Ellington

COLUMN: Braving the elements

So, it appears I learned a big lesson this spring sports season.

Public lands

During the May 17 HD90 debate in Alberton, candidate Steve Delisle, a self-described "blue-state refugee" pitched his idea to privatize Montana's public lands, starting in Mineral County.

Reject moderates

I am very concerned about people who believe that a “moderate” is an ideal choice.

Hospital honored with stroke hero award

Earlier this month, Clark Fork Valley Hospital was awarded the Stroke Hero Award at the Annual Rocky Mountain Stroke Conference held in Helena.

Rediscovering home: Superior Council updates

Our ranch was about a mile from town back in the day. Now, the town of Superior has practically reached our doorstep. Houses occupy the forested land where dirt roads intertwined and young people “frolicked.”

Conservation District works to attract pollinators

The Eastern Sanders County Conservation District, in their ongoing goal to beautify Sanders County, was at the fairgrounds last week handing out free wildflower seeds.

Plains students perform spring concert

Plains Elementary choir members and musicians performed in their spring concert “Good Vibes” for over 400 attendees last Tuesday evening in the school gymnasium.

Plains VFW volunteers honor fallen veterans

Heavy rain couldn’t deter veterans with the Plains VFW Post 3596 from honoring the graves of veterans who have died.

Wild Horse Rendezvous celebrates mountain man culture

Montana’s Largest Flea Market is in the middle of Mineral County and the Wild Horse Rendezvous at the far eastern tip of the county every Memorial Day weekend — rain or shine. They both have become legendary events to start the summer.

Superior student hit a high note at state festival

The seven student from Superior High School who competed in the state music festival in Helena earlier this month have raised the bar for student musicians.

Sanders County wildfire protection plan earmarked for funding

For communities that face a high risk of wildfires, additional money is being released from the Forest Service. Up to $250 million in Community Wildfire Defense grants for selected vulnerable areas is earmarked to be dispersed, with $5.3 million of the total going to the Northern Region.

Old Schoolhouse Rock Car Show to mark silver anniversary

The Old Schoolhouse Rock Car Show is boasting its silver anniversary this year on Saturday, June 1.

Author explores Montana's bucket list ideas

The title of the book is "100 Things to Do in Montana Before You Die," but the authors’ speaking engagements are called "101 Things to Do in Montana Before You Die."

Republican candidates for House District 90

Republican candidates for House District 90

Legals for May, 29 2024

Williams leads Noxon at state meet

Sometimes the phrase or thought of someone being “the whole team” can be a negative term.

Demming wins state discus title

The efforts of one junior was for the most part enough to carry the Plains women to fourth place in the team title pursuit at the Montana State Class B track and field championship this past weekend in Laurel.

Lady Hawks end softball season at state

Purists of the sport will tell you that good pitching beats good offense every time.

Rediscovering home: Superior school board

Excuse the pride that surged through my chest as Superintendent Logan Labbe led me through the entry to Superior High School gymnasium.

West End market pops up for summer

Summer market season has arrived, and now in almost every corner of Mineral County, you can find a collection of growers, artists, crafters and artisans to buy from.

New class focuses on foraging in western Montana

Indigenous people knew that the plants and trees were Mother Nature’s pharmacy and there is a trend today to rediscover what is growing in our backyards.

Alberton hosts annual All-School Fun Run

After five years of organizing the All-School Fun Run, Amy Park of the Mineral County Health Department, carries clipboards, radios and safety vests to the volunteer sign in a large meadow where the inflatable finish line is being pumped up.

Superior students ace FVCC welding program

Montana Technical Institute in Butte offers a two-year program where students are introduced to welding fabrication, pipe and structural welding, and aluminum welding — but a faster-track does exist.

Junior Rodeo Princess applications open

The rodeo at the Mineral County Fair began 42 years ago and was a huge community project with the Superior Lions leading the charge.

Legals for May, 22 2024

Wayne David Bricker, 90

Wayne David Bricker

Plains looking sharp after cleanup day

A cool crisp windy morning greeted volunteers, assembling for the Plains Beautification Day 2024.

Plains art students show off talents

Plains High School artists continued a decades long tradition of showing off their art work.

Plains Day events set for June 1

Plains Day, taking place Saturday, June 1 will have activities for everyone’s taste.

Bobcats claim division championship

Quietly and overwhelmingly the Superior girls high school tennis team has put themselves in line for a State B-C team title.

Connolly leads Tigers at golf championship

St. Regis high school golfer Jack Connolly fired a two-day total score of 171, good for tenth place individually at the State Class C championship in Hamilton last week.

Plains softball wraps up season

For half an inning, it looked like the streak was over.

State qualifiers at Western Division B-C

On a weekend when intermittent rain and sunshine, wind and cold played a factor in athletic performance, Twin Bridges’ girls and the Manhattan Christian boys found a path to victory in the Western Division B-C track and field meet in Missoula.

Superior girls third at divisional meet

One thing was not so surprising from the Class B ranks of the Western Divisional track and field championship this past weekend in Missoula.

Lady Hawks softball earn No. 2 seed

This was what makes softball the great sport it is.

COLUMN: End of the season

I can hardly believe it.

Road closure planned for Little Joe Road this summer, work starting

The Lolo National Forest began a large two phased road improvement project on Little Joe Road, Forest Road 282, late last month to resurface the road, improve drainage, and upgrade two stream crossings.

Jim Hollenback, 71

Richard James Hollenback Jr.

Spotlight on the Arts: Jullian Keeney

Spotlight on the Arts: Jullian Keeney

Lolo Forest hosts public meetings on plan revision

The Lolo National Forest will hold public meetings this month on its Forest Plan revision.

Construction resumes on Perma bridge over Flathead River

The Montana Department of Transportation and Frontier West are resuming work on the bridge that carries Secondary Highway 382 over the Flathead River near Perma this week, weather and other factors permitting.

Lady Hawks softball eyes postseason run

For the better parts of three months, they have been running, catching, hitting and working on the many parts of the game of fastpitch softball.

Litter lingers from last year's train derailment into Clark Fork River

On Sunday, April 2 of last year, about two dozen Montana Rail Link freight cars derailed directly across from Quinn’s Hot Springs Resort on the Clark Fork River near Paradise.

Alberton's Montana River Guides a leader in river safety

The Covid-induced tourism boom to Montana introduced a new audience to the Clark Fork River. For two summers, boats, tubers, kayakers, paddleboarders and river boarders had campgrounds and fishing access sites clogged.

Mineral County has new Veteran Service Officer

An estimated 84,000 veterans live in Montana.

Superior fifth-grader is a beekeeper training

11-year-old Ayla Henderson of Superior has the buzz on bees.

Kudus in order for everyone who responded to alleged kidnapping

I would like to start by saying this is not a traditional news story, but more of a first-hand experience garnered from multiple perspectives of an alleged kidnapping incident that was resolved in St. Regis last week.

Richard R Kilbury, 86

Richard R Kilbury

Donna Louise McCrea, 88

Donna Louise McCrea

Plains receives statewide award for wastewater system

The Town of Plains was recognized for outstanding performance during the May City Council meeting.

Hot Springs voters support school levy

Hot Springs residents last week passed a $183,000 school levy, marking the first time voters have approved a school levy in the district since 2008 after failed attempts in 2019 and 2023.

Cleanup Day poster contest winners awarded

The Plains Cleanup Day Committee spent last Wednesday evening making final preparations for the upcoming Cleanup Day on May 18.

Local prodigy performs concert at Paradise Center

The Paradise Center hosted a free recital by homegrown pianist Moses Swedberg.

A candidate for conservatives

When it comes to representation, I choose someone who will represent the conservative values held by a majority of Montana citizens.

Supports White for SD 45

I fully support AnnaMarie White for district 45.

Mineral County Sheriff's Office report

Mineral County Sheriff's Office report

COLUMN: In the field

There has always been an almost mythical attraction about the “field” part of track and field, particularly the events associated with the big and powerful among us.

Locals post strong results at 7B District meet

How important is depth in team sports?

Thompson Falls golfers battled wind, tough course at Anaconda

How windy was it in Anaconda this past week?

Christensen leads Hot Springs to second at 14C meet

On a clear, blue sky Montana day, the stars were out in force over Missoula County Public Stadium this past weekend.

Lady Bobcats take on top tennis teams

Versatility and depth are part of the arsenal for this year’s Superior Bobcats tennis team, the only high school tennis team in Mineral or Sanders County.

Noxon-Thompson Falls baseball gets win over Browning

If the way the first season of Noxon-Thompson Falls varsity baseball ended is any indication, good things may be on the horizon for the Red Devils.

St. Regis sends two golfers to state

St. Regis golfers continued to enjoy success this year, with two going to the state championships following a strong showing at the Class C Divisional meet in Great Falls this past weekend.

Legals for May, 15 2024

Spring operations start-up in Glacier National Park

Glacier National Park staff are gearing up for the season, with west-side vehicle reservations about to begin and snow plows nearing Logan Pass.

Northern Lights over Plains

Northern Lights over Plains

Gianforte reiterates aggressive strategy for dousing wildfires during annual briefing

Gov. Greg Gianforte reiterated his administration’s aggressive approach to fighting wildfires during an annual fire briefing in Helena on Wednesday.

May storm improves outlook, but drought concerns persist for Montana

This week’s widespread, wet storm has brought a measure of relief to parts of Montana reeling from one of the driest winters on record, but water managers say it’s too early to tell how much of that water will stick around to sustain streams, crops and forests through the hottest months of the year.

The rube sits and smiles

After having unloaded all my farm equipment from the railcar that had brought it from my late father’s farm back east, I knew that I had come to the right part of the world when Dude and Shorty, who had helped me unload it, looked at the wheels on my hay wagon and pronounced them “high-speed” because they actually had ball bearings instead of old-fashioned babbitt bearings. A person with less class than Shorty and Dude might have rightly said, “What a bunch of wore-out junk.”

Buttigieg highlights US 93 funding during reservation visit

The Bi-Partisan Infrastructure Law and its connection to safety for people and wildlife was on Pete Buttigieg’s mind during his recent visit to the Flathead Reservation. Buttigieg, the U.S. Transportation Secretary, was in Western Montana Monday and Tuesday to celebrate funding from the Bi-Partisan Infrastructure Act, passed by Congress and signed by President Biden in 2021.

Fran Huberty, 84

Frances Irene Peterson

Lady Hawks stay hot in three wins

If you picked the trifecta for Thompson Falls’ Lady Hawks softball games last week you would be a winner.

Local stars put on show at Archie Roe

When one of our own small town stars shines above the rest, it is a special thing.

Lady Hawks score 13-3 win over rival Plains

If you look purely at the score, you would think the Sanders County rivalry softball game between Plains and Thompson Falls was a rout.

Tracksters tune up at Kim L Haines meet

That was, in basic terms, a clean-up, rest-up and tune-up weekend for area Class B-C track and field teams as post season playoffs get underway this week.

Alberton's Fredette flies to second at Anaconda meet

They are few in number, but the few are having a productive track and field season.

Superior moving back to Class C in some sports

Scorecard, scorecard, can’t tell the players (or conference?) without a scorecard.

COLUMN: A thank you

When describing a sporting event, it is often nearly impossible to put pen to paper without the use of terms like “battling,” “fight to the last minute,” "comeback," etc.

Iron Mountain Road update

Cutting across steep mountain slopes on the south side of the Clark Fork River, the road is formally called the Iron Mountain/Cyr Road. But my family and friends called it by a less imaginative name, “The Road Behind the Mill.”

Former Plains resident helps his students and school shine

For over two decades, Shane Browning has touched the lives of young students in Sterling, Colorado's RE-1 Valley School District as an elementary teacher.

Herd of runners take part Dixon's Stampede

On a bright beautiful Saturday morning, runners from across Northwest Montana assembled in Dixon for the annual Bison Stampede.

AG says state will consider funding for PL 280

Whether fueled by election-year largesse or Lake County’s impending withdrawal from Public Law 280, Attorney General Austin Knudsen delivered some long-awaited good news Monday. The office of Gov. Greg Gianforte, he said, “has authorized me to convey to you folks they would sign a bill through the Legislature that provided some law enforcement funding for Lake County.”

Governor, Dayton students initiate Big Arm Archery Range

Governor Greg Gianforte launched the first arrow, followed by a group of Dayton Elementary students last Wednesday during the official opening of the Big Arm Public Archery Range.

Standout seniors earn DUI Task Force scholarships

Three seniors were invited to the courthouse in Superior on April 30 to be presented with scholarship from the Mineral County DUI Task Force.

PHOTO St. Regis T-ball

Daxton Keenen was up to bat last Friday for St. Regis during an afternoon T-Ball game versus Plains. (Mineral Independent/Amy Quinlivan)

Loge offers balanced viewpoint

Denley Loge first ran for election as state representative for Sanders, Mineral, and Missoula counties in 2016. Even though he ran as a Republican, I not only supported him, but I had also encouraged him to run.

Legals for May, 8 2024

Support AnnaMarie White for SD45

My name is Ron White, I’ve been logging in western Montana for nearly 20 years.

Mack Days wraps up May 11

Only one weekend left in the 2024 Spring Mack Days fishing event on Flathead Lake.

Red Devils co-op baseball heads to state tourney

All the planning, all the hoping, all the work...and now the first season of high school varsity baseball is almost done for the Noxon-Thompson Falls co-op team in their first year of existence.

Mineral Community Hospital expands offerings

Scheduling important medical appointments and arranging vital procedures can be a challenge living out in rural Montana. Hospitals and clinics are spread few and far between the mountainous landscape that makes up Mineral County.

Lolo Forest OKs Superior North project

The Lolo National Forest issued a final decision notice for the Superior North Project Friday to restore resilient vegetation conditions, reduce fuels and support communities.

Five Valley Livestock Auction adjusts business plan

The Five Valley Livestock Auction service west of Missoula at the intersection area of I-90 and U.S. 93 is not closing, but the way they will be doing business with livestock is a big change.

Neva MacDonald Cummings, 89

Neva MacDonald Cummings

Mineral County Sheriff's Office report

Mineral County Sheriff's Office report

GOP candidates meet at Lincoln-Reagan dinner

The Mineral County Republican Central Committee held their annual Lincoln-Reagan dinner at the St. Regis Community Center with over 100 people attending.

Osweiler to hold camp at Legends July 20

High school and youth football players should circle July 20 on their calendars — Brock Osweiler is once again coming back to Kalispell to help with the Flathead Braves Football Camp.

Montana Supreme Court sides with state in water right dispute

The Montana Supreme Court has sided with the state’s Department of Natural Resources and Conservation in a dispute involving a 64-year-old water right that’s used to irrigate both private and public land.

Arrival of migrant family in Kalispell spurs concerns from Montana politicians

A migrant family of five flew into Kalispell from New York on Wednesday and ended up on the doorstep of the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office, said Sheriff Brian Heino.

Hot Springs woman killed in U.S. 93 crash

A 71-year-old Hot Springs woman died Wednesday as a result of injuries she sustained in a T-bone car crash April 29 near Somers.

'Star Wars' themed Galactic Gala benefits PEAK Foundation

"A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away" is how the 1977 "Star Wars" movie opened.

Construction begins on I-90 near Montana-Idaho border

A section of I-90 near the Montana-Idaho line will be undergoing an all-summer project.

PHOTO: Fire safety meeting

Dave Brink and Cindy Peterson held a class in the old DeBorgia School on creating defensible space around your home before the fire season begins.

St. Regis senior Connolly earns Gaylord Green Scholarship

Gaylord Green lived in Haugan and graduated from St. Regis High School in 1958. He received an appointment to the Air Force Academy where he graduated with a degree in engineering science, followed by a master’s in aeronautics/astronautics at Stanford.

PHOTOS: Alberton High School prom

Alberton High School prom

Hunter ed instructors honored for service

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks honored the service of its volunteer Hunter, Bowhunter, and Trapper education instructors at a workshop and awards luncheon this month in Missoula.

PHOTOS: Superior T-ball sluggers

PHOTOS: Superior T-ball sluggers

Tigers golfers win on home course

The Tigers boys blistered the Trestle Creek Golf Course on the edge of town for a 345 team total over the 18-hole layout to clinch the team title by a wide margin over runner up Thompson Falls, 345-397.

St. Regis star John Pruitt signs with Rocky

One of the greatest challenges facing small town athletes who aspire to move on and continue their sports careers in college is that the small number of students at many B and C schools do not typically produce college-level competitors.

COLUMN: Choosing sides

Life, they say, is all about choices.

Legals for May, 1 2024

CSKT attorney Danna Jackson tapped for District Court judgeship

President Joe Biden has tapped an attorney for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes to replace Judge Dana Christensen in the U.S. District Court of Montana.

Michael Edward Needham, 58

Michael Edward Needham

Plains girls finish 3rd at ARM track meet

Host Whitefish swept the men’s and women’s team titles at last weekend’s ARM track meet, while the Plains women continued their impressive run in the women’s title chase.

In support of Denley Loge

I am writing this letter in support of Denley Loge and his candidacy for Senate District 45.

Spotlight on the Arts: Serenity Barrus

“Spotlight on the Arts” by The Paradise Center honors and encourages students in the arts by highlighting their talent and acknowledging the support they receive through their schools and teachers.

Copperheads take one from Trotters

The unofficial score: Anaconda 1, Plains 0, Mother Nature, 1-1.

Thompson Falls-Noxon co-op softball team wins four straight

Momentum with post season play on the horizon is always a good thing.

Thompson Falls-Noxon co-op softball team wins four straight

Momentum with post season play on the horizon is always a good thing.

Mixed results for Superior tennis team

It was a mixed bag for the Superior tennis team this past week.

Plains’ Alexis Demming competes at 'Top 10'

It is billed annually as the “Top 10” track and field meet, a measuring stick event featuring the top 10 performers from throughout Western Montana in track and field events.

Baseball co-op Red Devils fall to Ronan, Frenchtown

It was an overcast, chilly day in the Northwest corner of Montana...perfect weather for baseball?