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Independently owned since 1905
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Spotlight on the Arts shines on Keelie Hathorne this month. Keelie is a 14-year-old eighth-grade home school student. Her teacher is Mom. It's evident in visiting with Keelie that her inquiring mind and self-directedness take her far beyond the set curriculum. When asked how long she has been creating art, Keelie's mother replied, "Since she could hold a marker!" Keelie shared, "At first it was just a relief from boredom, but then I discovered my passion for it!" Keelie works in several mediums...
Branson Fryxell is a Plains Elementary student chosen for the Spotlight on the Arts. He is a seven-year-old in Mrs. Montgomery's first grade. "He dives right into projects with confidence," said Mrs. Montgomery." It is clear he loves creating projects and practices often." She states that many first graders lack confidence with expressing themselves with art. Bransen is unique in that he dives right to projects without hesitation while often encouraging his classmates offering help to them with...
My father grew up in a town on the outskirts of Zurich, Switzerland, with his sister and five brothers. The lucky boy had the Alps at his fingertips. He often spoke of the adventures he took with his older siblings, wandering from one mountain village to the next. He would hike to his heart's content and then take the PostAuto bus or the tram back to his hometown. Listening to his adventurous tales of exploring the Swiss countryside, I often dreamt of being there too. In my mind I could see the...
I met Phoebe at a crosscut saw training with the Cabinet Ranger Forest District in Montana on my first week of work for Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness. I was timid because I hadn’t used the tool before, and she helped me feel comfortable. I liked Phoebe immediately. She has this powerful and assertive way about her that demands respect while simultaneously communicating that it doesn’t matter if you respect her because she is going to go her own way regardless. She’s a wild woman. I’d like to try to characterize Phoebe for you although I...
As a board, the Sanders County Board of Health (BOH), would like to respond to questions recently presented to the Sanders County Commissioners (SCC) with respect to COVID-19 and positions adopted by the BOH. Montana law charges a BOH among other duties with “protecting the public from the introduction and spread of a communicable disease or other conditions of public health importance.” We take that responsibility seriously, and strive to keep up on the research concerning COVID and how it can affect Sanders County. We feel most Sanders Cou...
A bill seeking to ease permitting requirements for gravel pits in rural areas and make it harder to call a public hearing on new facilities is drawing clear battle lines in the Montana Legislature, as property owners say it cuts them out of the process. In a hearing that lasted for more than two hours on Monday, March 15, the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Steve Gunderson, R-Libby, called the bill -- House Bill 599 -- “Open Cut 2.0,” which he said built off the provisions of “Open Cut 1.0,” a bill passed in the 2019 session. Open-cut mining, also know...
Patty Sundberg remembers a time early in her 40-year career in beekeeping when a 5% annual colony loss felt like a big deal. Now, she said it’s all her company can do to hold that rate at 20% -- though, on bad years, it can swing even higher. In the mid-2000s, word of a frightening trend in bee populations began circulating in the scientific community: entire colonies of bees were dying off at stunning rates. Dubbed “colony collapse disorder,” some beekeepers were reporting hive losses as high as 30% to 90% during the 2006-2007 winter. The n...
The Montana House of Representatives has approved two bills seeking to expand the season and methods by which Montanans can trap the state's gray wolf population. Rep. Paul Fielder, R-Thompson Falls, a wildlife biologist of 31 years, sponsored both measures and introduced them to the full House during a floor session Wednesday. House Bill 224 would allow trappers licensed in Montana to also use snares to trap wolves. Fielder said the measure would help keep wolf populations down in the state....
Over the past few elections, Montanans have voted to change the rules around medical marijuana, sought to impose a crime victim’s bill of rights and changed how absentee ballots can be collected. All these issues required a specific number of voter signatures to land on the ballot and now that rule is, itself, on the ballot. This year voters will decide whether to return the language in Article XIV, Section IX and Article III, section IV of the Montana Constitution back to its original language from 2002. “It’s a clean-up bill,” said Montana...
So, here’s the question: How much power should local governments have to regulate firearms or prevent their possession by felons, minors, undocumented immigrants or people judged mentally incompetent? Not much, according to backers of Legislative Referendum 130, the ballot measure sent to voters by Montana lawmakers last session. Specifically, Legislative Referendum 130 asks voters to remove local governments’ power to regulate the carrying of concealed firearms – or to restrict the open carry of firearms – except in public buildings within a g...
When you imagine what “habitat” looks like, what comes to mind? For me, it is easy to picture the forested mountains and numerous rivers and streams of Sanders County, which many fish and wildlife species call home. However, for many pollinator species, you do not have to look any further than your own backyard. Pollinators, like bees, butterflies and moths, live in a wide variety of habitats and rely on many different food sources. When these species visit a flower for its pollen or nectar, they may unwittingly brush against the flo...
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...
While growing up in the Flathead valley on a “stump ranch” along the Whitefish River, I developed the passion to get out into the backcountry and experience the natural scene. However, due to the demands on my three brothers and me as junior partners in clearing more of the logged-over land for crops and in tending to the livestock, we were only able to explore some of the edges of the wild country. The remote upper reaches of the South Fork and Middle Fork drainages of the Flathead were the biggest attraction since we heard unending sto...
Hattie Neesvig is an 8th grade band student at Thompson Falls Junior High School in Thompson Falls. Her teacher, Mr. Neil Harbel, describes her as an exemplary student. "She is polite, respectful, well mannered, and gets good grades," says Harbel. He also describes her as dedicated, driven and motivated. Hattie plays the oboe and has been an important part of the junior high band. Hattie works hard in class and practices diligently, he said. Harbel is in his first year at Thompson Falls but is...
My most memorable outdoor experience took place my sophomore year of high school with my school’s outdoor experiential learning program. It was mid-November; the first snow had painted the wilderness white. I awoke Friday morning eagerly ready for an adventure! Knowing anything could happen I prepared myself with three layers of socks, 5 layers of clothing and enough snacks to feed an army. Although, I have never been a scout I take their moto to heart when it comes to being prepared. As I headed to school, the sky began to darken and opened up...
by Aaron Johnson Being outdoors has always been an integral part of my life, but there is a distinct difference between being outdoors and being in the wilderness. I've learned, forgotten and relearned this difference multiple times. The relearning part is essential. Over the past 10 years, I've backpacked many times into the proposed Scotchman Peaks Wilderness, each time with a heavy pack full of painting supplies. Filtering a wilderness experience down to a singular moment is as difficult as...
Each year the University of Montana hosts the All-Star Band and Orchestra Festival. In order to be selected for these groups, students must be nominated by their school director and then selected by the University of Montana. This year, the university received nominations from 65 high schools across five states, as well as Alberta. Two students from Hot Springs High School have been chosen to participate in this unique experience. Cameron Stearns, a senior, age 17, and Laneya Miller, a junior,...
For thousands of communities across the U.S., high school football is a big deal. The whole town comes down to watch, to support their team, to cheer on the players they've watched grow up. Noxon is no exception. However, things look slightly different in Noxon, because the town's 200 residents don't sit down to watch 11 of their players take their places on the field, or even the standard high school eight. As Noxon takes their seats, and the starters are announced, only six young men come...
The grand marshals for the 40th Huckleberry Festival are Kathy and Jim Hill. Kathy has been the vendor chair for the festival for the past 22 years, she retired from these duties last year. Both she and Jim were very surprised and honored to be named the grand marshals for the 40th Annual Huckleberry Festival parade. Kathy was born in Festus, Missouri and grew up in the Detroit area. She moved around extensively with her first husband (Michigan, Las Vegas, Houston, New Mexico). Kathy's first...
As the long days of summer get into full swing, Montanans and visitors alike have begun to reconnect with our state parks, our one-of-a-kind outdoor recreation experiences, and the cultural treasures that define our state. Last week, I visited a crew of middle school students who spent one of the first weeks of their summer break instilling a lifelong dedication to our outdoors. As part of Montana Conservation Corps’ youth program, these students were introduced to conservation early, in a hands-on, dirt-in-the-fingernails way, by digging t...
I hiked down off the mountain at 3:44 in the morning. It was the day after the summer solstice and there was already a thin line of light blue along the horizon. I moved quickly and carefully down the trail, guided by my headlamp and the downhill movement of gravity. I stopped suddenly, pulled by an invisible force in the darkness. I looked up at the stars, twinkling in their own magic, then realized what caught my attention. Not so far away was a scraggly, uneven peak, waiting patiently for the sun to rise. And on top of that peak stood a...
Yellow perch (Perca flavescens) are a small tasty fish that can easily be caught in large numbers during spring spawning season. One of the best places to catch perch this time of year is Flathead Lake. Yellow perch seek shallow and relatively warm waters and begin spawning when the water temperature rises to between 35- and 65-degrees Fahrenheit. I’ve found that in Flathead Lake the action really takes off when the water temperature hits 45 degrees and the sun starts to regularly peek through the clouds. Each year for the last three years I...
Growing up in Libby, Montana, I was surrounded by incredibly wild and beautiful country. Our family spent a lot of time in the outdoors. There were trails headed into the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness area within just a few miles of our house. A few years after this area was designated an official wilderness area in 1964, we backpacked into Granite Lake, a six-mile hike crossing Granite Creek several times before arriving at the lake. Everything seemed larger than life, from the huge ferns...
The September day started out early, before the sun rose, as most expeditions like this do. I laced up my boots, filled my water bottles, and headed out the door with my friend and his dog, a needed companion. After traveling an hour and a half up Bull River Road, we finally arrived at the trailhead, with a sign that read "Leigh Lake Trail." We admired the glorious rock table next to the trailhead, then headed up the steep incline to begin the most marvelous hike of all. We started up at a...
Margaret Mead’s very famous quote promotes active, informed citizenry: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, organized citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” Keeping this in mind was at the heart of the presentation, Citizenship 101: Montana’s 2019 Legislature that was held last Friday at the Paradise Center. Twenty citizens from around Sanders County came to fine-tune their knowledge of how Montana’s Legislature works. This presentation is one of many around the state to promote act...
