Ellington

Trump, Zinke and the Backcountry Hunters and Anglers

A conservation group with roots in Montana played a role in the nomination of Ryan Zinke as Secretary of the Interior.

Fire damages Columbia Falls home, garage

A fire heavily damaged a Columbia Falls home Saturday about noon. The fire broke out at the Telling residence on Fourth Avenue West.

A look back at Glacier Park in photos, 2016

Even in tough times, Duncan has fond memories

Verna Duncan has fond memories growing up in Montana, even when times were tough.

THE KEEPER OF SPOTTED BEAR

Deb Mucklow Starling grew up in Fort Collins, Colorado in town. But nearly every weekend Starling and her family would pack up their stuff and head for the hills.

Big freeze on its way

Next year will certainly start out a cold one. Starting Sunday through next week, a cold wave is expected, with

Kats hammer Bigfork to go 6-0

The Columbia Falls girls basketball team hammered Bigfork to extend their winning streak to six last Thursday on the road, 58-22.

Boys struggles continue as they fall against Vikings

The struggles continue.

MatCats get past Broncs

Columbia Falls squeaked past Frenchtown in a Northwest A conference dual last Tuesday on the road.

It was the year of the mussel

Reviewing the highlights of the year is the customary topic for columnists between Christmas and New Years.

Lawmakers reject hate groups

As we close out this year and look toward the future, we as Montana’s elected leaders are focused on the values that reflect our true character. Therefore, we condemn attacks on our religious freedom manifesting in a group of anti-Semites. We stand firmly together to send a clear message that ignorance, hatred and threats of violence are unacceptable and have no place in the town of Whitefish, or in any other community in Montana or across this nation. We say to those few who seek to publicize anti-Semitic views that they shall find no safe haven here.

Trolls and Chickens

My morning routine goes something like this: Get up, read the newspapers online and then, if it’s light out, feed the chickens.

Holiday cheer up the North Fork

I know. I said I was going to find an old fish story for this week. Even found a dandy black and white photo to go with it. Must have forgotten it was Christmas and there is always plenty to write about during the holidays. Anyway, I’ll save the old fish story for the dull times later in the winter.

A forgotten fire

If Earl W. Raymond walked into my house today, I would not recognize him. Cannot attach a face to the Falmouth, Maine man who feels I saved his life. Nevertheless, he somehow found me through the Internet last week by sending an email to my daughter Wendy and after checking with me on the phone, she sent him my phone number.

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Elisabeth Miket Phillips

Marjorie Louise Lindsey (deWit)

Marjorie Louise Lindsey (deWit)

No new mussel detections

Test results earlier this month from 182 water bodies in Montana have turned up no new detections of invasive mussels, according to the Montana Mussel Response Team.

Councilor hopes for anti-hate measure here

Columbia Falls City councilwoman Jenny Lovering hopes to see a kinder, gentler city in 2017. At the last council meeting of the year, Lovering urged her fellow councilmembers to pass a resolution denouncing hate and bigotry.

Cedar Palace closes for good

Weyerhaeuser’s “Cedar Palace” closed for good last week, with about 100 people out of work at what used to be Plum Creek’s administrative offices for the past 34 years.

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70 years ago

Junior high embracing new food program

The School District 6 Board last Monday sampled a salad, courtesy of FoodCorps representatives Shari Johnson and Mary Rochelle.

Johnson goes all out for Christmas

To step into Judy Johnson’s house in December is to step into a sort of Christmas nirvana. Every inch of the Martin City woman’s home is decorated, from holiday-themed shower curtains in the bathrooms, to coordinating floor mats and towels in the kitchen, to an incredible collection of miniatures and ornaments.

Singing in the holidays

City fixes huge water leak

A man who was walking his dog last week at the base of “killer hill” noticed water flowing out of the ground and alerted the city of Columbia Falls. The city knew it had a leak, but the man’s find helped them find out where it was. It turned out a line had broken along Ninth Street West and was leaking 500,000 gallons of water a day.

Twins hire Murray as head coach

Scott Murray has been named the new head coach of the Glacier Twins A team.

Swim teams take fifth at Missoula Invite

The Columbia Falls swim teams did well at the Missoula Invitational Saturday. Both the boys and girls teams took fifth.

Wildkats extend streak to 5-0

The Columbia Falls girls basketball team dropped conference rival Frenchtown 58-49 at home last Thursday and then beat AA Flathead 57-42 on the road Saturday.

MatCats take fifth at Holiday Classic, Freeman runner-up at 182

The Columbia Falls wrestling team took fifth at the CMR Holiday Classic wrestling tournament in Great Falls Friday and Saturday.

Boys suffer a couple of tough losses against Broncs, Braves

The Columbia Falls boys basketball team is hanging in games this year, but the Ws are proving to be elusive.

Columbia Falls wins kettle drive, again

Once again the City of Columbia Falls took top honors in the Salvation Army’s annual kettle drive. Once a year, the cities and major towns of the Flathead Valley compete to see who can raise the most money for the charity in a day.

Teen files suit in fatal wreck

A Columbia Falls teen has filed a lawsuit against the City of Columbia Falls, Columbia Falls Police Department, and Columbia Falls police officer Mike Johnson due to injuries sustained in a crash that ended a high-speed pursuit in June 2015.

Light on numbers, speech team still wins

Though they were down in numbers due to activity conflicts, the Columbia Falls High School Speech and Debate team still came away with another win on Saturday at the Western Regional AA Speech and Debate Tournament.

With correction, Glacier visitation was just under 3 million

Glacier National Park has revised its visitation estimate for 2016 to nearly 3 million visitors, after it was discovered that traffic counters didn’t always work last summer.

C-Falls Chamber presented business awards last week

The Columbia Falls Area Chamber of Commerce last Tuesday presented 15 First Buck awards and 10 Community Spirit awards at the December luncheon meeting.

Whitefish capitalist eyes CFAC for transformer factory

A Whitefish businessman is trumpeting plans to build a manufacturing facility in the Flathead Valley capable of supporting 1,000 new jobs. While the proposed venture has been met with cautious optimism from local business and community leaders, a number of significant hurdles stand in the way.

Hugh Foley, Martin City gold medalist, dies

Hugh Foley, an Olympic gold medalist and Martin City native, died last month from complications of Parkinson’s disease.

Lion lessons

I was out postholing through the snow the other day with the boy in temperatures that were hovering right around zero.

Spooky ice and other tales

I’ve been asked several times if there’s any ice and if I’ve been ice fishing yet.

Pondering enthusiasm

Got to pondering again the other day. (People over 80 ponder a lot). This latest “ponder” was one I’ve often enjoyed, “If I had to choose ONE specific characteristic which makes a person interesting and fun to be around, what would it be?”

Fond memories of a cello

Winter weather with snow may have been slow in arriving on the North Fork, but it hit hard in recent days. On Saturday I checked on about seven friends and neighbors. They all reported really frigid temperatures Saturday morning and most had a foot of snow or more on the ground. Temperatures reported ranged from minus 21 degrees to minus 33. Many folks just stayed in and fed the stove until evening.

Legals December 21, 2016

No. 1608 REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL Proposal for replacing the current phone system with a VOIP Phone System will be received by the Superintendent of Schools, 501 6th. Ave. West, Columbia Falls, Montana until 3:00 PM [MST] March 17, 2017, publicly opened and read aloud on the same day and time in the Conference Room, and taken under advisement. A recommendation to accept or reject the proposals will be made to the Board of Trustees at the next regular Board meeting scheduled for April 10, 2017. All proposals must be plainly marked "VOIP Phone System, School District No. 6 ". The Board of Trustees of School District No. 6 reserves the right to reject any and all proposals, to waive formalities, and to accept the proposal deemed most advantageous to the School District. The major components of the VOIP Phone System (Voice over Internet Protocol), as identified by Columbia Falls School District 6 are detailed below. Vendors responding should be prepared to provide a solution to the specified areas, and if after review and questions add any additional components deemed necessary to successfully complete the project. There are approximately 300 phones currently installed through the District. The proposal should include costs for replacing the handsets currently in use (most are simple handsets, with approximately 10 higher-function sets) or utilizing them in the new system. The proposal shall NOT include network drops, cabling, POE, and switching infrastructure as this is the responsibility of the District. Local and long distance phone service shall NOT be included. The proposal shall be sent to the official contact listed below, to be received no later than March 17, 2017 Columbia Falls School District 6 Attn: Superintendent Steve Bradshaw 501 6th Avenue West Columbia Falls, Montana 59912 The schedule of the selection process is as follows: 12/15/2016-Release of the RFP 1/30/2017-Request to schedule an on-site walk-through of existing system and network infrastructure. 3/17/2017-Proposal submission due 4/12/2017-Notification of Selection Results 6/1/2017-Contract Start (if appropriate) Any questions regarding this RFP must be submitted by e-mail to Columbia Falls School District 6 at RFP@cfmtschools.net. All questions will be answered promptly. Responses to inquiries that substantially or materially change the RFP will be made available to all prospective vendors that have submitted a formal Letter of Intent. Montana Code Annotated. Title 18, Chapter 1 provides that contracts for construction, repair, maintenance, or providing services to or for the State government or its subdivisions will be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder. However, the preference given to resident bidders of this state must be equal to the preference given in the other state or country and must further pay the prevailing wage rates to workers performing labor on the contract if the contract exceeds $25,000.00. Prevailing wage rates are determined by the Commissioner of Labor as provided in 18-2-401 and 18-2-402 Montana Code Annotated. The contractor is required to keep wage records to substantiate that prevailing wages have in fact been paid. Contractors are also reminded that one percent (1%) of each payment due will be withheld for the required Montana Contractors Tax. (Section 37-71-204, 15-50-205 and 15-50-206 of Montana Code Annotated) Dated this 15th day of December, 2016 Dustin Zuffelato, Clerk/Business Manager December 21, and January 4, 2016 MNAXLP

Mussel tests should be complete in the next few weeks

The extent to which invasive mussels may have contaminated Montana’s waterways could come within the next few weeks, according to biologists and state officials working to understand and address the state’s first-ever confirmed detection of the destructive mollusks.

Man sent to prison for child abuse, rape cases

A Columbia Falls man was sentenced to 35 years in Montana State Prison last week for shaking a three-month-old and causing long-lasting brain injuries, slapping a toddler, and in another case, having sex with a 14-year-old girl.

Woman admits to GNP thefts

A Whitefish woman admitted last week that she stole people’s wallets and credit cards from Glacier National Park last year.

For Donna Danz, baking is a sweet passion

Donna Danz is the image of generosity, standing in her kitchen with the warm scent of sugar wafting through the house, frosting an enormous batch of sugar cookies all to be given away.

Parade winners announced

The following are the winning floats in the Dec.3 Night of Lights Parade. There were 37 floats entered and more than 2,000 people watched the event, which was sponsored by the Columbia Falls Rotary Club.

Laid-off Weyerhaeuser workers look to future

Many employees affected by the layoffs at Weyerhaeuser last week attended a workshop to further understand the benefits available to them through the Trade Adjustment Assistance Act that was recently announced.

Restrictions on East Side Road

The East Side Reservoir Road (Road 38) along the east side of Hungry Horse Reservoir will be closed Monday through Friday to all motorized use.

Chadwick to give talk on new book on Gobi grizzlies

For the better part of the last five years, Doug Chadwick’s mornings began with the soft glow of the sun rising over the hard, tan earth of the Gobi desert. While his Mongolian colleagues slept, Chadwick would hike the hills and mountains alone before returning to camp for a breakfast of noodle soup with dried camel meat.

Cadets could use some help placing wreaths

Every winter, the young members of the Flathead Civil Air Patrol brave the cold to place wreaths on veteran’s graves at Christmas. This year the 40-plus cadets could use a little help, because they have nearly 1,300 wreaths to place, including more than 230 at Woodlawn Cemetery in Columbia Falls.

City discusses implications of Marsy's law

In her report during the city council meeting last Monday, City Manager Susan Nicosia brought to attention issues facing the city in implementing Marsy’s law. The law, which gives greater rights to victims of a crime, has proven tough to implement due to some confusing language, Nicosia told the council. There was also no definite effective date to direct implementation, Nicosia said.

Burley notary of the year

Jerry Burley, assistant vice president and loan officer at Freedom Bank on Friday was awarded Notary of the Year by Montana Sec. of State Linda McCulloch.

Xanterra buys Cedar Creek Lodge

Developer Mick Ruis has sold the Cedar Creek Lodge to Xanterra Parks and Resorts.

Zinke tapped for Secretary of Interior, accepts the post

Montana Congressman Ryan Zinke has been tapped to be the next Secretary of the Interior under the Trump Administration. Zinke, who often describes himself as a “Teddy Roosevelt Republican” supported Trump in his presidential bid.

Seniors say thanks

The North Valley Senior Center would like to let the community know how much we appreciated their support on the Night of Lights celebration.

Rotary thanks

The Columbia Falls Rotary Club would like to thank the generous businesses, restaurants and individuals who donated to the ninth annual Brunch with Santa and silent auction on Saturday, Dec. 3.

Changes

If you read last week’s column you probably guessed that I don’t like change- especially any change to the North Fork. I am told that is a common trait among folks over 50 and includes almost all of the people over 70. Maybe that makes me normal to wish for the “good old days” and at least try to modify the future.

The best fan letter

YES! Last week’s column was very serious and I promised to be different this week. Had a busy time the last few days so looked back in the files and found one of the best fan letters ever received. It was dated 5/7/09 coming from an extremely observant lady in Bigfork, Rose Ottosen. It made my week:

After a distinguished 20 years, Trenerry retires as soccer coach

Longtime Columbia Falls girls soccer coach Greg Trenerry has retired and his daughter, Nicolette Bales, has also left the program.

Kats hammer Butte Central at Tip-Off tourney

Butte Central’s winning streak is over.

Cats have tough time at Tip-Off tourney

The Columbia Falls boys basketball team had a rough go of it at the Northwest-Southwest A Tip-Off tournament in Missoula last week.

Columbia Falls grapplers do well at Mining City duals

The Columbia Falls wrestling squad had a solid week of wrestling.

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Verona Harshbarger

Outfitters and Guides Association opposes new wilderness

A longtime wilderness advocate is asking the Flathead National Forest to not add any more wilderness to its inventory.

Christmas store helps veterans and their families

Veterans and their families at the Montana Veterans Home won’t go without this Christmas, no matter what. For years now the American Legion Ladies Auxiliary Unit 137 from Kalispell and the Columbia Falls Auxiliary have teamed up to provide a “Christmas Store” for veterans.

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70 years ago

Board extends early retirement offer to three more teachers

The School District 6 Board in a 7-1 vote on Wednesday approved the extension of an early retirement incentive program originally offered during the 2015-2016 school year.

It's more than a shelter, it's a work of art

As the snow began to fall last week, Bigfork metalworker Jeffrey Funk put the finishing touches on a new steel gazebo in the Hungry Horse town square.

Parasites, genetic modification, could help mussel control

One of the leading experts on zebra and quagga mussels said he’s working on two methods that could ultimately control the invasive shellfish, but it could take years to develop them and get government approval.

Wildcat speech, debate takes first in Belgrade

Jerelyn Jones took first in humorous oral interpretation and Chloe Foster nabbed a first in memorized public address as the Columbia Falls speech and debate team won the Class A sweeps at the Belgrade Invitational Saturday.

Boys take fourth at Kalispell Invite

The Columbia Falls boys swim team took fourth and the girls took 10th in its season opener Saturday at the Kalispell Invitational.

Wildkats handle Blue Devils on the road

Cydney Finberg hit six treys and had 22 points as Columbia Falls dispatched Corvallis 70-50 on the road in girls basketball Saturday.

Cats edge Corvallis in home opener

It wasn’t pretty, but it was nice to open the season with a win.

MatCats take second in Polson

With champions in three weight classes, the Columbia Falls wrestling squad took second place at the Owen Invitational in Polson last week.

Smalley's gift ideas for the fly fisherman

Here’s some ideas for the fly fishers on your Christmas gift list:

Booster Club says thanks

We would like to thank the following businesses and associations for their generous donations hosting the divisional volleyball tournament and/or the state football game: The Backroom/ Nite Owl Restaurant, Cajun Design, Design Expressions, Domino’s, Freedom Bank, Glacier Bank, Los Caporales, Laurie’s Deli, Mike’s, North Fork Pizza, Smiths, Stageline, Super 1, Tiens, Town Pump, Parkside Credit Union, Whitefish Credit Union & The Wildc/kat Athletic Endowment Association. The community and Columbia Falls High School appreciates you and your support to Wildc/kat activities.

Concerns about the North Fork

With the end of hunting season traffic slows, and year round locals settle in for the quiet time of year. Both restaurants and bars are closed for he winter, fewer folks means fewer social obligations, the tourists are gone and the only non-resident traffic is a few lion hunters. All in all, a good time to reflect on the activities of the past and ponder what the future will bring.

The Vet's Return

Not too long ago, I wrote here about the United States’ ongoing attempts at being the protector, the “big brother,” for all the world citizens who are victims of freedom suppressing governments.

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Melinda Kay Veile

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Juanita Ellen Anderson Lind

State does an about-face on boat ban

In an about-face, Montana issued temporary emergency restrictions on the launch or removal of all boats, docks, and other structures for Tiber and Canyon Ferry reservoirs.

Most SD6 teachers will see a 2 percent raise; others up to 4 percent

The School District 6 Board Wednesday unanimously agreed to adopt a recently revised contract between the Columbia Falls Teachers’ Union and the District for the 2016-2017 school year.

Making good on a promise, principals kiss a goat

Following through on a years-old promise, Columbia Falls Junior High school principal Dave Wick and assistant principal John Cooper last Tuesday kissed a goat to honor the student body’s efforts in reaching their fundraising goal.

CFAC's taxable value dropped like a rock

The top property taxpayers in School District 6 this year is Weyerhaeuser, according to an analysis by district clerk Dustin Zuffelato.

Glacier Logan Pass goat study wraps up

A three-year study of mountain goats at Logan Pass wrapped up this fall and Glacier National Park hopes to do a park-wide study of the iconic creatures starting in a couple of years.

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Deer season had strong harvest numbers

Deer hunters had a good year as the hunting season in Montana came to a close Sunday. At the six northwest Montana check stations through the end of the season a total of 17,656 hunters checked 1,494 white-tailed deer — 1,069 of these were bucks, 146 mule deer, and 72 elk for a 9.7 percent rate of hunters with game. This is slightly higher than the 8.2 percent of hunters with game last year. The number of hunters passing through check stations in northwest Montana was down four percent.

Diversion ditch fix zooms up

A city-owned diversion ditch from the Cedar Creek Reservoir will cost about three times as much to fix as expected.

TAA benefits meeting scheduled for laid off Weyerhaeuser employees

The Kalispell Job Service will hold an informational workshop 9 a.m. Tuesday at Flathead Valley Community College Arts and Technology Building’s community room to explain details of benefits for laid off Weyerhaeuser employees.

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Floyd Elmer Grigg

Snow, cold on its way, Weather Service says

Snow lovers, rejoice.

Snowpack well below normal

Record rains in October haven’t translated to a record snowpack as the ski season is about to begin.