Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 25
SEELEY LAKE – More than 70 concerned citizens attended the Department of Environmental Quality public meeting Nov. 2 to voice their support, concern or find out more information regarding the opencut mining permit submitted by Deer Creek Excavating, LLC. The meeting goal was to help inform the public of what is known about the Cottonwood Pit and to listen to public comments on the local perspective and conditions that may not be in the application that will help aid DEQ in their review process. The proposed Cottonwood Gravel Pit is located a...
OVANDO – When Ovando resident Jerry Swanson talks about his years serving in the United States Army, he starts with flunking out of college and ends with a career as a college professor. As Swanson tells the story, he spent two years at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) serving in the Reserve Officers Training Program (ROTC) while pursuing a degree in commerce. Finding the course work less and less interesting, he stopped going to classes, with the inevitable result he flunked o...
Thousands of snow geese flew through the area Nov. 3 stopping for the afternoon on Seeley Lake. Lakefront property owners Dick and Cindy Lewis said they have never seen this many snow geese on the lake in the past 24 years they have lived here....
POTOMAC - From the ghastly to the hysterical with glamorous in-between, Potomac School went all out for the Halloween Parade of Costumes Oct. 31. Headless horsemen, clowns and spooky students set the mood in the Potomac/Greenough Community Center (PGCC) that went on a scale from scary and sweet, to funny and realistic. Teachers and students, parents, grandparents and preschool siblings turned out for the costumed affair. No matter the ability or age, students won the afternoon with their attire...
SEELEY LAKE - More than 170 kids came dressed in their favorite costume for the fourth-annual Trunk-or-Treat at the Wilderness Gateway Inn in Seeley Lake.Organizers Alex and Mark Kues were thankful to the 12 trunk-owners who participated and appreciated the Boltzes for hosting the event....
OVANDO - Worms on a bun, slithering pizza, tater vomit, frozen eyeballs and baby pumpkins were some of the delicacies served to costumed Ovando kids and their families on Halloween night. And after that the fun began. From tossing bean bags into pumpkin mouths, pennies into a witch cauldron, rings onto witch hats and reaching into monster mouths for surprise treats, the games progressed to mummy wrapping and balloon tether pop. Climaxing the fun was a trip down the Haunted Pirate Ship...
SEELEY LAKE - Just some questions I have about the protestors of Gary Lewis’s gravel pit. Who are these protestors? What are their names? Do they even live in Seeley Lake? Are they being paid to protest by some group? What were their jobs before they moved to our town? What industry did they get a paycheck from? Did we try to stop the protestors from having a job, making a living and putting food on the table for their children? Did our town try to stop the development of the Double Arrow? Did we protest their sewers messing up the water? D...
SEELEY LAKE - At this time it looks like sewer rates in the downtown Seeley area will be around $80 a month...that will be just about the highest monthly sewer rate in the state. Landlords will have no recourse but to pass that cost on to their renters. That’s on top of one of the highest water rates in the state. There are easily 100 rental properties in sub-district one, if you count business and residential alike. My questions to sewer supporters, how does that help affordable housing? How will your (service) employee be able to afford to l...
SEELEY LAKE - When we set out from Pyramid trailhead on a 12-day backpacking trip in the Bob on July 23, we were filled with excitement and a bit of trepidation about the challenging and beautiful journey ahead. We had no way of knowing that a night or two later, a forest fire would start on Rice Ridge. On July 30 we learned about the fire - and the resulting closure of Pyramid trailhead. Unsure how we would travel from the suggested re-route Lodgepole Creek trailhead back to Seeley Lake and hopefully our car at Pyramid, we picked up the pace...
Now that the fires have cooled, at least in the woods, here are a few things to contemplate. The “save the world people,” i.e. Friends of This and That, Filers of Lawsuits to Stop Logging, Road building, Access, Save the Animals and Save the Trees- you know what I mean-have done a good job this time. I will stick to the Rice Ridge fire because like others in this area I am on a handshaking basis with it. The timber harvest in this area has been brought to a virtual standstill because of things such as endangered species, wilderness, acc...
SEELEY LAKE - Greg Robinson and the go-along sewer board have revealed intentions to charge very unfairly for sewer Operation and Maintenance. First, they cannot seem to learn or accept that when it comes to using and deriving benefits from a sewer, residences and businesses are fundamentally not the same. Second, within each class, using and deriving benefits will not be the same. Regarding the distorted proposal that residences and businesses should pay the same—NO! Businesses have an extra benefit in that they can deduct utility charges a...
As communities across the nation work to recover from recent natural disasters, many are discovering that while they have plenty of rebuilding to do, they lack the manpower to do it. This circumstance comes as no surprise to the Montana Contractors’ Association (MCA), which has been considering the nationwide shortage of skilled trade workers with trepidation. A survey conducted by the Associated General Contractors of America revealed that 70 percent of contractors have a hard time finding qualified workers. In Montana the situation is no diff...
MISSOULA - Blackfoot announced a total pledge of up to $50,000 to support local communities affected by Montana's unprecedented wildfire season and to help offset the extensive damage. Nearly $30,000 is set aside for service credits business customers in severely impacted areas including Seeley Lake. "Blackfoot is concerned for all those affected by the fires that hit the heart of our communities and we're committed to helping our member-owners, customers, neighbors and employees recover," said...
GREENOUGH - The Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) would like to notify the public and seek comments on a proposal to install centerline rumble strips on about 30 miles of Montana Highway 200 east of Bonner in Missoula County. The project begins at reference post 1.8 east of Bonner and extends east for 30 miles, ending near the Clearwater Junction at reference post 31.8. Proposed work includes installing centerline rumble strips and pavement markings. The purpose of the project is to enhance the safety of this corridor through...
Simply put, 2017 was the worst wildfire smoke season we have seen in Missoula County. Of course, anyone who lived in Seeley Lake during the Rice Ridge Fire already knew that. It's not uncommon for a community near an active fire to see heavy smoke, especially during periods of rapid fire growth. The smoke in Seeley Lake, however, continued to return and build, night after night, even on days that didn't see dramatic fire activity. The proximity of the Rice Ridge Fire and the valley's topography...
Recent grizzly bear attacks involving hunters reinforces the importance of being bear aware in Montana, even with a thick layer of snow on the ground in most parts of the state. During the past weekend, hunters were attacked by bears in separate incidents. In one incident, in southwest Montana in Tom Miner Basin, a hunter was hiking in to retrieve an elk. He encountered a bear and deployed bear spray. He sustained minor injuries in the attack. In another incident near Pendroy, north of Choteau on the Rocky Mountain Front, a pheasant hunter and...
by Andi Bourne Pathfinder SEELEY LAKE – The Rice Ridge 20-person Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) team finished their assessment of the Rice Ridge Fire Oct. 20. In 11 days they were able to create a plan to mitigate threats to the public, forest infrastructure and native plants and animals. Implementation has already begun in critical areas of the fire and will continue through next October. The BAER team addresses the effects of the fires including the potential for flooding and e...
SWAN VALLEY - The students in the Landscapes & Livelihoods course at Swan Valley Connections wrapped up their semester by giving presentations on their research projects to the Condon community on Tuesday, October 31 at the community hall. Refreshments were served, but the real treat was hearing from these enthusiastic young people from around the country, and what they focused on during their time in Condon. Each student chose a topic and researched a question through experiences with community...
SEELEY LAKE - Gregory Joseph Triepke, 53 of Seeley Lake, passed away Sunday, Oct. 29 following a brief battle with cancer. Greg was born May 2, 1964, in Great Falls to Richard and Joan Triepke, receiving the mother lode of charisma in his genetic package. In 1966 the family moved to Deer Lodge where the children attended Catholic School and Powell County Public Schools. While in school, Greg was active in wrestling, fun and sometimes academics. Greg was an awesome student if you were also a...
A memorable experience in my teenage years was a strenuous hike up Mount Rainier in Washington State. I ascended the mountain to an elevation of a little over 10,000 feet arriving at Camp Muir. This camp contains shelters that are important staging camps for mountaineers desiring to summit the peak of Mount Rainier. Those planning to reach the summit of the mountain rely on the refuge of Camp Muir to provide shelter while awaiting a mountain summit. There is no way to accurately plan or predict...
SEELEY LAKE - The Seeley-Swan Lady Blackhawks volleyball season came to a screeching end at the Western C Divisional Tournament Nov. 9-10 at Manhattan Christian. The Lady Blackhawks fell to Plains, 11-25, 12-25 and 13-25 in the opening round. They then faced Manhattan Christian and were sent home, 17-25, 22-25 and 15-25. Chloie Hanback and Tanisha Rhoades led the defense against Plains with 8 digs each while Ashley Miller and Chloe Robbins and Klaire Kovatch each had one stuff block. Miller and Robbins had a pair of kills each. Miller and...
MISSOULA - Seeley-Swan High School freshman Klaire Kovatch earned the Missoulian's Prep Athlete of the Week last week. The Missoulian nominated Kovatch for her performance at the District 13-C tournament. She won the title by popular vote against Missoula Big Sky's Tilynn McGreevey, Arlee's Ashley Revis and Loyola Sacred Heart's Sam Clevenger. Kovatch led with a game-high 19 kills to help the Lady Blackhawks upend top-seeded Clark Fork in the District 13-C volleyball title game. Both teams...
SEELEY LAKE – Fundraising for Seeley Lake's Trevino family continues after their three-year-old daughter Addy was diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor this past summer. The "Grizzlies of the Rockies" photograph, taken by Sharrell Perry of Kalispell, raised $2,003 and gives parents Jen and Treay the gift of time with their daughter. Perry took the "Grizzlies on the Rockies" photo at Many Glacier last spring. She entered the photo in the 2017 Northwest Montana Fair and won Reserve Grand C...
SEELEY LAKE - Claire Muller puts in some of the first tracks of the season at the Seeley Creek Nordic Ski Trails Nov. 2. The official grooming of the ski trails won't start until Dec. 1. However Seeley Lake Elementary students started using the yurt and trails for field trips this week. The yurt will be open regularly when grooming begins. Thank you Jeremy Watkins for sending the photo!...
November Council Meeting Canceled, Postponed to December SEELEY LAKE - The November Seeley Lake Community Council meeting was scheduled to take place at the same time as an important public sewer meeting scheduled for next Monday, Nov. 13, at the Community Hall at 6 p.m. Given the urgency of the sewer meeting and the time frame for protest submissions, the Council decided to recommend that Seeley Lake residents attend the sewer meeting. The next Community Council meeting will be Monday, Dec. 11 at 5:30 p.m. at the Seeley Lake Historical Museum...
