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SEELEY LAKE – The Conditional Use Permit (CUP) for the proposed gravel pit on Cottonwood Lakes Road received zoning approval with conditions at the Feb. 9 Powell County Planning Board meeting. According to Powell County Planner Carl Hamming, the approval was unanimous and the conditions are still being finalized. The Birdhead Company, LLC purchased the quarter section four miles east of Highway 83 and south of Cottonwood Lakes Road this past October. The intent was to develop the property for sand and gravel operation. Frank Tabish of LHC Inc....
SEELEY LAKE – The Seeley Lake Elementary Culinary Club, one of the afterschool programs available through the Twenty-First Century Grant, cooked a Mexican meal in October, baked Thanksgiving pies in November and Christmas cookies in December. The January session was skipped due to weather issues but interested fifth through eighth grade students regrouped in February for "Cupcake Decorating 101" with professional cake artist Laura Devins. Devins said she started working in a Seattle, Wash. b...
SEELEY LAKE – Seeley Lake musher Roy Etnire finished third in this year's 100-mile Race to the Sky. He was the only local musher to participate in their year's race. Etnire operates Mystik North Sleddogs and has been mushing for eight years. He won the 2014 Eagle Cap 100 and the Race to the Sky 100 in 2013 and 2014. He received the Race to the Sky Best Cared for Team Award in 2014. Twenty mushers from Montana, Alaska, Utah, Idaho, Washington, Oregon and Canada competed in this year's 100 and 3...
The Seeley Lake Rural Fire District and Swan Valley Community Council are the only local boards required to hold a special district elections this May for their open positions. The rest of the local board positions were either filled by acclamation or remain open. Current Seeley Lake Rural Fire District board chair Bonnie Connell and Vice Chair Scott Kennedy’s positions expire in May. Scott Kennedy will run against Alyssa McLean and Rita Rossi for the two, three-year terms. Marcia Tapp’s term with the Swan Valley Community Council ends thi...
SEELEY LAKE – The Seeley Lake Ranger District is currently welcoming Recreation Event Special Use Permit applications for 2017 summer and fall events. Applications must be submitted by March 31. Applications received after this date will be reviewed and accommodated as time and scheduling allows. A Recreation Event Special Use Permit is typically required for events on National Forest System lands that meet any of the following criteria: • Charge a fee for participation. • Have paid staff. • Have an attendance of 75 or more people, includi...
Twice in one day, Senator Steve Daines has disgraced Montana. “School choice” does not help the budget of public schools in our cities and towns and it offers nothing whatsoever for education in our rural areas, where there will never be charter schools to offer “choice.” But Daines chose to back out-of-state campaign contributions over the interests of Montanans when he voted for Betsy deVos. Later the same day, he played toady to authoritarian party powers, helping to silence open, honest debate, with the party-line vote to silence Senator...
Swan Valley Emergency Services (SVES) would like to share some situations we have dealt with when responding to emergencies. With the recent warmer weather (annual mid-winter thaw) the ice/snow pack on driveways and approaches is giving way to deep slush making normal car and truck traffic difficult. Many driveways are plowed to accommodate one lane with a seven to eight foot snowplow. Guess what it’s like with a fire engine 28 ft long, 9-10 feet wide or a water tender hauling 3,000 gallons of water on this same driveway? In some cases it i...
SEELEY LAKE - The Seeley Lake Fire District and the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office want to thank the residents of Seeley Lake for their patience and cooperation during the Saturday, Feb. 4 propane incident. Your calm demeanor during the evacuation and subsequent re-routing of traffic was an example for other Missoula County communities to follow. We never know when evacuations will be necessary. Whether it is a hazardous materials emergency, wildland urban interface fire or law enforcement operation, a calm and orderly movement of our r...
SEELEY LAKE – This past January Seeley Lake resident Karen Montgomery was skeptical after received a phone call that showed up as DISH® Network (DISH) on her caller ID. While the offer to change out her satellites sounded like a good one, Montgomery checked with DISH and realized she had been the target of a scam. She hopes others will not fall victim. Montgomery said the caller had a thick foreign accent. The caller kept going on and on about how Montgomery needed to upgrade old receivers or she would not be able to receive DISH services. Th...
SEELEY LAKE – The Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) is proposing to open a temporary gravel pit and asphalt plant near Elbow Lake and adjacent to Highway 83 close to mile marker three. They are soliciting public input until March 1 on whether to authorize this proposed gravel pit development and use in compliance with the Montana Environmental Policy Act (MEPA). The DNRC-managed land is located east of Elbow Lake (for the exact legal description, see legal notice on page 15). DNRC was approached by Frank Tabish o...
Alvin Eugene “Gene” Miller “made his appearance into the world” in 1936 during an, “… early November blizzard that blew into the Flathead Valley.” His parents were Joe Miller and Mabel Kauffman Miller. “In the spring of 1939 grandfather Kauffman had bought a place near Condon. My parents and I moved there to take care of the place and raise cattle. It was the Hull homestead, so we always called it the Hull Place.” Smith Flats School Gene attended the Smith Flats School from 1941 – 1950. The log cabin school sat about a half mile from the count...
Since the November announcement of invasive mussels found in Tiber Reservoir, the state's response team has been working hard to assess the situation and develop plans for the upcoming recreation season. The information coming from the Mussel Response Incident Team has been changing daily. Finally, the changes have slowed down enough that a picture is starting to come into focus. I can tell you that boating and water recreation in Montana will be very different this year. Here's what I know at t...
SWAN VALLEY – Brenda Mitchell opened a dog grooming business this past summer out of her home in Condon. She hopes the local service of bathing, grooming, clipping and trimming will make things more comfortable for the dogs and their owners. For more than 20 years, Mitchell groomed her own Shih Tzus and miniature Schnauzers. "I found it was easier for me to do them than for me to get them to a groomer," said Mitchell. "I realized I had a knack for it." Mitchell worked for the Mission M...
Hello Seeley-Swan! It’s been a cold, snowy winter in Helena but I think you all have us beat for winter weather! I am very busy this session, sponsoring 10 bills as well as an amendment to sewer and water district voting rights, on behalf of Seeley Lake residents. I understand confusion about who could and could not vote caused problems in the December Seeley Lake sewer election. Please know I’m working on clarification. Two of my bills have been approved in the Senate and will be heard in the House in March. Both bills address sexual int...
HELENA -- A bill that would have abolished the death penalty in Montana was narrowly voted down in committee last week on a 9-10 vote. House Bill 366, sponsored by Rep. Adam Hertz, R-Missoula, would have replaced a death sentence with life imprisonment without possibility of parole. Hertz said the bill represented productive use of tax dollars, a pro-life philosophy from “conception until natural death,” and the notion of an offender’s redemption for their crimes. “I cannot in good conscience claim to be pro-life and support a system that ta...
OVANDO – The Saturday after Super Bowl, the Ovando community joins together for the Annual Ovando Community Luau. They don their best Hawaiian attire over long johns, sweaters and wool socks and reconnect with friends over lunch. According to Ovando's Organizer of Frivolous Affairs Kathy Schoendoerfer, the first luau was held in 2005 and has continued every year since. The purpose is simply for Ovando residents to shake off cabin fever with good food, drinks and conversation with their n...
POTOMAC - The Potomac/Greenough Community Center (PGCC) was filled with more than 50 people Feb. 11 eating a Valentine meal and then playing Bingo. The function was the second time the PGCC board has offered bingo to the community. The Potomac School eighth-graders participated by providing a dinner beforehand to earn money for their trip this spring. Dinner included spaghetti, salad, bread, drinks and desserts. Pink lemonade was the special drink served for the occasion as well as red heart...
Winter . . . one of my top four seasons! In our neck of the woods, winter pleasures us each year with the awesome beauty of fresh white snow, a striking allusion to the covering that God offers over our sin-stained lives. As the delightful days of autumn linger, I know winter is just around the corner, right on schedule as God’s plan for the rotation of the Seasons marches on. With winter, God brings new delight to earth as the snows begin to fall gracefully and peacefully, covering our surroundings. And, after the snows, when the sunlight b...
SWAN VALLEY - Swan Valley Elementary (SVE) sixth-grader Trista Alexander won the school's spelling bee held Feb. 7 at SVE. Alexander is pictured with runner-up seventh-grader Seth Richardson and SVE supervising teacher Susan Bracha. Alexander competed against ten Swan Valley students in grades five through eight. After Alexander and Richardson out spelled the other students, Alexander went head-to-head with Richardson, spelling several words including bedlam, quandary and pearlescent, to break...
SEELEY LAKE – Seeley Lake Elementary (SLE) eighth-grader Soren Moon is organizing a wrestling program in Seeley Lake for elementary and junior high boys and girls. While the official schedule with practice times and meet dates has not been finalized, anyone interested is encouraged to get in touch with the coaches or Moon. Moon has wrestled for the past three years with C.S. Porter in Missoula, Mont. He earned his way to the All-City tournament, the final tournament of the season, all three years. “Wrestling teaches you life skills like wor...
SEELEY LAKE - Seeley-Swan High School (SSHS) recognized their senior basketball athletes and senior musicians along with their families at the last Blackhawk's home game of the season Saturday, Feb. 11 against Darby. Look for the senior boys in the Feb. 23 issue....
SEELEY LAKE - The Seeley-Swan Lady Blackhawks finished out their regular season with a pair of district victories. They defeated Victor and Darby pushing their conference record to 10-0 and overall record to 17-1. The Lady Blackhawks head to the District 13-C Tournament Feb. 16-18 seeded number one and get a bye in the first round. Versus Victor The Lady Blackhawks headed to Victor Feb. 10 to take on the Pirates. After a slow first quarter, the Lady Blackhawks started to pull ahead of the...
an Blackhawks wrapped up their regular season with a pair of district wins against Victor and Darby. Their conference record is now 8-2 with an overall record of 12-6. The victories cemented their second place seed heading into the District 13-C tournaments this week. Versus Victor The Blackhawks raided the Pirates' home court in Victor Feb. 10. The Pirates put up little fight as the Blackhawks dominated the game early. The Blackhawks took a 26-5 lead in the first quarter to an 84-36 victory at...
CORRECTION – Swan Lake “Threatened” Not “Impaired” In the Seeley Swan Pathfinder’s Feb. 2 ‘A Place for All’ column titled “Water Quality in the Swan Valley – It Takes Work,” it stated that Swan Lake was listed as an “impaired water body.” That is incorrect. Goat and Jim Creeks are impaired waterbodies; however, Swan Lake is listed as “threatened” because of the very low dissolved oxygen levels in the deep parts of the lake in the summertime. Community Choir to Start in Seeley Lake, Feb. 23 SEELEY LAKE - A community choir is being orga...
The Lady Blackhawks sailed past Victor 61-19 in the semifinal and advance to the championship to face Clark Fork at the District 13-C tournament. Clark Fork defeated Darby 54-33 on its way to the final....
