TRACS festival to bring good food and beverages

THOMPSON FALLS – If you are a fan of hors d’oeuvres, wine, beer and entertainment, then Thompson River Animal Care Shelter has a place for you.

Pine Beetle populations not hindered by cold snap

MINERAL COUNTY – Over the last several weeks, members of the community have wondered about the status of Mountain Pine Beetle populations in response to colder than average temperatures in early December.

Iconic grocery store changes hands after 100 years

Some businesses become more than just a store. They become local institutions for generations of people.

Superior school board trustee positions open

Four candidates are running for school board trustee. There are two, three year terms available. The candidates are Gayle Hutchins, Jason McLees, Richard Milender and Keith Stockard.

Horsemen dominant in December

Matt Unrau

March Madness

Hot Springs hosts Tom Ferrier Memorial Basketball Tournament Hot Springs Sports

It's March Madness and if you missed the basketball mayhem this weekend then you were one of the unlucky ones. This past weekend was filled with jaw-dropping moves, surprises and upsets and close championship games, and this has nothing to do college basketball.

LIGHT shines in St. Regis

Dr. Alan and Sarah Damron have the intention to spread the gospel from St. Regis to the Idaho border.

Superintendent social

Members of the public gathered to meet the four finalists in the running for Plains new superintendent

A social hour was held Monday night in Plains school cafeteria for members of the public to come  and meet the four finalists in the running to become the new superintendent of Plains Schools.

Horse riders clean trails

Five trucks rolled into Superior on Saturday, June 12, each with a horse trailer in tow. The vehicles were headed up to the Thompson Creek Trailhead just outside of Superior. But these horsemen and women from around Ronan didn't come all the way down just to go for a leisurely horseback ride. Rather they had come to spend the day clearing branches off the trail and spent the day working to open the trail up for other users.

Basketball begins

Turn around for trotters

As practice began last week, the Trotters were eager to turn the page on last year’s 3-17 record. Exactly what this new chapter of basketball will hold for Plains, however, has yet to be written.

Hot Springs ends season with quarterfinal run

HOT SPRINGS – The Savage Heat season came to an end during the quarterfinals of the six man playoffs Saturday with a loss to Denton/Geyser/Stanton 58-52.

School board wraps up the school year, looks into future

PLAINS – The Board of Trustees met on Monday and tended to business as usual in a two hour meeting at the Plains High School, wrapping up the school year in preparation of a new one.

Hot Springs basketball camp teaches the basics

The future of basketball in Hot Springs appears to be in good hands.

Mineral County Justice Court; Sept. 1-15

Sept. 8, Joshua Cade Johnson, speeding

Lady Hawks end softball season at state

Purists of the sport will tell you that good pitching beats good offense every time.

COLUMN: Lure of coaching

It is, or for sure can be, one of the greatest experiences a sports-minded person can have.

Pair-a-Dice Lost

The still fresh scent of last week's fire lingers in the air of Paradise. The devastating flames eliminated one -third of the town's businesses and left a gaping hole on the edge of the community. Although the Pair-A-Dice bar and grill is in ruins its memories are still rumbling fiercely throughout the town.

'Watchdog' gets his day

Glenn Hadley honored for his service to community

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.”

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