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Columbia Falls girls bow out at divisionals
Columbia Falls played tight games in Butte but fell in the consolation semifinals of the Western A Divisional Tournament on February 22-24. In the opening game of divisionals, Dillon’s defense ramped up in the second half as Columbia Falls fell 52-31 on Thursday, February 22. Both teams were tied 14-14 after the first quarter, and the Wildkats only trailed 22-20 at halftime. Dillon, however, went on a 20-7 run in the third quarter and outscored Columbia Falls by six in the fourth quarter for the victory.Hope McAtee led Columbia Falls with 14 points, while Taryn Borgen added seven. Moving into the consolation...
Hunter, Bowhunter and Trapper Education registration open
KALISPELL – Hunter Education classes and Trapper Education field days are open to registration in several locations this spring. All in-person classes are free. Students must be at least 10 years old to take a Hunter Education class. The following Hunter Education classroom classes are currently scheduled in northwest Montana:Plains - starts Feb. 26Somers - starts March 8Whitefish - starts March 11Eureka - starts March 12Bigfork - starts March 20Pablo - starts March 26Columbia Falls - starts April 1Thompson Falls - starts April 8Kalispell - starts April 12To sign up for a class or find others across the state, visit https://fwp.mt.gov/education/hunter-education.Students ages 12...
Glacier projects 40% increase in revenue from campground fees
With busier campgrounds and a recently implemented fee increase, front country camping is projected to bring approximately $2.4 million into Glacier National Park coffers in 2024 — a 40% increase over last year.Glacier Park’s Public Affairs Officer Gina Icenoggle said fees collected from front country campgrounds in 2023 totaled $1.7 million, and brought $1.4 million in 2022. This year, some campgrounds will see a price increase of as much as $10, like recently reopened Avalanche Campground. This is among other general changes to front country campground fees, like a decrease in the cost of some group sites.The park has not...
McNally wins at Whitefish ski races
The Flathead Valley Ski Education Foundation hosted a series of U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association races at Whitefish Mountain Resort last weekend on Ed’s Run. The U14-U18 races included a giant slalom on Friday, and slaloms on Saturday and Sunday. Over 110 athletes from Northern Division teams including FVSEF, Blacktail, Missoula, Discovery, Great Divide, Bridger, Big Sky, Red Lodge, Casper (WY), and the Black Hills (SD) participated in the competitions which served as the final qualifiers for the U14 and U16 Western Region and Tri-Divisional championships in March.The Flathead team expects several of its athletes to be named to the...
Janis Hammons, 79
Janis Hammons, age 79, passed away on Feb. 15, 2024, at her home in Martin City, Montana with her loving family by her side.She was born May 16, 1944, in Eureka, Montana to Lawrence and Elouise Berg. She was raised in Fortine and Eureka area. She married Donald James Hammons, and they raised four children together. Donald passed away in 1991. She then met her life partner on Nov. 20, 1993, and they were together until her passing.Janis graduated from Eureka High School and then earned her associate degree from FVCC in dietary management.She worked for Immanuel Lutheran Home and...
City debates changes to landlord-tenant utility billing
The City of Columbia Falls is reviewing its utility billing for the first time in ten years, with a proposition requiring bills be in the property owner’s name. This would be a shift for some rental properties that allow tenants to receive and pay their own water and sewer bills. City staff in the billing and water departments requested the change, which was voted down when it was proposed in 2014. The main reasoning for a change is that duplicate billing must go to the tenant — who is signed up to receive the bill, and the landlord — who is...
Columbia Falls Fire Department team headed to Seattle Stairclimb
Three members of the Columbia Falls Fire Department are set to climb the second-tallest building west of the Mississippi in full gear on March 10 to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Volunteers Mitch O’Brien and Kyle Dolph alongside career firefighter Jade Thomas have been training for two months to climb Columbia Center in the Seattle Stairclimb, where firefighters race 1,356 steps up 69 floors to the top for LLS. “It’s a friendly competition, but the Montana teams are actually pretty dialed. Missoula typically wins,” said O’Brien, who was the first C-Falls firefighter to compete in the Stairclimb last year, solo....
Great Brain Project leads eight-year-old to investigate local law enforcement
Costin Banning invited cops to his eighth birthday last April. Fans of TV shows S.W.A.T. and 911, it was exciting for the whole Banning family when Columbia Falls Police Sergeant Brandon Rice and Border Patrol Agent J.R. Hagreen showed up to the party. Rice even brought Costin a warrant with his present. The charge? Getting too old. So when the Great Brain project began for Ruder Elementary schoolers, Costin decided he would investigate local law enforcement. His mother, Cassi Banning, started setting it up.“Every agency was excited and helpful, despite the fact that they were so short-staffed, they really kept trying to...
Wastewater treatment plans delayed
“You’ll notice on your agenda that we’re not calling for bids on the wastewater treatment plant project as planned,” city manager Susan Nicosia said to Columbia Falls City Council at their Feb. 20 meeting.The portion of the ARPA-funded project presented was originally estimated to be $3.5 million. On Feb. 7, the city received an estimate from engineers at $7.5 million. “Just today, before noon, we got new numbers. Now it was $8 million,” Nicosia said. A 131% increase that funding would not cover and took nine months for the engineering company to produce. A viral reactor for the site went from $945,000...
Columbia Falls teen is dead in Kentucky; man arrested on murder charge
An 18-year-old Columbia Falls man is dead and a 21-year-old suspect has been arrested and charged with murder.Josiah Kilman, who graduated from Columbia Falls High School and was attending Campbellsville University, in Kentucky was found unresponsive in his dorm room at approximately 12:43 a.m. Saturday morning.Kilman was transported to the Kentucky State Medical Examiner’s Office in Louisville for an autopsy. A preliminary cause of death was not released. During the investigation, Campbellsville Police obtained an arrest warrant for Charles E. Escalera for Kilman's murder. Escalera was later arrested reported. Escalera was found hiding in a barn and was arrested without...
Boys thump Loggers in makeup game
The momentum for Columbia Falls is strong heading into the Western A Divisional tournament. A makeup game against Libby proved that, as the Wildcats notched a 71-29 conference victory on Tuesday, Feb. 13 at home.“We talked about it all year, getting better and better,” Columbia Falls coach Chris Finberg. “That’s also the way we wanted to play that last game: be better than we were the game before and get momentum.”Finberg also noted that while not a true senior night, the make-up game provided one last hurrah for the seniors on the squad and that the team played very well...
Kats notch win over Libby
The game was a makeup game for bad weather, for sure.But Columbia Falls’ 78-43 victory over Libby on Tuesday, Feb. 13 was also a solid warm-up before the Western A Divisional tournament in Butte. In a typical year, the Wildkats could expect to see a two-week layoff due to play-in games, but this make-up game proved to be a claw-sharpener before bracket play this weekend.Columbia Falls got off to a fast start against the Lady Loggers, notching a 22-6 advantage in the first quarter. The Wildkats added seven points to their lead in the second quarter for a 41-18 halftime...
Uptown Hearth set to reopen Monday
“It was said that if your dreams don’t scare you, you didn’t dream big enough. This thing scared me about four million times. But everyone kept showing up, pitching in and getting through the rough spots,” said Uptown Hearth’s original owner Terri Feury. After about four years being closed, the local business is set to reopen its doors on Monday, Feb. 26. Feury originally worked out of the back of the Nucleus Avenue building, baking. After fifteen years of that, she remodeled the space to allow for a retail bakery and cafe in 2016. They were open three days a week,...
Flathead Valley sends three athletes to XC Junior Nationals
The Glacier Nordic ski team qualified three athletes for the 2024 Junior Nationals. Maeve Ingelfinger from Whitefish, Findley Dezzani from Columbia Falls and Liam Browne from Kalispell will head to Lake Placid, New York, for a week of racing next month.The trio will compete in an individual skate on March 11, a classic sprint on March 13, a mass start classic March 15, and a mixed skate relay on March 16.The three athletes have begun fundraising to help cover the cost of traveling to New York and competing, which totals about $3,500 per skier. A GoFundMe campaign can be found...
Blankenship bank stabilization a short-term fix to a larger problem
In 1964, flood water collapsed the Blankenship bridge. Now, 60 years later, it is at risk again. Flathead County in partnership with the Forest Service is seeking to stabilize the northwest bank of the Middle Fork of the Flathead River as the water erodes ever-closer to Blankenship Bridge’s abutment. The proposed project, estimated to cost around $1 million from the county’s bridge funds in the general fund and/or the gas tax revenue fund, would include around 200 feet of shoreline owned mostly by the county and partially by Flathead National Forest, though ultimate say on the construction plans will come down to...
Skier caught in Essex avalanche
A skier was air-lifted from backcountry terrain near Essex on Saturday after they were seriously injured in a large avalanche set off by their partner from the slopes above.The Two Bear Air rescue helicopter extracted the partially-buried skier, who was swept by the avalanche more than 50 yards though a group of trees. Two Bear crews met the ALERT air ambulance at Hungry Horse Reservoir, and the skier was later hospitalized at Logan Health Medical Center in Kalispell with non life-threatening injuries.The accident occurred at about 4:30 p.m. in the Marion Lake area of the Flathead Range south of Glacier...
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The Hungry Horse News has been in publication since 1946. It is the only weekly newspaper in Montana to win a Pulitzer Prize and has a reputation for fine photography of the Flathead Valley and Glacier National Park. It is housed in a log cabin in Columbia Falls. Visitors with story ideas are always welcome to stop by.
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