Independently owned since 1905
Independently owned since 1905
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June 1 marks seven years since I bought The Ledger. On June 1, 2017, I walked in The Ledger and then owners Tom and Bina Eggensperger announced to the staff - many who I had worked with when I was in high school - that I had bought the business. It was the scariest and most exciting day of my life. I've worked at newspapers in some capacity since I was 15. Even when my career path ventured into other industries, I worked as a freelance journalist. Owning a business and being responsible for information that goes out to a whole county, as well a...
Nearly 50 community members gathered for a Memorial Day ceremony at the Noxon park on Monday. The event was led by members of the Cabinet Mountain VFW Post 5556. Following a welcome by Post Commander Gary Searle and a prayer by chaplain Leo Winburn, the VFW welcomed state Sen. Greg Hinkle as their guest speaker. "When we think of Memorial Day, I look back on things like the beaches of Normandy and the jungles of Vietnam," said Hinkle, whose father was a World War II veteran. "A lot of men knew...
Thompson Falls first-grade students traveled all over town last week for their annual scavenger hunt. The day started with a field trip to the Thompson Falls Airport (above). Pilots Dan Schulz, Dan Normandeau and Bob Rice talked to the class about flying, showed off their airplanes and a flight simulator and explained how to build an airplane, then took a parent for a ride. The scavenger hunt took the classes to nine different locations, including Farmhouse Blooms, The Ledger, city hall,...
The high school track season ended last weekend with several Sanders County athletes bringing home medals. Trotter Alexis Deming became the latest Plains state champion as she threw a best of 124 feet, 11 inches in discus. Her winning throw at the state meet in Laurel was more than four feet farther than the second-place finisher. Deming also brought home a second-place medal in the shot put with a throw of 39 feet, 1 inch. Plains distance runner Marina Tulloch finished third in the 3,200 in...
The Blue Hawk softball season came to a close at the state tournament in Laurel last weekend, and it was a wicked ride for all the competitors. A spring storm disrupted the tournament, which was supposed to start on Thursday. Games were delayed on Thursday, then pushed to Friday as fields were dried out to allow teams to play. The Hawks were scheduled to play Shepherd on Thursday in a repeat of the opening round game from 2023. The 4 p.m. game was delayed until 6 p.m. before being postponed to Friday morning. The Hawks, who dominated the...
The Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) and Frontier West are resuming work on the bridge that carries Secondary Highway 382 (S 382) over the Flathead River near Perma this week, weather and other factors permitting. Planned work for this construction season includes removing and replacing the pavement on the bridge approaches, upgrading guardrail, painting portions of the steel structure, installing advance warning rumble strips and signage, and applying final pavement markings. Traffic...
The community of Hot Springs showed up to support the LaRue Hot Springs Museum on Saturday at the museum's annual fundraiser. This year, the LaRue hosted a "Rock and Roast" at the museum, located along Highway 77 as you enter Hot Springs. While previous fundraisers have been held at the Hot Springs Senior Center, museum curator Sher Loberg said the board chose to host the fundraiser at the museum to allow the community to see the updated displays. Loberg has been involved with the museum for thr...
I attended a forum last Tuesday called "Sanders County Talks". The forum, on flyers posted throughout town, was billed as "an engaging community event where facts meet discussion." In attendance were more than 90 community members in person and another couple dozen via Zoom. Presenters talked about their issues with local government. One presenter gave information about how a budget works and what information should be included with a budget or financial report. I attend nearly every city council meeting and many of the meetings with the Sander...
The aurora borealis, also referred to as the northern lights, put on a brilliant show over the weekend. Those who stayed up for the show of lights were treated to streaks of greens, purples and pinks dancing across the sky on Friday and Saturday evenings. While some colors were visible with the naked eye, the most detail could be seen through photos from cameras and smartphone. Why? Cameras are more sensitve to light and with longer exposure times, have the ability to capture more light in the...
The Thompson Falls City Council only had one item on their agenda for Monday's meeting, and with that the council approved a variance request to the city's zoning ordinance. Mosher Transportation received a variance request for installing electric charges and additional infrastructure to cover buses on three properties, two on Washington Street and one on Greenwood Street. Prior to Monday's council meeting, a public hearing was held at City Hall, followed by a meeting of the Board of...
I remember being in high school when the movie Titanic was released. My friend and I drove to Missoula to see it on opening weekend. It was a big deal to be able to go to the big city for opening weekend of a movie. That was a whole decade before Netflix first started its streaming service. Now, you can rent a movie and watch it from your own home. However, you miss the joys of the theater. The buttery popcorn, the fountain soda, the oversized boxes of candy and the energy that comes from a crowd breaking out in laughter or screaming and...
Ladies league at River’s Bend started competition play last week, with Tina Wheeler and Jeanne Holleran combining for the low team gross of 97, and Barb Wooden and Katrina Nygaard the low team net of 72. Wheeler had the low individual gross of 44 and Wooden the low net of 34. Nygaard sank the long putt on No. 3, while Kelly Wheeler took that honor on No. 6, Kim Sparks was closest to the pin in four on No. 2, Madi Wheeler was closest to the pin on No. 5, Barb Petteys had the closest drive on No. 8 and Doree Thilmony and Barb Mosher hit the l...
The Highlead team of John and Jesse Mosher, Chadd Laws and Steve Fairbank took the lead for the night in Wednesday play last week at River’s Bend, combining for a low team gross of 181. First-place team Edward Jones (Carter Meyer, Ryan Craven, Dan Kier and Bruce Sterling) carded the low team net of 157. Jesse Mosher’s 41 was the low gross round for the night and Steve Clark had the low net round of 34. Jesse Mosher was closest to the pin in three on No. 2, Scott Pardee hit his drive closest to the No. 5 pin and Paul Flemmer took that honor on...
Bear Muscle Fitness flexed their muscles last Tuesday at River’s Bend, with team members Paul Flemmer, Steve Fairbank, Russ Wood and Cody Mosher combining for the low team gross score of 187, while NLC Inc.’s Bill Nolen, Howard Morkert, Ben Mummert and Mike Lilly shot the low net of 13439. Doug Fisher carded the low individual gross round of 37 and Ty Pardee’s 32 won low net. Flemmer was closest to the pin in three on No. 2 and his drive was closest to the pin on No. 8, while Morkert smashed the long drive on No. 9, Charlie Hooten sank the l...
While many school board members ran unopposed in this month's school district elections, voters in Plains and Noxon chose school board members on Tuesday, and voters in Hot Springs and Plains made decisions on levies. Hot Springs School District voters passed a levy increase of $183,000 for general operation and maintenance. The issue passed with 149 voting for it and 146 voting against. Plains residents voted down an additional $100,000 levy for maintenance and operations, specifically for...
The new state Senator for District 7 is no stranger to the job. Greg Hinkle of Thompson Falls last week was appointed to serve the remainder of Bob Brown's term in the state senate. Hinkle previously served as Senator in the district from 2009 through 2012. Commissioners from Missoula, Flathead, Mineral and Sanders counties voted almost unanimously last week to appoint Hinkle to Brown's open Senate seat. Gov. Greg Gianforte appointed Brown director of the Montana Lottery earlier this year....
The Sanders County Commissioners last week denied a request to have voters decide on changing ballots in Sanders County elections. On Thursday, Republican state Rep. Paul Fielder of Thompson Falls asked the Sanders County Commissioners to let voters decide whether they wanted candidates for local offices to designate a party for ballots. "We all want the voters to have more info about candidates to have more information to vote," Fielder said, adding that the issue is something that he's been...
A couple weeks ago, I wrote on the lost art of communication. It seems more arguing gets done during some public meetings than actual work. Last week as citizens and commissioners debated the issue of whether or not to have local candidates list political party affiliation on ballots, there was productive discourse and it gave me hope. Jim Elliott of Trout Creek and Greg Hinkle of Thompson Falls, who historically identify with opposite political parties, weren’t so divided in that meeting. A long-time Republican and a long-time Democrat had a...
Area clergy and community members joined in welcoming Pastor Patricia Harant (front) as she was installed as the new pastor of First Lutheran Church in Plains and Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Thompson Falls last Sunday. The installation was led by Pastor Brenda Frelsi, Associate to the Bishop of the Montana Synod of the ELCA....
Last week, volunteers throughout Thompson Falls were busy sprucing up the town. Leaves were raked, bushes pruned, parks cleaned and new signage installed at the mule pasture trail system. It was a community effort known as Beautification Days that has been an April tradition for more than 20 years. At the transfer station on Saturday, tons of electronic waste was loaded up to be recycled in the annual e-waste event, helping keep those items out of the landfull. Various groups, businesses and individuals volunteered their time to give Thompson...
Men’s leagues at River’s Bend kicked off the 2024 season last week. The Tuesday and Wednesday leagues started with a team scramble. On Tuesday, the MT Best Builders (Kevin Sparks, Nathan Snead, Tom Holleran, Mike Thilmony, Doug Czerwinski and Gary Potts) combined for a low score of 32. Sparks (No. 4), Snead (No. 7), Mike Tessier (No. 5) and Dave Petteys (No. 9) each had a chip-in in their first league round of the year. Rusty Haggard sank the long putt on No. 3, Arthur Potts was closest to the pin on No. 5, Charlie Hooten had the long putt on...
The former Sanders County Attorney was sentenced Monday for a 2022 incident that led to her resignation last year. Naomi Leisz pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of obstructing justice on Monday. Leisz was originally charged with felony insurance fraud, but a plea agreement withdrew that initial charge. In court on Monday, Leisz pleaded guilty to the allegations that, knowing her son was an offender and liable to be charged for an offense after being in a car accident that damaged property, assisted him in avoiding discovery or...
Ballots are being prepared for local school district elections. Sanders County Elections staff said ballots will be mailed Monday for school elections in Plains and Noxon. Hot Springs, which has one board position open and is asking voters to approve a levy, is running their own election. In Noxon, two three-year positions are open on the school board, with Kyra Bosker, Annie Manning, Arthur Potts and Lars Swanson filing as candidates. Cassandra Hill was the only candidate to file for an open 2-year position. For the portion of the Noxon...
In recent years there was an uproar about schools not teaching how to write in cursive anymore. A method of communication like landline phones and hand-written letters that is disappearing. It feels, however, like we're losing the basic skills of face-to-face communication. When I started writing this, I told my mom it feels like I broach this subject a lot. But it's worth repeating. It's not unusual in 2024 to go to a school board meeting or a city council meeting or a town hall meeting (all three of which I have attended in the last week)...
Thompson Falls Superintendent Bud Scully accepted a check for $23,270 just before Monday's school board meeting. The check from the Clark Fork Soccer Alliance was the result of fundraising by the organization to support a cooperative high school soccer team between Thompson Falls and Plains beginning in the 2024-25 school year. The school board officially voted Monday to approve the application for the soccer cooperative with the Montana High School Association. "We just want to thank the...
