Looking Back: Whitefish High School nearly loses accreditation
Whitefish Pilot | UPDATED 2 months, 3 weeks AGO
Strong winds bend rgass along the Many Glacier ROad north of Lake Sherburne. as snow and ice hang on to the steep sides of Yellow Mountain in 2006 (Chandler Melton/Whitefish Pilot)
A look back at past Pilot articles by Julie Engler
50 Years Ago
Jan. 15, 1976
The Whitefish School Board learned that Whitefish High School was “warned” by the Northwest Accreditation Association in that body's annual report for inadequate facilities in science, industrial arts, music, special education, vocational and technical training and faculty workrooms and lounges. Whitefish was one of eight schools to get a “warned” rating in Montana. “Warned” means the school is still accredited at the moment and has two years to correct the defects. It was noted in the accreditation report that recent bond elections resulted in defeat in Whitefish.
40 Years Ago
Jan. 15, 1986
The persistent fire claimed an old house at 25 O'Brien Ave. Whitefish firemen were first called at 1:45 p.m. Monday and found the blaze well underway. Although the interior was heavily damaged, the exterior shell was intact when they rolled up their hoses and headed back to the hall after knocking out the flames. However, a Whitefish City policeman, Les Norman, called them back about 4:45 a.m. Tuesday when he noticed the flames rekindled and the house was in flames again. No one was in the home when the fire was noticed by a passerby, Mike Berger, of Whitefish, Monday.
30 Years Ago
Jan. 11, 1996
Rail advocates in Havre were following Whitefish's lead in establishing a rail siding to boost passenger train service. Gerald Smith, formerly of Save Amtrak, said Tuesday that Havre city leaders are talking about a rail siding like the one proposed for Whitefish to lure rail travelers. He credits progress on the Whitefish siding for stirring interest in siding projects along the Hi-Line. “When I spoke in Whitefish, I told people that Whitefish is looked at as sort of the prototype because you've got all the positives.” Smith said. “Havre is a site that already has the yard, and the power (for a siding) is already there, but of course there's a lot more to it than that.”
20 Years Ago
Jan. 12, 2006
A proposed resolution to limit wintertime construction of infrastructure that the City of Whitefish would eventually own was met with a howl of protest at the Whitefish City Council meeting, and Public Works Director John Wilson, who proposed the resolution, found himself on the hot seat. Several city councilors expressed concern that Wilson had stopped developer Greg Watkins of Frontier Development from continuing work on the Aspen Grove projects between Colorado and Texas avenues, leaving $68,000 in materials sitting on the site awaiting installation. “I'm unhappy about how this situation was handled,” Councilor Velvet Phillips-Sullivan told Wilson.
10 Years Ago
Jan. 13, 2016
Last summer, visitation was up significantly at the two state parks on the lake, reflecting a trend statewide set off by an unseasonably hot spring and summer. Whitefish Lake State Park and Les Mason combined for 119,195 visitors, up 66% over last year. Whitefish Lake State Park was the third most visited park in Northwest Montana with 84,849 visitors. Les Mason on the east shore Whitefish Lake recorded the largest jump in visitation of any park in the state. Its 34,346 visitors amounted to a whopping 167% increase from the previous year.