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Independently owned since 1905
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While Governor Steve Bullock ordered last Sunday that Montana schools be closed for two weeks to help slow the spread of COVID-19, also known as coronavirus, other Sanders County businesses are feeling the effects as well. County officials met Monday to discuss guidelines and potential impacts to the county businesses and residents. The county created a Facebook page, "Sanders County COVID-19," to update residents on current restrictions due to the coronavirus. A message line has also been set...
A rain storm moves across the prairie near Hot Springs last week....
The Trout Creek Farmer’s Market manager has stepped down to allow for a fresh face to take on the mantle. Sarah Cooper has been involved with the farmers market since before its inception back in 2012. Since then, she has managed the market for nearly every year, taking only one year off. Before the Trout Creek Farmers Market was started, Cooper was a part of the Thompson Falls Farmers Market Board. “I always wanted to have one in my own community,” said Cooper, but she also didn’t want it to compete with the market in Thompson Falls. She got...
Sanders County veterans met with officials last Thursday to discuss issues including a local veteran service office, applying for benefits and the availability of jobs for veterans. The roundtable discussion was held at the VFW in Plains. Joe Dooling, a Republican running for the U.S. House of Representatives this year, was there to hear about these issues. Alongside Dooling was Sam Redfern, founder and president of United States of Hope in Missoula. Dave Williams, president and founder of...
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state and federal governments are recommending the practice of social distancing to help slow the spread of COVID-19. Avoiding large gatherings, washing your hands and staying home if you have any illness are some of the recommendations with this practice. In a more densely populated area, social distancing means staying in your home and probably much more screen time for your kids. With Governor Steve Bullock ordering schools be closed for two weeks, your kids are going to get to the...
Response to Blackstone Maybe because I’m pretty much home-bound because of the coronavirus, or maybe because he struck a cord – and possibly both, I must respond to Blaine Blackstone’s epistle about Chuck Schumer’s comments. I wish that Schumer hadn’t apologized on his blasting of the Supreme Court Justices about their taking on abortion cases. There appears to be a concerted effort to chip away at Roe vs Wade – a decision that protected a women’s right to privacy concerning a decision to terminate a pregnancy. Gorsuch and Kavanaugh wer...
Dear Editor, After reading the letter titled “Media Causes Concern” (March 12, 2020), as well as answers to the “Question of the Week” in the March 5 issue, I have come to the conclusion that there are a lot of very uninformed and/or misinformed people out there. I am not an alarmist or a fear monger by nature, but I am a card-carrying realist. One can’t blame the media for reporting the truth just because one doesn’t want something to be true, or one doesn’t believe something to be true. Unfortunately, there is fake news in the world, but it...
I could write about coronavirus about which I know little, or politics about which I know too much, or the weather about which you know as much as I do, but they are all depressing topics so I am going to tell you about my uncle, Davey Maitland. He was my mother’s uncle, actually, and was born and raised on the family farm in Southern Ontario with his brother Frank and his three sisters, Robena, Gert and my grandmother, Margaret. Their own grandfather had bought the farm in 1837 when he and h...
3 YEARS AGO • NOVEMBER 21, 1918 LET’S COOPERATE Public and private gatherings of all kinds are prohibited until further notice and quarantine is established for all influenza cases in Thompson Falls by a set of regulations passed by the Local Board of Health Monday. Children under 18 years of age are to remain at home unless sent by their parents on an errand, persons with a cold or other suspicious symptoms must avoid public places, and in any place of business except restaurants not more than two customers will be allowed at any one tim...
TOM THOMPSON, Thompson Falls – “I have Purell on my hands. I have kinda separated myself because my wife and I are cancer survivors and have compromised immunity. But we haven’t completely isolated ourselves yet.” BARRY LEAF, Thompson Falls – “I have, I guess. It is sad in these times we have to do that.” CATHY NAGY, Thompson Falls – “Well, you are a little too close to me. Around anybody I have a mask on.” SCOTT MCELROY, Lewisville, Colorado – “We are visitors, and we have been forced into social distancing. We came from Missoula and many...
Ambulance Calls: Plains, 3; Hot Springs, 2; Thompson Falls, 1; Trout Creek, 1; Paradise, 1; Heron, 1 Sunday, March 8 Disturbance, Hot Springs. Assault, T. Falls. Civil Attempts, T. Falls. Theft, Plains. Bar Check, Plains. Disturbance, Trout Creek. Monday, March 9 Assist motorist/citizen, Hot Springs. Body found/coroner, Plains. Welfare check, Thompson Falls. Theft, Thompson Falls. Warrant service, Plains. Suspicious activity, T. Falls. Pedestrian/hitchhiker stop, Perma. Bar check. Tuesday, March 10 Fire, Dixon. Abandoned vehicle, Noxon....
Sanders County Attorney Rebecca Hamilton, issuing a bad check $500 or less, 1st offense, $130 and $134.21 restitution. Montana Highway Patrol Dustin Emmett, 31, operating without liability insurance, 1st offense, $85; seatbelt violation, $20. Roxsanna Ryan, 63, seatbelt violation, $20. Douglas Hall, 59, speeding in restricted area, $105. Gina West, 62, day speeding, $20. Cory Burris, 38, seatbelt violation, $20. Charles Treece, 61, day speeding, $20. Donald Gann, 68, speeding in restricted zone, $85. Sandra Haddow, 35, speeding in restricted...
Thompson Falls Elementary students brought their art skills once again for the annual Beautification Days poster contest. This year's Beautification Days, put on by the Thompson Falls Main Street organization, will be held on April 16-18. The yearly goal for the gathering is to encourage people to help with spring cleaning around the community, as well as to help neighbors with any work they are unable to do themselves. This year, eight judges combed over 209 posters that were entered by...
Every year the Sanders County Arts Council strives to bring creativity to the communities of the county for which it was named. One such event held each year features the humanities and each event they host brings in talent from across the state. On Feb. 15 they did something special. During an event held at the Elks in Thompson Falls, the arts council invited Montana poet laureate Melissa Kwasny to come out to read some of her poetry to get the community’s creative juices flowing. After she finished, she began asking the audience to p...
Libby Hostel Base Camp is sponsoring a late winter - early spring birding program for beginners and experienced birders meeting at 9 a.m. in the Viking room at the Venture Inn at 1015 West 9th St., U.S. Highway 2 in Libby, Montana. We will begin the day with a brief morning session to discuss birding techniques. Following that, the group will immediately head to the field locations, and explore at least three different sites of diverse habitats. Please come prepared for the day with full gas tanks, appropriate clothing, good footwear, lunch,...
Robert "Bob" Crismore has taken his final trip, this time on Heaven's Highway. Bob was a tire salesman and traveled the road for years doing what he did best - selling. Bob was born on Feb. 18, 1935, in Lonepine, Montana, to Herman and Sarah Crismore. He grew up on a ranch with his sister and two brothers. He attended Lonepine Grade School and Hot Springs Junior and Senior High. He graduated in 1954. In the summer of 1955, he went to work for Montgomery Ward in Missoula selling tires and the res...
The Town Pump Charitable Foundation is offering up to $500,000 in grants statewide for volunteer ambulance and EMT services. Interested organizations have until April 15 to apply. “Town Pump recognizes the importance, commitment and sacrifice of volunteer first responders, especially in rural communities in Montana,” said Bill McGladdery, director of corporate communications for Town Pump. “The Town Pump Charitable Foundation is providing this grant opportunity for local volunteer organizations to obtain supplies and equipment to help them...
Even with schools closed for the next few weeks, the county encourages people interested in filing for a position as a school board trustee to do so soon, as deadlines will not be changed. The cutoff date for regular filing is March 26 at 5 p.m. and write-in filing by April 2 at 5 p.m. Applications can be sent to the election’s office at the Sanders County Courthouse in lieu of closed school district clerk offices. “We want to make sure people know that even though schools are closed people can still file through the courthouse,” said Elect...
Despite the bad weather, community members braved the cold to attend the Clark Fork Valley Elks' first community baby shower last Saturday in Thompson Falls. Fifty-six guests, including children, were invited to take part in an educational day full of parenting resources, chances to win raffle prizes, games, face painting and lunch. Michelle Blackstone, Exalted Ruler of the Clark Fork Valley Elks, headed up the event with funds that were granted to her through the Elks National Fund (ENF)...
Thompson Falls woman Lisa Koker, a former deputy treasurer at the Sanders County Courthouse, has been charged with theft, tampering with public records and official misconduct. Koker allegedly took $704 cash from a county deposit in November. The missing funds were noticed in December. A county employee noticed a discrepancy on Dec. 10 and the office verified that cash was missing from a deposit, according to charging documents. Upon further investigation, the Sanders County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) discovered that along with missing cash f...
NorthWestern Energy met with around 25 community members to discuss results from the October 2019 operational draw down tests. The tests are needed as the company prepares to relicense the Thompson Falls Hydroelectric Dam under the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) license requirements. The license, which expires in 2025, requires a significant amount of data to be collected from around the reservoir on NorthWestern Energy’s part. Mary Gayle Sullivan, director of environmental and lands for NorthWestern Energy, explained the p...
Shut it down right now, the show is over until further notice. At least until we get this coronavirus situation figured out a little better. The bizarre thing about this whole COVID-19 scenario is nobody really knows what is next and how long this whole process will take, but right now we are pretty much on lockdown. And that's not only sports that are shut down; it's everything and anything that draws 10 or more people together for doing virtually anything. It's time to pretend you are back in...
SOLUTIONS ACROSS 1. Syli 5. Stave 10. Echoes 12. Perils 14. Roy Williams 16. CF 18. DOL 19. Ayr 20. Sacra 22. Ado 23. Sneer 25. Sham 26. Her 27. Pad 28. Sac 30. Epi 31. Imam 33. Tureen 35. Samar 37. Passe 38. Apexes 40. Tide 41. Nat 42. DAT 44. Hod 45. She 48. Ices 50. Tatar 52. Toe 53. Throb 55. SBS 56. Ell 57. Ye 58. Fantastical 63. Soiree 65. Lusaka 66. Baits 67. Ebon SOLUTIONS DOWN 1. Shy 2. Yow 3. Lei 4. Island 5. Spires 6. Tea 7. Arms 8. Visas 9. El 10. Erode 11. Colorimeter 13. Scrapes...
March marks the mid-year point for 4-H members. Although there are six months until fair, Sanders County 4-H members haven't been sitting back doing nothing. They have been busy honing their skills in public speaking. First rounds of Communication Days took place the first weekend in March and strong presenters moved through the first round and qualified for finals. Last weekend, members who earned these top ratings once again presented their polished exhibitions at the final competition in...
With all the cancellations throughout the Mission Valley, rest assured at least one event will not be canceled! Grab your fishing poles and get your families onto Flathead Lake to participate in the 2020 Spring Mack Days event, which begins on Friday, March 20 and runs until May 17. In order to conduct the contest in ways to minimize viral transmission we will implement the following changes: 1. Anglers will be received on the porch of the processing building, preferably one at a time. 2. The Tribal Fisheries staff will count fish and will...
