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Articles from the March 2, 2023 edition


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  • Lolo NF begins forest plan revisions

    Annie Wooden|Mar 2, 2023

    The U.S. Forest Service is developing a new plan for the Lolo National Forest (LNF). The first of several workshops was held last week in Paradise, with LNF representatives and community members gathering at the Paradise Center. Heather Stokes with the University of Montana's Center for Natural Resources and Environmental Policy facilitated the discussion, which included about 25 people in person at the Paradise Center and another dozen chiming in via Zoom. Revision team leader Amanda Milburn...

  • Hot Springs student wins county bee

    Miriah Kardelis|Mar 2, 2023

    The Courthouse in Thompson Falls was abuzz with spellers from around the county who gathered to compete in the 36th Annual Sanders County Spelling Bee last Friday. First Security Bank, a sponsor of the spelling bee, provides winners with gift certificates from Barnes and Noble. The Sanders County Ledger, the other sponsor of the spelling bee, provides trophies for first, second and third place winners. Ledger Publisher and bee director Annie Wooden introduced Jeff Wheeler as this year's...

  • Vehicle strikes pole in Plains

    Ed Moreth|Mar 2, 2023

    The Plains Police Department is looking for the person who ran into a power pole on the corner of West Oak and South Willis Streets and then left the scene without notifying authorities. The pole was struck on Wednesday morning of Feb. 8, although Chief of Police Brian Josephson refused to give out any information about the incident, even when it occurred. The accident took place on the corner directly across from the Plains Lions Club wading pool. Plains resident Charles Bickenheuser, who...

  • VFW honors Plains teacher

    Ed Moreth|Mar 2, 2023

    A Plains teacher was honored by VFW Post 3596 recently at a school assembly, but she almost missed her own award ceremony. Mathematics teacher Lisa Brown wasn't feeling good that Thursday and planned to leave early, and students had only a half a day, but high school Principal Ryon Noland and Jesse Jermyn, who heads the school maintenance program, delayed her without letting on that there was a surprise in store for her. The ploy worked - she was surprised. The Plains VFW post honored Brown...

  • Opportunities to excel

    Annie Wooden|Mar 2, 2023

    I recently traveled to Polson to cover the District 14-C basketball tournament. I’ve been to Polson before, but never for that long of a stretch. Polson may have a Wal-Mart, McDonald’s and Starbucks, but it’s still a small town. One morning during breakfast I met Brett Butler, the assistant coach of Polson High School’s speech and debate team. He started talking about how the team was running the concessions stand at the basketball tournament to fundraise. Anyone who has ever been anywhere with me knows that I like to ask questions, so I inquir...

  • Montana Viewpoint: Malice, lies and market share

    Jim Elliott|Mar 2, 2023

    In a Montana Viewpoint© article a month ago called “Marketing Anger”, I wrote about the prevalence of anger as an economic force as well as a political force, saying: ”There is also the economic aspect of anger such as increasing a show’s TV ratings and market share, not to mention increasing the salaries of individual anger merchants.” I was engaging in speculation, I have to admit, but that speculation now seems to have some teeth, as a document filed in a defamation lawsuit against Fox News N...

  • Meeting was professional

    Mar 2, 2023

    The editorial in the 24 February Ledger discusses the changes in behavior at county meetings over time. Conduct by attendees at the Board of Health meeting on 15 February, which I attended, was specifically referenced. Attendees behaved as most would expect and want at a public meeting held to conduct, and in this case, complete, a public action. I give enormous credit to Commissioner Tony Cox for establishing immediately the purpose of the meeting and the expected standard of behavior. He allowed public comment while keeping the meeting...

  • Remember When?

    Sherry Hagerman-Benton|Mar 2, 2023

    d105 YEARS AGO • FEBRUARY 28, 1918 WILL CUT MATCH TIMBER Start Erection of Mill at Whitepine to handle 5,000,000 Feet of Wood Work has been commenced by the Idaho Match Works on a saw mill about seven miles up Whitepine Creek to handle the cutting of about 5,000,000 feet of whitepine timber for the manufacture of matches. The machinery arrived the latter part of the week and is being taken to the mill site and a force of men is at work on the building. The timber which will be worked up into match blocks has been purchased from the government b...

  • Plains man pleads not guilty to aggravated assault

    Stephanie Molzhon|Mar 2, 2023

    Appearing on Tuesday for his initial appearance before Judge Molly Owen, Rodney George Marriott entered a plea of not guilty to one felony charge of aggravated assault, stemming from a domestic altercation on the morning of January 23. As alleged in the charging documents, Detective Phillips was notified of a partner/family member assault in the Plains area and responded to Clark Fork Valley Hospital to interview the parties involved while the responding officers remained at the scene to investigate. Marriott was already at the hospital when...

  • Justice Court

    Mar 2, 2023

    Montana Highway Patrol Kara Allestad, 30, seatbelt violation, $20. David White, 54, speeding in a restricted zone, $95. John Chudy III, 70, speeding in a restricted zone, $65. Daniel Helterline, 56, seatbelt violation, $20. Dennis Niemela, 29, speeding in a restricted zone, $105. Anna Boon, 34, seatbelt violation, $20. Frank Curry, 74, seatbelt violation, $20. Pamela Lynch, 72, seatbelt violation, $20. Janelle Marley, 75, speeding near school/senior citizen center, $135. Henry Pardee, 30, seatbelt violation, $20. Larry Wakefield, 82, seatbelt...

  • Legislative Update

    Mar 2, 2023

    Transmittal Break by Rep. Denley Loge, HD-14 This letter deals more with the process of the legislature than with the actual legislation. Currently you can find the legislation that has passed through the committees and on to the appropriate chamber floors by looking at the Montana State Legislature site online. This will give you a chance to find all the bills by number and by topic that were introduced and what the current status of the bill is. It also gives you the bill language as written, the amendments, the votes and bill sponsor. If...

  • Sheriff's Log

    Mar 2, 2023

    Ambulance: Plains, 11; Trout Creek, 6; Hot Springs, 6; T. Falls, 5; Dixon, 2; Paradise, 1. Monday, February 20 Assist miscellaneous, T. Falls. Suspicious activity, Plains. Assist motorist/citizen, T. Falls. Alarm-intrusion/holdup, Plains. Animal other, Hot Springs. Assist motorist/citizen, T. Falls. General animal call/complaint, T. Falls. Person missing, T. Falls. Request for welfare check, Hot Springs. Suspicious activity, T. Falls. Tuesday, February 21 General animal call/complaint, T. Falls. Motor vehicle crash, Plains....

  • CASA raises funds, public awareness

    Ed Moreth|Mar 2, 2023

    Every little bit helps when it comes to the welfare of the children of Sanders County and last week the Court Appointed Special Advocates - known to most simply as CASA - collected $1,604.85 from its annual Chili Feed at St. James Catholic Church. Nearly 40 people showed up for the event in the church's basement Thursday evening to take in mild and spicy chili, homemade cornbread, and homemade pies and brownies, and to get an update on CASA's mission to help children who had been removed from...

  • Constance (Connie) Edith Benson Robbins

    Mar 2, 2023

    Constance (Connie) Edith Benson Robbins, 93, passed away February 11, 2023, at Gritman Medical Center in Moscow, Idaho. Constance was born on September 22, 1929, in Vancouver, Washington, to Gladys (Conklin) and Olof Benson. She joined a sister, Evelyn, on the family vegetable farm in the small community of Burton. She also had an older half-sister, Charlotte Jean Greenblum, who visited the family occasionally. Sadly, life’s trials began early in Connie’s life. When she was only nine months old her mother became ill and was hospitalized, nev...

  • Sharon Ann Wilson

    Mar 2, 2023

    Sharon Ann Wilson passed peacefully at Clark Fork Valley Hospital on Thursday, February 23, 2023. A full obituary will follow....

  • Final destination for Hawks

    Jennifer Curran|Mar 2, 2023

    It couldn't have been a more rip-roaring end to the Blue Hawks 2023 basketball season. The Blue Hawks played four games last weekend in Anaconda and Deer Lodge for the Western 7-B Divisional Tournament. It was a weekend of fireworks for the Hawks with the last game ending in an overtime grand finale loss against Mission. The first game for the Blue Hawks was a loss on Thursday against the top-ranking Loyola-Sacred Heart Rams 78-27 at the Memorial Gymnasium in Anaconda. "It was fun to see them go...

  • Lady Hawks finish winning season at divisional

    Jennifer Curran|Mar 2, 2023

    The Thompson Falls Blue Hawks showcased their talents as a team and individually to end the season at the Western B Divisional basketball tournament in Anaconda last weekend. They came out in full force against Florence on Thursday earning the 61-49 point win. Natalie Roberts made the first points for the Hawks with a 3-pointer, Avery Burgess took the team to the lead at 14-13 and Solveig Nygaard sealed the quarter 16-15 with a buzzer shot. Ellie Baxter started off the second quarter, then...

  • Families enjoy winter carnival

    Faith Palmer|Mar 2, 2023

    Project ASCENT offered free fun for families last weekend at the non-profit organization’s Winter Carnival. The carnival was held Saturday on the practice field at Thompson Falls High School, offering free games, prizes and activities for kids. The Winter Carnival is not a fundraiser for Project ASCENT, but it is in their mission and they do it for the community that supports them so well. This year, over 100 families participated, over 100 free meals were given, and over 50 volunteers helped set up. Some of their goals are to become more f...

  • Plains man hosts study to help guide town growth

    Ed Moreth|Mar 2, 2023

    Only 11 people showed up for a focus group study for the Town of Plains that could help guide town residents in the way they would like to see the community grow. Charles Bickenheuser, who recently formed the Plains Community Council to gather data that could be used by the Plains Planning Board, hosted the event at the Paradise Center on Saturday afternoon, but only about half of the expected number of people showed up. Bickenheuser created the volunteer board with the intention of getting an...

  • TF team wins travel league trophy

    Mar 2, 2023

    In the 25th Anniversary of the Bud/Bud Light Travel League, the team from Thompson Falls brought home the trophy for the first time since 1998. The travel league are bowling teams from throughout the region that compete from October thru February twice a month on Sundays. These teams come from Thompson Falls, Ronan, Bigfork and Whitefish. In the past it also included Libby, Eureka and Columbia Falls. This was such a fun team to bowl with, said team member Wendy Kelley. "When one of us was not...

  • Crossword Solution

    Mar 2, 2023

    SOLUTIONS ACROSS 1. SPA 4. SOW 7. BEACHCOMBER 12. ECCENTRICITIES 15. PEERESS 16. ALARMED 18. EL 19. SEI 20. NA 21. ELIS 24. TEE 27. SNARED 30. SANA 31. ADAR 33. SAE 34. RAT 35. EAGAN 37. HAG 39. RID 41. MEMO 42. ETON 44. GUINEA 47. RAD 48. DATA 49. EN 50. CBS 52. TM 53. MISDEAL 56. TRAINEE 61. TREASURE ISLAND 63. OBSERVANTLY 64. TED 65. DIS SOLUTIONS DOWN 1. SEER 2. PANE 3. ACTS 4. SMILES 5. OBTAINS 6. WEIR 7. BCE 8. HRS 9. CI 10. OCAS 11. REM 12. EPEES 13. CELLAR 14. SENE 17. DAD 22. INARI 23. SATIN 24. TAE 25. EDAM 26. EAGER 28. AAHED 29....