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Independently owned since 1905
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In 20th District Judicial Court on Tuesday, Judge Deborah "Kim" Christopher ordered restitution and a two-year deferred sentence for a Hot Springs woman convicted of theft. Ayla Blasius was charged with theft of more than $4,000 from the Hot Springs Parent Teacher Organization while she was a board member for the organization. Blasius was sentenced to two years of probation and must pay the remaining restitution of $2,459.22 during that time. Also in court Tuesday, Jason Krick was sentenced to three years with the Department of Corrections...
The third Saturday in March has been dubbed National Quilting Day by the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, Kentucky. This year, National Quilting Day coincided with the culmination of First Lutheran Church's quilt project for Lutheran World Relief (LWR). Each year, LWR donates hundreds of thousands of quilts to those in need throughout the world. The Plains congregation completes an average of 25 quilts each year to the effort. Last Saturday, about a dozen women showed up to finish the last...
Each year, the Knights of Columbus in Thompson Falls collect donations for their annual Tootsie Roll Drive. Members collected almost $2,000 last year to donate to local Special Olympics athletes. Ron Kazmierczak with the Knights of Columbus last week presented a $700 check to the Super Hawks and a $1,190 check to Little Bitterroot Special Services. Amanda Moseley with Little Bitterroot said they will use the donation a little differently this year. While some of the money will continue to...
Sanders County 4-H members had a chance to fine-tune their Communication Days presentations for the final round, held Sunday at Plains School. Junior and senior 4-H members competed for prizes including Multi-County Camp scholarships, as well as a chance to attend 4-H Congress in Billings in July. In the junior division, the top presenters were Kara Christensen of the Hot Springs Wranglers and Mikiah Cook of Plains with the Southside Sparks. Christensen did a demonstration on perler beads, and...
The Sanders County Sheriff's Office (SCSO) announced today that an arrest has been made in the May 2018 homicide of Thompson Falls resident Matt LaFriniere. Sanders County Sheriff Tom Rummel released a statement today stating that Danielle Wood was taken into custody Wednesday morning and charged with deliberate homicide. Wood is being held on a $1 million bond, according to Sheriff Rummel. Wood and LaFriniere shared a child together. "I would like take this opportunity to thank the Department...
After months of public meetings and consideration by the Thompson Falls City Council, it came down to a tie vote from the mayor Monday evening to decide whether or not to continue with a proposed wastewater treatment project. Mayor Jerry Lacy voted to form two Special Improvement Districts (SIDs) after the council split 3-3 during a roll-call vote. Council members Dennis Newman, Tom Eggensperger and Shawni Vaught voted against creating the SIDs, while Lynne Kersten, Raoul Ribeiro and Earlene...
Eric Malchow pleaded not guilty Tuesday to two counts of sexual assault, both felonies, in which the victims were less than 16 years old, and one count of felony intimidation. The Thompson Falls man is being held on $25,000 bond in the Sanders County Jail. District Court Judge James Manley on Tuesday ordered that Malchow can be released on his own recognizance if he complies with GPS monitoring. The victims were age 8 and 9 when the alleged abuse took place in the summer of 2018. Trial for Malchow was set for Aug. 12. Michael Stocking was...
Last weekend, 93 members of Sanders County 4-H clubs presented everything from how to make cookies to why community service is important in the annual 4-H Communication Days presentations. The presentations included 66 demonstrations, 22 illustrated talks, three impromptu speeches, two prepared speeches and one video. The talks were given Saturday at Thompson Falls High School and Sunday at Hot Springs School, with some members doing makeup presentations at other scheduled times. Topics varied f...
It took Plains sixth-grade student Kailtlyn Ducept four rounds to retain her title as Sanders County Spelling Bee champion, repeating for a second year. While Ducept repeated as champion, it was a 13-round battle for the second and third place finishers in Sanders County. Ayleen Keefe, a fifth-grader from Hot Springs, and David Flores, a sixth-grader from Trout Creek, went word-for-word, with Keefe taking the second-place spot. In the 13th round of the two battling for second place, Keefe spelle...
Being prepared for a disaster takes a lot of planning. Sanders County is a step closer to updating its Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan, which includes strategy to reduce impacts of natural and manmade hazards. County officials have been working since November to update the plan with consulting firm Tetra Tech. The plan must be updated every five years in order for the county to remain eligible for disaster funding from the Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA). Sanders County received a $50,000 FEMA Homeland Security grant to update the...
The Lakeside Resort's convention room was full of camouflage and blacked-out teeth Saturday night as the rednecks gathered to celebrate their heritage and raise money for the Trout Creek Community Improvement Association (TCCIA). The fifth annual Cabin Fever Redneck Ball kicked off Saturday evening with Dave and Deb Oliver taking the stage as "Thelma Lou and Billy Ray." The duo led the crowd of about 150 people in the Redneck Oath and starting off the entertaining with actual Billy Ray Cyrus...
Sanders County is adding efficiencies to help customers and the state. The county treasurer’s office is one of the first counties in the state to get new scanning technology for vehicle titles. County Treasurer Nichol Scribner said the scanning capabilities will significantly cut the time down that residents have to wait to receive a vehicle title. The title documentation is now scanned daily at the treasurer’s office and uploaded to the state Motor Vehicle Division (MVD). The state agency then reviews the information and issues the new tit...
The Sanders County Elections Office is busy preparing for the 2019 election season. Election day for special district and school boards throughout Sanders County will be May 7, while the primary general election for municipal races is set for Sept. 10 and the general election for Nov. 5. The filing period for special district elections (fire, hospital and park districts) ended February 11. Bobbi Christenson with the Sanders County Elections Office said that the deadline for write-in candidates is March 4. If races are unopposed, the county can...
An inmate at the Sanders County jail died last Tuesday evening. An investigation has been initiated to determine the cause and manner of death, which is believed to be medically related, according to a statement from the Sanders County Sheriff’s Office. “Pursuant to standard procedures regarding an in-custody death, a request was made to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, who will assume responsibility to conduct the investigation and perform coroner duties,” the statement said. According to sheriff's documents, an EMS call was made at the San...
A Hot Springs woman will be sentenced March 19 after she was charged with theft of more than $4,000 from the Hot Springs Parent Teacher Organization. Ayla Blasius changed her plea to guilty on Tuesday in 20th District Judicial Court to a felony charge of theft, common scheme. In changing her plea, Blasius admitted before Judge Deborah "Kim" Christopher that while serving as treasurer for the organization, she used the account debit card to make approximately $4,400 dollars in transactions for personal use between October 2017 and August 2018....
The Thompson Falls City Council voted Monday night to delay a critical vote in the proposed wastewater treatment project. The council must decide whether or not to create two Special Improvement Districts (SIDs) to help fund the proposed project that would connect properties north of the railroad tracks to the city’s existing sewer system. Under state law, if 75 percent of parcel owners provide written protest to the creation of an SID, the project is stopped. Mayor Jerry Lacy said that previously, the council was given the wrong percentage by...
A group of Plains residents are looking to find housing solutions for local seniors. The group expressed their concerns and needs at a meeting facilitated by Sanders County Community Development Corporation (SCCDC) last month with Sanders County Commissioners. The Plains group says they have already met with Mayor Dan Rowan and the town’s city council about the project, saying they were interested and know the need is in the community. The group envisions the project as a low-maintenance complex of about 30 units for those 55 and older. The p...
The Blue Hawk wrestling team traveled to Billings for the Montana state all-class wrestling tournament, with four of their five wrestlers earning a trip to state and battling from start to finish. Two Hawks earned medals in Billings, with Roman Sparks finishing second and Trae Thilmony earning third place. Sophomore Sparks led the Hawks with a second-place finish in the 120-pound bracket. Sparks' championship match was a familiar sight as he met returning state champion Gunnar Smith of Eureka. T...
Plains senior Josiah Vanderwall ended his high school wrestling career on the podium last weekend in Billings, earning a fifth-place finish at the Montana all-class wrestling tournament. Vanderwall, younger brother Conrad, Taylor Angle, Peter Carey and Steven Yother represented the Plains/Hot Springs co-op team at the state tournament, held each February at MetraPark in Billings. "Josiah had good matches and ended his high school career with a medal," said coach Jeff Kujala, who is already...
The Noxon Red Devils played host to Plains for senior night action last week, but couldn't keep up with the aggressive Horsemen and suffered a 56-44 loss. "Plains was being aggressive and getting to the rim and we were settling for jump shots," Red Devil Coach Bart Haflich said, adding that not being aggressive has been one of the downfalls of the season for his team. He said the Red Devils need to shoot more free throws, noting that Plains shot 27 in the Noxon matchup and the Red Devils only...
It was a tough matchup on their home court for the Blue Hawk basketball team last week as the boys fell 78-50 to Mission. “We ran into a buzzsaw with them,” Hawk Coach Jake Mickelson said. “They were mature and had a bunch of seniors.” He added that his team hadn’t seen that kind of pressure from any competition all season. “We have young guards who are going to learn from that.” The Hawks will get their chance to redeem themselves at the divisional tournament Feb. 21-23 in Ronan, as Mickelson thinks they will face a rematch with Mission in th...
The Noxon girls ended regular season play with a 56-32 loss to Plains as the Trotters visited Noxon on Thursday for the Red Devils' senior night, but coach Ryan Weltz is proud of his young team. "We actually played them pretty well," Weltz said. "Going into halftime we were only down by five and we held our own." He noted that Avery Burgess missed the Plains game due to illness. Weltz said that eighth-grader Emily Brown stepped up for Noxon and led in scoring with 11 points, and had five of the...
The Lady Hawks are heading into one last battle before tournament time. The Hawks will play host to Bigfork Saturday for senior night. The Hawks traveled to Mission last Thursday, falling 53-38 to the Bulldogs. The Hawks fought hard in Mission, but felt the impact of not having starters Megan Baxter and Faith Frields, who were both out with injuries, on the court. “They contribute in points and leadership on the court, and experience, so we were lacking some of that,” Lady Hawk Coach Doree Thilmony said. The Hawks were down 37-23 after thr...
UPDATE: Blackfoot confirms the work was completed at 11:42 p.m. Wednesday evening and all systems are again operational. Blackfoot customers from Thompson Falls to Noxon may see a short disruption in phone and Internet service late Wednesday. Blackfoot spokesman Wil Anderson said the disruption will be up to 10 minutes, and will occur between 11 p.m. Wednesday and 5 a.m. Thursday. In December, a fiber line east of Thompson Falls was damaged due to weather. The maintenance Wednesday evening will "add redundancy to minimize future service...
In 20th District Judicial Court on Tuesday, John Harp entered not guilty pleas to three counts: driving under the influence of alcohol, fourth or subsequent offense, a felony; misdemeanor driving while license suspended or revoked and misdemeanor operating without an interlock device. Harp was arrested Jan. 5 after Sanders County Sheriff's Office and Montana Highway Patrol (MHP) responded to a vehicle versus building crash at Town Pump in Plains. Judge Deborah "Kim" Christopher set a trial date of May 20 for Harp. Also Tuesday, Kip Courville en...
