Sorted by date Results 1 - 24 of 24
SEELEY LAKE - Around 6 p.m. Saturday night two snowmobilers went through the ice on the north end of Seeley Lake where the ice is typically thin. Both drivers were able to get out of the water and sustained no injuries. One snowmobile is completely submerged while the other remained partially exposed. The Seeley-Swan Search and Rescue recovered the visible snowmobile Saturday afternoon. The snowmobilers will be responsible for removing the submerged snowmobile this spring. SSSAR Incident...
SEELEY LAKE – Missoula County Deputy Attorney Matt Jennings spoke to the Seeley Lake Rural Fire District Board Feb. 20 and nearly 20 members of the public about the distinction between the Seeley Lake Fire District and the Seeley Lake Fire Company. He made several recommendations on how to better clarify the roles of both entities moving forward. He and Seeley Lake Fire Chief Michael Greer answered questions regarding the recent volunteer terminations. The Seeley Lake Fire District was created in 1983. This is the entity that volunteers apply t...
OVANDO – Owner of Ovando's Blackfoot Angler Kathy Schoendoerfer said she needed to be convinced the phone call wasn't a scam when Kevanne Campbell with the Montana Office of Tourism and Business and Development called to tell her Ovando was in the running for Community of the Year. Of the 130 communities in Montana, Ovando was one of three nominated and chosen to be recognized at the Montana Governor's Conference on Tourism and Recreation. Schoendoerfer said when she and her husband opened t...
SEELEY LAKE – A field of more than 700 runners descended upon Seeley Lake for the 39th Annual Snow Joke Half Marathon. Temperatures were in the low 20s when the race started and the snow packed course made for nicer running conditions than the icy conditions in the past. More than 510 racers and 54 dogs crossed the finish line. While the majority of racers were from Montana, runners from Oregon, Colorado, Maine, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Canada, Washington, Alaska, New York, Idaho, Wyoming, Califor...
With respect to US Forest Service Regional Forester Leanne Martin’s Editorial request for an open checkbook for mismanagement of our national forest. One thing about our National Forest Service employees, they have more guts than government mules. For the first time in over a hundred years the Forest Service wants special funding to fight forest fires that they refuse to put out. At least in part due to their let it burn policy and destructive backfires, we lost millions of dollars that could have created jobs to help the unemployed and two f...
MISSOULA - As a writer, parent, local food lover and proud Missoula County resident, I’m thrilled to support Josh Slotnick’s campaign for Missoula County Commissioner. Josh co-founded Garden City Harvest and the PEAS Farm, teaches in the environmental studies department at UM and runs his own family farm with his wife and kids. He’s new to politics but is committed to addressing climate change and the smoke season, serving the needs of the most vulnerable and encouraging development to enhance our county’s unique character. I know he’ll b...
HELENA - The Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission convened Feb. 15 and approved hunting season structures and regulations for 2018 and 2019. The five-member Commission is a quasi-judicial citizen board appointed by the Governor from five geographical districts across Montana. Montana’s hunting season structures are reviewed every two years for most game species. Proposals were released for public input in December and public meetings were organized across the state, including northwest Montana. The Commission approved a proposal that creates a...
SEELEY LAKE – The sub-zero temperatures may feel like they’re here to stay, but Montana’s summer festival season will be here before you know it. We’re excited to announce the Bob Marshall Music Festival returns to Seeley Lake for its third year with some exciting new additions. It’s no secret that the town of Seeley Lake was nearly lost to the Rice Ridge Fire that charred more than 150,000 acres of surrounding forest last summer. The air quality devastated the community, both physically and financially. That’s why the Bob organizers set a goal...
MISSOULA - Missoula County Commissioner Jean Curtiss outlined her vision for Missoula County, announcing her intention to seek a fourth term on the commission. With a proven track record of bringing people together to get things done for Missoula County, Curtiss is recognized as one of the region's most effective advocates for economic development, stewardship and conservation, agriculture and health and human services. "By working hard and working together, there's so much we can accomplish to...
Hear the band? Join the March this Spring! Join us as we march into spring with our annual Meals on Wheels (MOW) campaign March for Meals - Seeley Lake. March for Meals - Seeley Lake is truly a community-wide campaign with support from our businesses, Seeley Lake Area Chamber of Commerce and most of all, you! March for Meals – Seeley Lake is the annual fundraising event in support of Seeley Lake's Meals on Wheels Program. Each year we join with Meals on Wheels America and hundreds of other M...
Conservation managers devote a considerable amount of time and resources to preserving wildlife populations and balancing other land management values. This is understandable given the complexity of gathering information on complex ecological process or responses of wildlife populations or individuals to management practices. Gathering sufficient information on a rare carnivore such as the wolverine can add greater complexity, because this species exists at low densities and predominately occupy remote, inaccessible habitat. Over the past six...
SEELEY LAKE – The Valinor Quartet brought a cultural music explosion to the Seeley-Swan High School auditorium Sunday, Feb. 25 as part of the 2 Valleys Stage 2017-2018 Concert Series. The acoustic quartet intertwined their diverse cultural backgrounds hailing from Russia, Spain, Chicago and Czech Republic into a unique hybrid of jazz, classical, blue grass and popular songs. They had the nearly 50 in attendance clapping, chanting and taping their toes. To set the tone of the concert, bass p...
SISTERS, ORE. - The drive from Portland to Bend weaves through a few towns offering a chance to pause for food and gas on your way to somewhere else. Sisters is a good place to stop. Arriving in the small town is a moment that just feels cheesy: Green Oregon forests end to reveal mountains in the distance. Leading to the view is Sisters' pseudo-western downtown with wood-shingle roofs and business names in a font typically seen on Hollywood's version of wanted posters. As more people moved to...
SEELEY LAKE – Access to Seeley Lake Elementary School (SLE) during non-school hours and problems with the intercom system were the main topics discussed at the SLE School Board meeting Feb. 20. Staff changes and leave of absences were also approved. Discussion of the safety issues were prompted by a letter submitted by Bridget Laird and other SLE staff members. The complaint concerning the intercom is that general announcements cannot be heard in classrooms that are noisily engaged in an activity and the junior high school wing cannot hear t...
Just then a religion scholar stood up with a question to test Jesus. “Teacher, what do I need to do to get eternal life?” He answered, “What’s written in God’s Law? How do you interpret it?” He said, “That you love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence—and that you love your neighbor as well as you do yourself.” “Good answer!” said Jesus. “Do it and you’ll live.” Looking for a loophole, he asked, “And just how would you define ‘neighbor’?” Jesus answered by telling a story. “There was once a man travel...
SEELEY LAKE – In addition to the discussion with Missoula County Deputy County Attorney Matt Jennings, the Seeley Lake Fire District Board approved the installation of two temporary dog kennels at Station #2 to be used by Animal Control and approved hiring Seeley Lake resident Jim Sackett for the maintenance position. Missoula City-County Animal Control obtained a $3,000 grant to build dog kennels to provide space for temporary housing due to disaster type situations. Missoula Animal Control Officer White requested permission from the Fire Dist...
A phone call at 4:30 a.m. on Sunday. Is somebody dead? Nope, they need me at the Seeley Lake Community Hall to help out. Okay, will be there in half hour. Getting my pack ready with some food, water, extra gloves, headlamp, camera, cell, not knowing when I will be back home. Had the awards ceremony for the junior mushers and the 100 milers at the Seeley Lake Community Hall. Hey, do you want to go to the Whitetail Ranch checkpoint? Yeah, sure. Driving through three counties, Missoula, Powell and...
POTOMAC - Sausages, coffee and eggs were hot, pancakes were flipping and conversation was buzzing during the first annual partnered "Pancakes and Permits" event at the Potomac/Greenough Community Center (PGCC) Feb 24. The Greenough/Potomac Volunteer Fire Department (GPVFD) usually hosts a pancake breakfast in late February where attendees can get their burn permits and fire extinguishers filled while eating together and socializing. This year the hosting change occurred due to the GPVFD...
SEELEY LAKE – When Brandy Wyckoff moved to Seeley Lake this past summer many of her clients in Seattle, Wash. did not even realized she moved. Owner of the freelance graphic design business B-design, Wyckoff works primarily online so she is able to provide uninterrupted service to her current clients while enjoying a simpler life in Seeley Lake. She looks forward to getting more involved in the community and putting her 20 years of graphic design experience to work for local individuals, b...
SEELEY LAKE – Three eighth-grade students in the Jobs for Montana Graduates (JMG) Middle School Program gave a presentation to the Seeley Lake Elementary (SLE) School Board Feb. 20 detailing the student-initiated T-shirt business. The JMG program is incorporated into Michele Holmes' eighth-grade technology class, which focuses on integrating tech skills with job, life and career skills. In her role as JMG Career Specialist, Holmes gave a brief overview, explaining JMG requires all p...
SEELEY LAKE – Seeley Lake Elementary Junior High teacher Patti Bartlett-Gladstone was completely surprised when Seeley Lake resident and National Avalanche Instructor Steve Thompson recognized her in front of the junior high. Thompson presented Bartlett-Gladstone with an avalanche shovel for all her help ensuring that students are educated in avalanche awareness and safety. Thompson has done all of the avalanche awareness classes at SLE starting in the early 2000s. He is currently with the N...
HAMILTON - The Seeley-Swan Blackhawks and Lady Blackhawks both ran into season ending competition at the Western C Divisional Tournament. The Girls lost their opening game with Charlo and succumbed to Manhattan Christian while the Boys fell to Plains before Gardner eliminated them. The Lady Blackhawks and Charlo both struggled to put points on the board in the first quarter. Charlo racked up an 11-point lead by the half. The Lady Blackhawks weren't giving up and fought back to within a couple...
POTOMAC - "From personal experience, you learn you can't give up so easily," said eighth grade Potomac Pioneer Hailey Oien. Although the Pioneers girls basketball team has not won a game yet, they are working hard for the upcoming games and looking forward to tournaments. This season the Potomac Girls Basketball team has 15 members between the fifth through eighth grades. "That is a lot for a small school," said girls basketball coach Raynee Pace. Pace said the A team are seventh and eighth...
SSHS Yearbooks Wanted SEELEY LAKE – The Seeley Lake Historical Society is digitizing the Seeley-Swan High School yearbooks. They are missing yearbooks for 1968, 1970 and 1984. “High school yearbooks are like a digital time capsule, capturing the hopeful young faces from SSHS in a history preservation project of Seeley Lake Historical Society and the Seeley-Swan High School,” wrote the Historical Society in an email. If you have a copy of one of the missing yearbooks and would be willing to loan it to be scanned please contact the Histo...
