Yesterdays: Voters to consider buying land for high school

70 years ago

Jan. 7, 1955

Voters were set to vote on a measure to buy about 18.4 acres of land from the Hoerner family for a new high school facility. The old school was built in 1940 (and is a Boys and Girls Club today). The land was located off 13th Street, where the school sits today.

60 years ago

Jan. 8, 1965

A classic photo by editor Mel Ruder of a man on a horse looking over Grinnell Lake in Glacier National Park would grace the cover of the Pacific Power and Light telephone directory. “Policy is to donate photos to projects such as this,” Ruder wrote.

50 years ago

Jan. 10, 1975

Services were held for Burton K. Wheeler, former U.S. Senator whose family cabin was at the head of Lake McDonald. Wheeler was 92. Our Saviors Lutheran Church was dedicated.

40 years ago

Jan. 10, 1985

Like something out of a movie, the FBI arrested three people at the Log Cabin Bar in Kalispell on suspicion of committing at $3.6 million Brinks Armored Car robbery in California. Agents blocked the doors of the bar and arrested the trio as they played poker. Kalispell Police were also involved.

30 years ago

Jan. 5, 1995

The City of Columbia Falls quietly turned on its new water system, taking water from a well at Clare Park (off Talbott Road) instead of the Cedar Creek Reservoir. Today, the city has three wells it gets its water from.

20 years ago

Jan. 7, 2005

Bill Dakin and Ken Siderius were given awards by the Flathead Land Trust for their land conservation efforts in the valley. Dakin was from Columbia Falls and Siderius was a farmer near the Flathead River.

10 years ago

Jan. 6, 2015

The city opted to boost the cost of a special improvement district to replace water lines along Fourth Avenue West. Bids came in about 30% higher than expected, at $870,000. This year, the road and utilities will be reconstructed again, this time through a federal grant with a city match.