Independently owned since 1905
Independently owned since 1905
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Traffic on Highway 200 north of Trout Creek, along mile marker 28, will be impacted next summer and the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) is letting the public know early. The Clark Fork River bridge will undergo construction in 2020. Current plans are to have work begin in May and continue through October. According to MDT, the bridge requires rehabilitation to replace the deteriorating bridge deck and structural components to extend the life of the structure. The project is estimated at $2.9 million. According to MDT, they are...
A PILEATED WOODPECKER perches on a chokecherry tree by Thompson Falls....
by Ed Moreth A Plains organization is closing its doors after 82 years of service to the community. Plains Grange No. 101 held its final official meeting at its hall last Tuesday. The grange will use the next two months to get its finances ready to turn over to the state grange officials and to find a home for much of the kitchenware, furniture and miscellaneous items at the hall on Lynch Street. The Plains grange received its charter in April 1937, but in recent years they've had trouble...
Ransomware impacted the server at Thompson Falls Schools last week and the school and law enforcement agencies are working to resolve the problem. The event was discovered last Wednesday, September 4. The school contacted local law enforcement, who then contacted other agencies to assist. Superintendent Bill Cain said they also contacted their insurance company and legal advisors regarding the matter. Cain said they have been working nonstop with experts on the data security event. It was not clear as of Tuesday if any data had been taken from...
Sanders County Public Health joined with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Montana this week to promote offer a convenient way for parents to get their kids vaccinated. With school starting, the Blue Cross Blue Shield Care Van came to schools in Noxon, Trout Creek and Thompson Falls on Monday, then visited Plains and Hot Springs on Tuesday. Lisa Richmond and Karen Morey with Sanders County Public Health said they were focusing on vaccinations for kids starting school, as well as promoting the MT Teen...
Last weekend while we were enjoying some Thompson Falls Youth Soccer, there were a couple local women at the tennis courts next to the high school. But they weren't playing tennis. The women were playing pickle ball. We were impressed that people were using the local recreation facilities, despite the conditions. Thompson Falls had a high school tennis team until the mid-1990s. Since then, the condition of the courts has deteriorated to the point that none of the courts can be used for a competitive game. It's fine for a casual volley, but...
I hope that whoever decided to move the 2019 Sanders County Rodeo start time back to 7 p.m. was sitting in the west-facing bleachers between 6 p.m., when many people arrive, to 7:30, when the sun went behind the hills. We were scorched and blinded by the setting sun, and even the announcer had to apologize to the crowd. We took our small grandchildren for the first time, and we were all completely miserable. We couldn’t see anything going on in the arena for the first half hour of the show. Please reconsider your ill-advised decision to c...
Winston Churchill said, “If you’re not a liberal at age twenty, you have no heart. If you’re not a conservative at age forty, you have no brain.” I’d amend that and swap the word “experience” for the word “brain.” My last three columns were an attempt to describe my personal journey from a liberal philosophy to one that is quite conservative. I’ve used examples from my own experience to try and explain that transition. I believe that most conservative thinkers follow a path similar to mine in terms of experience. Meaning simply that they ha...
5 YEARS AGO • SEPTEMBER 4, 1969 COUNTY ASKED TO BACK RETENTION OF TRAINS Sanders County residents who use the Northern Pacific Railway Co.'s Mainstreeter passenger trains Nos. 1 and 2 are being urged to testify at a public hearing to be held in Missoula Sept. 10 by the Interstate Commerce Commission. State Rep. Joe Brand of Deer Lodge was in the county this week urging residents to testify at the hearing in behalf of the Montana Train Users Assn. Brand said a total of 2,404 people boarded or g...
BETTY CAMULETTA, Plains –”Yes because they have been playing all these years. Kids need to get tougher. We are making babies out of them.” OSCAR READ, Thompson Falls – “Just teach them not to collide with their heads.” DARIN McELMURRY, Thompson Falls — “My son plays football. I didn’t have a chance to play because Noxon didn’t have a team. I hurt my head when I crashed my bike. A person has to live. You just can’t worry about everything.” EILEEN TURK, Thompson Falls – “If my son wanted to play football, I’d let him. I know there are more sa...
Sunday, September 1 Traffic complaint, Moise. Motor vehicle crash, Plains. Fire, Hot Springs. Motorist assist, Plains. Neighbor playing loud music and screaming in driveway, Paradise. Disturbance, T. Falls. Animal, Plains. Motorist assist, T. Falls. Theft, St. Regis. Animal, T. Falls. Law violations, T. Falls. Parking problems, Plains. Alarm, Plains. Disturbance, T. Falls. Motor vehicle crash, Trout Creek. Fire, Hot Springs. Domestic, T. Falls. Juvenile runaway, Heron. Monday, September 2 Assist, Plains. Burglary, Hot Springs. Theft of rings...
Montana Highway Patrol Joshua Dudley, 34, driving a motor vehicle while privilege is suspended, $285. Ronald Delorto, 46, seatbelt violation, $20. Terra Fields, 37, day speeding, $20. Christopher Stockdale, 51, speeding in restricted zone, $85. Shiloh Deitz, 32, day speeding, $70. Andrew Dohner, 43, careless driving, $85. Mkenna Charlson, 22, day speeding, $70. Matthew Dobry, 40, day speeding, $70. Ilya Pisman, 40, day speeding, $20. Joseph Waldoch, 68, speeding in restricted zone, $105. James Oshaughnessy, 59, day speeding, $70. Rento Rivera,...
A Thompson Falls woman entered not guilty pleas in District Court on Tuesday to one count of felony exploitation of an older person, incapacitate person or person with developmental disability and one count of felony theft. Charging documents allege that Jamie Betts made unauthorized purchases with the 82-year-old victim's debit card. Documents allege that purchases made earlier this year included more than $4,700 in Amazon.com gifts cards, $2,770.92 in retail transactions, as well as money from the sale of the victim's home and vehicle. Also...
It's now a smooth ride through Plains - for about 500 feet on Willis Street, which was repaved and reopened for traffic last week. For much of the 12 miles of roads through town, it's still a bumpy ride, but that's something Mayor Dan Rowan is making one of his top priorities while in office. It took contractor D.W. Wipplinger of Plains about a week to complete the paving job alongside City Hall, reopening the road Friday. Roadwork began prior to the fair with a new drainage system and sidewalk...
UPDATE: The Miss Montana visit to Thompson Falls has been cancelled. The historic airplane is flying a humanitarian mission to the Bahamas. The Sunday event at Thompson Falls Airport will be rescheduled. ________________________ The historic airplane Miss Montana will visit Thompson Falls this weekend in honor of the late Norm Allen of Thompson Falls, a WWII paratrooper and early Montana smokejumper. The plane, now owned by the Museum of Mountain Flying in Missoula, will be at the Thompson Falls airport at 10 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 15. As a new...
Thompson Falls High School senior Ethan Brown has been named a semifinalist in the 65th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. Brown is one of approximately 16,000 in the country and 44 from Montana who will compete for 7,600 scholarships worth more than $31 million. Semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to be named a finalist. Those include having outstanding an academic record throughout high school and being endorsed by a high school official. About 15,000 students are expected...
Stanley “Barney” Borninkhof (1941- 2019) of Roundup, passed away at home Aug. 28. Survivors include his wife of 40 years, Nancy; siblings, Beverly, Shirley, Wesley and Angie; children, Jennifer Borninkhof of Great Falls, Marty Borninkhof of Columbia Falls, Charlene Vohs of Roundup and Joe (Angelia) Borninkhof of Splendora, Texas; grandchildren, Jesse Housel, Ellene Baker (Dakota), Faith Vohs, Richard (Nikki) Vohs, Whisper Borninkhof, Tyler Gamble, Quinton Borninkhof, Colton Gamble; great-grandchildren, Saige and Addilynn Baker and Stanley Voh... Full story
Marvin Loren Olson, 58, was tragically taken from this life on July 26, 2019, on Highway 44 near Rapid City, South Dakota. He was riding home on his prized Harley Davidson motorcycle when the distracted driver of an oncoming vehicle veered into Marvin's lane and hit him head on. Marvin was born May 7, 1961, in Sandpoint, Idaho, to Marvin T. and Martha (Braun) Olson. He grew up in Thompson Falls, Montana, and graduated from Thompson Falls High School. He and his brother, Les worked together at... Full story
Francis Marion Craig, age 83, passed away peacefully at his home in Thompson Falls, Montana, on the evening of September 4 after fighting a hard battle against re-occurring cancer for the past two years. By his side was his loving wife, Marlene. Francis was born June 20, 1936, in Auburn, Indiana, to Walter and Marie Craig. He had two older sisters and said "I was the youngest and got away with the most." When he was 12 years old, the family moved from Indiana to Michigan. He loved growing up in... Full story
Donna "Red" Cross, 10/9/42 - 8/29/19 Donna left this world quickly and peacefully on August 29, 2019, at Kalispell Regional Medical Center following a massive stroke. She will be remembered for her "salty," straight-forward personality, her fierce independence, her love of The Prairie and her many kitties! She was born October 9, 1942, to Millie and Red Renner in Spokane, Washington. A lifelong lover of animals, she bought her first horse when she was 12 years old – and then went home and t... Full story
Mary Ann Thompson passed away August 30, 2019, in Plains, Montana, at the age of 92. She was born April 22, 1927, in a two-room house in Jump River, Wisconsin, to John and Lillian Latz. She lived through the Great Depression, World War II and raising 11 children, 8 boys and 3 girls. After graduating high school, she attended Wisconsin State University in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and became a teacher. Her first teaching job was in Westland School in Taylor County, Wisconsin. While there she met... Full story
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Spontaneous Construction returns Saturday, Sept. 14, to Missoula’s Home Resource. Designed to inspire a culture of re-use with a free, engaging community activity, Spontaneous Construction, of “SponCon,” has become an annual Missoula tradition for 15 years. Contest participants have seven hours to use their choice of Home ReSource materials to build the most beautiful, functional, and creative pieces they can dream up. We provide a variety of enjoyable, inventive reuse activities, music, and access to local food vendors for contestants and s...
The lost art of old-fashioned donut making is alive and flourishing in Thompson Falls as Papa's Donuts opened its doors recently. For more than two decades Doug Miller has been planning his donut making business. "Now is our chance, so I took it," Miller said. "After 27 years of truck driving, I ate donuts across the entire United States," Miller admitted. "I wanted to make a good donut, so I learned the old-fashioned way." Receiving tutorials from a friend who made donuts for more than 35 years...
Not being able to walk didn't stop residents of the Clark Fork Valley Hospital Long Term Care from venturing into the parking lot Saturday to take in the Wild Horse Plains 4th Annual Car and Bike Show. Resident Joan Draszt was especially taken with a 1931 Ford Model A that was only five years older than her. She even took time to push one of the car's front tires. Resident Eldon Johnson, 88, came out and immediately asked about Plains-Paradise Rural Fire District's 1939 fire engine, which has...
