MCGRAG sends letters to county commissioners

Larry Michael Courser

Larry Michael Courser passed away on March 26th 2014 at the age of 64 following a short battle with cancer. Larry was born on May 2nd to Lawrence and Mary (Woods) Courser. Larry grew up in Montana and North Idaho, graduating from high school in Superior Montana. He spent much of his adult life logging with his father and farming on the family homestead located on Upper Pack River Rd. Larry had a great love for his family, gardening and his animals. He was often found working in his garden or relaxing with his dogs enjoying the sunshine, or working on a new project around the home. Larry is survived by his wife Nancy, two sons, Austin and Ethan, three daughters, Genda, Grace and Ruby, 4 grandsons and 3 granddaughters; his ex-wife Darlene Boyce Courser, one brother, Chris (Kim), seven sisters, Kaci (Hank) Courser Warren, Teri (Bob) Heinrich, Laura Courser, Judy (Randy) Wakefield, Tamara (Rex) Romagnolo, Leona (Jack) Knaggs, Lenor (Joe) Dupont, as well as numerous nieces and nephews. Larry was preceded in death by his father, Lawrence and mother, Mary. A small graveside service to celebrate his life was held on Friday, March 28 at the family gravesite located at 3676 Upper Pack River Rd. Larry’s family would like to thank Auburn Crest Hospice, Heather House (Sandpoint Cancer Services) and the Kootenai Cancer Center for their gentle caring and continued support during his brief illness. Donations in his name can be made to the Sandpoint Cancer Services, Heathers House or to the Panhandle Animal Shelter. Email condolences can be sent to trollwaterworks@gmail.com. “I bequeath myself to the dirt, to grow from the grass I love. If you want me again, look for me under your boot soles” Whitman~

Balenger no longer member of sheriff's office

Preparations plans for upcoming county fair

SUPERIOR – With the fair right around the corner, the Mineral County Fair Board has begun addressing maintenance preparations and concerns about the grounds for this year’s event.

Alberton school board discuss school programs

Bobcats cut short from State Championship

Tricon healthy after Tester visit

ST. REGIS – In the wake of a visit by Senator Jon Tester (D-Montana), Tricon Timber has continued to encounter delays on some projects. The recent snow storms have also caused problems for the mill. Tester helped Tricon get out of a deal, which would have bankrupted the company. The contract was for logging an area with helicopters, helping to remove the timber. When the Great Recession began, fulfilling the project made the costs involved unreasonable for Tricon. Tester visited Tricon in mid January. He wanted to get more familiar with the operation. The senator also talked over other issues Tricon and the community needed help with. These included several projects and timber sales the company needed help getting started. While Tester said he would look into solutions, the projects are still running into problems. Angelo Ververis, general manager at Tricon, said it has been difficult getting the Forest Service to move forward with them. This included the Cedar Thom project. The project includes several timber sales, which could be harvested to benefit the mill. The Forest Service said they would have some progress in December, but there has been no word on a timetable. “It’s still not a good answer, I guess, as far as the community goes,” Ververis said. “It’s a big project for the community. We need it to move forward, it means work, it means jobs, stability. There’s a whole bunch of things it means to the community and here we are without a project still.” The West Mullan Fire salvage was another project Tricon wanted to speed up. The project would allow companies to collect wood, which was still usable after the fire. The Mineral County Resource Advisory Group received a response from Faye Krueger, the regional forester, saying the Forest Service did not want to move forward with the project. Tricon still wanted to pursue the project and had begun to work different angles to get it started. Ververis hoped the farm bill recently put before the senate by Tester would help with this. MCRAG and Tricon have also looked to the Mineral County Commissioners for their support on projects. The commissioners are able to suggest projects to the Forest Service and have worked with MCRAG to prepare letters of support. According to Ververis, Tricon has had no interaction with Tester’s office since the visit. The heavy snows and blizzard-like conditions in the area have also had an impact on Tricon’s operation. One of the biggest problems has simply been the ability to move in the snow. With up to two feet of powdery snow in places, the loggers have had trouble moving around the forest. This has also been a problem at the mill as the new fallen snow needs to be moved so vehicles and personnel can move around the facility. Ververis felt the bigger issues were the conditions in the forest. He said logging crews had trouble getting logs out of the brush. “Trying to log in this weather is difficult,” Ververis said. The deep snow has put some logging crews on hold until conditions improve. “It’s right up to their waist and armpits,” Willy Peck, a resources manager at Tricon, said. “They’re unable to work down there.” According to Peck, the trees are instantly buried by snow in these conditions. He said the trees were only visible as limbs sticking out of the snow once workers got to them. This meant the workers had to dig through the snow to find the end of the log. “You can imagine this tree just got buried with snow, so now you’ve got this person trying to wrap a cable around a tree they can’t even find,” Ververis said. The delay is a problem for Tricon because the company normally builds up inventory during the winter months. Without the logs, the mill cannot function. Ververis said it is slightly less of a problem at the moment because Tricon was able to build up a good stock before the snow hit. The sales are not expected to be closed for long. Ververis and Peck said work would likely continue once the snow had settled. With warmer temperatures and rain predicted for this week, the snow is expected to pack down, making it easier for the crews to walk on. Ververis said he was impressed with the Tricon employees. Even as schools closed down and people stayed home to wait out the snow, the workers made the drive to the mill. He said they pushed through, despite the dangerous road conditions, to keep things running. “I can’t tell you enough how impressed I am with the contractors working through the harsh conditions,” Ververis said. “Sawmills just can’t have snow days.”

Grant funds child care classes

ALBERTON – A grant was recently issued by the Mineral County Community Foundation, which will help fund babysitter and child care assistant training programs around the county.

Letters to the Editor - Feb. 26

Trotters tested in District Championship game

PLAINS – The District Tournament Semifinals took place Thursday night and the Trotters hosted the Eureka lions.

Department of Transportation seeks comment

HERON- The Montana Department of Transportation would like to notify the public and seek comments on a proposal regarding the replacement of an existing grade crossing signal system with new electronics and hardware including the addition of gates; as well as, the installation of new improved crossing surface material, on Heron Road west of Heron in Sanders County.

Local boy works hard for his cattle

Thirteen-year-old Coby Guenzler has been a member of 4-H for three years but has been helping his parents on the farm for much longer. The Guenzlers raise Red Angus cattle and so far Coby has three animals he hopes will be ready for the fair season.

Noxon girls go on to District Tournament

NOXON – The Lady Red Devils pulled together to put up plenty of points on the board this week. Despite their efforts, the team was unable to pull out a win but the time on the court helped the team work on a few things before heading into tournament season.

Frozen pipes threaten to flood local homes

SANDERS COUNTY – The bitter cold left many members of the community in need of professional assistance this past week. Pipes were freezing left and right, sometimes with unfortunate consequences. Luckily, local handyman Bill Newman was ready to help.

SVFD extinguishes blaze

SUPERIOR – The Superior Volunteer Fire Department was quickly able to extinguish a fire on Pine Street in Superior after responding to a call from dispatch late Sunday afternoon.

Letter to the Editor: Reaction to letters

The two Dear Editor pieces in the Feb. 5th edition could not have been more opposite to one another. The first by Kathleen Hassan of Trout Creek was right on and I could add hundreds of more examples of where common sense has died and been replaced by “non-common sensible” comments as were made by John F. Middlemiss, Sr. also of Trout Creek.

Elda E. (Richard) Greeno

Elda E. (Richard) Greeno was born July 10th, 1935 in Bisbee, North Dakota. She was one of six children born to Elnora “Elly” McLean and Fred Richard. Elda was baptized & confirmed in the Lutheran faith and received her formal education at Egeland, North Dakota.

Quest for redemption

Winter roads present danger to area drivers

MINERAL COUNTY – Last week saw several days of nearly continuous snowfall, which left the roads slick with slush and ice.

Sheriff's Office seeks information on Noxon shooting

NOXON - On January 17, 2014 between the hours of 5 p.m. and 1 p.m. on January 18, unknown person(s) entered Speciality Beams parking lot in Noxon and broke a cable gate at the entrance possibly damaging their vehicle which is believed to be a 1997 - 1999 Subaru Legacy. These unknown person(s) then began to shoot up the Speciality Beams office which resulted in 21 bullet holes in the structure which also damaged property inside the building.