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Thirty Five Years Ago...

Thursday Aug. 24, 1989

No three-hour waits with Highway 200 blasting

Rumor has it there will be two to three hours delays during the construction project on Highway 200 east of Bonner.

But, this rumor can be considered false unless half of a mountain goes at one time with the blasting project.

A person can expect to wait for 30 minutes when the heavy blasting begins. At this time, there is no scheduled date, according to Martin VanMil, Montana State Highway Department’s district construction supervisor.

“Plan a little bit of extra time, “ he said. “It is kind of hard to predict, but we are going to try and keep the delays down to about 30 minutes.”

“The heavy blasting will be done around two in the afternoon, so if a person can do it, travel before then,” he said.

A sign located at Clearwater Junction on Highway 200 will be put up when the heavy blasting begins to warn travelers of the 30 minute delays. But for now, the delays should be only about 15 minutes.

Emergency vehicles and situations that require travel to Missoula should be phoned into 911 before leaving this area. The dispatcher at 911 will radio the construction crew and the road can be cleared.

“Make sure and let 911 know they’re coming through before they leave and we can be ready,” VanMil said.

The construction will continue in that area until winter shuts down, which will probably be early November, and it will be finished next spring, he said.

Portions of the old highway will be abandoned before winter sets in and traffic will be traveling on the new gravel base road.

Read this and more at: https://www.seeleylake.com/home/customer_files/article_documents/1989-08-24.pdf

Twenty Years Ago...

Thursday Aug. 26, 2004

SSHS Student Paralyzed from Neck Down

Eighteen-year-old David Copenhaver crashed his motorcycle Monday, Aug. 9 near Marshall Mountain Ski area in East Missoula.

The wreck left David paralyzed from the neck down, and he is listed in serious but stable condition.

A witness to the accident said it didn’t appear that David was speeding, and that he just didn’t make the corner, according to his mother, Donna Copenhaver.

She also said that the report from the accident stated that neither speed nor alcohol were factors in the accident.

Davis is the son of Steve and Donna Copenhaver in Ovando. David would have been a senior this year at the Seeley Swan High School.

Students and friends are encouraged to send David cards to help him through this time of uncertainty.

Read this and more at: https://www.seeleylake.com/home/customer_files/article_documents/2004-08-26.pdf