Independently owned since 1905
Independently owned since 1905
Sorted by date Results 751 - 775 of 1087
The numbers might have been few, but the message was loud - "No sewer - no million dollar levy." That was the chant that a group of people were shouting from their vehicles as they weaved through the streets of Paradise Friday evening to continue their protest of the proposed sewer system. Nineteen men and women gathered Friday at the Paradise park, where Tim French and Cody Lampman spoke against the proposed sewer, which was approved by the Sanders County Sewer District at Paradise board three...
It might be a couple months late, but nonetheless an exciting time for the Plains Alliance Church, which celebrated its 50th anniversary Sunday with a special sermon and a lavish lunch. "As followers of God, we believe that Plains Alliance Church was His idea, that it was His power working through Bob and Donna Mallery and the others planting the church in the beginning," said Senior Pastor Randy Neilson, who took over in 2009. "We also believe it has been His governance as head of the Church...
Neither the coronavirus nor near 100-degree temperatures could keep the nearly 200 co-ed softball players from competing in the 6th Annual Wildhorse Showdown Softball Tournament last weekend at the Amundson Sports Complex at Plains. When the infield dust settled on Sunday, it was the I'd Hit That team of Spokane that nabbed the championship, defeating the Pandemic Warriors of Pablo 19-13 in the gold bracket. Fifteen teams - five more than last year - participated in the three-day tournament, inc...
Like the great baseball player Yogi Berra said - "It ain't over till it's over" - a group of Paradise residents haven't given up on stopping a community sewer system from being constructed. It's been weeks since the Sanders County Sewer District at Paradise board passed a resolution for a special assessment, which will be an added tax for a community wide sewer system. It seemed to be a done deal. "It's not done until they start digging," said Lee Ann Overman, a Paradise resident who's heading...
The Sanders County Fair was canceled a week ago, but the work of the fair commission goes on. With the fair out of the way, the members of the board and fair staff are concentrating their efforts on making physical improvements to the fairgrounds. "We don't need to be dwelling on what happened last week, we need to look forward to make next year's fair the best. We want the next one to be spectacular," said Fair Commission Chairman Randy Woods at the board's regular meeting last Wednesday at the...
The Sanders County Board of Health voted to scrub this year's county fair at a special meeting Thursday evening at the fair pavilion. Commissioners Tony Cox and Carol Brooker, along with retired Dr. Jack Lulack and retired Veterinarian Bob Gregg voted in favor of canceling the fair while Commissioner Glen Magera voted against shutting it down at that time. Magera wanted to go forward and see how the plans the fair board was working on progressed. The health board was concerned about the fair...
Ken McGann is no mad scientist working in a dimly lit lab, but he is continuously experimenting to come up with new and unique life forms — at least in the world of floriculture. McGann and his wife, Mary, are the owners of Spring Fever Daylilies, located along Highway 200 about seven miles west of Plains, where they have nearly 500 daylilies of over 100 different varieties — including 30 hybrids of his own making. McGann uses a catalogue to order varieties of daylilies he wants to plant, but hi...
The Forest Service worked on a portion of a seven-mile trail near Plains to make it more accessible to the public and they had a blast - literally. Travis Pfister of the Plains/Thompson Falls Ranger District set off six explosives two weeks ago as part of major operation to renovate Spring Creek Trail - aka Trail #370 - some 10 miles northwest of Plains. The Forest Service does a lot a trail work every year, but they don't normally use explosives, said Mikey Church, the recreation staff...
Vehicles filled the Sanders County Fairgrounds parking lot and lined the road from the corner of Fifth Avenue and Third Street across the bridge and down River Road Saturday night as brilliant colorful lights filled the sky. It was a celebration of the country's 244th year of independence from Great Britain. Though the Second Continental Congress really voted for independence on July 2, they printed the final wording two days later - July 4 - the day Americans have come to know as Independence...
Members of VFW Post 3596 in Plains took time out of their Independence Day holiday to give thanks to the community with their annual Fourth of July Picnic in the Park. "We put on the barbecue every year to give back to the community and celebrate our freedom," said Heather Allen, the post quartermaster and coordinator of the event. Eleven post veterans served free hot dogs, hamburgers, potato and macaroni salads, and water and pop to nearly 240 people at Fred Young Park for three hours...
Dear Editor, Reading Mr. Blackstone’s recent column it was sad to see him falling into the age old trap of scapegoating. He states, “I blame the liberal media.” Does he blame Drudge, Fox News, Breitbart, MSNBC, CNN, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Stars and Stripes, Alex Jones Info Wars, Rush Limbaugh or perhaps The Sanders County Ledger? All of the above are an integral part of a media in the United States that have the liberty to exercise the freedom of expression to present news, and or opinions that coincide or oppose his own v...
Nearly 1,300 people - mostly residents of Sanders County - attended the first No Limits Monster Truck Firecracker Nationals at the Sanders County Fairgrounds Saturday. Checkered Flag Promotions of Bridgeport, Texas, sponsored two shows at the fairgrounds on Independence Day, which included six monster trucks and a Tuff Truck obstacle course contest. Attendees could get a ride on monster truck "Monster Moose" for $10 and people had the chance to go into the arena to see the trucks up close before...
It's an empty lot now, but by next year at this time there will be a new school building standing there at the corner of Johnson and Rittenour Streets. Four contractors gathered at Plains School for a preliminary meeting to get briefed on the construction of the school's new multi-function facility, find out about any special needs for the project, and look over the site in order to put in their bids for the project. They were also given the architectural plans created by architect Jules Landis...
It's like a lighthouse in the woods, but instead of guiding mariners to safe passage, the keepers of the Forest Service's lookouts - Patrick's Knob and Eddy Mountain - are the first line of defense against fires in Sanders County. Both lookouts are manned for the season as of this week. Veteran lookout Craig Phillips of Thompson Falls opened Eddy Mountain Lookout on Saturday - Independence Day - to deter people from shooting fireworks near the lookout, as they did last year. Newcomer Ken...
The Sanders County Board of Health voted to cancel this year’s county fair at a special meeting Thursday evening at the fair pavilion. Commissioners Tony Cox and Carol Brooker, along with retired Dr. Jack Lulack and retired veterinarian Bob Gregg, voted in favor of canceling the fair while Commissioner Glen Magera voted against shutting it down. The board was concerned about the fair resulting in an outbreak of the coronavirus in Sanders County, where there has been no confirmed cases of the virus. Several members of the Board of Health and t...
The community of Paradise became one step closer to getting a first time sewer system after the Sanders County Sewer District at Paradise passed the resolution for a special assessment at a town meeting at the Paradise Center late Monday evening. It took less than 20 minutes for the four board members to vote on the assessment, but the meeting beforehand was heated and took more than three hours. The purpose of the meeting was to go over the written protest letters from those who were against...
The Sanders County Commissioners called a special meeting between the Sanders County Board of Health and the Sanders County Fair Commission at the fairgrounds pavilion last week to discuss plans for preventing the fair from causing a coronavirus outbreak. Members of the fair board are presently working on a draft that contains such plans, but some feel the plan is too vague and does not address enforcement practices with regard to COVID-19 guidelines. Board member Randy Woods, chairman, Jim...
Despite the precautions and limitations placed on the Sanders County Fair Commission, the board last Wednesday said they will be trying some new things this year. Besides the Plexiglas installations, sanitation stations and signage throughout the fairgrounds with reminders of the pandemic, the board is also going to be selling space for 8-foot long sponsorship banners for the demolition derby, which the fair has never done, according to Randy Woods, the board chairman. He hopes to have at least...
A worldwide disease has caused the cancellation of nearly every event in Sanders County, but not the biggest one of the year, according to Randy Woods, chairman of the Sanders County Fair Commission. "No way we're not going to have a fair. And if they give us any trouble, we'll just call it a four-day protest with food and entertainment," said Woods, who's been on the fair board for almost two years. Members of the fair board - Woods, Kim Bergstrom, Jim Newman, Milanna Shear, and Roberta Smith...
With cities and towns across the country taking a hard stance against police, a group of Plains residents decided it was time to show support for local and national law enforcement with signs, flags and prayers on Railroad Street in Plains Friday. "We just wanted to support law enforcement people because we feel they're under attack. We want to let them know that we support them and we're praying for them," said Sally Lilja, who organized the gathering with Becky Powley and Shelly Rummel, all...
Sanders County residents won’t have to wait until the fair to attend an event there. The fairgrounds will be hosting a “No Limits Monster Truck Firecracker Nationals” show in the main arena on July 4 for two shows at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tickets are limited to 2,000 for each event and are $20 for adults and $15 for those 12 years old and younger. Ticket prices will be higher at the door, according to Checkered Flag Promotions. The truck lineup will include names like “Zilla,” “Trouble-Maker,” “D’sTurbed,” “Double Trouble,” “Obsessed,” and “Wrong...
Coronavirus hasn’t hit Sanders County, but it has impacted the art world here, including the cancellation of the Sanders County Arts Council’s Artists in Paradise and the Montana Baroque Music Festival, both which were slated to take place at the end of July. Management at Quinn’s Hot Springs Resort informed the baroque festival’s artistic director, Adam LaMotte, that they would have to cancel this year’s performance because of the pandemic. “With our mostly senior festival audience we have received several cancellations, as they are genuine...
The Town of Plains now officially has a jail, though it's unlikely criminals will be housed there. The Plains site has actually been the jail home since it was built in 1904 - Plains was incorporated in 1907 - but until last week it was actually owned by Sanders County. In 2018, Plains Mayor Dan Rowan was looking up something on Montana Cadastral Mapping Project, a state operated Internet mapping system where a person can retrieve land information, when he came across the Horse Plains Jail on...
For most Americans, Memorial Day was celebrated last Monday, but Plains VFW Post 3596 is dedicated to following the tradition by holding its ceremony to honor lost military veterans on May 30, the original Memorial Day with roots that date nearly back to the Civil War. The ceremony at Plains Cemetery was short but solemn as Post Commander Ron Kilbury led the observance at the flagpole, the centerpiece of a section of the cemetery surrounded by numerous veterans' gravesites and small American fla...
Sports in Sanders County have been on hold for months due to COVID-19, but the pandemic didn't stop a group of girls from gathering at the Amundson Sports Complex in Plains last weekend for a day of softball competition. Just over 70 girls on seven teams from Missoula, Kalispell and Ronan - including three girls from Sanders County - played throughout the day as a "warm-up scrimmage," according to Dan Hirning, coach of the Montana Wildfire, one of two U12 teams there. On Hirning's Missoula team...
