Track legend still breaking records

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 7 MONTHS AGO

Plains grad honored with UM athletes

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 7 MONTHS AGO

Paradise school turns 100

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 7 MONTHS AGO

Graduation party report released

PLAINS – The Montana School Board Association (MTSBA) has

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 8 MONTHS AGO

Music on the lawns

After being postponed the week before due to a low turnout from nasty weather Jim Stauffer got a chance to let his music shine under the bright skies in front of the Plains Library on Tuesday.

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 8 MONTHS AGO

Olfert files for write-in

Ron Olfert has heard from a lot of supporters since he lost the Republican nomination for County Commissioner to Glen Magera, 1,111 votes to 1,892 votes for Magera.

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 8 MONTHS AGO

Naegelis hold first ranch run

Growing up on a ranch, Jacob Naegeli has always had a lot of chances to run across his property.

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 8 MONTHS AGO

Piranhas excel at divisionals

The small swim team from Plains kept up their big time swimming this past weekend when they traveled to Conrad for the Divisional Swim Meet.

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 8 MONTHS AGO

A test of will

For most high school basketball stars senior year is supposed to be the best, where the stars shine the brightest and lead their team to plenty of victories and deep into the postseason.

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 8 MONTHS AGO

4-H girls receive sewing lessons

It seemed like everybody was calling Mariah Naegeli's name on Thursday at the Plains Methodist Church. The Thompson Falls' senior, known for her community service in 4-H, was doing what she does best. She was helping.

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 8 MONTHS AGO

Vehicle rollover kills one in car crash

A Paradise woman was killed in a fatal car crash East of Paradise on Tuesday morning.

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 8 MONTHS AGO

For love of the game

It was the last day of the Thompson Falls girls' basketball camp for kindergarten through sixth graders on Wednesday, and Ladyhawks high school girls' coach Jason Reimer wanted to make sure that all the girls were ready to finish the day working hard and having fun.

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 8 MONTHS AGO

Going down in history

Editor's Note: This is the third article in a series of profiles of Sanders County' graduating athletes who will be competing in college next year.

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 8 MONTHS AGO

A man from the past

Matt Denison, of Superior, is a firearm's enthusiast. He loves guns. He studies guns, and he makes them.

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 8 MONTHS AGO

Town looks to cut cost on pool

It was an unorthodox swim practice for the Plains piranhas on Tuesday night. Instead of practicing their backstroke in the pool all the swimmers on the team from the oldest to those as young as five years old, walked to Plains town hall where they sat in on the town …

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 8 MONTHS AGO

Taking on the boys

In the sport of wrestling, the field is dominated by the boys and Crismore sticks out like a sore thumb, stuck out so much that she was offered a scholarship to wrestle on an all-female college team in Jamestown, North Dakota.

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 8 MONTHS AGO

Chicken talk on the menu

Chickens found their way back onto the town council agenda last Tuesday night, and now the town council is looking to know what the public thinks about allowing chickens inside city limits.

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 8 MONTHS AGO

Fire burns down barn

A log barn, trailer and several vehicles were destroyed on Wednesday afternoon in a fire near the junction of Highway 328 and 200 on Wednesday.

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 8 MONTHS AGO

Probe of graduation party continues

The investigation, led by the Montana School Board Association (MTSBA), into the pre-graduation party in Plains on May 29 continues with the hope that a report will be available by the end of July.

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 8 MONTHS AGO

Piranhas head up to Colombia Falls

After hosting their home swim meet last week, a smaller Plains Piranhas team traveled to Colombia Falls this weekend. Despite their youth and small size, the team competed very well.

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 8 MONTHS AGO

All according to plan

Editor's Note: This is the first of a series of profiles of Sander's County graduating athletes who will be competing in college next year.

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 8 MONTHS AGO

DNRC training for fire season

Thanks to spring rain and cool days, it's been about one and a half months since the Department of Natural Resources (DNRC) in Plains has had to respond to a wildland fire.

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 8 MONTHS AGO

Barn burns down in Camas Prairie

A log barn, trailer and several vehicles were destroyed on

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 8 MONTHS AGO

High ropes

The eyes of fifteen-year-old Taylor Grant told the story.

LAKE COUNTY LEADER | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 9 MONTHS AGO

Practicing river safety

"Catch the rope, not the bag."

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 9 MONTHS AGO

Ready to win

It was all about paying attention to detail on Thursday at the Plains girls basketball camp.

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 9 MONTHS AGO

Plains minors win county tournament

After being ranked second during the regular season the Plains minor league team had a great tournament in Noxon two weeks ago to win the tournament and take first among county teams.

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 9 MONTHS AGO

Ranchers set to take on hoppers

The six men sat around the table huddled in close peering at a number of maps detailing land all over the Little Bitteroot. The group of ranchers, covered with day's work of dirt and grime, marked special spots on the map including water holes, rivers and wells, while one of …

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 9 MONTHS AGO

Plains-Hot Springs players compete at Class B All-Star Game

Saturday's Class B All-Star game was the perfect ending for two Plains-Hot Springs Savage Horsemen after a great high school career. Brian Green from Plains and Reiley Winebrenner were both selected for the game and helped the Northern squad to a come from behind victory, 13-10.

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 9 MONTHS AGO

Serious about fundamentals

There was some heavy debate going on between team blue as they watched team yellow and team black battle on the basketball court, perched atop the backed-up bleachers in the Thompson Falls high school gym.

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 9 MONTHS AGO

Counting bald eagle nests

Bald eagle survey counts reveal one of wildlife's greatest comeback stories

LAKE COUNTY LEADER | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 9 MONTHS AGO

From tragedy to triumph

After six weeks of refusing to fall down, Noxon's Derek Jensen stood tall atop the medal podium on Saturday, crowned as the state Class C shot put champion; a storybook ending to a struggle that began with the passing of his mother in April.

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 9 MONTHS AGO

Oh so close!

Coach Randy Symon has seen this story before. With only the mile relay standing between his team and the state Class B track title, fortune frowns on the Bluehawks and the chips fall the way of the opponent denying them the crown and leaving them with the second place trophy.

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 9 MONTHS AGO

Living a dream

Break out the virgin margaritas, it's time to celebrate. The Ladyhawks are 2010 B-C Softball champions.

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 9 MONTHS AGO

Two-time champion

Dillon Fryxell ended his high school track career the same way he spent a majority of it, out jumping all of his competition.

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 9 MONTHS AGO

Three place at state for Hot Springs

The three senior stars that have shined all year long on the track all have some hardware to show off proving that they are among the state's best.

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 9 MONTHS AGO

Championship comeback

For the first time ever softball teams in the west had a chance to prove their worth on the field before heading to state and it was Thompson Falls who came out on top bouncing back from a rough start to defeat Loyola 7-3 to be crowned Western B-C champs.

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 10 MONTHS AGO

Pushing forward

It was shortly after three in the afternoon when 16-year-old Derek Jensen got the call. He was at school at the time and he was outside teaching the younger children how to play a game called flicker ball, a football passing game, when Mr. Moore, his high school principal and …

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 10 MONTHS AGO

A 400 to remember

Charlie Knapp left the crowd at Big Sky Stadium speechless on Friday. It was a singular athletic performance that doesn't come along very often.

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 10 MONTHS AGO

Thompson Falls ready to write history

It was a blowout and a single to right that sewed up the second seed in the divisional tournament for the Ladyhawks last week.

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 10 MONTHS AGO

Moving onto divisionals

Devon White and Randi Arnold are officially the premiere jumpers of District 14-C.

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 10 MONTHS AGO

Terrific trotter

With the Plains Horsemen stealing the headlines all season long with high-flying and hard-throwing performances, it was a Trotter who ran away with the spotlight at Districts for the Plains track team.

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 10 MONTHS AGO

Noxon's lucky thirteen

Thirteen may be an unlucky number, but 13 Noxon tracksters are heading to the Divisional meet with a lot of confidence due to a slew of personal records falling at Polson.

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 10 MONTHS AGO

Thompson Falls boys take District Crown

The Thompson Falls boys team literally ran away from the competition at the District Track Meet in Bigfork this weekend, and they ran away with the title thanks to sweeping every running event that wasn't a dash.

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 10 MONTHS AGO

Women in a man's world

It might have been a man's world, but it was run by women's rules this past weekend as the Plains Drama Club put on "Shooting Stars," a play with plenty of female star power.

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 10 MONTHS AGO

Molzhon playing magnificently

With a week to go in the regular season Senior pitcher Kyla Molzhon is at the top of her game.

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 10 MONTHS AGO

Worth the wait

This past weekend I was able to make a quick trip down to Bozeman for a special occasion. My sister, after graduating from high school in 2000, finally graduated from college.

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 10 MONTHS AGO

Praying for the nation

With national and local elections looming this year, people looking to make a difference in our county will head to their polling places and cast votes in order to move their country down the right path.This past week approximately 50 people looked to accomplish this very purpose through prayer and …

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 10 MONTHS AGO

Plains finishes golf season last Monday

It was a busy last week for the Plains golf team. The team played three meets in five days, which ended with the divisional meet in Missoula where the team placed eighth, missing out on the state meet next week.

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 10 MONTHS AGO

Plains flying high

With two days before the District Track meet in Bigfork senior Trent Thompson is throwing the best he has all season. After making news last week for breaking Plain's shot put record the senior went to the most competitive meet of the season, Archie Roe in Kalispell, and came away …

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 10 MONTHS AGO

Hot Springs ready for district meet

Hot Springs' seniors Randi Arnold and Devon White are forming quite a duo in the triple jump. After Arnold placed first at the Sanders County Meet in Noxon on Thursday with a jump of 33-10, adding at least three feet to her previous best jump, White turned around and placed …

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 10 MONTHS AGO

Senior boys place at Archie Roe

The Thompson Falls senior boys excelled on the track on Sunday and it was the freshmen girls who excelled on Thursday at the County Meet.

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 10 MONTHS AGO

Hot Springs duos place high

It was a duo that shined for Hot Springs last week in its two track meets, although the duo changed slightly between the first and last track meet. Starting on Tuesday, seniors Reiley Winebrenner and Devon White were both invited to the Russ Pilcher Western Montana TOP 10 track meet …

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 10 MONTHS AGO

Trotters have short week

It was a short week for the Plains softball as they played only one game last week. In that game it was one short inning that kept them from upsetting the St. Ignatius Bulldogs playing at home.

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 10 MONTHS AGO

After school fly fishing

"Ten and two," yelled Kevin Meredith to the students in his class. "Ten and two."

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 10 MONTHS AGO

Congressman Denny Rehberg visits Plains

Lauding small business tax breaks over government stimulus and singing the praises of the T.E.A. Party, Congressman Denny Rehberg swung into Plains in support of the Sanders County Republican Central Committee for their annual Lincoln-Reagan Dinner.

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 10 MONTHS AGO

Olympian sized trail

ST. REGIS, Mont. - In 1947, the Milwaukee Railroad launched the Olympian Hiawatha passenger train, a speedier streamlined version of the heavyweight Olympian train. At the time, trains raced across western Montana, completing a route that spanned from Chicago to Tacoma, Wash.

COEUR D'ALENE PRESS | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 11 MONTHS AGO

Ladyhawks dominate higher class

For the third consecutive week, the Thompson Falls' softball team wrapped up an undefeated week of play, but this past week was perhaps the most impressive so far.

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 11 MONTHS AGO

Horsemen snag first at TFalls

For the second tournament in a row the Plains boys edged their cross-county rivals, Thompson Falls, in a golf meet. However, this win might have been more impressive since it's their first win of the year and they did it by handling the fast greens and the harsh winds that …

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 11 MONTHS AGO

Horsemen boys place third at Seeley Invite

For every track meet that Plains attends you can always seem to expect two things: Dillon Fryxell will be sitting at the top of the high jump standings and Trent Thompson will take home a first place in one of the throwing events.

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 11 MONTHS AGO

TFalls boys take second at Seeley Invite

It was a big weekend for the Thompson Falls boys as they traveled down to Big Sky High School on Saturday to meet up with a highly competitive field and came away with a second place trophy.

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 11 MONTHS AGO

Hot Springs seniors shine at home meet

The Hot Springs track team has quite a few stars on the team and at a home meet last week many of those stars were finally given the opportunity to shine.

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 11 MONTHS AGO

Trotters play tough

The Plains Trotters showed a lot of fight this weekend going extra innings in two games. However, the Trotters fighting through sickness and minor injuries couldn't hold on to finish those games off against Drummon on Saturday and against Deer Lodge on Tuesday. However, in a normal paced game on …

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 11 MONTHS AGO

Knapp shines for Thompson Falls

In a weekend meet where team points were in short supply for the Thompson Falls boys' and girls' team, Senior Charlie Knapp swept all three jumping events for the Bluehawks paving the way to a fourth place finish.

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 11 MONTHS AGO

Round 'em up

Before a child enters kindergarten and begins a childhood full of standardized education their intellectual development can vary as much as there are theories for parents to hasten that development.

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 11 MONTHS AGO

Thinking offensively

Coming into the year the Ladyhawks knew what they would get from pitcher Kyla Molzhon. The senior has been one of the top pitchers in the state for the last four years and she uses five different pitches to absolutely befuddle opponents from the diamond.

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 11 MONTHS AGO

Trotters softball looks ahead to Eureka

It was a tough road last week for the Trotters softball team as they traveled west to Thompson Falls to take on one of the best pitchers in the state, Ladyhawk Kyla Molzhon.

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 14 YEARS, 11 MONTHS AGO

Plains back on track

The Plains track team started practice last week and will look to improve on a great year last year especially at the state level.

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 15 YEARS AGO

March Madness

It's March Madness and if you missed the basketball mayhem this weekend then you were one of the unlucky ones. This past weekend was filled with jaw-dropping moves, surprises and upsets and close championship games, and this has nothing to do college basketball.

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 15 YEARS AGO

House burns before appraisal

It was supposed to be the beginning of the end. After a two-year long process of trying to sell his house Mark Bruell had his house scheduled to be appraised last Wednesday and the deal was scheduled to close on April 17.

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 15 YEARS AGO

Riding ridges

North Face’s motto is “never stop exploring.” One club in Trout Creek, Montana has lived out that motto for the last twenty years.

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 15 YEARS AGO

Little guys hit first qualifier for state

Many little guy wrestlers from Plains / Hot Springs qualified for the Unit 1 Intervalley Meet at Libby this weekend highlighted by Dane Martin, Anthony Neal and Aaron Collins who all should place at state along with Russell Kujala who is undefeated this year and Logan Goodwin who has only …

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 15 YEARS AGO

Hot Springs catches onto folf craze

Featuring a number of local folfers the dominant player of the Western Montana Folf Tournament on Sunday turned out to not be anyone bearing a disc.

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 15 YEARS AGO

Registering to vote

I'm sorry Sanders County, but it's official, I have de-registered(I'm not sure if you can do that or not) from Missoula County elections and registered for Sanders County.

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 15 YEARS AGO

What a great Olympics

Well, the Olympics officially ended on Sunday night and now we have only the memories to keep us warm after seeing athletes all over the world race down chilly mountain sides and skate around frigid ice rinks.

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 15 YEARS AGO

Great rebound

Whatever the Plains Horsemen discussed in their Monday meeting after the District Tournament worked wonders.

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 15 YEARS AGO

A week's worth of winning

One hour before kickoff

VALLEY PRESS-MINERAL INDEPENDENT | UPDATED 15 YEARS, 5 MONTHS AGO

Good, refreshing fun

Police and ambulance sirens filled the air at noon on Saturday marking the start of the town parade and the highlight of Good Old Days weekend in St. Ignatius. Instead of signaling disaster, the emergency vehicles heralded the arrival of more than 60 floats winding their way through downtown Mission.

LAKE COUNTY LEADER | UPDATED 15 YEARS, 8 MONTHS AGO