Sanders County runners take on Missoula Marathon

Numerous current and former residents of Sanders County converged on to the Missoula Marathon recently, and a few runners took some top placings.

Fair Board prepares for Aug. 30-Sept. 2 event

The Sanders County Fair Board recently met for its monthly meeting ahead of the 2018 Sanders County Fair, and they are well on their way to make this year’s event bigger and better.

Community Notes

An intimate evening with country music star John King will be held on Aug. 15 from 6 to 10:30 pm at the Alberton Gorge Ranch. Tickets are available at albertonrailroadday.com and proceeds benefit the Alberton Farm to School Program.

Preliminary county budget meetings begin

Mineral County Commissioners held preliminary budget hearings on July 13 as a first step for this upcoming fiscal year. Department heads from all of the offices, including maintenance, justice court, planning and health, the library, sheriff’s office and dispatch, and clerk and recorder scheduled time to meet and discuss their needs for this upcoming year with commissioners and financial officer Jessica Connelly.

Pool prices, budget topics during Plains Town Meeting

There were plenty of agenda items at last week’s Plains Town Meeting, with some updates, including the water leaks that appear to be getting better.

Slip, Slop, Slap keys for safe summer

It may have taken a little longer this year, but it seems as though summer has finally arrived — with warmer temperatures taking hold of Sanders County last week.

Sanders County celebrates July 4

Independence Day 2018 was a county-wide party as locals converged on a number of events to celebrate the birthday of this great nation.

District Ranger Johnson and West Zone Team recognized for work

The second annual Montana Counties Forest Summit was held in early May, where two awards were presented to Mineral County nominees. One went to Superior District Ranger Carole Johnson, and the other to the West Zone NEPA Team.

Candidate: I-185 initiative deserves your support

I-185, the Healthy Montana Initiative, was submitted statewide to all Montana counties’ Clerk & Recorders Offices on Friday, June 22, 2018, with more than 42,000 signatures, and those signatures are now in the process of being verified. Since only 25,468 signatures were needed with a sufficient number from each of a minimum of 34 house districts, it is very likely that the initiative will be accepted and then placed on this fall’s ballot at the general election.

Hospital welcomes McNeese as interim CEO

Mineral Community Hospital welcomed interim Chief Executive Officer Steve McNeese to their team last week.

Superior home gets a new paint job, thanks to local volunteers

Last week around 20 people showed up at an old house for a party in Superior. But this was no ordinary party, it was actually a painting party arranged by the United Methodist Women’s group. They decided to start an annual mission project to paint a house a year in Superior.

This date in history

Bumper crop: Morel mushroom picking season ending

Alongside Quartz Creek Road at the Tarkio exit, a small table covered by a white canopy was set up next to a refrigerated truck. A sign with purple and pink letters reads, “Mushroom Buyer Jessica.” Jessica Cruz, along with her sons Timo, 16, and Lucas, 11, and her Asian partner simply referred to as “Q,” sit in lawn chairs - waiting for pickers to show up with baskets full of morel mushrooms.

'The crown jewel of all trail-rail adventures'

Tunnel 20 is an ominous, dark hole that swallows up bikers for 1.8 miles and is called the Taft Tunnel. It’s one of eight tunnels that stretch along the 15-mile Route of the Hiawatha bike trail. The sound of bikers echo off the cement walls that drip with water, and the air is cold and damp. There is a crown in the center of the tunnel, and ditches along the sides needed to drain water that runs at 3,000 gallons per minute.

Crews working on railroad to improve safety in county

“I’ve been working on the railroad. All the live long day, I’ve been working on the railroad, Just to pass the time away.”

Mineral Community Hospital welcomes physical therapist

Mineral Community Hospital has a new physical therapist, Renee Gibson. She is from Missoula, and has 15 years of clinical experience providing strong manual-based orthopedic skills.

Kunzer Memorial ATA Shoot a success for local Trap Club

Fifteen squads registered for the recent Tom Kunzer Memorial Firecracker at the Plains Trap Club grounds over the weekend.

Public comment sought for Sheep Gap Salvage Project

Plains residents and those surrounding Plains are being encouraged to attend a public comment which is now being accepted on the Sheep Gap Fire Salvage Project Environmental Assessment (EA) being put on by the US Forest Service.

Groups band together to help reforest Sunrise burn area

Looking over the terrain of Sunrise Mountain swaths of black tree stands are a stark reminder of the wildfire that ravaged the area last summer. The fire chewed through 27,000 acres which was primarily Lolo National Forest Land. The area is a mix of conifer forest on steep mountainous terrain and affected a number of drainages including Trout, Cougar, Verde, Sunrise, Meadow, and Quartz Creeks.

Super Saturday not dampened by drizzly sky

A wet Saturday didn’t dampen people’s enthusiasm as a number of events took place throughout Mineral County. From yards sales to tournaments, people braved the chilly weather with frequent rain showers to get together and enjoy some community activities.