Independently owned since 1905
Independently owned since 1905
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by Ed Moreth Dozens of small colorful boxes lit up the dark sky over Plains last weekend with sentimental messages and seasonal greetings. The annual Cancer Network of Sanders County "Lantern Launch" was held along the greenway at downtown Plains on Saturday night following the Christmas Light Parade. The nonprofit organization raised $450, which goes directly back to county residents going through cancer treatment. "Our goal is to show our local community members that they are not alone in thei...
Montana's general deer and elk hunting season concluded last weekend and the overall harvest results at game check stations in northwest Montana showed increased success compared to last year. More than 10,800 hunters stopped at regional check stations this season, and approximately 10 percent of them had successfully harvested game, compared to 9 percent a year ago. A total of 954 white-tailed deer, including 745 bucks, were reported at the four weekend check stations. Last year hunters checked 761 white-tailed deer, including 567 bucks....
The run reflects through a heavy blanket of fog over the Clark Fork River on Monday morning east of Thompson Falls....
Kris Kringle made a special stop in Plains last week, coming into town this year on a borrowed sleigh and meeting with kids along the greenway. With a little chill in the air, more than 200 people lined Railroad Street along the greenway for the Parade of Lights Christmas Parade on Saturday evening with a decorated Plains Community Ambulance leading the way. Forty-two vehicles - the biggest yet - made their way through Plains with Santa, Mrs. Claus, and their elves, Cooper and Kendall, on the...
OVER THE HILL GANG W L Leftovers 29 19 Fun Team 28 20 Mixed Nuts 25 23 Roll’n Along 22 26 Com’bak Kids 22 26 Jokers Wild 18 30 Team Scr. Game: Fun Team, 1029; Scr. Series: Fun Team, 2891; Hcp. Game: Roll’n Along, 1171; Hcp. Series: Fun Team, 3302; Mens Inv. Scr. Game: Ricky Hagedorn, 279; Scr. Series: Ricky Hagedorn, 662; Inv. Hcp. Game: Ricky Hagedorn, 298; Hcp. Series: Ricky Hagedorn, 719; Wms Inv. Scr Game: Wendy Kelley, 224; Scr Series: Ginger Ward, 508; Inv. Hcp. Game: Wendy Kelley, 260; Hcp. Series: Margie Herman, 670. INDUSTRIAL LEAGUE W...
If you've learned anything about me from my nearly 8 years as a newspaper publisher, I hope it's how much I care about our communities. On Monday, I had breakfast with a friend in Plains and was telling him how I definitely feel obligated to do a good job in my role of keeping Sanders County informed. I grew up here. My family is still here. Though I say I want to retire to Maine, I'll probably be here in Sanders County forever. When I interviewed TFHS alum Tracy Ward about taking over the Sanders County Christmas Bazaar, she expressed some of...
It is 2011, and the Association of State Democratic Chairs is having one of its quarterly meetings. Chuck Herz, Chair of the Wyoming Democratic Party, raises his hand to be recognized and rises to speak: “There is one important minority that the Democratic Party is ignoring,” he says, “the white working man.” This statement is received with uncomfortable silence until the next speaker stands up and the subject is changed. Chuck was not a white working man, Yale educated and a former executi...
Read with interest Jim Elliott's November 21 column regarding personality disorders. While I am not certain he was writing about the President Elect, that is the impression I took from it. (Gosh I had no idea one could become an authority on something by reading Good Housekeeping magazine. Why spend 8 plus years in medical school and tens of thousands of dollars?) I couldn't help but noticing Mr. Elliott's notation that he spent 16 years in the Montana Legislature, so maybe he recognizes the disorder. Although I would have to agree with him to...
Dear Editor: After reading your news concerning the petition filed with the Fish and game commission that opposes motors on boats in the Bull River, I obtained a copy of the petition by Paul Overman of Heron, MT. In reading the petition, it bans all motors and imposes a "no-power use" rule on the Bull River. There is no distinction between electric motors and any power motors in the petition. I have lived here on the Bull River, above where the East Fork comes in for 38 years now, and I have a 9 foot boat with a 1.5 hp motor, very small. No...
Dear Editor: After reading your news concerning the petition filed with the Fish and game commission that opposes motors on boats in the Bull River, I obtained a copy of the petition by Paul Overman of Heron, MT. In reading the petition, it bans all motors and imposes a "no-power use" rule on the Bull River. There is no distinction between electric motors and any power motors in the petition. I have lived here on the Bull River, above where the East Fork comes in for 38 years now, and I have a 9 foot boat with a 1.5 hp motor, very small. No...
8 YEARS AGO DECEMBER 13, 1944 BIG MILL COMES IN The Flodin Brothers of Plains are moving their big, all electric mill to Thompson Falls. They started work Tuesday with their bull-dozers. They will be located this side of Thompson River between the highway and the old highway and have a strip of land connecting with the river. The Flodin Brothers are big lumber producers. Their cut runs into ten or twelve million board feet annually when in full operation. Talked to Walter Flodin Sunday at the Turkey Shoot. Both he and his wife were there playi...
Timothy George Johnson made his initial appearance for one felony count of criminal possession of dangerous drugs and one misdemeanor count of criminal possession of drug paraphernalia, entering not guilty pleas to both charges. Judge John Mercer set this matter for a jury trial on April 14, 2025. On November 8, as alleged in the charging documents, Plains Police Officer Kenny Hamilton initiated a stop on a truck in Plains. The passenger and registered owner of the truck, identified as Johnson, requested to use the bathroom at a nearby...
When I found out we’d be staying with family in Santa Fe for Thanksgiving, I thought I’d get loads of reading done: I wouldn’t have to make dinner or do dishes, and we’d be driving to the airport, flying, driving again…so much reading time; huzzah! Instead, I watched a Hallmark Christmas movie on the flight, fought Pokemon battles with my kiddos, and lazed around in bed as we all recovered from a virus. There was little to no reading happening. Still, I managed to read fourteen books in November, nine of which were four stars or better. H...
Montana Highway Patrol Samuel Dolloff, 54, seatbelt violation, $20. Angela Drew, 38, speeding in a restricted zone, $65. Jamie Giddings, 38, seatbelt violation, $20. Theodore Bruce, 33, speeding in a restricted zone, $85. Kriss Lund, 68, speeding in a restricted zone, $95. Katie Grilley, 36, speeding in a restricted zone, $85. Steven Edwards, 53, speeding in a restricted zone, $65. Keith Shepherd, 51, day speeding, $70. Sanders County Sheriff’s Office Jason McDonald, 46, livestock unlawfully running at large, $135. Raymond Lauber, 57, owner p...
KATHY KRAAK, Thompson Falls - “I’m already done.” RICK VANDENBOS, Noxon - “I get one thing and the wife does the rest.” LYNNE MOORE, Thompson Falls - "I'm done but I start a week before Thanksgiving.” STEVEN SPETS, Thompson Falls - “Two weeks before Christmas.” CHERYL BLAKNEY, Thompson Falls - “Already started." LORI EHRET, Paradise - “I start in October....
Ambulance: T. Falls, 5; Plains, 5; Hot Springs, 3; Paradise, 1; Noxon, 1. Monday, November 25 Livestock, T. Falls. Livestock, Perma. Disturbance, Plains. Property damage/criminal mischief, Noxon. Suicide attempts/threats. Civil attempts, Plains. Livestock, Plains. Civil attempts. Civil attempts. Civil attempts. Motor vehicle crash, T. Falls. Automated alarm call, Heron. Suspicious activity. Fire, Plains. General animal call/complaint, T. Falls. Assist miscellaneous, T. Falls. Intimidation/harassment, T. Falls. Civil attempts. Tuesday, November...
On Saturday, November 16, the Plains cross country team hit the trail to Eagle, Idaho, for the Northwest Regional Championship at the Eagle Island State Park competing with 3,684 high school athletes. "I really wanted the kids to get the experience no matter where they placed," said head coach Jesse Jermyn. Only one Trotter took on the Championship race. Marina Tulloch took 21st with her time of 18:18, putting her back in third place overall in the state. "Marina came out and actually got a...
Last week (November 12) in Helena, legislative leadership was elected for the Montana House of Representatives, where I serve. Brandon Ler was elected Speaker of the House, Steve Fitzpatrick was elected as House Majority Leader and Katie Zolnikov was elected as Speaker Pro Tempore. Within two days after that, House leadership made their committee assignments. I was selected to serve as Chairman of the House Taxation Committee again in the 2025 legislative session. I was also assigned to the House Fish, Wildlife & Parks Committee, Energy,...
The Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) would like to announce and invite the public to comment on a proposal to preserve the bridge that crosses the Clark Fork River on Montana Highway 200 (MT 200), just west of Thompson Falls in Sanders County. Proposed work entails a variety of bridge deck repairs and preservation treatments, including removal of the existing asphalt overlay, milling the existing deck surface, repairing the concrete deck, overlaying with new concrete surfacing, re-anchoring the existing steel expansion joints, and...
Nealry 60 vendors will welcome community members at the Sanders County Christmas Bazaar this Saturday at Thompson Falls High School. The bazaar will feature lots of new vendors, said organizer Tracy Ward, as well as some people who have been vendors since the 1970s. Ward, a 1982 graduate of Thompson Falls High School, was a vendor with her mother Ginger in years past, offering a variety of quilted items including wall hangings, stockings, table runners and handcrafted ornaments. Ward said she reached out on social media to get informaiton...
Editor’s Note: During this special season of giving, The Ledger and First Security Bank would like to salute all the local nonprofit agencies that provide services to our Sanders County communities. They volunteer time, services, hearts and souls to help others. They truly put the “unity” in the community. While there are many worthy organizations in our country, we hope you will consider a donation right here at home this holiday season. Camp Bighorn 1850 MT Highway 135 Plains, MT 59859 Phone: 826-3144 Website: www.campbighorn.com Conta...
A Montana district court has sided with a Thompson Falls woman in a case that alleged neglect. A district court judge recently ruled that Michele Manning of Thompson Falls was not neglectful in the death of a teenager under her care. According to court records, on August 20, 2021, the Department of Public Health and Human Services issued a neglect substantiation against Michele Manning relating to the June 25, 2021 death by suicide of a 17-year-old girl at Reflections Academy, a private alternative adolescent residential program which Manning o...
SOLUTIONS ACROSS 1. TABS 5. TSP 8. AAR 11. PRAHA 13. OKA 14. ABBE 15. ACRID 16. LAN 17. BAUD 18. ABASH 20. ETA 21. ESTE 22. ABDICATES 25. PARISHIONER 30. PRESENT 31. GAT 32. TABOR 33. HOFFA 38. AMP 41. PAUCITY 43. PARIS FRANCE 45. HYPEREMIA 48. TAAL 49. SLA 50. RABBI 55. ELBA 56. HAG 57. GALAS 59. AEON 60. ACE 61. ABAMP 62. TRW 63. LYS 64. ABBA SOLUTIONS DOWN 1. TPA 2. ARCA 3. BARB 4. SHIA 5. TOLEDO 6. SKATING 7. PANACEA 8. ABASE 9. ABUTS 10. REDE 12. ADS 14. ABET 19. HAHN 23. BIT 24. ARTHUR 25. PPT 26. ARA 27. REB 28. ISO 29. SERAPE 34. OCA...
Nearly two dozen military veterans will be getting a taste of home for Christmas, thanks to a group of VFW Auxiliary members. Six women and one man gathered at the Wild Horse Plains VFW Post 3596 last week to prepare packages for 20 veterans as part of the Goody Boxes For Service Personnel program. Last Monday, they met to sort the donated items from combs to candy and from socks to caps. And on Friday, they finished the packing, ready to be mailed. "They had a good variety of things in the...
by Kara Christensen On November 13, the Hot Springs FFA chapter headed off to Bozeman for the Ag Expo sponsored by John Deere dealers. While there, FFA members competed in numerous career and leadership development events. The chapter competed in 10 events, but impressive placings consisted of the FBM team placing ninth overall and Odin Max placing eighth individually. The floriculture team placed in the top 25% of teams, and the food science individual competitions placed Odin Max as eighth...
