Articles from the August 31, 2023 edition


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  • Potomac to add bear regulations as concerns over trash grow

    Jean Pocha, of the Pathfinder|Aug 31, 2023

    The Missoula City-County Health Board is hoping to reduce bears' access to garbage in Potomac by requiring bear-proof trash cans after multiple years of food conditioned bears visiting the area. The City-County Health Board approved a bear mitigation zone in the Potomac Valley at its Aug. 17 meeting, along with expanding the Bear Buffer Zone and related trash requirements across the Missoula Valley. "The Potomac Valley, especially in the Union Creek area, is one of the worst 'bear behavior...

  • New BBQ Pit owner hopes to serve all year, bring new era to restaurant

    Griffen Smith, of the Pathfinder|Aug 31, 2023

    Ten years ago, Renee Kay dreamed about working with her family in Seeley Lake, often eyeing The BBQ Pit as she drove through town to her family's land in Condon. This summer that dream has come true: Kay and her family reopened The BBQ Pit this August, and plan to usher in a new era by staying open later into the year and offering community events like a family movie night. "If you showed me what we were doing back (10 years ago), I would have renewed hope on a lot of aspects about myself," Kay...

  • Seeley CC talks roads, water health

    Griffen Smith, of the Pathfinder|Aug 31, 2023

    The Seeley Lake Community Council approved sending a letter to survey traffic speed by the Double Arrow Ranch, discussed potentially holding a special meeting on water quality and heard from area experts during its monthly meeting on Aug. 14. The council heard from leaders on the Salmon Lake construction project, who informed the room that there will likely be more construction along Highway 83 next summer, and the manager of the sewer board reported an unhealthy amount of nitrate in the Seeley area. There was also a brief update on the...

  • Clarification from Save Holland Lake

    Save Holland Lake|Aug 31, 2023

    Thank you for the article on the proposed expansion of Holland Lake Lodge and ardent opposition to the proposal to build a giant destination resort on the ecologically sensitive and pristine Holland Lake. We want to correct one portion of the article that says that members of Save Holland Lake agree that the U.S. Forest Service can keep its “process private.” Americans, Montanans, Save Holland Lake and others – like the Missoula County Commissioners – have urged the U.S. Forest Service, in order to restore trust in what has been a secreti...

  • Patent abuse by Big Pharma makes our healthcare more expensive

    Rep. Ron Marshall, Bitterroot Valley|Aug 31, 2023

    Pharmaceutical patents are a key instrument that promote innovation in America. They provide a financial incentive for pharmaceutical companies to invest in research and development, and allow them to recover costs and make a profit once their medication hits the market. However, an alarming trend has emerged: companies are increasingly manipulating the patent system to create and extend monopolies on their drugs far beyond what is fair. This is not by any means what was intended when our patent system was created, and it has increasingly...

  • Rebate process adds red tape

    Jan Lombardi, Seeley Lake|Aug 31, 2023

    OK, armed and ready, I sat down with a computer, a postcard and letter from Governor Gianforte and two letters from his Revenue Department on how to get a property tax rebate. Logged on to website and bonk – What’s a geocode? Frustrated, I set the paperwork aside. Days later, thought I’d try again and Googled, “What is a Montana Geocode?” Good ole Google took me to a website with four pages of instructions on how to get the code necessary to complete an application for a tax rebate. Adding more paperwork to the pile, I found the 17-digit...

  • Taking On Big Pharma One Step at a Time

    -Bob Wagner, Harrison, MT|Aug 31, 2023

    There’s no question that Big Pharma needs to be exposed and taken down—even if it must be done one small step at a time. This is why I am urging our Senators in D.C. to pass the bipartisan Affordable Prescriptions for Patients Act of 2023. This bill does incredible work to expose Big Pharma tactics that manipulate consumers and have led to skyrocketing prices. Big Pharma has continuously spent more on fancy, targeted advertising campaigns on already available medication and prescriptions than they have on research and development. The lack of...

  • Fishing through the changes of late summer

    Chuck Stranahan, Flyfishing Journal|Aug 31, 2023

    Let’s start with hoppers. By now every trout in every river should be geared into taking big grasshoppers, as they have been around all summer and bungled their way into rivers. That’s been partially true this year – until our recent heavy storms knocked them off, drowned them on land, and kept them out of the water. The fish have remained keyed on them – somewhat. What they’re seeing now will more likely be a new wave of grasshoppers – young insects ranging from #14 and #12 imitations on up. If the trout you’re prospecting for don’t take th...

  • Missoula County Sheriff's log for Aug. 31

    8/18 9:57 a.m. Suspicious Activity 4XX Airport Road, Seeley Lake 8/18 3:59 p.m. Accident - Injury 400XX Paws Up Road, Greenough 8/18 6:10 p.m. Disorderly Conduct 6XX Pine Drive, Seeley Lake 8/19 7:10am Accident - No Injury Riverview Drive, Seeley Lake 8/19 8:15 a.m. Accident - Injury Highway 200 and 83, Clearwater Junction 8/19 12:00 p.m. Suspicious Activity Fawn Creek Road, Seeley Lake 8/21 8:23 p.m. Accident - Injury 23XX Double Arrow Road, Seeley Lake 8/22 7:50 a.m. Accident - No Injury Highway 83, Condon 8/22 11:35 a.m. Theft Highland...

  • Seeley Lake Rural Fire District Call Log for Aug. 31

    8/19/2023 Accident Injury Highway 200 East 8/23/2023 Medical Highway 83 8/23/2023 Medical Highway 83 8/21/2023 Accident Injury Double Arrow Road 8/24/2023 Fire Alarm Double Arrow Road 8/24/2023 Fire rescue Highway 83 8/24/2023 Medical Highway 83...

  • Hearing God

    Pastor Erik Iverson, Holy Cross Faith and Lutheran Churches, Seeley Lake and Condon|Aug 31, 2023

    Elijah was a man strong and faithful in serving God, even standing up against 450 pagan priests at one point. After this, Queen Jezebel was so enraged that she sent her armies to find and slay him. Yet as strong as his faith was, even he knew fear upon hearing of this, falling into deep disconsolation and despair. It was at this point that he was told to, “Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the L...

  • Blackhawks football opens season with loss to Ennis

    Griffen Smith, of the Pathfinder|Aug 31, 2023

    The Seeley-Swan High School football team returned to action last weekend, battling the Ennis Mustangs to a tough 48-14 defeat on Aug. 25. The Blackhawks entered the year with a younger team, featuring just three seniors and some breakout sophomores. "We are a young team with a lot of promise," head coach Jacob Haley said in an email. The Mustangs took control early in the game, scoring 33 unanswered points in the first half of the game. The Mustangs brought 34 players compared to Seeley-Swan's...

  • What is the deal with fentanyl?

    Alan Muskett, of the Pathfinder|Aug 31, 2023

    I was broke. Again. During my last year of medical school interest rates were 13%, so yet another loan was out of the question. I took a job at Herfy’s Hamburgers (home of the Hefty Burger) in Seattle. I wore a paper cow on my head. That wasn’t quite enough, at $2.75 an hour, so I participated in medical experiments, getting paid to have bone marrow biopsies (not worth it), upper endoscopies with no anesthesia (worse), and a weekend taking cold medicine. One experiment sounded intriguing—all I had to do was wear some monitors and suck on a lol...

  • Adventurous French family tackles Tour Divide ride

    Jean Pocha, of the Pathfinder|Aug 31, 2023

    A French family of five pedaled into Ovando on Monday, Aug. 14 during their bicycle tour from Calgary to the Grand Tetons along the Great Divide bike route. Only three of them pedaled, as one rode in a special seat on the front of dad's bike and the baby rode in a baby backpack on mom's back. "In France, the Tour Divide is a famous bike ride," Julien Bonin said about their decision for the ride. "We are firefighters at home and like the exercise." Six-year-old Agathe sits on a Gekko adaptive sea...

  • Lolo National Forest seeking public comment for Highway 83 North Seeley Wildland Urban Interface project

    U.S Forest Service|Aug 31, 2023

    Missoula, Mont., August 27, 2023 — The Seeley Lake Ranger District of the Lolo National Forest is seeking public comment through September 28 on a proposal to manage safety concerns and improve forest health conditions throughout nearly 23,000 acres of Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) areas along Highway 83 in North Seeley. The proposed Highway 83 WUI project was collaboratively designed with multiple stakeholders to mitigate public safety concerns within the area through the removal of dead and diseased trees. Major infestation of Douglas fir b...

  • Betty Mae Johnson (1928-2023)

    Aug 31, 2023

    Betty Mae (Smestad) Johnson entered into eternal life Friday, Aug. 18, 2023. Betty was born May 23, 1928, in Bainville, Montana to Hans and Delia (Grindland) Smestad. She was the sixth of seven children and third of three daughters. Her father homesteaded in Bainville in 1915 where she was raised. She graduated from Bainville High School in 1946 and attended Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota hoping to be a business teacher. Prior to graduating from Concordia, Betty married Dale LaVerne... Full story

  • FWP seeking comment on statewide fisheries management plan, fishing regulation proposals

    Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks|Aug 31, 2023

    HELENA – Montana’s famed fisheries provide amazing recreational opportunities, from blue ribbon trout streams in the west, to the world-famous Fort Peck Reservoir in the east. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks provides abundant fishing opportunities, while protecting native fish species, and critical aquatic habitat. This includes managing fisheries under drought conditions. A new draft comprehensive statewide fisheries management plan is a key piece of that management and is now out for public comment. “The intent of the statewide manag...

  • Archives for Aug. 31

    Aug 31, 2023

    Twenty Years Ago Thursday, August 28, 2003 Weather is a blessing...high in the Mission Mountains Wilderness By Gary Noland An earlier invitation to take photos on the front line at the Crazy Horse Fire hadn't taken into consideration that rains late Friday and Saturday morning would make possible a break in fire activity and action. So even though the only action was high in the Mission Mountains Wilderness west of Lindbergh Lake, we trekked as fas as our energy allowed and found some hand...