COLUMN: Lift off

There should have been a NASA-like countdown. Three, two, one ... lift off!

Irwin Donald Bangen, 92

Irwin Donald Bangen

Travelers’ Rest State Park host First Day Hikes

Travelers’ Rest State Park near Lolo will host a "First Day Hike" on New Year’s Day. The guided hike will begin outside the Travelers’ Rest visitor center at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025 and is free and open to all ages.

Portion of Clark Fork River reopened after storm cleanup

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks reopened all portions of the Blackfoot and Clark Fork Rivers that were closed late last week due to danger from power lines in the river after the July 24 severe storm.

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.

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.

Locals compete for Junior Princess

“I don’t know how many years I’ve been doing this (judging), but this might have been the most difficult year to choose the Junior Princess. It almost came down to a coin toss,” said Shawn Heyer with the Superior LIONS Rodeo Committee.

Noxon escapes with wins over Two Eagle River

Palbo was the site of two high schools' basketball games which could have had different outcomes than they did.

Legals for April, 3 2024

St. Regis Tigers happy to return to Montana football

This year’s St. Regis High School homecoming football game will be at home. That seems like common sense, but for the past several years the Tigers have been part of a co-op arrangement with Mullan, Idaho and have played the majority of their games in the Gem State.

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.

Legals for April, 10 2024

Clark Fork River Pedal and Farm Tour this weekend

Get ready for an unforgettable journey through the heart of Western Montana's agricultural landscapes with the inaugural Clark Fork River Pedal and Farm Tour.

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.”

River Street Festival floats on this weekend

The second annual River Street Festival Great Montana SUP (Stand Up Paddleboard) Sprint is next up for family excitement in Mineral County. The name has become larger, but then the event has certainly grown in accordance.

Blue Hawks lock up Wardens

It was an arresting evening for Thompson Falls boys’ basketball team as they locked up a 69-58 victory in Deer Lodge against the Wardens.

Crescent Ridge ramps up for spring produce

From being a fisheries biologist to a commercial farmer, Michael Davidson has enjoyed the journey immensely.

Rediscovering home: Elk populations

Throughout the 45 years I was away from my hometown, I returned a couple times a year to visit mother. Elk appeared to be more prevalent with each passing year as I visited the various drainages.

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.”

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.