Thanks to aggressive and effective fire fighting techniques, as well as cooperating weather, the fire burning west of Hamilton has been held to 300 acres with no lives or structures lost.

The Downing Mountain Fire was first reported Thursday evening, August 26, at 8:10 p.m. By the next morning it was estimated to have burned close to 300 acres and was burning within 3 miles of downtown Hamilton. It was sparked by lightning from a cold front which moved through the valley with 30-40 mph winds. That storm sparked a total of nine fires on the Bitterroot National Forest, seven in the Darby Ranger District and two in the West Fork Ranger District.

Following the first report, rural fire departments from up and down the valley and USFS fire management officials responded immediately establishing a unified command that would lead the fight until a Type I Incident Team could arrive. An Emergency Operations Center was immediately established at the Hamilton Fire Hall.

According to Hamilton Fire Chief Brad Mohn, local firefighters from the rural districts did a great job fighting the fire and working to protect structures throughout the night.

Officials with the Unified Command quickly recognized that the fire posed a serious threat to homes in the area and at 3 a.m. Friday, only seven hours after the fire was first reported, the decision was made to issue a Stage 2 evacuation alert to 50 of the most threatened homes in the Blodgett and Canyon Creek area west of town. A Stage 2 alert means that residents are asked to leave their homes.

Ravalli County Sheriff Chris Hoffman, who made the decision to issue the evacuation alert, said that, considering the hour at which residents were being asked to evacuate, it all went very smoothly and people were very understanding and cooperative. Another 100 homes were put on Stage 1 alert to be ready to evacuate if conditions worsened.

Ravalli County Fairgrounds agreed to accept large animals. The Bitterroot Humane Association was ready to accept small animals and the Red Cross mobilized to accept any people who needed a place to stay.

Several Forest Roads in the area were closed as well as the Blodgett Campground. The Sheriff’s Office conducted hourly patrols of the area to ensure public safety.

On Friday, 50 firefighters from the USFS and the those from the rural fire districts built fire lines along the eastern perimeter of the fire to protect structures. They were assisted by 10 fire engines, two helicopters and later in the day close to 38,000 gallons of retardant was dropped by plane.

Fire crews faced a number of additional hazards that day associated with fighting fire so close to homes including powerlines, road traffic, and hazardous materials around structures including propane tanks, and snags. Crews reported breezy winds in the fire area but nothing close to the 40 mph winds that blew the previous night.

The fire continued burning internally in rough and steep terrain with small fire spots growing together as the wind began to move the fire uphill.

Although heavy smoke was expected in the valley a steady wind from the northwest blew most of the smoke away to the southeast. Much cooler temperatures and high humidity including some rain worked in favor of the firefighters

On Saturday, Mark Grant’s Type II Incident Management Team from Northern Idaho arrived to take over the firefighting efforts. A Unified Command, between a Northern Rockies Type II Incident Management Team (Mark Grant) and the Hamilton Rural Fire Department (Brad Mohn), was established to manage the fire, in conjunction with the Bitterroot National Forest. The Incident Command Post was located at 501 Westside Drive. A total of 172 firefighters were working the fire. Resources included two “hotshot” crews, two 20-person crews, 10 engines, two water tenders, 4 dozers and 4 helicopters.

Crews completed additional fireline along the east flank and “mopped up” with hose lays near the private structures. Helicopters dropped water, supporting construction of fireline and cooling hot spots within the fire’s perimeter. By late afternoon on Saturday, around 7 p.m., the Stage 2 mandatory evacuation order had been officially lifted, although the homes still remained, along with 100 others in the area, under the Stage 1 evacuation alert.

Engine crews again remained on scene throughout the night. Precipitation also occurred over the fire during the night and by Sunday morning the fire was 40 percent contained.

On Monday morning Bitterroot National Forest Fire Management Officer Rick Floch told the County Commissioners the fire was holding steady at about 312 acres with firelines around most, but not all, of it. While fire control lines were solid around the east, south and north edges of the fire, the uppermost western edge was still not lined.

“Here is where you have to weigh the values being protected and the risk,” said Floch. With no place for a helicopter landing site, rescue of any injured firefighters would mean a few hours’ hike over very rough terrain. Hamilton Fire Chief Brad Mohn said he had reviewed photos and reports about the terrain and agreed that it would be a risk.

As a result the plan now calls for securing the current firelines on the east, north and south and dousing the fire in the eastern portion closer to town, while demobilizing many of the resources.

Commissioner J.R. Iman expressed concern that the fire would escape to the west and then turn around and blow out the canyon like the Kootenai, Blodgett and Big Creek Fires.

Forest Supervisor Julie King said that her agency recognized that risk, but also recognized the risk to the firefighters if they were sent up there. She said that contingency plans were already being made to battle the blaze should it take such a turn. The best position for a dozer line to block such a blowout had already been scoped out and other measures were also in preparation. She said that definite trigger points were also being established to trigger those responses should they be required

Chief Mohn said that the rural fire districts were primed and ready to respond should such an event come to pass.

On Monday the fire was still only 40 percent contained but with more rain likely Tuesday and snow possible in the higher elevations, officials say most of the activity around the fire area this week will be limited to crews mopping up and reinforcing firelines on the north and south sides.

According to Mohn, fire activity will be very minimal for the next few days with some pockets of heavy fuel continuing to smolder within the perimeter of the fire. This means that smoke may continue to impact residents in the Bitterroot Valley for several days until significant precipitation falls over the fire area.

A cold Pacific storm system was expected to remain over the Northern Rockies through late Tuesday with high temperatures in the Valley reaching 65 degrees and only 45-50 degrees in the mountains. Humidity levels were also predicted to remain high, around 48 percent on the ridges further limiting fire activity.

Firefighter safety continues to be the number one concern for Incident Commanders. “Our recent rains and cooler temperatures are helping to slow fire activity but they’re also making conditions really treacherous for our firefighters,” said Mohn. “Some of these guys are carrying 20 pound chainsaws and another 30-40 pounds of fireline gear and are working in extremely steep, rocky, wet and muddy terrain.”

Along with footing concerns and avoiding slips, trips and falls, fire crews were also warned to maintain situational awareness with dangerous snags, roads, firelines, and dozer lines as they may become slick or impassible due to the rain/snow. So far, several minor injuries have been reported among firefighters working on Downing Mountain including several knee injuries and one elbow gash that required stitches when a firefighter slipped and fell.

The cost to date on the Downing Mountain Fire is $1.1 million, 40 percent of which was spent on air operations including four helicopters and a retardant plane which dropped 40,000 gallons of retardant on Friday to protect threatened homes and structures. Officials plan to begin downsizing some of the resources this week including engines and helicopters as the need declines. Several crews will remain on the fire to continue mopping up and strengthening firelines. For the latest fire information, along with maps and photos, visit www.inciweb.org.

Only two of the nine other fires started by last week’s storm have reached any notable size. One fire up Gird Creek was estimated, on Monday, to be about 5 acres in size and one up Lost Horse Creek estimated to be about 10 acres in size.

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USFWS severs ties with Friends of the Metcalf Refuge

By Michael Howell

Regional officials of the US Fish and Wildlife Service have notified the Friends of the Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge that the agency is terminating a Memorandum of Understanding with the local non-profit group.

In a letter dated July 22, 2010, Regional Refuge Supervisor Dean Rundle informed the President of the Friends of the Refuge, Paul Hayes, that the group’s formal relationship with the USFWS would end 60 days from receipt of that correspondence.

In the letter, Rundle states that the MOU allows for termination with 60 days notice without any legal process. “However, the Service is compelled by common courtesy to explain our action.”

Rundle states that the relationship embodied in the MOU was that the Friends mission was “to support the purposes and objectives of the Service site or program they serve.”

“Unfortunately, it appears to us that the Friends wish to implement independent Friends projects and programs that do not support the direction the Service needs to take at Lee Metcalf NWR,” wrote Rundle.

Rundle goes on to state that Hayes and other members of the Friends, “have openly and repeatedly expressed great dissatisfaction with a Service employee and the way the Service dealt with your concerns about our employee.” He said the situation has created tension in the workplace and an unproductive working environment at the refuge.

“My perception, based on your communications about these issues, is that the Friends seek an inappropriate role in refuge decision making, including criticizing personnel management decisions and qualification of refuge employees,” wrote Rundle.

Rundle also criticized the Friends group for not participating in the public scoping process for the Comprehensive Conservation Plan for the refuge. He called it the “highest priority work” going on at the refuge. “Yet the Friends chose not to participate…as the Service requested…” he wrote. He said that trouble with the group was also distracting from that process.

Rundle states in the letter that the action is being taken, “without malice.” He expresses gratitude for the many contributions the group has made to the refuge over the years. The bottom line, though, was that the relationship between the agency and the group was not working any longer.

“At some future time, once the CCP is completed and implementation has commenced, we may entertain a relationship with a new friends group at Lee Metcalf, but will not consider that for at least several years,” wrote Rundle. Rundle noted that individual members of the group are not excluded from serving as volunteers at the refuge under direction of the refuge manager.

Rundle also stated that his superior, Assistant Regional Director Dr. Richard Coleman, would be in Missoula soon and would be able to meet with them should they find his explanations insufficient.

According to Hayes, that meeting with Coleman took place on August 11.

“We got the impression he was leaning towards working out some sort of resolution of the issues with our group,” said Hayes.

Then came the phone call on August 18. It was Coleman calling and he left a message on Hayes’ answering machine. He was supporting Rundle’s decision. Coleman had also written a very brief letter to that effect dated August 16. He said that after hearing from the board and considering their perspective and having further discussions with staff he was supporting the decision to terminate the relationship.

Hayes said that the most frustrating thing about it was the lack of any response to specific accusations and the group’s answers.

“We would like a public meeting to hear about the reasons for all this,” said Hayes.

Hayes, who retired from the Forest Service in 2004, the same year that the Friends group was formed and the MOU established with the Service, said that the Forest Service used to run things like it was their forest. He said they learned the lesson that it is the public’s forest.

“USFWS hasn’t gotten there yet,” said Hayes. “They still want to say it is their refuge. But it is the public’s.” Hayes said that the group did have problems working with the previous refuge manager, but they were ready to try and work things out now. He said that his group was attempting to address its own problems internally and should be given a chance.

Hayes said that the Friends had only been asked to provide refreshments for the CCP public meetings and did so. He said the group did plan on giving input to the process at the upcoming public hearings.

Hayes’ wife, Mary, said that the CCP process was extremely important. She said the community needs to be aware and involved as the future of the direction of refuge management was being decided.

Rundle was unavailable to comment last week as he had been summoned to the Gulf Coast to help address problems associated with the BP oil spill. Coleman was also out of the office and unavailable. But the Regional Supervisor for North and South Dakota, Paul Cornes, who was standing in for Rundle, said that it was unusual for the Service to take such an action, but that it had happened on occasion in the past.

Cornes said that he was aware of a situation where an MOU with a friends group had been terminated. He said in that particular case the original group continued to function as an independent non-profit group, while another group eventually established an official relationship with the Service.

“It’s not a dead end for the community,” said Cornes. “There are options.”

Tom Reed, the current manager of the Metcalf Refuge, said it was a regional decision based on chronic issues that he had to support.

“The Friends group was trying to exert influence in areas that they should not. The regional office felt that the Friends’ involvement was inappropriate and that they weren’t fulfilling their mission.

Reed said that he was aware of all the good things that the Friends had done over the years.

“But in other instances we were just not on the same track,” said Reed.

Reed said that the refuge could really benefit from a group that would want to help them out with broader landscape issues such as water quality and river erosion. Reed said that a local friends group can play a crucial role in broader community activities that affect the refuge and he hopes that in the future, after some reprieve from the situation and some time to reflect, that concerned individuals will find a way to partner with the refuge in a fruitful manner.

Dale Burk, a founding member of the Friends group, and newly returned member of the board, said that it was not the Friends group that was creating and sustaining problems with the refuge staff. He said it was a few members of the staff. He said that he was shocked that the Service would take such a drastic action without first trying to have direct and frank discussions about the issues.

Burk insists that those discussions need to take place in the public where concerned citizens can participate and not in some office in Denver.

Burk said that the FWS is saying its decision was in the best interest of the public.

“But I don’t think they know what the public interest is. That comes through an open process,” said Burk.

According to Burk, the Friends of the Metcalf Refuge, at their meeting on Wednesday, August 18, decided not to disband, but to continue on as a non-profit in support of the refuge even if they are not officially recognized. He said they also decided to ask the Montana Congressional Delegation to intervene in seeking to have the decision by Coleman and Rundle rescinded at the national level.

Hayes said in a press release for the Friends group, “Two things are critical. We still hold the value of this refuge in high regard and we’re going to continue to work in good faith to restore our formal relationship with the USFWS because while this is an unfortunate and unpleasant circumstance, we’re not going away – and the needs of the Lee Metcalf Refuge aren’t going to go away. Mr. Coleman and Mr. Rundle have provided absolutely no justification whatsoever to support this drastic action or any allegation they’ve made against us. They need to come clean with us and with the public. What they’ve done is beyond puzzling. It’s baffling and absurd. We don’t understand what’s behind their draconian action.”

Since then, on August 24, the Ravalli County Fish and Wildlife Association sent a letter of support for the Friends of Metcalf Refuge to the state’s Congressional representatives, asking them to intervene in the issue.

The group criticizes the USFWS’ Denver office for not working more directly with the Friends to resolve the problems.

“Isn’t it, most often, best to solve problems by meeting one-on-one to talk problems out and resolve them before resorting to banishment, divorce, termination, or the severing of ties, whatever you might call this,” wrote Tony Jones, President of RCFW.

He goes on to say that a move to restore the proper relationship is worth the effort considering all the good that the Friends group has accomplished over the years, but will take the involvement of the Friends leadership, and USFWS leaders both from the refuge and the Denver office.

“Certainly the longterm public interest involving the Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge demands that we at least try such an approach, and we believe that such a conclusion can be achieved only if you and your associates in our congressional delegation push for such a resolution,” Jones wrote in the letters to Sen. Tester, Sen. Baucus, and Rep. Rehberg.

As of Monday, none of the congressional delegates had responded to the request.

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Garden of 1,000 Buddhas reaches into Bitterroot

By Michael Howell

A Garden of 1,000 Buddhas. It sounds like something you might see in Tibet. Or Nepal. Or even India. But in Arlee, Montana?

Nonetheless, through a strange turn of events, that’s where Ewam’s Garden of 1,000 Buddhas is located. And there are some Bitterrooters deeply involved.

Yes, Buddhism is coming to Western Montana in a big way as a result of a boyhood dream and, well, one thing after the next. In fact, once completed, and that is expected to occur in 2011, the Dalai Lama has promised to come and consecrate the Peace Center. Such a consecration could make the garden one of the major spiritual pilgrimage sites on the continent, according to those involved.

Its creator, Gochen Tulku Sang-ngag Rinpoche, originally envisioned it and the surrounding land as a child in Tibet. Later during the Cultural Revolution in Tibet, Rinpoche was imprisoned by the Chinese Communists for almost a decade in a hard labor camp. It was there that he met and studied with some of the greatest spiritual masters of Tibet. When Rinpoche visited America and was driving through the Jocko Valley, he recognized it from the visions of the garden he had as a child. Soon afterward, the land was listed on the market for sale and one of his devoted students purchased and offered it to Rinpoche so that he might start a

center for learning to host the garden of his dreams. For almost a decade now, countless volunteers and dedicated students have lovingly handcrafted Buddha statues to be placed in the garden surrounding the Great Mother of all Buddhas in statue form, Yum Chenmo. The garden is shaped like a giant wheel with eight spokes. A thousand Buddhas will line the spokes and one thousand stupas will line the perimeter of the circle. Each of the statues and stupas are handcast by volunteers.

At the center of the Garden of 1,000 Buddhas is Prajnaparamita, also called “Yum Chenmo” in Tibetan. She is known as the Great Mother. Her image represents compassion for all living beings married with the wisdom of complete understanding. Seated on a lion’s throne this figure reaches 24 feet in height.

Rinpoche says in a video-recorded statement that he believes the meditation garden will serve as an antidote to the negativities gaining momentum in the world today.

Local singer and practicing Buddhist Deborah Hicks, of Joan Zen, who is helping promote the Peace Center, said, “You can go almost anywhere and see a monument to war. How many truly great monuments to peace have you seen?”

She and her husband Jason, the key players in Joan Zen, have been using their musical skills to raise funds for the project. Deborah said that, at first, she thought it would be the sort of thing that would need a super wealthy “believer” to make happen. But after their last gig in Whitefish, where they helped raise $15,000, they are both excited about the incredible support that is coming from local people in Montana.

Hicks touted the social, economic, and spiritual benefits of the Peace Center, especially considering the impact of the Dalai Lama’s visit which will bring the world’s eye on western Montana. She said the project offers many jobs for local craftsmen and brings tourists through to see it, while also offering blessings by these statues to the people and land around it, as each item in the garden is blessed and filled with sacred items of significance. One thousand trees and medicinal plants will be placed in the garden in addition to the 1,000 Buddha statues once they are cast and finished.

The acoustic duo will be providing some dharma soul music at a local fundraiser set for Thursday, September 2 at River Rising Bakery on Main Street in Hamilton, from 6 to 9 p.m. There will be an auction featuring an informative presentation by Dr. Georgia Milan of Florence, who is one of Gochen Tulku Sang-ngag Rinpoche's senior students and dedicated supporters as well as being the head coordinator for His Holiness the Dalai Lama's visit to Ewam's Garden of 1,000 Buddhas in Arlee upon its completion. The silent and live auctions will offer some locally sponsored items along with authentic specialty gifts from Tibet and Nepal. The resident Tibetan monk and nun at Ewam will be in attendance to inspire and River Rising will provide the refreshments of tea, coffee, and cookies.

On Saturday, September 11, the 6th Annual Festival of Peace will be held at Ewam's Garden of 1,000 Buddhas, from 1 to 7 p.m.

“The involvement of the Salish-Kootenai tribes and the Arlee Community Development Committee this year offers us an earnest opportunity to accentuate this garden as a refuge for all people of all faiths, as well as to truly honor the indigenous people who have lived, cared for and blessed this sacred land for generations,” said Hicks. “As the Flathead and Jocko Valley residents commemorate 100 years of Homesteading on the reservations, this celebration offers the voices of the tribal leaders to be heard in relation to how to move forward and incorporate healing and spirituality into our practice together.”

Featured musical acts will be The Drum Brothers and Joan Zen. An interfaith panel discussion, a tribal round dance, along with prayers and speakers, will fill out the day. There will be food vendors, children's activities, specialty goods for sale and much more.

For more information about the Peace Center or the events go to www.ewambuddhagarden.org.

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New water rates approved in Stevi

Town switches to monthly billing for all utilities

By Michael Howell

Despite the one letter of protest stating that the proposed rate hike would be a huge hardship, the Stevensville Town Council approved, following a public hearing held just prior to the August 23 regular meeting, a significant hike in the town’s water rates.

For the average residential user, on a three-quarter-inch service line, the base rate will now be $29.12 including 3,000 gallons of use. Anything over 3,000 gallons will be charged at a rate of .0185 per gallon. If a residential user logged 9,000 gallons of use in a month, with the base flow removed it would total 6,000 gallons and increase the water bill by over $11, bringing the monthly bill to over $40.

The Town Council also approved changing over to a monthly billing process in both water and sewer. A significant sewer rate hike was also recently approved and is already in effect. This is a shift away from the traditional quarterly billing that the Town has practiced in the past.

The Town itself pays a monthly power bill to NorthWestern Energy of about $8,000. This bill includes all power to every town facility including the swimming pool. Clerk Roni Kimp called it “a typical summer bill,” but she was quick to point out that though the pool is only a summer cost, there were other costs associated with winter as the cost of heating all the other buildings goes up in winter.

HISTORIC SCALES TO BE REMOVED

Back in 1980 the Montana Department of Transportation put its foot down about the problem of a private person or business having a scale situated in the right of way of a state highway. MDOT officials told the owner of the local feed mill that had a scale on Main Street it would have to be removed.

The feed mill itself had been there for a long time, too, and the town fathers wanted it to stay. So the scales were deeded over to the Town of Stevensville, a public entity, resolving the state’s problem with private ownership.

The town then turned around and rented the scales to the owner of the feed mill to be equal to the cost of maintenance and the fees collected. It was a great arrangement that allowed the feed mill to operate for over a quarter of a century afterward.

But when the feed mill moved to a new location a few years ago, that left the Town holding a useless set of scales. And when some of the big timbers used in its construction broke and splintered the other day, it became worse than useless, it became a liability.

Streets and Alleys Supervisor Ed Sutherlin told the council at Monday’s meeting that it was a hazard and needed to be removed.

Councilor Desera Towle said that she was opposed to quick action and suggested that the hazard continue to be barricaded while the proper historical preservation agencies were consulted.

“Stevensville is Montana’s oldest community and we should at least talk about it,” said Towle.

Towle’s proposed amendment died due to lack of a second.

The original motion to remove the scale and store it in the building was approved on a 3 to 1 vote with Towle dissenting.

TOWN SUPPORTS LOGAN LANE IMPROVEMENT PROJECT

County Commissioner Jim Rokosch asked the Town of Stevensville to support a grant application being made by the county road department to make improvements on Logan Lane east of town.

Rokosch said that the County had been looking for years for money to make improvements to the road and associated intersections and was finally hot on the track of some available funds in a TIGER II grant. He said considerable support from others had already been received and submitted copies of letters of support from the Stevensville Main Street Association, the County, the Road and Bridge Department, the Sheriff’s Office, the Planning Department, the Ravalli County Economic Development Authority, from Missoula, MDOT, and Montana’s Congressional Offices.

He said improvements would be made to the whole road from the north intersection of Logan Lane and the Eastside Highway to the intersection of Pine Hollow and the Eastside Highway. Improvements would be made to the road sub base, the alignment of intersections, and a non-motorized, pedestrian/bike pathway would be included as part of the road and demarcated in some fashion.

Rokosch said that design details were yet to be fully worked out and could include a few roundabouts, although they were not included in the preliminary designs. He said the accident rate on the road was high and that steps would be taken with signage and other design features to route tourist traffic through the town.

The council agreed unanimously to send a letter of support for the project.

PAYMENTS TO CITY CIVIL ATTORNEY PUT OFF

When introducing the agenda item of paying the monthly claims, Mayor Lew Barnett said that he had some concerns about the claims filed by Town Attorney Keithi Worthington. He noted that they were for several months going back to June of 2009 through October of 2009 and included January and February claims for 2010.

Barnett said that he had talked with Worthington when he took office in January about getting her claims in on time.

“One of them is over a year old.” He said.

Councilor Desera Towle said, “And two fiscal years.” She said this was a problem. “We need a 60 day time frame,” said Towle, “This is inexcusable. I had no idea they went back so far.”

She made an amendment to the motion to pay bills to exclude the claims submitted by Worthington, saying, “I’m not prepared to say yes or no until I know if we have any legal grounds to stand on one way or the other.”

The amendment was approved on a 4 to 0 vote. All the bills were paid except Worthington’s.

PROSECUTING ATTORNEY CONTRACT POSTPONED

Councilor Dan Mullan said that the contract being considered for the services of the town’s prosecuting attorney, Jeff Hays, “looked open ended.”

Councilor Pat Groninger added, “This contract is not what we discussed.”

The Mayor said that the prosecuting attorney had been turning in claims for $1,500 monthly for several months now.

Groninger said that was not right. He said, “How do we know it is based on $95 per hour?” He said the Council needed to see a breakdown. He said that he understood the deal to be that the Town would pay $95 per hour, up to $18,000 per year. Not a flat fee totaling $18,000 a year.

Mayor Barnett said that he would contact the attorney and see if he could get an itemized billing with the hours.

A motion to postpone the signing of a contract was approved unanimously.

In other business the council:

- rejected the single bid for removing black mold from the Annex building. The bid of $5,100 was about twice the $2,100 that the Town had set aside for the project. The Mayor said that the bidder was unwilling to separate the cost of removing the mold from doing the subsequent repairs. The bid was rejected on a unanimous vote.

- approved negotiating a contract with Terry Burk for doing the Town’s audit.

- approved a special event permit and waived the fee for the Stevensville High School Homecoming Parade.

- accepted the low bid of LS Jensen of $269,345.85 to do Phase II of the water system improvement project. The engineer’s cost estimate for the project was $433,000.

- approved Building Inspector Dennis Monroe’s attendance to school in Chicago from October 5 to 8.

- approved Water and Sewer Superintendent George Thomas’ attendance to school in Bozeman from October 4 to 7.

- approved splitting the invoice payments to Stelling Engineering and NorthWestern Energy which were approved as a single total payment of $190,000 at the previous meeting.

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Spreadbury case against city attorney dismissed

By Michael Howell

Missoula District Court Judge John Larson, on Tuesday, August 17, dismissed the claims made by former Hamilton mayoral candidate Michael Spreadbury against City Attorney Ken Bell.

According to Court documents, Spreadbury, in April of 2010, filed a complaint against Bell for intentional infliction of emotional distress allegedly caused by Bell’s examining a witness in a civil order of protection hearing on November 20, 2009. In his amended complaint Spreadbury alleged that the emotional distress was caused when Bell, acting as attorney for the librarian who was seeking a restraining order against him (an order which has been granted), proceeded in leading the witness through gestures, to give false testimony…” Spreadbury was asking for $275,000 and costs.

Bell argued that he has immunity from such claims while acting as the City Attorney and that prosecuting this civil case was not outside the scope of his position.

Spreadbury had also argued that Bell was not acting as City Attorney because the City of Hamilton is not a legal entity.

Bell countered that the Montana Supreme Court has held that parties may be judicially stopped from contesting the legal existence of a governmental entity that has operated for over 100 years.

Larson found in favor of Bell’s motion to dismiss because he was operating within the scope of his office and thus entitled to immunity for liability for those actions. Larson also found that Spreadbury had not proven any set of facts that would allow for the relief he sought.

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Linendoll is Fair Grand Marshal

By Jean Schurman

One has a sense that Les Linendoll is seldom uncomfortable among people. Throughout his career as a teacher and later in life as a dedicated public servant serving on many volunteer boards, he has always been quick to greet people with a smile and handshake. But this year’s grand marshal for the Fair Parade is having doubts about being in the lead at the parade.

“I have to tell you, it makes me a bit uncomfortable,” he said on Saturday.

The Ravalli County Fair Board named Linendoll the grand marshal. It is a way to honor his 17 years of service on the Fair Board. He stepped down from the board last December. During his tenure on the board, he saw a lot of changes at the Fairgrounds and in the valley.

It’s a wonder he even stayed with the board one year, let alone 17, after his first fair. The fair manager quit unexpectedly about 6 weeks prior to the fair, and his secretary, Donna Weber, stepped in to keep the fair going. However she came down with an appendicitis attack on opening day, leaving the chaos to the fair board. Linendoll said it was quite the ‘baptism by fire’ and commended former Fair Manager Ned Applebury for stepping in once more to help.

Horse racing was the norm in the early 1990’s but that event has gone by the wayside. That is probably the most noticeable change in the past 17 years but there have been many subtle changes over the years. The most noticeable is the 1st Interstate Building. Linendoll set through many hours of planning and fund raising before this building came into being. But with the addition of this building, the fairgrounds now offers a space for events all year long.

Linendoll’s first wife, Maxine, was an avid horsewoman. She and a group of women formed the Mountettes, a women’s equestrian drill team. Throughout the years, Linendoll served has head groom, flunky and even was the drillmaster a time or two. Because of her interest in horseback riding, she became involved in the Back Country Horsemen and after a couple of years, Linendoll also joined. He went on to become president of the local group and even held state and national offices. He proudly points out the ticket booths the Back Country Horsemen have built and donated to the fairgrounds. Even after Maxine’s death, he continued to help with the Mountettes for a few years.

Because of his involvement with the Mountettes and the Back Country Horsemen, Linendoll had been around the fair quite a bit. He decided he wanted to be on the fair board. However Jerry Allen, who was a county commissioner at the time, wanted Linendoll on the planning board. He ended up serving eight years on the planning board before stepping down in the 1990’s. He said the airport was a contentious subject even then. Linendoll also served on the Daly Ditches board as a commissioner from 1985 until 2008.

Linendoll’s years of service to the community actually began at an early age. He joined the Army Reserve in 1947. Then he came to the Bitterroot in 1950 where he was a barber. He was drafted and served in the army. After completing his tour, he came back to the state. He eventually found his way to Montana State where he obtained a degree in teaching. After teaching in Havre for two years, he was hired by the Hamilton School District to teach history and civics to the junior high.

Linendoll clearly relished his role as a teacher and the interaction he had and has with his former students. He has a book filled with the names and birthdays of every student he taught. He estimates 3,500 names are in the book. He has kept in touch with many of the students and is as proud of their accomplishments today as their own parents are.

While teaching, Linendoll continued to serve his country. He was with the Special Forces in Missoula for nine years and then went on and continued to serve in the Army Reserve. He was in one branch or another of the service from 1947 until 1989.

Linendoll has been married to Sharon for several years now. They spend about six months of the year in warm weather in Arizona and southern Nevada. At 81, he’s trying to slow down a little.

It’s probably a good thing he will be riding in the parade and not walking the route. If so, he would be greeting his many acquaintances and trying to visit with each and every one of them.

He said Maxine used to get a little frustrated because it would take him so long to walk from one end of the fairgrounds to the other because he had to visit with everyone.

“After all,” he said with a twinkle in his eye. “I’m the shy, quiet type.”

The Ravalli County Fair Parade will kick off the fair on Wednesday, Sept. 1, at 10 a.m. on Hamilton’s Main Street.

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