Abortion clinics sue state over new restrictions

Montana abortion providers on Friday sued the state health department in an attempt to block a new rule adopted by the Gianforte administration’s health department that restricts how the state will pay for abortions through its Medicaid program.

Alberton, Superior travel to Dilly Bar Invitational

With the season heading for midpoint despite several weather interruptions, track and field teams from throughout the area are getting a good look at their prospects, including some young up-and-comers.

Early risers catch glimpse of meteor over Montana

Early risers Thursday morning may have caught a glimpse of a spectacular fireball seen from Missoula to north of Calgary at 6:26 a.m.

Montana’s proposed digital privacy amendment, explained

As Montana voters head to the polls this fall, they’ll have the chance to amend the state Constitution to add language explicitly requiring law enforcement to obtain a search warrant before accessing a person’s private electronic data.

Plains man makes quilt for wounded soldiers

One Sanders County man has decided to use his artistic skills to help wounded soldiers returning from the war in the Middle East.

Fifty Years Ago

April 17, 1958: Ellisons Report No Lead On Daughter—Still seeking, though with hope lessening, their 16-year-old daughter are Mr. and Mrs. Frank Ellison of Superior.

Earth Day spends first year inside

The people of Hot Springs didn’t let the weather keep them from holding their first Earth Day Celebration, but the event was moved inside to Symes Hot Springs Hotel so people could avoid the rain and snow. The celebration featured about seven vendors and informational booths, five workshops, a potluck, and five live music acts.

Healthy Communities Coalition wins $200,000 grant

When the Mineral County Healthy Communities Coalition (HCC) restructured itself a few years ago, members had no idea the impact this organization would have on the county and its residents. Now, members are seeing a huge growth in the programs it offers, as well as some very positive outcomes.

Plains plays host to soccer tournament

The Amundson Sporting Complex came alive in Plains recently with soccer enthusiast all over converging at the fields for the annual tournament hosted by Wildhorse Youth Soccer.

Donna May Chambers, 73

Donna May Chambers, 73, of Superior passed away peacefully at home surrounded by family on August 19, 2019.

Busy summer ahead for area Forest Service crews

Forest Service agencies are gearing up for a busy summer with a number of projects in the works. Nate Kegel, and Carole Johnson with the Superior Ranger District met on separate occasions, with County Commissioners regarding the status of several projects in the Superior Ranger District. There was also a community meeting with the Ninemile Ranger District regarding updates on the Soldier Butler fuels reduction project, as well as other projects in the area.

Basketball Roundup

Boys

Bill would help ease health care burden

As people of faith, we believe that each of us has a moral obligation to take care of each other. At one time or another, every one of our fellow human beings has a need that we can help ease.

Forest Service employees snowed in to desk jobs

SUPERIOR – As hard winter weather and blizzard-like conditions hit the area last week, the Forest Service was forced to delay some of their plans. Tawnya Brummett, district ranger for the Superior Ranger District, said a number of small projects are underway. There have already been a few survey crews out investigating places for future projects. While most of these were in lower elevations, the higher than average snowfalls have caused a few delays in the schedule this year. Most of the delays have not been too serious. There are a number of areas in higher elevations where the Forest Service expected delays to occur. In recent years, they have been able to work on some projects in lower elevations all through the winter. This year has been different for the crews as snow has built up in lower elevations. “[The winter weather] impacted us slightly, I would say, just in some of our low elevation projects,” Brummett said. While a number of areas are buried under feet of snow, the Forest Service has had plenty more fieldwork to do in the winter months. With how many winter recreation opportunities there are in the area, lots of work goes into making sure everything is safe. To this end, one thing the Forest Service does is keep an eye on avalanche risks in the area. Each week, rangers go out to look at the avalanche dangers to assess the risks in an area. The Superior Ranger District coordinates their efforts with the Missoula area and ranger districts in the Idaho panhandle to keep an accurate idea of the area’s condition. According to Brummett, the area around the Idaho state line has had especially high avalanche danger the last few weeks. While there have not been any avalanche fatalities in Mineral County, she said there have been a few around other parts of western Montana. Brummett said the Forest Service crews are looking forward to the warmer weather. Once the weather clears and the ground thaws they will be able to start work on more field projects. Until the weather improves the Forest Service employees are busy with office work, such as requesting grants to fund many of their activities. Brummett described this as possibly the least favorite part of the job for many of the employees at the Superior Ranger Station. She said most of them would rather be out in the field working on projects than stuck behind a desk. “There’s always a lot to do,” Brummett said. “But my folks would definitely rather be out in the woods doing it.” The Forest Service has also begun planning their controlled burns for the spring and summer. Brummett said it was also too early to say how the fire season this year would be effected by the snowpack. She said the precipitation in the area was looking good and the moisture levels were healthy. However, a particularly warm period could dry things out quickly and increase the fire risks. The Forest Service has begun hiring for their temporary summer jobs. The most common jobs available are for firefighters and fire support crews. There are also positions available on trail and timber maintenance crews as well as on the Mineral County Resource Advisory Committee. Brummett said she wanted to get the positions filled early so everyone can be ready to go once the season starts.

Trotters take first at divisionals

Superior Junior High School demolished

It only took three days to tear down the aging Superior Junior High building located across the road from the Mineral County Fair Grounds. The demolition started on Tuesday, Jan. 29 and was completely gone and hauled away by Thursday.

Plains man wins warrior contest

Matt Unrau

Runners excel at the Edge

Peaking at just the right time – that’s the whole purpose of the 10-week cross country season.  It’s where the science of training meets the art of experience.  As a coach, you put together a mix of quality and quantity; work and recovery; motivation and support; and, above all, hope.  Hope that the plan included enough mileage – but, not too much; hope that you pushed them hard enough – but, not so hard that they crossed the fine line into injury or illness; hope that you gave them the direction needed to be successful; and, hope that you did the right thing for each of the 10 wonderfully unique individual athletes that were part of the 2010 Plains High School Cross Country team. 

Hospital offers new services

Look no further than Mineral Community Hospital for your orthopedic surgery needs.

Ornelas taking care of business

For eight weeks, Sheriff Ernie Ornelas has been heading up the Mineral County Sheriff’s Department. Of those eight weeks, he was gone for two weeks for trainings up in Helena.