Five file to serve on Polson Government Study Commission
KRISTI NIEMEYER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 year, 11 months AGO
Kristi Niemeyer learned her newspaper licks at the Mission Valley News and honed them at the helm of the Ronan Pioneer and, eventually, as co-editor of the Leader until 1993. She later launched and published Lively Times, a statewide arts and entertainment monthly (she still publishes the digital version), and produced and edited State of the Arts for the Montana Arts Council and Heart to Heart for St. Luke Community Healthcare. Reach her at [email protected] or 406-883-4343. | August 29, 2024 12:00 AM
Five local residents have filed for Polson’s Local Government Review Commission, and one has filed for St. Ignatius. Ronan has no candidates, unless someone files as a write-in by Sept. 3.
If no additional candidates file for Polson’s commission, the following people will be elected by acclamation: Mark Hubbard, Peter Ridgeway, Phillip Thelen, Dave Rittenhouse and Larry Ashcraft.
Ralph Foster has filed to participate in the St. Ignatius Study Commission. If no one else signs up as a write-in candidate, the town council will need to appoint two additional members.
Ronan has no candidates for its five-member commission, which leaves the job of appointing members to the city council.
The Montana Constitution requires that voters be given the option of electing a local government review commission every 10 years. In Lake County, voters in all three municipalities approved the review, which appeared on the ballot in June. An option to review county government was rejected by voters.
After the commissions are seated following the general election in November, members have a full year to evaluate their local government’s structure and propose recommendations for improvements to the voters by November 2026.
For more information on the process, visit www.montana.edu/extension/localgov/mtvoterreview/index.html.
Voting begins Oct. 7
Ballots for the general election will be mailed Oct. 11, with absentee ballots available Oct. 7 for in-person voting at the Lake County Election Office.
After regular voter registration closes Oct. 7, voters will need to appear in person to register or make changes to their voter registration.
Lake County Election Administrator Toni Kramer encourages people to check their voter status at the voter portal at the Secretary of State’s Office, prodvoterportal.mt.gov/WhereToVote.aspx.
“Here, voters can check their registration, view sample ballots when they are available, and check the status of their ballot,” she says.
The only change in polling locations for the Nov. 5 General Election is in Arlee, where the election will again be held in the remodeled Arlee Senior Center.
For more information, visit www.lakemt.gov/170/Elections.
ARTICLES BY KRISTI NIEMEYER
Orchardists enjoy 'one of the best markets ever' for Flathead cherries
Cherry grower Brian Campbell couldn’t be happier with this year’s harvest, and what he describes as “probably one of the best markets we've seen” for the luscious red fruit grown on the shores of Flathead Lake.
St. Ignatius Police signs on to Simply Report anti-trafficking partnership
The St. Ignatius Police Department is the first agency in Lake County, and among the first in Montana, to sign on to a new initiative that aims to combat human trafficking.
Teamwork helps state continue to thwart aquatic invaders
“We gotta keep it protected,” said Quinn Erwin of Helena as he waited in line at the Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) check station in Ravalli July 2. He was on his way to Flathead Lake with two jet skis in tow.