Sorted by date Results 176 - 200 of 295
MISSOULA COUNTY - The Missoula City-County Board of Health voted 6 to 1 to make several revisions to the County’s current COVID-19 mitigation requirements during a virtual meeting Thursday, Feb. 18. These revisions include: 1. Increasing event capacities from 25 to 50 for indoors and 100 for outdoors. 2. Removing capacity limits except as necessary to meet distancing requirements. 3. Removing certain restrictions on businesses including, but not limited to: fitness facilities, pools, places of worship and assembly, personal care businesses, r...
The Joe Biden-Kamala Harris Administration and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) are making operational changes to the U.S. Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) in order to create more equitable relief for American small businesses according to a press release. The SBA will: • Establish a 14-day, exclusive PPP loan application period for businesses and nonprofits with fewer than 20 employees. • Allow sole proprietors, independent contractors and self-employed individuals to receive more financial support by revising the PPP’s fundi...
SEELEY LAKE - Developers of a proposed 13-lot residential subdivision held a virtual neighborhood meeting Tuesday, Feb. 16 to go over initial details for the project. Paul Forsting, IMEG Corporation land use planner, presented the aspects of the subdivision. The 200-acre property site is owned by John Richards. It is located between Camp Utmost Way and Blanchard Creek Road off of Highway 200 in Greenough. Forsting added there was a similar neighborhood meeting a couple of years ago over a subdiv...
SEELEY LAKE - Members of the Seeley Lake Elementary School Board unanimously approved a second round of board policy updates in their 2000’s series during a meeting Wednesday, Feb. 17. Superintendent Josh Gibbs also provided updates on the School Improvement Team’s efforts as well as other various aspects of the school. Policy updates included: • Removing the Montana Digital Academy policy because it is already a part of state law. • Using the old library policy for members of the public because it is more in-depth. • Removing a policy around d...
SEELEY LAKE - Former Seeley-Swan High School (SSHS) student Owen Mercado and his mother Deidre Lechowski-Mercado are suing the school and the Missoula County Public School District (MCPS) alleging that the school and its staff members were made aware of discriminatory behavior and were negligent in the handling of multiple harassment reports. MCPS largely denied that reports were made on the family’s part addressing discrimination that took place on school grounds. The lawsuit was filed in Federal Court Jan. 21. Three students, a deputy county...
MISSOULA - Homeschooled Junior Grace Wilson of Seeley Lake has culminated her passion for musical theater as she takes the stage as Shrek in Missoula Children's Theatre's (MCT) adaptation of Shrek The Musical JR. The production will air virtually Feb. 20-21. This is the first time she is performing without a live audience. "I think it'll be good because we can still put on a play and ... we can still have people see our performance," Wilson said. "I'm willing to bet that a lot more people will...
MISSOULA COUNTY - The Missoula City-County Board of Health announced a series of recommended changes to be made to Missoula County’s current COVID-19 mitigation requirements during a virtual meeting Friday, Feb. 12. These revisions will be up for consideration at an upcoming meeting at 12:15 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 18. In October, MCCHD set a goal for the County that if the daily incidence rate went below 25 for two consecutive weeks, then the Department would consider relaxing certain restrictions. This is based on the seven day average in d...
SEELEY LAKE - J&E Contracting Owner-Operator Ed Jungers received Montana Tree Farm Program's (MTFP) 2020 Logger of the Year. Jungers started the logging company with his father John over 20 years ago. Part of the reason he was nominated was for his early adoption of Cut-to-Length (CTL) logging equipment in the state of Montana. According to the MTFP Facebook post recognizing Jungers, CTL is an "innovative approach to forest management [and] is particularly adept at utilizing small diameter...
POTOMAC - At their Feb. 8 meeting, the Potomac School Board voted four to one to approve the Potomac Education Association (PEA) contract for 2021-2023. This new contract would result in a $4,024.25 salary raise for all teachers regardless of experience. In other business, the board approved the permissive levy, continued working through policy updates and the eighth grade class provided an update on their class trip. Principal John Rouse said that Gov. Greg Gianforte intends to increase starting teacher pay through House Bill 143 which adds...
SEELEY LAKE - Partnership Health Center (PHC) collaborated with the Missoula County COVID-19 Vaccine Coordination Team to organize a drive-thru COVID-19 vaccination clinic at Seeley-Swan High School Monday, Feb. 8. Around 200 PHC patients in the Seeley-Swan area were able to receive the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine. The second doses will be administered at the same location Sunday, Feb. 28. According to Eric Halverson, PHC public information officer, this clinic was exclusively for PHC...
SEELEY LAKE - Seeley Lake Historian Ron Cox, representing the Seeley Lake Historical Society took the group of around a dozen people on a three-hour loop from Camp Paxson to Seeley Lake Campground, to the Maclean Cabin and through Girard Larch Grove. During the tour he talked about a range of historical topics including Hotel Point, early residents and logging history. Cox said part of the grant money from the Reimagining Rural Series went towards plowing the parking lot so attendees could...
Alpine Artisans, Inc. representatives Kris Gullikson and Gene Schade presented checks to Seeley Lake Elementary and Swan Valley Elementary schools from the AAI Giving Tree for art supplies. The funds can be requested by teachers to purchase art supplies in their classrooms....
SEELEY LAKE - Resident Cheri Thompson found an explosive secret while she was digging through her family's relics. Amongst the familial treasures were a live Type 91 Japanese fragmentation grenade and an artillery fuze which came from her father's World War II memorabilia. She immediately turned over the items to Robert Parcell, Missoula County Sheriff's Office Sergeant and retired Marine Colonel, who brought it to the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) in Missoula. Thompson's father Ivan Odom...
SEELEY LAKE - Students in Seeley-Swan High School's Blackhawk Business Professionals of America (BPA) group placed high enough in the recent BPA Regional Conference to move on to the statewide competition March 14-16. The students who will move on are Freshman Conner Chadwick in Financial Math & Analysis, Junior Hannah Ayers in Entrepreneurship, and Sophomore Cora Stone in Interview Skills as well as Ethics & Professionalism. The school group was created earlier in the fall with SSHS Business...
MISSOULA COUNTY - By the end of January, Missoula County shifted into the first tier for Phase 1b vaccine distribution. Tier one of Phase 1b includes county residents ages 70 and older, Native Americans and other people of color. Following these groups, appointments will be opened to younger individuals who meet other eligibility criteria under this Phase. Due to high demand and limited doses, Phase 1b appointments will open with a tiered approach as required by the Missoula City-County Health Department (MCCHD). Those without Internet access...
SEELEY LAKE - Alpine Artisans, Inc. (AAI) named Carla and Gene Schade as the recipients of their annual Arts Benefactor Award during their annual meeting which took place virtually Sunday, Jan. 24. Every year the AAI Board of Directors selects someone to receive the award based on contributions of outstanding merit to the local community. AAI Program Manager Jenny Rohrer said the Schades "have brought so much to the organization" both together and individually. "The overall thing is that Gene...
MISSOULA COUNTY - When one positive case of COVID-19 has the power to disrupt the operations for an entire institution, clarifying what is considered an active case versus a positive test can be important when determining the contagiousness of an individual. According to Cindy Farr, Missoula City-County Health Department COVID-19 incident commander, a positive test is someone who tests positive for COVID-19 while an active case is someone who has tested positive and is still in the contagious...
SEELEY LAKE - Massage Therapist Michelle Dunn is hoping to offer her clients relieving therapeutic massage services as she opens the extension of her massage clinic in Missoula, True North Massage, in Seeley Lake. Her techniques include trigger point therapy, myofascial release, soft tissue release, cupping, deep tissue massage and Swedish massage. "My mission is to give my community a way to manage pain relief and stress to keep active so you can adventure in the great outdoors," Dunn said....
SEELEY LAKE - Skiers were given free reign to run the 39th annual OSCR cross country ski race whenever they wanted last weekend. Participants were recommended to begin the self-supported 10-, 22- or 44-kilometer course from 8 - 10 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 30 or Sunday Jan. 31. Due to the lack of snow, the 25k loop was shortened to a 22k, making the longest distance 44k. According to Lynn Carey, Seeley Lake Nordic Club vice-president and race director, the club could not formally organize the...
MISSOULA COUNTY - Residents have publicly questioned Seeley Lake Rural Fire District's methods of garnering revenue at fire board meetings since the District voted to charge for fire and accident response in July, 2019. Some have also compared fees charged between Seeley's services and Swan Valley's. Even though both fire districts operate in Missoula County, comparing them is like comparing apples to oranges. Property owners within the District pay an annual tax for fire service based on...
SEELEY LAKE - As part of the last item on her bucket list, resident Dottie Wood, 91, had the opportunity of a lifetime to ride in a hot air balloon free of charge. "It was an experience [...] that I thought I would never get to do," Wood said. Wood said riding in a hot air balloon was on her bucket list because she liked the idea of exploring the world in a similar fashion to the movie "Around the World in 80 Days." "I thought that would really be something, to go around the world and not have t...
SEELEY LAKE - Mary Strumpfer is taking the streets as Seeley Lake’s new resident trooper for the Montana Highway Patrol. In her new position Strumpfer hopes to bring more traffic safety knowledge to the community especially when the tourism season is high in the summer. “There’s a lot of children on the sidewalks and crossing the roads,” she said. “The safer that people drive, the less instances that we have where we have to deal with possibly traumatic things.” Strumpfer graduated Seeley-Swan High School in 2017 and was officially sworn in as...
SEELEY LAKE - The community gathered around a massive flame as part of the 24th annual Christmas Tree Bonfire in the Filling Station parking lot on Friday, Jan. 22. Don and Lorraine White were visiting Seeley Lake from Washington state. "We were glad we could come and get here just in time. It was terrific," Don said. The Filling Station Owner Kris Martin said the word was spread through social media, work of mouth and the newspaper. The Seeley Lake Area Chamber of Commerce provided fireworks...
MISSOULA COUNTY - The Missoula City-County Board of Health (MCCHD) unanimously voted to revise their COVID-19 mitigation requirements for restaurants, bars, breweries, distilleries and casinos during their meeting on Thursday, Jan. 21. These revisions included lifting the 10 p.m. closing time, changing capacity to the degree necessary to ensure six-foot distancing between groups and increasing the number of people at a table from six to eight. These changes went into effect Jan. 22. Missoula...
SEELEY LAKE - Seeley Lake Elementary (SLE) School Board members unanimously voted to extend their ice rink agreement with Seeley Lake Regional Outdoor Center for Kinetic Sports (ROCKS) for another three years during their monthly meeting Tuesday, Jan. 19. They also approved hiring for various positions and continued updating their 2000’s policy series. ROCKS Board members Garry Swain and Scott Eggeman spoke to the school board. SLE had a three year agreement with ROCKS that expired this year. The agreement allowed ROCKS to host the ice rink a...
