Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 27
SEELEY LAKE – Travis Burgess, 43, was charged with the burglaries at It's Ah Wrap and the Stone Fly Bar/Clearwater Stop N Go. Items stolen from It's Ah Wrap coffee and sandwich kiosk in Seeley Lake Feb. 29 were found following a search of the vehicle the suspect was driving. The ATM that was stolen from the Stone Fly Bar March 1 was recovered after Burgess took authorities to the location where it was dumped. Missoula County Sheriff's Office Sergeant Robert Parcell was called Saturday, Feb. 29 f...
MISSOULA – Two landowners in the Seeley Lake Sewer District (SLSD) have petitioned the Fourth Judicial District Court in Missoula for a Writ of Mandamus regarding the Missoula County Elections office’s denial of a pair of citizens’ petitions. Attorney Colleen Dowdall filed the Petition for Writ of Mandamus on behalf of Don Larson and Tom Morris. If the Writ is issued the Court would order the SLSD attorney to complete the ballot language as laid out in state law and force the Missoula County Elections Administrator to approve the pair of previo...
SEELEY LAKE – The Seeley Lake Elementary School board voted unanimously at their special meeting March 4 to initiate a contract with Eric Larson for the SLE superintendent/principal position. Larson submitted a letter, declining the appointment citing obligations to his extended family. The board will further discuss their options at their regular monthly meeting Wednesday, March 11 at 5:30 p.m. Jon Konen, Eric Larson and Josh Gibbs interviewed for the superintendent position March 1. The board deferred the decision until March 4 prior to w...
The Missoula City-County Health Department’s infectious disease and emergency preparedness teams, along with local and state partners, continue to monitor the Coronavirus (COVID-19) situation overseas and in the United States and have created a response plan should any cases be confirmed in Missoula County. Currently there are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Montana. “We’ve increased communications with the state, local hospitals, clinics and emergency responders and we also designated staff to monitor information daily. Our team also creat...
SWAN VALLEY – When Beauty Lou (Lilly Boyd) "wished upon a wishbone" to turn the man who won first place at the county fair for his beautiful roses into a beast, her wish was granted. It wasn't until years later that she realized the power of her wish and the beast (Jalen Kauffman) understood that his pride in his looks, wealth and roses had kept him away from things much more important, like friendship. Missoula Children's Theatre and Swan Valley School students presented "Beauty Lou and the C...
SEELEY LAKE - I want to commend our local law enforcement in Seeley Lake. They took the burglary at my business It’s Ah Wrap very seriously, handled it professionally and went out of their way to keep me informed. Thanks to their hard work and collaboration with Missoula Police Department, the stolen equipment from my business was returned. After my business was broken into early Saturday, Feb. 29 I called and reported it. Missoula County Sergeant Bob Parcell came over and started his investigation. I provided him my surveillance footage and f...
SEELEY LAKE - The Veterans and Families of Seeley Lake would like to thank all the businesses and individuals in Seeley Lake for their generosity and donations to support the Ellinghouse triplets. The Spaghetti Dinner and Silent Auction March 7 raised nearly $7,300 and we are still receiving donations. Without the community’s support this would have not been possible. We are continually amazed how generous this town is and want to thank everyone for your support! VFSL is still accepting donations for the girls. Please make checks payable to V...
SEELEY LAKE – I just want to say thank you, thank you to everyone who has sent cards, visited, called and kept me in your thoughts and prayers since my accident. You have encouraged me and helped me on my road to recovery. I am truly blessed by all of you and grateful for our supportive community!...
Our President Donald J. Trump gave an excellent speech at the State of the Union. He spoke of the long list of achievements under his administration. He honored Americans from different walks of life. He reminded us where we came from. He praised our founding fathers and the Constitution they gave us. He talked of those who blazed the trail before us. President Trumps’ State of the Union speech will be remembered for generations to come, unless Nancy Polosi gets ahold of the copies. Nancy Polosi’s behavior was disgraceful and possibly criminal...
Those of you who have been reading my columns know I like handguns...a lot. To add thrill and challenge to hunting, do it with a handgun. Shooting a handgun is not so different from a rifle and the skill is manageable at almost any age. Eyesight is one of the challenges for those of us over 50 but that can be overcome too. The handgun will require much more practice than the rifle. Which is fun by itself. It is not nearly as easy to hit the target and the distance to the target, under most situa...
SEELEY LAKE – During Seeley Lake Elementary’s strategic planning cross-over event Feb. 22, Dr. Daniel Farr stated that SLE was going to lose about $50,000 in budget authority because eight students that are home schooled were erroneously reported as enrolled. Upon further review of the arrangement with the distance learning students, Superintendent Daniel Schrock said what SLE is doing is legitimate and it would meet the requirements to count the students with no loss to the budget. According to Montana Code Annotated 20-9-311: Calculation of...
Outdoor burning opened in Missoula County on March 1st, and it’s off to a fair clip. As of March 6th, more than 900 folks have purchased their permits and we’ve recorded more than 260 burn activations. In a typical year, we issue between 4,000 and 4,500 burn permits and record 10,000 to 12,000 burn activations. We wanted to take this opportunity to answer some questions we encounter about Missoula’s outdoor burning program. Do I need a permit to burn my yard waste? What about for my hazard reduction project? Yes! All outdoor burning requi...
As we move into a new season, many of us at the Sheriff's Office have been reflecting on the last few months of calls for service in and around Missoula County. As most of you know, the Seeley-Swan area has experienced some of our biggest incidents recently. This is an important opportunity for me to not only sincerely thank the community and our Seeley-Swan Search and Rescue (SSSAR) but also applaud you on your willingness to help us save lives. The winter brought many challenges as a string of...
SWAN VALLEY – Audience members watched as their neighbors and familiar places appeared on the big screen at Swan Valley School March 8 as part of Scott Kirby's Main Street Souvenirs presentation. Kirby captured the Blackfoot Valley around Potomac, up the Clearwater through Seeley Lake and north to Swan Lake in his multi-media stage performance. He artfully combined live music, narration, historical and modern photographs, paintings and video clips to tell the story of the gathering of small-town...
SEELEY LAKE - Pyramid Mountain Lumber excelled again this year in grader performance. The Western Wood Products Association (WWPA) recognized Monie Bergeson, Tim Wood, Chace Bartolet and Paul Gereg with the High Quality (Hi-Q) Award for their timber grading accuracy in 2019. This is more than half of the certified graders at Pyramid. Pyramid offers three to four different species of lumber and each species has three different products that qualify for the Hi-Q award. To be eligible for the...
As I advance in years, I find there is a temptation to want to just sit back and rest on my accomplishments. It is tempting to just say, "I've worked hard, I've done my work and it's time for someone else to pick up the burden." And yet as I examine scripture, I see that this is clearly not God's plan. In 1st Thessalonians 3:6 I read: "Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the...
SWAN VALLEY - Missoula County Building and Development Programs Manager Nicole Whyte along with Missoula County Commissioner Juanita Vero attended the Swan Valley Community Council meeting March 2. Whyte informed the more than 20 attendees about the proposed increase to the County building permit program fees. The attendees brought up suggestions, criticisms and frustrations with County taxes. Whyte said that the 2018 building codes that the state adopted Dec. 7, 2019 went into effect in the County March 7. Whyte explained the reasons for...
People have been parsing the human lifespan into a taxonomy of ages forever. Aristotle proposed three categories: youthful, prime of life and elderly. Two thousand years later, Shakespeare's Seven Ages of Man carved human chronology into seven slices, with the body's final frailty circling back to the original oblivion of infancy. And in the 1980's, British historian Peter Laslett proposed a revised map of three ages, with a caveat for the third: it could be a time of post-retirement...
SWAN VALLEY - Donald "Geez" Edward Guizzo, 83 of Swan Valley, joined our Holy Father on Saturday, Feb. 15 with his loving wife and daughters by his side at North Idaho Advanced Care Center. Taking an obvious risk by undergoing cardiac bypass open-heart surgery, with the intent of returning the gift of extended life to be shared with his adored wife and family, he fought a great battle. Donald was born Oct. 21, 1936 in Comet, Mont. to Ralph and Martha Guizzo. His Italian parents quickly moved...
On Monday, March 2, Catherine Ellen Chussler Owens, 91, passed away at home from heart conditions. She was born July 15, 1928 in Jamaica, South Long Island, New York, to Margaret (O'Neill) and Joseph Walter Chussler. Her older sister Peggy, brother John and younger sister Theresa were all deceased before 1989. In 1940 the family moved to Elizabeth, N.J., where she graduated from Blessed Sacrament grade school and from Battin High School in 1945. After receiving a full-tuition scholarship from Ri...
SEELEY LAKE – The Seeley Lake Elementary Eagles are wrapping up their season this week with tournaments in Clinton. Head Coach Brett Haines said the season had its ups and downs but was pleased with the improvement made by the young team. They had around 20 girls come out for the A and B teams this year. There were only three eighth graders that played this year. "We are a younger team this year. Some of our eighth graders had limited time on the varsity level [A team]," said Haines. "Hopefully...
Seeley Lake Community Foundation scholarship application due July 10 SEELEY LAKE - The Seeley Lake Community Foundation is pleased to announce a scholarship opportunity for local students. The SLCF scholarship is designed for students who have graduated from Seeley-Swan High School and have finished at least one year of college or trade school. The $1,000 scholarship is meant to assist with costs incurred at a college, university or technical school. Applications are due July 10. Scholarship applications are available online at http://www.seele...
A little over a year ago, a brilliant lawyer helped secure the future of our family ranch. Raphael Graybill, in his role as chief legal counsel for the governor, went to battle for private property rights and public access in front of the Montana Supreme Court when he challenged the Attorney General’s interpretation of the law regarding Habitat Montana easements. If he had lost against the AG’s flawed legal opinion, we could have lost our ranch. Raph utilized his incredible intellect and deep understanding of the law to show the Supreme Cou...
SEELEY LAKE - Proud parents Mark and Heather Myre of Seeley Lake are happy to announce the birth of their first child, a daughter named Naomi Emilia Myre. Naomi was born on Feb. 12. She weighed 5 pounds, 14 ounces and was 17.25 inches long. Also welcoming Naomi are excited grandparents Curtis and Kim Friede of Seeley Lake, Kim Myre of Seeley Lake and Ron Myre of Great Falls....
MONTANA – Governor Steve Bullock today confirmed two presumptively positive cases of coronavirus, or COVID-19, in Missoula County. • The Missoula County patient is a female in their 30s • The Missoula County patient is a male in their 50s The tests, conducted by the DPHHS Public Health Laboratory, were confirmed Saturday evening. As is current standard, test results are considered presumptively positive and will be confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). DPHHS and the Missoula City-County Health Department are immediately follo...
