Sorted by date Results 26 - 50 of 140
HELENA - After working for a year to provide recommendations and input on the future of grizzly bear management in Montana, the Montana Grizzly Bear Advisory Council released its final report Sept. 10. “The Grizzly Bear Advisory Council members embraced a true commitment to collaboration in the interest of identifying common ground on a host of issues facing conservation and management of this iconic species,” Governor Steve Bullock said. “I’m grateful for their hard work and look forward to advancing the implementation of many of their r...
POTOMAC - Potomac School is preparing for students to return Aug. 26 since remaining closed after spring break in March. Principal John Rouse presented the re-opening plan and recommendations to the School Board at their Aug. 10 meeting. They agreed to open in-person with the opportunity for parents and students to engage in online at-home learning. The board also addressed several topics regarding the re-opening plan including face coverings, athletics and the eighth grade trip funds from last year. Rouse created a Safe Learning Plan which...
SWAN VALLEY – At their meeting Aug. 11, the Swan Valley School Board voted 3 to 1 to approve Principal Ralph King’s recommended guidelines for reopening Sept. 8. The Swan Valley School will begin face-to-face instruction five days a week with preschool suspended until further notice. The school is also working on an avenue for families that want to keep their child home due to the current health situation. The Opening Guidelines are subject to revision at any point should the directives from the Governor or Missoula City-County Health Dep...
Governor Steve Bullock announced Aug. 6 that like the June primary, counties will be able to opt in to an all-mail voting system. He also directed early voting to be expanded based on recommendations from the Montana Association of Clerks, Recorders and Election Administrators. "The local election administrators stressed there is serious ethical concern about conducting an election under standard procedures," Bullock said in a press conference Aug. 6. "The risk of viral transmission and...
Montana governor candidate Greg Gianforte has brought high paying private sector jobs into Montana. Greg’s opponent Mike Cooney and his mentor Steve Bullock are lifelong politicians. Neither knows how to create private sector jobs. They never have. Sending Washington DC another politician to join Schumer, Pelosi, Bernie, A.O.C. and the Socialist Squad will not create jobs for Montana’s hard working families. Montana’s choice is clear. We can go with: more government, fewer jobs, open borders, sanctuary cities, defund the police, adopt cance...
The Montana Governor’s Grizzly Bear Advisory Council has updated its consolidated draft recommendations report and it is posted online: fwp.mt.gov/gbac. The council will review all public comments on the July 17 and July 24 versions of the document at the same time. For those who commented on the July 17 version and have a similar comment to share regarding the July 24 version, there is no need to resubmit the comment. The public is invited to provide comments on the two documents through the close of business Aug. 4. The council will m...
On Thursday, July 16, Governor Steve Bullock issued a directive requiring face coverings in certain indoor spaces and for certain organized outdoor activities in counties currently experiencing four or more active cases of COVID-19 in an effort to slow the spread of the virus in Montana. Missoula County was ahead of the statewide mandate making a county-wide mandate requiring face coverings a week earlier on July 9. However, there are some differences in the directives that affect how businesses, managers of public spaces and individuals are...
Listen up! Montana is our home, and we love it. From the mountains to the prairies, from trout-streams and lakes to sagebrush hills and big-sky grasslands, we praise its beauties and natural bounty. We are proud of our friendly cities and small-towns, our Native American and cowboy cultures, our schools and great universities, and the hospitals and rural health care centers that dot our vast state. I live on a homestead up the Blackfoot where some of my neighbors are Trump supporters, some are survivalists and some progressive Democrats. But...
Governor Steve Bullock directed $75 million from the Coronavirus Relief Fund to Montana K-12 schools to cover expenses incurred due to COVID-19 and take precautions to keep students and staff safe this fall. This includes nearly $140,000 to elementary schools in Potomac, Ovando, Seeley Lake and the Swan Valley and more than $1.5 million to Missoula County Public High Schools. “We know that our schools, along with teachers, administrators and parents, are tackling so much to prepare for students to return to some normalcy this fall. Things w...
MISSOULA - The Missoula City-County Health Department board voted unanimously to require facemasks in every indoor public space in the county at their July 9 meeting. They received over 4,000 comments from the public before the hearing, of which roughly half were processed. The processed comments showed 80% support for the initiative. The ruling goes into effect immediately and makes face masks the new normal as coronavirus cases continue to rise across the county and Montana. “Our cases are up and they continue to go up, our number of c...
MONTANA – Governor Steve Bullock today issued a directive requiring face coverings in certain indoor spaces and for certain organized outdoor activities in counties currently experiencing four or more active cases of COVID-19 to slow the spread of the virus in Montana. Governor Bullock issued the directive to require businesses, government offices and other indoor spaces open to the public to ensure that employees, contractors, volunteers, customers and other members of the public wear a face mask that covers their mouth and nose while r...
As Montana enters into July, the 2020 fire season is expected to put the state’s prevention and containment capabilities to the test. Not only is the current climate being compared to years like 2017 but officials are also working to present the spread of the coronavirus between firefighters and camps. “Fundamentally COVID is just another twist we go through when assessing our fires,” said Seeley Lake District Ranger Quinn Carver. “[The season] probably won’t be a lot different. You still don’t know where the fire will start and you don’t k...
MISSOULA - The Missoula City-County Health Department board voted unanimously to require facemasks in every indoor public space in the county at their July 9 meeting. They received over 4,000 comments from the public before the hearing, of which roughly half were processed. The processed comments showed 80% support for the initiative. The ruling goes into effect immediately and makes face masks the new normal as coronavirus cases continue to rise across the county and Montana. “Our cases are up and they continue to go up, our number of c...
With an influx of visitors and coronavirus cases entering the Fourth of July weekend, the Missoula City-County Health Department asked event coordinators to be cautious on what is one of the busiest holidays in Seeley Lake. Though events are looking different than previous years, the county is excited with how the community of Seeley is handling the pandemic. “We have actually really good interactions with folks and they clearly care about doing the right thing with their community,” said Alisha Johnson, Health Department Public Inf...
The county has taken some great steps on jail diversion to break the cycle of addiction and misdemeanor arrest but we need statewide leadership on this issue, especially in the office of the Montana Attorney General, the state’s chief law enforcement officer. Kimberly Dudik has a proven record of reforming our criminal justice system. She held offenders accountable and protected vulnerable populations as a Deputy Gallatin County Attorney and an Assistant Attorney General under Attorney Governor Steve Bullock. As a private attorney, Dudik f...
At a press conference May 28, Governor Steve Bullock and the state of Montana prioritized preparing highly transited ‘destination communities’ for higher amounts of tourists as the state loosened interstate travel restrictions as a part of its Phase Two reopening plan. This includes adding additional resources for community testing and contact tracing in high-visitation communities, as well as an informational campaign to educate visitors on responsible travel and a grant program for small businesses across the state to implement safety mea...
HELENA - Since February, Tylyn Newcomb has been losing sleep over a seemingly herculean task: how to ensure the government counts as many Montana residents as possible for the 2020 census, and, in doing so, generate fair federal funding and electoral representation for the next decade. "I mean, it's vital work," said Newcomb, one of the lead staffers focused on census outreach and grant funding for the Montana Nonprofit Association. "And so we don't have the option to just give up and say it's...
CORRECTION In the caption under the photo of the young grizzly bear, we incorrectly identified Kathy Koors as a bear manager. Her correct title is Bear Ranger. While her title was correct in the article, the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks bear manager for the Swan is Tim Manley and for the Blackfoot/Clearwater area is James Jonkel. Grizzly Claw Scholarship available for graduating seniors SEELEY LAKE - Graduating Seeley-Swan High School seniors are encouraged to apply for the Grizzly Claw Trading Book Fund College Scholarship. Every year the...
SEELEY LAKE – With all of the local schools in distance learning and social distancing still required by Governor Steve Bullock in the Phase 1 reopening strategy, plans for graduation ceremonies and end of the year celebrations are slowly coming together for area schools. According to the Missoula City-County Health Department's graduation ceremony order issued May 8, organizers must submit a Graduation Ceremony Operation Plan that shows how they will meet the minimum requirements and submit it...
Our Governor Steve Bullock has made an error in judgment with his decision to force Montana landlords into canceling evictions and extending rental payments. What Bullock fails to realize is that although most tenants will eventually pay the rents that are owed, some will stay in the rental as long as they can before sneaking out. This does not take into account those late charges the landlord might still have to pay on related loans. Because of the fact that the Governor is not willing to cover these expenses that he has forced onto landlords,...
SEELEY LAKE – "I miss the sounds of the gym. I'm just really excited to hear the hum of people," said Terryl Bartlett, Owner of Optimal Fitness in Seeley Lake. "I love that gym, I love all the people that come and I cannot wait to open the doors." After being closed since March 18, Optimal Fitness will reopen May 15. While hours will be reduced and hourly sign ups required, Bartlett is doing everything she can to make the gym as safe, clean and accessible as possible while complying with the G...
The Seeley Lake Elementary voted unanimously May 1 to continue with distance learning through the end of the school year June 4. They also adopted a declaration of unforeseen emergency due to the coronavirus pandemic that allows them to continue to receive state funding through June 30. Following Governor Steve Bullock’s announcement to allow schools to reopen May 7, SLE Superintendent Daniel Schrock elicited feedback from SLE staff and parents and consulted with the Western Montana School Administrators, Missoula County Public Schools and S...
Even as Governor Steve Bullock announced April 22 that Montana will begin a phased reopening of its economy, uncertainty remains in the tourism industry, one of the state's largest economic sectors. And at least one Montana tourism agency is actively discouraging visitation. The phased reopening will allow some outdoor recreation businesses, like guiding, to return to work, as long as they can maintain social distancing recommendations. However, all non-essential travelers coming to Montana, res...
OVANDO – When Governor Steve Bullock announced his reopening plan Wednesday, April 22, he said that he has yet to talk to an educator in the state that feels their students are gaining during this time of remote learning. He obviously hadn't talked to the teachers at Ovando School. Not only do teachers Leigh Ann Valiton and Andrea Tougas feel their students are gaining, they said they are excelling. While many schools grapple with the decision to reopen or not May 7, Ovando School finishes f...
SEELEY LAKE – "I want to make sure you guys are safe and customers have the ability to be safe in here," said Kris Martin, owner of The Filling Station as she stood in front of her employees April 26. "I have to get back in business so I can stay alive and hopefully everyone has a job when all of this is over and not with someone else." After reviewing Governor Steve Bullock's statewide reopening directives released Wednesday, April 22, Martin called a meeting with her employees. Even though t...
