Weekly roundup: End of the road for Libby golf-cart proposal

A resident-spurred effort to legalize golf carts on Libby’s streets broke down last week.

The proposed ordinance made it as far as the Libby City Council agenda. When it came up during the Oct. 19 meeting, it failed to garner a motion for adoption. Without a motion, though, the golf cart proposal died ignominiously on the floor.

The council’s ordinance subcommittee took up the issue earlier this year at the behest of several residents who wanted to make it easier for those with handicaps to travel around Libby. The subcommittee generated a rough draft in late September, which would have heavily restricted where, when and how a golf cart might traverse Libby’s roadways.

Among the restrictions, carts would have remained banned from U.S. 2, Montana 37 and Mineral Avenue. They would have had to boast a number of safety features, including headlamps, stop lamps, reflectors and mirrors, among others.

Drivers, under the ordinance, would have needed to register the cart with the state and procure liability insurance.

Silence reigned after Mayor Brent Teske brought the proposal to the floor. After a few heartbeats, he declared the measure dead.

—The Western News

Lake County gets new election administrator

Toni Kramer has accepted the position as Lake County’s new election administrator.

Kramer has lived in Billings all her life, and farmed for 30 years and owned a small business.

She is in training with the current administrator, Katie Harding, who stepped into the Lake County Clerk and Recorder position Nov. 1. Harding will continue to work with Kramer through the Nov. 3 election.

— Lake County Leader

Plains school construction begins

Plains students, guests and members of the School Board, along with a very special alumnus gathered for a traditional first shovel of dirt groundbreaking ceremony heralding the beginning of construction on a new multi-use school building.

Among those attending was 95-year-old Neptune “Nep: Lynch IV, a 1943 Plains High School graduate who donated $400,000 to the $1.68 million project as a way of thanking the school and community for getting him started on a long and successful career.

When completed, the new building will provide a full-size rubberized basketball/volleyball court, a new art classroom, an area for ceramic kilns and locker rooms, plus a health and physical education office, storage areas, a drama stage area, public restrooms and flexible space that could be used for additional classrooms.

— Clark Fork Valley Press

Mineral county taser training

Mineral County Sheriff Mike Toth has been on the job just over three months and the department is getting an upgrade.

Six new police cruisers are being built. New body cameras arrived recently, and state-of-the-art Tasers came in so all deputies are trained and the new equipment is in use.

— Mineral Independent

Longtime election judge still on the job

An election judge with 30 years of experience will head up the Election Day ballot drop site at the Trego-Fortine-Stryker Fire Hall, the Tobacco Valley News reports.

Virginia Pine, a lifelong Fortine resident, is the chief judge for Precinct 1, Lincoln County Election Administrator Chris Nelson said.

Pine said she hasn’t missed an election since she first registered to vote at age 18, the Tobacco Valley News article noted.

“My mom used to be the election judge, and I decided to go ahead and do it,” Pine said. “It’s kind of a family thing.”

— Tobacco Valley News