“Lower than average mountain precipitation combined with higher than average temperatures resulted in an overall decrease in statewide snowpack in March and a potentially dismal forecast for streamflows,” said Roy Kaiser, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) water supply specialist.

March mountain precipitation statewide was 66 percent of average. Increases in mountain snowpack were well below average except in the Tongue and Powder River basins, where above average mountain snowpack increases occurred at the end of March. March mountain precipitation west of the Continental Divide was 82 percent of average and east of the Divide was 54 percent of average.

Of special concern to Kaiser was the fact that snow melt had already begun at lower elevations and on warmer exposures. “Luckily, cooler temperatures in late March and early April have slowed snow melt,” said Kaiser. The snowpack stored in the mountains makes a significant contribution to streamflows across the state during the spring and summer months.

Statewide, mountain snowpack decreased an average of 17 percent during March. However, data gathered by the automated SNOTEL system maintained by NRCS indicates there has been about a two to five percent gain in the mountain snowpack statewide since April 1 and the Lower Yellowstone River Basin gained about 16 percent.

On April 1, the mountain snowfall season is about 95 percent complete and the mountains will typically reach seasonal peaks during April. As of April 1, mountain snow water contents statewide were 70 percent of average and 70 percent of last year. West of the Continental Divide, snowpack was 75 percent of average and 75 percent of last year. East of the Divide, snowpack was 68 percent of average and 70 percent of last year.

Snowpack in the Bitterroot River Basin as of April1 was 70 percent of average, and 67 percent of last year.

“Statewide, streamflow forecasts average 64 to 77 percent, and rain will be necessary to keep rivers and streams from falling to critically low flows,” said Kaiser. Actual streamflow volumes and peaks will be dependent upon temperatures and the amount of rain each basin receives. West of the Continental Divide, streamflow forecasts average 74 to 83 percent and east of the Continental Divide, average between 57 and 73 percent.

RML lecture series

Karl M. Johnson, M.D., who three decades ago designed the world’s first maximum containment research laboratory to work on newly discovered exotic viruses, will be in Hamilton on Friday, April 13 to discuss “A Passion for Public Health: The History of and Need for Biosafety Level-4 Research.” His presentation begins at 7 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center of Hamilton High School, 327 Fairgrounds Road. The talk is targeted to a general audience as part of Rocky Mountain Laboratories’ (RML) free public lecture series.

Dr. Johnson is considered to be the father of modern BSL-4 research. He chaired the scientific peer review group that designed the soon-to-be completed RML Integrated Research Facility, which contains BSL-4 laboratory research space. He also has served on review panels for other BSL-4 construction projects in the United States as well as in Australia and Canada.

“In the 1960s and 70s, when serious disease outbreaks occurred in exotic places like South America, Africa, and Korea, Dr. Johnson generally led the teams to determine what was happening, and how to stop it,” says Marshall Bloom, M.D., associate director at RML. “His knowledge of BSL-4 laboratory work is encyclopedic.”

Dr. Johnson is prominently figured in two popular books about BSL-4 work and infectious diseases, "The Hot Zone" and "The Coming Plague." The latter begins with the story of how he was infected in the 1960s in Bolivia with an unknown hemorrhagic fever virus that he later named Machupo. Dr. Johnson also contributed to the discovery or isolation of several other previously unknown viruses, including Ebola virus.

In 1958, after completing his medical studies at the University of Rochester and Columbia University, Dr. Johnson began his research career at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), which oversees RML. In 1962, he began field work in Panama, where he remained until 1975 when he founded the Special Pathogens Branch at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta.

It was while at the CDC that Dr. Johnson perfected his idea for what is now the BSL-4 laboratory: a research space where workers and the environment are protected through the use of sealed positive air pressure suits, filtered air flows, complete containment of aerosols and established safety standards.

“That first high-containment laboratory could have just as easily been developed at RML,” Dr. Bloom says, recalling that Dr. Johnson nearly came to work in Hamilton in 1972. “While in Central and South America, he realized the need for more advanced facilities to study these new viruses, and that’s when he developed the concept for the modern BSL-4 lab.”

Dr. Johnson and his wife, Merle, lived in the Bozeman area of Montana for a number of years but were subsequently lured to New Mexico following the discovery of Hantavirus in the 1990s.

“My passion for these viruses remains extreme, as does my determination that we maintain the Western world’s 30-year absence of lab infection in workers and the environment,” Dr. Johnson says.

Following Dr Johnson’s talk, there will be a narrated slide presentation about the RML Integrated Research Facility. According to Dr. Bloom, “This will be the opportunity to give our community members a peek inside the new building that has been the focus of so much interest for the last several years.” Dr Johnson, who will assist in the narration, noted, “There is no doubt in my mind that the RML IRF will be the premier BSL-4 facility and, knowing RML as I do, I fully expect that the research done there will be of great importance to this field.”

NIAID is a component of the National Institutes of Health. NIAID supports basic and applied research to prevent, diagnose and treat infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections, influenza, tuberculosis, malaria and illness from potential agents of bioterrorism. NIAID also supports research on basic immunology, transplantation and immune-related disorders, including autoimmune diseases, asthma and allergies.

Stevi BPA students compete at state conference

Twelve students from Stevensville High School competed in numerous events at the Business Professionals of America State Conference in Billings Mach 4-6. BPA is a professional business organization that allows students to gain real life skills and promotes leadership development and team building. Students have 93 possible events they can compete in. Results follow.

Website Design Team, 9th place: Justin Bush, Ryan Anderson and Cody Rosin

Economic Research Project, Individual, 6th Place: Emily Driemeyer

Presentation Management, Individual, 4th Place: Ronikka Kendall

Global Marketing Team, 6th Place: Ryan Kutter and Jessica Pepprock

Small Business Management Team, 7th Place: Nick Giese, Ashley Walker, Ryan Kutter and Jessica Pepprock.

Victor Garden Club

by Louise Langton

The Victor Garden Club met on March 12 at the home of Marie Nordenstrom with 18 members present and Tressa Baker presiding.

Jean Thomas urged all the members to attend the State Federation of Garden Clubs convention in Malta, Montana June 14-16.

Plans are underway to have the Blue Star Memorial Day on Memorial Sunday, May 27 after the dinner at the Victor School.

Wendy Hauser read the new club bylaws. Annual dues of $10 are due by June 1. The nominating committee for new officers is Jean Thomas, Wendy Hauser, Carol Biddlecome, Barry Clark and Lucille Copp.

All people and organizations wanting to rent the Victor Park for reunions, weddings and events should notify the club by May 15 by calling Helen Fawsett at 642-9047.

All Garden Club members never attend the meetings should turn in their handmade Garden Club aprons by calling Wendy Hauser at 642-9640 as soon as possible.

There are now 30 members in the club which has been in Victor for 60 years this year. The next meeting is on April 9 at 12:45 p.m.

Food vendors needed for Farmers Market

The Valley Farmers Market Co-op, previously known as the Hamilton Farmers Market, is getting ready for the 2007 season, beginning Saturday May 5. There are openings for commercial vendors or non-profit groups and churches who would like to sell breakfast or lunch hot foods at the Market. If you have a sanitarian-approved cooking booth or trailer and are interested in making money, while making Hamilton's Farmers Market one of the more enjoyable markets in the state, call Laura Craig, Market Manager, at 961-0004.

Births

Births at Marcus Daly Hospital, Hamilton

3-13-07
Boy, 7 lbs., 4 oz., 21 inches, to Matt Golden and Christina Phillips, Hamilton

Obituaries

Julia M. Keeley
1923-2007

Julia M. (Wandler) Keeley, 83, widow of Maurice J. (John) Keeley, passed away on January 6, 2007 at her daughter's home in Phoenixville, PA.

She was born on January 26, 1923 in Shiefield, ND, the daughter of Cyriak and Margaret (Heidt) Wandler. Her family relocated to the Stevensville area where she grew up and went to school.

Julia worked as a waitress at the original 4-B's in Missoula in the early 40s. She married Maurice John Keeley on November 29, 1941. The family later relocated to Pennsylvania.

Julia was employed as a seamstress at Spring City Knitting and Sirkum Knitting Mills in Pennsylvania. She was also a cook at the Pennhurst State School at Spring City, Pennsylvania.

John and Julia moved to Stevensville in 1971. During their retirement years the couple were honored by the Town of Stevensville for community service. One of their activities was to walk along the highway and community streets to remove trash. Their leisure time was spent hunting and fishing in the Bitterroot Valley. Julia was well known for her homemade fruit leather and John for his smoked fish.

Preceding her in death, along with her husband in 2005, are brothers Louis (Shorty) Wandler of Stevensville, George Wandler of Missoula, Tony Wandler of Great Falls and a son George, 1946.

Surviving are her children: James Keeley, Collegeville, PA; Julia Margaret Jalcs, Phoenixville; John R. Keeley, Stevensville and William F. Keeley, Missoula; siblings: Pauline, California; Ned Wandler, Stevensville; Lisa, Florida; Delores, Idaho; Herbert, Washington; Jeannette, Conrad, MT; Cyriak, Jr., Washington; and Donald Wandler, Stevensville. Also surviving are 8 grandchildren, seven great grandchildren and one great great grandchild.

Memorial services for Julia will be held at the First Baptist Church of Stevensville on Saturday, April 14, at 10:30 a.m. with Pastor Ben Baker officiating. Private internment will take place following a luncheon at the church.

The Whitesitt Funeral Home in Stevensville is in charge of arrangements.

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