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Independently owned since 1905
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Hecla is taking a different path with its operations in Montana. The mining company has withdrawn its plans of operation for the proposed Rock Creek and Montanore mines in Northwest Montana and is focusing more on exploration. The company has submitted a new plan that just includes exploration at the proposed Montanore site. ‘We believe it’s an easier pathway,” Mike Satre with Hecla said last week. Satre, the company’s director of governmental affairs, said that the plan of exploration being reviewed by the U.S. Forest Service will leverag...
Fresh off the heels of a third state championship, wrestler Trae Thilmony can add All-American to his list of achievements. The Thompson Falls senior finished fourth in the 2022 NHSCA High School National tournament last weekend. Thilmony and sophomore Max Hannum attended the three-day tournament in Virginia Beach. "It was fun. It was good competition. Everyone there is trying to wrestle at the next level," Trae said upon returning from Virginia. "It reminds me of how you're like the big fish...
Trout Creek seventh grader Gavin Todd finished in 16th place out of 60 spellers in the Treasure State Bee earlier this month. Todd advanced to the state bee after winning the Sanders County Spelling Bee on March 4. "My goal was not to get out in the first round," Todd said. He achieved that, and made it through round six before being eliminated on the word penitentiary. "I studied a lot and spelling in something I'm better at," he added. Todd said the state spelling bee was intimidating. "At...
Farm Bureau Financial Services in Thompson Falls has a new agent. Nicole Miller took over the business after Terri Stoltz retired at the end of 2021. Miller stated the transition of taking over the business from Stoltz was easy. "Everything felt right. I believe everything happens for a reason." Miller started working with Stoltz in 2019 and then became a licensed agent, licensed in property, casualty and life insurance. "I want to make sure my clients understand their options and the coverage...
The list of candidates for Sanders County races grew as the filing period came to a close on Monday afternoon. Six candidates have filed for Sanders County Sheriff. Current sheriff Tom Rummel notified his staff earlier this year that he would not be seeking re-election. Candidates who will be on the ballot for the June 7 primary include Mark French and Shawn Fielders of Plains, Lanny Hensley and Roy Scott of Thompson Falls, Christopher Stough of Heron and Corey Wheeldon of Noxon. Additional candidates have also filed for the two county...
Judge James Manley, who has served as a judge in 20th Judicial District Court since 2014, has announced he is retiring. Manley announced in a letter to Gov. Greg Gianforte last week that he would be retiring as district judge effective June 1. He was first appointed to the position, which includes Sanders and Lake counties, in 2013 by Gov. Steve Bullock. Gov. Gianforte will appoint someone to fill out the remainder of Manley’s term. The state is now accepting applications from and nominations of any lawyer in good standing who has the q...
The historic season for the Lady Hawk basketball team ended at the state tournament in Bozeman last weekend. The Hawks went 0-2 at state, but lessons were learned and the team is thankful for a successful season. "I can't even begin to describe how it felt that we actually made it to state," senior Roni Hanks said after the Hawks returned home. "I was happy even though we lost. We hadn't seen any of those teams before. Playing in the college arena was a little intimidating." Thompson Falls...
Coming off of successful fall and winter sports seasons, Blue Hawk athletes are ready to get outside for the 2022 track season. “We are looking forward to another year of track and field. As the athletes come off successful football and basketball seasons, we are looking forward to continuing that success,” said Blue Hawk Head Coach Trenna Ferris. “We are encouraged to have our veteran athletes returning and stepping up to take leadership roles and are excited to have a whole new group of athletes, some brand new to track and field. The junio...
Sanders County 4-H members showed off their talents last weekend at the annual Communication Days event. A total of 72 4-H members provided demonstrations and talks on various topics. The presentations were judged and eight senior and six junior members advanced to the finals competition, which will be Sunday, March 13, at Plains High School. The first day of presentations was last Saturday at Thompson Falls Elementary. Eleven senior members, 27 juniors and one Cloverbud presented on topics...
The Thompson Falls Lady Hawks have had a few days to rest after their second-place finish at the Western B Divisional touranment. Now, the Hawks are hitting the road to Bozeman for their first state tournament appaearance in nearly 20 years. Thompson Falls will open the MHSA Class B Girls tournament agianst Harlem on Thursday. The teams meet at the Brick breeden Fiedlhouse on the campus of Montana State University, with the game set to tip off at 5 p.m. Harlem is the No. 2 seed out of the North and took second place behind Malta. If the Blue Ha...
Five Sanders County athletes have been named to the District 14-C All-Conference basketball teams. Jack McAllister and Katelyn Chirstensen earned all-state honors for the 2021-2022 basketball season. Savage Heat senior Kyle Lawson was named first team all-conference and Garth Parker was selected for second team all-conference honors. Noxon’s Emily Brown was selected for girls first team all-conference honros. District 14-C Girls All Conference All State: Katelyn Christensen, Hot Springs; Mila Hawk, Charlo. First Team: Baylee Pruitt, St. R...
A Trout Creek man made an initial appearance in 20th District Judicial Court on Tuesday, entering not guilty pleas to three felony charges before Judge Deborah "Kim" Christopher. Matthew Yanke pleaded not guilty to two counts of sexual intercourse without consent and one count of sexual assault. The charges stem from alleged incidents in December 2021 involving a child under the age of 16. Charges were filed February 4 and Yanke was arrestend on February 10. Judge Christopher set a trial date of June 20, 2022, for Yanke....
The Blue Hawk boys basketball team finished their season at the divisional tournament last weekend, going 1-2 with opponents in Ronan. The Hawks tipped off the tournament against Florence on Thursday. The Hawks hit the floor with energy as they took a quick 5-0 lead in the first quarter. However, the Falcons quickly rebounded to take the lead and ended the first quarter up 11-10. Thompson Falls was plagued with turnovers in the first half and went into the locker room down 25-18. They kept up...
The Lady Hawks basketball team is headed to the state tournament for the first time in nearly two decades. The Hawks took second place at the divisional tournament in Ronan last weekend, securing a bid to state. It was 2003 the last time the Lady Hawks advanced to the state tournament. The Thompson Falls Lady Hawks took a different approach to a familiar opponent in the championship game at divisional. Saturday evening, the Hawks found themselves facing the Bigfork Valkyries once again. Bigfork...
The 14C District basketball tournament in Ronan last weekend was the end of the road for both Hot Springs and Noxon boys and girls teams. The Savage Heat boys and girls ended up third in each bracket, but only the top two teams advanced to divisional. For the boys, Noxon opened the tournament against Two Eagle River Thursday afternoon. Noxon was the first team to score more than three minutes into the first quarter, but Two Eagle River answered and came back to lead 14-6 at the end of the...
The Blue Hawk basketball teams took similar paths to earning a trip to the divisional basketball tournament this weekend in Ronan, with both teams finishing fourth in the District 7B championships in Bigfork. The Blue Hawk boys started their tournament against Troy on Thursday, beating the Trojans 64-24.Nathan Schraeder scored 18 points to lead the Hawks against Troy, Braxton Dorscher 11, Jesse Claride 10, Bryson LeCoure eight, Josh Wilhite seven, Breck Ferris and Adam Childers three points...
The 2021-2022 basketball season for the Plains Horsemen and Trotters ended at the District 7B tournament in Bigfork last weekend, but both teams put up a fight until the very end. The Horsemen opened the district tournament against No. 3 Eureka on Thursday, losing 73-26. That set up a game against Thompson Falls for Plains on Saturday morning in the consolation bracket. Plains scored first, but the Blue Hawks came back and took the lead, up 17-7 after the first quarter. Thompson Falls’ lead jumped to 41-10 at halftime and they kept the lead u...
Claude Burlingame was sworn in this week as Sanders County's newest commissioner. Burlingame will fill the position vacated by Carol Brooker at the end of last year, serving until the 2022 general election is decided. "I've been around the commissioners a long time, becoming familiar with the day-to-day routine of that job," the 73-year-old Burlingame said Monday after being sworn in by Commissioner Tony Cox. Burlingame moved to Sanders County from Missoula in 1977. "I like the mountains, the...
It was a roller coaster ride for the Blue Hawk wrestling team at the state tournament in Billings last weekend. The team took four boys and two girls to the three-day competition and came home with a state champion, a second-place finisher and two wrestlers within one match of the podium. Along with Trae Thilmony wrestling for his third state title, senior Shane Reishus qualified for state a fourth time. Junior Elijah Ratliff wrestled hard to a second-place finish and sophomore Max Hannum...
The Blue Hawks traveled to Mission on Thursday, with the boys losing 71-35 and the girls winning by one point, 52-51. The teams then traveled to Bigfork on Saturday for their last game of the regular season, both suffering losses to the Vikings 62-45 and Valkyries 62-45. Hawk Coach Jake Mickelson said both his team and the Bulldogs came out strong in the first quarter last Thursday, but the Hawks were unable to sustain it through four quarters. Against Bigfork, the Blue Hawk boys were down...
The Savage Horsemen took five wrestlers to the state all-class wrestling tournament last weekend, with four wrestlers earning a spot on the podium. Plains senior David Schulze also brought home a state title, in the 138-pound bracket. It was an intense weekend of wrestling at First Interstate Bank arena in Billings. "David went in and got the job done," Coach Shane Angle said of the Plains senior. "He's a great wrestler and very humble." Angle noted that Schulze was on a mission for a state...
History was made in Billings last weekend when Thompson Falls senior Trae Thilmony won his third straight high school wrestling championship. "There's nothing like high school wrestling," Thilmony said this week after he returned home a three-time champion. "When I was a little kid, I remember comparing the number of state banners we had to other schools. It seemed like we didn't have as many and I wanted to bring some of those back for our school." He did just that when he pinned Brady Ellison...
Sanders County Commissioners have chosen a third member. Commissioners Glen Magera and Tony Cox met last week to make their selection to fill the seat of Carol Brooker, who resigned at the end of last year. The commissioners chose Claude Burlingame, an attorney from Thompson Falls, to fill the position through 2022. As 2022 is an election year, voters in District 1, which includes portions of Plains and Thompson Falls, will select a new commissioner in November. Whoever is elected in November will then complete the remainder of Brooker’s t...
It's a historical wrestling season for Thompson Falls senior Trae Thilmony, but that's not what he's focused on. "This year I've just been wrestling, having fun. I wasn't too nervous," Thilmony said after he won his fourth divisional meet, a record for Thompson Falls High School. "I've just been working to get better." Last week at the divisional tournament, Thilmony became the first wrestler in school history to win the divisional title four times. He's also on track to become the winningest...
Additional candidates have filed as candidates for the upcoming primary election. John Holland has filed for Commissioner in District 2, joining candidate Randy Arnold who previously filed. Both men are from Plains. There are now five candidates for Sanders County Sheriff, including Shawn Fielders of Plains, Lanny Hensley and Roy Scott of Thompson Falls, Chris Stough of Heron and Corey Wheeldon of Noxon. Adam Bache and Dan Rowan, both of Plains, have filed for Commissioner District 1, and Pat Barber has filed for Sanders County Coroner....
