Looking Back: Stolen safe possibly at bottom of Whitefish Lake
Whitefish Pilot | UPDATED 2 weeks, 3 days AGO
Raking hay on property his family had faramed since 1929, Bill Donsbach worked under the mid-day sun in 1986, while other family members baled hay on property 10 miles west of Whitefish. (Steve Schunk photo)
A look back at past Pilot articles by Julie Engler
50 Years Ago
July 29, 1976
A public hearing on what city officials hoped would be the final city budget for the 1977 fiscal year was held at. In the council chambers at City Hall. It was felt that the overall mill levy for the new budget would remain at 65 mills, the same levy as was in effect for the past year. All the city special levies were expected to. Remain the same with the exception of that for garbage collection, which will go up from $26 per year to $30 per year. This increase is at least partly due to the need for a new garbage truck in the not-too-distant future.
40 Years Ago
July 30, 1986
A safe stolen from Whirley's Conoco Service station on U.S. Highway 93 South in Whitefish, may be at the bottom of Tally Lake. The Whitefish Police Department received a tip that the safe, supposedly containing about $100, was dumped into the lake by burglars, according to Whitefish detective Dan Volkner. Divers were being organized to search for the stolen property, which may lie near the popular diving cliffs on the lake's south end.
30 Years Ago
Aug. 1, 1996
The rolling clatter and piercing bang emanating from the Whitefish depot will not fall silent. After more than two years of contract negotiations, the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way employees finally reached an agreement with the nation's rail carriers this week. The sticking point in the negotiation and the negotiations? Was one carrier's refusal to relent on a single issue? When the 30-day cooling off period ended at midnight, union workers were still arguing with representatives from that last carrier, Conrail. Although the parties were left without any resolution, the unions agreed to continue negotiations for an additional week. The five-year agreement was subject to ratification by union members. If accepted, it would serve as the contract until the end of 1999.
20 Years Ago
July 27, 2006
The city's hotly debated resort tax was on the City Council agenda and was put there by downtown merchants. In a letter, the Heart of Whitefish Board proposed the creation of a five-member working committee to look at broadening the range of taxable items. “Over the life of the resort tax, there have been considerable changes in the business community,” the letter states. “There is a broader range of services and merchandise available for sale today than there was at the inception of the resort tax.” The downtown merchants recognize the many ways the community has benefited from the tax and proposed a way to increase revenue to the city. Reaction to the letter by the City Council was mixed. Mayor Andy Feury, who like many on the council favors increasing the resort tax from 2% to 3%, called the letter a positive step by the downtown merchants.
10 Years Ago
July 27, 2016
Whitefish City Council took a dramatic turn in its decision making when it approved a Marriott Hotel that just two weeks prior it sought to deny. Council members unanimously approved a conditional use permit for a Marriott TownePlace Suites on Highway 93 South. The 81-room, 3-story hotel is planned for 2.66 acres of undeveloped land north of the Les Schwab Tire Center. In a series of votes during the meeting, council delayed a decision on the request, directing city staff to prepare findings that would allow for denial of the project likely based on its status as a chain hotel. Jordan Scott of Whitefish TP LLC planned to construct the hotel, which required a conditional use permit because the footprint exceeds 15,000 square feet in the WB 2 zoning district.