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Valley Press - Mineral Independent
Michael Edward Needham, 58
Michael Edward NeedhamJanuary 28, 1966 - March 9, 2024Michael Edward Needham left this world too soon on March 9, 2024. He passed away at home after suffering a cardiac event.While his heart would finally give out, all who knew Mike would tell you it was that same heart which made him the kind, caring, gentle and generous soul we will all profoundly miss. He was always putting others before himself. His loved ones already miss his off-beat humor and terrible dancing.An avid and accomplished home chef and baker, food was his love language. His jerk chicken and cheesecake recipes will...
Loge offers balanced viewpoint
Denley Loge first ran for election as state representative for Sanders, Mineral, and Missoula counties in 2016. Even though he ran as a Republican, I not only supported him, but I had also encouraged him to run. I had known Denley for the eight years I was his Democratic state senator for those same counties (2001-2009) and he helped me as I campaigned for that position—twice. So while Denley decided to be a Republican, I thought he was the same Denley who would listen respectfully to people with opposite views and make sensible decisions based on a balanced viewpoint.I still think that, and so I encourage a vote for Denley Loge in the Republican primary election for Senate District 45.— Jim Elliott, Trout Creek
In support of Denley Loge
I am writing this letter in support of Denley Loge and his candidacy for Senate District 45. I’ve had the honor of working with Denley since he was first elected to the House in 2017 and was pleased to find him as a thoughtful and honest legislator. It was my observation that he was very respectful of his constituency and wanted to do what was best for Montana.As a 38-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force/Montana National Guard and a former State Representative, I have worked with legislators for over 4 decades to encourage their support of the needs of...
Spotlight on the Arts: Serenity Barrus
“Spotlight on the Arts” by The Paradise Center honors and encourages students in the arts by highlighting their talent and acknowledging the support they receive through their schools and teachers.Students involved in music have many avenues to achieve their goals. “A road less traveled,” but taken by some students, is the pursuit of perfecting their voice. Serenity Barrus is one of those. A 19-year-old senior at Thomson Falls High School, she is not just a singer, she is an opera singer with a long-term desire to perform professionally. It is no surprise to learn that her favorite musical era is...
PHOTOS: Alberton High School prom
This couple started the procession and then performed their duty as the sash, hat and crown presenter to the 2024 Alberton prom royalty. CLARKFORKVALLEYPRESS “This just might be the happiest moment of my life, so far!” CLARKFORKVALLEYPRESS Towards the end of the Grand March, prom goers were confident, but still cautious, making the transition to the dance floor. CLARKFORKVALLEYPRESS The Alberton School District is a big family. This year, the 8th Grade students were invited to the prom. CLARKFORKVALLEYPRESS “Only 2 more steps and I’ve made it!” CLARKFORKVALLEYPRESS The red-carpet attention at the Oscars paled in comparison to the kindness at the Alberton prom...
Hunter ed instructors honored for service
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks honored the service of its volunteer Hunter, Bowhunter, and Trapper education instructors at a workshop and awards luncheon this month in Missoula.Montana's Hunter, Bowhunter and Trapper Education program is made possible by a group of dedicated volunteer instructors that collectively teach hundreds of classes each year around the state. In west-central Montana, over 100 volunteer instructors teach approximately 1,000 students annually, and some instructors have spent decades with the program.Two instructors, Dave Tweet of Missoula and Gordon Pierson of Deer Lodge, were recognized for 40 years of service in the Hunter Education program. John Benda...
PHOTOS: Superior T-ball sluggers
PHOTOS: Superior T-ball sluggers Sometimes doing the robot helps you make it to second base. Henry Crabb on the Blue Team for Superior's T-Ball throws in the some style Thursday night at Timberman Park. (Mineral Independent/Amy Quinlivan) Who's running to third, Gavin Steele is heading for home, and I don't know what the third baseman is digging in the dirt for. T-ball can be quite a riot! (Mineral Independent/Amy Quinlivan)
Community calendar
Mineral County Chamber of Commerce meetings are the first Wednesday of the month at 5:30 p.m. and are open to the public with encouragement of businesses to participate. The next one is May 1. Info 406-370-5915.Mineral County Transportation. Mineral County residents can schedule rides to Missoula or medical runs inside Mineral County with the Pioneer Council. (406) 552-7003.Sanders County Transportation. Serving Sanders County residents. Call 406-741-2346 or go to www.rideSCT.com to schedule.Plains Community Food Bank hours are Tuesdays 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. 300 Clayton St. Plains.VFW Auxiliary in Plains hosts a veterans lunch every third Thursday of the month...
St. Regis star John Pruitt signs with Rocky
One of the greatest challenges facing small town athletes who aspire to move on and continue their sports careers in college is that the small number of students at many B and C schools do not typically produce college-level competitors.Or so they think.And St. Regis High could easily claim to be the leaders of the pack in producing quality where quantity is lacking.The latest example is the signing this past week of St. Regis all-around athlete John Pruitt to a scholarship and a spot on their “developmental” team, aka JV.Widely regarded as one of the best players in the area,...
COLUMN: Choosing sides
Life, they say, is all about choices.Go down one road and its smooth sailing.Embark on a journey down the other fork in the highway, the one filled with unknowns, and it can be like a ride down Grand Avenue in Billings, a major thoroughfare that no doubt resembles Swiss cheese when viewed from above thanks to a plethora of potholes.Not Chuck holes. Potholes.And like all things seem to be, choosing the right road is often a day-to-day, always-changing gamble. If I pick Johnny for my school yard basketball team, will he be dead eye Johnny, the kid who never misses...
Plains girls finish 3rd at ARM track meet
Host Whitefish swept the men’s and women’s team titles at last weekend’s ARM track meet, while the Plains women continued their impressive run in the women’s title chase.Whitefish won the boys team crown with 126 total points, easily outdistancing second place Bigfork, which amassed 98 points. The Whitefish women compiled 167.5 points, well ahead of runner-up Columbia Falls.The Plains women, meanwhile, led by another double weight event sweep by junior Alexis Demmng, placed third in the women’s team standings with 62 points, many of them via Demming’s first place showing in both the discus and shot put.Demming is the defending...
Plains’ Alexis Demming competes at 'Top 10'
It is billed annually as the “Top 10” track and field meet, a measuring stick event featuring the top 10 performers from throughout Western Montana in track and field events.And while the meet is typically dominated by Class AA and A schools, athletes from small Montana high schools have an opportunity to shine against the best in the state regardless of class.And for local standout track and field athletes like Plains’ Alexis Demming, there are no doubt some extra eyes on a handful of Class B and C standouts this year.Demming, the defending state girl’s discus champion from last year,...
Baseball co-op Red Devils fall to Ronan, Frenchtown
It was an overcast, chilly day in the Northwest corner of Montana...perfect weather for baseball?Depends on your point of view.But with rain wreaking havoc on spring sports schedules in the first half of the 2024 season, getting a game or event in is a victory in its own right.Nonetheless, while the rain held off, the new kids on the block got in some innings and experience, two things the new varsity baseball players from the Noxon-Thompson Falls co-op team need more of.Tuesday the Red Devils traveled to Ronan for a make-up game that was canceled earlier this month and fell...
Tigers golfers win on home course
Apparently, St. Regis golfers like home cooking.The Tigers boys blistered the Trestle Creek Golf Course on the edge of town for a 345 team total over the 18-hole layout to clinch the team title by a wide margin over runner up Thompson Falls, 345-397.With senior Jack Connolly leading the way with a 79, the Tigers pulled away from T Falls on a cool, windy day that eventually gave way to bright Montana sunshine.Meanwhile, in the girls’ competition, Thompson Falls carded a team score of 464 to best three other schools with enough golfers to qualify for the team chase. Second...
Mixed results for Superior tennis team
It was a mixed bag for the Superior tennis team this past week.Not so much in results as the Lady Bobcats kept dispatching the majority of players they faced in Philipsburg and Mission last week.But the makeup of the teams they played and mostly defeated consisted of girl and boy players from both of those schools.With not enough players available for a legitimate high school tennis match, Mission and Philipsburg recruited some male student players to fill in their depleted ranks.Mother Nature finally stepped in and halted the match with a Superior duo ahead in the last doubles match before...
Thompson Falls-Noxon co-op softball team wins four straight
Momentum with post season play on the horizon is always a good thing.That being said, the Thompson Falls-Noxon co-op softball team has a good thing going.Assuming they beat Whitefish on Monday afternoon, the red hot Lady Hawks will have reeled off five lopsided wins in a row, with four games left in the regular season.A four-game sweep this past week of Troy, Bonners Ferry, Idaho, Anaconda and Deer Lodge, along with a likely road win over Whitefish, and the Lady Hawks will be rolling along with an 11-3 season record.They completed the week’s “quad-win” this past Saturday, dodging heavy rain...
St. Regis senior Connolly earns Gaylord Green Scholarship
Gaylord Green lived in Haugan and graduated from St. Regis High School in 1958. He received an appointment to the Air Force Academy where he graduated with a degree in engineering science, followed by a master’s in aeronautics/astronautics at Stanford. He had a successful career in the Air Force. Green had a major role in ending the Cold War and he is credited with inventing the Global Positioning System (GPS). “I received no money from that [creating the GPS] other than my Air Force salary as those were my Air Force assignments,” he humbly shared. “After my Air Force retirement, I made...
Copperheads take one from Trotters
The unofficial score: Anaconda 1, Plains 0, Mother Nature, 1-1.And in the end, Ma Nature was the big “winner” Saturday as Anaconda’s Lady Copperheads came to town and scored a 19-4 win over Plains. A second scheduled game, against Deer Lodge, was rained out by the nature lady as heavy, off-and-on showers swept through the Plains area.Anaconda broke loose for six runs in the top of the first inning at Plains field. The Lady Copperheads pounded out five hits in the first inning in their opening turn at the plate.However, Plains came back in the bottom of the first with...
Mineral County Sheriff's Office report
911 HANGUP OR OPEN LINE 4ABANDONED VEHICLE 1ANIMAL ABUSE 1GENERAL ANIMAL CALL OR COMPLAINT 3ANIMAL OTHER 1ASSIST OTHER AGENCY 2ASSIST MOTORIST/CITIZEN 8BODY FOUND/CORONER 1BUSINESS CONTACT 38DRUGS/NARCOTICS 1EMS 4EXTRA PATROL 2FIRE 2FOLLOW UP 2HARASSMENT/ PRIVACY IN COMMUNICATION 1INFORMATIONAL 16INTIMIDATION/HARASSMENT 1MOTOR VEHICLE CRASH 4OFFICER ADVICE 2PROPERTY LOST 1ROAD HAZARD, DEBRIS ON ROAD 4SEXUAL ASSAULT 1SUICIDE ATTEMPTS/THREATS 2SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY 6TCMPL P TRAFFIC COMPLAINT 5THEFT P THEFT 2TRANSP P INMATE TRANSPORT 2TRAFFIC STOP 12VIN INSPECTION 3REQUEST FOR WELFARE CHECK 2WELFARE CHECK 1
Donald Trump Jr. rallies Republican support for Montana candidates
Former president Donald Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., rallied on Sunday for leading Republican candidates in Montana, urging support for a conservative agenda that he said will help win races up and down ballots in November.The “Protecting Freedom” event was hosted by the recently formed Montana Association of Conservatives, or MAC-PAC, and featured speeches from U.S. Senate hopeful Tim Sheehy, U.S. Representative Ryan Zinke, Gov. Greg Gianforte and conservative political commentator Alex Bruesewitz.Speaking to a crowd of roughly 300 people at the University of Montana, the speakers criticized the Biden administration, Democrats in Congress, Montana Democratic U.S. Senator Jon...
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We are the local newspapers for Sanders & Mineral Counties in Montana. The Clark Fork Valley Press is published in Plains, and the Mineral Independent is based in Superior. Both papers are published weekly on Wednesdays. Our office (at 105 W. Lynch St., Plains MT 59859) is open Mon. - Fri. 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
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