Looking Back: The Boss plays casual concert at the Northern

A look back at past Pilot articles by Julie Engler 

50 Years Ago 

Aug. 12, 1976 

A final budget in the amount of $978,767 for the 1976-77 fiscal year was set for the City of Whitefish following a public hearing and agonizing by city officials over vagueness of projected income figures from the state. The figure was up from a total for the 1975-76 budget, which ran $855,679, but the mill levy, which determines the tax burden for property owners, remained at 65 mills. The city's general fund will run $263,987 for the current year. The park fund was up with $106,810 for the coming year. Budget for the fire department was up from last year at $11,207. 

40 Years Ago 

Aug. 13, 1986 

It took five hours and vote after vote, but the City of Whitefish approved a budget to guide it through the 1986-87 fiscal year. Just before midnight Monday, the council, on a 4-2 vote, adopted a budget of a little over $4.5 million. Taxpayers would see an overall increase of 1 mill in taxation. Although the mill levy was increased by four to fund the general fund portion of the budget, a late-night decision to eliminate the special levy that pays for police retirement brought the total down to 88.24 mills, one more than last year. However, property owners would see an increase in charges for the citywide Special Improvement District that pays for street maintenance, repair, sweeping and snow removal of about 15%. Garbage fees increased from a base rate of $4.50 per month to $5.50 per month, and sewer and water fee increases were planned for later in the year. 

30 Years Ago 

Aug. 15, 1996 

Whitefish may be far from his usual haunts, but Bruce Springsteen looked right at home when he joined the Fanatics on stage at the Great Northern Bar and Grill last Friday night. "It was way cool," Whitefish resident Nanda Gaylord said. "It was Whitefish at its best." Springsteen was in town for the wedding of his recording engineer, Toby Scott, to Michelle Amberson. Scott, who worked with Springsteen for almost 20 years, said this performance was nothing new for the performer. "He loves to do that," Scott said. When the Boss first arrived at the bar, he was able to mingle unrecognized, but by the time he stepped on stage at about 1 a.m., all eyes were on him. With the Boss at the helm, the band played "Mustang Sally" and "Shake, Rattle and Roll." 

20 Years Ago 

Aug. 10, 2006 

Plans for a recreational trail running around Whitefish Lake. could start moving forward if a land swap proposed by a Silicon Valley entrepreneur was approved by the state. Mike Goguen, who owns about 1,000 acres on the east and south side of Beaver Lake, wanted to consolidate and improve his holdings by taking ownership of 440 acres of adjacent state school trust land on the south side of the lake. "The property I have purchased for my family's home surrounds this parcel of state land," he said. "I'm an avid outdoorsman and I intend to use the property for conservation and quiet enjoyment, to maintain the scenic character of this area, to preserve and improve wildlife habitat, and to provide a public access corridor for the A Trail Runs Through It." Gogan said he would place the 440 acres under the terms of a conservation easement as outlined in the Whitefish School Trust Lands Neighborhood Plan, thereby "protecting the land in perpetuity." 

10 Years Ago 

Aug. 10, 2016 

Whitefish City Council added almost $220,000 to the construction budget for the City Hall and parking structure after contaminated soils at the site depleted the contingency fund for the project. The project now has a total budget of $16.2 million. Council on August 1 unanimously approved the additional allocation that will come from the city's tax increment finance fund, which is the fund already paying for the project. Cost overruns of $1 million forced council in January to approve a new budget for the project of $16,041,549. The cost was initially approved at $14.95 million.