Columbus
Hungry Horse News
Flathead snowpack likely to end season at 78% of average
The region’s snow pack will likely end up about 22% less than an average year. The Flathead River Basin snowpack is about 78% of average, which is up a few percentage points since a storm dumped more snow in the high country over the weekend.But typically the snowpack starts losing mass about mid-April onward, particularly at low elevations.“February did provide well above normal precipitation to nearly all of Montana and those weather patterns continued into the first week of March across the state,” Eric Larson, a U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service Water Supply Specialist said. What seemed to...
Taylor Made: Local quilter featured in upcoming show
“It’s truly overwhelming,” Teakettle Quilting Guild’s 2024 featured quilter Barbara Taylor said. “I never thought that I was good enough, my quilting was good enough, to be a featured quilter, but it’s really an honor.”Throughout her home, quilts seem to take many forms — hung from blanket ladders, draped over furniture, a small mount alongside the coffee table picture frames, and table runners galore. Taylor’s work room resembles a library of fabric, neat reams stacked and organized, scraps tucked away into their own compartments. Her quilts are equally tidy, perfect straight edges and complementary colors. It’s not a surprise that...
City will continue to explore affordable housing at Railroad Street
The Columbia Falls City Council last week gave the nod to moving forward with an affordable housing project at Railroad Street after hearing some assurances from a Habitat for Humanity representative that the houses would be affordable and would remain that way through their lifespan.Preliminary designs have Habitat building about eight homes on the park, which is currently a baseball field. The Northwest Montana Land Trust would eventually take title of the land from the city, thus assuring a price control structure on the land itself.In addition, Habitat requires initial homeowners to provide “sweat equity” in the home by helping...
Camas Road open for season; Park plows to the Loop
Glacier National Park’s Camas Road is now open for the season. Crews have also plowed the Many Glacier Road and the Two Medicine Road on the east side, though they are not open to vehicles at this point.Last week, Glacier road crews continued clean-up and removal of snow into the restrooms at Avalanche on the west side, and widened areas at Many Glacier Hotel and Swift Current on the east side. The crew is now at The Loop on Going-to-the-Sun Road and will hold there while cleaning up at lower elevations. This week, crews will continue to clean-up in lower elevations including digging out apartments at Many Glacier, and mobilized equipment back to Two Medicine to finish clearing snow in the campground. On the west side, they swept the bike path and are in the process of removing large rock that fell just above the west tunnel.
Floyd faces more charges in alleged hit and run
Prosecutors filed new charges in late March against a man accused of running over his ex-wife in Martin City last year. Kenneth James Floyd, 38, who pleaded not guilty in November to negligent homicide in Flathead County District Court for the June 18, 2023 death of Kimberly Gilham, now faces additional felony counts of leaving the scene of a vehicle accident involving serious bodily injury or death and tampering with physical evidence.Special Deputy County Attorney Eric Kitzmiller filed the amended charges March 27. Floyd is expected to appear before Judge Dan Wilson on April 11 for his arraignment on the new...
Community Market gearing up for the season
The Columbia Falls Community Market is busy gearing up for the upcoming market season, Director Melissa Ellis said.Volunteers recently put in a gravel service road — with Skid Steer help from Lock Gessner and Trevor Taylor; Steve Harris of Harris Hauling and Sergio Barragan of major League Trucking.The truckers donated time and fuel to deliver 10 loads of gravel for the road, which was donated by PaveCo.Four Columbia Falls High School Art students recently drew the posters for the market and Ellis said the next step is to put up a jack fence around the property.The market is every Thursday night 5 to 8 p.m. starting May 16 and running through Sept. 26 in the field adjacent to St. Richard Catholic Church.It has more than 100 vendors signed up for the upcoming season. It features live music, food trucks, fresh produce, arts and crafts, educational displays and adult beverages, like beer, wine and other spirits courtesy of Josephine’s Speakeasy.
Columbia Falls a natural ‘funnel’ for bears
With a river running through it and plenty of bear foods along the way, Columbia Falls is basically a funnel for bears, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Park conflict management specialist Justine Vallieres told Columbia Falls City Council last week.That’s why it’s so important to mitigate conflicts, she told them.“Rivers are bear highways,” she said.Most of the conflicts happen on the east side of town, which abuts the river. And it’s not just black bears either, though there’s plenty of them — it’s grizzlies.All told there’s about 1,200 grizzlies in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem, a wide swath of land that...
Just vote “No.”
Just vote “no.” On the next School Board Election Ballot which you will receive in April, the Columbia Falls School Board is going to ask the voters to “approve” a $2.5 million dollar bond to repair the roof of the high school. The roof is bad but what is worse is the gross mismanagement of taxpayer funds that this school board has shown time after time. Here is another good reason to not give the school another dime. For all the money that you pay on your taxes for the Columbia Falls Schools thinking that our children are being educated, we...
Lessons from Truman
President Harry Truman was way behind in the polls, but he wasn’t giving up. Competitive to the core, he came out of the deeply divided and badly fractured 1948 Democratic convention swinging. His popular opponent, New York Governor Tom Dewey, had been the crime-busting prosecuting attorney who had locked up the Cosa Nostra kingpin, Lucky Luciano. Dewey went on to be elected New York Governor and had run a competitive race for president in 1944 against perhaps the greatest president of the 20th century, Franklin D. Roosevelt. FDR died just 82 days after, and the nearly-unknown Vice President Truman was abruptly...
Pediatricians on climate change
The American Academy of Pediatrics was the first major medical society in the U.S. to write a policy statement on climate change. Our updated policy was just published in March 2024. In the 14 years since the first edition, a vast body of peer-reviewed medical literature has emerged showing even more harm from heat and air pollution to health and mental health of children. There is strong evidence that exposure to heat and air pollution for pregnant women affects the health of the unborn baby resulting in more preterm births, stillbirths, and birth defects. In addition, exposure to air pollution and...
A story of hope
In a remarkable celebration of community spirit and unwavering dedication, the Boys and Girls Club of Glacier Country proudly marks its 25th year of enriching young lives in the Flathead Valley. This landmark year is heralded by a transformative move to a new facility in Columbia Falls, a beacon of progress and hope for countless youth and their families in the area.Nestled in the heart of the community, our Columbia Falls program has long been a sanctuary of growth and opportunity for the area’s youth. Yet, our mission to serve every child was constrained by the limits of our physical...
The Blotter: Phone scammer impersonates police
March 22A student was reported passed out on Thirteenth Street, the caller suspected from drug use. A man was reported walking towards Columbia Falls with a bow and arrow spear set up, the man was contacted by law enforcement and stated he was performing a ceremony. March 23Railroad crossing arms were not working, down with no train coming. They were fixed. March 24A driver on Railroad Street was cited for using a New York license while being a Montana resident since 2018. A man in dark clothes was trespassed for loitering around a Ninth Street business. March 25A car accident on Nucleus...
Levy meetings on tap in coming weeks
Columbia Falls School District 6 will hold a series of informational meetings on three levies slated for the upcoming school election.The District will seek a $430,667 levy for the elementary district and a $157,463 levy for the high school district. In addition, the district is seeking a $2.75 million building reserve levy request for two years to replace the leaking roof on the east wing of the high school.The building reserve levy request is split into $1.375 million annually. The district discovered the roof was failing when it began a separate and federally-funded heating and cooling project for the school.That...
CFAC, Ruis announce sale agreement for 2,400 acres of land
The Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. has agreed to sell 2,400 acres of land it owns to Columbia Falls developer Mick Ruis.The property includes the warehouses and former plant site. CFAC will continue to own the landfills and a buffer around them, company officials said Monday, which amounts to about 200 acres.The transaction is expected to close once the Environmental Protection Agency releases the Record of Decision on the Superfund cleanup, which focuses on landfills at the site.The remainder of the property is an idyllic mix of trees and meadows that haven’t been touched in decades.Ruis has plans for attainable housing,...
Mary Jane Church, 81
Mary Jane (Hartman) Church, 81, passed away peacefully on March 19, 2024 in Mesa, Arizona, with her daughters by her side. Mary Jane was born Feb. 13, 1943 in Saginaw, Michigan to Frederick and Orra Mae Hartman. In 1961, she married Thomas Church and was off to Germany where they welcomed their first child, Carma. They returned to Michigan where they welcomed their son, Louie, and daughter, Cathy. In 1969 they packed up their family and headed west, bound for Oregon. They made it as far as the East Lake Shore on Flathead Lake in Montana, where her parents owned...
Neighbors protest Meadow Lake water well plans
A resident of Garnier Creek Estates and the Garnier Creek Estates Homeowners Association have protested the expansion of the water system by the Meadow Lake County Water and Sewer District.The District serves the Meadow Lake community north of Columbia Falls and the golf course. It has two existing wells at 734 feet each that provide between 125 and 169 gallons per minute. The third well would provide another 181 gallons per minute.The wells are “to accommodate the planned development of the largest remaining tracts within the District. In total, 179 additional living units with associated lawn and garden irrigation are...
Baseball team holds on to get win over Blue Devils
The Columbia Falls baseball team dropped Corvallis last week 12-9 to improve its record to 4-0 on the season.Cody Schweikert had three hits and scored four runs, Kellen Kroger threw four hitless innings in the win.Behind Kroger, who walked one and struck out four, and a three-run double from Dominick Young in the fourth inning, the Wildcats had a 9-0 lead.But Young ran into trouble on the mound, giving up five hits and six runs in the fifth. Dayne Tu had a tough time in the seventh giving up four hits in 1-2/3 innings and three runs. Schweikert came in late in the seventh and got the last out for the Wildcats — his first appearance on the mound this season. The Cats travel to Troy Thursday and the are scheduled to play Bigfork Saturday at home. Gametime is 1 p.m.
Carol Torpen, 90
Carol (Harshbarger) Torpen 90, passed away peacefully on March 4 2024 at the Columbia Falls Veterans home.She was born in Antelope, Montana to John and Mattie Harshbarger. She grew up on the family farm outside of Antelope. She then met her husband Chester Torpen and they were married in 1954. They moved to a few different places in Montana until settling in Martin City, where she lived most of her life. Carol enjoyed many different projects, knitting, sewing, crocheting, quilting and selling Avon and Artex products. She loved crafting so much that she opened up her own craft shop (Carol’s Yarn...
In Brief: April 3
Heritage DaysFolks or groups interested in having an event during Heritage Days need to contact the Heritage Days committee soon, as events have to be approved by the city. They should call Shirley Reynolds at (406) 892-1078. Quilt showThe 2024 Teakettle Quilters Quilt Show is at the new Glacier Gateway Elementary School from 9 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. April 20. The guild has about 90 members and quilts from them will be on display.
Attend planning commission
The new Columbia Falls Planning Commission meets on Thursday, April 11 at 6 p.m. in City Hall. Monthly meetings will continue on the second Thursdays of the month. The agenda topic for the 11th is the public participation plan. These are public meetings and are of crucial importance to all folks living within the city limits.Remember when Senate Bill 382, the Land Use Planning Act, was passed by the Montana Legislature in 2023? The purpose was to streamline the planning and approval process for developers and city governments. That means, as far as future development in Columbia Falls city limits,...
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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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