Independently owned since 1905
Independently owned since 1905
Sorted by date Results 526 - 550 of 569
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,...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Last Wednesday I had an amazing experience to be allowed to attend the “1700” minute Thompson Falls High School response to the National Day to Walk Out. I want to offer acknowledgment and deep appreciation for this day-long activity. From the point of inspiration of the idea, to all those that contributed to and participated in this remarkable day, thank you!!!!! We as a community are fortunate to have all of you. I experienced such respect, attentiveness and engagement from all but three students (that chose not to attend). The connections de...
Editor, I just want to say how happy I am that I live in the area of Thompson Falls. I live on the Thompson River, and I’m thankful for the crews who are always out there to remove snow. Also I’d like to thank the power company for always working long hours to make sure we have electricity. Finally, I want to thank our community – the schools, churches, city workers and emergency service personnel always on call to help. Life is good, but it’s even better here in Sanders County. Susan Rynearson, Thompson Falls...
This past two summers, Sanders County has had two major fires and Mineral County one major fire. We have all complained that these fires should not and would not have been so major if we had proper forest management carried on for the last 30 years. As a farmer, I am in total agreement with that line of thought. That is something we need to work on and support. This letter is to point out how small changes have come about in recent years relating to forest management and why. As you drive down the highways in our communities, you once again...
Editor: Kudos to Shana Neesvig and the Ledger for the wonderfully written feature on Olympic shooters Eric Buljong and Lones Wigger! Having spent much of my career as a public affairs officer for the Army’s marksmanship programs, in which both men were involved, I have seldom, if ever, seen such a factually correct and heartwarming story on the wonderful sport of precision shooting at the elite level. Shana actually “got it right,” which is so rare for a civilian journalist on this subject. Thank you for your excellent story, and thanks also...
Editor, Just last Friday I heard from several people that the Postmaster of Trout Creek was going to submit a request to annex over half of the Blue Slide Road (at least 10 miles) as well as land on the West side of the river by Beaver Creek, into a Trout Creek mail delivery zone. She confirmed this “proposal” by phone to me this Monday morning. I might suggest that if you currently live in this area and don’t like the idea that a single, unelected, government employee can cause you hundreds, if not thousands of dollars in costs to chang...
Dear Editor, We have enjoyed the Tapestry Season of amazing performing artists presented by the Sanders County Arts Council. The Arts Council not only presents these artists in two wonderful venues, the Paradise Center and the Rex Theatre, but also provides free transportation for community members to access these locations. The Arts Council has obtained a grant to fund a bus to either transport folks from Thompson Falls to Paradise or from Plains to Thompson Falls, venue dependent. What a wonderful gift to all of us interested in seeing these...
To the editor, Seems we often hear that common sense is lacking these days. From my point of view that looks to be the case with the proposal by the USPS to change many Blue Slide Road addresses from Thompson Falls to Trout Creek. Why make a major change when the current situation works very well. Having lived on the Blue Slide for 28 years and having a business on our property most of that time, I am very pleased. The service from the Thompson Falls PO and Carol our carrier is as good as it gets. There is no room for improvement. For several...
Editor, If your doctor diagnoses you with cancer, do you seek a second opinion? Good, that’s what you should do. But if you seek 99 more opinions and 97 of 100 doctors say you have cancer, who do you believe? On top of that, all your non-doctor friends are telling you about their personal experiences. Your brother had a mole once, but he’s ok, so you should be ok. Your sister’s friend’s mother had cancer and she’s dead, so since you’re not dead you don’t have cancer. Who do you listen to? The 97 well-trained doctors who say you have cancer and...
To the editor: U. S. District Judge Gloria M. Navarro on 01-08-2018 dismissed “with prejudice” all charges against Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy and his sons. “With prejudice” means that the federal prosecutors could not come back again for yet another long, drawn-out, costly trial. Cliven Bundy has already been incarcerated for 700 days. Judge Navarro denounced the government’s misconduct as “especially egregious,” “grossly shocking,” “reckless” and “willful.” She found prosecutors had engaged in a “deliberate attempt to mislead” and had made mu...
Is anyone else in Sanders County disgusted with the welcome mat laid out for the likes of Cliven Bundy? Two hundred people packed a gym in Paradise to listen to this violent, deadbeat, anti-government, racist, con-artist attempt to justify the criminality of his acts and his family? If violent acts and lack of respect for the laws of the USA is the type of abusive behavior approved of in Sanders County I would suggest local law enforcement, employees of State, Federal, and local government be wary of their interactions with citizens and even...
Cliven Bundy was invited to come to Paradise, Mont., to speak about his problems with the federal government. According to Bundy, he is being persecuted for not paying for use of public lands. A brief list of his “problems” is enlightening to say the least. He does not recognize powers of the federal government stating that he has no contract with the federal government. “My 15-second defense is I only graze my cattle on Clark County, Nev. land and I have no contract with the federal government,” he said. “I haven’t had a contract with the fe...
As a person born and raised in Nevada I would like to tell my true story that goes along with this Bundy issue. I should start out by saying that this happened a long time ago, I was maybe 10 at the start of the story. My father was an avid hunter and fisherman and he got me started very early, I got my first shotgun when I was eight, but that’s not what I’m here to talk about. It was the fishing. You may not know but Nevada had some great mountain stream fishing, much better and different than around here. Every summer Mom, Dad and I wou...
Middle School is designed to be a transitional time in the lives of every young person. An opportunity to take on new challenges, begin to adapt to added responsibility and expand their worldview as they gain independence. It is a challenging and often frustrating experience for many, and for myself it was made even more difficult when my family made a sudden move to a small town in Montana called Thompson Falls. The middle school in Thompson Falls takes its description literally. Geographically it is situated between the elementary and high...
