Sorted by date Results 126 - 150 of 295
SWAN VALLEY - With winter activities converting into summer ones, recreationists and national forest staff reflect on an illegal activity that has seemingly gained more prominence in recent years, snowmobile trespassing. The Flathead National Forest offers approximately 800,000 acres of recreational land including groomed and ungroomed trail opportunities. According to their website, some areas are closed to snowmobiles including the Bob Marshall, Great Bear and Mission Mountains Wildernesses. The Flathead National Forest offers free over-snow...
SEELEY LAKE - An outbuilding and nearby private property located just north of the Clearwater Heights Condo complex burned in a wildland fire Wednesday, April 28. Seeley Lake Fire Chief Dave Lane said the possible cause is under investigation and that one person was transported for an undisclosed reason. Kate Jerman, Public Affairs Officer for the Lolo National Forest, said that a call for the fire was made at 6:31 p.m. There is joint response jurisdiction in the area which means that Seeley...
SEELEY LAKE - Around 20 firefighters from the Seeley Lake and Lincoln Ranger Districts held a prescribed burn Friday, April 30 to treat 40 acres of the Mountain Creek area, three miles east of Seeley Lake off of Cottonwood Lakes Road. Seeley Lake District Ranger Quinn Carver said prescribed burns are necessary to the area for two reasons: biological and social. The ecological reason is that intentional burns allow the forest to regenerate itself and be more resilient to wildfires in the future....
MISSOULA COUNTY - According to the Missoula City-County Health Department, Missoula County met its vaccination goal to move face coverings from a mandate to a recommendation as of Monday, May 10. In a public statement, Health Officer Ellen Leahy said that 60% of the county’s eligible population has received at least one dose of the vaccine, reaching its intermediate vaccination goal. The county’s case incidence rate has also stayed below 25 new cases daily per 100,000 population on a seven-day rolling average. In April, the County Health Boa...
SEELEY LAKE - Clearwater Resource Council (CRC) invited members of the public and local organizations to celebrate Earth Day with them at a chili tailgate Thursday, April 22. Attendees were welcome to have some complimentary chili and lemonade with reusable utensils while listening to organizations present their messages. CRC Executive Director Caryn Miske said they had been organizing the event for a little over a month. This is the first time an event like this has taken place for them. "The...
SEELEY LAKE - Parents and community members will have an opportunity to meet the candidates who are applying to be Seeley-Swan High School’s new principal for next school year. Attendees can ask candidates questions and provide feedback to those doing the hiring. The meet-n-greet will take place from 5 - 6 p.m. Friday, April 30 in the school’s large gym. Masks will be required. The five candidates, in alphabetical order, and their experience are the following: Daniel Grabowska received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and history from Mon...
SEELEY LAKE – During their monthly meeting April 19, the Seeley Lake Elementary School Board decided to postpone updates to their 3000 Policy Series as well as their 2021 summer lunch program for their next meeting in May. Superintendent Josh Gibbs also provided updates on the School Improvement Plan and other aspects of the school during his report. The board decided to table their summer lunch program until they can obtain additional information from the Montana Office of Public Instruction. They tabled the 3000 Policy Series because one m...
SWAN VALLEY - Members of the Swan Valley Elementary School Board unanimously approved a first reading of multiple new policies and policy revisions during their monthly meeting Tuesday, April 20. They also discussed Missoula City-County Health Department’s conversion of COVID-19 prevention methods going from mandates to recommendations in May. The new policies have to do with student sexual harassment grievance procedures, staff sexual harassment procedures, personnel background checks, and drug and alcohol testing for school bus drivers. T...
MISSOULA COUNTY - As the U.S. continues to push efforts to establish herd immunity against COVID-19, data analysts and historians will likely be making observations on the pandemic’s world-encapsulating effects for years to come especially in terms of socialization. One aspect that could be touched on is how the pandemic’s ripple effects have affected survivors of domestic abuse and sexual violence in terms of accessing resources. Morgan Haynie is a criminal advocate for the Crime Victim Advocate Program (CVA), a division of the Community Jus...
MISSOULA COUNTY - The Missoula City-County Board of Health voted four to one to convert several of the County’s current COVID-19 mitigation efforts from requirements to recommendations during a virtual meeting Thursday, April 15. This conversion applies to the operators of businesses, bars, restaurants, barbers, gyms and other entities in Missoula County. Replacing all of the capacity limits and other mitigation requirements, these operators are now recommended to do the following: • Find ways to enable physical distancing between non...
SEELEY LAKE - The Missoula Resource Advisory Committee (RAC) is allowing members of the public to make comments before or during their meeting at 1 p.m. Thursday, April 29 regarding recommended funding for local project proposals. Among the 13 listed proposals are Morrell Creek and Seeley Lake bear attractant removal/conflict, both of which are expected to receive up to $15,000. Last year the Missoula RAC recommended funding 13 projects to benefit the region in multiple ways including improving watersheds, treating noxious weeds, managing...
POTOMAC - Members of the Potomac School Board voted four to one to reject a motion requesting that mask wearing be voluntary on school grounds during a monthly Board meeting Monday, April 12. The board also heard updates on the seventh and eighth grade trips and approved all but one intent to hire. For the past few school board meetings, staff members and parents have publicly advocated for making masks optional on school grounds. At their last meeting in March the Board was informed that if they chose not to follow Missoula City-County Health...
OVANDO - Staff members from Blackfoot Challenge shared their experiences and expertise with certain programs during a virtual event called Stories from the Field Wednesday, April 14. The first speaker was Cindy Super, the forestry and prescribed fire coordinator. She spoke about the importance of restoring fire as an ecological process as she described her team’s process of organizing a prescribed fire on private property in the Blackfoot last spring. “We will learn together as we bring fire back to its rightful place on our landscape,” she s...
SEELEY LAKE - Seeley Lake Community Council heard updates regarding tourism, vaccines and projects on the Seeley Lake Ranger District during their monthly meeting Monday, April 12. Fire Board candidates Alyssa McLean and Kristy Pohlman also shared a little more about why they are running for the Seeley Lake Fire District Board of Trustees in the May 4 election. Racene Friede, President and CEO of Glacier Country, discussed trends in Western Montana tourism and expectations for the 2021 season. Prior to the pandemic in 2019, 12.6 million...
SEELEY LAKE - The National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT), NorthWestern Energy and Carroll College recognized Seeley-Swan High School junior Aspen Derry for their Aspirations in Computing Award. Derry was listed as one of 17 high school women recognized for the award. She will receive a certificate for her achievement. As part of her online application, Derry submitted a personal website she had developed in fall 2020. She learned her coding skills from her mentor Nora...
SEELEY LAKE - After taking a break in 2020 due to COVID-19, The Bob Marshall Music Festival is back with an entirely new set of dates. Instead of taking place in June, the festival is scheduled for Aug. 6 and Aug. 7 and will continue to take place during the first weekend of August moving forward. Early bird tickets will go on sale at 5 p.m. Wednesday, April 14. Max Pigman, festival organizer and Lewis & Clark Brewing Company owner, said they decided to push it back this year to allow time for...
MISSOULA COUNTY - According to the results of Missoula County’s community survey, county residents have several opportunities for education, culture and the arts but experience high living costs when compared to over 600 communities across the U.S. Missoula County mailed the 1,700 surveys in June to residents and received 538 responses. Strategic Initiatives Manager Casey Gannon said was “a great response rate” during a virtual meeting with commissioners Jan. 14. Of those responses, 370 resided within Missoula City limits while 168 lived in un...
Ballots for the Seeley Lake Elementary General Levy election were mailed April 14 to all registered voters in Seeley Lake Elementary District #34. The Missoula County Elections Office encourages voters to mail their ballot with plenty of time to meet the May 4 deadline, postmarks not accepted. There will be a ballot drop off at Seeley Lake Elementary on May 4 from 7 a.m. - 8 p.m. For more information visit the Missoula County Elections Office (https://www.missoulacounty.us/government/administration/elections-office) or call 406-258-4751. Tax...
SEELEY LAKE - Seeley-Swan High School Junior Walker McDonald was chosen as the Missoulian's Athlete of the Week for the week of April 7 after receiving the most votes from the public. This is McDonald's first time being named Athlete of the Week. McDonald placed first in both shot put at 45 feet 11 inches and discus at 140 feet 6 inches at the Blue Devil Invitational in Corvallis, March 27. It was the first meet he had competed in since his freshman season in 2019. He has been throwing discus...
MISSOULA COUNTY - Missoula City-County Health Department (MCCHD) is shortening their quarantine period to seven days for COVID-19 close contacts who meet Centers for Disease Control and Prevention criteria. Close contacts are defined as individuals who have collectively spent 15 minutes or more within six feet of a person infected with COVID-19 during a time period when the infected person was considered contagious. Close contacts who remain symptom-free since their exposure and receive a negative Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test result on...
OVANDO - Ovando citizens came together Tuesday, March 30 in the Ovando School gym for a community meeting to review updates from local town boards and discuss upcoming events. Events discussed were Town Clean-up Day, Fourth of July, and the citywide garage sale and farmer's market. Blackfoot Challenge Office Administrator Deb Dillree and Ovando School Supervising Teacher Leigh Ann Valiton facilitated the meeting. Organizers confirmed that Town Clean-up Day will officially take place at 10 a.m....
SWAN VALLEY - Area residents got into the Easter spirit a day early as they participated in the community's annual Easter Egg Hunt, Saturday, April 3 in the Condon Community Ball Field. The event allowed participants of all ages to get involved in the search of 3,000 eggs. Hunts were separated into three sections: 0-5, 6-20 and 21+. Outside of the expected candy, some of the eggs in the 21+ group contained drink tickets while eggs in the younger categories offered chances to win trinkets, toys...
MISSOULA COUNTY - Following a nationwide search, the Missoula City-County Board of Health selected D’Shane Barnett to replace outgoing Health Officer Ellen Leahy in June. He will begin his new role May 17. Barnett has worked in the American Indian health field for over 20 years. He is the former director of the National Council of Urban Indian Health in Washington, D.C., and currently serves as the executive director of All Nations Health Center in Missoula. He has a bachelor’s degree in sociology and is currently completing his doctorate in...
SEELEY LAKE - Chelsea Cahoon is hoping to offer Seeley Lake residents and visitors a unique recreational service with her new business venture - Big Dog Dad's Indoor Golf Simulator. Along with offering leagues in the fall and spring, golfers of any level can keep their skills polished during the offseason. Cahoon officially opened the virtual experience Jan. 28. Her father Wayne purchased the simulator last year. Wayne was the head coach of the Seeley-Swan High School golf team who allowed team...
SEELEY LAKE - Seeley Lake resident Bob Homuth has only been beekeeping for a couple of years but he is already looking towards doubling his colonies this upcoming spring. While he loves just watching the bees work, one of the sweetest rewards of his hobby is sharing the honey with friends and family and receiving positive feedback. Homuth moved to Seeley Lake in 2015 to become a service technician for Energy Partners after living in Missoula since 1986. He was born in North Dakota and moved to...
