Festival, dozens of youngsters enjoyed the first play on the new park feature....
The football season just keeps getting sweeter for the Hot Springs Savage Heat. The team is headed to Box Elder this weekend for the 6-player semifinal round after beating Highwood last weekend in Hot Springs 46-8. Senior quarterback Nick McAllister is excited that the Savage Heat get to continue their season. "This team is a really close knit family. It's like a group of brothers," he explained. "This has been one of the funnest years." As last Saturday's contest in Hot Springs kicked off, it...
Six-player football teams put on the miles during the season. With the trip to Box Elder this weekend, Hot Springs will have racked up over 3,500 miles this season on a bus. They started the season in Centerville (514 miles round trip), then went to White Sulphur Springs (532 miles), Gardiner (711), Alberton (176), Hysham (991) and now are headed to Box Elder (658). Add it all up and that's 3,582 miles. If Hot Springs wins this weekend and goes on to the state championship game, they will play...
UPDATED 1:28 p.m. Wednesday, November 6 When the ballot counting completed about 1 a.m. on Wednesday morning, a total of 8,107 ballots had been counted from Sanders County voters in Tuesday's general election. As of Tuesday morning, there were 9,218 registered voters in the county, resulting in a voter turnout of 87.95%, a new record for the county. County elections staff said that more than 85 people had been at the courthouse Tuesday to register to voter and cast ballots. Among notable races,...
Click "View PDF" to see Sanders County Election results by precinct....
Sanders County has a new county attorney. Jania Hatfield was sworn in Thursday by County Commissioner Tony Cox and started her new position last week. The county attorney position was open after Megan Hansen, who was appointed earlier this year, recently resigned. Prior to moving to Sanders County, Hatfield served as a deputy county attorney for Broadwater County in Townsend. She also previously worked in Helena for the state Office of the Public Defender, and has worked for the state's Child...
Sanders County recently signed on to participate in the 20th Judicial District Adult Drug Court (JDADC). The court has been active in Lake County since 2016. The program was created to restructure judicial participation in cases involving chemically dependent offenders. The goal of the JDADC, according to District Judge Molly Owen, is to ensure participants will have more success in maintaining law-abiding behavior, reducing the number and duration of relapses while increasing the duration of their sobriety, and increasing their life skills....
As you read this, the election is over and hopefully we know who the president is, we know how people voted on the constitutional initiatives, and life can get back to normal. Hopefully our mailboxes are less full of campaign materials that end up in the trash and the television ads are back to promoting medicines and the latest model of trucks. I feel like I'm suffering from election overload, though it's till one of my favorite times of the year as a journalist. It's been interesting this year to see people get so involved as the election dre...
A new daycare in Thompson Falls is offering child care Monday through Friday. Holly Sanders opened Tiny Bees Daycare in May. She said last week that she is licensed to care for up to eight children, and currently has half of those spots filled. Tiny Bees came about when Sanders saw a need in the community and took the opportunity. She previously worked for Town Pump in Plains for 20 years, so the idea of opening a daycare in the community where she lives was appealing. Tiny Bees operates out of...
You may not be able to tell from the score, but Hot Springs had quite a battle in their 78-51 playoff win last weekend. The Savage Heat traveled to Hysham to face the Custer-Hysham-Melstone Rebels in the first round of the 6-man playoffs Saturday. The Savage Heat struggled in the first half with some injuries and some penalties, but they were able to stay focused and secure the win at Hysham, giving them home-field advantage for round two of the playoffs. Hot Springs will host Highwood this...
Thompson Falls held its annual Punt, Pass, Kick event on October 27, giving kids an opportunity to show off their skills on the football field and have a chance to advance to the regional competition. The winner in each division advances to a regional event, the location of which will be disclosed in January. “It was an awesome, fun day and the weather didn’t end up being too bad,” said organizer Jake Mickelson. A total of 34 kids participated in the 2024 event at Thompson Falls High School’s Previs Field. Age 6-7 Girls: 1, Zoe Eubanks...
Thompson Falls students will have access to the GEAR UP program for another seven years, high school Principal Jodi Morgan told the school board Monday night. Morgan said that Sen. Jon Tester pressured the Biden administration to fund the program for Monta’as students. “That’s really, really, really good news,” Morgan stated. “The Montana University System’s GEAR UP is one of the best tools we have to get kids ready for college, and it’s critical that it receives full federal support,” Sen. Tester said in a press release. “I’m glad to se...
Thompson Falls Elementary students decorated pumpkins for the Halloween holiday that were inspired by books. Students in grades K-4 voted on their favorites. Winner were (from left) Elora Moore, Sage Preston and Ryker Whittenburg....
