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Independently owned since 1905
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The Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) is working this summer to upgrade access along Main Street in Thompson Falls. Work began this week on the Thompson Falls - Urban MDT project. Lori Warden with Upward Public Relations in Missoula said Monday that the project has two main components. The first is Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) upgrades to approximately 25 sidewalk corners on Main Street and the second is resurfacing of the roadway. The project spans just over a mile, from the...
The downpours and thunderstorms that brought more than an inch of precipitation to the Clark Fork valley last week gave way to brilliant sunsets. David Reedy of Whitepine captured these colorful rays on his commute home last week....
Thirteen Sanders County youths spent Saturday morning being tested on their knowledge of the U.S. constitution during the Love of Liberty Constitution Bowl. The bowl was sponsored by local residents and businesses and held at the Trout Creek School. Organizer Kate Hardman said she came up with the idea after her sister had volunteered for a similar event held in Utah. While participation in the inaugural event was low, more than two dozen spectators watched as the students competed in six...
A new business just east of Thompson Falls is offering a variety of marijuana and marijuana products. Alternative ReLeaf opened April 20. Jon Meister and Barbie Turner have been in the business for nearly 15 years, when the first medical marijuana voter initiative was passed. Meister said he was one of the first few dozen providers in the state to be licensed. Their first shop opened in Libby in 2011, but closed in 2012 as marijuana legislation was litigated in the state supreme court. In 2016,...
A handful of kids took flight from school Thursday, but they were returned by Plains resident Randy Garrison, the one that took them away. It was part of a hands-on lesson for the Plains High School physics class that centered around the fundamentals of aerodynamics and Garrison had just the way to demonstrate what they already got in the classroom lesson by Plains High School science teacher Brooks Sanford. Garrison used his Cherokee Piper 235 airplane to drive the lecture home. The students ...
As I sit here writing this, my mom is sitting at the conference table in the back of the Ledger reading pages. She comes in and edits for me on Tuesdays. Also today she brought me a jug of water from the ranch (I live in town and well water is just tastier) and she took my dog for a walk. Normally she brings me some sort of delicious soup or leftovers (today she didn't, but I'll let that slide). Moms do all sorts of things for their kids that they don't get enough credit for. Sometimes it's the little things, and sometimes it's the bigger...
A couple of months ago former Republican Governor Marc Racicot was labelled a RINO and formally drummed out of the Montana Republican Party, this in the face of the fact that he was responsible for the election of President George W. Bush and was also a former Chair of the national Republican Party. Where had he gone wrong? (For those who still don’t know, RINO means Republican In Name Only and the Democratic equivalent is DINO.) In the mid-1990s I organized a small, politically diverse group o...
4 YEARS AGO APRIL 21, 1983 PLAINS AUTO AGENCY CHANGES HANDS Vacura Motors of Plains, a Ford dealer since 1924 and the only remaining new car dealer in Sanders County, changed management last week as John Szafryk, a Dillon native and former Anaconda Ford dealer, took over as general manager. Szafryk has 20 years of experience in the auto business. He is a Navy veteran and comes to Plains from Idaho. Clyde Terrell, formerly associated with Larson’s Chevrolet and more recently manager of the Plains Chevron Service Station, has joined Vacura Motor...
I just wanted to give kudos to JJ & Kate Hardman, Rep. Paul and Jennifer Fielder, and the many volunteers for pulling off a fantastic Constitution Bowl! They put in many hours coaching kids and organizing this "Family Feud" style event teaching our young people a fun way of learning the United States constitution. And all of us viewers who attended learned a lot as well! High school and junior high students attended and earned some fantastic prizes, well earned and congratulations for a job well done! Shame on those schools who refused to take...
Laura Herrick, Trout Creek - “To be kind and considerate.” Bob Ludka, Silverwood - “Follow the rules.” Kay Nygaard, Paradise - “The love of Christ, and she taught us a lot by example.” Ron Berman, Thompson Falls - “Unconditional love.” Frank LaMotte, Trout Creek - “To be good to other people.” Mimi Foste, Plains - “Love without boundaries, patience and kindness....
Appearing for her initial appearance before Judge Molly Owen on Tuesday, Angela Rhea Chaney entered not guilty pleas to a misdemeanor count of criminal possession of drug paraphernalia, as well as felony counts of criminal possession of dangerous drugs and bribery in official and political matters. Judge Owen set the jury trial for October 10, 2023. According to the charging documents, on March 21, Deputy Devin Wegener responded to a call of an intoxicated woman being disorderly in the middle of the highway, to the point that bystanders had to...
Ambulance: T. Falls, 8; Plains, 7; Hot Springs, 6; Trout Creek, 2; Noxon, 2; Heron, 1. Monday, May 1 Suicide attempts/threats, Dixon. Burglary, Plains. Property damage/criminal mischief, Plains. Motor vehicle crash, Plains. Drugs/narcotics, T. Falls. Inmate transport, T. Falls. Trespass, Trout Creek. Suspicious activity, T. Falls. Juvenile criminal, Heron. Trespass, Paradise. Suspicious activity, T. Falls. Nuisance complaints, Noxon. Road hazard/blockage, Trout Creek. Road hazard/blockage, Trout Creek. Tuesday, May 2 Civil standby, T. Falls....
Montana Highway Patrol Robert Olver, 66, speeding in a restricted zone, $135. Nicholas Painter, 25, seatbelt violation, $20. Payton Butcher, 19, seatbelt violation, $20. Antoine Barnaby, 42, speeding in a restricted zone, $85; seatbelt violation, $20. Blake Piedalue, 20, speeding in a restricted zone, $85. Richard Grady, 66, failure to carry/exhibit proof of insurance in vehicle, 1st offense, $285; speeding in a restricted zone, $75. Aspen Bergland, 25, day speeding, $70. Collin Koffler, 29, day speeding, $70. Elmer Mortenson, 77, day...
The GFWC Thompson Falls Woman’s Club hosts an annual Pinochle Marathon to raise funds for the Blanche M. Hurlburt Scholarship that is awarded to a graduating Thompson Falls High School student each May. The 62nd Annual Pinochle Marathon began in September and concluded in April. This year’s winner was the team of Cathy Mills and Jim Hurst with 43,540 points. Wendy Kelley and BJ Handofrd finished second with 43,280 points and Pinkie Nelson and Joyce Hilt third with 41,240 points. In fourth place were Juanita Triplett and Cal Pomrenke with 39,...
The Plains Town Council meeting last week began with disputes over recent citations of the town's Decay Ordinance, but they came with an equal show of support for the law as people rose in defense of law enforcement's actions. Much of the talk centered around the home of Archie Knerr, an elderly man who lives on Third Street and has piles of wood, steel, plastics and other materials surrounding his house. His name has come up numerous times since the ordinance was enacted in 2018. "It's a...
They didn't get as many volunteers as hoped, but the Plains Spring Cleanup Day on Saturday was still a big success, said Lana Dicken, one of the primary coordinators of the daylong project. "It was fantastic. Lots of people showed up and worked hard all day," said Dicken, who had gone door to door over the last two weeks to recruit volunteers and to find those who wanted help getting garbage and other materials hauled away. "People were excited about coming out to serve and do the community...
The Paradise Players prompted cheers and tears in their latest performance last week with its rendition of "Steel Magnolias." The all woman cast provided almost three hours of entertainment Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Paradise Center with nearly 60 people in attendance on each of the first two days and with Sunday drawing the biggest crowd of about 80 people. Steel Magnolias is a dramatic comedy about a group of small-town women in Louisiana that share a special bond and in the end deal...
It's not rocket science, it's not even science class, but science is helping the eighth-graders of Plains Junior High School with their projects in shop class. The 10 girls and four boys in the class started working on their wooden cars last week and will probably be competing in the annual "CO2 Drag Race" at the end of this week in the new gymnasium. It's all part of Kyle Mitchell's Technical Education Shop Class and the purpose of the class is to teach the kids a mixture of mathematics,...
The Sanders County Historical Society is having some fun with its main exhibit at the Old Jail Museum in Thompson Falls this year. The museum is featuring generations of toys in 2023. "Toys: Remembering Our Childhood" offers a look back at games, dolls, trucks and other toys through the early 1980s. "It just makes you smile," expressed museum director Vonn Briggs, noting that the exhibit will attract young and old alike. Briggs said that she and Sherry Hagerman-Benton were cleaning the basement...
Thompson Falls elementary students celebrated reading last week with a special assembly. To honor the end of the GFWC Thompson Falls Woman's Club's Running Start program, a ceremony was held at the school on Friday. Marsha Hart with the Woman's Club said the program went very well. She noted that several community members volunteered to read to students in kindergarten and first and second grade during the month of April. Kindergarten teacher Amber Yates led the celebration on Friday. "We had...
Jack Ira Esler was born April 10, 1938, to Lillian and Ira Esler (a Menomonee Native American) in Birnamwood, Wisconsin. He was the first born, and had a sister Patsy that was two years younger. They lived on a farm about nine miles from Bowler, Wisconsin, where they raised cattle on 160 acres without much money. Even though he was allergic to cattle he did everything necessary from working on farm equipment to harvesting hay, grain and corn. In 1956 Jack graduated from Bowler High School in...
Evelyn Joy Jacobson Gorenson Ansley was born October 17, 1941, in Kalispell, Montana, to Abel & Marie Jacobson. In 1949, the family moved from Kalispell to the cattle ranch in Hot Springs. After graduating from high school in 1959, she moved to Tacoma, Washington, where she attended Bates Vocational College. In 1960, she went to work for Boeing Missile Production in Seattle. This is where she met Richard Gorenson, and they were married on September 30, 1960. They were together for more than 20 y...
Margie was born in Chaseley, North Dakota, on April 4, 1929, to George and Ruth Austin. She passed away peacefully in her sleep at the home of her son and daughter-in-law in Buckeye, Arizona, on May 1, 2023, at the age of 94. Margie's family moved from North Dakota to White Pine, Montana, when she was 4 years old. She attended and graduated eighth grade from the one-room schoolhouse in White Pine. She went on to high school in Thompson Falls where she either stayed in the old dormitory, rode a b...
The faint yet distinct sound of elk bugling off in the distance awakened Dad and I from our peaceful sleep beneath the starry sky. Did you hear that Darrin, he whispered. Yes!! It's time to rise and shine!! Moments later we had promptly stowed our sleeping bags, ate our bacon and eggs (aka peanut butter and jelly sandwiches) and were off on another hunting adventure. ... They say time flies when you're having fun ... and sure enough here I am, looking back through the years, the pictures and...
The Thompson Falls City Council met for its monthly meeting on Monday, and the packed meeting room left standing room only. Kim Annis, Bear Management Specialist with Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP), gave a short presentation on the steps to become a Bear Smart community. Council member Katherine Maudrone had presented information to both the council and the Community and Public Relations Committee of the council about possibly pursuing the program. Annis said the program’s goal is to increase human safety and decrease conflicts where b...
