Independently owned since 1905
Independently owned since 1905
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Firefighters from the Plains/Thompson Falls Ranger District quickly staffed a wildfire, called the Bass Pond Fire, Sunday evening. Burning between the Clark Fork River and the railroad tracks across the river from mile marker 18 on Highway 135, crews used boats to gain access to the human-caused blaze and limited its growth to approximately three-quarters of an acre. With the fire contained, firefighters continued to work towards completely extinguishing it Monday. Right next to the railroad...
The Paradise Elementary School Preservation Committee finished one more major project in its renovation plans to get the Paradise Center renovated for a working art facility and community center and at the same time preserve the old school's historical presence. Thompson Falls resident Rudy Boukal spent more than two weeks tearing out the old rotted floor, windows and window frames of the center's bell tower and put in new materials throughout, including six custom made window frames that had...
The Montana Supreme Court will begin hearing arguments in an appeal of a $35 million judgment against the Jehovah’s Witness church. Last October, a jury awarded Alexis Nunez $4 million in compensatory damages and $31 million in punitive damages. Nunez claimed that she was sexually abused by a member of the church as a child. The jury found that Watchtower New York, the Christian Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses (CCJW), the Thompson Falls congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses and Nunez’s mother, Ivy McGowan-Castleberry, were negligent in the...
Noxon School District has appointed a new member to their administration. For just over one week, Jonathan Martin has sat at the desk assigned to Noxon's superintendent. "I am really excited to meet everyone, especially the kids, and get to work," exclaimed an enthusiastic Martin, who has had very little time to settle into the new position after relocating from the Montana Hi-Line town of Chinook. In addition to signing on to his first superintendent position, Martin chose Noxon to be closer...
The U.S. Constitution required that the population be counted every decennial (10 years). It was simply a count. Today, the U.S. Census has turned into a data mining production and swerved from its original intention. In the first census in 1790, there were six questions asking the number of free white males aged under 16, the number of free white males of 16 years and upward, number of free white females, number of other free persons and number of slaves. In the 1800s, questions about economics, education, social statistics and mortality were...
5 YEARS AGO • JULY 24, 1969 JOHN MUSTER WEDS MISSOULA GIRL Sandra J. Scott became the bride of John Muster in a single ring ceremony in Missoula July 12. The bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph G. Scott of Missoula. Mr. and Mrs. Ed Muster of Thompson Falls are the groom’s parents. Attending the bride were Mrs. David R. Cloninger, matron of honor; Miss Melissa McGrath and Miss Shari Livingston, bridesmaids. David R. Cloninger was best man. Mark Harbine, Gene Mogus, Mark Scott and Ronny Pearson were attendants. The bride is a 1962 gra...
Napoleon said, “Never interrupt an enemy when he is making a mistake.” Recent events and behavior of the left are mistakes that will ensure a strong conservative voter turnout for the 2020 elections. The same voters who elected President Trump in 2016 will do it again in 2020. While remaining relatively silent compared to liberals, conservative voters are burning with anger because of what we see. I’ll try to explain my point with a couple of recent examples. Colin Kaepernick and Megan Rapinoe’s disrespect for the American flag and our Nationa...
I saw an interview with a politician this morning. I was quite impressed. He had some good ideas and he behaved like an adult. His name is Joe Biden. Rob Kjos, Heron...
JOEL WHITE, Trout Creek — “Of course! It’s our census. Not the world census.” SUE MARSH, Thompson Falls — “Yes. I think it‘s important to know just who is living here.” KEN DRAHOS, Thompson Falls — “Absolutely! Because people should be or become citizens.” TRACY VANICEK, Thompson Falls — “Yes, because there are just too many issues on that particular subject right now. And, who is to say they are going to answer honestly?” STEVE VINCENT, Trout Creek — “Yes. It has always been that way forever. They should have left it alone.” KATHY HASSAN...
Ambulance: Plains 9, Heron 3, Trout Creek 1, T. Falls 3, Paradise 1, Hot Springs 2 Saturday, July 6 Traffic stop, Plains Civil stanby, T. Falls Traffic stop, Plains Traffic stop, T. Falls Traffic stop, Plains Civil attempts, T. Falls Child custody issues, Plains Animal complaint, Plains Intoxicated subject, Moccasin Trail Motorist assist, Plains Welfare check, Paradise Livestock, Lonepine Welfare check, T. Falls Traffic stop, T. Falls Traffic stop, T. Falls Trespass, H. Springs Motor vehicle crash, T. Falls Animal abuse, Paradise Disturbance,...
Montana Highway Patrol Megan Holman, 22, seatbelt violation, $20; driving without a license $85. Trais Hoisington, 21, seatbelt violation, $20. Ariel Starr, 37, seatbelt violation, $20. Paul Heidegger, 54, reckless driving, 1st offense, $185. Drew Wanderman, 59, day speeding, $20. Matthew Allen, 48, seatbelt violation, $20. Leonard Farrar, 68, speeding in restricted zone, $65. Dalton Heingartner, 22, day speeding, $70. Mark Rispoli, 68, day speeding, $20. James Robirds, 29, day speeding, $20. Thomas Fry, 75, speeding in restricted zone, $55....
Members of the Plains Lions Club gathered at the Glenn Hadley Wading Pool last Thursday and Friday to erect a shed to store its lawn mower and other supplies on site. All of the materials for the 4-foot by 8-foot wooden shed were donated, said Marv Tanner, the club's vice president and chief builder of the shed. Longtime Lions member Alvin Amundson, formerly of Plains and now a Missoula resident, donated $500 and Plains resident Doug Bratz donated $250 to the project, said Duane Highcrane, the...
Any Montana resident interested in allocating funds to help manage and improve federal forest lands is encouraged to apply for a volunteer position on the county Resource Advisory Committee, also known as RAC. New members are being recruited to fill vacancies on the current 15-member committee serving both the Lolo National Forest, Plains Ranger District and the Kootenai National Forest, Cabinet Ranger District. Cabinet District Ranger John Gubel is “looking for community members from diverse backgrounds to serve a four-year term” filling the...
Robert Lowell Zimmerman, 74, of Thompson Falls, Montana, passed away on July 9, 2019, at St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula. Bob was born on January 30, 1945, in Townsend, Montana, to Lois and Charles Zimmerman. He was the second of four children, raised in Butte, and received his education at St John's and Boys' Central. Being a Butte boy, Bob loved pasties, pork chop sandwiches and especially his bus trips to the Columbia Gardens. After high school graduation, Bob attended the University of... Full story
Lucas Thorson Comerford went to be with the Lord on June 18 of this year, 2019. He was only in the first month of his 17th year. The circumstances of his death are clouded by various accounts of the events leading up to the fateful moment. None of which have been entirely truthful, and in many cases out right lies. In the end, the boy with a huge heart, who would help anyone in need was helped by no one. Born May 16, 2002, in Canon City, Colorado, Lucas spent more of his life growing up near... Full story
Normally, American Legion Post 52 in Thompson Falls works on the white crosses along the roads and highways once a year, and that was in mid May. However, the man in charge of the American Legion Highway Fatality Marker Program said that a handful of the markers along Highway 200 were the wrong size and needed to be switched out. Last week, Post Commander Bill Beck of Plains spent nearly two hours on the road for a 10-minute job of replacing one of the crosses and plans to get the other four...
The average cost of a new rifle...about $800. The average cost of a box of ammunition...about $25. The average cost of keeping it original...priceless. Priceless is not what Noxon Rod and Gun Club members are up against. They are in a situation where the original club house, a Noxon School District classroom building purchased in 1961 along with 17 acres on Pilgrim Creek, is in dire need of repairs totaling $8,000. Problem is, they do not have the funds to pay for them. The 23-foot by 90-foot...
Team Feed-N-Fuel shot the low team gross and Bear Muscle Fitness the low team net to highlight play in the Tuesday Night Men’s League at River’s Bend last week. Feed-N-Fuel used the low individual gross of 39 posted by Mike Gillmore as Steve Clark, Dave Petteys and Doug Gunderson joined him to compile the low team gross of 175. Playing for Bear Muscle Fitness, Steve Fairbank used his handicap to arrive at the low individual net of 29, and Steve Anderson, Cody Mosher and Rick Hagedorn teamed up with Fairbank to record the low team net of 142 for...
The Whitefish Credit Union and First Security Bank teams shot the low team gross and net scores last week, giving the two banking squads the advantage in the early stages of the second half of Wednesday Night Men’s League play at River’s Bend. Wally Gibe, Rick Kendall, Ron Beaty and Rusty Sharp shot the low team gross of 168 for Whitefish CU while Bill Nolen, Dan Whittenburg, Michael Scharfe and Ben Mummert shot the low team net of 141 for First Security, leaving Whitefish as the current league leaders with 26.5 points followed by First Sec...
The gregarious group of local golfers known as the Over the Hill gang always seems to find a way to make their Monday mornings of golfing fun for everyone. Limited to only three clubs per customer this time, the Over the Hill players enjoyed another round of friendly golf at scenic River’s Bend Monday. Proving that a limited number of options was not all that bad a deal for the thrifty golfer, Rick Kendall went out and shot a stellar round of 40 to grab low gross honors. Also showing some good old River’s Bend grit with a limited selection of...
When it comes to the Cabinet Ridge Riders, it is the thought that counts and, over the years, they have spread a lot of good will with their kind thoughts and benevolent actions. Over the last 17 years, the Ridge Riders have been generous benefactors to local communities with over $155,000 donated so far, including $1,000 scholarships to a graduating senior from every county high school each year. The philanthropic Ridge Riders have also donated to local ambulance services, food banks, senior...
I shoot golf; I don't play golf. As opposed to shooting for score with clubs, I shoot for pictures with a camera. Thought that I should make this distinction clear because I think people actually believe that I know what I am talking about when it comes to golf and, the truth of the matter be fully told, I really don't. Take your local golfing leagues around here and some of the crazy games they play for example. Over time, I have learned the hard way (by making mistakes) about paying for par...
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RECYCLING MARKET TRENDS IN THE U.S. Sanders County receives a very informative recycling report from Brian Heuer of Sage Recycling in Colorado. We thought we would share information from his last report dated July 8: Cardboard prices held in July in all markets except the southwest, where OCC (old corrugated cardboard) prices fell by another $5 a ton. The national average for OCC is now $25 a ton, the lowest it has been in 25 years according to PPI Pulp and Paper Week. Despite the bad news in the southwest, there seems to be hope that we are...
Members of the Sanders County Human Rights (SCHR) group gathered on the grass in front of the courthouse last Friday for a candlelight vigil to open discussion about the current situation on the U.S. southern border. The meeting was open to the public and offered a platform to voice a wide variety of opinions for those in attendance. The theme of the July 12 meeting was the immigrant detention centers and the conditions that they are in. The large influx of migrants seeking asylum and the...
