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The Southwestern Land Office (SWLO) of the Montana Department of Natural Resources & Conservation (DNRC) and Keep Montana Green announced the southwestern Montana regional winners of the 60th Annual Keep Montana Green Wildfire Prevention Art Contest. Local winners included third grader Maggie Applegate from Helmville School who placed first in the primary division (kindergarten through third grade); sixth grader Michael Goettle from Helmville School who placed second in the intermediate division...
SEELEY LAKE – At their monthly meeting March 22, the Seeley Lake Elementary School Board unanimously approved a resolution of intent to impose an increase in levies for transportation, building reserve and tuition fund and to run a general fund levy election. The general fund levy will appear on the May 4 mail-in election for those within Seeley Lake School District #34. Ballots will be mailed April 14. For the permission levy, transportation saw a 1.72 decrease in mills for an estimated revenue change of -$15,275.71. Building reserve saw a ....
OVANDO - Ryan and Tiffanie Zavarelli are ecstatic to be entering into a new phase of their lives as they take ownership of Trixi's Antler Saloon from Ryan's parents Cindy and Ray Francis beginning April 1. Tiffanie said come April the couple will be jumping right into their new positions with no transitional break in between. The couple recently moved back to Ovando in preparation of the change. They will be taking this on as an opportunity to "step out of city life" and be closer to Ryan's...
Prescribed burn planned for Game Range on Bandy Ranch WOODWORTH – Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks in coordination with the University of Montana is planning to conduct an 80-acre prescribed burn on the Bandy Ranch, on the east side of the Blackfoot/Clearwater Wildlife Management Area Game Range. The burn will be conducted in April when weather, fuel conditions and air quality become favorable. Smoke will be visible from Highway 200, Highway 83 and the Woodworth area. According to FWP Wildlife Biologist Scott Eggeman, the purpose of the project...
Montana House of Representatives Advances State Budget in Partisan Vote The state budget cleared another major hurdle in the Montana Legislature after lawmakers in the House of Representatives passed it down party lines on Wednesday, March 24, with all 67 Republicans voting in favor and 33 Democrats against. House Bill 2 determines how much money state agencies will receive from a pool of about $12.6 billion over the next two years. Passing a balanced state budget is the only task the Legislature is constitutionally required to do. But, the... Full story
Republican Rep. Geraldine Custer is not one to mince words. When a bill came up in February that would make it harder to vote by absentee ballot, the former Rosebud County clerk and recorder spoke up, and firmly. “This bill is probably the worst bill I’ve seen all session, and if you want the truth of the matter, it just needs to die,” Custer told her fellow committee members. The panel killed the bill the next day. Last week, she broke with her party to vote against a bill that would eliminate the decades-old local-option gas tax. “This... Full story
SEELEY LAKE – At their March 18 meeting, the Seeley Lake Sewer District Board passed a pair of resolutions that put the proposed sewer project on the shelf and resolved to find a solution to the groundwater pollution. They also worked on closing out the grants that were for the proposed project, worked on their fiscal year 2022 budget, discussed the process of appointing a director to the vacancy on the Board and got a legal update on the lawsuit against the District. Resolutions The Board passed a pair of resolutions dealing with the future o...
MISSOULA COUNTY - Earlier in March, President Joe Biden sent out a federal order making teachers and school staff across the country eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. This allocation came at no hindrance to the vaccine supply that was already expected to be given out to Montanans who now qualify for Phase 1b plus of the distribution plan. Seeley Lake Elementary School Superintendent Josh Gibbs said after Biden's announcement, the process of organizing a vaccination clinic at the school... Full story
SEELEY LAKE - Seeley Lake campgrounds and day use sites as well as the Historic Double Arrow Lookout will see deferred maintenance upgrades starting this summer following an allocation of funding from the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA). Montana Senator Jon Tester recently secured $285 million that will go into 54 national forest service projects according to a March 11 press release. Twelve of these projects will directly impact the Lolo National Forest including area campground sites and...
SEELEY LAKE - Seeley Lake Lions Club is inviting local families to celebrate Easter at Seeley Lake Elementary School by picking up a basket at the Easter Hop-n-Bop. The event will begin at 1 p.m. Saturday, April 3 and will end at roughly 2:30 p.m. Children will be able to pick up an Easter basket from one of four stations based on their age: 0-3, 4-6, 7-9 and 10-12. No signup is required. Lions Club Secretary Cheryl Lewis said they intend to give away over 200 baskets full of candy, small toys or trinkets. Every basket will contain a plastic...
Bears are emerging from dens with the onset of spring, and people are reminded to “Be Bear Aware.” Bears can be found throughout Montana. In recent years, grizzly bear populations have expanded and bears are sometimes found in historic ranges beyond western Montana As bears begin foraging for food, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks is asking residents to remove or secure food attractants such as garbage, bird feeders and pet food. The most common human-bear conflicts involve unsecured food attractants. People venturing into the outdoors sho...
This spring, firefighters with the Bureau of Land Management’s Missoula Field Office as well as the Lolo and Flathead National Forests are planning to conduct prescribed burns to reduce hazardous fuels, restore wildlife habitat and better protect communities from future wildfires. Each project follows a Prescribed Fire Burn Plan. The prescribed fire projects are located and designed to be controlled to reduce the potential for adverse effects, or to escape as a wildland fire. Frequent, low-intensity fire is essential for improving habitat c...
SEELEY LAKE - Seeley-Swan High School junior Hannah Ayers received an honorable mention at the Prospects 2021 High School Business Pitch Competition for her business proposal for the Seeley Swan Sandwich Shop. She won a $250 Visa gift card that she intends to put towards her college fund. Matthew Olson, network development director for the Montana Chamber of Commerce as well as program manager for the competition, said Ayers was among the top 25 submissions out of 93 total. A total of 171...
SEELEY LAKE – The Seeley Lake Rural Fire Chief Dave Lane provided several updates at the District’s March 16 board meeting. The Board also unanimously approved two standard operating procedures (SOP) related to wage increases and Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) Compliance. In the Chief’s update, Lane said this spring they have three volunteers that will be attending an EMT class and four members that will be attending the Basic Wildland Firefighting course in Lincoln, Montana. “That is pretty exciting,” Lane said. “Not only are we getting peo...
SEELEY LAKE – Approximately 34 people Zoomed in for Alpine Artisans' March 20 Open Book Club reading and discussion featuring Gwen Florio. Florio read from her latest book "Best Laid Plans," which begins a new crime mystery series. She also spoke about her other books and discussed her writing methods. Fellow writer Richard Fifield introduced Florio to the attendees, calling himself a huge fan of hers not only in her role of novelist but also as a journalist. Florio's 40-year journalism c...
Weekly COVID-19 update As of March 22, there are 103,098 cases of COVID-19 in Montana. There have been 406,329 doses of vaccines administered and 158,085 Montanans fully immunized. There are 974 active cases, 4,718 total hospitalizations with 51 active, 100,710 recoveries and 1,414 deaths in Montana due to COVID-19 complications. Missoula County has had 8,560 cases, has 138 active cases, 8,333 recovered and 89 COVID-related deaths. For the most up-to-date and accurate information please refer to the Missoula County-City Health Department...
“Open Cut 2.0” Bill would Ease Regulations on Gravel Pit Permit Applications A bill seeking to ease permitting requirements for gravel pits in rural areas and make it harder to call a public hearing on new facilities is drawing clear battle lines in the Montana Legislature, as property owners say it cuts them out of the process. In a hearing that lasted for more than two hours on Monday, March 15, the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Steve Gunderson, R-Libby, called the bill -- House Bill 599 -- “Open Cut 2.0,” which he said built off the provision... Full story
Patty Sundberg remembers a time early in her 40-year career in beekeeping when a 5% annual colony loss felt like a big deal. Now, she said it’s all her company can do to hold that rate at 20% -- though, on bad years, it can swing even higher. In the mid-2000s, word of a frightening trend in bee populations began circulating in the scientific community: entire colonies of bees were dying off at stunning rates. Dubbed “colony collapse disorder,” some beekeepers were reporting hive losses as high as 30% to 90% during the 2006-2007 winter. The n... Full story
SEELEY LAKE - Seeley-Swan High School graduate Kyle Peltier plans to do the hike of a lifetime as he prepares for his trek that starts April 11 along the Pacific Crest Trail. The trail is 2,653 miles and goes from the Mexican border to the Canadian border. Hikers pass through multiple terrains along their journey including desert, rain forest and mountains. The Pacific Crest Trail Association (PCTA) estimates that the hike will take 133 days if the participant travels an average of 20 miles a...
HELENA - A bill that would provide Montana’s public sectors from frivolous COVID-19 lawsuits is soon heading into the state Senate. House Bill 435 passed on its third reading 67-32 in the Montana House of Representatives March 1. Bill sponsor Rep. Bill Mercer (R-Billings) said that part of the motivation behind the bill is to make it easier for schools and public services in the state to re-open. “If we are going to move forward and reopen activities as we have traditionally known them, when entities are making best efforts to do things in a r...
SEELEY LAKE –Seeley Lake resident Timothy Pratt was found guilty of one felony count of negligent endangerment and one felony count of criminal mischief after allegedly driving his truck into his brother’s car and pushing it into his brother’s apartment at the Wolf Ridge Apartment complex in Seeley Lake the morning of Sept. 21, 2019. The criminal mischief misdemeanor charge was dismissed. According to court documents, when Pratt’s brother refused to open his apartment door, Pratt tried to kick it in. After three failed attempts to kick in the...
SEELEY LAKE – With sunshine and temperatures reaching the low 50s, snowmobilers and volunteers for the annual Seeley Lake Driftriders Fun Run could be seen in t-shirts along the route. Local families and riders visiting the area came out to the annual fundraising event Saturday, March 13. Driftriders President Bill Swain explained that the Fun Run is supposed to be on President's Weekend in January along with the annual Snowball Banquet. "First we didn't have snow and COVID was still scary," S...
Put on your skates, this roller coaster will have you short of breath and sprinting in Gwen Florio's shoes as she tells the tale of a her new series detective Nora Best in "Best Laid Plans." Best is racing away from her husband, her job and home to run right into murder! And she's a suspect, jailed and out to hang. Fleeing from Denver and her cheating husband through the night in her bright new Airstream, Best arrives at an empty RV Park in Wyoming to face a new group of friends coping with thei...
Missoula Aging Services received reports of a new COVID-19 vaccine email scam where people are asked to complete a survey. They offer a free reward but ask people to pay a nominal fee "to cover shipping." Survey scams like this are a creative way to steal your identity or money. Many survey scams offer a reward and give you a limited time to respond if you want to take the survey. A legitimate survey would not assign a time limit, nor would they ask for your credit card or bank account to pay... Full story
SEELEY LAKE - Seeley Lake Community Council discussed how to honor the memory of the late Council Chairman Klaus von Stutterheim during their regularly scheduled monthly meeting Monday, March 8. Council also heard updates regarding vaccines, the Sewer District Board and the Seeley Lake Ranger District. Vice Chair Jack Greenwood said Von Stutterheim’s contributions to organizing council meetings became immediately apparent following his passing. “Now that Klaus isn’t here, we’re finding out exactly how much work he did,” Greenwood said. “[W...
