Yesterdays: Aluminum worker asbestos lawsuit
Students head into the Apgar School in December, 1953. The school, located in Glacier National Park, is a gift shop today. (Mel Ruder photo)
70 years ago
Dec. 4, 1953
A graphic on the editorial page noted that tuberculosis was infecting people at a rate of about 115,000 per year across the U.S. Plum Creek had stockpiled about 10 million board feet of logs at its mill in Columbia Falls, which represented about 3,000 man days of work over the summer and fall.
60 years ago
Dec. 6, 1963
The Forest Service was building a campground between Hungry Horse and the South Fork of the Flathead. The first loop was expected to be ready by June. Today, there is no campground there, just woods.
50 years ago
Dec. 7, 1973
Glacier National Park announced it would complete restoration work at Granite Park chalet and the old St. Mary Ranger Station. The chalet would get a new kitchen, doors, windows and a staircase. The ranger station would see foundation and roof work.
40 years ago
Dec. 8, 1983
The Columbia Falls girls basketball team won the state AA title, the first state title in the program’s history. The Kats beat Helena 68-53 in the championship and had a 22-3 record overall under coach Larry Schmautz.
30 years ago
Dec. 9, 1993
The preferred option to fix up Glacier Park’s backcountry chalets had a price tag of about $4.2 million. The toilet at Sperry Chalet, which never worked entirely as designed, cost $1 million in the end and made national headlines. The chalets were closed to the public at the time due to maintenance and human waste issues. The Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. was told by the state it had to cap a landfill that was leaking cyanide into the groundwater. The landfill is still leaking cyanide to this day.
20 years ago
Dec. 4, 2003
The Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. was facing several lawsuits from workers who alleged they were exposed to asbestos when working at the plant. The Park Service nixed the idea of privatizing entrance employees.
10 years ago
Dec. 4, 2013
Some local grocery stores were taking just cash or check after their computer networks were hacked so they couldn’t take credit or debit cards.