Independently owned since 1905
Independently owned since 1905
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Clark Fork Valley Hospital (CFVH) has received its first shipment of the COVID-19 vaccine, CEO Dr. Gregory Hanson announced Tuesday. The first vaccines will be given to front-line healthcare workers and long term care residents. Hanson said that CFVH will be working with healthcare local healthcare providers outside of CFVH to incorporate them into the prioritization process of the initial vaccines. At this time, no vaccines are available for the general public or individuals in other high risk categories. "Like many of you, we look forward to...
A look back at this beautiful place we call home.... Full story
The State of Montana Fish Guidance Board, which includes Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP), Department of Environmental Equality (DEQ), and Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS), has released an updated fish consumption advisory, recommending the public avoid consuming all species of fish from the Clark Fork River below Missoula. In response to new research results, all species of fish have been deemed unfit for safe consumption due to the high level of pollutants found within the tissue of fish caught in the river. “We are asking p...
Santa Claus is busy this time of year, but he made a special trip to Plains last Sunday to hand out presents at the old log schoolhouse along Railroad Street. Santa - aka Dave Williams of Plains - and his helpers set up a makeshift workshop at the 134-year-old one-room schoolhouse to hand out homemade dolls, Teddy bears, and wooden trucks and tractors. Santa was joined by Mrs. Claus, Terry Wendell, and elves Ivy Horodyski and her son Alex, 14. All were wearing protective masks and decked out in...
Along with many of the changes happening in the year 2020, one may be an exciting shift for a local business and Thompson Falls locals. Big Bull Sports, an outdoor gear shop will be moving to downtown Thompson Falls. Now located off Highway 200 between Thompson Falls and Trout Creek, the store will be taking over the former Realty Northwest building, which before that was a bank. Realty Northwest has shuffled down, next to the Rex Theater. The owner of Big Bull Sports, Tom Kirkland, bought the b...
In their 15 years of operation, Thompson River Animal Care Shelter (TRACS) has stayed true to their mission, to remain a 100% no-kill animal shelter, with a 100% adoption rate. "Because we are a no-kill shelter, we want to always stay full, and we want to keep it that way," said Wanda Thorpe, operations and financial manager for TRACS. "We've been open for 15 years now," Thorpe continued. "We are a little organization that started just 15 years ago, and we're still going strong." While TRACS...
Traffic was blocked on Highway 200 east of Thompson Falls Tuesday morning after a utility pole was struck. NorthWestern Energy, as well as local fire and law enforcement personnel, responded to a call about 9:30 a.m. of a power line over the highway near 4 Kids Mini Storage. According to first responders, a vehicle likely ran over the grounding wire next to the pole on the mini storage side of the highway, pulling down that pole, along with a pole across the highway. The overhead utility wire...
As the holidays grow near, students at Thompson Falls schools did their part to bring cheer to the people of Sanders County. As part of their annual food drive, kindergarten through eighth grade students collected nearly 1,000 pounds of food for Community Harvest Food Bank (CHFB). "This was definitely a new record for us," said Principal Len Dorscher. The elementary student council sponsored the event. "They did a great job of collecting and sorting food multiple times over two weeks," Dorscher...
The Masonic Lodge of Thompson Falls are giving back to volunteers in the community, as they do every year. Every year they invite their beneficiary groups to a luncheon. However, with COVID-19 the Masons had to find another way. In order to follow guidelines, the Masons decided to give $200 to each group instead. They sent out information, suggesting that the groups throw their own celebration, but the money is to be used at the discretion of the recipients. The Masons Lodge #70 recognized the teachers and staff of Thompson Falls Elementary,...
A pickup lost its trailer loaded with wood beams outside Thompson Falls last Thursday. The trailer became unhitched on the Highway 200 bridge west of town, losing some of the beams and blocking traffic....
Christmas time is here Happiness and cheer Fun for all that children call Their favorite time of the year. That famous song from "A Charlie Brown Christmas" usually gets us in the holiday spirit. This year (as of Tuesday evening) we didn't have much for snow to make it a white Christmas. Our celebrations will have a bit less cheer as families limit their gatherings and few are traveling. The joy of Christmas is most evident in the excitement of the children. We got a little sparkle at Thanksgiving when we asked kindergarten students how to...
Mitch McConnell’s rationale on appointing Supreme Court Justices in the last year of a president’s term just isn’t rational. In 2016 he refused to hold hearings on President Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland, claiming that the nomination should be made by the winner of the coming presidential election, which certainly wasn’t going to be Obama. In 2020 he pushed for the appointment of a Supreme Court Justice a month before the election. He didn’t make the argument he made in 2016 because the...
9 YEARS AGO FROM KNOW MONTANA “We spent a happy Christmas by the side of a blazing fire and forgot the sufferings we had endured in our dreary progress through the woods of the new territory we were exploring.” So wrote Ross Cox in a book, “Cox’s Adventures on the Columbia River,” published in England in 1817. Cox arrived with a few companions December 24, 1813 at McMillan trading post near the present site of Paradise in Sanders County. They had come from Astoria on the Pacific Coast. “On Christmas morning Cox and his men prepared fo...
CALEB LAKKO, Plains - “In Chicago, where they did the movie ‘Home Alone.’ That house.” BRYAN LAKKO, Plains - “I like the house on Burnham Lane, in Plains.” CLAIRE LAKKO, Plains - “The lights we saw in Mesa, Arizona.” PATRICK WALT, Thompson Falls - “My favorite place to see Christmas lights was in downtown San Francisco, in the Union Square plaza. There you have a huge concentration of retail for blocks around and it’s the focal point of it all.” SHAUN FOLDVIK, Thompson Falls - “Tacoma, Washington. I know that’s hard to believe. There is a ce...
Montana Highway Patrol Joshua Roberts, 35, seatbelt violation, $20. Curtis Beckner, 35, day speeding, $70. Michael Frey, 46, seatbelt violation, $20. Rodney Huckaba, seatbelt violation, $20; reasonable and prudent, 1st offense, $85. Vladimir Shulga, speeding in restricted zone, $85. David Steinebach, 51, seatbelt violation, $20. Caity Alexander, 16, night speeding, $70. Jeffery Crew, 50, operating without insurance, 1st offense, $285. Cristy Hoyle, 35, seatbelt violation, $20; day speeding, $20. Sanders County Sheriff’s Office Charles B...
Ambulance: T. Falls, 9; Hot Springs, 4; Trout Creek, 1; Plains, 7; Noxon, 2. Sunday, December 13 Motor vehicle crash, Hot Springs. Welfare check, Plains. Welfare check, Plains. Motor vehicle crash, Plains. Suspicious activity, T. Falls. Monday, December 14 Fire, Noxon. Informational case, Paradise. Theft, Plains. Assist other agency, Plains. Theft, Trout Creek. Tuesday, December 15 Suspicious activity, T. Falls. Theft, Plains. Theft, Dixon. Welfare check, Hot Springs. Motor vehicle crash, T. Falls. Motor vehicle crash, Plains. Wednesday,...
A new crisis counseling hotline is now available to aid Montanans who are struggling with their mental health due to the ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Gov. Steve Bullock announced earlier this month that the new crisis counseling hotline, which is funded by a $1.6 million federal grant, is available. “We know Montanans in every corner of the state have been impacted by the virus in various ways and I’m pleased this hotline is available to support anyone in need,” Bullock said in a news release. “I encourage Montanans to use the hot...
On November 25, the Blue Hawk Chapter of National Honor Society held their formal induction ceremony, and inducted 11 sophomores into the chapter during the socially distanced ceremony. The 2020 inductees were: Elizabeth Baxter, Bethany Burk, Jesse Claridge, Marcella Hodges-VanHuss, Cheyla Irvine, Chesney Lowe, Levi Myers, Mollie Nichols, Briar Palmer, Joshua Wilhite, and Colton Wormwood. The ceremony was led by Master of Ceremony Nathan Ostwald, a senior member. "A group of students...
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP) is launching a new website that will improve customer service, make it easier to use, and to provide a more mobile-friendly experience. The completely re-designed website will have more intuitive navigation that will make finding information easier for customers, whether they click to buy a fishing license, reserve a campsite, or find information about hunting regulations. “We’re excited to share this new website with the public,” said FWP director Martha Williams. “At FWP we know people look to us for man...
Ronald Walter Hamel left for the happy hunting grounds in Heaven November 1, 2020. Hope you find that last big bull, Dad. Ron was born January 11, 1947, to Walter and Mildred Hamel in St. Ignatius, Montana. He attended school there and graduated high school and joined the Navy. He completed two tours in Vietnam. After the Navy, Ron attended and got a drafting degree from the vo-tech in Billings, Montana. Ron spent most of his career as a draftsman building beautiful log homes all over the world... Full story
Cynthia Rose Posselt, a caring and loving daughter, wife, mother and grandmother, left us unexpectedly on December 14, 2020, in Sandpoint, Idaho, at the young age of 57. Cindy was brought into this world July 2, 1963, in Butte, Montana, to Calvin and Cindy Dunks. After moving around as a child, the Dunks family finally settled down in Plains, Montana, where Cindy would graduate high school. It was during this period that she met her high school sweetheart, Kim Posselt, whom she would later wed o... Full story
EmmaRae Rasmussen, a senior at Hot Springs High School, will be attending the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. Not only was she admitted, but she has done so with high honors. “It is one of my greatest honors as Montana’s Senior Senator to nominate our state’s best and brightest to the nation’s most prestigious military academies of each year,” U.S. Sen. Jon Tester said in a press release. “These young folks have proven they can work hard both in and out of the classroom, have shown promising leadership and teamwork skills, and are dedicated t...
Maybe they were born to run. Playing run-and-gun basketball and having a lot of fun doing it, the Thompson Falls Lady Hawks enjoyed one of the best campaigns in school history last winter, winning the District 7B tournament championship and making a strong showing at the Western B divisional tourney. The Lady Hawks compiled an impressive record of 19-5 last year, finishing third in the Western B and just missing a berth into the State B tournament. The district tournament title from last winter is only the second in school history. The Lady Haw...
The Blue Hawk boys are looking good heading into the 2021 season, but they are tired of looking at each other. “These guys want to play someone else,” coach Jake Mickelson said. “We are ready to face an opponent, we have played each other a lot and are ready to play someone new.” As much as they would like to officially get going right now, the Hawks are not scheduled to open season play until January 2 at Troy. Like all prep teams in Montana, the Hawks have been practicing since December 7. The Hawks have three returning all-conference players...
It would have been the 40th annual, but now it will be the first one missed in four decades. Due to the circumstances of 2020 – namely the COVID-19 pandemic – the 2020 Keg Bowl has been cancelled, Blue Hawk Gridiron Club president Doug Willhite announced earlier this week. One of the longest running sports events in Sanders County history, the Keg Bowl, a friendly game of flag football played every year (on the Saturday between Christmas and New Year’s Day) since 1980, will sadly not be played this Saturday. “It would have been the 40th an...
