Officials kill Ovando grizzly; Bear attacks runner in Idaho

A grizzly bear that pulled a California woman from her tent and killed her this week was fatally shot early last Friday.

Keeping in touch with Rep. Pat Ingraham

While the Legislature has been in full swing and is headed to complete its transmittal date this Thursday, February 28th, there is another rather important, though less exciting event going on as well, that of filing income taxes, less of a political event than the Legislature, however just as important. So I thought now would be a good time to share some information that might help you as you begin to file your income taxes.

Food for Thought: Trauma bonding

The term trauma bonding refers to strong emotional ties that develop between two people when one person intermittently harasses, beats, threatens, abuses or intimidates the other.

$60,000 raised at 4-H/FFA livestock auction

Nearly $53,000 went into the pockets and college funds of 4-H/FFA members at the 2018 Livestock Auction held on Saturday afternoon, Aug. 4 at the Mineral County Fair. This doesn’t include the additional $8,000 local businesses threw into the pot to sweeten the deal for the 21 youth who have spent this past year raising the animals for judging and the auction. Altogether, there were 14 swine, three beef, two sheep and one chicken up for grabs.

Plains sixth-grader Ducept headed for Treasure State Spelling Bee

Plains Schools sixth-grader Kaitlyn Ducept emerged as the repeat champion of the 2019 Sanders County Spelling Bee held Friday, March 1 at the Sanders County Courthouse.

Sanders County Community Calendar

The Wildhorse Plains Backcountry Horsemen meet the second Monday of each month at First Security Bank.  Any questions should be directed to Terry Collins at 826-5595.

Savage Horsemen wrestlers earn hardware at Buzz Lucy

In what was a smaller-than-average turnout for a normally big wrestling event, the Plains-Hot Springs boys’ wrestlers finished fourth in a five-team field despite bringing a scaled-down number of wrestlers to the Buzz Lucy meet this past weekend in Eureka.

Search and Rescue takes to the water for training

PLAINS- Sanders County Search and Rescue personnel were on hand in Plains on Sunday on the bridge spanning the Clark Fork River to practice a scenario involving a victim in the water. Two teams were involved, one on the banks of the river ready to retrieve the victim with the aid of a boat and the other on the bridge to drop the “victim” into the water.

WMMHC

The Mineral County office of Western Montana Mental Health Center has been awarded a $20,000 grant from the Montana Mental Health Settlement Trust for the Recovery Garden in Superior.  The grant proposal was submitted by Thomas Hodgetts, Director.  The funds will be distributed from the settlement resulting from Montana’s 2007 lawsuit against Eli Lilly.  The Trust has received over 200 applications for grants since it was established.  The Recovery Garden, created in 2010, yielded over a ton of fresh produce which was donated to local residents, families, and Food Bank.  Pat Byrne, the owner of the vacant lot next to the WMMHC office at 405 Brooklyn Avenue, donated the use of his property for the project.  The Garden was the inspiration of WMMHC staff and Drop In Center members.  WMMHC clients and staff, participants in the Mineral County DUI Treatment Court, and community members worked tirelessly to establish and maintain the Garden.  The funds will be used to purchase or build a small greenhouse to get an earlier start on the growing season.  It is hoped that the program can be expanded to Alberton and St. Regis as well.  Aside from the benefit of providing healthy food to the community, the Recovery Garden also provides a healthy peer group for persons recovering from mental illness and/or addiction as an alternative to isolation or substance use.

Salmi fundraiser continues

Community Notes

Join DBSA Superior and Mineral County LAC for a free lunch and learn to use some tools for making this holiday season one of peace and joy. Share ideas how to avoid chaos, stress management and slowing down to make this year one of the best seasons you’ve ever had. Friday, Nov. 30, noon to 1 p.m. at Choices Conference Center at 310 Spruce in Superior.

Introducing the graduating classes of 2018

It was a weekend of celebrations for 30 Mineral County high school graduates over Memorial Weekend. St. Regis and Superior held graduations on Sunday and Alberton held theirs on Monday.

Avista golf tournament to benefit SCCOA

THOMPSON FALLS – The seventh annual Avista Charity Golf Tournament is scheduled to take place this weekend at the River’s Bend Golf Course in Thompson Falls.

Lozeau Bridge Fire required devoted resources

UPDATE: Woodland said the fire was started by a welding operation on the Lozeau Bridge. Earlier reports stated a firefighter was possibly injured. It was later determined one of the firefighters from SVFD was suffering from heat exhaustion and was treated and released.

Baskets for those in need

Roger Kesting has been helping the Lions Cub distribute food baskets since he came to the area in 1981. Back then, no more than 15 baskets were distributed to needy families in the areas. As the numbers started to grow, the Women and Timber also became a part of the effort to put together and deliver food baskets to needy families.

Trying to stay afloat

I first learned about the power of an eddy when I did a story with Plains Mayor Michael Brinson concerning the increasing amount of land that was eroding away by the town's sewage cleaning ponds due to a strong eddy.

County Commissioners have last meeting of 2015

The last Mineral County Commissioners meeting for 2015 was held on December 31. April Quinlan and Jennifer Donovan with the Mineral County Health department presented commissioners Roman Zylawy and Laurie Johnston with information about a Local and Tribal Public Health Systems Improvement Grant. The $15,000 grant was award to Mineral County Department of Human Health and Services in Mineral County in March 2015.  

47 traffic accidents reported as severe weather hits

Icy, snow-covered roads caused a number of the accidents earlier in the week, while melting snow and slush compounded driving conditions toward the latter part of the week. In total, 47 incidents were reported by the Montana Highway Patrol in Mineral County and near Frenchtown, between Feb. 6 and Feb. 11.

Hot Springs Elementary PTO eyes improvements

The HSEPTO (Hot Springs Elementary Parent Teacher Organization) has taken on the project of improving both the safety and effectiveness of the Elementary parking lot.

Fireman's Ball turn-out equalled white hot success

The Plains Fire Department held their annual Fireman’s Ball this past Saturday night at the Plains VFW Hall.