Independently owned since 1905
Independently owned since 1905
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In April 2008, my wife and drove up to Montana from California and fell in love with this place. We moved to Plains in August 2009. This is, indeed, our “Final Destiny.” No matter where we live, we live relatively private lives and do not bother our neighbors or ask anyone for favors of any kind. That being said, we are most always readily and willingly available when others ask for our assistance. With this in mind, I’ll get to the main point of this letter. I wish to take this opportunity to thank a few people who reside in and around Plains,...
DENNIS BECKER, Thompson Falls, – “When I was in school, I always liked having the summer off.” AVIS GOFORTH, Trout Creek – “No. I don’t think so. I think they need a break.” ROBERT FLANSASS, Trout Creek – “No, There’s plenty of time when they are older to work all year round. The kids need time off in the summer.” HUNTER BORGMANN, Thompson Falls – “No, because they won’t have any friends and it will make it harder to connect with friends in the fall.” RAY BROWN, Thompson Falls – “I actually think they should. I think it would help their acade...
To the folks in House District 14, I would like to take this time to draw your attention to a young man who is running in your legislative district. His name is James Mortenson. I met James a while back and must say that I was very impressed with his character. James is a family man with 4 children and a lovely wife. James is everything that I think a conservative man should be. He is extremely concerned about what is coming up for his children and yours. He is a strong believer in the Bible, a hard-working man and true to his word. He reminds...
To the Editor, A political ad ran in the Ledger last week with remarkably false information. The ad encouraged me to remind all Ledger readers of a few key facts about wilderness areas. As the many visitors to our beautiful Cabinet Mountains Wilderness are aware, wilderness areas are wide open to all people and to a variety of uses, including hunting, fishing, horse packing, camping and berry picking. There are no fences or locked gates at the edge of the Cabinet Wilderness, or other protected wilderness areas. Motorized vehicles are not...
Editor, We thank Senator Jon Tester for standing up for veterans in Montana and across America. Senator Tester rightly stopped an incompetent candidate, Ronny Jackson, from gaining a position he was unqualified to handle. Dr. Jackson is a physician, not an administrator, and the Department of Veteran’s Affairs is the second largest federal agency in the U.S. Many vets stood up and spoke out against the nomination of Jackson and Tester listened. Our vets and their families deserve the most capable leaders in an agency that impacts their daily l...
In Sanders County, several organizations help residents. The Cancer Network of Sanders County provides funds to Sanders County residents undergoing cancer treatments. Sanders County Veterans Transportation provides free rides to veterans to doctor visits and other appointments. These are just two of the many organizations in Sanders County run by local volunteers. The money stays in Sanders County and helps Sanders County residents. It’s tempting to support national charities with many resources and large marketing budgets that fill your m...
There is quite a bit of misinformation floating around about the need to increase the water and sewer rates in the City of Thompson Falls. The reasons for the rate increases are very straight forward. For both water and sewer: 1. Increases in the maintenance and operation costs. 2. There has been a finding on our audit report that is due to not charging enough to service our current debt. 3. To start a Capital Improvements Fund. This can be used as match money for grants, grant applications and repairs. This will reduce our need to borrow...
Dear Voters: I am not a resident of Montana, but I feel so strongly in my convictions regarding Deborah “Kim” Christopher, that I am compelled to write this letter in support of Judge Christopher’s re-election to your District Court bench. It is my privilege and honor to support her re-election. I am a North Carolina attorney in private practice, but almost 30 years ago, I was an Army officer in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps (“JAG”). The son of a career U.S. Air Force Officer and a graduate of The Citadel, I first met Judge Christopher...
by Ed Levert Lincoln County Forester Many of you are aware of the collaborative group called the Kootenai Forest Stakeholder Coalition (KFSC), a diverse group of area citizens and groups that came together to find common ground on a diverse number of natural resource issues. It all began back in 2006, when the KFSC was born. Many of our founding group thought that this was just an opportunity to help the forest sell more timber and bring back a sawmill to Libby. But it didn’t take long before we found that there were widely varying o...
To The Citizens of the 20th Judicial District: It is election season once again. I write to provide a strong endorsement of Deborah “Kim” Christopher, who is running for re-election as district judge for Lake and Sanders Counties. Judge Christopher deserves your vote. I have known Judge Christopher for 35 years. We were law school classmates at the University of Montana. She distinguished herself as a student, she distinguished herself thereafter with military service in the United States Army as a Judge Advocate General, and she has con...
Over the weekend, dozens of volunteers in Thompson Falls came together for Beautification Days. The effort includes projects such as helping the elderly and disabled rid their yards of leaves and pine needles, cleaning up public spaces, and spraying and sweeping Main Street. Beautification Days committee members said there were more volunteers this year, which meant that more projects were completed. That’s a positive thing for Thompson Falls as we get ready for the busy tourist season. At NorthWestern Energy’s Island Park, several bags of tra...
Often, when I sit down to write, I have to search for a topic. It’s common for me to write three or more articles and then decide which one I want to run that week. For the record, this is version four. I figure if I’m going to write something I at least ought to be interested in it. I write a lot about politics because I was involved in it for a long time, but today’s politics is not a joyous subject. In fact, it’s downright depressing as far as I’m concerned. So, on occasions like this I tr...
The importance of having access to high-speed broadband Internet has never been greater for Montana students. When they graduate and enter the job market, they will need a deep knowledge of technology and the ability to learn new skills quickly. Technology is increasingly used in all aspects of student learning. Educators in Montana have made it a priority that our schools have first-rate access to Internet. A real gap exists today between students who have access to all the Internet has to offer, and those who live in areas that are lagging...
TAMI HENESSEY, Thompson Falls – “It would be nice to have affordable dentistry, so we wouldn’t have to stand in line for hours to see a dentist on free dentist day once a year.” MARGIE KOHM, Plains – “We need more restaurants. We have a Chinese food restaurant. I think the services in Sanders are pretty good.” CAROL SMITH, Thompson Falls – “I’d like to see a McDonalds. Some kind of fast food. We have a sandwich shop and we have enough restaurants. Everybody likes McDonalds.” DELORES JOHNSON, Thompson Falls – “It would be nice to have a bigger...
Ainsworth Field Park has sat empty for years. You hear comments about what an eyesore it is, about how long it has taken to do anything with the park. And for just as long, a group of residents has been devoting hundreds of hours to how to develop the park. From fundraisers to planning, the committee didn’t give up on the dream of reviving Ainsworth Field. This week, the City of Thompson Falls was notified of a grant of almost $400,000. This, along with the funds already raised by volunteers, will allow completion of the entire project - not j...
Gray hair would seem to indicate wisdom derived from extensive life experience. It carries with it the added responsibility of setting a good example for the next generations and modeling behaviors that enhance a high quality of life in a Democracy. Are we succeeding in that duty as the elder citizens of this state and county? Have we taken this obligation to heart and dedicated our energy in its fulfillment? Or have we been dozing in the armchair of complacency and habit, satisfied to derive our opinions from a single information source, or do...
The Bad Actors Law is a Montana mining law that was passed because there was a pattern of irresponsible behavior by some Montana mining company chief officers. This pattern often resulted in major pollution and bankruptcy filings, while the officers moved on to the next mine leaving the costs and impacts on taxpayers. Hecla chose Phillips Baker as their CEO knowing he was the CFO of Pegasus Mining which implicates him in the cleanup disaster now costing Montana taxpayers millions for perpetuity. The communities near the Pegasus mines welcomed t...
Letter to the Editor, So Rep. Steve Gunderson and forty-nine other Montana Legislators think the Hecla Mining Company and its president Phillips Baker shouldn’t be considered in violation of the Montana Metal Mine Regulation’s “Bad Actor” provision? By chance, these wouldn’t be some of the same 50 Montana legislators that felt it was OK for the Montana Health and Human Services Deptartment budget to be axed to the tune of $54 million dollars? That $54 million dollars went to serve some of Montana’s neediest residents for things like home h...
Snow may still be on the ground, but last year’s wildfire season isn’t too far from memory. We have good news for Montanans, though. After years of negotiation, we have finally secured a deal that moves forward on much-needed forest management reforms. Montanans get it: a managed forest is a healthy forest. But decades of mismanagement, environmental lawsuits and excessive red tape have kept responsible forest management projects from moving forward on thousands of acres. There are many consequences to this delay, including increased risk of...
GEORGE GOATLEY, Thompson Falls – “Keep your trash picked up.” KRISTIE BROWN, Trout Creek – “Be part of the cleanup and beautification effort. Encourage your kids to participate. Stop throwing things out the window and keep Montana clean.” SUE JOHNSON, Heron – “Don’t litter. I teach my kids not to throw anything on the ground in town and if you see something on the ground to pick it up, if it is not too yucky.” TAMI DENISON, Thompson Falls – ” We just moved here, so we use the county landfill. We really don’t know what’s going on yet” LEAH...
Area agencies are making an effort to share knowledge and strategies for keeping Sanders County safe. City and county law enforcement agencies are working with local schools, starting conversations about preventing incidents and preparing action plans in case something catastrophic happens here. Next week, Sanders County Coalition for Families will bring together representatives of local agencies for training on domestic violence issues. And area emergency services personnel hold mock training incidents or step up to help in situations such as...
Political wisdom; “Never put in writing what you can communicate by speaking, and never speak when you can make your point with a wink and a nod.” Which is worse, Russian interference in American elections or secret American special interest groups doing the same? Well, of course it’s the Russians because the special interest groups are at least American not to mention bread and butter to the politicians of one political party or another. The reason why the latter are not the subject of congr...
Proposed copper mines in the Cabinet Mountain Wilderness area. Why would anyone harm the best we have in our Northwest corner? A beautiful high mountain paradise, full of wildlife, birds, flowers, trails that leave a big Wow! Pristine streams of water and waterfalls. Water is a life-giving gift. The Clark Fork River being downhill from the proposed mines has had enough mining damage from the Butte and Anaconda mines dumping their worst toxic waste into the river for 135 years plus the dams. The Clark Fork deserves protection. Please help...
Editor, In our Constitutional Representative Republic [not Democracy as popularly misunderstood due to decades of disinformation] we use the democratic process of citizen vote election of representatives. By Constitutional mandate all elected representatives and officials are required to pledge an oath to Uphold and Defend the Constitution of the United States. We send, via election, representatives to our State Legislatures and Congress to uphold and defend the Constitution because we hard working everyday citizens can’t be there to do it o...
ERIN WILSON, Trout Creek – “I would say probably for the House of Representatives. I think that society is not being represented accurately. There is too much self-interest. I’m an independent, fiscally conservative voter. I vote the issues, not the party.” CHRISTY CHEVRON, Missoula – “Maybe I would run for a local city council. More change can come about locally. That’s the place to start in your own area.” KELSEY GLYNN, Missoula – “I never thought about running for office but if I did run, it would be for the city council or a state office....
