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Nearly 60 community members piled into Seeley Lake's Sullivan Community Hall last Tuesday evening to hear what the people vying to represent them in Helena had to say. Sponsored by the Seeley Swan Pathfinder, the candidate debate, moderated by editor Keely Larson, starred seven hopeful state representatives and senators, plus written statements shared aloud by Larson from one absent candidate. Audience members, about a third of whom wore bright red "Ted Morgan" t-shirts in support of House...
Scientists along backroads in the Blackfoot Valley have been seen holding up radio telemetry antennas. Instead of tuning into their favorite station, they could be dialing in a sharp-tailed grouse, part of a massive reintroduction plan. Sharp-tailed grouse were once the most abundant grassland bird in western Montana, as they are east of the Continental Divide today. For unknown reasons, the flocks began declining in the 1940s and the last known sharp-tailed grouse sighting in western Montana...
The Leos club, which partners with the Seeley Lake Lions Club, is back in session now that school has started up. On Sunday, Sept. 29, the Leos joined the Lions to clean up Highway 83 from the Seeley Lake Community Foundation building to Tamaracks Resort. James Hayhurst, a Seeley-Swan High School senior, participated in the cleanup and said, "This was my first highway cleanup and it was fun. It's nice to start my day off by helping my community." The Leos club has a new advisor, Bridget Laird,...
The average age of the crowd listening to Bill McKibben speak at the Wilma Theater in Missoula over the weekend was probably close to his age - 63. But McKibben grasped that, and took it in a particular direction. As the keynote speaker for the fifth In the Footsteps of Norman Maclean Literary Festival put on by the Seeley-Swan Valley's Alpine Artisans, McKibben said 70 million Americans are over the age of 60. (In Montana, over 20% of the population is 65 or older.) This demographic "punches...
In 2020 Montanans elected a super-majority of Republicans to govern our Last Best Place. Republicans currently control every branch of government. The consequences of that election cost ordinary Montanans dearly. Homeowners saw huge property tax increases. Housing costs increased and that burden is passed on to renters. Our utility rates were also raised by 28% by a Republican dominated Public Service Commission. Montanans are understandably upset about being priced out of our homes. Who is getting blamed for this catastrophic mess? Montana...
We are truly at a crossroads in our great state. Do we maintain our traditional values of freedom and let live or do we sell our state to out of state billionaires? I for one am truly tired of newcomers coming and deciding what is best for Montana. I am a newcomer as I moved here in 1994, but I have embraced the values of our treasured state. I am very concerned about Tim Sheehy and his special interest groups. He just doesn’t feel like a good fit for Montana. Although I do not always agree with Sen. Jon Tester, Tester has done us right e...
In my 35 years as an attorney, I litigated cases in courts from Libby to Billings and in Municipal courts to the U.S. Supreme Court. I have had many complaints about many judges, but one judge of whom I never had any complaint is Jerry Lynch. I appeared many times before Judge Lynch when he was the U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge in Missoula. Although he often didn’t agree with me, I always believed he ruled according to the law and not because of personal bias or political beliefs. I have never before written a letter supporting a j...
On Sept. 17, the House Bill 5 Select Committee on Correctional System Capacity held its final meeting where it adopted its final report and recommendations. The report now goes to the Law and Justice Interim Committee and to the Governor for their consideration. The Select Committee was created by the 2023 Legislature and directed to study capacity issues in the state’s Correctional System and provide recommendations to address problems. Montana’s Correctional System is completely full with both state owned and contracted facilities ope...
Emery Joseph Johnson, beloved husband, father, brother and friend, passed away peacefully on Aug. 26, 2024, at the age of 89 in Missoula, Montana. Emery was born on Aug. 14, 1935, in Missoula, Montana. He lived a fulfilling life in Montana including in St. Ignatius, Missoula, Columbia Falls, Helena, Conrad, Great Falls, Havre and Seeley Lake. He wore many hats from farmer to teacher to business owner to college professor to land developer. Emery was preceded in death by his loving parents,...
My first experience with Christian nationalism was around the conflicts over the Ten Commandments being displayed on courthouse lawns. On the one hand, people of faith I knew and loved were concerned about the removal of these displays, fearing it was a sign that our government systems were rejecting the good, divine principles by which they believed it necessary to promote in order to have and form a society that was pleasing to God. On the other hand, other people of faith I knew and loved agreed that these displays needed to be removed....
For a good deal of my medical career there worked in my office an avid quilter. She participated in quilting groups, received quilting magazines and periodically went on quilting junkets, riding around a multi-state region on a bus with other quilters, allegedly stopping at quilting stores and networking with other quilters. I always wondered about quilters. If, for instance, you wanted to run a secret, special-ops, counterintelligence sort of thing, who would ever suspect quilters? We think of...
Folk-rock musician Rebecca Folsom and Friends are returning to the Seeley-Swan for a third encore performance in the 24-year history of 2 Valleys Stage, performing on Sunday, Oct. 6, at 3 p.m. at the Seeley-Swan High School. Tickets are available at the door. Born and raised in Boulder, Colorado, Rebecca's formative years were inspired by the alternative pulse that beats in a town nestled at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. She grew up running trails and writing songs amongst the pines and...
Open Enrollment is your annual opportunity to optimize your Medicare coverage. Whether you’re considering a Medicare Advantage plan or adjusting your Prescription Drug Plan, MAS is here to help you make the most of Medicare. Open Enrollment consultations are tailored to your situation, helping you review your options and secure the most suitable and cost-effective plan for the coming year. Missoula Aging Services doesn’t offer a singular approach to Medicare and Medicaid assistance — we deliver a spectrum of options to cater to your uniqu...
Famously, or not, the professor in my statistical mechanics course said infinity seems to be about 100. What he meant was it’s usually safe to treat any set with more than 100 members statistically. What he didn’t add was that it becomes necessary for any set with more than 1,000 members. The US has 330,000,000 people in it. The world is at 8 billion, give or take. Even Missoula County has more than 100,000. We became “statistical” many years ago. Understanding statistics has been critical to solving societal problems for several millenn...
The Blackhawk football team remains undefeated going into homecoming this weekend. On Friday night at 7 p.m. the Blackhawks will take on Valley Christian, who is also undefeated this season, on their turf. Last weekend's game against St. Regis-Mullan was the closest so far, Coach Jacob Haley said. By the end of the third quarter, the Blackhawks were only up by 10. St. Regis is a "well-coached ball club," Haley said, and the 1 p.m. kickoff on a particularly warm fall day tested the team. Haley...
Last week I had the opportunity to participate in the Seeley Swan Pathfinder’s candidate debate. I appreciate events like these because they allow the community to hear directly from candidates, which helps promote democracy along with an understanding of the issues Montanans’ elected representatives will deal with once elected to office. Debating in open forums like these promotes the healthy dialogue and sensible solutions we are all hungry for right now. A hot topic at that debate was an issue that has been top of mind for a lot of fol...
Thirty-five years ago... Thursday Sept. 28, 1989 Uninvited guest - bears on the prowl Numerous reports of bear sightings in and around Seeley Lake have been coming in the past two weeks, but few pictures have surfaced. This, however, is one of a series taken by Sharon Stauffer from inside her home on the Double Arrow Ranch. The black bear appeared one morning after Sharon's husband, Rich, had left for work at the Valley Market. She photographed the bear as it climbed up the porch railing, sniffe...
You see them all summer long - those little sand-and-gravel cases on the downstream side of rocks in the shallows of the stream. They might have a little black head and legs sticking out and crawl slowly across the bottom. Spook them, cast a shadow over them, and they pull their heads in, lie still and seem to disappear. They crawl out of their cases and build new ones several times through the summer. Each case is glued together from the sand in the river bottom using a special UV-reflective...
Public Services • Alcoholics Anonymous (AA): Mon, 7pm, Holy Cross Lutheran Church, www.aa-montana.org • Missoula County Treasurer: 2nd & 4th Thurs, 9:30am – 3:30pm, closed for lunch 11:30 – 12:30, Satellite Office, 3360 Highway 83N • Montana Veterans Affairs Division: 3rd Wed, 10am-2pm, Citizens Alliance Bank. 406-721-1288 for apt. • Potomac Food Bank: Second to last Sunday each month, 5-7pm, Potomac Greenough Comm. Center • Seeley Lake Caregiver Support Group: Third Tues, 1-2pm, via ZOOM. For log in info call Missoula Aging Service the Wednesd...
Local Government • Missoula County Commissioners Public Mtg, 2nd & 4th Thursdays, Courthouse Annex, Room 151, Missoula, 2pm. http://www.missoulacounty.us/government/administration/commissioners-office • Seeley Lake Community Council, 2nd Mon, 6pm, Seeley Lake Historical Museum & Visitors Center, 2920 Highway 83. For the agenda and virtual access visit the Facebook Page for Zoom link. http://www.missoulacounty.us/community/community-councils/seeley-lake-community-council • Swan Valley Community Council, 3rd Tues, 6pm, Swan Valley Commu...
Senior Menu For any area senior unable to afford the lunches, assistance may be available. Frozen meals are also available. Please call Ria Overholt with Missoula Aging Services at 406-728-7682 for information. The Mission Mountains Mercantile serves senior meals Monday, Thursday and Saturday. Please call 406-754-2387 by 6 p.m. the night before the meal to order. Visit the Mission Mountains Mercantile Facebook page for the menu. The Seeley Lake Senior Center (Sela Senci) provides congregate meals and delivers ‘meals on wheels’. Congregate mea...
