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SEELEY LAKE - Clearwater Resource Council (CRC) invited members of the public and local organizations to celebrate Earth Day with them at a chili tailgate Thursday, April 22. Attendees were welcome to have some complimentary chili and lemonade with reusable utensils while listening to organizations present their messages. CRC Executive Director Caryn Miske said they had been organizing the event for a little over a month. This is the first time an event like this has taken place for them. "The...
SEELEY LAKE - Parents and community members will have an opportunity to meet the candidates who are applying to be Seeley-Swan High School’s new principal for next school year. Attendees can ask candidates questions and provide feedback to those doing the hiring. The meet-n-greet will take place from 5 - 6 p.m. Friday, April 30 in the school’s large gym. Masks will be required. The five candidates, in alphabetical order, and their experience are the following: Daniel Grabowska received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and history from Mon...
SEELEY LAKE – At the Seeley Lake Fire Board's monthly meeting Tuesday, April 20, Fire Chief Dave Lane presented the idea of a feasibility study and hosting a board workshop to discuss hiring personnel and accompanying tax levy to cover the cost. He also promoted volunteer Emergency Medical Technician Rita Rossi to Emergency Medical Services Lieutenant and volunteer firefighter John Homen to Fire Captain. In other business, the cost for the current medical director was questioned and the board u...
The Missoula Education Foundation (MEF) announced their #406vaxxedandproud incentive campaign Monday, April 26. The campaign’s goal is to get all 16-18-year olds in Missoula County vaccinated against COVID-19 by June 1. This will help reach the goal of 75% of the community vaccinated to achieve community immunity. Any 16-18-year-olds who live in Missoula County and are currently enrolled in a participating high school can enter once they have completed their first dose. Deadline to show proof of first dose is June 4. Students can show their vac... Full story
After 20 seasons guiding wilderness treks and river journeys in the Bob Marshall Wilderness, I have witnessed significant changes in wilderness visitors. As a teenager I hiked from Ovando to Essex, scrambled in the Mission Mountains and skied from Benchmark to Holland Lake. Years later, adventures through the Bob were family highlights. I have a 45-year perspective on backcountry and the people who venture there. It was common to share the journey with deeply appreciative guests humbled by the 30-mile trek and the river float. We traveled...
If you are vaccine hesitant, whatever your reasons, here are five points of information that you owe it to yourself to consider. They are from Dr. Tom Frieden, an American infectious disease and public health physician and former head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the current Director of the CDC has noted in the Washington Post Feb. 26, 2021, “We may be done with the virus, but clearly the virus is not done with us.” Five things to consider to help you decide whether or not to get vaccinated aga...
Hunting is hunting, fishing is fishing, right? Should not make a difference what it is, my opinion. I've got a pee-down-your-leg, belly laugh story. True, happened last night.... I am a woman who has hunted and fished all her life. I enjoy all types of adventures and especially enjoy hunting. I have hunted many species. Last night. Mouse. I live in a top floor condo. Somehow mice are finding their way in. Me and my Jack Russell girl named Winnie have successfully bagged several. A couple days...
SEELEY LAKE - Lisa Hayhurst, Executive Director of the Seeley Lake Area Chamber of Commerce and Eric Hayhurst, Chairman of the Board, have been volunteering for the Chamber since 2017. Their last day will be May 1. Ariana Richards, a current Chamber Board Member, will continue serving on the Board. With no response to the open vacancies, the Chamber will hold off conducting or coordinating future events until the open positions have been filled. The Board has outsourced part time, paid positions for the bookkeeping / tax work, website...
Seeley Lake area business owners (or anyone interested in starting a business!) are invited to come meet your local Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Business Advisor on Thursday, May 13 in the West Wing of the Foundation Building. There will be two, one-hour sessions, for the convenience of busy business owners, one at 10 a.m. and another at 5:30 p.m. Pastries from Bernice's Bakery and coffee will be provided for the morning session. Pizza will be provided for the evening session,...
MISSOULA – The public is invited to comment on a proposal by the Bureau of Land Management to acquire more land in the Blackfoot River Watershed. The BLM's Missoula Field Office seeks public input on a proposed land acquisition from The Nature Conservancy of 11,000 acres in the Ninemile-Woodchuck area of the watershed. The comment period for an environmental assessment evaluating the impacts of acquiring the acreage will close on May 24. The proposed acquisition is in Missoula County about 30 m...
With spring in the air, it's time to dust off our field gear (or maybe thaw out is more appropriate) and get ready for another productive season working with landowners and our restoration partners implementing projects across the Blackfoot River watershed. In 2020, we installed a new fish screen near Placid Lake, restored over 7,000 feet of Nevada Creek upstream of the reservoir near Helmville and teamed up with the US Forest Service on several projects benefiting Morrell Creek and Cottonwood...
SEELEY LAKE – During their monthly meeting April 19, the Seeley Lake Elementary School Board decided to postpone updates to their 3000 Policy Series as well as their 2021 summer lunch program for their next meeting in May. Superintendent Josh Gibbs also provided updates on the School Improvement Plan and other aspects of the school during his report. The board decided to table their summer lunch program until they can obtain additional information from the Montana Office of Public Instruction. They tabled the 3000 Policy Series because one m...
SWAN VALLEY - Members of the Swan Valley Elementary School Board unanimously approved a first reading of multiple new policies and policy revisions during their monthly meeting Tuesday, April 20. They also discussed Missoula City-County Health Department’s conversion of COVID-19 prevention methods going from mandates to recommendations in May. The new policies have to do with student sexual harassment grievance procedures, staff sexual harassment procedures, personnel background checks, and drug and alcohol testing for school bus drivers. T...
I grew up in the 50's and one of my favorite TV programs was the Lone Ranger. One of the benefits of cable TV is that I can watch the Lone Ranger again. As a boy I would straddle my stick horse, six-shooter strapped to my side and cowboy hat slighted tilted. I watched the TV screen intensely as the Masked Man and his faithful companion Tonto righted wrongs and brought justice to the land. At the end of every program, the Lone Ranger and Tonto, having done justice (Micah 6:8), would bid farewell...
MISSOULA COUNTY - As the U.S. continues to push efforts to establish herd immunity against COVID-19, data analysts and historians will likely be making observations on the pandemic’s world-encapsulating effects for years to come especially in terms of socialization. One aspect that could be touched on is how the pandemic’s ripple effects have affected survivors of domestic abuse and sexual violence in terms of accessing resources. Morgan Haynie is a criminal advocate for the Crime Victim Advocate Program (CVA), a division of the Community Jus...
BUTTE, MONTANA - Helen Louise Ziech Rohde, 79, passed away surrounded by family on Thursday, April 15 in Butte, Montana. A private family burial will be held at the Seeley Lake Cemetery. Helen was born March 28, 1942 to Albert and Loretta Ziech in Reedsburg, Wisconsin and was the fifth of 12 daughters. She met Ellsworth Rohde while living in South Dakota and they married Nov. 6, 1960. They moved to California and had four children. After Ellsworth's passing in 1973, she and her children spent... Full story
Over the last few weeks, a number of private landowners, organizations and public agencies have conducted prescribed burns in the Blackfoot River watershed with the goal of enhancing both forest health and community safety. While this fills the skies with smoke for a few days, burning this time of year has numerous benefits for both forested landscapes and communities. Cindy Super is the Forestry and Prescribed Fire Coordinator for the Blackfoot Challenge, a community-based organization that fac...
As Montanans look to enjoy the outdoors this spring and summer, state and local public health officials urge everyone to follow a few simple steps to prevent tick bites and related illnesses: Limit exposure to ticks, use insect repellent, and inspect yourself, gear and pets for ticks. Department of Public Health and Human Services (DPHHS) officials report each year thousands of people in the U.S. are bitten by ticks and become infected with a tick-borne illness. “There’s numerous prevention measures Montanans can take to avoid tick bites whi...
The athletes of Seeley-Swan High School's track team are getting faster by the week as the season passed its midpoint. They set 30 personal records at track meets last week in Corvallis and Missoula. The team started its week at the Sapphire Twilight Meet April 22 where both the Boys and Girls took fourth place in the team points. Then they hosted the SSHS Invitational April 24. The Girls secured second place with 78 points behind Beaverhead County with 105. The Boys earned fifth place with 58...
The Seeley-Swan Golf Team took to the courses in Thompson Falls April 20 and Anaconda April 22. The Girls Team placed first at the Thompson Falls High School Golf Invitational with a team score of 477. They had a 28 stroke lead on Bigfork who took first for the Class B Girls Teams. Trista Wendel led the girls with 110 placing third. Ava Thornsberry and Cora Stone tied for ninth with a score of 120. This qualified Stone for the State meet. Tegan Mauldin closed out the team card with 127. The Boys placed second in the Class C bracket in Thompson...
Whitebark Pine Zoom presentation Join Swan Valley Connections Wednesday, May 5 at 6:30 p.m. via Zoom for a presentation on the ecology and conservation of whitebark pine, an at-risk, keystone species of high elevation habitats in the Northern Rockies. Drawing on his extensive work with these special trees, U.S. Forest Service Supervisory Research Biologist Bob Keane will explore the whitebark pine’s fascinating roles and restoration questions in mountain ecosystems. Log on to https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83458922265 for the presentation. No r...
Mobile home parks are one of the last strongholds of reliable affordable housing in Montana, helping people of a wide range of income levels become homeowners, even as prices for most other residence types in across the state continue to spike. But as investment firms snap up properties across the state, there are signs that even mobile homes may soon become out of reach for many Montanans. It’s certainly a worry for Cindy Newman, who owns a mobile home in the Highwoods Mobile Home Park in Great Falls, which Utah-based investment firm H... Full story
Republican Lawmakers Locked in Battle with State Supreme Court over “Judicial Transparency” As the Montana Legislature nears the close of its biennial business, Republican lawmakers are mounting a case against the judicial branch and the state Supreme Court with accusations of judicial bias and improper record keeping, while Democrats call the inquiry a “witch hunt.” Since the start of the 2021 Legislative Session, lawmakers have proposed numerous bills seeking changes to the judicial branch. Some bills, like several that would have made st... Full story
During the past year, federal employees nationwide and 12,898 active federal and U.S Postal workers of Montana have dedicated themselves to keeping our country running while weathering a global pandemic. They continue to provide essential financial services, processing stimulus payments, tax refunds, small business loans, Social Security checks, mortgages, and student loans to keep the economy churning and households operating. As they do every day, they have kept us safe, tracking cyber threats, protecting the food supply, and alerting...
