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Valley Press - Mineral Independent
Gianforte reiterates aggressive strategy for dousing wildfires during annual briefing
Gov. Greg Gianforte reiterated his administration’s aggressive approach to fighting wildfires during an annual fire briefing in Helena on Wednesday.Gianforte told the assembled representatives of state and federal agencies that his main goals during the 2024 wildfire season were aggressively attacking all burns and promoting forest management. He also called on residents to take steps to prevent fires. “We can’t stop every wildlife from starting but we can control our actions and our preparedness,” Gianforte said May 8. “As Montanans, we all have a role in preventing wildfires. It’s critical that we stay informed so we can protect our firefighters and...
May storm improves outlook, but drought concerns persist for Montana
This week’s widespread, wet storm has brought a measure of relief to parts of Montana reeling from one of the driest winters on record, but water managers say it’s too early to tell how much of that water will stick around to sustain streams, crops and forests through the hottest months of the year.“I think it’s fair to say that despite the pins and needles we’ve been on after that dry November and December, conditions this May are greatly improved from the last three [Mays],” said Michael Downey, the drought program coordinator with the state’s Department of Natural Resources and...
Buttigieg highlights US 93 funding during reservation visit
The Bi-Partisan Infrastructure Law and its connection to safety for people and wildlife was on Pete Buttigieg’s mind during his recent visit to the Flathead Reservation. Buttigieg, the U.S. Transportation Secretary, was in Western Montana Monday and Tuesday to celebrate funding from the Bi-Partisan Infrastructure Act, passed by Congress and signed by President Biden in 2021.Buttigieg met last Tuesday morning with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribal Council in Pablo and took a look at the wildlife overpass and adjacent fencing near Gray Wolf Peak Casino in Evaro, before holding a press conference. He noted the white crosses on each...
The rube sits and smiles
After having unloaded all my farm equipment from the railcar that had brought it from my late father’s farm back east, I knew that I had come to the right part of the world when Dude and Shorty, who had helped me unload it, looked at the wheels on my hay wagon and pronounced them “high-speed” because they actually had ball bearings instead of old-fashioned babbitt bearings.A person with less class than Shorty and Dude might have rightly said, “What a bunch of wore-out junk.”Their reaction told me I had landed squarely among people I could understand. In Trout Creek...
Local stars put on show at Archie Roe
When one of our own small town stars shines above the rest, it is a special thing.In sports, it is perhaps magnified when a small town athlete rises to the top.Just such a scenario is brewing, in fact the coffee may already be done, thanks to the power and athleticism of Plains student Lexie Demming.Last year as a sophomore she won the state Class B championship in the discus, then finished third in the shot put the same day.This year may be even better.Demming unleashed a discus throw of 120 feet, 3 inches this past Saturday during the Archie Roe...
Lady Hawks score 13-3 win over rival Plains
If you look purely at the score, you would think the Sanders County rivalry softball game between Plains and Thompson Falls was a rout.T Falls won the game, 13-3, making it a two-game regular season sweep for the Lady Hawks.Take a closer look at the stats, and it doesn’t change the W in the win column for T Falls, but it may provide some interesting fuel for future meetings.T Falls jumped on the Trotters for five runs in the bottom of the first after Lady Hawks pitcher Olivia Fitchett held Plains scoreless in the open half of the first inning.,...
Herd of runners take part Dixon's Stampede
On a bright beautiful Saturday morning, runners from across Northwest Montana assembled in Dixon for the annual Bison Stampede.The event was started in part to help raise money to add improvements for the students. “We put the money into things that will help the kids,” Dixon Principal Crista Anderson said. Some of the funds from this year’s event may help build a future long-jump pit for the school’s track and field program. The Stampede started in 2015 and has taken place each year except for the year covid caused its cancelation. Each year breakfast cooked by the Dixon School kitchen staff...
AG says state will consider funding for PL 280
Whether fueled by election-year largesse or Lake County’s impending withdrawal from Public Law 280, Attorney General Austin Knudsen delivered some long-awaited good news Monday. The office of Gov. Greg Gianforte, he said, “has authorized me to convey to you folks they would sign a bill through the Legislature that provided some law enforcement funding for Lake County.”The announcement comes just three weeks before Lake County is slated to withdraw from the 60-year-old agreement that gives the county the authority to arrest and hold suspects and investigate and prosecute felonies involving members of federally-recognized tribes.After years of trying to wrangle money...
Governor, Dayton students initiate Big Arm Archery Range
Governor Greg Gianforte launched the first arrow, followed by a group of Dayton Elementary students last Wednesday during the official opening of the Big Arm Public Archery Range.The governor and his wife, Susan Gianforte, were welcomed by Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribal Chair Mike Dolson and Rich Janssen, head of the Tribes’ Natural Resources Division.This new public range, located directly across U.S. 93 from the Big Arm State Park campground, features a covered shooting line and a trail system spread across approximately 35 acres overlooking Flathead Lake.Gianforte emphasized his personal commitment to hunting and shooting sports. Both, he said “are...
Mineral County Sheriff's Office report
911 HANGUP OR OPEN LINE 7ABANDONED VEHICLE 1GENERAL ANIMAL CALL OR COMPLAINT 4ASSAULT 1ASSIST MOTORIST/CITIZEN 9BODY FOUND/CORONOR 1BUSINESS CONTACT 39CIVIL ISSUE 3CIVIL ATTEMPTS/SERVICE 6CIVIL STANDBY 3DISTURBANCE 1EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICE 8EXTRA PATROL REQUEST 1FIRE 1FOLLOW UP 3INFORMATIONAL 12MOTOR VEHICLE CRASH 3OFFICER ADVICE 1ROAD HAZARD, DEBRIS ON ROAD 1SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY 6TRAFFIC COMPLAINT 12THEFT 1THREATS 1INMATE TRANSPORT 4TRAFFIC STOP 10VIN INSPECTION 3WARRANT SERVICE 1REQUEST FOR WELFARE CHECK 3
Lady Hawks stay hot in three wins
If you picked the trifecta for Thompson Falls’ Lady Hawks softball games last week you would be a winner.As long as you picked T Falls to win all three in the mythical betting arena, it would have been a wise sports fan investment.In what seems like a long time ago, Thompson Falls began last week with a make-up of a rained out game with Whitefish and beat the home standing bulldogs 17-2 in a Mercy rule shortened game.Three days later in Thompson Falls, the Lady Hawks played their second game of the season against Sanders Rival Plains and came away...
Former Plains resident helps his students and school shine
[Editor's Note: Former Plains resident Shane Browning was recently honored with a Crystal Apple award given to educators within Logan County, Colorado's school district. This story was first published in Sterling, Colorado's Journal Advocate.]For over two decades, Shane Browning has touched the lives of young students in Sterling, Colorado's RE-1 Valley School District as an elementary teacher.Browning started his teaching career in Montana, fourth grade for seven years and sixth grade for one year. In 2002, he and his wife, who is from the area, moved to Sterling and he began teaching in RE-1, where he is now a fourth...
Neva MacDonald Cummings, 89
Neva MacDonald Cummings left us early in the morning on Wednesday, April 24, 2024, at Mineral Community Hospital. Neva was born in Kamai, ID on July 23, 1934, to Weston and Alice (Brown) MacDonald, joining two sisters, Marie and Hyrel. The family lived in Superior until Neva was in the third grade, when the moved to Perma. They later moved to Dixon, where she graduated from high school in 1952. Neva went on to graduate from Western Montana College in Dillon in June of 1954. She taught school in Thompson Falls and Plains.Neva married the love of her life, Douglas...
Fran Huberty, 84
Born Frances Irene Peterson in Casper, Wyoming to Eric and Frances Peterson Oct. 17,1939. Eric traveled for work, with his small family traveling with him. School age approaching they bought a home in Minneapolis, Minn., where Fran would enjoy tap dancing, playing the clarinet, ice skating and fishing with her dad. While in high school she worked for a photo shop for a couple of years, graduating in 1957 from Richfield High School. She would go on to become a Dental Assistant which she enjoyed. It was during this time that she would meet Robert Huberty. Bob joined the Army and was...
Red Devils co-op baseball heads to state tourney
All the planning, all the hoping, all the work...and now the first season of high school varsity baseball is almost done for the Noxon-Thompson Falls co-op team in their first year of existence.This past Thursday in Noxon, the Red Devils pulled out a thrilling 6-5 victory, their third of the season against seven losses.Next up for the team is the state tournament at Ogren Park in Missoula, the summertime home of the Missoula Paddleheads minor league professional baseball team.The high school tournament runs this Thursday through Saturday (May 9-11) and features teams from throughout the area like last year’s state...
Five Valley Livestock Auction adjusts business plan
The Five Valley Livestock Auction service west of Missoula at the intersection area of I-90 and U.S. 93 is not closing, but the way they will be doing business with livestock is a big change. For years, this service has changed names and locations but they have been a rancher’s savior in many cases and a place where 4-H youngsters have cut their teeth. Cattle sales have been on Thursdays with horse and tack sales on the second Saturday of each month starting in March and ending around Thanksgiving. Sheep, goats and swine auctions were conducted at different times of the...
Legals for May, 8 2024
St. Regis Public Schools Disposal of items On April 17th, 2024 at a regular meeting of the St. Regis School Trustees in accordance with MCA 20-6-604 and St. Regis School policy #8400 and #2310P, a motion was passed to dispose of treadmills (3). For questions, contact: Derek Larson, Superintendent 406-649-2311 St. Regis School P.O. Box 280 St. Regis, MT 59866 Published in the Mineral Independent on May 1, May 8, 2024. MNAXLP __________________________ NOTICE OF TRUSTEE’S SALE To be sold for cash at a Trustee’s Sale on September 13, 2024, at 11:00 AM on the front...
Mack Days wraps up May 11
Only one weekend left in the 2024 Spring Mack Days fishing event on Flathead Lake.The event began March 14 and will end Saturday May 11. Mack Days fishing events are sponsored by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and are sanctioned by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. The events are used as a management tool to reduce the numbers of non-native lake trout in Flathead Lake. This event is one of the better events in Mack Days history when it comes to numbers of lake trout entered. A total of 32,683 have been entered so far. The 2019 Spring Event holds...
Standout seniors earn DUI Task Force scholarships
Three seniors were invited to the courthouse in Superior on April 30 to be presented with scholarship from the Mineral County DUI Task Force. The $500 scholarships were awarded to Alberton High School's Lacey Zimmerman, Superior High School's Lanie Crabb, and John Pruitt from St. Regis High School.This year the Task Force received and carefully reviewed eight applications determining a numerical score based on multiple factors, including GPA and general academic performance, extracurricular activities, life and employment experiences life, recommendation letters, awards received, an essay response and community service.Sheriff's Deputy Matthew Hurteau, who has taken over the leadership position of the DUI Task Force remarked, "What we were looking for was the most well-rounded individuals, not just those who played sports or did well academically, but students who pushed themselves, and ones with good character."Hurteau hopes to hear from the graduates in whatever career path they choose, whether its college or vocational training, and be able to point next years seniors to their achievements and encourage future applicants. He also looks forward to more community involvement in the future and continued interactions with the schools.
Valley Press - Mineral Independent
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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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