Thompson Falls benefit raises more than $40,000 for Ty Damaskos
On Oct. 19 the Thompson Falls community joined together in the Thompson Falls high school gymnasium to raise funds for one for one of a local Thompson Falls cancer survivor.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 6 MONTHS AGO
Plains drops tough game to undefeated Eureka
Attrition was the name of the game last Saturday afternoon at the Plains volleyball game against Eureka.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 6 MONTHS AGO
Thompson Falls loses shot at playoffs
It was tough Friday night for the Bluehawks Football team as they battled Troy for a spot in the Playoffs.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 6 MONTHS AGO
EPA speaks about water fears
Despite their best appeals to justify the clean-up of the Milltown Dam and its release of sediment, the Environmental Protection Agency wasn't able to placate Thompson Falls residents angry at higher levels of arsenic in the Clark Fork River.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 6 MONTHS AGO
Former death row inmate speaks out
It was a night of great emotion and strong conviction in the Thompson Falls St. William Parish on Oct. 6 after two men had taken to the pulpit to denounce the death penalty.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 6 MONTHS AGO
Program aims to reduce alcohol abuse
It’s a frightening statistic.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 6 MONTHS AGO
Students prepare for life after school
Despite the turn-table economy with omens of hard times trumpeting from the television, the Plains chapter of Jobs for Montana’s Graduates Program is looking hopefully into the future.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 6 MONTHS AGO
Homecoming hawks in flight
The Bluehawks busted out a buffet of activities to celebrate their 2008 homecoming last week.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 6 MONTHS AGO
New vet in Plains
After 33 years the Lynch Creek Veterinary Clinic is going through a changing of the guard.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 6 MONTHS AGO
Scientist tests Thompson water
Along the banks of the Thompson Falls Resevoir Thursday, University of Montana Geomorphologist Johnnie Moore bent down to take several sediment samples from the property of Thompson Falls resident, Jon Sonju. Moore was searching for contaminants that washed downstream from the Milltown Dam, breached last March. Sonju, a geologist, invited …
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 6 MONTHS AGO
Black and Blue
Large crowds filled the sidelines to watch a heated game last Friday night in Plains as the Thompson Falls Bluehawks battled the Savage Horsemen to come away with a 12-6 victory.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 6 MONTHS AGO
Logging truck overturns
A red ‘69 Kenworth truck carring logs was heading southbound on Highway 382 when it overturned Monday afternoon at approximately 4:30 p.m knocking down a nearby powerline.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 6 MONTHS AGO
Horsemen homecoming
Plains homecoming activities couldn't have been more colorful.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 6 MONTHS AGO
Hawks score but drop 7-28 to undefeated Loyola
Two unstoppable forces crashed Friday night as two undefeated teams, the Thompson Falls Bluehawks and the Loyola Rams, clashed for the first time during the season.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 7 MONTHS AGO
50 years of family fishing
Secrets can come in all shapes and sizes. For the McAllister family, their biggest secret just happens to be the size of a lake.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 7 MONTHS AGO
Trotters drop rough game to St. Ignatius
The Plains Trotters had another hard night on the volleyball court last Friday after Mission’s Lady Bulldogs shut the Trotter’s varsity out 3-0, pushing the team to 0-3 for the season.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 7 MONTHS AGO
Ninety years of reading
If Plains’ first librarian Marian Coulter were alive today, it wouldn’t be hard to imagine her sipping coffee and gobbling a few cookies at the Plains Public Library’s 90-year celebration last Saturday.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 7 MONTHS AGO
Eagle scout earns his wings
On Oct. 10 Plains officially added their newest Eagle Scout.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 7 MONTHS AGO
Bluehawks snatch football win
It was close call win for the Thompson Falls Bluehawks last Friday at Deer Lodge with only a seven to zero win over the District 6-B Wardens.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 7 MONTHS AGO
Car fever
Parked against the low curb of the Lake Side Motel in Trout Creek last Saturday sat a brown 1929 Model A Ford Coupe, part of Trout Creek’s 4th Annual Cool Summer Nights Car Show.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 7 MONTHS AGO
Ready, aim: Season begins for local bowhunters
The weather is getting cooler, the nights are getting longer and this can only mean one thing: Hunting season has arrived.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 7 MONTHS AGO
Bluehawks beat Falcons 13-6
The Thompson Falls Blue Hawks started this year’s season off right with a 13-6 win against the Florence Falcons last Friday night.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 7 MONTHS AGO
Arsenic found in Thompson Reservoir
Thompson Falls water problems are raising concern among Thompson Falls residents and Sanders County officials as higher levels of arsenic, copper, lead, zinc and cadmium have been detected in the Clark Fork. In the Clark Fork riverbed, measurements show that the arsenic alone is six times the limit approved by …
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 7 MONTHS AGO
My first steps
The small llama lies near its mother on the hard dirt of the coral, its white legs drawn in, tucked underneath its small body. The long narrow face resting gently on the ground with its eyes all but closed.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 7 MONTHS AGO
Hospital Gift Shop celebrates three years
After three years serving the Plains community, the Clark Fork Valley Hospital’s Mementos gift shop is celebrating their success.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 7 MONTHS AGO
Crossing guards toe the line
The Plains School Crossing guards are stepping up — literally — to ensure the safety of students getting to and from school.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 7 MONTHS AGO
Death has never been so sweet
Surrounded by six judges, three round chocolate cakes gradually disappeared from a small table.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 8 MONTHS AGO
Looking for a few good melons
If watermelon-eating contests were a measure of human achievement, Dixon’s Melon Days last Saturday might be considered a slice of pure nirvana.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 8 MONTHS AGO
Plains Trotters get ready for season
Walking into the Plains gymnasium it’s a scene of movement and noise, a percussion of volleyballs slap against clenched palms, tennis shoes squeak against the floor and intermittent shouts are heard reverberating off the walls. This is the home of the Plains Trotter Volleyball Team and they’re prepping themselves for …
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 8 MONTHS AGO
Physical therapist moves to Plains
Whether it's the rising swell of the mountains, the flow of branching rivers or the simple amities of rural living, Montana has always had a strong gravitational pull for the Clark Fork Valley Hospital's newest physical therapist, Ursula “Shana” Dieterle.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 8 MONTHS AGO
Plains school board refutes sports rumors
The Plains School Board met last Saturday to discuss how the new funding policy for sports would be created and to dismiss rumors about the district charging players $250 for football.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 8 MONTHS AGO
Man injured in motorcycle crash
A motorcyclist was severely injured last Friday when he skidded off the road heading southbound on Highway 28 four miles from Plains.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 8 MONTHS AGO
T-Falls coach writes first Montana cross country book
Cross-country running has never been known as one of the most publicized high school sports, but one Thompson Falls High School cross-country coach hopes to change that image by publishing his own book about crosscountry running in Montana.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 8 MONTHS AGO
Three dead in Plains double murder-suicide
Police found three people dead Saturday after a reported double murder-suicide just west of the Wild Horse Plains Golf Course in Plains.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 8 MONTHS AGO
Liquor & flower shop grand opening
Balloons hung outside, women received free roses and complimentary refreshments covered two tables last Friday as the Garden Gift and Floral/Plains Liquor Store celebrated it's grand opening.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 8 MONTHS AGO
Piranhas team swims powered by pie
Don't underestimate the power of pie. It's a three-letter word that can have an appetite for grabbing attention. Just ask the Plains Piranhas Swim Team that held their Homemade Pie and Dessert Social last Thursday at the Plains Pool.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 8 MONTHS AGO
Hope in the darkness
Under the glow of the Plains High School field lights, a crowd of 250 people sat looking upward late last Saturday night. Unlike most large gatherings, this was a scene without chatter and without fidgeting. Everyone was listening.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 8 MONTHS AGO
Mental health clinic offers family support programs
Struggling families in Sanders County now have another tool to help them during stressful times and crisis, Western Montana Mental Health has begun a new family support program to aid families in need.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 8 MONTHS AGO
75 rafters tackle the Clark Fork River at reunion
Last Sunday, the Clark Fork River saw a surge of activity as about 75 family members from the Ward family reunion piled into eight whitewater rafts and floated from the Sander’s County Fairgrounds in Plains to the “Mouth,” an inlet about 10 miles toward Thompson Falls from Plains.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 8 MONTHS AGO
Summer art camp hosts finale
Last Saturday a small crowd gathered in the Hot Springs Senior Center to see the grand finale art show to the Hot Springs Summer Art Camp.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 9 MONTHS AGO
Hope from ashes
The air has a pungent smell of ash. Dark streaks rise along the walls. Debris covers the floor and countertops. Soot envelopes everything else, from broken windowpanes, to tin cans, to door knobs, to the charred and twisted remains of melted appliances.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 9 MONTHS AGO
$4,500 from music
If you take a large helping of live bluegrass and country music, add some tender barbecue and then throw in a live and silent auction for a good cause, you'll end up with one savory recipe for a good time.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 9 MONTHS AGO
Ford gets new dealership in Plains
Country Ford-Mercury in Plains has been selling cars for a long time, but now, after two-and-a-half decades, the car dealership has finally outgrown their current location on East Railroad Street and moved last Thursday to their new spot, about a mile from Plains toward Thompson Falls.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 9 MONTHS AGO
Car crash kills one and injures five
PLAINS - A 65-year-old Wenatchee, Wash., man died Wednesday in a one-vehicle rollover accident north of Plains. Four of his teammates, part of an auto-racing team, were injured in the accident.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 9 MONTHS AGO
Governor tours fishing site in Paradise
Gov. Brian Schweitzer met with local Sanders County officials last Wednesday to tour the new Paradise Fishing Access site located near the bridge that passes over the Clark Fork River in Paradise.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 9 MONTHS AGO
After 12 years, Symes owners are moving on
After 12 years of ownership by Leslie and Dan Smith, the historic Symes Hotel in Hot Springs is up for grabs on the real estate market.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 9 MONTHS AGO
Hot Springs New Mayor
After more than two months of waiting, the Hot Springs city council elected Randy Woods, owner of Spring Auto Care and the current Hot Springs Fire Chief, to be the town's new mayor last Wednesday at the city hall.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 9 MONTHS AGO
Mud boggers cause more than $16,000 in damages
The Jones Ranch Bench area, just off of Little Thompson Creek Road near Plains, used to be a green, open field. Now it looks a little like a war zone. Grass and plants have been replaced by mud pits filled with empty beer cans and tire tracks veining out from …
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 9 MONTHS AGO
Keeping July 4 cool in Hot Springs
Guitars chords vibrated and barbecues smoked under the banner of the American Flag as Hot Springs residents gathered to celebrate the Fourth of July at the Symes Hotel.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 9 MONTHS AGO
T-falls host uncoventional olympics
Last Thursday the first Thompson Falls Cross Country Un-Olympics was held at Thompson Falls High School track and hosted a collection of unconventional cross country events to raise money for the Thompson Falls high school cross country running program.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 10 MONTHS AGO
Finding the road to the Buffalo
It’s been almost two centuries since David Thompson first set foot into Sanders County, and now, as Thompson Day approaches next week in Thompson Falls one author wanted to revisit where the illustrious Canadian explorer once walked.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 10 MONTHS AGO
Thompson Falls Market opens up
Baked goods, fresh eggs, crafts, artwork, quilts to kayak tours, the Thompson Falls Market had a bit of everything last Saturday.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 10 MONTHS AGO
Plains youngsters learn the ABCs of basketball
There’s no escaping basketball. It’s hoops and courts dot our American landscape from the east coast to the west, and even spill outward, past international borders and cultures. Today, basketball has become a staple within the definition of sport and a familiar athletic experience.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 10 MONTHS AGO
A journey of hope
After 105-plus miles of riding, which included a climb over Thompson Pass’ 4,800-foot summit, the Trans America cycling team was more than grateful to pull into Quinn’s Hot Springs and Resort last Wednesday in Paradise.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 10 MONTHS AGO
Camp Bighorn staff readies for camp season
Now that the sunshine is out and summer is officially here, Camp Bighorn is gearing up and training their staff for this season’s first group campers coming June 30.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 10 MONTHS AGO
Plains keeps wrestling, softball, cross country
After a month-long postponement for more research, the Plains School Board decided to keep their cross country, wrestling and softball teams, but to give each only $6,000 and let the programs raise the rest of the funds themselves.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 10 MONTHS AGO
Hot Springs residents voice concern over growth policy draft
A unanimous crowd of almost 40 people denounced the new Hot Springs Growth Policy at a public comment meeting hosted by the Hot Spring’s Planning Board at the town’s senior center last Tuesday.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 10 MONTHS AGO
Hiawatha Trail opens up
It could be said that mountain biking is a sport founded upon tangible substances, namely, dirt, sweat and the occasional pint of spilt blood. In fact, most beginners find the learning curve to be as steep as the slopes they tumble down.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 10 MONTHS AGO
Piranhas prepare for start of swim season
The 60-degree temperatures and cloudy skies couldn’t dissuade the Plains Piranhas swim team from getting in the pool last Wednesday as they practiced for their first meet.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 10 MONTHS AGO
Co-Gen cleared of fraud
A criminal investigation by the Montana Department of Justice found the former owner of the Thompson River Co-Gen facility provided no false information to the Montana Department of Environmental Quality in order to reduce fines for repeatedly violating air quality standards.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 10 MONTHS AGO
Wildlife agencies investigating wolf killed in Thompson River drainage
The Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks and U.S. Fish and Wildlife service reported a wolf killing near the Lower Thompson Falls River May 27. The report stated the an individual, who was looking for deer antlers on the Priscilla Peak Trail, found the wolf and reported it to Tom Chianelli, …
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 11 MONTHS AGO
EMT trainees practice for mass-casualty scenario
Sirens wailed and screams pierced the air May 27 as Emergency Medical Technician trainees arrived by ambulance at the Sanders County Fairgrounds to help 30-plus mock victims. The EMT trainees were completing their final class event, a mass casualty scenario.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 11 MONTHS AGO
Primary elections to be held Tuesday
The speeches have been given, the columns have been written and June 3 voters will have to make a decision on the issues and stand behind a candidate.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 11 MONTHS AGO
Boy Scout helps ambulance for Eagle project
Eagle Scouts are expected to me many things, the Boy Scout Law states that a scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful and “reverent to name a few. Yet, if you had to define Valin Heward, Plains' next Eagle Scout, unpretentious would probably fit best.
VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 16 YEARS, 11 MONTHS AGO
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