Sorted by date Results 1 - 10 of 10
The first headline, "Bournes Take Pathfinder Reigns," announcing our ownership in the Nov. 29, 2012 issue had an error in the headline. Literally, four words into our journalism careers and we already printed a mistake. Nathan, a custom cabinet maker, and Andi, a wildland firefighter in the summer and substitute teacher/bus driver in the winter, turned journalists had many in the community baffled. But we knew many of you and we launched on this new adventure together. We made mistakes. Some wer...
In reference to the pandemic, few things have sparked such emotional debate as masks and vaccinations. Our Letters to the Editor policy has not allowed national topics that have no possible local resolution to keep the Pathfinder’s content hyper-local. However, after much consideration, we are going to allow this vaccination debate to continue in the letters to the editor. While it is a national issue, we recognize that it affects each one of us locally when choosing whether or not to vaccinate ourselves and/or our children. The decision c...
As the Holiday Season approaches, many of the annual events that our communities know and love are being cancelled due to the ongoing pandemic including Old West Christmas in Ovando, the Rich Ranch Community Appreciation Day, Christmas Comes Home in Potomac, the Seeley-Swan Mountain Bells concert and the Frostbite Festival in Condon. Even though crafters and artisans may have had ample time to produce their wares, the opportunities to sell them is also greatly diminished with the cancellation of most of the craft shows and holiday bazaars that...
Ryan Craig, the editor and publisher of the Todd County Standard - a weekly newspaper in Elkton, Kentucky, ran a story encouraging farmers to attend a very important meeting on agricultural zoning. The future of farming could be changed at this meeting but the crowd at the meeting was sparse. The next morning at the local greasy spoon, Craig walked up to the table full of farmers and asked why they didn’t come to the meeting. Didn’t they know how important it was? One of the farmers stopped eating his eggs, looked up and said, “We didn’t go bec...
We have had a lot of questions and criticism lately regarding our Letters to the Editor section. Readers have questioned why we are willing to “print lies,” “spread hate and discontent” and “further divide the community by printing such garbage.” The answer to this is simple for us - Letters to the editor are a vehicle to exercise freedom of speech. It is a platform we offer to EVERYONE whether we agree with it or not. First and foremost, letters to the editor are run in the opinion section of the paper because they are just that, someone’s t...
SEELEY LAKE – We’ve received a handful of comments regarding the editorial cartoon printed in the March 14 issue on page 2. We always appreciate constructive feedback – it helps us better serve our readers. First, the editorial cartoon was not the opinion of the paper. It was drawn, submitted, paid for and signed by S. Herbert, a Pathfinder subscriber. It represents the cartoonist’s opinion only. After several readers pointed out that typically editorial cartoons represent the opinion of the paper, we realized that while it appeared on the Opi...
Last week’s article “Petition calls for change” brought up strong emotions for many in the community and created significant discussion. We appreciate all of the dialogue we have had with concerned and even angry members of the community – you help make us better at what we do. However, because of the questions and attacks, we feel we need to offer a little more explanation. Contrary to several readers’ beliefs, the petition requesting the Lolo National Forest leadership to remove the current Seeley Lake District Ranger is not a small iss...
SEELEY LAKE – We take our seat and flip on our recorder. Often the only "public" in the room, we represent more than 1,000 readers. Many of the local boards welcome us because our articles provides the public information about what they are doing while others would rather conduct their business without the publicity. But it's not about publicity, it's about sunshine. The week of March 11-17 is the 17th annual Sunshine Week. News outlets nationwide will promote the idea that democracy works only...
SEELEY LAKE – It is no secret that the Rice Ridge Fire took a huge toll on our community mentally, physically and economically. This also happened in 2007 during the Jocko Lakes Fire. Community members are quick to say the economic loss was in the millions with Highway 83 shut down for nearly two weeks and half of the area evacuated. However no one ever tried to quantify the impact. The Rice Ridge Fire added a whole new issue with the worst air quality ever reported in Missoula County. There were also lake closures and evacuations of more than...
Thank you John Devins for your comments and critique of our letters policy. We have not set a word limit on letters. However, we recommend letters be kept to less than 500 words. We attempt to work with those who submit longer letters to make them as concise as possible. In regards to why we allowed Bruce Friede’s letter to be printed, we will not limit someone’s ability to call out an elected representative for why they feel the community was misrepresented. We are aware of the tremendous amount of time and dedication those who serve on loc...
