Week of May 16, 2024
Week of May 16, 2024
Primary election ballots were mailed to Montana residents on May 10. The Pathfinder reached out to the 12 candidates running for state House and Senate seats that are relevant to Seeley-Swan area residents to ask them a handful of questions to help voters better understand their prospective legislators. After the decennial redistricting, new maps were drawn by the Montana Districting and Apportionment Commission in 2023. That prompted a new district for Seeley Lake, which now lies in House...
Voters in the Seeley-Swan and Potomac Valleys will have an uncontested race on their primary ballots that they are unable to vote in — for Public Service Commission District 4. This is due to a proofing error missed by both the state and the county that impacted about 17,000 ballots in the northeastern part of Missoula County. After the most recent redistricting cycle, voters in these valleys were reassigned to PSC District 5, not 4. PSC District 5 is not up for election this year and the election in District 4 is uncontested across the...
Danielle Oyler has worked across Montana teaching kids and adults about living in bear country in her role as the wildlife stewardship outreach specialist with Montana Fish Wildlife & Parks. In front of a group of Seeley Lake Elementary School third graders at the Bear Fair, she said students in Seeley Lake have seen more bears on average than any other students at schools across the state that she's talked to. The next closest school is Lincoln. "There's a very good chance you're going to see...
It certainly wasn't a bus evacuation assembly, which was the reason Potomac School Principal Sarah Schmill gave to her staff and students for gathering in the community center on May 6. The Potomac Community Center was filled with Potomac students, teachers, representatives from the University of Montana's College of Education, the infamous UM mascot, Monte, and family and friends of Abby Stitt, who was being presented with the Maryfrancis Shreeve Award for teaching excellence, of which she had...
When Brad Orsted's 15-month-old daughter, Marley, died mysteriously at the home of Brad's mother, he descended into madness. Blaming himself, he plunged into an abyss of grief, guilt and self-recrimination fueled by prescription drugs and alcohol. He planned his suicide as his wife, Stacey, searched for a new beginning. She finally found a job in Yellowstone National Park, and with their daughters Mazzy and Chloe, the pair fled Michigan, looking for refuge and redemption in the 2.2 million...
When we started this boat trip around the Eastern United States, we kept hearing about Bob423. It seemed odd that a group of retired boomers, who seem to have a bottomless appetite for classic rock (one more rendition of "Margaritaville" in a seaside restaurant and my cranium will fragment like a grenade) would be so devoted to a rapper. Turns out that Bob423 is not a rapper, but a 70-ish retired engineer who looks like your high school civics teacher. His retirement passion has been to cruise...
Last fall my grandson and I did a few-days camping trip back to the Swan. We spent a few days there at the Cold Creek Bridge. It was many years since I left and I enjoyed again what I had remembered the almost 30 years I had lived there. In need of the outhouse facilities I went to check it out. I wasn’t prepared for what was there. It was a sight for sore eyes! Someone had not quite made the seat and it was unusable. Not having cell service I drove to a friend’s house with a landline. I called Swan Lake Forest Service to inform the gal...
Safety any time you're on the water begins with preparation. For the wading angler this means gearing up for safety (and comfort) before going out. Comfort, you say? If you're miserable it follows that you might put yourself in danger. Getting chilled in a sudden downpour might not lead to hypothermia, but why take the chance? Slick-soled sandals or running shoes instead of purpose-built wading footwear? I've done it and survived the falls, but I've outgrown that silliness and don't recommend...
The Missoula Aging Services (MAS) Resource Center in Seeley Lake serves older adults in the community in various ways. This includes in-home needs assessments, consultations for families and neighbors caring for older adults, information about Meals on Wheels and community lunches, Medicare and Medicaid resources, volunteer opportunities and more. But did you know your local Resource Center can also help find ways to make your money go further in 2024? Located in the Seeley Lake Community Foundation building (3150 MT-83 N, Seeley Lake, MT...
Dave is challenging a current legislator (and former lobbyist) that ended up in this district (HD 76) after the district boundaries were redrawn as part of the last state legislative redistricting maps were drawn. We did not get to vote for him and from what I can see, he did not do a good job of representing conservative Powell and Granite Counties during the last Session. Dave’s opponent scored second to last in the GOP on the Montana Family Foundation’s scorecard. One bill would have allowed parents more transparency into their...
Jesus ascended to Heaven to receive the glory due to Him because of His humility and obedience (Philippians 2:1-18); to be our Mediator and Advocate sitting at the right hand of the Father (Hebrews 9:11-28); and to send the Holy Spirit. (John 16:1-33) Before ascending Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth, which the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows it. But you know it, because it remains...
C.B. Pearson is, without a doubt, the most experienced candidate running to represent Senate District 46 in the Montana Legislature. C.B. knows how to navigate the political landscape and has built relationships to effectively advocate for issues Montanans care about. He has years of experience successfully taking on powerful economic interests that threaten Montanan’s way of life. Our state and country face serious threats from the extreme right and from corporations who do not care about our Montana values of clean air, clean water and...
District track and field was hotter, slower and smaller for the Seeley-Swan Blackhawks last weekend. The athletes competed against the six other teams in their district on Saturday, when temperatures in Missoula were in the high seventies. The heat caused the Blackhawks to clock in slower times than normal, Coach Mike Haines said. This weekend, the Blackhawks will head back to Missoula to compete in Divisionals, where the field expands in size. All the Western Class C teams will compete, which...
