Ellington

C-Falls man faces charges in alleged car theft

A Columbia Falls man is facing felony theft and criminal contempt charges for stealing a friend’s car in Whitefish before crashing and fleeing the vehicle shortly after.

Board member wants phone calls, no emails

School board member Larry Wilson wants people to call him and talk directly if they have an issue, not via email or social media.

Homegrown principal

Glacier Gateway Elementary School will welcome a Columbia Falls native as its new principal next year.

Chamber seeks new executive director

The Columbia Falls Area Chamber of Commerce is searching for an executive director. Stacey Schnebel, who has held the post since May of last year, is stepping down.

As Forest plan unfolds, a mountain bike-wilderness debate emerges

As the Flathead National Forest puts the finishing touches on a final Forest plan, one issue is rising to the forefront: Should bicycle use be allowed in areas that are recommended wilderness?

City website hacked

Someone hacked the Columbia Falls City website on Monday and the site was still down as of Wednesday morning.

Byrd will coach girls soccer team next year, too

Columbia Falls boys soccer coach O’Brien Byrd will coach both the girls and boys soccer teams next season. The School District 6 board last week approved the hire.

North Forker breaks hip on the ice

I drove the full length of the North Fork Road last Tuesday. Headed up from Columbia Falls at 8 a.m. and had lunch at a neighbors and came back to town by 3:30 p.m. It was a perfect trip. Blue sky and bright sunshine. Temperature was 8 degrees when I started and the winter paving was perfect.

How to save money

This week’s story is about how to save $15.

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Donn Abbott Thurston

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James Michael Gibson

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Roberta Carol (Herriges) Rocks

Cats end regular season with a pair of losses

They’re playing hard, but the shots just aren’t dropping. The Columbia Falls boys basketball team lost two more games last week, a 56-41 tilt against Whitefish at home Thursday and a 66-56 loss to Stevensville on the road Saturday.

Girls wallop Whitefish, Stevi to go 17-1

Talk about ending the regular season on a high note.

This Cat Can Swim

A couple of weeks ago Columbia Falls senior swimmer Colton Babcock got into the pool in Great Falls and broke the state record in the 100 yard freestyle. In Montana state swimming, the meet is scored by team, but all classes compete against each other individually in the pool, so Babcock’s mark wasn’t just the best in class A, it was the absolute best in the state.

No resemblance

Couple of weeks age, I was introduced to what I assumed to be a fairly new fan of the Hungry Horse News. After we had been engaged in a friendly conversation for several minutes, this fella up and says, “I can’t help but be curious, George. You don’t look like that caricature in your column.” That man is not the first alert reader to wonder about “now and then” difference. That is why we are referring here to an explanatory column written in October 1984:

Sled dog race this weekend from Olney to Polebridge

Mushers and their dogs from the Pacific Northwest and Canada will be testing their skills in the Flathead Classic Sled Dog Race this weekend in an overnight race from Olney to Polebridge and back. Twenty-one teams have entered the race, which begins on Saturday at the Dog Creek Trailhead 18 miles west of Whitefish. Teams travel 40 miles to Polebridge, where they will camp for the night, before returning on Sunday to Dog Creek.

Sew Fun: She has a passion for quilts

There’s a lot of people who quilt in the Flathead Valley. But very few build an addition onto their house to serve their hobby.

In her first stab at speechwriting, she qualifies for nationals

In an event she has never competed in, with a speech she wrote the week of the competition, Ava Chisholm qualified for nationals recently.

A little bird watches as Lake McDonald Lodge gets a makeover

On a frigid afternoon last week as a light snow fell, Cornelius Jirod was busy carefully cutting out an old log support from the famed Lake McDonald Lodge in Glacier National Park.

FWP sets up mussel division

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks will open a new bureau in March to prevent mussels from invading Montana’s waters. The agency began a nationwide recruitment for a bureau supervisor last week.

MatCats take second at state tourney

The Columbia Falls wrestling team had its best finish in decades at the state A wrestling tournament in Billings Saturday. The MatCats scored 131 points, good enough for second place. Havre won with 257.5 and Glendive was third with 125 points.

Perry bill heads to Senate, gets Flathead GOP support

A bill introduced by Coram Democrat Zac Perry designed to encourage business growth both here and across the state passed the House last week on a 63-33 vote.

Park, Forest Service can hire seasonals, provided they ask

A federal hiring freeze will still allow the Park Service and Forest Service to hire seasonal and temporary employees necessary to their operations, an Office of Management and Budget spokesperson confirmed Monday.

Babcock sets record in 100 free at state; boys take second

Led by senior Colton Babcock, the Columbia Falls boys swim team took second at the state A finals in Great Falls Saturday.

Wildkats thump Blue Devils at home

Kiara Burlage had a huge first quarter as the Wildkat defense stifled Corvallis in girls basketball at home Saturday. Burlage tallied 26 points total as the Kats dropped the Blue Devils, 84-48.

Boys beat Blue Devils

The Columbia Falls boys basketball team got its third win the of the season last week. They beat Corvallis on the road, 44-34.

Class of '17 one of the most successful student-athlete classes ever

A host of Columbia Falls student athletes have signed with colleges this winter, making this one of the most successful student-athlete classes ever.

Selling sports stuff

After all these years, it has finally become financially safe for me to watch a professional golf match like the Pebble Beach Classic this last weekend. There is an insidious side to several popular sports which can be rather costly. Example: During last Saturday’s broadcast there were repeated ads for a new gizmo that attaches to “your current driver” and it calculates several aspects of your personal stance, compensates for it and will add up to 25 yards to the length of your drive off the tee.

Snowstorm could be worse

Wow! What a snowstorm! Over a foot in Columbia Falls but 36 inches on the North Fork. That 36 inches was new snow that fell on 3-4 feet of snow already on the ground. Plus whiteout conditions on the road made it an event to remember.

100 best flies for Montana

Last week I suggested you get out the fly tying vise during the second half of the Super Bowl because it’s usually so boring.

Gateway to Glacier Trail organization thanks donors

Gateway to Glacier Trail organization wishes to thank Flathead Electric Co-op’s Roundup for Safety board for their support of our Welcome Gazebo project. Co-op members who roundup their bills make local projects like ours possible.

Bleed Blue week celebrates high school's accomplishments

Columbia Falls High School’s first Bleed Blue celebration is this week, and the community might be wondering what “Bleed Blue” means. Bleed Blue is an expression of pride and support for all students of Columbia Falls, with an emphasis on spotlighting the many achievements of students at CFHS.

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Gateway to Glacier Trail organization wishes to thank Flathead Electric Coops Roundup for Safety board for their support of our Welcome Gazebo project. Coop members who roundup their bills make local projects like ours possible.

Outpouring of support for Paxton Fisher as he battles cancer

The community of Columbia Falls has stepped up to support senior Paxton Fisher who was diagnosed with cancer at the beginning of February. Fisher is a Columbia Falls High School soccer captain.

Crooked Tree pool building collapses under snow

A Hungry Horse landmark was heavily damaged Feb. 7 after heavy snow collapsed the roof and crushed the building over the Crooked Tree Motel’s pool.

Tom Ulrich, noted nature photographer dies

World-renowned wildlife photographer Tom Ulrich died Friday at the Siteman Cancer Center in St. Louis, Missouri, from a rare form of leukemia. Ulrich lived in Blankenship, when he wasn’t traveling the world.

Columbia Falls home sales hit an all-time high in 2016

Home sales in the city limits of Columbia Falls hit an all-time high in 2016, with 98 homes sold in 2016, according to an analysis by Jim Kelley of Kelley Appraisal.

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70 years ago

Native Plant Society to celebrate its 30th anniversary

The Montana Native Plant Society has some upcoming events, including a celebration of its 30th anniversary.

The Super Bowl of flies

Weather forecast models, as I write this on Super Bowl weekend, are showing up to 32 inches of snow can be expected in Columbia Falls!

On Cabin Fever garb, a friend is remembered

This year’s Cabin Fever Days T-Shirts and posters will feature the late Reggie Dunkin. The affable Dunkin, who was known as the Canyon’s mountain man, died last summer. He was 65.

Stampede Packing Co. won't be coming to Columbia Falls

Stampede Packing Co., the meat packing company known for the popular Red Neck brand of specialty meats and sausages, will not be moving to Columbia Falls, the company confirmed Monday.

Welcome JIM

Columbia Falls businessman O’Brien Byrd will soon open a new JIM in Columbia Falls early next month. JIM, of course, is wordplay on gymnasium, but Byrd, is serious about fitness.

Daycare suffers smoke, heat damage in fire

The Nature Childcare Center on U.S. Highway 2 suffered an electrical fire Saturday night. The fire didn’t destroy the building, but it did do heat and smoke damage to the building and supplies inside, leaving it temporarily inoperable, according to Aleigha Russell, who works at the center.

Alt movement needs transparency

This week I did a story on the “alt” Glacier National Park and “alt “ Forest Service Twitter accounts. There’s no “alt” Flathead National Forest account, at least not as far as I could see.

Consider aging North Forkers

For some reason my 80th birthday seems to be rushing toward me much faster than did my 21st. I agree that getting old sure beats all of the known alternatives.

About Naughty Words

Cambridge University in England has just completed an in-depth study of people who cuss. The study found that cussers are much less apt to tell lies because they are more practical in their approach to life’s ups and downs. A quick scan of that report somehow caused me to remember many early studies that determined original American Indians had no swear words in their vocabularies.

Kats hammer Bigfork, Polson, face Corvallis at home Saturday

The scoring onslaught continued last week for the Columbia Falls girls basketball team. The Wildkats dropped Class B Bigfork 63-21 at home Thursday and then followed that up Saturday at home with a 87-20 thrashing of Polson.

The struggles continue: Another tough week for Wildcat boys basketball team

The Columbia Falls boys basketball team had another rough week, losing to Bigfork, 61-48 Thursday on the road and then to conference rival Polson 56-34 at home Saturday.

MatCats win fifth straight divisional title

The MatCats won their fifth straight Western A divisional title, beating out conference rival Polson, 227-203, for the championship.

Hoerner makes history signing with the Griz

Columbia Falls standout football player Trevor Hoerner made it official last week as he signed with the University of Montana football team.

Glacier Park Alt Facebook page draws 5,000 likes in about a week

After the election of President Donald Trump, a host of “alt” Facebook pages featuring prominent national parks have sprung up, including an Alt Glacier National Park Facebook page and Twitter handle.

In shooting case, a settlement

For the Hungry Horse News

64 inches of snow in St. Mary

A series of storms shot into the Flathead Valley from Friday night to Monday morning creating a rollercoaster of conditions that ended up dumping about 20 inches of snow in Columbia Falls and a whopping 64 inches at St. Mary.

Sands says good-bye, retiring after 20 years

Cheryl Sands walked into Whitefish Credit Union one day to make a payment and she left with a job working as a teller. The unexpected job was a good fit because Sands recently retired after 20 years there.

$9.5 million easement finalized for Trumbull Creek

A major conservation easement on F.H. Stoltze Land and Lumber Co. property just north of Columbia Falls was closed last week. The Trust for Public Land in partnership with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks secured a conservation easement on 7,068 acres in the Trumbull Creek area on the south face of the Whitefish Range.

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Troy Bowman named activities director of the year

Columbia Falls High School Activities Director Troy Bowman was named the 2016 Montana Class A Activities Director of the Year last month by the Montana Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association.

Another two to three feet of snow on the way, Weather Service says

The Flathead Valley and Glacier National Park saw about 12 to 14 inches of snow Friday night. It will see much more in the next couple of days, the National Weather Service is warning. Areas like Polebridge and West Glacier could see anywhere from 36 to 50 inches of snow by Monday night, with blizzard conditions Sunday night into Monday, meteorologist Corvy Dickerson said.

Judge accepts plea deal in Ponzi case

Flathead County District Court Judge Amy Eddy Jan. 25 accepted a plea deal in the Ponzi case of Catherine Ann Finberg.

Perry bill looks to cut business taxes

A bill sponsored by House District 3 representative Zac Perry could give local governments the ability to offer even greater tax breaks to new businesses or businesses that want to expand in Montana.

LOWELL JAEGER, ON POETRY

It goes back to a young boy, a boy who was so young he couldn’t even read, but his brother came home with books from school. Wonderful books. Fantastic books. And the young boy would take his brother’s books, hide in the closet, and copy down the words.

Snow, over several days, should add up

A long steady snow event could bring 8 to 16 inches of snow to the valleys and as much as two feet to places like Marias Pass starting tomorrow and running through Tuesday night.

Woman sentenced in Glacier Park thefts

A Whitefish woman was sentenced in Flathead County District Court Thursday for stealing wallets and credit cards at area bars and in Glacier National Park in 2015.

Donors step to the plate to keep Boys and Girls Club afloat

The future of the Boys & Girls Club of Glacier Country is full of hope, says club executive director Cindy Hooker.

Canadians securing their borders

Last week President Trump was busy signing executive orders to keep the bad guys out of the country, at least that’s the way he and many folks in the Grand Old Party put it.

Reforming rhymes

Editor’s note: George is sick this week, so we give you this column from 2002.

Vacation rental rules are a no-go

Several weeks ago I read a proposed text amendment to add “short term rental housing” to multiple areas in Flathead County including the North Fork. The amendment was proposed by the Northwest Montana Association of Realtors and The Flathead County Planning Board will conduct a public hearing to consider it on Wednesday, Feb. 8 at 6 p.m. in the 2nd flood conference room of the south campus building at 40 11th Street West in Kalispell.

Affordable Care Act does provide benefits

The Republican members of congress are falling all over themselves in the rush to repeal the Affordable Care Act that was instituted in 2010. They promise that the 20 million previously-uninsured Americans who have health coverage through this act will have an equivalent health program available to them. To date there is no replacement program. This even though the Republican party has had six years to develop one.

Food bank thank you

To the Editor,

Not all outfitters opposed to wilderness

We read with special interest your recent article that headlined, “Outfitters and Guides Association Opposes New Wilderness.” My wife and I own and operate Bob Marshall Wilderness Outfitters and we feel it is important to make known that many outfitters and guides do in fact strongly support new Wilderness. As was stated in the previous article, the Montana Outfitters and Guides Association’s (MOGA’s) comments were centered around their concern for degrading trail conditions in the Bob Marshall Wilderness and on other public lands which took precedence over their long history of supporting Wilderness.

A brother's painful mistake

Recently, a friend sent me an email touting a box that can be programmed to not only jig a pre-set pattern with an ice fishing rod but also jerk to set the hook.

Fisherman says thanks

Thanks to the five men who pulled us out of the snowbank at Island Lake. Thanks, it saved us a long walk.

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Walter Earl Whirry

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Laura Lea (Green) Djonne

Wildcat swimmers do well in Havre

The Columbia Falls swim teams did well at the Havre Invitational Saturday, the last meet before the state meet in Great Falls this Friday and Saturday.

Kats score 93 against Lady Yellowjackets

The Columbia Falls girls basketball team shot the lights out Saturday night as they walloped Stevensville 93-38 at home. The girls shot 65 percent in the first half alone, and 62.5 percent for the game in the rout.

Cats get stung by Yellowjackets

The Columbia Falls boys basketball team had a rough outing against Stevensville last week, losing to the Yellowjackets at home Saturday, 62-30.

Grapplers win four duals in tune-up to divisionals

The Columbia Falls wrestling team went 4-0 in duals last week, dropping Libby and Bigfork at the Whitefish duals and Polson and Whitefish at home in head-to-head matchups at home.

Cabin Fever Days next weekend in the Canyon

If you haven’t started on your sled, you’d better get going.

Hunting permit deadline is March 15

Fish, Wildlife and Parks reminds hunters that the deadline to apply for bull and antlerless elk and mule deer buck permits is March 15. The application is available at FWP license providers and online at fwp.mt.gov.

Super backs teachers, is worried about DeVos

Several teachers at the Columbia Falls Junior High wore “Red for Ed” last week. The Red for Ed movement supports public education and public schools and is also against President Trump’s pick for Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos.

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Cats cruise to state speech, debate title

The Columbia Falls speech and debate team rolled over the competition as it took an unprecedented 12th straight state A title Saturday in Laurel. The Wildcats were led by debaters Annabel Conger and Colin Norick, who took first in policy debate, while seniors Ava Chisholm and Anna Nicosia took second in public forum debate.