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MISSOULA COUNTY - Residents have publicly questioned Seeley Lake Rural Fire District's methods of garnering revenue at fire board meetings since the District voted to charge for fire and accident response in July, 2019. Some have also compared fees charged between Seeley's services and Swan Valley's. Even though both fire districts operate in Missoula County, comparing them is like comparing apples to oranges. Property owners within the District pay an annual tax for fire service based on...
SEELEY LAKE - As part of the last item on her bucket list, resident Dottie Wood, 91, had the opportunity of a lifetime to ride in a hot air balloon free of charge. "It was an experience [...] that I thought I would never get to do," Wood said. Wood said riding in a hot air balloon was on her bucket list because she liked the idea of exploring the world in a similar fashion to the movie "Around the World in 80 Days." "I thought that would really be something, to go around the world and not have t...
SEELEY LAKE - Mary Strumpfer is taking the streets as Seeley Lake’s new resident trooper for the Montana Highway Patrol. In her new position Strumpfer hopes to bring more traffic safety knowledge to the community especially when the tourism season is high in the summer. “There’s a lot of children on the sidewalks and crossing the roads,” she said. “The safer that people drive, the less instances that we have where we have to deal with possibly traumatic things.” Strumpfer graduated Seeley-Swan High School in 2017 and was officially sworn in as...
SEELEY LAKE - The community gathered around a massive flame as part of the 24th annual Christmas Tree Bonfire in the Filling Station parking lot on Friday, Jan. 22. Don and Lorraine White were visiting Seeley Lake from Washington state. "We were glad we could come and get here just in time. It was terrific," Don said. The Filling Station Owner Kris Martin said the word was spread through social media, work of mouth and the newspaper. The Seeley Lake Area Chamber of Commerce provided fireworks...
SEELEY LAKE – I was very upset by the article about the Seeley Lake Ambulance being attacked in last week’s paper. I’ve taken the ambulance twice and they saved my life both times. The first time, I had a diabetic attack. I don’t live far from the fire station and they were at my home practically before I hung up the phone. They got my blood sugar straightened out, were helpful and kind and knew exactly what to do. One of the volunteers even volunteered to pick up my diabetic supplies in Missoula on his own time. A month and a half ago I had p...
Walt Hill’s comments on our Seeley Lake sewer mess would be laughable except for the fact he is a respected community leader. His ignorance of the facts of the case are scary and dangerous. Here are some facts: • Sewer District residents have a right to KNOW all the truths about the sewer project...the reasons, the costs, the impact. The Sewer District Board has NEVER completely provided those facts to residents. • Sewer District residents have a right to PARTICIPATE in the discussion of this very important discussion. Past Boards have pooh,...
It’s important for residents of Seeley to know the facts to make an appropriate decision for the upcoming sewer bond. There’s a lot of conflicting conversation from a group of residents who have taken it upon themselves to state their opinion as fact. This has caused misinformation to circulate. When presented with a dilemma, the way to push through is choosing between multiple unfavorable situations. That’s exactly what we face with the sewer system. The Sewer District’s goals are identifying financial opportunity for affordability, address...
SEELEY LAKE - As you may know, I am OPPOSED to the General Obligation Bond for the Seeley Lake Sewer project that we will be voting on in February. Phase I voters will be voting on a Revenue Bond and the General Obligation Bond and both have to pass to get funded. If the Bond were to pass there will be funding available for the sewer and collection system for Phase I. Phase I people will find the following components charged to them every year: the debt for the General Obligation Bond, the debt for the Revenue Bond, Operation and Maintenance...
Wake up America! Each person that went into our Capitol unlawfully needs to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and jailed. I can only imagine the fear of our elected politicians that had to hide as they feared for their lives. Five people died. As always Democrats and some Republicans jumped to conclusions and blamed President Trump. After an investigation they did a time line and guess what? President Trump was still giving his speech when the mob entered the capital. At the end of his speech, Trump said, go peacefully and...
As reported in the Jan. 21 issue of the Pathfinder, Walt Hill provided “information” to the hospital district directors that involved an assortment of truths, half-truths, distortions and outright false information. It was painful for me as a fellow sewer district director to read what he put forth to supposedly educate another board’s leaders how to cast their district’s vote on the up-coming bond election. I hope that each of the district’s qualified electors will be able to vote in the best way for him- or herself based on an understan...
“According to the Seeley Weather Alert Network for the Swan (SWANS), the normal winter weather patterns for the Seeley/Swan area have failed to practice ‘social distancing, mask wearing and hand sanitizing’ per DPHHS, CDC and COVID-19 protocols. Actually, how do you sanitize a snow cloud???? As a result, based on preliminary laboratory test results, the normal Seeley-Swan snowflakes have been tested as COVID-19 positive. As a result, most of those normal, crazy, fun, fluffy snow crystals that fall out of the sky on a VERY regular basis, have...
This old line from a radio show is most appropriate for all of us today. In previous articles, I described the shadow as the opposite of the ego (a person's identity); that is, the opposite of one's personal beliefs about oneself. Although possible, the shadow seldom includes positive values. So, if you believe you are good a person, your shadow is probably just the opposite. Given the events at the Capitol building on Jan. 6th, we can easily see how harmful the shadow can be. For those of us...
MISSOULA COUNTY - The Missoula City-County Board of Health (MCCHD) unanimously voted to revise their COVID-19 mitigation requirements for restaurants, bars, breweries, distilleries and casinos during their meeting on Thursday, Jan. 21. These revisions included lifting the 10 p.m. closing time, changing capacity to the degree necessary to ensure six-foot distancing between groups and increasing the number of people at a table from six to eight. These changes went into effect Jan. 22. Missoula... Full story
SEELEY LAKE - The Seeley Lake Sewer District Board had its monthly meeting on Jan. 21 when the Board discussed litigation strategy, a change in who qualifies for voting agents in the upcoming bond election and comments made by a Director at another public board meeting. The Board closed the meeting to discuss litigation strategy with their attorney regarding a lawsuit filed in December seeking to force the District to install the proposed sewer and mandate properties to connect among other things. After coming out of the closed session,...
Seeley Lake Sewer Board members have been hearing discussion in the community about the capacity of the wastewater treatment system designed to serve the Seeley Lake Sewer District. There seems to be a lack of information about the capacity. Great West Engineering wrote a Technical Memorandum as a design report to submit to the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). The preferred alternative chosen by the District Board was a sequential batch reactor (SBR) with groundwater infiltration galleries. In the Design Flow section of Technical Memo...
Last year's fast-paced real estate market changed our local vacation rental environment drastically. Many of our area's long-standing vacation rentals were sold and are no longer available to area guests leaving a void that's ready to be filled by new vacation rentals. Likewise, some seeking to escape the COVID-19 pandemic purchased properties to flee more populous areas, with plans to offer their properties as vacation rentals once the pandemic subsides. According to Pew Research Center, 22%...
SEELEY LAKE - Seeley Lake Elementary (SLE) School Board members unanimously voted to extend their ice rink agreement with Seeley Lake Regional Outdoor Center for Kinetic Sports (ROCKS) for another three years during their monthly meeting Tuesday, Jan. 19. They also approved hiring for various positions and continued updating their 2000’s policy series. ROCKS Board members Garry Swain and Scott Eggeman spoke to the school board. SLE had a three year agreement with ROCKS that expired this year. The agreement allowed ROCKS to host the ice rink a...
Several local students made the Dean’s and President’s Lists at University of Montana, UM Western, Montana State University and Carroll College. University of Montana At the University of Montana in Missoula, 2,540 undergraduate students made the fall semester 2020 Dean’s List or President’s 4.0 List. To qualify, students must be undergraduates, earn a semester GPA of 3.5 or higher and receive grades of A or B in at least nine credits. Double asterisks after a name indicates the student earned a 4.0 GPA. A single asterisk indicates a GPA gre...
The Montana Department of Labor & Industry (DLI) today is warning Montanans of a widespread text message scam that masquerades as a message from the Department. At this time, it is believed that these scammers are sending fraudulent text messages to phone numbers with a 406 area code in the hopes that one is a current UI claimant. These text messages attempt to persuade recipients to click on a link, which may install malware on their devices. An example of how this fraudulent text message... Full story
I pack no provisions for my long journey – entering emptiness under the midnight moon. Chinese Sage SWAN VALLEY - Thomas entered this life in post-World War II Germany on a leap year day. His parents, Anton and Ella Mueller, immigrated to California when Thomas was a young boy. Thomas's father passed away in 2003 and his mother passed away in 2012. He is survived by his sister Angella Mueller Sawyer and many dear friends. Thomas discovered a passion for art at an early age, following it into s... Full story
"If my people who are called by my name humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land," 2 Chronicles 7:14. Repentance is a nasty business. An election has brought us a new president and a new administration. The last four years have been quite unsettling. Some of it the result of the former president's behavior and some of it the behavior of his opposition. The Wall Street Journal, while...
SEELEY LAKE – The Seeley Lake Rural Fire District welcomed three new members at their Jan. 19 fire board of trustees meeting. Jason Rawlings, Austin Binder and John Baker completed their task books and can now run calls. They all spoke the oath of the Fire Department and received their badges. In other business: • Lane reported that the District met all of its requirements to receive the more than $74,000 in CARES Act funding. The grant helped purchase a Power Load lift and Power Pro gurney for...
WHITEFISH, MONTANA - Children can now learn about Greek and Roman mythology while learning their ABCs thanks to Cassidy Meade's new book, "A is for Athena: The ABCs of Greek and Roman Mythology." The paperback book is organized in an ABC format with every letter attached to a Greek or Roman mythological figure. Every page also contains an illustration representing the associated figure. Meade said it is targeted towards younger children mostly between the ages of five and eight. Her passion for...
A virtual program for those with dementia and their caregivers MISSOULA - The Missoula Art Museum is providing a comforting art-viewing and art-making experience for those in the early stages of dementia and their caregivers. A new video is uploaded to the Missoula Art Museum’s YouTube channel on the first Monday of each month at 2 p.m. There is no registration required and no cost. Everyone is invited to tune in or watch when it is convenient. Based on the Museum of Modern Art’s “Meet Me” program, Art in the Moment creates a dementi...
SEELEY LAKE - The fans were in for a special treat Jan. 22 as the Seeley-Swan Lady Blackhawks took on the Thompson Falls Blue Hawks. Lincoln was originally scheduled but due to a lack of available players they had to cancel. The Blue Hawks proved to be a much more formidable match for the Lady Blackhawks. The Blue Hawks struck first and the teams went shot for shot early in the game. The stalemate didn't last long though as the Lady Blackhawks went cold. They were taking plenty of shots but...
