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70 years ago

March 5, 1948

Dan Huffine was nursing an injured nanny mountain goat back to health at his place near Essex. Huffine said he found the goat in bad shape, possibly the victim of a snowslide. The goat couldn’t walk, so he took it in and nursed it back to health. The goat’s recovery was very slow. Huffine was keeping it in his barn until it got better. Crews were cutting a new route east of Belton for Highway 2 for six miles. The deepest cut was 105 feet deep and 850 feet long.

60 years ago

March 7, 1958

Plans were being made for new football fields at the Columbia Falls High School, which was under construction. The fields would be lit and would use the natural amphitheater effect of the hillside. The original plans also called for outdoor basketball courts, volleyball courts, softball and baseball fields, among other things. What became reality was the football field and the track.

50 years ago

March 8, 1968

President Lyndon Johnson announced the “Head Start” program for preschoolers. Heart Butte was going to use the program, which looks to get preschool children reading. Editor Mel Ruder noted the children hadn’t before heard the story of the “Three Bears.” Bighorn sheep were released on Teakettle Mountain. Six rams and nine ewes were released just above the Anaconda Aluminum Co. plant. She sheep came from the National Bison Range.

40 years ago

March 9, 1978

Moody’s Clothing Store on Nucleus Avenue was celebrating its 25th year. Brushed denim jackets were $27.25. The Canadians and Americans were at odds over Canada’s plan to clear cut pine bark beetle killed trees near Glacier National Park’s border. The worry was silt could damage the river and increased human presence would be detrimental to wildlife. The newspaper carried a host of photos by wildlife photographer Tom Ulrich.

30 years ago

March 9, 1988

The Hungry Horse Reservoir reached record low levels at 130 feet below full pool. At Abbot Bay, there was a half mile of mud before one reached the water. Glacier Park was a proving a popular place to work. There were 804 applicants for 15 job openings.

20 years ago

March 5, 1988

The animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals wanted Glacier National Park to ban fishing. PETA claimed that fishing was a violent act. The group, which had about 600,000 members, wanted fishing banned in all national parks. Glacier allows fishing today in nearly all of its water bodies.

10 years ago

March 6, 2008

G. George Ostrom left KOFI Radio after he had a dispute with ownership of its editorial policy. Ostrom read a story on the air about Kent Etchison, a former manager at the station who was facing federal mail fraud charges for allegedly ordering far more supplies than the station could ever use. As a kickback, he received gifts from the supply companies. The station owners apparently didn’t like Ostrom reporting on a story about one of its own employees.