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William Gehrke passed away in the rest home, with family members by his side. Please join us for a celebration of life at the Lutheran Church in Seeley Lake on July 21 at 3 p.m. William was born Jan. 26, 1926, to William F. Gehrke and Elsie Stone Gehrke in Centuria, Wisconsin. He attended Balsam Lake High School where he enjoyed playing basketball and football. He was offered a contract to play with the Vikings, but turned it down to enlist in the navy during WWII. He was sent to the South...
Correction: This story is now correctly updated with the correct name of Missoula District Judge John Larson. The story incorrectly said Don Larson in an earlier version A newly-formed nonprofit launched two separate legal challenges against the state of Montana’s decision to approve an open pit gravel mine last month, setting up potential court dates that could revoke the builder’s permit. Protect the Clearwater is a newly-formed nonprofit with the main purpose of stopping the new gravel min...
Alan Muskett Editor’s note: Alan Muskett worked as a doctor in Billings for more than 20 years. While there, he wrote a column on the medical industry. Muskett now works as the Swan Valley Emergency Services Medical Director. The patient mentioned in this story was okay. The Bell 429 jet helicopter descended on the grass surface of the Condon International Airport (CIA) like a great green/blue/titanium raptor, one that had plucked an injured hiker from treacherous terrain of the high Mission Mountains. Awaiting the arrival of the patient was t...
Everything seemed to go right last Tuesday after a multitude of people swarmed Seeley Lake for Independence Day. The people of Seeley Lake showed up too, as the annual car show, pancake breakfast, parade and fireworks were highlights of the day. The fireworks show featured two barges instead of one of previous years, according to Tom Browder, one of the organizers behind the Fourth activities. The Seeley parade featured almost 50 floats. Three hours earlier in Condon, there were nearly 30 and a...
Less government and lower taxes!! You hear that political slogan from Republican candidates early and often while they are campaigning. Then comes political reality. How did the largest percentage of Republicans elected in Montana history grow government at the fastest rate in state history – and at the same time raise property taxes on your home? During the pandemic years, the Trump and Biden administrations poured federal funds into states to prop up slowing economies. Funds went directly to state governments and into businesses. Budget s...
Our Montana State Governor and state legislature this year pretended to alleviate soaring property taxes. They executed a political stunt rebating us a small amount of property tax nowhere near the amount the taxes are increasing annually. At the same time, they accuse local governments in Montana of overspending, even though it’s common knowledge that local government expenses have increased as much everyone else’s. Montana could reduce property taxes for a number of reasons, including: • To stimulate the economy. Property taxes can be a bur...
Did you recently receive a letter from the Montana Department of Revenue? It’s not a tax bill from Missoula County. It’s an appraisal notice the state DOR issues showing the current assessed value of your property. DOR, not Missoula County, calculates this value every two years, which is an important factor in determining the property taxes you’ll owe this year. Those property taxes help fund several jurisdictions you live in, including the county. Your notice has two key numbers: the updated assessed value of your property and the estim...
Lately, my social media feeds have been filled with excited couples announcing the expectation of new babies set to arrive in the second half of 2023 and early 2024. So, it seems fitting that I begin my column discussing the importance of dental health in one’s life as early as teeth begin developing in the sixth week of pregnancy. It may be hard to imagine that teeth are developing that early, it is true! By the time a baby is born, all 20 baby teeth will be developed and the 32 permanent teeth that begin to make their appearance between a...
6/29 9:44 a.m. Suspicious Activity 3XX Boy Scout Road, Seeley Lake 6/29 12:14 p.m. Suspicious Activity 1XX Elbow Loop North, Seeley Lake 7/1 5:03 p.m. Suspicious Activity 446XX Highway 200 East 7/1 7:44 p.m. Suspicious Activity 30XX Airport Road, Seeley Lake 7/1 6:14 p.m. Trespassing 36XX Highway 83, Seeley Lake 7/2 9:35 a.m. Suspicious Activity 398XX Nine Mile Prairie Road, Greenough 7/2 10:36 a.m. Suspicious Activity 21XX Boy Scout Road, Seeley Lake 7/2 7:32 p.m. Vandalism 22XX Highway 83, Seeley Lake 7/3 4:38 p.m. Suspicious Activity 34XX...
6/30 9:52 a.m. Accident No Injury South Placid Lake Road, Seeley Lake 7/3 9:07 p.m. Accident With Injury Cottonwood Lakes Road...
Walter (Walt) Madinger passed away peacefully with family by his side, June 24, 2023. Celebration of life to be held Saturday, July 29, 11:00 a.m. at Faith Chapel, Seeley Lake....
More than 20 floats whose occupants threw candy, glow sticks and misting water towards the crowd of 200 plus viewers. The floats circled the Ovando community at least three times on the Fourth of July in Ovando this year. The parade led by the Lincoln American Legion Post 9 went from Trixie's parking lot to the town square, where they stood at attention while Zia Kloetzel, from Ovando and now a Nashville resident, sang the National Anthem. Behind the color guard came Jon and Jan Farrar on foot...
Seeley Lake - Since its founding in 1993, Clearwater Montana Properties has emphasized community-building as a key component of its company culture. Through its Charitable Giving Program, the company's agents give back a portion of all real estate proceeds to the communities in which they were earned. To date, the program has produced over $1,078,132 in charitable donations to causes throughout Montana, Idaho, and Washington and Wyoming. "Each year Clearwater and our agents give a portion of...
Seeley Lake’s only thrift store might just seem like a small retail outlet, but the nonprofit also helps with paying bills and getting teachers’ school supplies, according to its director Mary Newpower. Loving Hearts operates twice a week from its building behind the Mission Bible Fellowship Church. While Newpower is a member of the church, she said Loving Hearts is independently funded, and only focuses on bettering members of the community. “There’s a lot of new people in town that don’t know that we have a benevolence program,” Newpower said...
Some residents’ old bottles and jars will find their way across the Rockies as the Seeley Lake Community Foundation will host a glass recycling event that should save resources while generating money for the local schools. People can donate glass from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, July 15. It is expected to yield several thousand pounds of glass, according to SLCF Executive Director Claire Muller. The summer pickup also could beat the previous Seeley record of 5,000 pounds of glass collected last September. “I think the word is getting out...
Missoula author Chris Dombrowski will be reading and talking about his latest memoir, “The River You Touch,” at the Swan Valley Community Hall in Condon on Saturday, July 15 at 7 pm. Co-sponsored by Alpine Artisans’ Open Book Club and Swan Valley Connections, this evening is a ‘don’t miss’ for those who want to spend a vicarious day on the river with one of the most entertaining river guides and poets in western Montana. The “River You Touch” is also an intimate journey into the life of a family working hard to make a living in a rugged, Wester...
Thirty-five years ago Thursday, July 14, 1988 Photo: Artist Jim L. Rogers poses with his sculpture of a mama black bear with her cub. Rogers was in Seeley Lake last weekend demonstrating his wood carving techniques (he uses a chainsaw to “rough out” his large all-in-one wood creations, and finished the details with fine woodworking tools). He is the nephew of Dan and Daisy Cainan, Seeley lake. Hundreds of visitors stopped to admire this mama bear. Youngsters, especially, enjoy the large scu...
In community halls and school gyms across Montana, local conversations have given rise to many impactful grassroots, collaborative organizations. It's been 30 years since one such conversation in the Blackfoot watershed resulted in a caring resident's comment that taking on all the local issues would be a real "challenge." Since the moment it was established in 1993, the Blackfoot Challenge has pursued a model of bringing people together and finding common purpose in watershed stewardship and...
A Missoula District Court Judge has stopped new work on a gravel pit three miles south of Salmon Lake after area residents filed multiple lawsuits over the validity of the project. Protect the Clearwater, a nonprofit group of residents near the Clearwater River, successfully petitioned Missoula District Court Judge John Larson on July 17 for a temporary injunction, or hold, on LHC construction’s permit to crush gravel and create asphalt for road projects. The temporary injunction means work o...
