Independently owned since 1905
Independently owned since 1905
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After careening into a guard rail, a Thompson Falls man was taken to the hospital Monday morning around 10 a.m. Police received several calls about a driver who was weaving around the road and headed east on Highway 200. Thompson Falls Police, Montana Highway Patrol, Thompson Falls Fire and Thompson Falls Ambulance arrived on scene after a call that the vehicle had wrecked. A white Subaru had hit the guardrail east of Thompson Falls at mile marker 53.5, near the new wildlife overpass on Highway...
The Rex Community Theater welcomed a packed auditorium Saturday evening as they welcomed Copper Mountain Band (CMB) of Troy. The show opened with Third Avenue, a duo of 16-year-old musicians. They performed numbers by Janis Joplin, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and The Beatles, to name a few. Third Avenue's musicians are Payton Rae and Cody, who is the son of CMB's Jacque Jolene and Nate Norman. Third Avenue set the stage for a night of acoustic energy despite the lead singer "popping" her...
For many who travel through Sanders County, the beauty of nature and access to the outdoors is a main reason for settling in the area. At least, that is the reason that Randy and his wife Julia McMillan opened their lodge in Trout Creek. "We are blessed to have this place, and we wanted to share it," said Randy. Last week the pair welcomed four couples into their unique bed and breakfast for five days. Each couple included a special operations military veteran, either in active duty or retired....
Students from Trout Creek Seventh Day Adventist School gathered for the second annual toothpick bridge contest earlier this month. After the success of last year's contest, students were excited to get back to building once again. "It appears to be a smashingly good time," Maurita Crew said. Started by her father in the 1970s, Crew has kept the toothpick bridge contest a long-standing tradition throughout her teaching career. Students are allowed to use up to 750 toothpicks to build their...
I read a book recently called "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell. He proposes that success is due to the opportunities we are given. Yes, hard work and diligence have something to do with it as well. But he provides examples of how people who are given chances and opportunities have a jump start against those who don't. The book got me thinking about how our lives can change based on what opportunities we are given. Sometimes opportunity is a parent putting their child at a piano when they are young, providing lessons throughout childhood and then...
In my last column, I discussed what I believe to be the problem with a numbers-based evaluation system for police officers in large cities calling for reforms. In my opinion, basing an officer’s performance using a numbers-based matrix creates the potential for all sorts of problems. As an example, in the numbers-based system I worked under, picture the following scenario: An officer makes a stop for a simple traffic violation. Under that numbers-based system, the officer may feel compelled to w...
This past week, HB 418 came to the floor of the House of Representatives. There was and is some confusion of what this bill could have done. On the surface it sounded like it would simply open access to public lands. That was the intent of the bill, but the unintended consequences were worrisome. It could have taken any old trails, logging railroads, and even pack trails that lead to public lands and created an access to public lands. The problem with the bill, it would have threatened private...
I really appreciate the description of a peace officer attitude in Blaine Blackstone’s March 11 letter. We need peace officers as described. “The officer DID NOT write a large number of citations. He didn’t make a lot of arrests. Yet...the people he served loved him (along with anyone who had the good fortune to work with and learn from him).” I bet he did not hide in the dark along a straight stretch trying to “catch” someone 10 or 15 mph over. I bet he did not sit at the edge of speed zones “catching” people coming down from highway speed t...
4 YEARS AGO • MARCH 26, 1981 HOMESTEAD – AN OLD WORD WITH A NEW MEANING By Fay Allen Homestead. An old term that is almost forgotten, a word of another day, and yet a term that has affected many of our lives. A picture comes to mind of a forlorn, tarpaper shack on the prairie. Many older people have expressed the very opposite. This was their life's ambition, their dream, a place to take care of them in return for their labor. Until the early 1900s, Sanders County was a part of Missoula Cou...
CHRIS RAMSTEAD, Seattle, Washington - “What I prefer is cashier. It’s a personal level, you walk through and you actually talk to the person.” DAN HOBBS, Seattle, Washington - “I prefer the self-checkout, because I used to work at a grocery store, and I was a checker. I don’t mind the other, I just prefer going the quick route and one I’m comfortable with.” JAY WILLIAMS, Seattle, Washington - “I think self-checkout is fantastic. It helps with the flow, for sure. Coming from an area that’s densely populated it makes a big difference.” KRIS...
Ambulance: T. Falls, 5; Trout Creek, 3; Dixon, 1; Plains, 5; Heron, 1; Hot Springs, 1 Monday, March 15 Motor vehicle crash, Paradise. Fire, Paradise. Animal other, Trout Creek. Request for welfare check, Trout Creek. Drugs/narcotics, student reportedly brought drug paraphernalia to school, Dixon. Animal other, Hot Springs. Trespass, Plains. Livestock, Paradise. Informational case, call from Adult Protective Services reporting a third party suspicion of abuse by a caregiver, Plains. Child welfare/abuse, Plains. Sexual assault, Hot Springs....
Montana Highway Patrol Robert Mathers, 20, seatbelt violation, $70. Michael Henion, 51, night speeding, $20. Ronald Eaton, 49, operating without insurance, 1st offense, $285. Jeremiah Jahn, 29, speeding in restricted zone, $85. Per Storli, 52, seatbelt violation, $20; careless driving, $85. William Noel, 58, seatbelt violation, $20; operating without insurance, $85. Judy Subatch, 45, seatbelt violation, $20. Jennifer Ramirez, 39, improperly restrained child, $85; night speeding, $60. Joseph Sullivan, 37, day speeding, $20. Joshua Ducept, 34,...
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has released the final environmental assessment, finding of no significant impact and land protection plan to establish a new unit of the National Wildlife Refuge System, the Lost Trail Conservation Area, in northwest Montana. The recent approval of the conservation area will authorize FWS to acquire easements from willing sellers that will preserve public access; protect wildlife habitat, including important migration corridors; and allow for sustainable working public lands in Flathead and Lincoln...
When political radicals use the buzzword “polarizing,” that means we don’t agree with what you say! When Americans who have been subject to layoffs, business closures, restrictions on freedom of assembly, free speech, Second Amendment restrictions, restriction of religious practices and as Dr. Fauci said, the wearing of “largely symbolic masks” are upset AND are speaking out, then WE are polarizers. When a dementia patient becomes “interim” president through his own announced fraud and his vice president, (who could not win her own party’s n...
Dear People of Sanders County, Please be aware of HB273 introduced by Derek Skees of Kalispell. This bill seeks to eliminate public participation in siting nuclear facilities in Montana. In 1978 Montanans passed I-80 by over 60%. This initiative gives “We the people” . . . a say in our state as to nuclear power alternative. An initiative should not be overturned by legislative vote. There are no solutions to nuclear accidents. Vote NO. Sincerely, Colleen Hinds, Heron...
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...
As the weather turns a corner and spring begins to bloom, the outdoorsman in all of us is beginning to hear the call into nature. This is the time that the prep work begins. I have not bought genuinely new outdoor equipment in years. In fact, the last time I invested in a sleeping pad, it was the kind they had that self “inflated,” yet it could not ever contain enough air to separate a person from the ground or it would burst. This last summer I went camping with a friend who had an honest-to-goodness inflatable sleeping pad that used the sto...
Betty L. Bauer-Mosher passed away on February 28, 2021. Betty was a kind and loving mother, sister, grandmother and great-grandmother. She was loved for her positive views on people and life. Betty was surrounded by family as she started the next adventure with the love of her life, Wayne Mosher. She is survived by children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and three sisters. A celebration of life will be held at a later date....
Melissa and Dakota Mull of Plains welcomed a son, Daxton Thomas Mull. Daxton was born March 11, 2021, at Clark Fork Valley Hospital in Plains. He measured 19.5 inches long and 6 pounds, 11 ounces. Maternal grandparents are Jamie and Lisa French of Paradise. Maternal great-grandparents are Betty and Dan Kelly. Paternal grandparents are Chris and Karen Mull of Plains. Paternal great-grandparents are Freddy and Brenda Thomas, Michael Mull and Betty and Jim Barnette. Welcome, Dax...
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...
Most people have either watched or participated in a spelling bee sometime in their lives, but only one Sanders County student made it into the statewide competition this year. Katie Porter is 13 years old and has been competing in spelling bees since she was in third grade. According to her teachers, she has been number one in her school since fourth grade. According to Shawna Olsen, Dixon School secretary and manager of the school's spelling bee, this is "something she does every year" and...
Public speaking is known to be an intimidating experience for most adults - it can be even more scary for kids. Nevertheless, 26 boys and girls from the Plains 4-H club South Side Sparks braved the anxiety of giving a talk - and being critiqued - in front of relatives, friends and judges at the Sanders County Fairgrounds pavilion last weekend for the first round of Communication Days competition. Six members from the club will move on to the finals competition scheduled for April 11 at the...
Bears can be found throughout Montana. In recent years, grizzly bear populations have expanded and bears are sometimes found in historic ranges beyond western Montana As bears begin foraging for food, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is asking residents to remove or secure food attractants such as garbage, bird feeders and pet food. The most common human-bear conflicts involve unsecured food attractants. People venturing into the outdoors should “Be Bear Aware” by following these precautionary steps: • Carry and know how to use bear spray. • Tra...
When it comes to Thompson Falls weightlifting, there is only one Sarah Detlaff, the legendary Hawk lifter who graduated just last year, completing her time in the sport with two individual state titles and four records to her name. But it turns out that there is another rising star in the world of Blue Hawk weightlifting, and her name is Chesney Lowe, a TFHS sophomore who broke one of Detlaff's state records on her way to second place in the 132-pound division in Helena Saturday. Competing...
The Montana State AAU junior wrestling tournament was held in Kalispell last weekend and the Blue Hawk Wrestling Club was well represented at the Fairgrounds complex, crowning three champions and placing several other wrestlers in the top six. The wrestling Block girls – Kleonna (Tot – 40 pounds), Neala (Bantam – 40) and Hartleigh (Bantam – 45) – all won championships, the best of class at their weights, to lead the Blue Hawk contingent in Kalispell. McKenzie Morgan, a Noxon High School st...
