Independently owned since 1905
Independently owned since 1905
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 28
A Hot Springs sixth grader spelled the word penguin correctly to earn the title of Sanders County Spelling Bee champion last week. On Friday, 16 local students in grades fourth through eighth competed in the county's 33rd annual be at the Sanders County Courthouse. The spelling bee, sponsored by First Security Bank and the Sanders County Ledger, have both been sponsoring the event for the last 33 years. According to Annie Wooden Sanders County Ledger Publisher, "The Ledger and First Security...
Thompson Falls has recently discovered itself without a mayor. This startle came after former incumbent Jerry Lacy unexpectedly announced his immediate resignation last Thursday. City Clerk and Treasurer Chelsea Peterson commented that the City of Thompson Falls will be accepting letters of interest for the mayor position and has a closing date of March 20, 2020. “This will give the council time to meet and make a selection to be sworn in April 13,” Peterson said. Stepping forward to fill the void left by Lacy will be City Council Pre...
With the warmer weather comes faster flowing water in Bemish Creek some 13 miles southwest of Plains. Even with bits of ice hanging on at several parts of the creek, the water moves quickly downstream....
by Ed Moreth It wasn't the sweepstakes man coming to the door, but it was a big win for Plains School Superintendent Thom Chisholm, who received word last week that the school will be getting a $750,000 grant from the Montana Department of Commerce. "Congratulations. On behalf of the State of Montana, it is my pleasure to notify you that the Plains School District 1 has been selected for a Delivering Local Assistance award in the amount of $750,000...," reads the letter from Governor Steve...
Last week, a reader stopped in with a bag of trash he collected between the two access ramps in Thompson Falls. It doesn't take long to get a pile if you pick up trash during a walk. With spring comes the melting of snow (usually) and the reveal of trash that has collected along roadways and trails. Beautification Days in Thompson Falls is coming up in April. And as you'll read in this week's Ledger, communities received grant funding for improvement projects. Committees and local governments are working to make our communities better. Even...
Dear Editor, In your viewpoint this week (February 27, 2020), you incorrectly stated that Coronavirus started in China. This is incorrect. The current strain of Coronavirus, called COVID-19, started in China. However, strains of the viruses that are together called Coronavirus are of unknown origin and have been known to science since 1962. More people will get sick and die from the flu this year than this coronavirus. Media outlets such as yours have caused this heighted state of concern that has now spread to the marketplace. I encourage you...
I would like to address this sewer project that the city council and mayor have forced upon their residence. A petition against the sewer system was presented to them with over 55% of the people affected by it. Yet they would not listen to citizens and could not give us a reason why we needed this system. We were promised they would listen if we got 50% of the people to sign. We did and they did not keep their word. They already went ahead with their plans. We were never told that an environmental impact study had been made to prove we needed...
It was in 1991, I think, when I was a member of the Montana House of Representatives, there was a bill to outlaw capital punishment. One of the proponents made a very thought-provoking argument for the bill. He challenged each of us to imagine we were the executioner. His argument was that you only had the right to vote to keep capital punishment if you were personally willing to “drop the trap.” (Hanging was a legal form of execution in Montana then, and the condemned stood on a trap door with...
3 YEARS AGO • MARCH 8, 1990 STREET EXCAVATION TURNS UP UNEXPECTED TANK Riverside Constructions workers dug up more than old asphalt last week after they discovered two unexpected underground storage tanks near the corner of Main and Fulton. Moore Oil manager Ed Benton said they were called in to pump out the contents of one of the tanks. It was an approximately 500 gallon tank that had probably been in the ground for the last 30 or 40 years, Benton said. There once was a service station at t...
JOHN SIEGMUND, Thompson Falls – “On a scale of one to 10, a negative five.” JOSH OXFORD, Thompson Falls – “I’m not concerned at all.” ROBYN OXFORD, Thompson Falls – “I’m not too concerned. I make sure I keep my hands washed. If people cough on money, I make sure to wash my hands.” BUTCH VERLANIC, Thompson Falls – “We have friends that live in Mt. Vernon, Washington, by Seattle. We were going to go visit, but with this going on we are not.” NAOMI RUMMEL, Thompson Falls – “No more concerned than I am of the flu. I think it has been blown out of...
Ambulance calls: Noxon, 3; Hot Springs, 3; Thompson Falls, 4; Plains, 1; Dixon, 1. Monday February 24 Road hazard, blockage, T. Falls. Report of lights on property, vehicle tracks in snow, vehicle made wrong turn, T. Falls. Motor vehicle crash, T. Falls. Animal stray, lost, Noxon. Traffic stop, driver fled on foot, Dixon. Disturbance, Trout Creek. Disturbance, Paradise. Traffic stop, driver fled, ran into restaurant bathroom, locked door and flushed, Dixon. Tuesday, February 25 Trespass, Plains. Person missing, Plains. Motor vehicle crash,...
Sanders County Attorney Jennifer Flemmer, 32, issuing a bad check $500 or less, 1st offense, $250, $162.06 restitution; issuing a bad check, $500 or less, 1st offense, $100, $162.06 restitution; issuing a bad check, $500 or less, 1st offense, $100, $162.06 restitution. Sanders County Sheriff’s Office Jared Reynoso, 54, night speeding, $70; owner permitting operation of vehicle without liability insurance, 2nd offense, $185. James Warner, 41, violation of protective order, 1st offense, $235, 30 days jail. Hunter Knoepke, 23, speeding in r...
The Trout Creek School graciously received $1,700 from the Montana Masonic Foundation (MMF) Educational Grant Program last week. The school will use the funds to acquire $700 worth of library books and $1,000 in musical instruments, stated Debbie Phillips, Trout Creek School Principal. Pictured are music teacher Taylor Etienne (left) and school librarian Stephanie Wortley (right). John Heston of the MMF presented the check. The MMF grant program provides financial support for under-funded...
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...
Two Sanders County studnets have qualified to compete in the state Geography Bee. Theo Nygaard, an eighth-grader at Thompson Falls Junior High, at Nathan Hutfles, a seventh-grader from Noxon, will compete in the 2020 National Geographic GeoBee State Competition. The state GeoBee will be March 27 at the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman. State champions will recieve a medal, $1,000 in cash, additional prizes and a trip to Washington, D.C., to represent their state in the National Championship May 18-21. The National Champion will receive a...
The Elks Lodge in Thompson Falls will be hosting a community baby shower on Saturday, March 14 from noon to 2 p.m. This event is catered to everyone in Sanders County who is expecting, or has newborns, infants, or babies. The baby shower is sponsored by the Elks National Foundation (ENF) through the Spotlight Grant, one of the newest grants offered through ENF, which debuted this last year. “The grant focuses on family literacy,” said Michelle Blackstone, the lodge’s exalted ruler. The baby shower, health fair and book fair will be full of fu...
For the second trimester, the Dixon School honor roll includes: 4th grade: Melina Kicking Woman, Lucy Metcalf and Ameen Posio. 5th grade: Dylann Elverud and Robbie Howard. 6th grade: Amelya Delay, Mark Ioli, Benjamin Matt, Katie Porter, Adele Ranney and Abbigail Wagner. 7th grade: Jayda Anderson, Charlie Elverud and Jayna Hale. 8th grade: Brittan Griego, Mathew Hale, Henry Ranney and Sncle Rossbach....
June Evelyn (Jones) Hamilton of Thompson Falls, age 89, passed away Sunday, March 1, 2020, at Brendan House in Kalispell. A full obituary will be published in next week’s Ledger.... Full story
Recently, Thompson Falls Woman’s Club collaborated with the Thompson Falls rural and city fire departments in providing inspections of in-home smoke detectors for residents in the area. According to event leader Vonn Briggs, unfortunately there have only been a couple inspections. Despite this, she is expecting the event to become more popular as it takes place once again in October, during National Fire Prevention month. “This was our first year,” commented Briggs about the soon-to-be annual event. She shared that the American Red Cross will...
The spring-like weather of last Friday was capped off by a stunning sunset as seen from Green Mountain west of Trout Creek. Spring officially starts when the seasons change March 19....
Ready to nip cabin fever in the bud? Head over to the Lakeside Motel and Resort in Trout Creek, for a night out at the 6th annual Red Neck Ball. This year’s event, sponsored by the Trout Creek Community Improvement Association (TCCIA), takes place on Saturday, March 7. The evening begins with a no-host social hour at 5 p.m. with the show beginning at 7 p.m. “If you’ve missed previous years, this is the year you have to go,” said Liz Stender, TCCIA chair. The Red Neck Ball is an evening full of live entertainment, costume contests, and prizes...
Three additional candidates have filed for local state and regional positions for this year’s general election. Incumbent James Manley has filed for District Court Judge in District 20, which includes Sanders County. Manley has served in that position for six year and was a private practice attorney for 37 years. Manley said he thought about retiring, but a lot of people talked to him about filing for another term. “Actually, the one who convinced me to was Clerk of Court Candice Fisher. I can’t seem to say no to Candy,” Manley said. Ben Anciau...
HAMILTON – Call it the new Lady Hawk basketball reality. It's a brave new world where winning games on a regular basis and competing for post-season glory is the rule and not the exception. Playing exceptional basketball, just like they have all season, the rejuvenated Lady Hawks won third place in the Western B divisional tournament in Hamilton last week, capping an encouraging season with an impressive 19-5 record, the District 7B regular season and tournament championships, and perhaps more i...
HAMILTON – Too bad the season is not a few weeks longer. If it were, the Thompson Falls boys just may have been able to put together a State B tournament run, and could now be making plans for visiting Butte for some more basketball fun March 12-14. Seeming to improve incrementally each week late in the season, coach Jake Mickelson's Blue Hawks may have run out of time more than anything else. Showing that they can hang with the big boys in the Western B, the Hawks proved to be contenders for on...
Welcome to that pressure cooker they call the Western C divisional basketball tournament, where only the very best teams are even allowed through the gym door. Battling gamely against the best of the west in Montana, the Hot Springs Savage Heat girls won one of three games and were still playing Saturday in the Western C divisional tournament in Frenchtown last week. Coach Richard Jackson and his powerful Savage Heat, who completed season play with a sparkling 18-5 record (believed to be one of...
