Clark Fork, St. Regis participate in track divisionals

Both the Seeley-Swan boys and girls captured the win with 201 points at the 13C Divisionals at Big Sky High School in Missoula on May 10 and 11. In the 14C Divisional, Charlo won for both the boys and girls with 156 and 208, respectively. The Clark Fork boys placed second in 13C with 118 points, and the girls placed second with 114. The St. Regis boys placed fifth in 14C with 52 points, and the girls were second with 73. Jesse Shaske of Clark Fork won both the 800-meter and 1,600-meter runs with 2:01.73 and 4:53.83, respectively. Ian Farris of St. Regis won both the 100- and 200-meter dash with 11.43 and 24.29. Trey Green of Clark Fork was firt in the shot put with 46-01.50. Carson Callison of Clark Fork won the triple jump with 36-09.00. Andrew Sanford of St. Regis won the high jump with 5-06.00. Cassie Green of Clark Fork was first in the shot put with 30-02.75. Madison Kelly of St. Regis won both the 800 and 1,600 with 2:45.74 and 6:08.19, respectively. Emma Hill of St. Regis won the high jump with 4-08.00.

Korean War vets to be honored on Armed Forces Day

Three of Superior’s Korean War veterans will be honored for their military services at the Armed Forces Day ceremony on Saturday, May 18 at Superior High School. Cabin Fever Quilters will present Wayne Bricker, Lee Magone and Doug Cummings with quilts in honor of their services in the Korean War. The event begins at noon and is open to the public.

Plains pool problems proliferate

You know how sometimes when you dig into a problem, it gets worse before it gets better? That is the case with the Plains swimming pool.

Shaske, Reese lead Clark Fork at Kim Haines Invite

The Frenchtown boys captured the win with 132 points at the at the Kim Haines Invitational track and field meet at Big Sky High School on Saturday, May 4. Seeley-Swan won for the girls’ title with 92 points. Frenchtown sophomore Jace Klucewich won three individual events and currently holds first place in the Class A 100-meter dash and 200-meter dash. He also won the long jump with a leap of 21 feet, 3 inches, his third victory that day. Jesse Shaske of Clark Fork placed third in the 800-meter dash with 2:07.42. Shaske also placed fifth in the 1600 with 4:43.23, and the Mountain Cats placed 12th as a team. Trey Green of Clark Fork placed fifth in the both the shot put with 44-07.75 and discus with 130-08. Bryan Mask of Clark Fork placed fifth in the pole vault with 9-00. The Clark Fork girls placed 10th at Big Sky. Sorren Reese of Clark Fork was fifth in the 400, third in the 800 and fourth in javelin (107-08). Grace King of St. Regis placed 31st in the shot put with 24-03.50. St. Regis Tiger Sunny Shoupe placed 18th in the 300 hurdles with 1:03.93.

Thompson Falls trio prepares for golf postseason

The Thompson Falls boys and girls golf coach Mike Bates continues to produce successful teams regardless of his team’s situation.

Honey bees display intrigues Plains kindergarten students

“When I say BZZZZZZ, it makes my tongue tickle!”

Cabinet District collaborative projects moving forward

The Cabinet District of the Kootenai National Forest has produced a string of successful forest projects over recent years, according to leaders of the Cabinet Forest Collaborative (CFC), a local citizens group.

Forest Service begins Summer Trails project in Mineral County

A decade after its initial proposal, the Lolo National Forest began the Summer Trails project in early April which will establish a motorized off-highway (OHV) route system. The project will allow utility-terrain vehicles (UTV) and all-terrain vehicles (ATV) access to 180,000 acres between St. Regis and Lookout Pass from June 15 to Sept. 1. It will also add existing non-motor-authorized trails to the system and construct new trail segments, authorizing 35 new miles to OHV trails. The U.S. Forest Service began planning for this project in 2009 after motorized recreationalists voiced desires for a more extensive trail system. But the Forest Service placed it on hold due to lack of funding and higher priorities. “In the last 10 years there’s been a lot of delay,” Recreation and Range staffer Heather Berman said. “It kept getting pushed because of fire salvage from fires in 2017.” The Forest Service initiated this project in response to public demand. OHV use is a fast-growing outdoor activity and according to a national survey, one in five Americans age 16 and older participated in OHV recreation. OHV registrations increased 300 percent from 200 to 2014, according to Montana State Parks. Unauthorized OHV use has also prompted the Forest Service to create authorized trails. In the last 10 years, officials closed and rehabilitated approximately four miles of unauthorized routes within the project area. Berman says the public creates their own trails before the Forest Service can build them properly. “No matter what we do to stop it, it’s gonna happen,” Berman said. Public comments and concerns included:

Blackfoot Telecommunications now offers a streaming primer

Blackfoot Telecommunications helped take some of the mystery out of “streaming” and “smart TVs” and even how to watch good old-fashioned local TV in today’s era, with a first-ever “Understanding Streaming” workshop in Thompson Falls April 24.

MCT's 'Gulliver's Travels' seemed different somehow

Nearly 50 Plains students performed in and helped produce Missoula Children’s Theater’s (MCT) wild, space-travel odyssey version of “Gulliver’s Travels” last Saturday.

No headline

The intrepid Sanders County Fair Board is quickly picking up steam. With mostly new membership and an acting manager, and with the help of experienced locals, they are pulling together contracts, agreements, sponsors, grounds maintenance, and all that’s needed to ensure another successful fair this year.

Superior High students visit the state Capitol with their class

This week I had some welcome guests. Mr. Bishop and former Rep. Gordon Hendrick spent a day at the Capitol with the Superior High School government class.

Noxon's Stogner receives Navy Cross Medal

Marine risked his life to save his gunner, other soldiers in Vietnam

James Stogner of Noxon received the prestigious Navy Cross Medal during a special ceremony Friday afternoon, April 5 at the VFW in Polson.

Plains golfers improving with every stroke of ball

Plains High School will be about as “green” as the grass on which they play for the 2019 golf season.

Cranking up and winding down at the 2019 Legislature

We had Day 71 last Friday. From that day forward, we have 19 days left of the regular session to finish business. The final outcome of many bills is still very much in limbo. Last minute amendments come into play in the committee meetings or on the chamber floors.

County jail would be costly to close

I am writing this letter as a concerned resident and (future) taxpayer of Mineral County. There is a good possibility that our local jail may close permanently unless some solutions to long-term problems can be found.

BackPack Program seeks donations

According to the Montana Food Bank Network, nearly 1 in 6 children in Montana live in a food-insecure household. That means 42,480 children in Montana may not know where their next meal is going to come from.

Mineral Community Hospital receives new portable X-ray machine

Patients at Mineral Community Hospital will soon benefit from studies using the latest in X-ray technology made possible through a grant from The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust’s Rural Healthcare Program.

Where is the Taft cemetery?

Boom town supported railroad in early 1900s

“Bullet, belt buckle, button,” the metal detector’s screen reads various items buried some seven feet beneath the earth. Forest Service Archeologist Erika Karuzas continues to wave the detector over an area that most believe is the location of an old cemetery. Located on a hillside covered with 100-year-old lodge pole pine overlooking Interstate 90.

A lesson from Montana: 'Manners make things easier for everybody'

I was thinking this morning of the shrill sounds, threats, and recriminations coming out of our nation’s capital. For some reason, perhaps because of the contrast, it reminded me of a meeting that occurred outside of Dillon, Mont., in 2007.