Keeping in touch: A look at worker's comp

Montana has by far the highest workers’ compensation rates in the country, with costs over 160% above the national median. An overhaul of the system is essential to prevent the exodus of employers who find it more cost-efficient to conduct business in nearby states.  House Republicans introduced a bill this past week that addresses our state’s burdensome workers’ comp costs and will allow employers to keep jobs in Montana.

Positive turnout for flea market

ST. REGIS – Organizers of the last flea market of the year in St. Regis said vendors were pleasantly surprised with the number of Mineral County residents who came to peruse their wares last weekend.

Plains school board votes for mail-in ballots

PLAINS – The Plains School Board meeting took place on Monday night, and voted to change the election procedure to mail-in ballots.

Be aware of vultures - an update from Senator Fielder

As we wrangled through the budget this spring, the beautiful state capitol began to feel like a big, ripe carcass with a dark cloud of vultures circling about.

Fire officials monitor county snowpack

Heading into mid-season everyone’s focus turns to snowpack and already Western Montanans are thinking ahead to summer and upcoming forest fires...

Thanksgiving travel expected to increase over '17 numbers

AAA is projecting that more than 54 million Americans will travel nationwide over this Thanksgiving holiday, a 4.8-percent increase over last year, or 2.5 million travelers. This is also predicted to be the highest Thanksgiving travel volume since 2005. This is despite higher gas prices at the pump with the national average at $2.79 as of Nov. 1, a 31-cent increase over this same time last year.

Bobcats continue to dominate in second victory

Hot Springs girls win twice; boys get swept in close games

The Hot Springs boys and girls basketball teams closed out a hectic weekend of Montana Class C basketball with games at home Saturday night.

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.

Ze Merry Maries a capella group together for 10 years

“It all started with a story on NPR in 2008,” says Deb Achatz of Trout Creek, who first dreamed up the area’s long-time comedy a capella group, Ze Merry Maries. She was struck by a piece saying that performance art was not taught in schools as much as it used to be.

Firestorm debate erupts over transfer of public lands

Rail summit discusses passenger service in Southern Montana

Railroads played a large role in the development of the United States from the industrial revolution in the Northeast

DUI Taskforce presents fiscal plans

MINERAL COUNTY – The Mineral County DUI Taskforce presented their plans for the 2014 and 2015 fiscal year.

Mineral County deputies train for water rescues

Captains Scott Dodd and Josh Pecora with the Superior Volunteer Fire Department spent a recent afternoon training deputies with the Mineral County Sheriff’s Office on the fundamentals of using Rescue Bags.

Precision rifle series puts shooters to the test

A slight breeze cut through the crisp morning air at the Butte Gun Club as the shooters toted their rifles to the firing line. One by one, the competitors took their positions. At one stage, a man stepped into an old claw-foot bathtub and rested the front of his rifle on the metal rim. To his right, another shooter contemplated how to best support his rifle on a giant rubber tire while the shooter on the stage to his left took to his stomach on a rickety-looking raised wooden platform.

Bowhunters need to be bear aware

A bowhunter needs to be sneaky, with “no-scent” on, and camouflaged to look like a bush. While that’s what it takes to get close enough for a good shot with a bow and arrow, that hunter is making it hard for a bear to notice him or her.

'Miss Montana' drops paratroopers, gives Plains a thrill

In a show of patriotism, skill and small-town devotion to honoring heroes of the past, the skies over Plains became a spectacular part of the “Miss Montana to Normandy” project Tuesday, May 14.

Car fever

Parked against the low curb of the Lake Side Motel in Trout Creek last Saturday sat a brown 1929 Model A Ford Coupe, part of Trout Creek’s 4th Annual Cool Summer Nights Car Show.

Soldier with the National Guard returns home

Mission notches big win over Plains

Two things emerged from Friday night’s 58-6 Mission win over Plains in a Montana High School 8-man football game.