Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 28
SEELEY LAKE - In an amended complaint filed with the court Aug. 31, approximately 50 additional plaintiffs have joined Don Larson’s lawsuit against the Seeley Lake Sewer District and Missoula County. The complaint states that the plaintiffs own approximately 60 of the properties in the Sewer District and span all four phases of the proposed sewer project. There are approximately 500 lots in the district. In addition to the landowners there are a couple of residents that are renters in the list of plaintiffs. The lawsuit still includes a...
Bear activity continues in Seeley Lake and Swan Valley. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Game Warden Bill Koppen asks residents to "start using their head" and put all attractants away for the next two months. There are at least eight black bears roaming Seeley Lake, the young collared female grizzly bear was relocated and another grizzly was euthanized south of Condon this September. The bears have moved down into the valley floors in search of food before denning season. Koppen said all...
SWAN VALLEY – Anyone driving by the Swan Valley School can't help but notice the newly installed 55 mile-per-hour school zone and flashing lights during school day drop off and pick up times. The speed zone and signs will hopefully not only promote safer access to the school from Highway 83, it also taught the community a few lessons in persistence and working together towards a common goal. In response to several complaints from bus drivers and parents picking up and dropping their children o...
SEELEY LAKE - The Lolo National Forest has approved harvest of approximately 3,494 acres of the Rice Ridge Fire that burned over 160,000 acres last summer near Seeley Lake. Nearly 106,500 acres were on the Lolo National Forest, The project is located in an area allocated to timber management in the Lolo Forest Plan. Habitat for the threatened Canada lynx was avoided and streams were buffered to ensure protection of water quality and habitat for fish. The limited scope and scale of project activities are not expected to disrupt grizzly bear...
SEELEY LAKE - Tuesday morning, Sept. 11 Seeley Lake Rural Fire District volunteers Jaycee McGraves, Shelley McGraves and Lieutenant Kody Kelley, District Administrator Lynn Richards and Fire Chief Dave Lane stood to remember those who served and lost their lives during the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001. They stood for 102 minutes, the amount of time it took for the first of the two Twin Towers to fall. This was the 10th year for the tribute....
HELMVILLE - I just returned from the Helmville Rodeo. I stood in silent prayer with several hundred people, every single person there stood with their hand over their heart as some little gal with the voice of a meadow lark sang our national anthem – while another one stood up on a barrel and did sign language for the audience. The tears that ran down my cheeks made me a proud man. I shall watch the NFL no more forever. Thank you God, thank you America and thank you Helmville, Montana....
The people of the United States of America have big hearts and open arms. That is a good thing if we also use common sense. I’m concerned about open borders and illegal aliens. I am not against people of different colors or race. One of my children is Asian American and I have African American, Native American, White, Asian and Mexican family members. Our foster children also were of different nationalities. Having said that, we must realize that we cannot allow illegal aliens to cross our borders. We need the wall and more law enforcement t...
I am writing in reply to Waldron’s letter criticizing and denigrating the owners of the Pathfinder before Andi and Nathan took over. Waldron has a very short memory. The previous owners were our daughter and her husband, Caroline and Dwight Jenkins. They increased the number of pages from the eight cited by Waldron to 24 at times. Dwight spent most of his time taking, publishing and winning awards for his photographs. Caroline introduced colored photographs for the first time. The paper during their ownership won multiple awards for its article...
I’d like to thank the Pathfinder and Biologist Scott Eggeman for last week’s excellent column exploring the history, ecology and growing importance of beavers. As we increasingly face the unpredictable stresses of fires, droughts and floods, I appreciate Eggeman’s nod to the rodent’s keystone role in a resilient ecosystem. I’m thrilled to know that Torrey Ritter will be helping FWP to integrate beavers into the agency’s goals for watershed health and native fish recovery. Since much beaver habitat is currently unoccupied in our region, I c...
We are fortunate here in Seeley Lake to have an award-winning newspaper published by two excellent journalists, Nathan and Andi Bourne, with the help of an impressive staff. As good journalists, they don’t invent the news, they just report it, even when it’s distasteful news. That is their duty and what we pay them to do. Shoot, they even publish criticisms of themselves. That’s integrity. There is too much negativity toward the news media around the country and even globally. This sad state is being encouraged by politicians pandering to th...
Many moons ago, before computers took away good men's jobs, Allen Chaffin read the meters around the area. We'd have a talk whenever he caught me at home. He tells me his wife Mildred wanted to convey to me to keep writing, she really enjoyed it. Coming from her it was a great compliment. Anyway, I have her wonderful little book, "Once Upon a Life Time." I wonder it's still in print – such a treasure. If not, someone with the means should get it reprinted. She, like my Mom, came from the p...
SEELEY LAKE – The Seeley Lake Ranger District opened areas east and west of Boy Scout Road from Sept. 15 – Oct. 15 for personal use firewood cutting. Firewood cutting is subject to all terms and conditions of the firewood permit. The areas of special consideration are located in T17N, R16W Section 20 on the east of Boy Scout Roadd, west of Boy Scout Road to Westside Bypass Road in Section 18, 19, 20 and 29. While the area is scheduled to be open for the next month, it may be closed sooner if...
SEELEY LAKE – The 2 Valleys Stage Performing Arts Series will welcome singer-songwriter Rebecca Folsom to the Seeley-Swan area Sunday, Sept. 23. She will be giving a community concert at Swan Valley Community Hall at 3 p.m., followed by a two-day residency in the Seeley, Swan and Potomac schools. Some will remember Folsom from several seasons ago when 2 Valleys Stage brought her and Celeste Krenz to the valley as the "Rhythm Angels." This time Folsom will be performing with guitarist Mark Obling...
KALISPELL — The Fish and Wildlife Commission has approved language for a proposed administrative rule that would codify population objectives for grizzly bears in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem (NCDE). The decision Aug. 9 sets into motion a public comment period that will run from Aug. 24 through Oct. 26. Public hearings will be held in Kalispell, Missoula, Great Falls and Conrad. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks staff will explain and answer questions about the proposed population objectives at the hearings and take public comment. T...
I didn’t write this as an expert on societal, cultural and political issues or as a representative of any organization. I did write it as someone with strong concerns about where our country as it relates to those issues is headed. A Place for All… There couldn’t be a more appropriate title for this Pathfinder column. Thank you Andi and Nathan Bourne for your inclusiveness. The past two weeks have brought reflection. Listening to and reading the tributes given to Senator John McCain, I clearly hear their common theme: civility. And if I may a...
Years ago, I was hiking over a high mountain pass enjoying the insane, kamikaze flights of at least fifty hummingbirds intent on gathering nectar from a field of brilliant red paintbrushes. I was euphoric, completely surrounded by their buzzing antics, when a wild-eyed, bearded, gnome-like man burst out of the nearby forest bellowing expletives at me. I stopped on the trail, more confused by the man running towards me than worried. I felt like I had hiked into a fairy tale. Ends up he was a...
As a child, Presandieu Charles suffered severe headaches and stomach pains. One day he beat his mother on the foot and thigh with a stick and later cried when he saw what he had done. In October 2017, Charles began to hammer at the timber walls of his family's dirt-floored home with his fists. He would not stop. Neighbors bound his ankles and wrists with leather straps and metal chains. They called his affliction "the madness." He still has the scars: dark star-shaped marks on the skin on his ri...
SEELEY LAKE - The Seeley Lake Sewer District Board held a public hearing on updating the Preliminary Engineering Report (PER) and Environmental Assessment (EA) for Phase 2 of the collection system Sept. 6. The district is in the process of applying for funding for Phase 2. The hearing was a repeat of a May 3 hearing because one of the funding agencies did not accept how the May hearing was publically noticed. Great West Engineering submitted an application this spring for funds from the Treasure State Endowment Project (TSEP) through...
SEELEY LAKE – Members of the community are invited to get involved in a new school volunteer resource program. “Community Volunteers Helping Students” is an opportunity for local professionals and individuals to share their professional skills and knowledge with students at Seeley-Swan High School and Seeley Lake Elementary. The intent for the program is to engage the community by recruiting individuals with specific areas of expertise whose goal is to support the faculty and staff on a demand basis. CVHS Organizers Steve Bowen and Tom Browder...
SEELEY LAKE - Lloyd E. Hallgren, 74, passed away from leukemia at his home in Seeley Lake on the evening of Saturday, Sept. 1. He was born in Missoula, Mont. April 3, 1944 to Olaf and Elsie (Erickson) Hallgren. Lloyd was raised in Milltown, Mont. surrounded by scores of aunts, uncles, and cousins. In 1963, Lloyd married his high school sweetheart, Lenda Rae Holland. They had two children: Mary Ellen and Michael. They lived in Milltown on the same street where Lloyd was raised until his job...
SEELEY LAKE - Beth Layman was the winner of the 2018 quilt raffle for Paws Up Safe Home. The quilt was made by Teresa Friede and constructed by Louise Cameron. Thanks to the generosity of the community members and business community, the raffle raised $870 for the animal shelter in Potomac....
Mountain lion on the prowl by the Clearwater River....
POTOMAC - Along with new and returning coaches, staff and students, Potomac School has hit the ground running with improvements and ideas both inside and out. New custodian Greg Stevens completed building repairs and paint touch up as well as bleacher repair and landscaping. In the athletic field the bases are set and ready for action. Security measures include entrance and playground cameras. This year the school’s front entrance is locked at all times. Access is by a buzzer system to provide a more secure entry to the main building, said P...
SEELEY LAKE – After the Blackhawks finished their race at the 2017 State Cross Country meet in Helena, they came back to find the wind had destroyed their tent beyond repair. Parent Dena Turner along with the athletes, Cross County and Track and Field Coach Zelda Haines, and the Seeley-Swan High School Boosters raised the funds to purchase a new tent that can be used for all SSHS athletic events. Turner recalled what the boys found after returning to the tent after their race. "When they came ba...
KALISPELL – The Seeley-Swan Cross Country team took to the course at Rebecca Farms Sept. 7. The Maughan sisters, Sariah for the varsity and Emily in the middle school races, set the pace. Sariah finished ninth in the field of 86 varsity girls and Emily swept the middle school girls race finishing five seconds ahead of her closest competitor. Varsity Race – 3.2 miles More than 20 schools competed in the meet with 100 racers in the Varsity Boys, 86 in the Varsity Girls. The Varsity girls inc...
