On Monday, Tom Heintz, Incident Commander on the Sawtooth Fire west of Hamilton, initiated a Stage 2 Evacuation Notice. The Notice is for the entire area described as follows: All residential and commercial properties West of Westside Road; All areas South of Paradise Trail and Blodgett Camp Road; NightHawk Lane South, and roads that access…
Daily Archives: 5:13 pm
Bitterroot ski resort proposal returned to sender
By Michael Howell U.S. Forest Service officials hand delivered a letter to proposed Bitterroot Resort developer Tom Maclay at a meeting they held with him last week at Bitterroot National Forest Headquarters in Hamilton. BNF Supervisor Julie King said that Maclay was told at that time that his Special Use proposal for using Forest…
County Road Department union members complain of unfair labor practices
By Michael Howell Some members of the local Laborers’ International Union, Local #1686, all of them employees of the Ravalli County Road and Bridge Department, are alleging that the county has engaged and continues to engage in unfair and deceptive labor practices and intimidation and harassment. Back in January of this year a majority of…
County settles lawsuit over Mahar agreement
By Michael Howell The Ravalli County Commissioners voted to settle a lawsuit filed by the Bitterroot Star and Ravalli County Watchdog over the Settlement Agreement signed between the county and Deputy County Attorney Jeffrey Mahar last August. Mahar had filed a human rights complaint against the county and County Attorney Bill Fulbright, claiming discrimination…
Ribbon cut on Stevi Streetscape project
The ribbon was cut last Friday on Main Street, Stevensville, in celebration of completion of Phase 1 of the Streetscape Project, a $500,000 sidewalk improvement project that included repairing hazardous stretches of the sidewalk, laying infrastructure for future lighting projects, creating bulb-outs for pedestrian safety, and many other amenities. The project was primarily funded…
Hamilton sweeps on the pitch
The Hamilton boys and girls soccer teams had a successful weekend, notching wins on Thursday against Corvallis and then again on Saturday against Polson. The Hamilton boys got off to a good start against Corvallis on Thursday when Tanner Crossman’s shot on goal hit the side bar and bounced in for the goal. Kyle Crossman…
Re: Don’t use taxpayer money to fund your campaign
Kudos to Mr. Evan Jordan of Frenchtown for his letter of 8/27/12 in which he contests Representative Denny Rehberg’s use of taxpayer money to support his candidacy for Senator. How right Mr. Jordon is! Our whole election process has been destroyed in our presence and we, the people, have done nothing to stop it!…
Kinda dry
Rain, rain, come again Before we blow away. The grass is brown, The river’s down And smoke is in the air. I guess it’s feeling autumn, And the temperatures are down, But some water we could surely use, To saturate our blues, And make us happy one again Now that our summer’s gone. …
Pushing back for Obama
Last month, on the Interstate highway between Gold Creek and Drummond, transporting a fellow Montanan to Seattle to attend to her daughter’s dying, I changed a flat right front tire on my car. The new Michelin had a quarter-inch slit in its sidewall. I kidded with a passing trucker, friendly enough to stop, even after…
Florence Cruises
The Florence Falcons flexed their muscles this weekend against two tough teams, the Loyola Sacred Heart Breakers and the Bigfork Vals, on the volleyball court. The experienced Florence team didn’t lose a game in either match. The Florence team, who went to state last year without a senior on the team, is experienced and have…